The BIG 3-0

Yesterday I turned the big 3-0.

It was also my Golden Birthday
(turning 30 on the 30th)

Turning 30 was a little weird for me. It seemed so...old!!! I started freaking out about it a few months ago, but then as it got closer, I tried to embrace it a little more. It is weird not being in my 20's anymore. *sigh*.
I don't know why 30 was feeling like a hard birthday.
I LOVED my 20's.
I graduated college, met Kevin, got engaged, got married, bought our houses & had our 2 little girls all while I was in my 20's.
What I do know is that my life is exactly how I imagined it at 30. I know I am so blessed & I am truly happy with where I am in life. I have an amazing husband, 2 precious girls, a cozy home, great job & an awesome family who all live within 10 minutes of us.
Because my birthday fell on a Saturday, the whole weekend ended up being a celebration! Kevin's parents took me & Kevin to Peasant & the Pear on Friday night. One of my favorite local restaurants! We celebrated with my parents & sisters tonight with ribs at my parents. Jimmy makes the best ribs ever!

On my birthday morning Kevin let me sleep in & when I woke up and went downstairs I had a bouquet of flowers, a balloon & a vanilla latte from Pete's. (The balloon was Kate's idea). I got a sweet card & my present from Kevin was tickets to see Wicked this summer! Yay! I can't wait! I have been nagging him to go for the past few months! Thanks Kevin!
I ran some errands in the early afternoon & I took Kevin's car. When I got back, I pulled into the driveway & was waving to our neighbor Brian. Because of this, I didn't notice Kevin's lawn mower in the garage and I proceeded to run into it & scratched Kevin's bumper. Nice. Go me.

Elyse, my older sister came over in the afternoon to set up decorations for my pre-party! She got me that crown that I had to wear throughout the night. Love it!

Friends came over for appetizers & drinks before we left for the city!

My BFF (Anna-Karin) since 5th grade & her husband flew in from Colorado for my birthday. And, one of my other best friends, (Sue) since preschool at CPP drove up from Santa Barbara to help me celebrate! These 2 are life long friends who I am so blessed to have in my life. I wish they lived closer!
AK, me & Sue

My sisters & I with 2 of my best friends!

With my long lost 3rd sister Caryn

Don't worry, I'm just taking shots of champagne

For dinner, we headed to Roy's in San Francisco
I am so bummed I forgot to get a picture of all 14 of us at our table, but here are some couple shots:
Me & Kevin

Greg & AK

Leif & Caryn

Sue & Jon
Elyse & Becks
Johnny Cat & Carrie

Kristin & Bryan

My "hula" pie that Johnny Cat had made just for me!

Sisters!


It was so great spending my 30th with such good friends who all hold a special place in my heart!

I felt SO loved on my birthday & am thankful for my friends & family who celebrated with me!

Florida Re-Cap

We are back from our Florida trip & had a great time. It was our first time leaving both the girls overnight. And, we did it for 3 days & 3,000 miles away from home.

Here is a little re-cap of our trip!
We took the red-eye on Friday night from SFO to Savannah, Georgia (with a lay over in Chicago). A few hours before we left on Friday, Kate woke up from her nap with a fever of 102. Not how I wanted to start our trip! Luckily, Tylenol brought her fever down to 99 degrees within an hour & by the time we dropped her off at Kevin's parents, she was pretty much back to normal.
The flights were good, I was able to sleep despite being anxious about leaving the girls. I was very happy once we landed in Savannah, Georgia. (Cutest airport ever, by the way). We got our luggage & rental car & I was about to explode, since it had been 12 hours since I nursed, so I busted out my breast pump & pumped while Kevin drove. I know, I'm classy!
I made Kevin take the "long" way to downtown Savannah. We took a 10 minute detour so that we could drive into South Carolina. Gotta get all my states!

My main goal while visiting Savannah was to go to lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady & Sons. Unfortunately, they don't take reservations, so you have to stand outside in line to put your name in with the hostess. (They open for lunch at 11 am, but the hostess is outside at 9 am) We got there at 10 am to put our name in for lunch.
I stood in this line, in the rain, without an umbrella for 15 minutes:

The first reservation they had available was for dinner at 9:45 pm. Bummer. Not going to happen since we had to be in Jacksonville, Florida at 5 pm for the rehearsal dinner. The hostess recommended one of Paula Deen's son's restaruant, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House.

We went there & had some great southern cooking. I had the crab cakes. Kevin ordered the pulled pork sandwich (see below)

His sandwich was HUGE and it came with onion rings, a side of fries and a bowl of cheese grits. It was SO much food! It was good, but the amount totally grossed us out. There are some big serving sizes in the South.
After lunch, we headed straight down to Jacksonville, Florida & I got another state added to my list! Only 16 to go until I have gone to all 50!

Once we drover further into Florida, the weather cleared up and it wasn't as rainy.
We checked into the hotel at 3 & had an hour to get ready & leave for the rehearsal dinner. Both Kevin and I were SO tired since we had barely slept on the flight & had been traveling for 18 hours. We needed a nap, but that wasn't going to happen, so while I was showering Kevin went and got me some sweet tea from my favorite Southern restaurant, Cracker Barrel. Oh how I love Cracker Barrel. For reals.

All ready to go to the rehersal dinner with my caffeinated sweet tea!

The rehearsal dinner was at this great Martini Bar called Ocean 60.
It is a half a block from the beach, so after dinner a bunch of us went down to the beach & I dipped my feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!

The next day, Kevin had to get up at 5:45 to go golfing with the guys (ouch!)
I however, slept in. I got 11 GLORIOUS hours of sleep that night. It was amazing.
I enjoyed coffee in my hotel in my pj's while I read. I had a slow morning by myself & then headed to lunch at where else? Cracker Barrel!
The wedding was that afternoon at a beautiful venue, Oakleaf Plantation.
I loved the Southern look & feel of it! Isn't it pretty?
Here are Kevin and I before the wedding:

With the bride & groom at the reception:

As the bride & groom left, we got to wave sparklers!
I have always wanted to do this at the end of a wedding (to bad it is illegal where we live!)

We left for home the next day (after having breakfast at Cracker Barrel).
We traveled 12 hours by the time we got home & we were so happy to see the girls.
We had a great weekend away & despite a busy weekend, it was relaxing & so great for the 2 of us to have time by ourselves.

We wouldn't have been able to do this without the help of our families who watched the girls for us while we were gone.
Thank you SO much Papa, Grandma Jill and Grandpa Jimmy & Mimi!

States

Hello from Florida!

We are having a great time on our trip!

One of my "bucket list" items to do in my life is to go to all 50 states. Because of this trip, I added 2 new states to my total!

Nice to meet you South Carolina & Florida!

Isn't my map cool? (or dorky, I'll let you decide....)

visited 34 states (68%)

You can make your own map HERE.

See Claire.

See Claire scoot.

See Claire crawl.

See Claire is crawling to a sit.
See Claire sit.
See Claire pull to a stand.
See Claire smile.
See Claire laugh.
See Claire drool.

Thankful Thursday

Today, I am especially thankful for these 2 girls.

I am so blessed to be their mommy!

They bring so much joy, laughter & love to my life!






I am going to miss them so much when we go to a wedding in Florida this weekend (while they stay at home with Grandparents!)