the perfect gift...

yesterday at work, we had our secret santa lunch get together. during my shift, i might add. what was supposed to be from 2-3pm, turned out to go until 4pm. and then i still had an hour lunch that i got to take after that! so it broke up my 9 hour day quite nicely ;) we pulled out a table in the back with 4 chairs, ordered some pizzas, and exchanged our gifts. and can i just say, i love mine!

 the lovely box it came in.

so excited!

my manager (who got my name) knows dylan because when he picks me up, he usually comes in. hence, the D and B. i was so thrilled when i opened my gift, because for the last few years, every time i went in to indigo or anthropologie and saw these mugs, i always wanted them. but was too cheap to buy them for myself. problem solved! can't wait to drink some of the hot chocolate she also got me from those mugs.

also, yesterday our landlord had left us a little gift bag by our door, which dylan found when he got home from work. 

a stack of 3 soaps a bottle of bottle wine from nearby wine country.

the soap is a little funny, but props for going local on the wine ;) seriously though, he's such a sweet guy and a great landlord. i never would have expected to get something from a landlord! 

ps. december 20! what?!

i like big gifts and i cannot lie...

besides feelin' the birthday love, the next best thing is gifts, right? ;) i was spoiled, and who doesn't like that once in a while?

 parental gifts, while chloe looks on lovingly

 the ring on my middle finger. all diamonds, baby. just kidding! that would be nice. it's from

stella and dot.

and this bracelet by elle (as in the magazine. who new they made jewelry?!). all their jewelry comes with a little ruby on it somewhere, which happens to be my birthstone. so my mom thought that was pretty great. but, i have freakishly small wrists and it slipped right off :( i'll have to find something else. it's so insanely hard for my to find bangles that fit, that sometimes i just buy hoop earrings!

gift from the bf. poor guy, i gave NO ideas. i had none. such a sucky gf.

 i see where this is going..

 a new lens! i actually had an idea that's what he got me when he said something the night before. call it girls intuition because what he said gave nothing away!

perfect card-boy taking a picture of the posing girl.

 i made my own cake hehe i offered. my mom felt a little weird about it, but i needed something to do during the day.

family photo with our child

 finally! i had to stare all day at that cake!

and, that's plenty of pictures of moi. only 364 days until the next one!
(and 157 days until christmas. just sayin')

spoil me, please!

here's a few things i got for my birthday :) i already showed you the necklace from dylan in the post before (love it!--i'm wearing it in the pictures)

 enough with the photos, let me tear in!

that's an apron i'm wearing..can't wait to put it to use! plus, the cake pan in left hand is a giant cupcake. it's definitely going to take some practice to learn how to decorate something that's got ridges and swirls, but i sooo can't wait to try it.

he also got me a candle i've been eyeing forever, a fred glass 'baggie' and cupcake pan, except they're not cupcake shapes, they're small rectangles..so i'm not sure what to call it. but it could be used for anything; mini cakes, brownies, whoopie pies..

because she's a princess (who wouldn't stay still and made it very hard to get a pic)

sunday morning we went out with my parents for my early birthday breakfast, since i wouldn't see them monday (my mom probably hates this picture because of what the weather did to her bangs and the fact that she was sick lol)

2 rings from my parents-from blue banana market  in kensington market. the crystal one is made with a Swarovski crystal ..it shines pretty in the light :)

then i got 2 weights so i can actually start doing a little bit of workouts with my arms lol (a whole 3lbs!). i debated picking out the 5lbs, but i'm really weak and i didn't want to get them too heavy that i couldn't even use them..so this way i can work my way up (saying 5lbs is too heavy is kind of embarrassing haha). and i got 2 martini glasses which the stems of them are tall pink poodles haha they're cute (my mom loves 'spaghetti poodles' and these kind of look like them. anddd i still have to pick out a new watch i want from my parents, i just haven't found one yet.

yesss i got FRED stuff!! the unzipped and cakewich are from dylan and the stacked cup and paris bread press are from my parents ..eeee happy! 

 2 things put to use! i wanted to put m&m's instead of cinnamon hearts, but i didn't have any; i just had hearts laying around. it's probably a good thing i didn't put m&m's in, i would be eating a jar full every 2 days..yikes.

overall, it was a great birthday! cupcakes, books, friends, dylan, crowns, jewelry, fred, family, breakfast etc. 23 definitely feels older than 22 to me, but maybe that's just me. the past year has gone by so fast that before i know it, i'll be turning 24, and then the big 2-5. life certainly flies by.

♥have a good wednesday (how are we half way through already!?)