happy birthday to me...

so for those of you who don't know. i spent my first birthday in california...alone. pace had to return to utah for one of our best friends weddings. congratulations to angie and aaron! no worries. i couldn't go back to utah for the wedding...too soon to request a weekend off of work. pace did earn extra extra special brownie points for overnighting my birthday card to me...seriously, so sweet. he didn't know how else it would get to me on friday...so he just sent it to me special delivery on thursday when he got back to utah!

i was fortunate enough to spend the day doing things any girl would love...sort of. i was able to get up bright and early, shower up and head right to the dmv. yes, that is right, the dmv. my utah drivers license expired on my birthday and the state of utath takes forever to renew drivers licenses over the internet...up to twelve weeks i found out! so, needless to say, now i am officially a californian...drivers license and all!

once the dmv debacle was over i went to lunch and shopping with noella, one of the other managers from my store. she was so sweet to spend almost her entire day off with me...we have only known eachother for two weeks and we just became friends instantly! we had lunch at the cheesecake factory and then went shopping at the mall. i found some of the cutest christmas decorations at this fabulous store called the daisy shoppe...adorable. i will be spending lots of my extra time and money here...once i find the extra time and money! anyone who wants, feel free to send me extra money...and time if you have it!

friday night i went to dinner with kari. a longtime friend of pace's and a new found friend of mine! kari and i met while i was living in san francisco and we just clicked. she is the only other person i know who can dedicate an entire evening to sitting on a patio and discussing our favorite fall footwear. no wonder we get along so well...we both love boots! we went to this fabulous, fabulous restaurant called beach fire grill. best atmosphere, big comfy ratan furniture on their patio, live music...ah it was truly amazing. plus it was in this super new, up and coming area called ladera ranch. (pace and i are going back there this thursday for my officially birthday date celebration!)

so, needless to say i had a fabulous fabulous birthday. thank you to everyone (noella, kari...lady at the dmv) who helped to make my day special in california. and thanks to everyone back in utah who called emailed or sent me a present...truly awesome!

here's to the next year... happy big 26 to me!