my 38th birthday

I slept in until 10:00! It was glorious. Then I got up and Marc wanted me to open his present:

Also glorious! I've been coveting this baby for some time now. And in my favorite color, too! Eva was almost as excited as I was, and she can't wait to help me make something with my new mixer.

Then I opened some birthday good mail.

A huge set of Sharpies from Natasha! I've always wanted these.

Kim Sue sent me some architectural photo cards that I love, along with a sweet letter!

Amie sent me a thoughtful card.

Claudia sent me this chandelier card and said that she bought it before I changed my banner and was delighted to see that I am a fan of chandeliers.

Patsy sent me this cute little pouch with a Ritter bar inside. Ribbon? Monogram? Chocolate? Check. I love all those things.

Shannon sent me these owl magnets and darling polka dot address labels.

Wende sent me these cute birthday cards.

Kristi sent me 3 beautiful brown transferware plates! Oh, I love these. She also sent me some cute birthday napkins and a Vera Bradley card organizer.

Suddenly I realized it was getting late, so I hurriedly got ready for my date with Jill. She picked me up and we went straight to the theater to see He's Just Not That Into You.

This is our post-movie self-portrait. Jill called it "a bit of a wrist-slitter". I don't know that it was that bad, but it was definitely not the comedy the trailer led us to believe. Not a light, happy movie. I wouldn't recommend it. But we did have popcorn and m&ms and we were able to roll our eyes together.

We went to California Pizza Kitchen and had good food and chatted. Then we went into the mall (neither of our favorite places) to exchange something for Whitney.

Lo and behold, a little girl was selling Girl Scout cookies outside Build-a-Bear and Jill bought me some for my birthday! I love Girl Scout cookies. Love them. And I never seem to know anyone who is selling them, so I haven't had any for years. I'm excited.

When we got back to my house, I opened Jill's other gifts. She gave me this shirt and an enormous stainless steel bowl (the bowl was the only thing I could think of that I wanted when she asked).

She also brought the gift from my parents and grandparents that had been sent to her house:

a cute orange KitchenAid! They both had the same idea. I never anticipated getting one such generous gift, let alone two! Of course, I have to return one, so I hope my mom isn't too disappointed.

I opened Jessie's gift, which she preceded with disclaimers-o-plenty. Silly girl. Let's see, the cutest knitting needle holder in the world (it's lime green inside!), stitch markers, wool yarn, two adorable fabrics, a tin of handmade magnets, and a most excellent precision liquid eyeliner from Ulta. No complaints here! I love it all.

Marc's family came over with dinner and we talked for quite awhile (I was too full to eat again). Since I wasn't taking pictures, we don't have much documentation of that part of the day. Marc's parents gave me a Nordstrom gift card so I can buy some new shoes. (They gave me shoe money for my birthday last year, but I saved it, and it ended up going towards Christmas gifts. They wanted to make sure I actually bought shoes this time!)

And, of course, Marc made me my traditional birthday cake, German Chocolate.

He is the master of that cake now. And, thanks to a brilliant suggestion on Eva's part, we had it with coconut ice cream! (And I didn't think it could be improved upon.)

At church yesterday, some of my fellow YW leaders were asking if I had a good birthday or if it was just another day. I proudly told them that birthdays are a big deal around here, and it most definitely was not just another day! Thanks to so many loved ones and friends for making it wonderful.