Friday night:
* a picnic with our neighbors in the park
* a surprise NIKON D40 (!!) in my backpack (thank you, thank you, thank you, Ryan!)
* my sister, Emily walking towards me with a pink bow on her head and her darling roommate, Molly, who drove with her from Liberty U, at her side.
Saturday:
* a hike up Mount Nittany
* my mom throwing a bag of balloons and confetti on Emily, who opened the front door when my mom, Julie, and Erin knocked to surprise ME, who was nursing Lia on the couch, but the plan still worked because Emily was also there as a surprise to my mom, who was as surprised that Emily was here as I was that they were here (hmmm… ‘sounds like the twists and turns of an Oscar Wilde story). None of them were surprised that I was here.
* the chop-chop salad and a glass of white wine at Kelly’s Steakhouse
* a pedicure (and nap!) at my favorite spa downtown
* nursing Lia in the back corner of a sweaty pizza shop while listening to the rapping raggae rabbi (why no one took a picture of this monumental moment, I’ll never know)
* a bit of shopping (during which I found very few articles of clothing that I could even try on because, well, it’s summertime in a college town and the co-eds are either sporting spaghetti-strapped Kleenex or “dresses” that are actually left-over maternity shirts, which I refuse to wear unless I’m extraordinarily short. (Of course, I could wear them as the shirts they are with jeans underneath, but I refuse to do this unless I’m pregnant. Because they are maternity shirts.) I did find a beautiful burnt orange top and two pairs of earrings that I liked, so the trip was successful and super fun
* some down time at home
* Olive Garden take-out (My favorite: The Beef Tortilini)
* A surprise gathering of Ryan’s and my sides of the family and our dear neighbors at Ryan’s office for my dearly beloved Wegman’s fruit-tart
Sunday (my actual birthday!):
* waking up at 7 a.m. and realizing that I hadn’t seen Lia since midnight (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!)
* church (at which we sang songs of gratitude and Heaven, such wonderful birthday meditations)
* left-over Beef Tort and Fruit Tart
* reluctant good-byes as the rain drizzled on
* all four Booz’s taking naps (bliss)
* buying socks at Target
* opening Vivienne’s present for me: a beautiful perfectly-blue necklace and matching earrings. Ryan said she was insistent that they were just want I would want (and she was right: they’ll be a way for me to always remember my little blue + necklace-loving girl).
