IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WEEK!

First of all: this blog will be a little longer than most but that is because I have a lot to share!

I have been enjoying the best week celebrating the start to my 26th year. I love to celebrate birthdays & I decided to give myself the luxury of a week off of work to celebrate. I wanted to use this week to do whatever I wanted & go wherever I wanted to go. I have to say if you have never taken a week off for your birthday you have been missing out. This week was amazing and exactly what I needed. It has now become a tradition I am determined to keep up.

~Monday~

To start the week off right I woke up early to pick up Panera coffee & french toast bagels (which are amazing by the way) & spent the morning with my precious friend Alana. She is a bestie from work & she has been on maternity leave since November. I have been trying to go visit her & her baby boy, Caleb, for weeks but something always forced us to reschedule. Finally being with my friend again and meeting her son was so wonderful & filled my heart with joy!

After spending the morning with Alana & Caleb, I drove to Richmond, IN to meet halfway with my college roomie, Marisa, and her son, Luke. The last time I saw them Luke was only 6 months. Now he is 15 months! He has changed a lot in that time. I couldn't believe it. I have truly enjoyed watching my friends have kids of their own. It is adorable to see which traits their children inherit. For instance Luke is pretty 50/50 in his looks from his parents. However, he has Marisa's contagious laugh and that just makes me so happy to hear. Catching up with Marisa is always good for my soul & I was thrilled to spend the afternoon together.

~Tuesday~

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

Tuesday was the best day of all, as it should be because it was my 26th birthday & time to celebrate in style! First of all I slept until 9:00 which never gets to happen anymore. When I woke up and had breakfast I looked out my window & discovered we were currently getting the first real snow of the season. I am that girl who loves snow. Waking up to a beautiful snow fall was an amazing start to the day. A little while later my mom picked me up & we were off to spend the day together getting truly pampered at The Spa at River Ridge in Dublin, OH. We did it up right with facials, massages, & a mani/pedi. The staff also brought in Panera for us so my mom & I could have a nice lunch together. We were so relaxed when we left. We couldn't stop talking about how nice the entire staff was through out the day. On our way home we went through Starbucks to get my free birthday drink, a Caramel Mocchiato. All day long I had friends & family sending me birthday messages & they each one brought a huge smile to my face. One of my favorites came from my best friend, Holly, & her husband, Ross, who sent me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers! I was so surprised with this sweet delivery! I felt so incredibly loved & special!

~Wednesday~

Wednesday was adventure day! Once again I slept in but this time it was 10:00 before I rolled out of bed; I have no regrets! After a lazy morning of coffee and catching up on my DVR I met up with one of my dearest friends, Alli. We decided to spend the day exploring her hometown of Worthington. We started off at a place we'd both wanted to visit for a while, The Candle Lab. For candle lovers like us this place was a dream. We chose everything from different scents, to the jars, and even made our own candle labels. After we mixed our chosen scents into the candle we had to wait 90 minutes to let the candle set up. To fill our time we went to a coffee shop down the street & talked.

Once our candles were ready we picked them up & went to dinner at a new favorite spot for me; Natalie's Coal Fired Pizza. It is a unique pizzeria that provides live music every night, usually jazz bands. While Alli & I couldn't stay until the band started we have decided we need to go back for more pizza & jazz.

The final part of our day involved one of the best parts of any birthday celebration...cake! In this case cheesecake & coffee from Cheesecake Factory. Alli's choice: Salted Caramel Cheesecake. My choice: Smore's Cheesecake! Over dessert we gushed about details for her upcoming June wedding & how excited we are to celebrate this new phase of her life. Adventures with Alli are always the best & I was so blessed to spend the day with her.

~Thursday~

After running around for the first 3 days of my staycation I decided I needed to lay low for the day. I met up with two of my friends from work for lunch down the street from my apartment. It was great to catch up after not seeing them for a few days. After they headed back to the office I ran a few errands & went home. I had nothing on my schedule for the first time during my week off...I didn't care for that. So I decided to go & see a matinee showing of Star Wars The Force Awakens.

It has been a long time since I've gone to the movie theater by myself but I was really looking forward to some introvert time. One of the perks of a 4:00 movie time on a Thursday...having an entire IMAX theater to yourself! That's right, I had the whole showing to myself! I couldn't believe it. I got my Twizzlers, Diet Coke, & enjoyed myself at an unintended private viewing of Star Wars. How could a low key day get any better?!

~Friday~

Finally came Friday! Friday morning was just as lazy as all the other mornings & it was awesome. I baked pumpkin muffins & enjoyed them with my coffee & morning shows. Later in the afternoon I met up with my sweet friend Faith, a talented photographer from By Faith Photography. We have followed each other on Facebook and Instagram for a while and became social media friends. We finally got to meet last week at a photography event in Columbus. It was so fun to finally meet in person and realize we have a TON in common. We wanted to meet up for coffee to keep gushing about our love for photography, Disney, coffee, etc. So we went to a fun little coffee shop, Harvest Moon Cafe, in Canal Winchester. I had the best time talking/laughing with Faith while learning more about her business & her dreams for it. She is incredibly driven & talented. I know she is going to do great things with her business. After we left the cafe I grabbed some Chipotle to go and headed home where I had a lazy night watching TV shows and movies on Netflix until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. It was the perfect end to my first staycation.

I am so glad I took the week off to celebrate my birthday. I cannot express enough how relaxing it was. If you ever have the chance you should absolutely treat yourself & enjoy a week to yourself filled with all your favorite people & activities.