Happy Birthday to ME!

Ok, bare with me. There is much to say and lots of pictures in this blog. As many of you (probably ALL of you) already know, Saturday was my 31st birthday and my husband made sure that we celebrated the ENTIRE day. :) Thanks to Brad, my family and friends- this birthday will be very memorable for me.
The festivities actually started the week before, dinner with my friends that included lots of laughter, gifts and special yummy chocolate cookies! Friday night we had a birthday dinner at Brad's parents. His mom & dad made a special meal for me and I was given a beautiful plant. I am happy to report that both plants are STILL alive nearly 48 hours or more after being in our care :) (Pictures of all of the fabulous gifts & cards are on the left)

We started off the day by sleeping in- not something we have been able to do since we got Moose, but Brad's parents were gracious enough to watch him for the weekend. When I finally pulled myself out of bed Brad brought up a fresh cup of coffee for me- prepared just the way that I like it. He also brought me a card with this cute little red tank top that I've been eying for over a year now. I loved the fact that he heard me mention it and remembered it a year later for such an occasion. :)
I finally was able to open the package that arrived earlier in the week from my mom and sister and found several fun items- a cooling rack for baking and a gift certificate to the salon to get my hair done! I was completely shocked about how they could have pulled that one off... finding out my salon and setting this all up without my knowing.

After a few phone calls from my mom, dad and sister and many text from my good friends, we headed out to visit a little piece of heaven, Fleet Feet. For those of you who are not familiar with this store, it is a specialty running store that I love. Brad decided that we needed to go ahead and get my new running shoes so that I can officially start my half-marathon training. When he told me this was a part of my birthday adventures, I was so excited. I've been waiting for this day for about a year now, but have been putting it off. Brad saw to it that we put it as a priority for us on this day. I'm excited to report that we walked away with a new pair of Mizuno, Wave Inspire 5 running shoes. They are a different brand and type that I'm used to, but I think that they are a good fit. I'll report in later on the success of the shoes. (They are pictured above in the gift picture too)

By the time that we left Fleet Feet we were ready for lunch. Brad took me to enjoy an amazing meal of one of my favorite foods- PIZZA! At Cici's, an all you can eat pizza buffet. They have some of the best dessert pizza and a great spinach pizza. Brad made the special request that they would make a fresh Tator Tot Pizza just for me! They brought it out hot from the oven to our table. I just had to try it. Here I am enjoying my first bite of Tator Tot Pizza!! It tasted a lot like a loaded baked potato. I would recommend it to anyone if you have the opportunity to try it.







This birthday Brad decorated a cake for me. He chose to make it a layered cake so we could have more icing- my favorite part. I was only expecting a basic 9 x 13 cake, in the pan, with some white icing on it and maybe a few sprinkles. However, he had a different plan. He chose my favorite color pink as the color of choice for decorating and even included a Moose paw in the upper right corner. You can see that in the picture at the top of the blog.

He also put ALL 31 candles on the cake for me to make a wish. We both were afraid that the smoke detector was going to go off- it is hyper sensitive and cleverly placed right next to the kitchen. Not that we have any real experience with that or anything- we are just speculating ;) Ha!




After enjoying a small piece of cake I headed out to get my nails done with the gift certificate my girlfriends gave me for my birthday. It was such a treat. This place is a new find for me, thanks to my husband, and they are a fabulous find. They do such a great job there. My nails look great and the polish last for several days before chipping. yay!!



Brad found a little restaurant over in Canton, not too far from our house, where we decided to go to top off the night. We got dressed up- which we hardly ever do, but I love to do. I wore the dress that Sarah gave me for our wedding- thanks Sarah! With my nails done and dressed up I felt like a princess and it was the prefect way to finish off the day.







Goin' Coastal is a unique place that has all of the seafood shipped directly to them within 36 hours of being caught. They clean the seafood there to keep them as fresh as possible. It is a quaint little place with the old, rustic brick walls inside and simple decor.





The food could have been horrible for all I cared at that point. I was having a great day being pampered by my husband and spending it with him. It was just an added bonus that the food happened to be first class. Brad and I both had dishes we wouldn't normally find elsewhere. I had the Shrimp and Grits Ravioli with a Marinara sauce and Brad had the Shrimp and Rice in a Curry sauce. They were both very delicious.

I had very memorable day and felt loved and appreciated by all of you involved. Thank you for the amazing gifts and thinking of me on my special day. Here's to another amazing year of life!


Now here are some updated pictures of Mr. Moose- the reason that most of you actually visit this site :) They are nothing too exciting, but some that I took in our backyard the other day. He is just over 7 months old and weighing over 84 lbs! He put on 14 lbs in a month! I guess he is growing.
Here is is chewing on a branch from the rose bush. I can't imagine that it didn't hurt, but he seemed to love it.


This one I like to call his old man pose- or maybe Sherlock Holmes. He likes to cross his paws a lot while he sits. We think that it is cute. Of course we are probably a little partial. :)









Me and Moose enjoying the cool sun one afternoon- can you tell that my toes are freshly manicured??? Thanks Sweetie!!!







And lastly- here is Mr. Moose with his tug toy outside. His legs seem to be growing... and maybe he is filling in a little more in the chest? Our neighbor thinks that his head is starting to fill in too. I'm not positive. It doesn't seem that he has grown that much until we start to look at the pictures and compare.

Until next time....