Best Birthday Day Ever!

So yesterday we celebrated my birthday. (It's not actually until the 30th. I'll be 30 on the 30th - my golden year). It ended up being a surprise party and I was totally shocked! I knew Jill had a day planned for us and then I thought we were just going out to dinner with a bunch of friends...because that's what the email said that she sent out to everyone. Apparently this planning started back in April. Everyone had me totally fooled!

So our day started out with a lovely brunch at The Pantry. I love this place! Normally I would go with the omelette (because they are baked and delicious and fluffy and cheesy), but I decided on the cherry cheesecake crepes. So good!

Then it was off to get my haircut. Apparently Jill had planned for us to get a mani/pedi, but in passing conversation I mentioned that I'm not all about the "spa" type events. So I sort of put a damper on those plans, but I did get a nice trim on the hair and bangs. She got the pedi.

After that we stopped by Sonic to pick up a delicious cherry limeade and then it was off to Catching Fireflies. Cutest shop ever! I ended up getting a headband to wear at dinner (which I obviously totally didn't end up needing)...

and a cute little crystal to hang in my window...

On the way to our next stop, I received this gift...

It's a garden stone so I need to find the perfect place for it. Every time I look at it I'll remember my awesome birthday day!

Next stop was the International Gem and Jewelry show. (Oh, and by the way, with each planned stop, Jill had a little note card that I opened that sort of had a clue in it. Best idea ever! Those little note cards made me all excited and Jill thought that was hilarious).

So we stopped by the show and I picked up 6 more glass rings...

And apparently at this point, we hadn't quite used up enough time to let everyone prepare for the surprise back at her house so she was trying to keep us at the show longer. By this point I was pretty beat and just wanted to get back to her house to chill for a few, change and go out to dinner. Little did I know she was stalling.

After the jewelry show we stopped by Caribou Coffee for a little caffeine burst and Jill needed to "just sit and relax for a few". Oh, you mean stall?! LOL

So we finally start heading back to her house and I decide to text Jim and ask him what he's up to. He was heading over to Jill's, along with some of my other friends, to have a few drinks before we went out to dinner...or so I thought. So Jim tells me he had just left at it was like 6:45. I know in the fake email that Jill sent that everyone was supposed to meet at her house at 7:00 so I was kind of like, geez, way to leave so late.

So we get to Jill's house and there's a few cars in the driveway (including Jim's, hmmmmmmmmm), but nothing out of the ordinary since I knew people would be there already. But then Jill tells me I have to go around back first because those few people might want to say hi to me before I dart off and change. So I walk around back and I'm greeted with about 30 people all yelling surprise! My parents were there (which I TOTALLY did not expect), friends from work, everyone! It was so awesome! And I did get a little choked up (which is why I didn't take off my sunglasses Rachel, lol).

So yeah, they pulled of a surprise party and it was so much fun!

They even rented one of those bouncy/boxing ring things...

And then of course there was the delicious cake...along side my custom koozie which reads "it took me 30 years to look this good" lol.

Everyone put a lot of work into this and I'll never forget it. Thanks everyone for a very memorable birthday!