my birthday surprise!

oh my goodness. hc really outdid himself.

a few days before my birthday, we went to go see santa {more on that later!}. after our excursion, we decided to do some shopping…we needed little things like gloves for olive, a stocking for ellie, and we just wandered a bit because we could and wanted to. christmas music was playing and the center was filled with beautiful holiday decorations, so it made for a pretty night out with the family. after we hit a few stores, we decided to head to dinner.

as we were walking towards the restaurant, hc said, “let’s go this way.”, i argued with him saying that direction was a longer way and that we were going the shorter route. he kept pushing it and saying, “let’s go this way…just bear with me”. i was so confused but went with it. we stopped in front of the louis vuitton store and they were closed for a private party. i was still confused as the hostess waived us inside. as we were walking inside, hc turned to me and said, “surprise! this is your birthday present!!” whhaaaaaaaaaaa?! oh myyyyyyyy goodness! he told me i could pick out a purse!!! i was sooooooo shocked and excited! i couldn’t believe it!

they were serving champagne and hor d’oeuvres…yum, don’t mind if i do! olive saw that we were having drinks and wanted to have a drink too, so we broke out a juice box and cheer’d to a pretty awesome, sweet moment! we sat down and received the best one on one service and ordered a custom made purse! olive was such a pro! she was so sweet, helpful, and gave me the thumbs up on the colors i chose! it was a little too scary how comfortable she was sitting in their leather chair, at louis vuitton, sipping juice, and helping mom pick out a purse. hmmmmmm, like mother like daughter?

after we picked out my birthday present, we participated in their photo booth! that was so much fun!! oh, i was on cloud nine with this amazing birthday surprise! we said our goodbyes to all the sweet people in the store and headed on our way to dinner!

what an amazing night and surprise! i was so touched and feeling lucky that my hubby is such a sweet, thoughtful, loving guy. he always does so much for our family and always goes above and beyond to make me happy. thank you so much my love for being so awesome! i love you to infinity and beyond!

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[cheers! champagne and juice!]

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[sweet ellie was so darn patient]

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xoxo

hb to me!

my birthday started out with me and olive. we were having a great morning! she was snuggly and in a great mood. i got ready and we spent a little us time, snuggling, that morning and then i decided we would hit target.

of course our shopping ‘short’ stop turned into a longer escapade than i had in mind {i should know better, it’s target!}! i was a bit behind on her breakfast and nap. we rushed home and i threw the groceries on the floor and went to work on her breakfast. i fed her, then nursed her, and then off to bed she went! she put up a fight. almost one hour later, she finally fell asleep!

hc’s parents came over around three o’clock, right when olive was finishing up her lunch. i had let her eat her pudding by herself, which is always a hot mess, and i typically throw her in the tub afterwards to clean her up. she gets her food all over the place. she will get pudding on her face {natch}, her hair, her ears, her pj’s, her hands, elbows, you name it…food is on it!

while his parents were over, i made some christmas popcorn {more on that later!} and hc {who came home early} hung out with his dad, while gramma entertained miss olive. once i was done, i got myself all gussied up and was ready to open up my birthday presents!

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[my presents!]

i opened up dick and jane’s gift first. oh my goodness! i was not expecting to find what was inside. actually, i really had no clue what it was but i was extremely surprised! they bought me a pair of tory burch shoes! i was excited! i have a pair {and i looooooove them} but they are old and ragged. the shoes have been through more than what i should have put them through. yay!

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[opening gifts before we head out to dinner]

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[i was sooooo excited to receive these shoes!!!! it was so unexpected!]

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[tory burch caroline flats!]

i was ready for hc’s gift. it was quite a big box. as i unwrapped it, i couldn’t get the box open {as you can see, i’m super amused}. my struggles were well paid off!!! my birthday present was from burberry! i was soooooo excited and happy! i had mentioned to hc that i wanted a new coat, my old burberry was dunzo, but i wasn’t sure when i was going to get it. i hoped for it as a possible birthday/christmas gift or something we could buy next year when all the cray spending would settle down. nope. it was here, on my birthday. woot. woot. a beautiful, new, sleek long puffer coat in the color olive. how perfect.

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[not amused on why i can’t get the big box open]

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[oh em gee…didn’t really expect this either!!!]

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[olive was curious]

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[so focused]

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[in love! the color is called olive!]

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[about to head out for our dinner reservations]

after much hoopla, we rushed out of the house and headed to the city for our dinner reservations. i was super excited to have dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. hc and i had our third date there. plus, when we lived in the city, it was so easy to go to coast as it was a hop skip and a jump away from our place.

as we were driving there, we passed a new donut shop called stan’s. i loved the store front and how inviting it looked but we were surprised a donut shop opened up there, right across the street from another favorite of ours, glazed and infused. that kind of sucked for them! donut competition!

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[we were amused that this donut shop popped up right across the street from glazed and infused, i’m sure they weren’t amused…wow, competition}

we arrived at coast {we scored an awesome parking spot} and were seated immediately. oh, it was delightful. just like old times. we were seated in a cozy corner and had the best time drinking wine, eating apps, and conversing. dinner was fantastic, as usual. i crave sushi and i die over their fried tofu soup. it’s amaze.

well, we ate waaaayyy too much. hc had planned for us to go to hot chocolate for dessert. it’s our usual routine. eat at coast and have dessert at hot chocolate. but we were so stuffed that we passed on it, knowing we had cupcakes waiting for us at home. we wrapped up and headed out. it was great to not rush, to enjoy each other’s company, and savor a delicious meal together.

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[best evah…my favorite is the white dragon]

once we got home, we lit my birthday candle, they sang happy birthday, and it was a wrap! it was quite a successful birthday!

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[my birthday cupcake]

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[singing happy birthday to me!]

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via tandeminlove.com[make a wish!]

i had the best day with miss olive & hc’s parents. hc always makes my birthday so special! he knows, with it being so close to the holiday craziness, how important it is to celebrate it as my memorable day. he will go out of his way to make it exceptional. he is, honestly, the best birthday present i could ever ask for!

xoxo

hippy van

olive received another gift in the mail! the beautiful carol, ted, and kids sent olive such a cool gift! we were super excited to open the package when it arrived and it was…a little push van! the toy is from plan toys…a wonderful company that manufactures sustainable wood toys. they use organic rubber wood and non toxic paint {safe for baby, since they put their mouths on everything!}.

i have mentioned this before and again, i love wooden toys for miss olive. this van is so stinkin’ adorbs. hc immediately put it together for her and she stood up and started rolling the van along. she was a bit wobbly {she fairs better with heavier items} but nonetheless, she wibble wobbled her way across the floor with the van. it was too cute to see.

my girl carol is obsessed with vw’s. obsessed. so anything in a form of a vw van, is game. i chuckled when we opened the package, it seriously put a smile on my face to see the present. now every time i look at it, i think of my dear friend carol and that’s a very good thing. it was the perfect present…a combo of my love for wood toys, olive’s love for pushing things, and carol’s love for vw’s.

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[amazon’s quirky gift wrap]

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[i got super excited when we unwrapped the gift!!]

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[so stinkin’ cute]

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[olive checking out her new toy]

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[annnddd there she goes!]

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well, as you see above, olive was loving it. success! plus, it’s like a cart, so little o can put stuff inside and push it around. and lemme tell ya, the little babes loves to put things in bags, boxes, crates, you name it! she puts stuff in, she takes them out, she leaves toys everywhere she goes. the joys of having a little one and a messy place {well, we keep neat here in the household…natch!}.

thanks carol and famille! we love you guys, we miss you and we hope to see y’all soon!

xoxo