Turning 29...

Last Wednesday, I celebrated my 29th birthday... I honestly don't know how time is flying by SO fast - I swear it feels like I just graduated from high school, but June will mark 11 years that I've been in the "real world"! I just can't believe that this was my last birthday in my 20's and that next year I'll be 30 years old! My mother says that when I was a little girl, I used to think my birthday should be a national holiday... and long gone are the days when I would round up just to be able to consider myself a "half" age. I've found that the older I get, the less I look forward to birthdays... this year was no exception to that! But just because I don't look forward to them doesn't keep them from coming any faster...

Well, this birthday was a little different... thanks to my loved ones, this birthday was SO awesome that I'd even say it was my BEST birthday ever! It started as soon as I got home from work on Wednesday morning... Brian had told me to come straight home from work because I would have a surprise waiting for me. I couldn't imagine what my surprise would be, but I did as I was told. I pulled up in front of my house and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary... I walked inside and still didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I started talking to my Grandma and she said "Why don't you go downstairs and let Myrtle come up to visit for awhile?" I thought that was a little 10-37, because Grandma doesn't usually worry about Myrtle one way or the other... but I walked downstairs to let her out anyway. When I opened the door into my living room, I saw a pretty pink box sitting on my coffee table and three Happy Birthday balloons floating above it... I giggled and realized that must be my surprise from Brian. I walked past it and started to walk into my bedroom, calling Myrtle's name as I walked. As I turned to walk through the doorway, Brian came walking out... I did what any normal person would do - I screamed! "AGH!!! What are you doing here?!" I asked, throwing my arms around him. He told me that he had taken the day off of work (something he NEVER, EVER does!) and that he had planned a trip to the Inner Harbor... we were going to go to The Aquarium and have lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. I was SO excited!

We ended up meeting my friend Sarah and her friend Brad at Cracker Barrel for breakfast to celebrate... then we went over to the new house to do a few things... then we came home to get ready for Baltimore. I hadn't been to The Aquarium since I was a little kid, probably in elementary school, so it was very nostalgic for me. Brian & I walked around for a few hours taking in all the sights... some of my favorites were the penguins, the sting rays, the sea turtles and the sharks! Since we'd had a late breakfast, we weren't really hungry to we decided to skip The Cheesecake Factory this time... we headed back to Harford County to visit with my Mom, Grandma & Hannah. My lack of sleep caught up to me and I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour and a half... us old people need our sleep, you know! =) Later that night, Brian & I went out to dinner at Don Pablos in White Marsh... in addition to our yummy dinners, we also had some queso blanco dip (my favorite!), some margaritas (extra lime & extra salt for me!) and some sopapillas for dessert. It was such a perfect day and I was so happy to be able to spend it with my honey!

The rest of my family had planned on celebrating my birthday on Sunday with a BBQ at my Mom & Grandma's house. Brian & I had invited our friend Jith to come too and my sister Kelly was there with my nieces, Hannah & Sara and my nephew, Khalid. My Mom rocked her awesome cooking skills and whipped up a mini-feast... we had filet mignon, mini crab cakes, garlic shrimp, BBQ bacon wrapped shrimp, green beans almondine, pasta salad, potato salad, stuffed tomatoes, bread & butter, iced tea, lemonade, sodas, etc. It was Mmm Mmm GOOD!!! We also had an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins... chocolate cake with chocolate chip ice cream... yum!!

After we stuffed our faces, it was present time! I got to open Brian's presents on my actual birthday... I got a new Fossil watch (with my favorite color on the face... PINK!), some bath salts from The Body Shop, and some pretty nail files/buffers. Grandma got me "The Next Grilleration G5" - an awesome George Foreman grill with 5 interchangeable plates... you can grill, griddle, bake, and make waffles! Mom got me a sterling silver necklace that you can put a picture in (sorta like a locket) that says "If daughters were flowers, I'd still pick you", a sterling silver bracelet that says "A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend" and a card with $50 in it. My sister Kelly got me a wooden picture frame that says LOVE and has a recent picture of us in it, along with an old picture of us... she also made me this basket of flowers that hangs on your front door. It is SO pretty! My niece Hannah made me a very nice card and she also made me a pottery bowl in her art class... it's yellow with pink hearts around the top and a flower on the bottom of the bowl. (she got an A on the project...) My niece Sara also made me a very nice card and bought me a bag of gummie peaches... one of my favorites! =) Best of all, we got to spend several hours together listening to music, eating, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company... it was some good quality family time and I loved every minute of it!

As much as I'm not looking forward to my birthday next year, if it's anything like this one was then it might not be so bad! =)

Here's a link to some pictures from my celebration... thanks to everyone for making my day so special! =)
http://picasaweb.google.com/109410991485491401605/NikkiS29thBirthday#