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Monday, June 24, 2013

30th birthday celebration revealed

Ok, y'all.  This is going to be photo heavy.  But I'm not going to apologize because I've gotta do this birthday celebration justice!

So apparently Matt had a planning session with my friends back in March.  Yes, March.  How great is he for having a planning session and how great are my friends for wanting to be involved and help plan a fun celebration for me?  I'm one lucky lady.  So this is how the weekend went:

Awhile back I got a couple of amazing handmade invitations in the mail to reserve Friday June 7th and Saturday June 8th.  No details were given just a reservation.  I was soooo excited already!  



Didn't they do an amazing job?!

So I was picked up after lunch on Friday and we headed off to..... THE PARKER in Palm Springs!!! You. Guys.  This place is soooo fabulous.  It was all designed by Jonathan Adler and is sooo funky and fun.  I had been dropping some major hints to Matt for awhile and he definitely picked up on them.  Friday and Saturday were filled with swimming, a yummy dinner, drinks poolside, a couple of Starbucks trips, and best of all, great chats with my girls.  Man, I feel so lucky to have such great friends and such a loving husband who planned all of this for us.


So I knew that something was going down on Saturday night and when we were on our way home, the girls said they wanted to go get drinks first.  We stopped by The Raymond and when we walked in, my parents were sitting there! So my parents live in Atlanta and I had no idea they were coming out!  It was one of those weird moments where I almost didn't recognize them because I was so surprised.  My friends left and I had a couple hours to hang out with just my parents.  It was great to be able to see them... I was missing them on my birthday so this was perfect.  Once again, so blessed to have such wonderful parents who would fly out for the weekend even though I'd be gone for half of it!  Love them.

So we pull up to my house and....Matt threw a surprise party for me in the backyard!  He DID AN AMAZING JOB.  There is an Abney saying, "Go big or go home" and he took it to heart.  The driveway was lined with balloons that were strung with baker's twine.  This man has been listening to me!  He knows my love for baker's twine and disdain (maybe a little strong) for balloon ribbon.  He had a whole color scheme that I've been into - gold, coral, minty blue....it was gorgeous.  He created this beautiful chalkboard with pictures of me and a place for people to leave me a note.  When I saw it I thought surely one of my friends helped him with it.  Nope!  He did it all on his own.


Still in awe when I see it.  

We had YUMMY tacos.  Here's the station Matt set up for all of the taco fixings:


Sprinkles cupcakes:


 Moscow Mules:


 The gorgeous set up:


I don't have a great picture of the flowers but here is one taken the next day:


Aren't they gorgeous?!!  Matt had a plan for the colors and flowers he wanted and then my mom went with him to the flower mart and helped him with the execution.

I am seriously in awe of my sweet husband.  The weekend he planned, the party he created, all of the details were so me.  Sweetie - I love you more than words can say and still feel so loved and special from my birthday weekend.  Mom and Dad - thank you for flying all of the way out to see me and help with the party!  I feel so honored.  My friends - thank you for an amazing weekend away and for celebrating me! I'm so lucky to have such great friends.  Andy & Kala - thanks for watching my boy so Matt could pull this off!  And to everyone who helped me celebrate - thank you for being a part of my life! I'm so blessed.  Love y'all.  

ellie

Thursday, June 20, 2013

thirty


Thirty.  I'm thirty.  This birthday was hard and wonderful all at the same time.  I've been learning that is how life is.  Sure, there are seasons that are characterized more by sorrow or more by joy but it seems like more often than not, they are all mixed together.

Have you ever heard of Shauna Niequist?  She is a fabulous author and her book Bittersweet is pretty much exactly where I'm at.  Have you ever read a book and thought that it was written just for you?  Yeah, that's how I feel about this book.  She sums up much more eloquently than I'm able that in the tough times, you can find pieces of joy and in happiness, suffering and pain still exists.  I can sometimes be a little black and white and this concept has been revolutionary for me.  Life is sorrow and joy all mixed together and God uses both times to teach us, love us, and draw us nearer to him.  

But back to my 30th.... it fell right in the middle of a tough time but was seriously exactly what I needed.  I needed to say goodbye to my 20's and start afresh.  I needed to get out of my head and space and be around family and friends and celebrate.  I'm going to share much more about all that happened over the last couple of weeks because really, it deserves a couple posts on its own.  I'll just say I have an amazing husband who celebrates me, loves me, takes care of me, and spoils me rotten.  I have a wonderful family and incredible friends who take care of me and love me.  So thankful for them.  So blessed.  

You might notice that I'm speaking a little more from the heart and not just sharing my latest crafting pics.  You can expect more of that here.  As I approached my birthday, that is something that I kept thinking about over and over again.  I feel ready to be more open and honest and share more freely what's going on in my life...both the good and bad.  So thank you for reading.  
    
ellie