celebrating 41

happy birthday to the sweetest, kindest, funniest, most supportive, loving, intelligent, creative & talented husband. I love you to the moon & back, robert. thanks for choosing me!

{birthday dinner tonight}

interactive birthday card

just a little card I made for my sister for her birthday last week. has quite a jolly postman feel, don't you think? 

30th birthday party

and as part of "treat yo self 2012", robert threw me the sweetest dinner party with some of my favorite people at a local wood fire pizza restaurant. it made me feel awfully blessed to have so many special people in my life to celebrate with. I'm a lucky girl.

 {invite designed by robert. a compilation of all my birthday pics. in case you didn't notice, I'm kinda into birthdays}

 {robert surprised me with these cute buttons he designed with fun quotes on the sides}

 {vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream frosting}

 {robert ordered a bunch of different wood fired pizzas for everyone}

 {bob + reba}

{kristy}

{bill + debbie}

{troy + jenny}

{monica}

{my parents}

{my amazing husband. thanks for an incredible 30th}

treat yo self

in honor of my birthday, my amazing husband made the theme of the weekend "treat yo self" (and in case you aren't familiar, watch this video). all my favorite things in one day. it really was "the best day of the year."

  {flowers made by mom: treat yo self}

 {mimosas: treat yo self}

  {birthday sign: treat yo self}

  {gifts: treat yo self}

  {the best donuts in the city: treat yo self}

  {a flash dance card: treat yo self}

{fried zeppole with chocolate-espresso dipping sauce: treat yo self}

  {flowers from hubby: treat yo self}

tassel garland

so. bad news. this is my last week as a twenty-something-year-old; on saturday I turn the big 3-0. I feel like I should be excited, but I'm not. to be quite frank, thirty sounds kinda old (no offense to those of you reading this who are older) & I'm not quite ready to be an official "grown up".

in order to lift my spirits a bit, I made this adorable tassel garland based off this tutorial. it was a little time consuming cutting all the strips, but really easy to make. I may have to make this decoration a permanent fixture in the house. 

photobooth

here are some more photobooth pics from robert's party. we truly intended this to be for the guests. honestly. but somehow, the kids & robert & I managed to monopolize it just a tad.

{robert's sweet little niece}  

  {the adorable brent + jennifer} 

{this is pretty much the most awesome family ever. ever. I want to be like them when I grow up}  

{the "put on your best disguise" pose}  

 {so cute troy + jenny} 

{this is the part where we forgot there were other guests at the party we should be attending to}  

 {and in case you didn't already think we were vain-enough, we set up the booth again the next day & took more pics of ourselves.} 

 {show me your best "toddler & tiara" I-didn't-win-the-ultimate-grand-supreme-title-but-still-want-a-pony face}  

robert's 40th birthday southern picnic party

robert's a pretty special guy, so I thought he deserved a pretty special party for his 40th birthday. and I think we definitely accomplished that in a laid-back, southern-sort-of-way. thanks to my incredible parents, with their endless gifts & talents for helping me pull this off (oh, & for owning an awesome party-house). and my sweet sister who used her vacation time to drive six hours just to get here. and to all our friends & family who came (several from other cities & states!) to help shower my "old man" with lots of love & support on the big day. we both feel so blessed to have so many funny, creative, kind & thoughtful people in our lives.

I didn't take pictures of many things that I wish I had- like all the amazing people who came to celebrate with us. but I managed to get a few right as the party started. hope you enjoy.

  {so I made the birthday boy design his own invites. is that so bad?} 

 {I filled lots of little mason jars with wildflowers for decoration} 

{this was a perfect project to practice my sewing skills - 45 cloth napkins} 

{I had a poster printed with all of robert's childhood photos}

{this was my mom's cute spin on the tired (& much-hated by myself) veggie tray. robert made the pimento cheese} 

 {what would a southern party be without two giant pots of boiled p-nuts?} 

{we had mint, sweet tea & lemonade for people to make arnold palmers. refreshing!} 

 {watermelon on sticks}  

 {my mom made the cheese grits & robert cooked the shrimp. I think everyone went back for seconds}  

 {pulled pork sammies, sweet potato chips, cornbread & deviled eggs}  

 {in lieu of birthday cake, I made a bunch of pies (one not pictured). we had parchment, wood fork & baggies to take a slice-to-go} 

  {"ya'll come back" moonpies as favors. yes, I have eaten all the extras by myself}  

  {only one of my corn hole bags busted. can someone teach me how to double-stitch?} 

  {I took this brilliant idea from this woman via pinterest. so easy to set up & tons of fun} 

{my dad set up some bait + poles for people to fish}  

here are a few pics from the surprise "photobooth" that my dad & I set up. we actually didn't get many people it in, but the kids loved it. will post the rest of the pictures later.

{happy birthday, lovah}