Happy 26th Birthday to Me! (A Long Post with Pictures!)

Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I am 26 years old today. It’s hard to believe—I remember when I turned 13!! This is going to be a long post—so be prepared! It’s always fun to look back at previous years and see the pictures, etc.! I can’t believe how different I looked only a year ago!! I guess I AM making progress!

The birthday celebrations actually started last night. Hubby suggested we go see Luke Bryan as an early birthday present. I LOOOOVE me some Luke Bryan! We saw him before at a Dierks Bentley concert—actually where we heard of him for the first time, he was the opening act. But for this concert he was the main act! There were four performers—all were fantastic: Matt Mason, Lee Brice, Josh Thompson and Luke Bryan. Here are a few pics.

Matt Mason:

Lee Brice:

Josh Thompson:

And then Luke Bryan—he’s a fantastic performer! The ladies love his dance moves…myself included! lol He came out into the crowd at one point and had to stop the concert because he said it was “crazy” and he didn’t want anyone getting hurt. I saw girls pushing each other down trying to get to him! It was pretty nuts.

I’m disappointed that my pictures didn’t turn out from when he came into the crowd—we were so close to him!

But if you don’t know who he is—this is his newest release! And you can see his dance moves, ladies!

Luke Bryan

When we got home, hubby surprised me with my first birthday gift.

awww Love it!

We got home late last night, but hubby and I both took today off of work so we got to sleep in. Although I didn’t make it past 6:30! Hubby had these on the table when I went downstairs:

Beautiful pink roses! I am so spoiled!

And then he brought in a bunch more gifts which he had gone outside to the garage to wrap—probably in the bed of his truck. I love my husband. lol

The man knows me well. Not to mention he emailed me a Starbucks gift card too!

But the cutest gift of all was this girl tool set! My husband is a carpenter so I thought this was absolutely adorable!! And this will come in so handy!! It has a tape measure, a hammer, wrench, pliers, a level, etc—and they’re all pink!

And since this is a Friday—I decided to do my regular food post throughout the day. I am not going to post points values today because I just wanted to enjoy the day. But I did watch what I was eating to some extent. I stayed mindful.

For  breakfast, I topped 1/2 a sandwich thin with pb and a sliced banana and also had a glass of milk.

And then I made a pot of Godiva Pecan Caramel Bark coffee and had a cup along with creamer.

My in-law's gave me this candle for my birthday and it smells so good! It’s Hot chocolate scented.

We made a trip to a nearby town to pick up hubby’s new license plates. He joined the Hawkeye club—he was very excited to get these.

And then we headed to another town for the day. The plan for today was to go for a long bike ride, but on Thursday, hubby shot a nail through his hand at work, so the pressure on his hands when riding a bike wasn’t the best idea! So we just spent the day doing whatever instead! I’m just glad he was ok!!

We started off at a restaurant we had never been to before. And we will DEFINITELY be going back! We started off with a Crab Rangoon type appetizer, although it was called something else. These were baked—so I really loved that.

And then we had sushi as our main course.

A fabulous and light lunch!

And then for my favorite part. There is the ADORABLE and increasingly popular cupcake bakery that we like to go to. We rarely go and it’s always a treat. Today, I had the Red Velvet cupcake.

Hubby had the butterscotch:

These cupcakes are absolutely phenomenal. The frosting makes them!

And for once we were in town when this cool store was open! I’ve been wanting to check this place out forever.

We got some fun things! They make natural peanut butter right there in the store! They make it right when you order it in this machine and they have different kinds throughout the week—I will definitely be going back here!

Hubby loves white chocolate, so he got this Pomengranate truffle. I had a bite of it—very delicious!

We did a little shopping and I used some birthday money, from my parents and in-law’s, to buy a couple of things—although I didn’t find much! I can definitely tell I’m getting older because things like cupcake tiers and icing spatulas on clearance got me excited! But what a great deal!!

Originally $14.99 and on clearance for $3.74! And these spatulas were originally $9.99 and on clearance for $2.48. And they go with my kitchen so well. I was checking out the Nordic Ware brand at Target and I am in love with their products!

I was really excited to learn that I can now fit into clothes at Aeropostale! XL—but I can finally shop there! I got this really cute sweater for $12.99.

After shopping, we went to Starbucks so I could get my free drink for my birthday for being a part of their green club! I got a Salted Caramel Mocha—it was DELISH! Not something I would normally order due to the calories—but I decided today would be the day to try it. It was really good—but a little rich to be something I would want to order on a regular basis.

My sister in law (and family) sent me an Old Navy gift card which I didn’t get a chance to use today but plan on using tomorrow! Thanks!! Can’t wait to get some new fall clothes because I REALLY need them!

And then we went home to change clothes and go out for supper! We decided to dress up a little to go out for supper—and seriously I don’t think we have ever done that before! It made it feel like a date!

I purchased a Living Social deal a long time ago and it was about to expire. It was PERFECT for tonight! We got to sit in this big round booth and the place had dark lighting and this romantic feel. We had an appetizer of stuffed shrimp which was SOOO good. It also came with a salad, bread, and a relish tray. I had a few bites of all of that but didn’t finish any of it completely—lots to eat!

For my main entrée, I ordered grilled shrimp, scallops, lobster and crab. I have never eaten anything that you have to use tools to eat lol. It was fun and delicious! It felt fancy. I was really impressed because none of it was buttery or anything—very healthy!

Hubby asked if they did anything for birthdays so they brought me out a chocolate sundae with a candle (a pink one!). It was the perfect ending. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures in this place, but the food was fantastic and we got by on next to nothing with the Living Social deal! We did snap a picture of ourselves though:

I had a fantastic birthday and I have hubby to thank for that. I am blessed with such an amazing, thoughtful, and loving husband. Thank you for EVERYTHING!!!