A Fun Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated my birthday. The actual day was Saturday, May 30th, but I managed to squeeze a couple days out of the celebration! On Friday night we went to dinner at our favorite sushi restuarant, Nippon Tei. It was delicious and so fun to see everyone! It seemed like it had been forever since we'd all hung out. Afterwards we went to Bar Louie in Kirkwood to sit outside and enjoy a drink. On Saturday afternoon we headed to the wineries in Augusta. We went to three different ones: Montelle, Balducci's, and Mount Pleasant. Brian's best friend from New Orleans was in town, and it was fun to have Winston there. It was a beautiful day and so much fun to relax and hang out. Thanks, everyone, for helping me celebrate!

I can't believe this is my last year in the 20's. For those of you who aren't good at math...yes, that means I'm 29. Yikes! I'm not usually this reflective on my birthday, but this year I found myself thinking about the many things I have to be thankful for. I've been blessed to have some really great life experiences...studying abroad in Italy, working at an orphanage in Africa, moving back to Bartlesville to live with my sister and be close to my parents for over a year, and most recently starting a new adventure with Jonathan here in St. Louis. I'm blessed with a wonderful job that I love and a school with wonderful families and teachers. I also feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family - some near and some a little farther away than I'd like. And I'm especially blessed to have found my wonderful husband...my best friend...my rock. I just love him so much and am so grateful for each day that we get to spend together! Or maybe not every day, but most days anyway. :-)

Okay enough of the sappy stuff. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Thanks to everyone for the fun birthday wishes, messages, and thoughts! I felt so special all weekend long!

A blog post is not complete without the infamous close-up shot

Sarah and Dave came to dinner on Friday. I was so glad they came!

The girls...Sarah, Kim, Missy, Mallory, me and Michelle

Some pictures from the wineries:

Brian, Winston, Jonathan and Dustin

Lindsey, me and Mallory

Dustin entertained us all with the Mashed Potato at Balducci's

Dustin and Lindsey got me this fun glass to use all day. I love it!