Hi friends!! How was your weekend?  My weekend was the best I have had in a long time!  It was full of birthday surprises with my favorite people and it certainly made me realize how lucky I am to have such sweet people in my life.  

My sister told me last week that we would celebrate my birthday on the weekend and I just assumed it would be a dinner with Jon, me, my sister and her boyfriend.  Boy was I wrong.  

Let’s back up to Friday… I went to an early morning class at the gym then headed home to get some work done.  My little nephew dog, Otis, sat on my lap while I worked. 🙂

Around 10am I had a conference call that lasted a little over an hour.  After the call I was getting ready to head to the store to shop for food for our neighborhood block party I was planning for Sunday afternoon.  My husband was working from home on Friday and called me into his office to “read an email” he got.  When I got down to the office I starting reading an email on his computer and 2 seconds later the closet door opens and out jumps my best friend Lissa!! I was in complete shock!!  (Side note: I am not an easy person to surprise!)

Lissa told me she was here for the whole weekend and was going to help me plan the party for Sunday night.  We did a little grocery shopping then headed over to Truck Yard for a drink with Jon and my sister.

After a while we headed home to get ready for dinner.  I was still so surprised Lissa was in town, but definitely thought that she was the only surprise.  When we walked outside our house to wait for the Uber, Jon told me our neighbors were coming to dinner too!

My sister made reservations at Cedar Grove, a new upscale restaurant in Dallas.  All the tables are lined with these white “trees” creating a really fun environment.  When we arrived, my sister and a few friends were at the table with big “27” balloons waiting for us!

My sister told us we were waiting on her boyfriend, Max, who was running late.  A few minutes later he walked in with my other best friend, Rachael.  Then the happy tears started flowing!  I just couldn’t believe it… especially since I had just seen Rachael in Nashville a couple days earlier.  Little did I know that my husband and sister had been planning with Rachael & Lissa for a while now to have them fly from Nashville to Dallas to celebrate my birthday with me.  I uploaded the video of Rachael surprising me at dinner to my youtube channel if you want to see it. 😉

Jon and my sister know how important these girls are to me so for them to organize their visit is something I will never forget.  Good girlfriends are hard to find so when I get to see my besties, I enjoy every moment of our time together.  

Oh and did I mention how amazing the food was??  It was SO good!  We all enjoyed out meals and yummy drinks!

The whole gang! 

All the girls!

Love these people! 

After dinner we headed to a nearby bar, High Fives, for another drink and some jenga playing.  We had a blast!

Saturday morning we headed to brunch at Origin, which included some mimosas! 🙂

Afterwards we headed to SMU on the boulevard to hang out with some friends.  Before every home football game, people gather on the boulevard for drinks and food.  I don’t think many people actually go to the game. 🙂

Saturday evening we were all exhausted so we decided to pick up some food and watch a movie at home.  It was wonderful!  We were all asleep by around 8 or 9pm. 🙂 

Sunday morning we woke up early and feeling refreshed especially after the extra hour of sleep!  The girls (and Max) headed to the dog park to let the pups run out their energy.  Rachael and I found a grassy area to complete a tabata workout.  My abs are hurting today. 🙂

PS.. isn’t it weird how I get holes in my shoes right where my big toe is?  This happens to all of my running shoes and strength training shoes… I guess I just walk and run with my big toe pointed up?  So weird!

Then we tried to take a picture of the 4 girls and 4 dogs and this is what 99% of the pictures looked like… 

Picture #139204839 … at least all the girls are looking.  🙂

Sunday after the park, we all got to work setting up for our neighborhood block party.  Unfortunately the weather was not ideal so we moved our party to a neighbor’s garage.  It ended up working out just fine!  We had a huge spread and everyone brought a dish or two. 

Couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of these friends!

Shortly after the party began, these girls had to head to the airport for their flights back to Nashville.  😦

This weekend was my favorite!!  It was full of fun and relaxation with my best friends and family.  I am SO blessed to have these amazing people in my life who go above and beyond to make me feel special.  I am still feeling the love even though the weekend has come to an end. Thank you to everyone who made my birthday the best one yet! 

Questions:

1. What is the biggest surprise you have ever had?
2. What was the highlight of your weekend?
3. Do you know/hang out with your neighbors?