22nd birthday recap

Technically my birthday is August 9th, but the past couple years, it seems like it has been dragged out across a few days. This year my birthday was Saturday the 8th through Tuesday the 11th.

My birthday weekend started actually on Thursday the 6th with my dear friend Abi returning from a seven-week long mission trip! She and her mom came up and it was just so wonderful to see them.

Saturday was the big night though, with WiFEE and the HUZz Band at the Florian II Supper Club in Baileys Harbor, just like my 21st birthday party. I got off work a little bit early, and then I went home and had some dinner and got ready to go!

Of course I had to wear my tiara! I started the night with an Old Fashioned, which I didn't really care for, but I later got a vodka cranberry, which was really good.

I wore a dress from Rent the Runway again, and it's actually from the same designer as the dress that I wore last year. This is Allison Parris's Peek of Tulle dress. I wasn't really a fan of the way that the tulle peeking out was really ruffly, and I didn't like that it made me look so flat on top. The only reason these pictures look like I have some cleavage is due to my awkward tan (burn...) lines.

(That's a lipstick print on my forehead from Ruby.) The 8th was Greg's (the bass player) birthday, so close to midnight I bought us Jameson shots. This was the first time that I purchased alcohol at a bar! The song that they were playing was really long, so I didn't get to have us do our shots at midnight like I wanted to, but oh well. I went and toasted a few of the guys that I could reach after that song and I totally dripped Jameson all over. Somehow I was a little bit of a mess right then.

After the show, we hung out with the band a little bit and took some super cute pictures (and Ruby and I had some more Jameson), like a series of punk rock Zach with little Bruiser the chihuahua, and we went and sat on the bus with a few of the band members. I didn't get home until about four, so it was a long night.

Sunday was my actual birthday, and I could have gone to another WiFEE and the HUZz Band show that afternoon, but I opted to work instead because I didn't want to have to deal with a crowd of people. I ended up getting off early again though (because I work for some absolutely incredible people).

I wasn't wearing the lace tights or heels (I had flats) at work, but this is what I wore that night!

When I got off work, I met up with Lisa, Abi, and Pauli, and then Abi and I went and had birthday dessert at the Inn at Cedar Crossing. We had some apple cream cheese pie thing and chocolate raspberry cake, and then we went down to Poh's to hang out with our friends.

For the second day in a row, I kidnapped Bruiser. He is just so cute and I love him so much more than he loves me.

Some of my lovely friends were at the bar, so I ended up there allllll night. I did a couple shots of some minty rum with Jamey, one of my favorite drummers, and it was really cool to actually get to have a conversation with him, because I feel like I barely get to see or hang out with these people. Then I also saw the wonderful woman I teach Sunday school with, and we had cherry bombs.

I spent some more time with Ruby, Coopy, and Bruiser, pat, Zach, and Teflon, and then the last of us stragglers left at bar close and hung out outside for a little while.

I didn't get home until quarter to three, so it was another night where I didn't get a lot of sleep, but it's worth it to me because I don't go out a lot, and I was spending time with some of my favorite people.

On Monday, I did some work at the Y, and then I went and had lunch with Abi, Lisa, and Pauli at JJ's of Jacksonport, and then Abi and I hung out for a while before I had to go back to the Y. We had a birthday party there in my class, so that was fun.

After the Y, my mom and I went up north for dinner and dessert at Julie's in Fish Creek. The flourless chocolate cake was really good!

We also took some pictures of me with the Fjord horse at Little Sweden in Egg Harbor. I have been wanting a picture of/with this guy for a very long time.

I actually got about seven hours of sleep that night, which was so great. I had to work all day which was part of the reason I needed a lot of sleep though. We took the annual camp trip to the U.S. Coast Guard Canal Station, which we always do closest to my birthday. I wore my tiara, and my supervisor made sure to embarrass me by getting a picture of me with our Coasties.

All in all it was a really fun birthday weekend, and I can't wait to see what 22 is going to do for me!

xoxo.