30th Bash

My 30th birthday came and went with a bang- unfortunately, it's just now making it to the blog. I took the day off work, and I spent a few frantic hours working on the house after my morning run. Hubby took me to The Oceanaire for a delicious meal before heading to the airport....

...to pick up Stephanie! She flew all the way in from Philly to celebrate with me!

H was kind enough to take us out dancing on Washington Ave. and we ended up at Pearl Bar.

It was an interesting night to say the least - I even got my name in lights!

Nothing like dancing with your best friend & the love of my life to make for a wonderful evening.

I've officially known Stephanie for 12 years & we've been friends for over a decade. We've danced in many club across the country through the years ;)



Saturday night we had a small get together at a wine bar for all our friends & family to celebrate both of our birthdays- H was turning 33 on Monday.



Luckily for the gentlemen, they served beer too.



His stories crack everybody up and bring lots of laughter all around.



My husband tells good stories & talks a lot with his hands.



My dad's birthday present was finishing up our kitchen remodeling- it was SOOO good to have it done!



It was great to have all the same friends & family with us from the wedding and everybody enjoying seeing one another.



Lots of smiles all around...



H picked up some scrumptious cakes from Dessert Gallery.



Friday was also Liz & Laura's birthday (plus Liz's daughter Allison & their cousin), so we celebrated all the April birthdays.



It was the perfect evening- a few light snacks, some wonderful bottles of wine and a lot of love in the room.






So this is probably the best part of the night- Mark decided to give us a palm tree for our new house & we were stuck taking it home that evening.



It just really didn't fit too well in H's car with Stephanie in the backseat. We were laughing so hard about the whole situation that there were tears rolling down my eyes.



In addition to the new palm tree, H finally found himself some real boots that he liked. All in all, 30 is wonderful. I've got an amazing husband, wonderful family, great friends, a fabulous job, and a lots of other things in my life that make me happier than I've ever been before. I can't wait to see where the next few years lead my life.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It's 58 degrees in Santa Barbara this morning & I can't wait to go out for a run.

Crawfish Party

Two weekends ago (see- I'm not THAT far behind on blogging....well, except for February-April!), we hosted our first party at our new house & it was a crawfish boil!



After an absolute deluge on Friday night, it kept raining Saturday morning. The 3 car garage came in handy & we setup one of our camping shelters. Curtis & his buddy John showed up early to get things cooking.



MMMM! Sausage and potatoes....the corn was around somewhere too.



This is what you do when you are in your 30's and own a home- stand around taking about landscaping options!



There were a whole series of hysterical shot & this was the most appropriate one to post.



The lovely ladies were there too...



Making it a full seafood day- Curtis brought oysters to grill & my mom made shrimp & crab gumbo.



These two were extra happy because they heading out for a 7-day cruise the next day!



We set up tables in the garage & invited all of mom's neighbors to come over too.



Mark is a master shucker & was attempting to teach my hubby out to do so...



...without much success!



Luckily, these babies were yummy with melted butter & some cheese!



My husband can't understand why he had no luck! I just love that exasperated expression- I see it often!



Sue brought some delicious desserts.



Thank heavens we'd installed those extra fans in the garage & it stopped raining when cigar time came around.



James is the awesome neighbor!



Hot steaming crawfish...dozens and dozens of pounds of them.



Time to get down to business...I don't eat crawfish very often because I am generally too lazy to peel them, don't like the giant mess & can't get full on those tine guys.



Then rain eventually cleared out and the guys made their cigar circle in the driveway.



Mark retold his engagement story in the Florida Keys- it was priceless.



Matt was trying to remember all the lessons Mark learned from the proposal.



John was just laughing at all the guys mayhem and madness.

When the pineapple shots came out again, we knew it was a great party!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Travelmania- Seattle in June, Philly in July, South Caroline in August, and Mexico in October...can't wait!

Mother's Day

We hosted our first guests at our new house for Mother's Day. I know I'm about 8,5405,340 photos behind on our big move and all the remodeling, but those will just have to wait.



We're so unadventerous & always have the same thing- chili con queso, boiled shrimp and guacamole appetizers.



Apparently the new island bar is the place to hang out and nibble on food.



The backyard is looking much more presentable & I'm so glad I bought new grass a few weeks back- even if it did make a giant mess in my car.



It's becoming an annual tradition to take some nice photos on Mother's Day & Gram's expression cracked me up in this one.



Mia looks so little in this photo. She LOVES the backyard and would happily spend hours out there rooting around the trees and bushes.



All the moms & kids!



The whole gang...maybe next year, Curtis will be officially part of the gang and can join the picture instead of taking it ;)



3 Generations!



I loved this shot of mom & John.



He'll always been a mamma's boy...



And we did let Curtis in a few of the photos.



Happy (very belated) Mother's Day to the other moms out there!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: My sister won suite tickets to see Taylor Swift tonight.