I LOVE birthdays!
My birthday, my husband and sons' birthdays, friends and family member's birthdays, someone I just met's birthday ...
I. Love. Birthdays.
I love celebrating the fact that people, especially those close to me, were created and born to be in this world for a special reason. Birthdays are especially dear to my heart because, through unfortunate events that life has thrown at me, I understand firsthand how special this opportunity is that we've been given. It grieves me that some people don't have the same opportunity that those of us who are living, breathing, and moving have. I was just reading a post a couple of days ago about my birthday that I celebrated seven months after losing Aaron, and I wrote something along these lines: "As deep as my grief is while I don't have my son here with me, I know that if he were here, he'd want me to have as much fun as possible on my birthday and to be happy. So I'll do just that and honor him in that way." Since writing that, that's how I've been trying to celebrate my birthday and the days leading up to it - by being intentional and aware that life is short and it is precious, and to enjoy the little moments that make up the 24 hours in our day. So, without further ado, here are some pictures and commentary of those moments that I've had this past week:
As a dedicated fan of Birthday Week, I try my very best to see the good things that happen every day, rather than focus on the things that can so easily stress me out. Monday was great (although I forgot to take pictures!), but Tuesday through me for a loop. Seth's leg was bothering him for most of the night and then all during the day. I had just run out of baby pain medicine for him, so I figured I may as well buy some medicine for myself while I was at it. Thank you, Starbucks Cold Brew for always pulling me through to the other side, and thank you, Walmart, for being affordable and well priced. We also ended up going to Home Depot for a little adventure where Seth was able to ride in the big boy car cart for the first time!
As a mom, I am obligated to document every exciting moment in Seth’s life, such as "First Sneeze!" and "First Laugh", so when I print this particular picture out for the photo books, the caption next to it will say “First Time Riding In A Big Boy Cart and Waving With His Left Hand.” Hopefully the second time he rides in a similar type of cart, he’ll wave with his right hand. Then I can completely check those off the list of “must take” pictures.
On Wednesday, the weather really started to show signs that summer is just around the corner. It was 66° outside! I decided that going for a walk with Seth would be a great thing to do, but within two minutes of leaving the house, I was sweating. 66° is practically a heatwave in Washington, so I'm not sure why I thought taking a walk in a dark navy blue shirt with a tank top underneath in the blazing hot sun was a good idea. I decided to keep on keeping on so as to finish my walk, because I ain't no quitter. A whole 0.9 miles later I finished my walk and huffed and puffed my way up the driveway to the house. Can you tell I work out a lot? Puh-leeze.
Adam and I were blessed with tickets to go to a Seattle Mariners game on Thursday evening, so Seth and I had to think of some fun activities to do during the day to make the time go by faster! We went out to the store (and to Starbucks too, of course) and found some chalk and bubbles to play with outside.
Little did I know, though, that there was a thunderstorm forecast for that day! As we were outside playing, the sky went from sunny and warm to overcast and eerie in just a matter of minutes. You could almost taste the humidity it was so thick in the air, think Southern United States humid.
I was actually second guessing whether or not we should go to the baseball game or not because it was pouring so hard at our house, and there was thunder and lightening as well. I'm happy to report that the weather died down enough for us to go to the game, and we really enjoyed ourselves! It was a gorgeous night for a baseball game. AND we ended up winning 11-3!
Friday was relaxing and peaceful. I woke up to a gorgeous sunny day (yesss) and bought Seth a $1 beach bucket which he wanted to wear on his head. I had to participate in the first day of Frappuccino Happy Hour (my first time in four years not working it!), and my honey brought me home bright yellow flowers. I love that guy.
Then … dun dun DUNNN! The weekend was finally upon us! My birthday eve (Saturday) started off with lunch at Din Tai Fung in downtown Seattle.
If you're not familiar with this restaurant, they have authentic Chinese/Taiwanese food, and their specialty are these amazing, blow your mind, I literally have dreams about them dumplings. They are SO incredible. We met up with family at this restaurant feasted our hearts out. That's what my family does when we get together: EAT. I can't say that I'll ever be in favor of changing this tradition, either.
After lunch, we walked just a little over a half mile to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Isn't it such a beautiful building?!
If you're not familiar with this, either, is like an entire building of different coffee experiences. There's merchandise that you can buy, special coffee roasts that are only sold at this particular location, and a coffee bar where you can order drinks (I ordered Nitro Cold Brew, yum!).
Downstairs at the Roastery, you can watch coffee beans being roasted and packaged, and enjoy a coffee tasting between multiple kinds of Starbucks coffee blends. It's basically coffee heaven. My family was so wonderful to indulge me by going into the Roastery (it's beautiful and everything, but it’s like 1,000% sensory overload. There are so many different things happening all at the exact same time). Let's just say that my coffee-loving heart was totally satisfied as I walked out the doors.
On Sunday, after church, we had an at home family birthday celebration.
My dad said that he would cook anything I wanted for dinner, so I chose Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia Child. I'm not a huge fan of beef in general, but I completely ADORE this dish!
And if I can love a dish with beef in it, that's saying something! It is so full of flavor, and the meat is so tender and, oh my word, I'm starting to salivate just thinking about it! This dish is a labor of love, as it has well over 15 ingredient and takes hours to prepare and cook. If you've never tried it, do yourself a huge favor and cook it. It is just divine.
I also had a personal “Americano” coffee cake (see above) made just for me (thanks Cassi!). It was deelish! It was a lighter type of cake - like a Chinese style cake - and it wasn't so sugary like most cakes at American bakeries. Plus, it had four shots of espresso in it, so that automatically gave it a win in my book.
After yet another feast just 24 hours after the last one, I ended my birthday festivities by being outside with my brother and Seth. Seth loved all the bubbles and find/throwing rocks, while my brother was hunting for firewood in my parents’ yard (ha!).
We’re a goofy family sometimes, but I love us. I'm so blessed to be able to call all of these amazing, loving, caring, thoughtful people around me my family. Thank you for loving me and blessing me this week. I love you all so very much!
