Tales from the Crib: Bidding adieu to my roaring 20s...

Sorry I've been behind on the blog. March was a busy one. Which has been wonderful, but means I have lots of catching up to do, since I am just realizing that I didn't post a single time all of March (I think that might be a new record of blogging absence for me!)

Anyway, March began, as it always does, with my birthday. Only this year, was a little different seeing as I turned the big 3-0. I know... can you believe it?! Oh my word, I remember when my own mother turned 30. I was 10 at the time and I distinctly remember thinking that my mom was OLD! Lol! And now here I am. What a funny feeling!

Now, I don't normally do big celebrations. In fact, I rarely "celebrate" and most certainly am not one to plan something for myself. If we celebrate, it's something simple at home.

But seeing how this was a BIG birthday, and seeing how several friends also had birthdays in March, a joint-bday bash seemed to be in order. The 20s theme was a stolen idea from another friend from back home. And a quick search on Pinterest quickly yielded some fun ideas.

Anyway, the birthday girls were sweet to accommodate my crazy ideas. Here's my friend, Kim. We had 4 bday girls, but Kim and I were the one's hitting 30, and the other two... well, let's just say they were forever 29 in spirit, right ladies? ;)

Kim is finishing up her last semester at UNC law school. So this pic was very fitting! I'm going to miss her sweet family so much--they have been such a blessing to me over the last 4 years! And I am ever amazed at all the things Kim does and seems to do it all so effortlessly. For starters, she's had two babies while in law school! Insane, right? On top of that, she's always whipping up little sewing projects--quilts, dresses, things for the kids, along with maintaining a phenomenal garden year round. Wonder Woman! But while I will miss her so much...at the same time, I am so happy that her husband (who was finishing up med school at UNC) found a job in WV near their family. I'm so happy for them!

Anyway, my friend, Katie, shares my bday... so we "March 4th" together each year, only she's a few year's my senior... I'll leave it at that ;) She worked at the same school where I taught, and got pregnant with her first baby about 6 months before I got pregnant with Elizabeth. We are both stay at home moms, and both have 2 children now similar in age. Alas, because we live about an hour away, we don't get to see each other much any more. I was SO glad she agreed to come celebrate with us! And, again, she's another phenomenal mom I admire so much. She stays at home, but also works nearly full time writing questions for Classcapes and for years had helped with her stepdad's business part time. She is amazingly crafty and talented and I miss seeing her on an almost-daily basis as when we were working. But so glad we were able to catch up and hang out for a bit. And we now have a new story to remember about the crazy rainstorm we had to drive home in--lol! Yikes!

Amy was the 4th birthday girl... and another wonderful friend of mine. We met for the first time at Babysteps (the class I took when Elizabeth was just an infant), only she was in the class after mine. We somehow struck up a conversation one day as she was coming in and my group was leaving. We found out later that we had also both done Baby Signs class, AND Aqua Moms, but at slightly different times. Finally, when I moved out here, I decided to join a mommy-baby stroller-fitness class, and that is where we ended up meeting and becoming friends. It has been SO wonderful and SUCH a blessing to have a friend nearby who is kinda in the same "stage" of life. Lots of playdates... and always someone I can email or call if I have a question about something or simply need to vent. I'm so lucky to have met her and to call her a friend!

Rynn is another sweet church friend of mine. She is a working mom, so I don't get to hang out with her as much as I would like--which is why MNOs are always great! AND, in case you can't tell from the pics above, she's expecting! Her second child, actually (her little one Jase is a little older than Liam and one of his best buddies) Anyway, we found out only the week before the party... so she's still pretty early on. In case you can't read the caption: "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime... gal? guy? Your guess is as good as mine... but I can't wait to find out!!!

Here's our "group shot."

Kim's good friend Carly was also able to come. Unfortunately, the date we picked didn't end up working for a lot of our other good friends. Sigh. I guess March isn't just a busy month for my family. But it was still nice to have a smaller group to celebrate with!

OH, and apparently in our 30s we will need to invest in some "nair"... check out those Staches--lol!

As a little gift to the birthday girls, I put together these little (and very inexpensive) bubble gum containers, with the tags that read "30 blows" or "Birthdays Blow." Totally my mom's idea... thanks mom!!! :)

So the night before the party my mom and sis were getting all their things packed up to head home the next morning (I promise, I'll get to that post and those pictures soon). Anyway, after they headed off to bed, Vassil and I decided to stay up and watch the KU game. For some reason, we couldn't get the actual game to show up (it was a different network, and the online live-stream wasn't loading up), so we sat and watched the play-by-play pop up on the computer (an insane way to watch a BB game, I know!), but while we did that I cut out the letters and all the little "props" for the "photobooth." I've seen this idea at so many parties lately... had to copy! And it was nice to have something like that to keep my hands/mind busy off the excitement of that game (even if we couldn't get the video).

Considering it was done the night before, I thought it turned out cute. The word bubbles I made a few weeks prior to the party.... just foam cardboard cut to the shape, with chalkboard paint on top (we had all the supplies at home, so this was super inexpensive and easy to put together).

We decided to book the little Soda Shoppe in our historic downtown. I'm not entirely sure how old this place is.. but its OLD and full of vintage/historic charm. They actually close kinda early, so this was not our original location idea. But we ended up switching to this location for a few reasons, and actually the old vintagy upstairs rooms fit the theme perfectly.

Dressing up was definitely half the fun! As you can see the two 30s girls really got into it... fishnets and all! lol! Vassil loved the costume--said we needed to do "theme" nights more often--brahahaha! ;)

The answer to the questions above and below is a resounding... "NO!" lol!

Anyway, along w/having fun w/the photobooth... we had dinner.

It was a nice, fun time.

With some very great ladies.

I do believe my 30s will be my best decade yet!

*** *** ***

Of course, no birthday would be complete without my most favorite people in the world. On my actual birthday, Vassil surprised me with flowers and a wonderful pie.

They all sang "Happy Birthday" of course! So sweet and special!

30!?!?!

I love my wittle bitty family. This was so sweet.

Vassil and I were going to go out that night and take the kids to the drop-off place. But we were both pretty tired and decided we'd just wait for when my mom/sis arrived, which wasn't too much longer. When they did come, we did end up going out one night.

Vassil totally spoiled me rotten by taking me to a restaurant I've been wanting to try since we've moved here--The Angus Barn. Oh my! It was FAN-SAY!

This is me making my fancy-pants face.

How could I NOT order a big juicy steak at a place called The ANGUS Barn. When in Rome... lol! We are going to have to come back again soon! YUMMY! They have a Titanic reenactment meal every year... the entire last meal that was served on the Titanic... and I think it's served on plates that were on the Titanic or something. I can't decide if this would be totally creepy or fun?

The place was so charming... I had to resist the urge to take pics of the bathroom, because even it was all decked out. You know I was tempted though--lol!

We tried to get a pic of the two of us together. Alas, my cheap-o camera is not the easiest thing to work with. Sometimes you have to have just the right touch. Oh well. Blurry... but evidence of a wonderful date night with my wonderful hubby.