Celebrating 3-0.

So my friend, Shauna, is in her twenties.  It's hard for me to remember that sometimes, because she doesn't ACT like she's in her twenties.  (She's had a lot of life experience & acts more mature than most twenty somethings...)  And since I'm ahem - older than 30 - I always take exception when she says, "I'm 30!"  I scold gently remind her, "You're NOT 30.  You're 29... Quit saying you're 30!"  You know me - tough love.

 (About a month ago she asked me, "Since we're only like a month from my birthday, can I FINALLY say I'm 30?"    I said, "Sure - why not?!"  

Brian & Shauna had a cookout/swim birthday party for her on Saturday.  Our husbands used this opportunity to make a ghetto slip & slide in their back yard.  They had black plastic & soap.  I cannot tell you how excited they were.

I wanted to do something fun for Shauna's birthday since turning 30 sucks is special.   I came up with a cute idea.  I did 30 gifts for her 30th birthday.  Now-before you start having palpitations & grab your chest - they weren't all big, expensive gifts.  There were what I called 'good' gifts & some were random things that I know she likes.  I even wrapped them all individually!  (That's most the fun - unwrapping gifts!)

(And I got like 5 invites to peoples birthday parties when they all saw her gift(s). HA!)

The hardest part was thinking of 30 things.  I wrote #1-#30 on a piece of paper & started brainstorming.  I added a few extra just in case I couldn't find something I wanted.  

I won't bore you with ALL 30, but here are some:  

Life saver mints (because she LOVES them), bobby pins (because she loses them), clips for her hair (because she loses them), a container of peanuts (because she loves them), a scentsy plug in thingie (because who doesn't like their house to smell good?), a container of the wax smelly stuff for the plug in thinge (hey, that counts),  a necklace ('good' gift because she told me she liked it), an auxiliary cord to play her iPhone on her  bathroom radio ('good' gift because she said she needed it), a bottle of wine (because she loves it), a women's daily devotional book (because I know she likes that kind of thing), Reese peanut butter cups (no explanation necessary) & pens (because her boss always steals hers).  I also added in a couple of funny things that are 'inside jokes' to make her laugh. 

If I had to classify one thing as her 'big' gift in the basket- I would say it was a Lolita wine glass.  It is the 'girlfriends' one if you're familiar with their designs.  (and no the basket wasn't a gift...Shauna's not the 'baskety' type so I didn't think that was a good idea for her...but if you're thinking of stealing my fabulous idea doing something like this, you could totally use that as one of your gifts.  A basket, a thirty one bag,a storage tote, etc depending on the friend.)

 Honestly, I was too busy having fun to worry about taking a lot of pictures so I don't have much to show for the evening.  I didn't even take a pic with the birthday girl!  Fail!

We ended the night sitting around the fire.  Their dog, Laila, is a boxer & she's a fantastic dog.   I just love her...and she loves B-rad.  Like serious love.  I go to their house a lot without him & when I do, she searches for him for a few minutes after I get there.  And when he IS with me, she runs right past me to find him & then it's all over.  He plays with her & they rough house & she loves it.  He & I were sitting on the couch & Laila decided that she needed to be up there with us him as well...

(Notice the scrape on my knee?  That's from dragging Laila out of the lake back onto the houseboat last weekend when she got in the water.  Told ya I love her...)

  Happy, Happy 30th birthday Shauna!  It was a fun night celebrating!  Thank goodness she can finally say she's 30!  And the real bitch of it is we will all (Brian, B-rad & I) be turning 40 over the next 4 years & she'll still be in her thirties...  

DAMN IT.