A very good birthday

It was my birthday this past Saturday. It's kinda weird to think I'm 25 now. When I was in my teens, I thought I'd have my life all figured out by the time I was 22.....three years later, and I still don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up!

But this post is not about existential musing and pondering. I want to share about what a great week I had and how glad I am that I got to relax and spend time with my family (even though I see them all the time since I live at home...). I feel like I can be too "down" and serious on here at times, so I'm going to focus on all the good stuff I did the last seven days. :)

As an aside, I can nitpick about the things I don't like about work, but one of the things I appreciate a lot about Half Price is vacation days accrue and roll over from year to year. So, I've got a decent amount saved up and decided to just take a week off before it gets really crazy (besides the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, June-September is our busy time of year). And everyone at work wants to take a vacation during the warm months to enjoy a little bit of summer. I didn't have to fight anyone to take a week off at the end of March. And I didn't feel as bad about being gone, because stuff wasn't piling up quite as bad as it will be in the middle of July.

Originally I was planning to buckle down and work hard core on art every day....but that didn't really end up happening. I did get some art making in, but I mostly just read, ran errands that had been piling up and drove around to various fun activities.

Monday, I read most of the day and then went to my weekly yoga class in the evening.

Tuesday is my regular day off, because I volunteer that day in the afternoon with Free Arts MN at Earl Brown Elementary doing art projects with kindergartners. That's always a highlight of my week. You can be feeling like crap when you walk in there, but by the time it's done, you feel amazing. The kids just run in and give hugs and high fives and just love that you're there to make art with them. We can do what I think is a simple project and they'll absolutely love it. It's a good reminder for me to enjoy the little things in life.

In the evening, I had my church community group over at my house for dinner. Everyone brought a dish to share, and we just hung out, ate and talked for two hours. The most interesting item that someone brought was a bag of oranges.

Wednesday was a pretty full day: In the morning I met with one of my pastors and another person from my church at Wilde Roast Cafe for my membership interview. It's not like a job interview, but just to check that you're not some wing-nut whack job or something. It's a good way for the pastors to get to know new people better, hear their stories and learn what people's passions and interests are. Also, Wilde Roast is awesome--they have the best chai tea I've ever tasted.

After my interview, I had to book it over to Juut Salon Spa in Roseville. A friend from church with curly hair that always looks great gets her hair cut there, so I thought I'd check it out. I've never actually been to a salon before, so I was a little leery. But it was awesome! The guy who did my hair loves curly hair and actually knows how to cut it properly. We had a great conversation about tattoos, hair, and other random topics. He was super cool and just really nice--he did not give me crap at all about the fact that I don't get my hair cut every six weeks or whatever. He just kept gushing about how gorgeous my hair is and that he wants to be the only one to cut my hair from now on. It's always nice to be genuinely complimented. :) And he styled my hair really nice, because I was going to go renew my driver's license after my appointment. Now that's good service! I definitely felt fantastic when I walked into the DMV later.

Thursday, I went over to Beloved to chat with one of my tattoo artists for a little bit and check out the art in their gallery. I continued the art trend that night when my Mom, Andrew and I went to the Walker to see their current exhibit, Likelike. (fyi, the Walker is free on Thursdays after 5pm) We took a detour to the Wedge co-op for dessert afterwards. I pretty much only ever buy snacks and junk food there!

Friday was another day of driving around: From St. Louis Park to have my leg braces adjusted, to New Hope to get my tires rotated, then home. Later, my Mom took Andrew and I downtown Minneapolis to Macy's flower show. It's starting to become a tradition, because the show always falls right around my birthday. We ooh and ahh over the flowers, wandering through the beautiful colors and taking in all the wonderful smells, then head downstairs to the candy counter. Yes, an old fashioned candy counter where you can buy treats in bulk or individually. They sell really good chocolate, and something is always on sale when we're there. I'm actually savoring one of my birthday truffles right now! :)

Saturday started out with a wonderful surprise: My Dad handed me an envelope and wished me a happy birthday. Inside were two tickets to see Celtic Woman on Sunday night!! I absolutely love their music and have been saying for years that I would really like to see them live. I was completely floored--I had absolutely no clue they were in town and never would have guessed that my parents would buy me tickets to see them! I'm not one to overly display my emotions, but I was over the moon! I couldn't wait for Sunday night to come, that's for sure!

But I also had some fun things planned for Saturday too: My Mom and I went shopping together, which I always enjoy getting to hang out with her one-on-one. In the evening, Leah, Andrew and I went to the Brave New Workshop to see The Danger Committee's latest show, Love and Other Painful Mistakes. They perform at the MN Ren Fest as well and are my favorite act to see there. To describe, it doesn't sound that cool, but they're awesome.

Juggling, knife throwing, comedy, potential disaster. What more could you want?

After their show, the guys answered the audience's questions, and it was just really cool to hear some of the things that go on behind the scenes. We were also able to catch some free improv just upstairs too. I definitely got my money's worth for an evening full of entertainment. I haven't laughed that hard since I watched A Very Potter musical with my friend, Holly--which means I almost peed my pants.

So, Sunday--church in the morning, which is always a treat. Then off to a baby shower for my cousin's wife who's due in May. It was great to hang out with some fun relatives and coo over cute baby things.
And then, after dressing up a little, because why not?....my Dad whisked me off to Celtic Woman.

I love Celtic music--I adore these ladies' singing.

And it was absolutely magical. I really can't describe it, I enjoyed it so much. I loved everything--the set, the lights, the gorgeous dresses, the dancing...but their voices...WOW. It's one thing to listen to them on TV or online, but in person it's absolutely phenomenal! My Dad and I were both grinning and just had a great time. Words just can't do justice to how I felt and how much I loved it and getting to share the experience with my Dad. I felt treasured and blessed and loved and celebrated. It was the perfect gift and will be a very treasured memory. So, yeah, my Dad is awesome (he even dressed up, because he knew I'd appreciate it). And my Mom had a hand in it too, because she sounded me out without me even remembering that she'd asked. It was the perfect finish to my birthday week.