After a long week of work and moving preparations, it was wonderful to come home on Saturday evening to find a surprise party thrown for me by Sawyer and my friend Katie to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  It was a delight to spend the evening with a handful of people I love and it meant a great deal to me that both of them would go to the lengths they did to help me ring in a new, exciting year of life.

After spending many evenings with Sawyer’s sister Brie talking over ideas for our blogs and how we keep our own interest focused on new postings every once in a while, I was able to do a DIY project growing my own kitchen herbs that I found inspiration for on Brie’s wonderful blog, The Dropcloth.

This beautiful late afternoon sunlight shining through my north-facing kitchen window hit the wall above the table at just the right angle.

Party photos galore!  Sawyer and Katie went above-and-beyond to make Saturday evening a special occasion for me and they surpassed all expectations (all the gold is to celebrate my “Golden Birthday” or Champagne Year – meaning I’m turning the same age as the date my birthday is on [26 on the 26th])!

Gatsby lolls around the party favors from last night.

Penelope decided to host her own party once the balloons from last night drooped to the floor and she finally succeeded in tearing a streamer from the wall.