Can I be completely materialistic for a minute and just say that I totally RACKED UP on my birthday! Seriously, birthdays are the best. Especially mine. :) Please allow me to show off some of the super cute stuff I got.
First, from my friend Jenny, this cookbook holder. She brought this same gift to our girls' weekend gift exchange and I was major bummed that I didn't get to take it home with me. Now I have one of my own! I especially love how the ball-and-chains hold the pages down for me.
Mary Elizabeth not only reads my blog, but she also reads my mind. See, when I added the dish towels from Bed Bath and Beyond to my birthday wish list, those weren't the ones I was really looking for on their website. I saw some dish towels at Allison's house that I thought would go great in my kitchen but they weren't listed online. Assuming they were no longer available, I added different ones to my wish list. Well, Mary Elizabeth ended up giving me the ones I was looking for!
Beth, my oldest brother's wife, emailed me way in advance and asked what I'd like for my birthday. I told her I needed a neck wrap to soothe my aches and pains from sitting at a desk all day. She came through with this awesome neck wrap and eye mask set that can be both heated or chilled.
I could feel it's healing powers before even taking it out of the package.
Erin, my other brother's wife, knows that baking cupcakes is my thang. First, she got me the coolest cupcake carrier that has a built-in display stand with it. I can now take my cupcakes anywhere I want and then pop up the stand and display my mini cakes as soon as I reach my destination. I am super excited to use the cupcake batter dispenser that came along with it. I currently use a tablespoon to spoon my batter into the cups - at least 3 spoonfuls per cup - but this hand dispenser is not only going to make this step so much easier, but it's going to make it go much faster too!
Also in my package full o' goodies from Erin was another set of dish towels. Once again, not the ones on my wish list, but even cuter ones! I'm starting to think you guys know what I like even more than I do.
At this same party I opened a box full of cute clothes from my mom and dad. Two cute spring tops, a cardigan, and a summer dress all from Banana Republic. I love them all and really want to show them off since they're so cute, but I forgot to take a picture. Whoops!
On my actual birthday, I got to have lunch with some of my girlfriends. Even though I insisted it was not a birthday party, my sweet friend Kendra still showed up with a present. She bought me the Ann Taylor Loft shirt from my wish list! Yay!
On a semi-related note, last weekend I went to the Loft to finally purchase the oh-so-cute yellow skirt to go with the striped shirt above. They didn't have it in my size at the store so I decided I'd just order it online. Yesterday I got my coupons out, went to their website, clicked on the yellow skirt, and saw that, due to popular demand, it was no longer available. NOOOOO!!! Seriously? How could this happen? Major sad face. (If any of you see it in your local Loft store, snatch it for me!)
Doc's parents sent me two presents in the mail (yay, snail mail!). I waited until my birthday to open them. Inside I found a hand-beaded necklace and matching pair of earrings. Right up my alley! The pictures Doc took of me opening them are still on my camera, but I just so happen to be wearing the jewelry today so, just so I could show them off, I had a coworker take a picture of me. You really can't see the earrings in this picture, but trust me, they're super cute! (And apparently my blog is cropping off part of the necklace, too.)
In addition to sweet Lollipop, Doc also got me a new pink cover for my iPhone. The cover is soft and smooth like buttah in my hands.
And, because he is such a sweet husband, he sent me flowers to work. I love a fresh bouquet at work and especially love his thoughtfulness, but this particular arrangement has made me laugh. Doc ordered the arrangement through FTD.com. On their website, you can pick the bouquet you want and then choose the version you'd like delivered: good, better, or best. (Obviously the size and price go up depending on which version you order.) Doc sent me this picture of the arrangement he chose - this is the "better" picture but he ordered the "best" version of it.
A beautiful spring mix, right? Well, after you make your purchase on FTD.com, they send your order to a local florist so they can prepare the arrangement and have it delivered. I'm not sure how the florist is chosen, maybe it's just the luck of the draw? If so, we did not get very lucky. A florist called Blooming Gardens got Doc's order and by that afternoon, this was on my desk:
Hmmm...at least they got the colors right, I guess. Half the flower stems weren't even in water when I got it because the water was so low. And the "bow" looks like it might be the end of the roll since it's just tied in a knot and the right side has the creased fold under that rolls of ribbon have at the end. I think they may have also gotten the size proportions between the vase and the flowers in the original picture backwards. I hesitated to tell Doc about it but when he asked me if they were pretty, I couldn't lie. I wanted to make sure he didn't spend more money at this florist in the future. He was pretty hot when he saw the pictures of it and left a bad review on their site, but in the end, it's the thought that counts and I love that he thought of me. I, for one, am able to laugh about it and the bouquet does make me smile every time I look at it, so it's serving its purpose.
Thank you, friends and family, for all of my goodies and for making me feel so loved on my birthday!