{27!}

Yesterday I turned 27 and I had one of my best birthdays ever! It actually started on Friday night, when I got to see my favorite band from high school!

We had SO much fun!! It was my favorite concert I've ever been to. It was at a really small venue so we were right up front, and I knew basically every song. The only thing that would've made it better is if it had been about 9 years ago, but my 18-year-old self was definitely squealing the whole time.

so sad the flash didn't go off, but here I am with Kris Roe, the lead singer :)

My actual birthday morning started off with a yummy breakfast of Panera bagels and strawberries (don't worry, we didn't eat these all in one day).

Jamie couldn't wait to help me open presents; in fact, almost as soon as I got him out of bed in the morning, he started talking about opening them! He had at least as much fun as I did.

Boy did I get spoiled this year! From my in-laws I got a TURQUOISE immersion blender (and I'm making black bean soup for dinner tomorrow just so I can use it)

and a food processor!

After many not-so-subtle hints, Thomas came through and got me J. K. Rowling's new book. I am trying really hard to have zero expectations and not to compare it to Harry Potter, but I'm still really excited to read it!

And last but definitely not least, Thomas completely surprised me with a beautiful sapphire necklace!!

I am so spoiled!! Thank you thank you thank you everyone for these gifts and for all the cards, calls, texts, and fb messages. I definitely felt the love.

For the first time ever we had babysitters two nights in a row. While Jamie stayed home to play, Thomas and I went out to P. F. Chang's, my favorite. 

I got a free dessert because it was my birthday,

and that was on top of cupcakes earlier and a fruit tart yet to come...

Happy birthday to me.

What a fabulous day it was. Definitely one of my best birthdays.

And on an unrelated note, Jamie and I went to the zoo on our own this morning so Thomas could get caught up on his work (funny how the tides have turned now that I have a complete draft!). I tried to get a picture of the two of us, but someone did not want to cooperate with that....

What a goober :)

best week ever?

Saturday is my birthday.
Friday, the Ataris (my favorite band in high school) are playing in Knoxville, and we have tickets--and a babysitter.
Tomorrow, J. K. Rowling's new book comes out.
And as of today, I have a completed rough draft of my master's thesis!

Could this week get any better??

a weekend in Atlanta

My brother Mark and his wife Sarah recently moved to Atlanta, and this past weekend Jamie and I went to visit them. My brothers Nathaniel and Benj came at the same time, so we had a fun family visit. The drive was only three hours! We are so excited to have some family that close!

Jamie unfortunately came down with a cold the day before we left, and then I caught it from him while we were there. We still managed to have a fun time though! We packed a lot into our long weekend.

Saturday night we went to a Braves game. It was my first professional sports game (and Jamie's too). We had a great time, even though I don't think I watched much of the actual game :)

On Sunday we went to Stone Mountain. Pretty impressive!

the kiddos' favorite part was story time with Uncle Benj

On our last full day we all went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is the world's biggest aquarium, and they had a lot of great exhibits. We also saw a dolphin show that was really neat. Jamie's cold and his funky sleep schedule caught up to him by the end of the day, so that wasn't as fun, but he really enjoyed it at first!

ready to go!

 

 

And of course we spent plenty of time just playing!

cute Abigail (I think! Though she's wearing pink so I can't be sure!)

stories with Uncle Nate

Jamie and Elena (I think) watching Joey the fish who we picked out at the pet store

racing Uncle Benj at Adriana's soccer game

Jamie LOVED that he could reach this sink by himself. I found him in here washing his hands over and over! Not a bad  game when you've got a cold...

his favorite part of Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah's house

Jamie's favorite seat in the car

cousin dinner!

   

cute Adriana :)

Jamie had a blast with his aunt and uncles and cousins and their toys :) I'm sure we'll be hearing about them for a long time! And happily it won't be that long before we'll get to visit again.

a rainy afternoon

random recent cuteness

Jamie loves to play with the coasters we keep in our coffee table. One day, he was in the living room for a minute before I followed him out there, and I found this:

 That cutie had gotten them out and "set the table."

Jamie and Daddy reading a story

Every weekend for the past few months as I've been working on my thesis, Thomas has taken Jamie to the zoo on the weekend so I can have a few extra hours to get some work done. A couple weeks ago I decided to take a break and join them. [Side note: I have completed rough drafts of my introduction and my first section (of three)! Couldn't have done it without the extra time Thomas has given me!]

Jamie and Thomas hang out at the turtle marsh a lot. Jamie has gotten to feed crickets to the turtles more than once, but unfortunately the man who is normally there wasn't there the week I went. I was sad not to see it! They're also on a first name basis with many of the zoo animals. Meet Al.

 

Not the best family self-portrait, but Jamie makes it too funny not to include.

Jamie = about the size of an elephant femur

Jamie loved helping me make pizza recently. His favorite part? Sneaking tastes of sausage and cheese.