31 reasons...

...why my 31st birthday on Saturday was so fantastic:

1) Being able to sleep in(?!) until 8am (it still makes me roll my eyes to think that sleeping until 8am is considered "sleeping in").

2) Waking up to the smell of healthy, homemade "birthday" blueberry muffins...and then having to eat around the wax from the candles that melted in the muffins because Mark stuck them in before the muffins had cooled. Ha! :)




3) No words needed:

4) The Starbucks gift card Anthony gave me.

5) And then realizing that Mark actually had to spend some of his hard-earned money to purchase said gift card, and in the process, supporting the Evil Empire.

6) The 2001 Syrah from Zaca Mesa and the 2005 Pinot Noir from Sanford - both of which are from wineries that were featured in Sideways and were visited by yours truly on our trip out to CA in '05 - from Mark.

7) Being able to get a shower and follow-up with all the other "getting ready" stuff alone(!)...while listening to my iTunes...and singing as loud as I wanted.

8) Voting absentee (so I won't have to stand in ridiculously long lines with Anthony on Election Day) for President Barack Obama. WOO WOO!

9) The brown rice sushi and Sam Adams Oktoberfest I had for lunch.

10) The full-body, deep tissue massage I got - so relaxing and felt sooooooooo good!

11) The (first one of the season!) skinny, no whip PSL (pumpkin spice latte, for those of you that aren't down with the lingo) that my mom bought for me.

12) Sipping said PSL while getting a pedicure and chatting with my mom.

13) Following-up the pedicure with a manicure....

14) ...flanked on either side by Mom and Laura doing the same...

15) ...and engaging in some pretty amusing conversations while drinking mimosas on the house!

16) Coming home after our girls' day at the spa to find the house vacuumed, the bathrooms cleaned, and the homemade (from scratch, including the sauce!) lasagna all prepared and ready to pop in the oven. Marcus, YOU ROCK!

17) The 3 bunches of lilies Laura surprised me with for my "32nd" birthday...

18) ...and the fact that she drove up from Richmond for the afternoon/night just to be here to help me celebrate.

19) Having Heather and Looney over for dinner because they wanted to celebrate with me, but didn't feel comfortable hitting the smoky bars because she's pregnant.

20) The birthday cupcakes that Courtney made and the "fruit cup cake" that Heather brought over for dessert...and eating way too much of both.



21) Getting dressed up to go out.



22) Going to the Skydome, a bar that spins to give you a 360 degree view of D.C.

23) Martinis, rum & Diets, Absolut Mandarin shots. Need I say more?


24) Tech's 35-30 win over Nebraska, in Nebraska. GO HOKIES!

25) Spending "adult time," having "adult conversations," and doing "adult things" with some of my favorite people.





26) The fact that Brian was finally home, after a tour of duty in Lithuania...and knowing how happy Tina was to have him back.



27) Heading to the hookah bar with Courtney, Caity, Laura, & Mark to cap off the evening with a few more drinks and a double-apple hookah.

28) Coming home after a night out and having Toni tell us that Anthony is a pleasure to babysit and that he is the happiest child she has ever known. AND she said she wasn't lying. :)

29) Realizing that I had left my Amex at the hookah bar, tab open, and texting Caity who still (fortunately!) happened to be there with another friend and was able to grab it for me. The vino is calling, PIC, the vino is calling!

30) Laura and I taking forks to the pan of leftover lasagna...

31) ...while Mark was out getting us value meals from McDonald's. That's right. Lasagna and then McDonald's. No wonder I didn't have a hangover on Sunday.

Good times, my friends, good times! A wonderful day, all around. I couldn't have asked for better.