Greetings!
I have had an amazing week! My birthday was on Friday, and so much happened!
On Thursday I was really pumped up and excited to get ready for the party. James had helped me clean the living room earlier in the week, and had borrowed the vacuum from our neighbors, Sarah and Wyatt, so that we could clean our carpet (which always needs a vacuum, no matter what). However, my big task for the day was cleaning the bathroom. I don't have an issue with cleaning the bathroom usually, I know all the steps and what needs to happen to make a sparkling floor-toilet-counter combo (my step-mom made it a requirement when I had my own upstairs bathroom as a teenager) so I tend to be the one person that isn't grossed out too much to clean it. It took a while but I motivated myself by telling Isabel "I'm going to do the thing and it's not going to be fun, but I'm going to do it, and then it will be over". By this time, however, it was around 9pm. Hah. Either way, it got done by about 10:30pm. I had a relaxing night besides that, and James came home to me playing Skyrim. I worried about my outfit, makeup and hair for the next day until I fell asleep.
Friday was the big day and Isabel woke me up early with a doughnut and yummy chocolate coffee. We got dressed and headed out to the salon down the street. We both got our eyebrows done. We went back home and I started on my makeup, which I think turned out REALLY good. I wanted something that wasn't going to come off by the end of the day, but that also wasn't very cakey or heavy. I succeeded! The real miracle here is that it didn't sweat off my face because it was TOO HOT for a large portion of the day.
We had a visit by a couple of friends and they brought yogurt and blueberry scones for brunch, and I did my nails and talked to them for a bit. James and I had planned on going to Super Torta for an early dinner, and Robert and Isabel were planning on doing the same thing so we all met up there, ate burritos and talked. The boys bought some beers at the convenience store. I was pretty nervous that nobody was going to show up at the party but almost everybody did! We drank a lot and I spilled a white Russian on the porch (promptly followed by lots and lots of
ANTS UGH) and my parents called to sing to me and I was so happy to hear them and be near all of my friends.
We finally got to sitting down and watching The Big Lebowski and I almost cried twice even though it's a very very funny movie. Probably because I was drunk and they were also legitimately sad parts. Then we had a cake intermission and there was singing and everyone was happy!
I got lots of wonderful presents including a beautiful hand made necklace by my friend-neighbor, Sarah, and Isabel gave me a cute little magnet and a wonderful card, Alex gave me a small handmade sketchbook, and there were lots of other gifts. Everyone who came were so generous and kind and lovely.
Not pictured is the
CABINET FULL OF LIQUOR. Everyone brought a little (a lot) something, and I have never had so much liquor in my life! I have no idea how we are going to drink all of it (Haha yes I do). The night ended well, and we were all pretty tired but I still had time to clean up the kitchen and living room with the boys, since Isabel had already gone to sleep because of work the next day. I wanted to be able to wake up without anyone having to worry about the mess. We put on Nina and cleared the fridge out and put all the trash and leftovers away. I went to bed sobered up and exhausted.
Saturday I slept waaay in, and James's brother Matt picked us up to go to lunch at Double Dragon, a very modern take of typical Japanese and Vietnamese foods. I had miso fries, which is like poutine, but with a miso paste gravy and the cheese is melty instead of curds. It was freakin' awesome. James and I also had Vietnamese iced coffees, which I found out was made with coffee and chicory, from one of my favorite cafe's in the US, Cafe du Monde. That place is such a culture clash, but it works so very very well together. The last time I went there I had a very very spicy ramen soup, which I must remember to get again when I get sick.
After, Matt drove us to a fruit beer festival, and it was really hot and there were a lot of people, BUT I had some of the yummiest beers I had ever tasted, including a beer called Pi Beer, and a hard cider with Guava. I liked the festival a lot and it was really fun, but since it was so crowded and there wasn't any seating (except in a packed expensive restaurant) we decided to leave a little early. I gave our leftover tickets to a staff who I chatted with earlier, so maybe it would make her day a little better. both Matt and I came out with some sunburns!
Matt drove James and I to a surprise location on Alberta and James led me, eyes closed, to my surprise present. He told me to open my eyes and he had led me to a lingerie store, so i could get a VERY VERY NECESSARY bra or if not, a swimsuit. I finally decided on a super cute blue bra with white lace. Afterword we went to a doughnut shop and split a doughnut. I got a milkshake and he of course got an iced coffee. We felt a little full after that so we slowly meandered to the bus stop that would take us most of the way home. We stopped at a grocer to use the ATM but we also got a little baby succulent for $4! Finally it was time to rest at home, where again, I hung out in my pajamas and played Skyrim until I went to sleep.
AND FINALLY: Sunday! June 6th is my birthday, BUT James's mom Susanne's birthday is on June 8th! After James and I went to work, she picked us up to go have dinner with her and James's family. My favorite grown up ever was there! Carol and Susanne are best friends from when they were very little and Me and Carol don't get to see each other often so it was awesome having all three of us together!
That's not even all of it! Tom, Matt and James's dad, Made the most delicious steak fajita dinner ever. There were roasted peppers, Mexican tomato rice, pico de gallo, and guacamole ALL completely hand made and there were the steak strips that were AMAZING. It was A+. Tom is such an amazing cook!!!
There was also Matt, this awesome cake, and mini cheesecake cups!
Besides the amazing food and wonderful people, Susanne and I alternated opening presents and we both got a LOT of them. I got several art supplies including a huge hardcover sketchbook and some colored pencils, a set of four colorful sundae dishes and all the stuff to make brownie caramel sundaes, and amazing pan specifically for brownie squares, yogurt pretzels, and my favorites were the bath stuff, including a giant bottle of lavender bubble bath, foot soak stuff, tons of bath soak packets, and perhaps the most useful, a microwavable rice pad made specifically for my lower back and neck! I went straight home and used it immediately, it felt amazing. Unfortunately no photos of those, I can't deal with the hassle right now, since MY HOUSE IS PRETTY CLEAN! I don't even want to give it a reason to be messy right now!
Overall the whole shebang was awesome and it was such a wonderful way to start my 23rd year of life! I am so lucky and thankful to everyone who is a part of my life, I don't believe I could have made it this far without them.
Thank you so much for reading, and remember to comment!
What is the best gift you have ever received and why was it the best?
