Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 27th birthday. Hard to believe. For all of you reading this who are already past the 30-year marker, you may not be impressed by this milestone. Note, however, that I am now only three year this side of OLD! My oldest brother, Big Daddy, will turn 31 in July. Crazy. When did this happen. It seems that all of us kids grew up and became adults at some point, but I kind of missed it happening. Now we're married and have not just jobs but careers. Some us (not me yet) are bearing children!

Anyhow, in honor of my 27th birthday, Wes made me dinner (per my instructions) and a cake (a surprise) and got me a present -- an Indigo girls CD. They're playing at Ravinia this summer, and I got us tickets. Unfortunately, I ruined the effect of the suprise last night by -- shame on me -- coming home from work early. I was able to cut out from the office two hours earlier than planned and thought Wes would be excited that we could spend a few hours together (he had the whole weekend off, but I worked most of it). He was excited -- but also a little bummed that he didn't get to pull the whole thing off. There was laundry on the couch waiting to be folded, bed sheets drying in the bedroom, still needing to be put back on the bed. The cake was cooling and waiting to be frosted, and the card wasn't yet inscribed. So, he plugged ahead in birthday preparations, and I helped out with the laundry and sheets. The cake was quite good. He planned the icing (which you can't really read in the picture) and the sprinkles. The gummi bears (Haribo) were my touch.

I don't really know where this birthday excitement stemmed from. We went to dinner at a great seafood place Friday and had a huge meal (we didn't realize the appetizer would be that big!). By the end, we were too stuffed for dessert, so we took home a piece of white chocolate cheesecake with crumb Oreo crust. Unfortunately, Wes fell asleep on the couch, so I ate my piece of birthday cake alone later that night. We were in the store earlier that day and he pointed out the cake mixes, but I said, "I can't make my own birthday cake" (though notably, I have done it before, as have some friends for their birthdays). So maybe that inspired him. Which is, of course, the best part. The cake was good and the gift fun, but what really makes me smile is picturing Wes buying the Indigo girls CD, making the cake, blowing up the balloons (which the dog is deathly afraid of), and planning the whole thing. It really is the thought that counts.