Vacation, part 1: 35 and counting

Warning: quite wordy, but not too pic-heavy

Apparently, as time goes on, I've become more and more of a trend follower. The latest symptom of this is my perfectly-timed vacation, a (mostly) stay-at-home affair timed to coincide with my turning 35.*

Also apparently, this is frequently referred to as a "stay-cation." I could take or leave the term, but the exercise itself is pretty much turning out to be the Best Vacation Ever. I'm going to spend a bit of time chronicling it over the next few days - partially as evidence (mostly for myself) that my life is really not as boring as it looks on the surface.

Today, I'm covering the weekend and Monday; tomorrow, I'll catch today. (Confused yet?)

Saturday: Shindig of Awesomeness
I'm going to gloss over the parts where I make myself (and a handful of people who love me anyway) completely crazy in fits of perfectionism. I'm also going to shorten the saga of my car totally dying in the Central Market parking lot (after I shopped, with ice cream in my cart, and Amy coming to my rescue), and just cut to the fun part.

I invited a whole slew of folks (and their SOs) to our place for a day-in-advance b-day party. Much enjoyment ensued, what with work peeps, knitters, and a couple of random loved ones in attendance, plus Kirk's barbecuing prowess (Bryan helped, I swear) and Amy's mad chopping, skewering, and keeping-my-head-from-exploding skills. (Also, there may have been inhaling of some very tasty cupcakes from Kelly.)

I'm not sure why, but I'm always surprised (not to mention terribly pleased) when the different parts of my life come together and all goes fantastically. Everybody seemed to hit it off, there was plenty of mingling, and I was once again reminded that I need to just remember to kick back, and the awesomeness of all my peeps will make everything perfect, in all the right ways.

It may have been a *touch* of vodka with my cranberry that got me on the road to relaxation. Maybe.

This was all so much fun that, unfortunately, the daisies are the only photographic evidence I have.

Sunday: Tired, but happy...and also, 35

Got up early to shoot the breeze with Amy, and then, it would seem, there was a lot of sleeping. Woke up just in time to start preparing Father's Day dinner for the PlumParents and GameDad...steaks of pork and beef with mushrooms, scalloped potatoes, and kabob veggies. It was a rather different experience to have a dining room dinner (at a real dinner table, no less) with our folks in our place, and certainly worth repeating.

You may also have noticed that it was my birthday. Not that I've mentioned it three dozen times, or anything...

Monday: Relaxation + getting crafty = now THIS is a vacation

Yesterday started reasonably early, with a breakfast of cereal covered in fresh strawberries (food of the deities, I am convinced). I took my time cuddling cats, watching home improvement shows, and generally kicking back before meeting my hubby for lunch.

Then, inspiration struck me. I've had a project in mind for a couple of weeks, and decided I'd head over to open studio night at Sew Crafty for help executing it. Little to my chagrin, this involved trips to Hancock and JoAnn for supplies:

(In addition to my very-much-on-sale purchases, I scored a fantastic little modular craft storage box that served as the perfect $2 solution to my earring storage problem. $2!)

Sew Crafty Sarah was awesome, as seems to be par for the course, and almost certainly helped me keep my head together. It made an incredible difference to have someone there for the bouncing off of ideas.

Further to Sarah's greatness, when I mentioned the b-day festivities, I was presented with a bag of MYSTERY. Inside...
All this, *and* the Charms Blow Pop is my favorite flavor! How lucky is that?

Once I am fully successful with the idea, I may post a tutorial, post some on Etsy, or both. For now, a tease:
While I don't have a finished sample, I did get the basic concept ironed out; I left feeling pretty accomplished, and planning to sit down and blogitall right away.

Instead, I conked out in the middle of a wonky flickr upload. (Plenty to see at the link anyway...)
***
That brings me around to today, which started slow but turned out rather lovely. I started blogging it this afternoon - patience, grasshopper fans, it will show up sometime tomorrow.

Two last things in the meantime:
Recognize this bloke? A little difficult, since you usually see him in quite a different getup. No matter. Eddie Izzard was as unbelievably funny as ever on his stop in Houston last week. This was my real, honest-to-God birthday present, and while the entire day around it (not to mention this photo) was pretty craptastic, Eddie was worth it.

Finally, if you were at my home anytime this weekend, a thousand thanks for making this event a truly happy one. If you brought a completely unexpected gift (i.e. all of them), ten thousand. And if you were one of the two people who kept me from melting into a puddle of perfectionist goo...I can't ever repay you, but I'll certainly try.

See y'all tomorrow!


* Note: Yep, June 15. Which is, by the way, the same day that Kelly turned 31. :)