The Young and the Restless

32 & Feelin' the love

The one thing I will remember from this birthday is all the love that came my way. This whole week I have been on a birthday high with overwhelming feelings of gratitude for the wonderful people that fill my life. Watching my kids for 5 hours while I had a leisurely shopping trip, throwing me a fabulous lunch, the gifts, the texts, the phone calls, the emails and especially the thoughtful cards all left me feeling...well, very loved. And this was all before my actual birthday even happened.

the classic balloon backdrop homecoming pose

Somehow we all unknowingly matched the party theme colors, look at us coordinating so well.  And a big PS--summer scarfs are a lie. Those two words do not belong in the same sentence.  No matter how light and airy they are, I learned the hard way that scarfs have no place in the Arizona heat. boo.

And then came my real birthday.  I gave myself the annual pep talk about not being a brat on my birthday, but I knew it would be especially hard because I was spending my birthday hosting Jayden's birthday party.  I tried to not to act like it bothered me too much since I already had such a great week of pampering, but I kind of missed a day of relaxation. Okay, really missed it. Kylie and Jason were so sweet to pitch in and help so much, but the truth is it's hard to feel special when you're baking cupcakes and entertaining a bunch of energetic boys . The plan was to go to dinner as a family that evening after the party.  When the time came I was exhausted and not in the mood for wrestling a baby at a restraunt during bedtime, but still wanted to do something special for my birthday.  Jason and my good friend Melissa know me well and instead of going to the restraunt we had planned, he took a detour to her house to drop the kids off and surprised me with dinner reservations in Scottsdale.  It was exactly the birthday I always dream of.  We went to the Alto Ristorante at the Hyatt Regency and the best part was that it included a gondola ride.  It was oozing in romance, everything I love and everything Jason rolls his eyes at.  I knew he loved me when he was willing to eat froo froo food that we couldn't even pronounce, sit out on the candle lit patio to enjoy the ambiance even though it was like 100 degrees, "relax" with me on the poolside secluded beds, cuddle with me on the gondola while our gondolier sang Italian love songs under the stars and tell me he loved it because he was there with me. He may or may not have even serenaded me on the way home to Origins "Growing Old".  Try not to be too jealous. He did get off the hook from dressing up, everyone else was dressed to the nines and we were a tad bit on the casual side.  He was worried I would be suspicious if he told me to dress up, but next time I want to get gussied up with nothing short of prom attire. Now the birthday bar has been set at a new high and it's going to be hard to top next year. Thank you to everyone who made me feel so special, I couldn't ask for better friends or family!