Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm 26. Twenty freakin' six. How did that happen?

The day was lovely and perfect. I woke up early and headed downstairs to find that my roommates had decorated our townhouse. Streamers hung from every corner and a huge Happy Birthday sign was taped to the wall. They had set their alarms for 2:00am to sneak downstairs and decorate so that I would be surprised. Such good friends.

Around 8:00am Sunshine and I took off on a mini-road trip up to Sabillasville,MD (past Frederick). We took long, windy roads through beautiful back country, stopping occasionally to snap pictures of trees already changing color. A creek ran through dense woods as we climbed higher. The towns we drove through were small, with tiny churches and wraparound porches. Turning down a tiny street we pulled into our destination:

Chihuahua Heaven

I kid you not.

We were greeted by the dog breeders, a fascinating couple who say that their dogs are their children. There were puppies everywhere. We spent an hour just petting and cooing over each puppy trying to settle on the one we each wanted. We finally picked (pictures coming soon) and then headed back down the road.

Sunshine took me to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and we ate pizza and drank Appleberry sangria. This was followed by a little bit of shopping and then an hour long nap before heading down to my Mom's house for family dinner.

We sat around the table, my family and friends and laughed in the candlelight, drinking wine and eating my favorite foods. As I looked around I realized again, how lucky I am, as a woman to have built these relationships and as a person to be living this life. I hope I never lose sight of what really matters.

So to everyone that made my birthday so special (emails, texts, phone calls, cards, and so much more) Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

My cup runneth over.