birthday week + smink surprises!

with a summer bday right before the 4th of july, it's usually tricky to get all my friends together for big celebrations. instead, i usually opt for dinner, or drinks or brunch. or some combination of those.

this year was no different. this year i planned a small lil birthday brunchy with some of the girls. we went to breadwinners uptown. (it's on my dallas brunchy list...of course) and it was just what i wanted - give or take several friends + sister who weren't able to make it. 

i love brunching. and i love these gals. so it was perfect!

this is my sparkly new summer bag from jamie. totally love it. 

the following photo montage is what happens when you hand a camera to ms. lauren osbourne.
gosh i love her.

brunchy brunch brunch

little did i know, these girls are birthday super schemers! after a week full of birthday wishes, my schemer friends surprised me with a surprise "smink" birthday party! (smink = small + pink. duh.) brilliance rachel, true brilliance.

i was shocked. stunned even. there were no words.

in hindsight, maybe there were a few clues. kristen was being weird and distant. my sister "couldn't make it" to brunch. i knew i had some sort of sunday night plans with rachel and kristen.

all day sunday, this was the conversation -

LJ: "rach, have you talked to kristen? what are we doing tonight? why didn't she come to church with us this morning? does she even still want to hang out? whatever." 

Rachel: "we're going to dinner. she says you can pick the spot. we'll go over there later." 

LJ: "but what are we dooooing? i'm not even hungry since we ate late lunch. and why didn't kristen or my sister come to brunch yesterday. seriously? it was 2 hours of their day. annoying." 

Rachel: "......."

when we walked up to kristen's door, there were voices inside, but just as i thought,"hmmm, that's weird, i know kristen's roommate is out of town, who is she talking to...OMG, WHAT?!?" no really. that was my inner-monologue. word for word.

and i also stood in shock for what felt like an eternity before i could process through what was happening and walk towards the door. my sister was there. and my brother. and their families. there were hilarious video messages from mom, dad, uncle jay and susan, who were all on a cruise. it was just too much.

there are no words for how very special my friends and family made me feel on my birthday this year. they are simply the best. THE BEST.

so many pink treats!

p.s. my nephew tyler is CRAWLING!! yay!

more pink treats! and a perfect handmade birthday card from julie! :)

love these girls!

oh hey, this also happened. we locked ourselves out on the front porch. whoops!

good thing keith was there to scale the fence and retrieve the hidden key.

actually! good thing KO had a hidden key available for retrieving! :)

and to my super schemer hostesses - kristen, rachel and lauren -

y'all are my favorites. SUCH a perfect surprise. you know me and my pink princessy-ness well. thanks for putting up with my brattiness...who knew you were trying to throw me off your trail?! i mean, i totally knew. just putting on a bratty act to...you know...fool ya.   :)


love y'all much!!!



*most photos courtesy of the talented miss julie. thanks friend!