Birthday Swag

I had sort of a non-birthday because it was spent at church and then sitting next to Creed on our ten hour drive home from Lake Tahoe, but throughout the week I received a few really amazing birthday gifts that I just have to blog about so those who gifted them know how much they meant to me.


First of all, every year for at least the last five years, Cat, my adopted mom in Columbus, has made me my favorite lemon bars for my birthday. Even when we were no longer working together, there would still be a fresh batch waiting on my desk at my new office. I knew I would miss it this year, but low-and-behold, Look what arrived in the mail! Cat didn't forget, and that along with the cute T-shirt she sent, gave me a huge smile that lasted all day.

I love buying gifts for my little sister because I feel like I know her so well, that I can come up with all sorts of fun options. Well, she can say the same for me. This year she gave me the DVD of Harry and the Hendersons, which we LOVED when we were little and she said it took all her willpower not to open it and watch it without me. She also gave my the easy reader My Friend Is Sad by Mo Willems. I love this series and this book especially captures my heart.

Even though my mom had already given me a wonderful gift that you are sure to see on the blog later, she brought this paper mache robot up to Lake Tahoe so I would have something to open. My mom and I both collect these Lori C. Mitchell Halloween figurines so it was especially thoughtful coming from her. Even though it's not Halloween, he's been sitting out on our mantle and Creed points him out and giggles a few times a day so I guess I'm not the only around here who likes him.Larry bought me this ampersand for my ampersand collection (which now consists of about four ampersands, but the best part of a collection is the search or the gifts and I'm always a little sad when my collection has grown large enough that I don't need anymore so I'm sort of happy that this collection is slow growing.) (And ok, maybe I put it in his hand at Pottery Barn and told him that I loved it and it would make a wonderful birthday present, but he waited in line and paid for it)

And now, for the gift that really blows my mind. Friday, was a busy day. Creed and I left our house at 8:00 a.m. and got home at 2:30 for a late nap, and I was so surprised to find this on my porch.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!?!? Nikki, David, and Audrey sent me a whole box full of pints of Jeni's ice creams. I was worried that it would be melted after sitting on my porch all day, but they were still frozen solid. As I opened the box, Creed recognized the pints and dived right in to grab the ice cream. I have to confess that they have been sitting in my freezer all weekend and I haven't touched them yet, but it's killing me. I know it sounds crazy, but they just feel too special to eat! Maybe it's because this is truly amazing ice cream that I can't get here. Maybe it's because it's a little piece of home that I like knowing is sitting in my freezer. Maybe it's because it reminds me of Nikki, David, and Audrey, and Cat who introduced me to Jeni's so even catching a glimpse of it there makes me smile and I can't bear to eat it. I seriously can't decide what to do with it. Part of me just wants to hog it all, savoring it bit by bit, but I would also love to save some to share with the Zozes when they visit in October since I know they miss it too. Or maybe I should invite new friends over so they can sample of bit of why Columbus is great. Or maybe I should invite old Columbus friends over to share it . . . what do you think?

And Last but not least, I got an Imac! I know you are probably groaning thinking I'm spoiled so I have to include this disclaimer. Our last year in Columbus, Larry and I needed to buy two big ticket items: a sewing machine and a new computer. We put off buying them as long as we could because we didn't want to move these fragile items and we weren't sure how much our move would cost so we wanted to wait and re-evaluate our finances. Well, Larry really wanted to get me a new sewing machine for my birthday, but when the big date came, I told him that I looked things over and decided it could wait for a few years. The sewing machine that I have from when my mom got married will serve me well in the meantime and then I won't buy a less expensive machine that I'll want to replace someday. At any rate, the new computer cannot wait as our old laptop is dying a painful death so we decided to get a new computer for our anniversary/my birthday/Larry's birthday and maybe it will be for Christmas too.

We decided to finally make the jump from a PC to a Mac and it is a thing of beauty! I have to admit, I'm a little nervous to open up some of my design files on it, but I'm sure in the end, we won't regret the switch. We just bought it last night so I haven't even pulled it out of the box, but oh, it is a thing of beauty.

The best part is that right now Apple is running a back-to-school special and when you buy a Mac with the education discount (which Larry gets because he's considered U of U faculty and is also sort of a student), you get a free Ipod Nano or Ipod Touch. Larry's Ipod holds way more music than these options so he wasn't interested so now I'm the proud owner of an Ipod Touch and Creed gets my hand-me-down Nano

But wait, there's more! Apple is also running a special that when you buy a computer, you get $100 towards a printer, and since we're happy with our current printer, we picked up this little portable Canon Selphie photo printer for free! I used to work as a wedding photographer's assistant and he had a similar little photo printer, and part of my job was to choose one of my favorite photos from the day and print and frame it during the reception so the bride and groom didn't have to wait weeks to get their first look at their wedding photos and they could even take it along on their honeymoon if they wanted. Now my brain is swirling with possibilities for this printer. Think about it, you could have a birthday party on location somewhere and take a group picture of the kids and slip it into their goodie bags to take home. Or you could set up a "photo booth" at a wedding and print of the guest pictures and have them printed and signed and slipped into a guest book. Or . . . Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. It was nice to still be spoiled while I was trying to entertain Creed so Larry could study all week for his internal medicine board exam.