birthday weekend!

i had one of the best birthdays i can remember all thanks to my wonderful friends, fiance & family! i was able to book a chalet at the "resort" my family went to in the summers while i was growing up. it's right on lake michigan with 2 beaches, a couple of pools and nice decks. first the girls came up on saturday. we made a pit stop at st. julian's for some wine tasting and to add to our stock of wine for the weekend. then we drove up to the chalet, changed immediately and went down to the beach. it was pretty hot so we all got in the water a bit and laid out for hours. later on we grilled and ate on the deck. tara surprised me with a beautiful and delicious cake from my favorite bakery, bit of swiss! i couldn't believe she remembered and went to so much trouble! i opened up more presents -everyone was much too generous, i feel very spoiled! then we took our wine and hit the beach for the sunset. we did a tiny photo shoot and enjoyed the scenery. afterwards we went back and did some late night snacks on the grill and some smores. we played games until late into the night and i was laughing so hard my face hurt. my friends are so fun :) then next morning everyone headed back to chicago and then rob came up that afternoon. we laid out and he swam and then we went to redamaks and oinks for an early dinner & dessert. we came back and enjoyed the most amazing sunset EVER and the great fireworks random guests set off on the beach. it was a great day and night! the next day my family came up. rob stayed to hang out all day before heading back to the city. he and my dad grilled some hot dogs and sausages for lunch and then we spent the rest of the day on the beach soaking up the rays. we came played a game on the deck and then dad grilled hamburgers & potatoes and mom brought up her delicious summer salad that rob loves. i opened more presents and then we went down to enjoy a subpar sunset. there were A LOT of fireworks for the 4th and it was fun to be able to watch from the deck. we played another game and then we hit the hay. a very relaxing day. the next day we went out to breakfast and went to bit of swiss to stock up on goodies before they took me home. i had all day yesterday to catch up on cleaning and organizing the apartment before coming back to work today which was great. i truly couldn't ask for a more special weekend!