Birthday recap

Yesterday was my birthday and what a lovely day it was! It was so nice that my birthday fell on a Sunday since Sundays are even more relaxed and low-key than normal days. My youngest sister Chandra is a working girl and works full-time (and usually works at least 50+ hours a week), so that means she's gone A LOT. If I had it my way she would quit her job and hang out with me all day, every day, but that won't pay the bills…! Anyway, Chandra is always off on Sundays, which is nice because it's fun to have a day set aside each week where I can count on the fact that we can just spend time together.

Back to my birthday. My family and I went to church in the morning, and then my sister Laura, her husband Brett and their baby came over for dinner. I come from a large family, but my four older sisters all live hundreds of miles away, so it's usually just the six of us (my mom, younger sisters Chandra and Laura, brother-in-law Brett and baby Amy) that get together to celebrate special occasions. Our family friend Paul also came over for dinner as well and it was great to see him since it's been several months.

My mom always makes a special dinner in honor of the birthday child. She asked me what I wanted this year and I told her what I really wanted was biscuits and fresh fruit because biscuits are one of my favorite foods and I dearly love them. However, since I know most people wouldn't consider that an actual dinner, I decided to go with scones and fresh fruit, and my mom also fixed a meat and cheese tray for everyone else. For all of you who are wondering what a scone is, it's similar to a biscuit, but sweeter, depending on what kind of scone it is. (They were white chocolate cranberry – so good!)

After dinner was over we did presents and cake which is always fun and makes for a good photo op!

My sister Laura made my birthday cake this year. It was an ultimate chocolate lovers cake with chocolate butter cream frosting and bittersweet chocolate ganache. The sweetness from the cake and butter cream frosting combined with the bittersweet chocolate ganache was amazing!

Chandra always makes me a homemade card each year and I always look forward to it. Here are a few pictures of her showing me my card and holding it up so I can read it. Then I posted a picture of the outside and inside of the card. Yes, that is a soft pretzel on the card! I absolutely love soft pretzels, although I rarely eat them since they aren't the greatest for you. One day Chandra and I were flipping through a magazine and I saw the picture of the pretzel. I jokingly said something like, "You can glue the pretzel in my birthday card." And she did! Anyway, I thought the message was so sweet, so I took a picture of it (with her permission) and I'm posting it here as well. (If you're wondering who Ponsi is, that's our nickname for each other. Inside story, don't ask! ;) )

Here are some of my favorite birthday presents. Peanut Butter Snickers– LOVE them!

iTunes gift cards – a perfect gift for me since I love to download audio books. (Boy, can they be expensive?!)

My friend Lacee gave me this, and I love it:

Pink! I absolutely love the smell of this lotion and body spray:

A gift card to The Cheesecake Factory:

Gnomeo and Juliet. I love this movie, especially because all of the music comes from Elton John's songs:

Peanut butter Bugles. So good! (These are just snack bags, but they look huge in the picture!)

A new hummingbird feeder. I'm really excited about this because it's the kind of feeder that suction cups to the window. I had one several years ago and I loved having hummingbirds come so close to my window, but then it broke in a thunderstorm. I've been searching for a new one ever since then, but I hadn't been able to find one that actually attaches to a window. I can't wait to put it up!

My grandparents sent me some money and I'm buying a movie I dearly love: Father of the Bride (part 1 & 2 both come in the same DVD). Although I've watched this movie over and over, I still love it and laugh every time I see it!

Paul gave me a Wood Wick fragrance diffuser. I first became acquainted with these several years ago when I saw one at my sister's house. I loved it because every time I would go past it I would catch a whiff of it. I love things that make my room smell good, so this is perfect!