12 on the 12th | March

Otherwise known as the day I went out with Jill to celebrate my birthday... with no set plans and no deadlines. Sweet.

1. Jill had made some notes about possible movies, times, and theaters. It seriously cracked me up that she included Avatar on the list. As if either of us would choose that!

2. We ate lunch at Rusted Sun Pizza. This sign about dessert was not lost on us, as we had two rounds of dessert as the day went on.

3. We stumbled onto this darling consignment store (Emilie Jayne), where we didn't buy anything but were sorely tempted by a lot of things (especially the painted furniture out front). This logo just makes me happy!

4. I can't remember the last time I used a parking meter. We went to Decades, a hard-core vintage clothing store in Salt Lake. The frequent signs reminding us that photos were not allowed were painful to us both, as this store is a treasure trove of photo ops, tempting--nay, begging-- you to get out your camera.

We decided we were either too old or too straight to shop at this store.

5. Home Goods was calling our name, so we stopped and perused (mostly the stationery aisle), and enjoyed it even though we failed to find something for Jill to display beneath the cloche on her sideboard.

6. Seeing a movie is a birthday tradition, and this time it was Valentine's Day. It has a great ensemble cast, but I'm glad I had low expectations, otherwise I might not have found it as entertaining. (Besides, it beat the hell out of He's Just Not That Into You, which we saw last year!)

7. I just love this picture of Jill. I can't say for sure what we were talking about here, but I love the combination of exasperation and laughter that is common in our conversations.

8. After stops at Ulta and Nordstrom Rack, we landed at Barnes & Noble. It's like coming home.

9. Jill made me a custom birthday mix! We listened to it as we drove around throughout the day and it was most pleasing.

10. Dessert at B&N. Jill got cheesecake, I got the chocolate caramel turtle bundt cake and had it warmed up. Yes, please.

11. My birthday gift!

12. When I opened the present, I saw a darling grey shirt that Jill found for me. She has such a knack with finding clothes that I love. I was thrilled, but then I saw that there was another wrapped gift underneath.

She made a photo book of all of my SPT posts. She called Lelly and had her write an introduction to the book. She included a smattering of blog comments in the back. It is the most brilliant, fabulous gift! I have no words.

In short, it was a wonderful (11-hour) day.