I really felt like I had a LOT to celebrate this year for my birthday. 

1. My mother’s recovery from her brain surgery, which is going GREAT!
2. My first birthday as a married woman!
3. My last birthday in my 20’s – next year is the big 3-0!!!! 

And maybe a few other things

What better way to celebrate then with two parties– one on each coast!  Although my actual birthday is December 9th, we started with an early celebration on December 6th in Pittsburgh since I would be going back to California on the 8th. 

The house was decorated!

It was my Mom and Rick, plus my sister Sarah with her boyfriend, Matt.  They were totally psyched.

We ordered Chinese food for dinner – no pictures, but it was delicious Chinese takeout.  I got shrimp with broccoli, a california roll, egg drop soup and chicken dumplings.  Yes, I was hungry!

The best thing about having chinese takeout at home for your birthday is that you can eat it in your pajama pants!  No unbuttoning jeans necessary for me.

Then it was time for cake.  My mom had gotten me a Coldstone cake – it was red velvet cake with cake batter ice cream (my fave!).

And LOTS of sprinkles!

Enough with the pictures, let’s cut this cake!

The five of us DOMINATED that cake.

Then of course there were presents.  I got lots of goodies from the family, including a flameless candle, Amazon gift certificates (can’t beat ‘em), hand lotions, a beautiful necklace, and more.  I am a lucky girl!

Fast forward a few days later.  I was back in California, and it was my real birthday!

I walked in…

And was instantly crowned with a tiara and a pink boa!

Plus lots of decorations, gifts, balloons, and a red velvet cake!

This was all courtesy of S.

Now what, you may ask, is going on in our house?  In case you didn’t notice anything unusual in the above picture, that is our stove that the birthday gifts and cake are sitting on.  And the stove is in the middle of our dining room.  Which you will notice no longer has any carpeting.  If I showed you the rest of our dining room, you would see the fridge and dishwasher in there as well.  And if I showed you the living room, well…

You would see basically everything else from the first floor of our house stacked up in various piles.  Including a piano, a china cabinet, tables and chairs, kitchen appliances…

When I left for Pittsburgh, S was determined to put wood laminate flooring into the first floor of our house while I was gone.  I was skeptical, since I knew it was a big job and I was going to be gone for only 1 week.  But he ASSURED me that it would be completed before I got home.

Let me tell you… when I walked into our house upon our return, this is what it looked like.  No more carpet… just concrete floors, uprooted furniture and appliances, and not a single piece of wood laminate put into place.  I was a little bit upset.

After my birthday surprise, I have tried to calm down and put it into perspective – my loving, dear husband just severely underestimated the time and effort this job requires (or severely overestimated his ability… not sure which.)

Ah well.  A test in patience.  It will be done in time… or else I will hire a professional to make it done!