The Best Birthday

Well, tomorrow it will have been a week since my big 30th Birthday Bash.  I know some of you have seen some pictures and updates on social media, but let me just reiterate:  The Best Birthday Ever!!!

On my actual birthday I got an awesome surprise and found out my sister Ellen, who lives in Wyoming, was already driving down to stay the weekend with me.  What a treat!!  I didn't expect her to come at all because she has had to make the drive so very many times this summer.  It was great having something extra fun on my actual birthday.  Ellen, Cole and the kids and I all ate dinner at BJ's Brewhouse.  Why did I choose there, you ask?  Well, they have the most delicious pizookies (cookies with ice cream on top), and when I signed up for a bunch of birthday freebies a few weeks ago (oh yeah, I plan ahead..lol!) I got an e-mail confirming my free pizookie.  Any other reason needed??  I think not!

It was a fun evening out and we came home and got to finish the evening off watching my brother-in-law Luke's soccer team, the Switchbacks, play a game.  I love that we can stream his games from home.

The following day was also great.  Ellen and I got some shopping done in the morning which is always a fun time.  She also surprised us with delicious French toast that morning and I don't think you can start the day off much better then that!!

Andrea made it to town that afternoon and we started getting things together for the party.  Ellen and I got ready together which was a lot of fun.  And super helpful too because she helped curl my hair while I was able to sit down and relax.  Ahh...so nice not to have to stand!  I had gotten my dress at Ross (surprised?!?) and then I found a super cute crocheted vest to go over it from Charming Charlie.  It was actually remarkable that I felt really happy and good about how I looked.  My awesome neighbor lent me nail polish I love, my curls worked like I wanted them to, I liked my outfit and was comfortable, and my makeup came together pretty well too.  Oooh, and I got to wear my new lipstick (lipsense...another post for another time) and I loved the color and that there was never a need to reapply!  I'm not trying to sound ridiculous right now.  It's just how often does that happen?  That we actually feel great about ourselves on an occasion that we really want to?  I feel like that is typically hard to come by.  Especially when 34 weeks pregnant!!

Shameless selfie after getting ready.  I had to send it to my bestie Ames,

who unfortunately couldn't be there and who is usually always the one to glam me up.

She gave me the thumbs up :)

On our way to the party.  I was trying to get a better picture of my lip color!

Just being silly with Ellen on the drive.  No change there.

But we are ready for a fun night!!!

So what did we end up doing?!?  Drumroll please.....

We had dinner with a group of friends and family on the rooftop of The Boot Grill in downtown Fort Collins.  Then, after dinner, we went downstairs to enjoy their comedy show.

Look at this bad boy!  Instead of buckets of beer they had these, which were

awesome.  Cole thinks they were able to get 8 or 9 beers out of them!  Can't wait to go back
when I'm not pregnant!!

Half of the table.  So fun to celebrate with people I love!!

Look at my awesome friends.  Fanning the pregnant birthday girl since I

am always so flipping hot!!!

 The venue truly couldn't have been better.  I highly recommend it.  I love the food, the atmosphere was great, we had an incredible waitress, and, best of all, we practically had the entire roof to ourselves.  It felt as if we had rented the whole roof top out.  I think there may have been two other tables up there occupied at any given time.

This picture makes my heart smile.  What a blessing to get to share such a

fun celebration with this awesome crew!

Cole getting ready to cut my cake.  They pretty much gave

him a samurai knife!  Yikes!

So excited for my Chantilly cake!

 Have you all tried the Chantilly cake?  If not, you are missing out.  You can get it at Whole Foods and it is the best.cake.ever!!!! Cole knows I always want it for any special occasion.  It was awesome that they let us bring our own cake in, too.  I actually had this cake for the first time at my friends 30th birthday.  Celebrations have never been the same since :)

You know it's awesome when you are celebrating your 30th birthday with friends you have

known for 15-20 years....pretty stinking awesome!  We had a lot of laughs!

So blessed to have met Katie and Laura and had our relationship blossom through our Mom's group

at church.  I am blessed to do life with them and manage this whole mommy thing together!

So blessed my roommate from college came from Denver to celebrate.  She was with me on

my 2st Birthday too so I suppose it is only fitting!  She's making it to all the big ones:)

Katie, the friend who introduced me to the Chantilly cake.  It's all her fault!!!

So fun sharing the nigh with her.

