the birthday staycation.

this year my birthday was on a thursday which means i got to stretch out over a few days! i turned 27 for those interested in knowing (hehe) and couldnt believe it was actually here. sometimes it feels like forever for birthdays to come around. i am a big fan of birthdays and think they should always be celebrated in the way the birthday person wants!

the day started off at work when i arrived and had some delicious treats on my desk:) i havent had things like this in quite awhile and couldnt help but have one! dang, they were good. i also got another huge cupcake during the day and lots of birthday presents via email haha. plus the song, i cant lie that i do like it a little:)

homemade whoppie pies!

told you it was huge:)

that night i had plans to meet my parents and cousin at the cheesecake factory! it seems thats a standard now since it was the same place we went last year lol. but really, who says no to the cheesecake factory?? this year was a little different since i am seeing my nutritionist and that meant ordering quite differently. did you know they have a skinny menu?! omg, seriously so good and tons of options! mom and both ordered off that one and i totally stole a bite off my cousins plate of alfredo hehe. it was delicious and i couldnt help but miss it just a little. i got another birthday song and 2 pieces of cheesecake! ha, just kidding. i had promised joanie no cheesecake that night so i didnt order a piece of my own but did have a few bites of the other 2 pieces. man they were good. i kept it all to a minimum since i had an appointment to see her in the morning and we were trying to be down a pound. (ps who tries to lose a pound in 2 days with 1 of them being their birthday, sheesh its hard)

saturday though was my big day to celebrate! i have wanted to stay in a room on the strip forever. i never have and decided since it was my birthday thats exactly what i was going to do. so i found a smokin deal at mandalay bay and wanted to keep it low key. it wasnt a huge year so a big party wasnt necessary, but you gotta do something:) so saturday morning i got up, knocked out my 10 miles, took a short nap, treated myself to a sparkly pink pedicure, then richard and i headed to mandalay bay to check in at about noon! our plan was to be at the pool by 1p and it actually worked pretty well. kristle came to join us and we were ready for some fun in the sun! we found 3 chairs and a waitress was by fairly soon to take our drink order. oh heck yes i was drinking haha. dont worry, i had permission lol.

our view for the day!

the afternoon drifted by as lounged, had lunch, took a few spins around the lazy river and the wave pool, and did a hefty amount of people watching. it was totally the way i wanted to spend my birthday! we also had a special treat we had concocted earlier in the week, drunken gummy bears:) since monday these little guys had been swimming around in a pool of vodka soaking up the goodness and they were a delicious treat on a hot day!

yum, gummy bears!

later on tiffany came down to hang out with us and go to dinner at the cantina inside the shops. like i said, very low-key:) we listened to the hilarious marichi band that sang me happy birthday and a johnny cash song along with every other party that had a birthday in the house! i had these lobster tacos that were a-mazing we spent the night chatting away. afterwards we headed up to the foundation room at the top of the hotel. well after the 3rd degree by the guy working the desk about how long we would be there and how much money we were planning to spend. it was the weirdest thing, but we made it past! the view was amazing and the drinks were some of the strongest ones i might have ever had haha. it wasnt as great as i thought it was going to be, but the view made up for it:)

sorry its little a dark:/

we were all pretty tired from the day so as tiffany headed home richard and i went back to our room and spent the night curled up watching friends:) it was totally what i was looking for! getting up the next morning was rough from such a comfortable bed and knowing we had to go home:/ we ate breakfast at the hotel just to stretch it a little longer before heading to the mall for my birthday shopping spree! i have been dying for new clothes for what seems like forever, so that was my present from richard:)

this birthday was great, i did exactly what i wanted and finally got to cross staying on the strip off my list! seriously if you havent you should very soon:)