pre & post birthday celebrations!

since i was out of town for my actual birthday - i got to strech the celebrations over a few weeks!

the wednesday before i left for aruba, my mom & brian took me to dinner at one of my favorite charlotte spots, 300 east! we had all my favorite things - hummus, onion soup, and the black bean & green chile tortilla that will change your life. we ended the night with trivia at angry ale's - no better way to celebrate! my parents got me bluetooth headphones that i've been wanting for months! 

friday before my birthday, i walked into my office to find my desk decorated with all sorts of fun! my boss & coworkers are too sweet to me. they also got me some awesome gifts including a owl coffee mug, an awesome cook book and these cute measuring cups from anthro that stack into a milk jug!

we got home from the trip on tuesday, and i had planned to have dinner with my two besties on thursday night. they picked me up around 7pm and we opened more awesome presents before heading to dinner at heist brewery. when we walked inside, about 15 of my friends were there yelling "SURPRISE!" katie & cheslea have surprised me two years in a row now - y'all are sneaky! i was so glad to see all my pals and thankful everyone could make it to celebrate. thanks k & c for getting everyone together!

it was a fun filled two weeks of celebrating my birthday! thank you to everyone who made it so special - i am lucky to be so loved!

summer sick: party of 1.

i've been down for the count since about wednesday of last week. who gets a nasty cold in the middle of july? this girl.

so i spent most of the week/weekend in my bed watching one tree hill reruns and feeling like i was back in high school. but of course i crawled out of bed a few times to eat with my parents.

friday night i met daddy & leigh at block & grinder. it's a new spot over by flywheel (aka the devil spin studio i go to) and i had been wanting to try it out. well we're going to have to go back because i litearlly couldn't taste anything because my head was so stuffy. my dad had wild boar for the first time in his life & fell in love, so i don't think i'll have to twist his arm to take us again. i sure hope that $40 steak i had was delicious!

saturday morning i slept in until NOON. can't tell you the last time that happened! court & i met momma & b at crispy crepe in south end. i had the chipotle chicken crepe & we ended with a chocolate peanut butter crepe for dessert - thank goodness i could taste by then! both crepes were delicious & i loved the variety of the menu. we will definitely be back!

sunday morning i planned to get up and run, but i was up until about 3am coughing so that didn't happen. i finally felt like a normal human by 1pm, so met my parents at birdsong for a beer & a pop from king of pops.

after birdsong, we hopped over to heist brewery for a beer & some appetizers. that was my first trip to heist & i need to go back sometime other than a sunday at 4pm. i liked the beers & the staff was super friendly. since apparently we hadn't had enough beer yet, we ventured over to bulldog beer & wine in dilworth. this is a dog friendly bar/craft beer store and i met this adorable baby bully named carson! i seriously wanted to steal him.

our last stop of the night was at rus an's for dinner. after filling up on sushi, i retired back to my bed and watched more lucas scott & peyton sawyer on netflix. not a bad weekend when you're sick & you still get to try out four new spots in your city!