HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!! =) 12:14 AM

As most of you know, I love birthdays, and naturally, I REALLY love my own birthday. =) This year was no exception. I extended the celebration as long as possible. 24 is a good age! As usual, I feel no different, however, 24 is my favorite number...has been for years, I've worn it on my back on numerous teams throughout life. So I'm feeling that this will be a good year, being my lucky number and all! =)

I was fortunate enough to be able to first celebrate my birthday a week early when my Mom was here with Matt, the Harts, and my Mom (seen in previous post). The week leading up to my actual birthday was good, and Friday was when the big weekend began! It started off with a big party I had at a place called Oceans 8 in Brooklyn. It was a blast! The place not only had good food and drinks, but it was huge and had a ton of pool tables, air hockey, ping pong, and even bowling! As my friends kept pouring in and we kept moving their tables, they generously offered us the upstairs - free of charge! It was awesome! We hung out up there, ate some good food, and grabbed some drinks at the bar before heading down to all of the recreational activities. It was such a blast!!!!! I was overwhelmed by all of the love! So many people came and I was so grateful! What I was not grateful for was how many times I lost at air hockey...but that's besides the point. haha.

After the fun party, we headed back, and Laura spent the night. We brought my birthday in at midnight with the Birthday song and some cupcake eating courtesy of Steve who bought me cupcakes for my birthday!

The next morning (my actual birthday), Matt made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast! My present to myself was not touching any school work for the day! It felt great. I opened presents (Yay!) and absolutely loved everything I got! Matt also showed me my surprise birthday cake. He got it from Chelsea Market. Doesn't it look AMAZING!? Well, that's because it was!
The rest of the day was full of enjoying the gorgeous weather in Park Slope, and in Prospect Park. We took Rocket along, and he was exhausted!!! Later in the day we headed to Brooklyn heights to get some Chipotle (that's what I felt like!) and walk the Brooklyn Promenade (one of my favorite places). I also of course sign up for various "birthday clubs" so I can collect a bunch of freebies when it's my birthday. Because there is not a Caribou or a Dairy Queen nearby, I only redeemed my free Starbucks (Sat.) and Coldstone (Sun.). I was pretty excited about those though!!!! In the evening, there was a BBQ party to celebrate our good friend Sarah, who has just completed surgery 3/3! We went there to celebrate her, and to my surprise, there were cupcakes and candles and a birthday song there for me too! That sure was fun!

Sunday I had my first softball practice of the season (YAY!), and I got some studying done, and Matt and I enjoyed the wonderful weather again by taking a long walk with Rocket in Park Slope. Look at this exhausted puppy...

All in all I can say that my friends, family, and wonderful husband made my 24th birthday an AWESOME one! =) THANKS ALL!!!!!! =)

The Easter Bunny Brought my Mom to NYC! 9:07 PM

Happy Easter! Hope you all had a great holiday! =)

Well, MOM CAME TO NYC THIS WEEKEND! YAY!!!!!!! =) We had such a fun time, and as always, time went by WAY too quickly. I was sad to say "see ya later" to her today.

She got in on Thursday. We hung out Thursday night in Harlem after work and school, just talked and had a good time. Friday Matt had to work but I headed up to Harlem around lunchtime (should have been earlier, but I had transportation issues). The day was beautiful, so we decided the Central Park Zoo was a great idea. It sure was a great idea...as well as for most of the rest of NYC. The line was SO LONG. We decided to just watch the seals from the perimeter, as well as catch a glimpse of the polar bears. Then we went on and grabbed a seat on a bench to hang out, watch park performers, and enjoy the fresh air. It was a gorgeous day...and a certain 4-year old was quite lucky because Grandma bought her some blue cotton candy!

That evening we went back to Harlem to enjoy some delicious BBQ pulled pork and then headed to the neighborhood cupcake shop for some dessert. Maya and Rocket are becoming good friends too!

Saturday we went back up to Harlem and saw a matinee movie of "How to Train Your Dragon." It was super cute and Zoe was glued to the screen with peanut M&Ms in hand. After the movie we headed back to play, be silly, and dye Easter eggs.

Then, it was time to celebrate my birthday! (YAY!!!!!!) On our way to dinner, we saw a giant pillow fight in the middle of Union Square! It was QUITE a sight! (See pic below...see all the pillows in the air?!) I chose to go to Max Brenner's for my birthday dinner...a place where there is DELICIOUS food, and AMAZING chocolate desserts. My Mom will probably dislike the picture I'm posting here, but she's singing Happy Birthday with everyone! We all made sure there was no chocolate left behind on our plates. We devoured the crazy amount of dessert we had! There was nothing left! It was sooo good. A GREAT birthday dinner! =) Not to mention the early birthday presents I got!!!! My Mom got me new running shoes (I'm so excited!)!! I also got a sweater from her, shorts and a doxie book from Kim, and a fun apron from Lauren! Thanks everyone! =)



Easter Sunday was fun. Matt and I went to church while Mom went with the Harts to their church. Then everyone came to Brooklyn to have an Easter feast! We broke out the grill for the first time of the season on this gorgeous day. We made avacado chicken, sweet potato fries, asparagus, and fruit salad. It was a delicious meal. I'm looking forward to leftovers! =) We ate, hung out, then took a walk to the playground up the street from us where Zoe got plenty of "underdogs" from Grandma on the swings.

All in all it was such a fun weekend. Went by WAY too fast, but was a blast! Thanks for coming, Mom! =)