23rd Birthday!

I had a busy, fun weekend!

On Friday, after work, I quickly stopped by the graduation party for one of my Tri Delta sisters, Rachel.  She just graduated in foreign language education, and it was a party for several foreign language ed students, so I actually knew more people than just her!

From Rachel's graduation party, I went out to dinner with people from Paramount!  It was nice to catch up with them, since I only see some of them on the weekends now, since Fannie is still in rehab from her episode in April.  We ate at Irregardless in Raleigh, which is just as good for dinner as it is for brunch!  Hanna and I grabbed cupcakes quickly after dinner, because the flavor of the week was Mimosa (orange cupcake/champagne buttercream) and there was no way in hell I was about to pass that up!

Mimosas!

To round out the end of a great Friday, the most perfect little of all time (Emily!) and I went to see the Great Gatsby.  I read the book my junior or senior year of high school, and was not super impressed by it, but I also really hated English as a class.  Emily however, loves the Great Gatsby, so she got me excited to see the movie.  It was excellent.  Leonardo DiCaprio totally steals the show.  From what I remember, it was very true to the book (bonus points for me), but the movie was beautifully done.  I know technically cinema is considered "art," but the directors really thought about the aesthetics of the movie, and it was a work of art in my opinion.  I loved it, and will probs try to go see it again in the theater, which is rare for me.

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On Saturday I had the best ride on Ranger!  The weather was absolutely phenomenal, it was warm, not super humid, and breezy.  All I could think was that it felt like Florida in March or April.  It was just perfect. Ranger was a superstar too, which just added to my good mood.  He was a total punk the last time I rode him, so I was happy for good behavior.  I felt so silly, but we jumped around some baby stuff and thankfully he took care of me because I just never jump anymore, so I get a little anxious about it when I only jump once every month or two on horses I don't know well.

Since it was such a nice day, my dad and I went to lunch at the State Farmer's Market restaurant, before going to scout out the best strawberries.  The Farmer's Market was ridiculously busy because of Mother's Day/graduation weekend/the first nice weather in 2 weeks.  It was a bit of a nightmare, but I still really enjoyed spending some time with my father and being outside.

The strawberry pro.

For dinner, we all went to Kanki to celebrate my birthday, so that the mom's could have Sunday all about them!

Kyle and I at Kanki

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Mother's Day/23rd Birthday!!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day.  Kyle and I went over to my mother's house for a bit, and then Louise, Mother, and I all went for a walk around Lake Johnson with Daisy and Paige.  It was great weather, and surprisingly the lake wasn't incredibly busy.

I need to make a shout out to my wonderful mother.  She has always been so amazing through the years with supporting me in whatever I do, and she is always there to help me get through tough spots in life.  She and I are so similar that we rarely disagree, and can get along no matter what the situation, and I love that we have that sort of relationship.  I am so lucky to have her as my mother!!

Daisy and her mom.

So pouty.

Beautiful Lake Johnson!

In the evening, Kyle and I went to his mother's house for dinner and drinks with her, Michelle, Gerry, and Andy.  It was fun just hanging out with them (and drinking fresh strawberry margaritas!)  Thank you to Michelle for making an amazing almond/coconut cake!