32

I celebrated my thirty-second birthday last week.  Gannie was in town from Chicago, which was a huge treat to have her there for birthday celebrations!  My sister also drove up from Houston the weekend before my birthday so I got to celebrate my birthday twice - on Saturday and again on Tuesday.

This year, when asked what I wanted for my weekend celebration, I asked my mom to make her amazing lasagna (a secret family recipe!).  In the past, I've always wanted to go out to eat but this time around the sun, I really just wanted a low-key celebration at my parents' house with my family.  I think it's partially due to the pregnancy (I much prefer eating at home these days) and partially due to just wanting to take things a little bit slower and easier before the baby gets here.  And that's exactly what the weekend was for me - it was great!

Steve made his traditional strawberry birthday cake for me.  He has made this cake since we were first dating, and makes it from scratch every year.  He does not normally bake, so this is quite the labor of love each year.  This year, the cake was extra dense and moist.  It was delicious :)

Here I'm modeling one of my birthday gifts (maternity dress) for church the next morning.  And the bump made an appearance too!

On my actual birthday, I woke up early and headed to my Tuesday morning spin class - only to be surprised by a sign in my honor and birthday donuts brought in by my friend Sally!  My spin instructor (who teaches every early morning class I attend) also dedicated multiple songs during the ride to me, and the entire class sang "Happy Birthday" to me once we were done while I blew out a donut candle :) It was a great way to start off my birthday.

I arrived in the office to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Steve.  He knocks it out of the park with flowers.  And my colleagues surprised me with celebratory birthday cake at a work meeting over the lunch hour, which was quite the unexpected treat.

After work, we met up with my parents and Gannie for dinner at Hillstone.  I had always wanted to try that spot, but they don't take reservations and its popularity guarantees that there is nearly always a wait - even on a rainy Tuesday.  After waiting a few minutes for a table, we had a great meal with the best company.  The meal ended with a complimentary brownie birthday dessert, so needless to say I was completely birthday treat-ed out by the end of the evening!

Thirty-two was a great birthday.  I am really excited to see what is in store this year!