Surprise!!!

You know how you're not supposed to care whether or not people like you, your just supposed to be you, and let the chips fall where they may? I'm not super good at that. Working on it. Not there yet.

As my 30th birthday approached, I tossed it out there that a party might be fun, trying in my very best way not to sound like I desperately wanted one. My birthday fell on Easter weekend. A vast majority of my friends are particularly involved in church, like busy ALL weekend involved. As it approached I prodded Kev a bit to see what the odds were looking like.... they weren't in my favor. He was so cute.... I could tell he so wanted something to work for me, but he seemed truly bummed that he and some of my girlfriends weren't able to pull something off.

Kev and my girlfriends are sneaky.... VERY sneaky.... and they are also AMAZING... VERY AMAZING!!!

SURPRISE!!!! I HAD A PARTY.... A SURPRISE PARTY!!!!

My actual Birthday was fantastic in it's own right. Where I compared myself to a 3 year-old yesterday... Birthday's reduce me to an adolescent as well. I LOVE THEM! Yes, still at 30, check back at 50, but I think yes, even then. I love that my loved ones call all day long, send me texts, FB posts, the whole shebang... If I'm supposed to act aloof like I could take it or leave it, well I think that's just crazy... I LOVE IT!

My birthday passed, but my girlfriend Julie, was saying she still wanted to celebrate with me, and was gonna take me out to celebrate this Friday (last night). Kev said he'd stay home with the boys, so I could have a girls night, and I was thinking 4-5 of us were gonna grab dinner. I was quite excited about that. I love my girls nights! So when Julie sent me a text prior to picking me up, saying our theme for tonight was "All of Julie's Favorite Things".... she had my curiosity piqued, and I even said to Kevin... "Well you guys are among my favorite things", to which he replied, "Yes but you got to spend all day with us on your B-day, so this is just an extension".

It was a girls night.... I wasn't about to push the point very hard :)

So when she picked me up and we started the night at CVS, picking out my favorite candy, my expectation were sufficiently suspended. If you want to throw someone a curve ball... start your night at CVS... to make matters more confusing, Stephanie actually joined us at CVS... it was planned. Who plans to 'meet up for the night' at CVS? My sneaky friends... that's who.

Then the three of us headed in to Old Town, and I was told we were going to meet Marci, and I figured dinner out and maybe a movie or something cause we had started early in the evening. My next surprise was awesome. They bring me to one of my favorite stores on King street and say, "Pick something". I felt like Reese Witherspoon in "Sweet Home Alabama", where she's in Tiffany's and her soon to be fiance says "Pick one".

Tiffany's.... Lou Lou's.... Same Diff!

I have to admit, I did have a little anxiety... good anxiety... but its where you try and guess what acceptable protocol is for gift selection. Truth be told, I needed a purse... BAD, and I found the stinkin cutest one in the store, that fits me perfectly... practical, right size, and um freaking awesome. Not knowing the protocol, I offered to chip in, but a couple of my friends had coordinated to go in.... so I GOT IT.... It's awesome... you'll see it some day.. maybe in pictures from the most awesome night ever, when they get posted :)

Words for what happened next escape me. We drove out of Old Town, toward a part of town where many of my faves live. My curiosity rose, but as we pulled into my friend Kaci's neighborhood all was VERY quiet. No group of cars... ANYWHERE. So I gathered we were gonna do our girls night at her house... she has kids, so it made sense, maybe she couldn't get a sitter or something.

Not the case.

A whole house-full of people, an amazing spread of food, cake, presents, games.... Speechless.

You would have thought they had to peel me off the ceiling. Excited is an understatement, a dramatic understatement. I don't know if I stopped bouncing for the first hour I was there. There were so many people there. For me. More came throughout the night, it was like another surprise every time the door opened. I felt SO loved. It's been in the works for months, they planned a game all about trivia about me... they KNOW me so well. Then in a slightly awkward, but amazing way, they went around the room telling me what they loved about me. I squirmed. Cause that's what I do. I wouldn't have changed it for the world though. You know those characteristics about yourself, that your quite certain annoy people, for me my 'exuberance'. Around the room, it was a trait repeated as loved. Staring one of my larger insecurities in the face, and hearing its 'loved', was one of the very best presents of the night!

Thank you Babe and Besties... ALL of you.... THANK YOU!!!! Thank you so much for the VERY best night... I loved every second of it, and love every single one of you SO much, and am SO thankful to have you in my life!!!! YAY!!!