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.  

congratulations cards

One of my favorite clients had me make congratulations cards to give to new parents.  She wanted boy themed, girl themed, and gender neutral themed cards.  I had a blast making these and am thinking of making more to post in my etsy shop.... what do you think??

boy themed: 

girl themed: 

neutral:

weekend in Arizona

This last weekend, Matt and I drove to Arizona to meet up with my family and visit my grandpa and his wife June.  We packed up our CRV on Thursday night, met up with my brother Andy, and caravanned across the desert through the night.  We safety arrived in Arizona (thank God!!) and got to bed at 3:30 am.  We decided that our bodies just aren't cut out for late nighters!!

We met up with my parents the next day and spent the rest of the weekend with my grandpa and his wife, June.  It was a really special time to all be together.  This time felt extra special because my grandpa is my last grandparent alive.

Wow...that was hard to write.  My dear sweet grandma passed away last year.  These past few months I've really been struggling with this realization.  She was sooo incredibly special to me.  When she knew I was missing her, she took an extra interest in me and would fly me to Wisconsin to visit her every summer.  These are some of my very favorite memories of childhood.  I can still smell her wonderful smell (Grandma, I promise it's a good smell!!), see her smile, hear her laugh, and feel her hug.  Oh I miss her so.

And as I miss her, I think back on this weekend and know how special it was to be able to sit across from my only grandparent, Jonathan's great-grandpa, and hear him chuckle, and see him soak us all in.  I'm thankful for this weekend.

Here is a four generation picture:

Have a happy Tuesday!

Ellie :)