26 and Blessed (Life via Instagram)

I took a break from most forms of social media this weekend (well, except for Instagram). I knew that I was going to be busy and I really wanted to take the time to enjoy being with my friends and family without distractions. (So I took a break from cleaning too, ha!) So if you know me or have read this blog, then you probably know that I love birthdays. I also love prolonging the celebrations for as long as I can get away with it. Ben and I spent last week cooking/eating some of my favourite meals, watching movies and spending some time being creative. I love that Ben will sit down with me and draw while I paint or blog! Ben also gave me a break from cleaning last week- which was amazing.

Delicious breakfast;)

Hanging with my sister and grabbing lunch at Big Rig two weekends ago- loving her new red hair!

 As usual, we're dorks!

 The start of birthday week indulgences- it hit the spot!

 Getting colourful

 Birthday week indulgences part two: Ben made me basil spaghetti with cheesy broiled tomatoes- a favourite!

 Birthday week indulgences part three: Tried a new recipe- stuffed peppers. Oh man are they ever good!

Because there is a part of me that refuses to grow up (and Ben knows this) we watched one of my favourite childhood movies.

Some pretties arrived from Lisa Leonard last Monday- early birthday gifts to myself! My Initials necklace is from a few years ago (discontinued) and the earrings were a free promotion but my bracelet can be found here . Headband: Muchloveilly, Striped shirt: 

Gap, Long Cardigan: Urban Outfitters

***

 So Friday arrived (my actual birthday) and it was wonderful. 

Got my free birthday Starbucks.

Cute message from the kiddos:)

Gifts from the kids- including a Starbucks gift card, wohoo!

My boss baked cupcakes for me and ordered my favourite Indian food, Ahar for lunch! So generous!

My AlloraHandmade  modern pearl rosette necklace arrived just in time! I snagged this during an Insta-sale (they're in retirement now). Happy birthday to me! 

As you can see, I was spoiled at work. Did I mention that the sun was shining too? The past few years there has been a major snowstorm on this day, so I was quite ecstatic about the weather! 

My man sure surprised me when I got home from work! Unbeknownst to me, he had taken the day off from work (he even left the apartment at 6am as usual to fool me). He went out to do some shopping for me, and then cleaned the apartment with my sister. When I got home from work, they were waiting at the door. Ben was holding an Oreo cupcake with a lit candle. (From the cupcake lounge, my favourite cupcake shop in Ottawa!) I truly was surprised! Turns out Ben had gotten me a whole box full of my favourite cupcakes- so thoughtful! Ben has always been that way- especially when he gives a gift, it's something he puts a lot of thought into. He also ordered me my new favourite Lisa Leonard necklace (the one I posted on my first "Falling for Friday" list!), and a couple of fun things for the apartment. My man is good to me:)

Chalkboard slabs and birthday messages.

After a quick change it was off to dinner down town at Edoko- a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you- so fun! A bunch of my friends and both my siblings were there, it was great to spend the night with them eating, talking and laughing hard! Oh and don't get me started on how amazing my meal was- I got the steak and shrimp, so delicious!!

My free mango ice cream. The chef banged a gong while they serenaded me!

My friends got me some sweet gifts including a Bobbi Brown under eye concealer that is like magic, and gigantic jars of my favourite marinara sauce. (Sounds odd, but I am in LOVE with this sauce, so I was both excited and amused.) I felt so much love on this day- between the phone calls, messages and the well wishes from friends I got to see in person.

Some of my Instax mini shots from the night- not my brother and I striking a Charlie's Angels pose in the Center-favourite!

While it used to bum me out that lot's of people send Facebook messages now instead of birthday cards, I also think it's pretty cool. You get to hear from people that you otherwise wouldn't- gotta love those Facebook reminders;) 

***

My weekend was pretty fabulous too. It started with breakfast in bed from Ben. 

After a lazy morning I was off to the spa! 

"Don't goooo!" He sure is cute:)

My family's gift to me was a spa day- facial, manicure and getting my hair done. I was in heaven. I had never had a facial before and have decided that they are my new best friend. So, so relaxing! After the spa, there was a family dinner at my parents place, and my Aunt and Uncle came as a surprise! We enjoyed pot roast, sweet potatoes and a salted caramel fudge cake (sooo good!) , and shared childhood stories. Birthday celebration part two = success.

Loving my new hair and feeling refreshed.

Family photos- I LOVE my family!

***
 Sunday was equal parts lazy and fun. I got to sleep in (thanks in part to daylight savings throwing me off), caught up on my TV shows and stayed in pyjamas until 1pm! Afterward Ben took me out for the afternoon to some of my favourite places.

Happy corner of my bedroom window.

Ready to go- I love celebrating with him!

We grabbed some Starbucks and I flipped through some magazines at Chapters. Then we took out time browsing Ikea like we used to and picked up a couple things- there was a black and white pillow calling my name.

 My Ikea date;)

We concluded the afternoon at Michael's, where I mostly window shopped- so indecisive about art supplies this time around. I was also feeling quite hungry despite the hot dogs I polished off at Ikea. We went home for a bit of downtime where I enjoyed a coconut cupcake. 

Then it was off to the movies with some friends. We saw "Oz- The Great and Powerful", it was good! We stopped at Tim Hortons afterwards to chat, then parted ways. You would think that I went straight to bed after arriving home, considering it was 10:30 pm. Daylight savings time was still screwing up my internal clock I guess, because I stayed up to put away laundry, read and watch a bit or TV. Somewhere around 1am I fell asleep- it did NOT feel good to wake up today! But that's ok. I don't mind feeling tired today after the awesome weekend I just had.

The birthday celebrations are over now. I loved and cherished every minute of it. Now I have our anniversary to look forward to it two days, I cannot wait!