We're Gonna Party Like It's My Birfday!

According to my mother's text message last night..."Happy for real birthday! 28 years ago tonight at 6:31, Megan Suzanne Smith was born!  It was on a Wednesday night.  The whole FBC church family celebrated."

Yep.  Yesterday was my birthday!  And, this was the first year that I can remember celebrating ALL. DAY. LONG!  I loved it!  My hubby has been working nights this month, and when he came home around 8 yesterday morning, he brought me a Route 44 Diet Coke from Sonic with a hilarious birthday card before climbing into bed.  To fully appreciate this act, you would have to also know that we were completely out of drinks!  The world was caving in around me!  Ha!  Not only did he get me a cold drink, but he brought home a 12-pack of Diet Cokes for the fridge too!  I stayed in bed a bit longer and watched TV, since he had just gotten in, before I began to get ready for my lunch date.  Russ had already told me that if he could sleep for just a little while, the rest of the day was mine.  Well, of course I would!  After 3.5 hours of sleep, he started getting ready for our lunch date too.  We joined Jamie for a yummy lunch at Buon Chibo.  Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of our lunch celebration!

After lunch, I immediately knew what I wanted to do!  I've been mulling this over in my little brain for a while now.  I wanted a Snicker's cheesecake from City Hall Cheesecake!  So, Russ and I shared the giganticly incredible cheesecake before running a few errands, making a surprise purchase for Russ, and heading back home for Christmas movies and a nap for the hubs.

Russ arranged for my family to come in for my birthday dinner!  I made the request for Mesquite Chop House.  Since our local one was booked up, Russ made reservations at the downtown Memphis location.  It was beyond yummy!

We were seated in the VIP room alongside a burning fireplace.  We could be as loud as we wanted, which knowing my family, you would have appreciated that!  Ha!  I think Kristin may have exercised her utmost nerve management as she burned from the fireplace!  But, other than that, it was perfect seating.  Everyone was able to come...

Kristin and Lee

Russ and me

Daddy and Maw Maw

Dustin and Mama

I cannot continue this post without sharing a picture of the deliciousness of which I ate!  I ordered the bacon wrapped filets, which came with steamed broccoli and cheesy potatoes.  Oh. My. Goodness!

Dustin and I were quite impressed with the presentation...and the fact that we got our food first!

Mine and Dustin's meals

After everyone, literally, ate everything off their plates, it was time to open presents!  Growing up, I used to hate opening gifts in front of everyone.  I would always show the gifts to my mom for her to react FOR me.  I know.  I'm weird.  But, we already knew that, right?  Since then, I've gotten a little better.  And it's a good thing, because I got some fantastic goodies this year!

Pops gave me a NICE NJ Woods canvas painting for the baby's room! 

Mama and Daddy gave me this awesome felt nativity set for the baby's Christmas decorations!  How much do you LOVE it?  And how much to you love that Baby Jesus has blonde hair!?  Such a special gift!

Kristin and Lee gave me this awesome laundry bag for Baby J!

...and the super cute frog!

Kristin didn't want "Mommy" to go without a gift for myself, so they also gave me this stylish cropped sweater!  I love it!  Maw Maw gave me some special gifts too, along with the Big Buddha shoes from Mama, Daddy, and Dustin and the Alice in Wonderland movie Dustin got me!  He wrapped it especially for me in his coat!  Love it!

After our sweet waitress cleaned up my mess, she brought out our dessert choices!  OH MY at the deliciousness!  We all ooooooh'd and ahhhhhhh'd over the assortment before placing our final order.  Me?  I stuck with my Plain Jane cheesecake!  Ha!

Daly, our sweet waitress for the evening

Dustin took slight control over the camera at some point....

Maw Maw had wrapped up some birthday candles in my gift, and they came in handy!  Our waitress took them, stuck one in my FREE cheesecake, and lit the candle before bringing it down to our "VIP room."

Presentation is everything!  Ha!

Everyone sang the traditional "Happy Birthday" song, so that I would have the cue to blow out the candles.  You'll never guess what I wished for!

Made a wish and blowing out my candle!

The night wasn't quite over!  After we paid our bill and began squirming in our seats, which signifies the start of getting up from the table, the manager came over to check on our experience.  It just so happened that we came right smack dab in the middle of their "12 Day of Christmas" promotion, and the birthday girl received a $50 gift card for my next visit!  Whoop whoop!  And then, sometime during our night, I noticed a new blog post up on The Square Cupboard's blog.  This was strange, especially since I did all the blogging!  It turns out those sweet girls I work with concocted a blog post all about me on our store blog!  Oh my!  I absolutely love my life! 

One happy birfday girl!

When it was time to begin the trek outside to our cars, we loaded up all the gifts, memories, and fun times, and headed to our parking garage...."Parking Can Be Fun."  I'm telling the truth...that was the name of it!

I am so thankful for an evening spent with family!  I am so grateful that they traveled the 2-3 hours to spend one night celebrating ME!  I enjoyed every bit of my 28th birthday!  I am thankful to have spent an entire day with my hubby, a great friend, and my family!  I am certainly 28 years BLESSED!

So, I think it's okay if I "partied like it was my birfday!"