26 Treated Me Right.

I know, I've been slacking on the blog!  We had a busy week, but I'm still here.  I promise Monday I'll be back with a new "Let's Talk Hair", but first I'll share a little bit about my birthday weekend.

February 19th I turned 26.  I gotta be honest, I wasn't thrilled about that number.  It's no landmark age.  It just means I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20, or as Gary pointed out, closer to 50 than 0... it's crazy how fast life moves. 

However, despite the number, it was a good birthday.  A few days prior to the big day I began getting cards in the mail from out of town family wishing me well.  I used some of their birthday money to buy a new outfit and shoes (if you gotta get older, might as well look good on your birthday).  Then the day before the big day the finishing touch for my new birthday attire arrived in the mail from my sister and brother [in-laws], Gina and Zach, in the form of a necklace with a small pair of scissors hanging from it.  It couldn't be more perfect.  I think I've worn it every day since it arrived on my doorstep.

I arrived at work Saturday morning to a birthday banner on my mirror, balloons and chocolate on my station, and lots of birthday wishes from clients and co-workers.  Text messages, Twitter shout outs, and Facebook wall posts flooded my phone all day.  Gary came to the salon at lunch with Sonic and a balloon in hand, and I ended my work day with a birthday pedicure from Carrie.  Pink polish from the new OPI "Texas" collection now adorns my toes, leaving me ready for summer.

When I walked in the door from work a gift and and card were sitting on the kitchen counter, bearing Gary's handwriting.  (This came as a shock since I had told him not to buy me anything after impulse buying an over-priced floor lamp from West Elm last week.)  He came around the corner pushing the vacuum, saw me eyeing the gift and ran over to watch me open it.  It was a small HD video camera for our Europe trip!  (This means videos on the blog in the near  future, so get pumped.)

Saturday evening we met 8 others for Sushi at Little Rock's Sushi Cafe, one of my favorite restaurants.  The service was slow, but the food and the company were wonderful.  After dinner we moved the party to our house for cheesecake (homemade for me by Laura) and martinis. 

Sunday we met my family for a birthday lunch at ZaZa.  Afterwards we went to Mom and Dad's for cupcakes and gifts.  My sister made me an awesome gift basket full of goodies for crafting and [hopefully] sewing.

My friends and family are the best.  I couldn't have felt more loved on my birthday.  Who cares if I am knocking on 30's door, life just keeps getting better with age.

You can find me in St. Louie!

We spent all day driving to St. Louis... we only got lost a few times. This is the beautiful view from our super nice room at the Hilton!

We got here just in time for dinner. We ate at the "Drunken Fish." Here are some highlights:

I had octopus, salmon, and red tail snapper sushi. Yum!

We also walked to see the arch at night. So pretty.

More to come... stay tuned!

Saturday Night Sushi.

Work was busy today, Saturdays usually are. By the time I got off there was no time to enjoy the beautiful weather. However, we did have a nice night out with our friends John and Aleasa. We had dinner and sushi at Benihana. I haven't been to Benihana in forever, but it's always lots of fun. Tonight I had salmon, shrimp and red tail snapper sushi and steak for dinner. I am stuffed!

John and Aleasa are getting married in December. Aren't they cute?

After dinner, Gary and I went to Krispy Kreme for dessert. Did we blow all of our hard work at the gym this week? Yes. But, ya gotta live a little, right?

Don't forget to "spring forward" tonight. We are all gonna be feeling that loss of an extra hours sleep tomorrow at church, but it will be nice to have daylight till 8pm again.