The big 40 - & the party continues!!

My birthday week was FABULOUS!!!  

My actual birthday was on a Wed and I was surprised that morning with a yard sign!  The hubby is really rocking the planning on this birthday!  Later that night we went to dinner with my parents at Razzoos.  It was a gorgeous evening so we sat on the patio while the kids played on the playscape.  Ah bliss!  Thank goodness the rain stayed away, it had been raining here for a month straight and was supposed to rain the entire week/end!  We got lucky during ACL as the rain miraculously pushed out and dissipated...and then the forecast cleared for Wed-Sat, which allowed for the rest of the events (which was kept all hush-hush) to unfold perfectly!

Dinner with the rents

Thursday I enjoyed a wonderful sushi lunch with my bestie, Jenn.

food porn

Now the weekend was upon us.  Friday had arrived and I still had no idea what was going on.  Everything had been a complete surprise and kept uber quiet.  I worked remote that day and was patiently (sarcasm) waiting for something to happen.  Like seriously...what is going on??  What do I need to wear??  I'm a planner and I was starting to get nervous...despite my best efforts, no one would give me any juicy details...in fact they all said they hadn't heard of anything going on...WTF!  Kudos to you strong willed compadres.

Sometime around noon I gave up and told Karen and Katie we could watch Hocus Pocus that evening at my house.  Gosh darn it if I wasn't gonna do something!  They totally went with it too!

Sometime around 2 pm Jenn came over to have some wine with me.  We were both dressed comfy casual...as I waited patiently (yeah not so much) for a hint as to what was going on.  Finally Jenn told me bowling!  Apparently bowling was the plan.  Hmmmm, mkay.  We'll call it 'bowling'.  After about an hour Jenn raided my closest and picked out an outfit for me.  Still no clue what we were doing...oh yeah, bowling...don't forget the socks!  Not too long after that Jenn got me in the car and we started to drive....to B SWEET!  Yup, my fav little Pflugerville boutique.  I was getting a makeover!   While B Sweet was working on my makeup, people started to arrive.  OMG OMG OMG my friend Mary walked in, she flew all the way from Washington to celebrate my birthday!  Followed by Michelle, Katie (you little minx!  Hocus Pocus pfft!), and Monica.  We drank wine and tried on clothes while several of us had our make up done.

After our little boutique experience we were back in the car...heading to bowling (sure sure...).  About a mile or so down the road we pulled into the Red Green barn at Heritage Park, and there was my other bestie Amanda!!!  She also flew all the way in from Washington to celebrate my 40th.  We starting walking towards the barn and more people came out of the wood work.  All my closest friends we there, dressed in cute western wear for A PHOTO SHOOT!  All my friends know I LOVE pictures...and that's what they were giving me!!!  We're still waiting for the pics from the photog, but below are some we captured with our phones.

After the photo shoot the girls asked me if I knew what we were doing next.  I guessed either eating (cause it was around dinner time) or dancing as Mavericks (a country bar) was just around the corner and we were wearing boots.  Dinner it was, and we went to my fav Tex-Mex joint which was also in the area, Rio Grande!!!  This was turning into a night of my favorite things...which apparently WAS the theme that day for my birthday.  Dinner was a blast, the margs were killer, the girls made sure I drank lots of water, I couldn't stop smiling or doing my grrrr face.  While at dinner if I said a 'key word' one of the ladies would stand up and give a little speech about me.  ;)  At one point another table sat down with a baby, and they asked us to be quiet.  That prompted the 'baby in a bar' and various other comments that made for a great laugh the rest of the night.

After dinner we headed back to Jenn's house for more of my favorites things!  We changed into comfy clothes and enjoyed all my favorite desserts and drinks:  bananas fosters, cheesecake, creme brulee, ice-cream, sugar sugar sugar!  We indulged, watched a photo slide show of my life and celebrated the night away.  I'm pretty proud to say we made it until 1am!  What an amazing night with awesome friends!  Thank you!  I know a lot of time, effort and planning went in to making this such a fabulous 40th birthday!

Saturday morning came very quickly as the kids never sleep in...those Malek Made Mexican Martinis and the late night were taking their toll on me.  Thankfully the kids had sports so Malek had them out the door by 9 am.  Amanda and Mary ended up kidnapping me for most of the day.  They picked me up around 10:30 am for brunch at Chez Zee followed by mani-pedi's at this awesome spa in the Domain.  After that we crashed at Amanda's hotel in the Domain for the most glorious nap I've had in a long time.  Seriously, that bed was amazingly comfortable and the nap was much needed after Friday nights shenanigans.

Around 4 pm we finally starting heading back to Pf.  I still was not told if there were any other plans made but my Spidey Senses were tingling...something was afoot!  When we arrived at my house I noticed my parents car, but otherwise everything seemed normal.  They must have stopped by to get something for the kids as they were watching them that evening.  I slowly made my way to the door and stepped inside where I was met with a SURPRISE party!  The kids came running out yelling surprise with megaphones, music playing in the background and friends and family all waiting for me.  There was Rudy's BBQ & ribs for dinner, a keg (yes a keg!) and more cake for celebrating.  It was a perfect way to end the week/end long journey to turning 40.  

A HUGE thank you to Jonathan Malek & Jennifer Batey Cox & Amanda Gray Mills & Michelle Hall Myers for your extraordinary planning skills and flawless execution! I was clueless to the events that were to unfold: from ACL (VIP baby!) to makeovers and a photo shoot, Rio (you have a baby, in a bar?!?!?), all my favorite things (food, friends, fun, fotos), brunch, mani-pedi, naps and a surprise 40th birthday party!!! I am in awe and feel so loved. It means the world to me that I could spend this special occasion with family and friends from near and far!. I will cherish these memories always. And so the party continues!! Cheers to 40, fabulous friends & family and many more!!