weekend review - a gray wonderland, the birthday club, and a family picture

Well, the living room is done!  (Special thanks to Sara Bareilles and her new album for helping pass the time.)  We are living in a gray wonderland and absolutely loving it.  Can't wait to post some pictures!

But along with the excitement of getting a new and fresh living room this past weekend, I was whisked away for my birthday celebration with Reese and Sara.  (You can read about some past birthday extravaganzas with these ladies here, here, and here.)  They picked me up at 4:30 on Friday and we were off.  Our weekend consisted of dinner at H&8th, drinks at Packard's rooftop patio (which was so gorgeous), glorious sleep at the Skirvin hotel (in which I had my own bed), and brunch at Kitchen 324.

(the H&8th crowd)

(Egg rolls and fried rice from Taste of Soul.  I think I moaned with every bite.)

(live music at H&8th)

I'd been wanting to go to H&8th all summer and just hadn't had a chance to.  Also, I had yet to try Packard's or Kitchen 324 and was so excited to finally taste their goodness.  They did not disappoint.

And can we please talk about the weather?  It was not late-July-in-OKC weather, that's for sure.  It was absolutely perfect for all of our outdoor activities and walking downtown.

Also - good job, OKC, on having really awesome places to eat and things to do downtown.  10 years ago, a "surprise" birthday celebration would have either been eating at Chelinos or sitting in the caboose at Spaghetti Warehouse.

In addition to pulling off a ridiculously perfect birthday weekend, Reese and Sara gave me a pack of coke, a bottle of vanilla flavoring, and a Shimmers giftcard.  Yum.

I sure do love The Birthday Club.  We had so much fun together laughing, talking, and eating [repeat].  It's a blessing to have friends who really know you.  And I mean know know you.  Sure, they know that I like sleeping in hotel beds and listening to live music while eating and laughing about people we used to go to high school with and singing "it's a perrr-feeect daaayy" while strolling downtown.  But more than that, they know my soul and who I am at my core.  I can only pray that God blesses my children with friends like these.

I got home on Saturday with a full belly and a full heart.  I was ready to finish the attack on our living room and do some last minute cleaning for a shower I was hosting the next day.

Colt and I ended our Saturday evening by watching 500 days of Summer.  I'm not sure how I'd managed not to see this movie.  It just may be one of my new favorites.

After the shower on Sunday, we packed up a picnic dinner and headed to the Myriad Gardens for the summer concert series.

Hope you guys have a great week!