This man helped plan an amazing birthday!!  I am so blessed!

Missing one of my sisters, but so happy to have had these two by my side.  The night

truly wouldn't have been the same without them!

Oh hey there big belly!  I'm pretty sure that line on my belly is

where Cole, trying to be helpful and get catchup for me,

squirted it on my dress.  Haha, typical Cole :)

Laughing with these two is the best!

 At this point everyone headed downstairs because the opening comedians had already started.  Let's just say the place wasn't hopping and we could have probably waited a little longer.  The talent was real slim in the beginning.  To the point of awkward.  But I suppose that made it easier to laugh.  I always laugh when I'm nervous :)  I was a little unsure about the comedy act in itself because you really never know what you are going to get.  But, as I explained in my previous post, my options were limited and this seemed like a great solution.  Who doesn't like laughing with friends?!?  I even watched a clip of the headliner just to ease my fears a bit, and I was happy to see it was pretty decent.  So you can imagine my surprise when we get downstairs and the poster on the wall behind the stage read "sexpot comedy".....uh....oh know!  Andrea had a good old laugh pointing that out to me!  The talent got better and better, and the headliner was actually really funny, but there were definitely some raunchy parts I could have done without!  All in all it was such a fun, memorable evening and I feel blessed so many friends and family took the time to celebrate with me.

So the night itself was awesome, but Andrea and my hubby truly went ALL out to make me feel loved and special.  While at dinner Andrea handed me a wrapped box and explained that loved ones near and far had written sweet cards/memories for me.  Let me tell you, there couldn't have been a better gift.  I didn't read any while we were out, mainly because I picked one up and instantly knew I wouldn't make it through without crying.  I did go home and stay up far too late reading the most amazing letters from so many of my friends and family.  I will treasure these notes forever.  I can't explain how loved and special I felt.  I will definitely be pulling them out on any of my rough days to give my spirit a boost.  I think it is especially meaningful because as a mom sometimes it can feel like the only impact you make is on the little clan within your home (don't get me wrong, that's a wonderful, powerful thing) but it was a great reminder of the impact and love that I have within relationships of all kinds. 

Now that is a lot of love!

If that weren't enough, and it certainly would have been, Cole and Andrea also got together and gave me thirty gifts for my thirtieth birthday.  Cole contributed 8....haha...which I only mention because it is so funny to me that guys find a task like that very daunting.  I'm pretty sure Andrea could have easily whipped out all thirty herself.  They both went above and beyond and I love
every.single.gift!!!

 Look at all that awesomeness?!?  Andrea even put the cutest most creative notes on each of her gifts for me.  Unwrapping each one was so fun.  I love knowing that she knows me so well that it is easy to pick out things I would love.  And she truly knows me well.  So many of the items practically had my name on them.  Coke?...uh yeah, she knows of my unfortunate obsession.  That tribal shirt?  She knows I'm pretty much in love with all things Native American-esque.  USA sunglasses?  I love all things 4th of July and you better believe I'll be rocking them during the Olympics.  She even made me her own crossword puzzle because I told her about my recent addiction.  There is so much more awesomeness in that pile but those are just a few examples!

And Cole?  Well he truly did an awesome job.  One of the gifts was the Chantilly cake...so hello...that was obviously a hit!  And those flowers?!?  So beautiful!  Another one of his gifts that had me laughing was a print off of a ridiculous photo of our friend Father Nathan who contributes to the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast.  I'm supposedly going to be getting a shout out one of these days.  What a fun, creative gift!!!

So that's that.  An unforgettable night with unforgettable friends.  I seriously want to thank every one of you who came, participated, called, texted, or sent a gift or letter.  You truly made my day.  I hope I have the opportunity to make each of you feel as special one day.

Oh, and just one last tidbit.  If you are contemplating celebrating your birthday or doing something fun with friends and family, my advice to you is this:  DO IT!  I know it can seem silly making a fuss or making it a priority but I will never regret telling Cole that I wanted to do something special for my 30th Birthday.  Yes, I told him that.  This isn't naturally Cole's thought process.  And that's ok.  That's why he solicited Andrea's help :)  I just know that of course you risk the chance that nobody participates, or it turns out lame, or it feels like a lot of work.  But celebrating life...celebrating friendships...it's so, so worth it.  In the future if ever given the opportunity, for me or for someone else, the answer is always going to be CELEBRATE!!!