Staying Connected: The BEST Birthday Ever!

Today is my birthday. Or, rather, it was. It's after midnight here now. But it was FANTASTIC!

Celebrations started on Friday when my husband offered to give me my gift early, "in case I wanted to return it." I'm not sure if he really meant that last part, but I took him up on it anyway. Who wouldn't?

He told me that he'd hidden it somewhere here in the apartment and so I would need to go out in the hallway until he said I could come in. I was immediately resistant to this idea since we have potsmoking neighbors who drench the entire building in their fumes. It literally makes me sick. So, we agreed that the bathroom would have to do instead.

It really wasn't all that bad of an idea, considering I needed to use the facilities about that time anyway. While I was relieving myself, I could hear him rummaging around, opening doors in the hallway, shutting them, walking around, opening the cabinets in the kitchen, dropping pans, shutting them, walking around some more... I think he opened every door there is to open in the apartment, just for the sake of "throwing me off."

Apparently his hiding spot is very special.

In the time it took him to declare it safe for me to reappear, I could have gone to the bathroom, taken a shower, put on photoshoot-grade makeup, knit a sweater out of toilet paper, gotten pregnant, AND had the baby.

Or at least it felt that way.

I came out and was looking around and, ta-da! On the end table in our living room sat the sacred bag. And when I say sacred, I am DEAD serious. Standing ten inches tall, wrapped in beautifully-familiar, horizontal black-and-white stripes was "Sephora."

We've been friends for years now, and every time she makes an appearance, I can almost assure you no matter what is inside her, I will LOVE it! This time was no exception. My hands went flying into her and found the red tissue paper which held the gift from my handsome hubby. It was a little rectangular box about the size you typically find perfume in. This was a good sign!!!

I'm pretty sure the angels sang when I saw it! I am a HUGE sucker for anything that smells like clean laundry or fresh flowers.

MAGIC IN A BOTTLE!!

To add to that awesomeness, Isaac's parents gave me an eGift certificate to, guess where..... SEPHORA!!!!! I am in HEAVEN! I've already spent at least three or four hours just drooling over the webpage, trying to figure out if I want to spend it on fun stuff now or if I want to start saving up for the airbrush makeup system that they have. Decisions, decisions.

On top of that, this morning was the Iowa versus Iowa State Game. Let me make this clear, for the record. Generally, I cheer for Nebraska. Additionally, as a rule of thumb, I also typically I cheer for anyone playing against Iowa State football, as I have a particularly bad taste in my mouth for them.

This year, however, my brother was silly enough to post this on Facebook:

So I cheered. I cheered HARD. Plus, I sent him text messages every few good moves that ISU made, just to get him all worked up. (Don't feel bad for him, he does that kind of stuff to me all the time.) And as much as I don't care for the ISU football players (in general), I DO greatly appreciate them contributing to my brother's sobriety.

To end the party, my husband took me out to eat tonight at Andiamo's. It is fantastic Italian food that blows Olive Garden right out of the water. The prices were actually comparable too! Here's some pictures from our night out.