the big birthday.

Well this month I turned 30. I must say I did a good job of down-playing it- mostly because I was in denial. :) But all-in-all it was a super fun day.

I will say my birthday sort of started in May when some close friends in my city decided to throw me a surprise party (2 months early) because they knew I would be out of town on my actual birthday. It was a fun meal of jambalaya (a favorite of mine!) and vegetables and of course, funfetti cake with rainbow chip icing! My favorite cake :) And no birthday is complete without presents, games and lots of friends to celebrate with.

Then in June, I celebrated with some other friends who were visiting my city and wanted to celebrate my big birthday. More fun and good food and friends. I felt loved.

On my actual birthday, my friends who I'm spending the summer with, surprised me with a big birthday breakfast. Breakfast is my favorite meal and so I was so excited. They had decorated the table - made eggs, fruit salad, coffee and WAFFLES! Another favorite of mine and hard to come by here. (Waffle irons are hard to find but someone borrowed one from someone else!)

The rest of the day was fun too! I had some things I had to do throughout the day but being with friends made those things fun. Then that evening, the group treated me to hot pot! (one of my favorite East Asian meals) and another funfetti cake! Complete with a trick candle. haha! And then an evening of karaoke which is also something I love.

Plus lots of text messages, Skype calls, emails and messages.  Lots of love from all over the world. :)