It Takes A Village

...Or in our case a whole heck of a lot of people to keep their mouths shut and help make this day go smoothly.

Today was my roommates birthday, woohoo! Welcome to 23 love :)

I. Love. Birthdays.

Like seriously my mom use to always decorate the house and we would go all out for birthdays. It is the one day you are allowed to act like a brat because it is all about you and I feel that you should feel celebrated and loved! So it goes without saying that if you happen to be living with me and it's your birthday, watch out, I go a little cray cray.

Today was full of twists and turns for my roomie Lindsey. It all started when I hatched a plan and some other people started to get in on it and just evolved to this glorious day. At 5am this morning I got up armed and ready to decorate her hallway. With streamers, balloons, and all the air in my head after an hour I got this!

Oh yes. Balloon Surprise. I headed back to bed at 6:30 to get another hour or two. Around 8 I got up to make her some Monkey Bread, which she loves and her mom makes often. And since her parents aren't here I figured it would help. Her boyfriend, Braden was going to pick her up at 10 so I wanted to give me time to bake and have her eat before he collected her for the early morning shenanigans. The monkey bread turned out fantastic, I used this recipe here and this is how it turned out, sooo yummy!

After Monkey Bread, Braden whisked her away to go thrift shopping and just hang out since he took the whole day off of work to be with her.

I was super busy cleaning the apartment and running every errand under the sun, but I managed to sit down and eat and wrap presents and look presentable before heading to dinner at La Parrilla, a Mexican restaurant. (One of the only ones that would be able to accommodate us the night before Cinco De Mayo) Here are her presents, newspaper is way cheaper then wrapping paper by the way...

 

 

Dinner was sooo good and came with another surprise, her parents came into town for her birthday! They got there when we did and went to sit at the bar so that when she came she wouldn't see them and then come up behind her. It happened amazingly and she didn't even notice them at the bar and so when her mom walked up behind her when she was talking she turned around and cried, she has been wanting to see them a lot recently and so she was so happy. Dinner was yummy and then they brought out the ginormous cookie cake and a sombrero and we all sang to her!

 



Then it was present time which is always my favorite because I find WAY more joy in giving people stuff then receiving, it's a weird long complicated story on how messed up I am in ways. So I love, love, love finding the perfect gift and giving to those I love. She has wanted Beats by Dr. Dre for FOREVER and so I gathered as many people as I could and we all pitched in to get her a set for her birthday and she loved them (picture below). Not pictured below but she also got a record player from her boyfriend and earlier in the day she had gotten the newest Paramore album as a record so needless to say she was pretty happy.

We all went back to the house to play a game called Fish Bowl and it was a lot of fun. I then was able to complete her last big gift which was a board of encouragement from people she knows and loves. I had people fill out cards with Happy Birthday wishes and kind, encouraging words. When she opened it at the restaurant it was not finished as more people had to fill out cards but once I got home and everyone left I finished it up and this was the product. I am sure she will have a good time reading what everyone wrote. Sometimes we just need a reminder of how much we are truly loved.

 

 

In the end I would say it was a very successful day and I am exhausted! As her boyfriend Braden says "I am so glad birthday's are only once a year" but that's for sure why you have to go all out. It's your day to be celebrated :)

 

Off to Dreamland for me,

 

Jenny