My birthday, Newport, and everything in between

Ah it feels so good to finally blog again :) After a week of on-the-go, I am back and ready for May. My birthday was fabulous, thanks to my amazing friends and family. Saturday night (my birthday being at midnight) the girls decorated Jackie's apartment and surprised me with a little celebration. They baked me a cake and crafted a drinker for me, it was so cute! I loved it! And I was very surprised, which is a hard task to accomplish given how much time we spend together. haaa

I got to skype with the fam the morning of my special day. It was good to see all their smiling face, I miss being home on my birthdays the most. I got to open my present while we skyped, too! I got a very nice, way too nice, watch that I absolutely ADORE. Mom said that dad picked out all the little details of it specifically for me and he could not have done a better job! It is perfect and I wear it always and every time I look at it I smile.

Around noon we left for Laughlin, Nevada. Laughlin is an annual Greek trip over May break. We stayed for 2 nights... you can really only do 2 nights of Laughlin, coined "the armpit of Nevada." Ha. Tuesday we drove the 4 1/2 hours to Newport and arrived at our adorable hotel on the beach, The Newport Beachwalk Hotel. It felt more like an inn. There was breakfast every morning, a gated place to park the car, and a big bath tub that the girls and I enjoyed :) Wednesday we rented bikes all day and biked to Balboa Island, shopped, got the famous Balboa bars, and enjoyed the sunshine. Thursday we drove to Fashion Island and ate at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Mmmmmmm. We had the end of the afternoon to relax and get ready for dinner and I took the opportunity to spend some good "me time" at the beach while the shower rotation of five girls commenced. I forget how calming the beach is until I am there: shoes off, wind blowing, waves lulling. Sometimes it just takes a change for you to look at the things in your life differently. Environment gives you perspective. The water and the peacefulness and how simple things can seem so complicated, I don't know. It's easier to breathe at the beach. With no one watching, no one talking, no one there to judge. It is simpler when it's quiet. I don't think I take time to appreciate the quiet enough.

That night we met up with Lizzie who drove over for dinner and ate at this really cozy Italian place called Sol Grill. It was delicious and the perfect evening. The six of us girls caught up on everything, listened to good live music, and just enjoyed each others company. It was everything I wanted. Liz also brought Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert which was such a treat.

Friday we got to spend a relaxing morning sleeping in and eating breakfast. We took one last trip to the beach to play with the bubbles and sand castle toys that they put in my "Birthday Box" and we took some cute pictures.

All in all it was a great week. I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else but my girls. Thank you to everyone who made me feel special. x's and o's ♥