Happy Birthday to ME!

So, I turned 28 a few days ago. I never know what to expect on my birthday, as I've never really had any set tradition or expectation. Moving across the country where you don't know anyone definitely does not aid in the whole knowing-how-to-celebrate-your-birthday thing. Lucky for me, I've got a fantastic husband (aka The Human Mixer) and we've been gifted some pretty stellar friends here in Philly. Turns out one of our friends, Andy, was born the day after me (and a couple years later), so we decided to have a joint birthday beach extravaganza.

The day started off well - I woke up to a delicious breakfast and a three-part scavenger hunt involving gifts. I love gifts. I'll admit it. Especially this one:

A new backpack to explore the rugged terrain of the East Coast!! Can't wait to use it.

I left for work and picked up a free Venti iced chai on the way. Even Starbucks celebrates my birthday!

My co-workers threw me a "surprise" ice cream cake party, complete with balloons and unintentionally hilarious conversation, as always.

I came straight home from work where our friends were waiting to pick us up, threw some bags in the car and took off for Cape May, NJ. It was such a beautiful drive, especially once we were done inching our way across Philly.

We had a great dinner and more ice cream cake! This was Dairy Queen ice cream cake - the one and only. YAY.

The next morning, we woke up and just relaxed. Some people drank coffee, some people read, some people went for a walk or run, and some people (ahem, Raven) organized the kitchen:

Love it. We started Andy's birthday celebration by adorning her with an assortment of homemade balloon animals, mostly thanks to Jared:

It was such a great weekend. We had so much fun relaxing and being together.

You just do not see this kind of architecture and detail in Colorado:

The view from our balcony:

Clearly, we were pretty stressed out:

Intense Bocce Ball:

Lots of music. There's always music. I love it:

Sunburn = no beach during the day. Sunburn + the beach + the evening time = BLISS:

We capped the weekend off by all talking about what we were thankful for, and what we want to remember from the past year. Such sweet time and conversation. I love that this group of friends never fails to "go there". It is unique, and such a gift! All in all, it was a GREAT birthday. Happy Birthday to me (and Andy).