A Birthday Celebration

Two weekends ago, my roommate DC turned 26, and she wanted to celebrate by hosting a pool party at our apartment complex. So host we did. DC made vodka gummy bears and gummy worms, and she and I made jello shots along with the help of her friend JS. And we made a lot, let me tell you. They filled our fridge:

oh, you're looking for food? sorry, we don't have that.

I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, because I don't really like being the center of attention {I almost had a hissy fit the last time I caught the bouquet at a wedding - it was really mature}. But, I think it's also because I find much more joy in giving gifts to others and being nice to people than I do in receiving gifts. Shopping for the perfect Christmas gift is actually one of the best parts of the holiday for me.

But DC absolutely adores her birthday, and as her roommate I wanted to make sure she had a great day from start to finish. She ran in the Race for the Cure that morning in memory of a friend's mother, so while she was gone I decorated the entire apartment.

I actually blew up most of the balloons earlier in the week and hid them in my closet {!}, because I was afraid of passing out if I had to blow up 40 balloons in 2 hours. I also baked the cupcakes the night before and hid them in the microwave.

When she got home, I was waiting for her with the candles lit...

 ...And a Smirnoff Ice waiting for her on the floor {in a fun birthday koozie} as soon as she opened the door!

I also put an Ice in her shower, so she got iced twice before 11am, and it was great fun. Balien wanted in on the Icing action, so instead we let her pounce on the balloons for a few minutes until she popped one.

Once we got the coolers, cornhole, and cars {love alliteration} packed up, we drove all of our stuff up to the pool. It absolutely POURED the day before {and I mean poured - the roads were flooded from hurricane Andrea}, and the morning started out kind of grey, but the sun came out right when we were headed up to the pool. Since it was grey, no one was at the pool yet when we got up there, so we were able to  claim a space out of the way in a corner to make our home base.

DC & her boyfriend JB

I had to eventually leave to go to the Brad Paisley concert {recap coming!} so I missed the end of the party, but DC had a fantastic day with all of the people that mean the most to her. A birthday success!

In other exciting news, I am actually headed to the beach this afternoon for 1.5 days to bring back my friend KC for the Zac Brown Band concert on Friday {a long/complicated story}. I'll be back just in time on Friday morning to welcome SRK to the dirty south, but I'll try to pop in before the concert if I can. Off to enjoy sunshine {and one day of no work!} I go!!