birthday weekend.

my birthday fell on a friday this year so i celebrated all weekend long and then some. on friday i came into work and my coworker brought me a balloon and some of them took me out to lunch. i was having a great day and then there was drama. i got all upset and knew i was going to be upset for the rest of the day. i tried to put on a happy face for meeting my friends - they surprised me with a big group at dinner. they all were way too generous to do dinner, gifts and go out. they're wonderful. we had a great dinner at cafe baba reeba and then we went to thunder from down under. yes, you heard me. the male strip/dance show. my friend suggested it and we all thought it would be hysterical! we found a good deal for cheap tickets and went for it. it was seriously the worst/best thing i've ever seen in my life. i was laughing so hard! however, that many women in one place is tricky though - girls were pushing, fighting, etc. and ofcourse i yelled at some girl and caused a huge ruckus and then cried. yes, cried. that's what happens when i have a shitty day at work, a pitcher of sangria and too many coors. whoopsie! my friends were rockstars though and put up with me for the rest of the night and we moved over to kirkwoods and had some fun. then some of us went to matildas hoping to dance but the dance part was closed :( then a couple of us ended the night at sopo lounge. overall, i made a scene and was ridiculous but i still had a great time with my best girlfriends. (Sorry to be crazy ladies! you know how i get!!)

saturday the bf took me to my favorite place - southwest michigan!!! we got to st. joe's and went to the krasl art museum which is literally 2 tiny rooms with about 8 pieces of art. it was an interesting exhibit with some things i loved and some things not so much. glad we got to go though! then we got a cookie at the wonderful bit of swiss and then went to the beach. it was super hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - it was perfect for laying out! we got lunch at the little concessions stand there and i also got a sno-cone to cool off. i never get in the water but i was in and out of the water multiple times because it was so hot! after the beach we drove to new buffalo for dinner at redamaks and ice cream at oinks. both made me SO happy! rob also gave me a gorgeous chain to replace one that had broken for my pearl and diamond necklace he gave me a few years ago. i'm so glad i can start wearing it again!

sunday i went to hang out with my family in the burbs. my mom recently had surgery so i wanted to try to help her out and give my dad a little break. my aunt, brother, cousin and rob came over for a bbq dinner and to open gifts. later on my bro, dad and i did some legal fireworks in the backyard. we had sparklers, smoke bombs, poppers, a sparkler tree and my dad also snuck in a pagoda - my favorite! on monday i helped my mom while my dad was at work. i cleaned up a little and made our famous ham and cheese sandwiches to stock up in the fridge for them so they wouldn't have to cook. then i caught a train up to the city so i could lead bingo. i sat with a new group of men this time because we were short volunteers. they were so sweet and it was fun to meet new residents. then i met one of my best buds for tea. she was responsible for putting together my whole birthday dinner - she's the best! we had a nice catch up.

tuesday was all for me. i took the day off for a birthday present to myself. i slept in, read in bed, did laundry, cleaned up a little bit and then took myself to lunch. i originally wanted to go to xoco but it was closed till thursday for the 4th of july holiday. bogus! so i ended up at a place called e.leaven. i had a delicious blt with goat cheese. YUM! then i went to the shedd to use my membership. it was very crowded and very hot inside but i still got to hang out and watch my otters, penguins, dolphins and beluga whales for awhile. i also checked out the wild reef and the main tank. it made me happy to go! then i went shopping. i came out with a few new good items and didn't over spend! phew! i also got some new books at the library. after all of that i headed home to scrapbook. i have had all these trip pictures printed but i never did the scrapbook pages for them so i started working on them and got a bunch done! then i met a few girlfriends for drinks and then went for ice cream with rob. seriously a great day! i feel so much better having had a day all to myself to do exactly what i wanted.

i'm so grateful to have so many people in my life that are there for me no matter what and there to celebrate my birthday.