So on Friday I turned 30! It’s kinda crazy because I don’t at all feel 30! There’s been this stigma that 30 is “old”, but I don’t feel old. In fact it was quite the opposite when I woke up with acne spots all over my face – haha – I felt like I was a teenager again!
It’s always a big deal when you enter a new decade! I recently realized that going from 10 to 20, I found some of the years in between forgettable, but going from 20 to 30, I remember it all. It’s kinda funny to think back on how I celebrated some of my Birthdays of this past decade. Man, have I grown up! At 20 it was all about the countdown until I turned 21, while at 30 I made it my mission to raise awareness and funds for a charity. I like where I am now so much more than where I was at 20! I embrace this new era and am excited to see it unfold!
Truly all I desired this year was the Soles4Souls donations, and I was overwhelmed by the support I received with that! Obviously I wasn’t expecting $3,000 worth of gifts for my 30th Birthday – haha – but for whatever reason, that is the number God placed on my heart. I may not have reached my goal, but the page is open for another month – I guess we shall see if the Lord will provide for it! Not reaching the goal does not in any way discount the fact that $1,370 was raised to help put shoes on the feet of those who don’t have them! That is awesomely amazing! I am so happy to have helped head this and am so thankful to all the help I received along the way from my supporters!
This was my first time ever fundraising and I was extremely moved by the amount of donations I could help raise! Each one that came in touched my heart in a new way! I loved seeing my closest family and friends give, but equally touching were the donations from people I’m not as close with and don’t know as well. When I asked for donations, I didn’t know what the response would be, but it overjoyed me to see such generous hearts within my community of friends!
I had told Patrick that I didn’t want anything for my Birthday, but would like a night out without cooking. This man did such a good job of obeying my wishes, but sneakily gifting me the best day ever! I woke up to a 2 hour massage appointment with my favorite massage therapist! This was so thoughtful because I have way too many massages banked up at Massage Envy! I should go monthly as my membership suggests, but the months move fast when you’re a mom and I really only think to go when a muscle is aching so badly that it reminds me to go!
I came home and putzed around not realizing I was on a secret schedule. After I got out of the shower, Patrick told me I only had time to dry my hair before we had to leave. I didn’t know where I could go that was acceptable for me to have just dried hair and no makeup, and secretly hoped it wouldn’t be photo worthy – which is quite bad on my part. Now I’m wishing I had taken a before photo, because it was amazing seeing the after!
After a quick lunch at Goozy, a grilled cheese joint in Green Hills, (I had a mac n’ cheese grilled cheese…you can’t even understand the excitement and deliciousness!) we went to Nordstrom at Green Hills Mall. At this point I realized I was probably getting my makeup done professionally, but what Patrick had planned was so much more! I was in for an entire day of pampering at Nordstrom that not only included makeup, but also a personal stylist who would dress me for our night out without cooking! I immediately started crying because I knew how much selfless thought Patrick put into this. I’m the one who likes makeup, he’d rather me be fresh faced. I’m the one who likes to get dressed up, he’d rather us be casual. As I cried he was laughing because this is a FREE service Nordstrom provides it’s customers! Don’t believe me, see for yourself…Nordstrom Personal Stylist.
Emmy was my personal stylist for the day, and she was so sweet! She welcomed me into a dressing room filled with cocktail dresses, jeans, fun tops and jackets!
As I stood in awe of what was before me, Emmy told me that Patrick had been in the store to meet with her prior to help select my style and told her he just wanted me to feel beautiful on this day 🙂 I of course started to cry when she told me how clear it was that my hubby loved me! I felt so loved in that moment, which is something that I was totally desiring and struggling with a bit in our hectic day to day life. Apparently Patrick gave all the ladies at Nordstrom new hope that there are still good guys out there!
It’s a good thing I got the tears out before Josh did my makeup! The amazing thing about a Beauty Stylist is that they pull from all brands to get the best look for you 🙂 As he applied the makeup, I learned a lot about application and products that I didn’t even know existed (Hello Clinique Bottom Lash, a mascara made to bring out your bottom lashes!) He also taught me a secret to buying good makeup brushes…always buy brushes with acrylic handles over wooden handles, because when they get wet during cleaning, wood expands causing the bristles to start to fall out prematurely. Insightful right?! My time spent getting glammed up with Josh was full of great tips! Like I said, I wish I had gotten a before picture because the comparison would have been like a TV show! But I did at least get an after picture with my fabulous makeup artist!
Once my face was complete it was time to try on some clothes! My hubs had it all thought out! He had a bag packed for me filled with different types of bras, undies and shoes. He had not only me but also my stylist shocked that he even thought to pack a strapless bra! I just kept wondering if this was real life!
Here were my top three choices…
Because I keep it real on here, I’ll share my not so Cinderella moment of the day – haha – I can’t believe I’m sharing this! I actually got stuck in the 1st dress! It’s a bandage dress and I just felt like it was suffocating me as I was trying to get it off! Being that it was long sleeved didn’t help my cause! I was in a panic and had to have Emmy help get me out of it! Please tell me I’m not the only person who has gone through this in their life!!! HAHA!
I immediately fell in love with the middle dress! It’s just so me! I so wanted to be different for my hubby who loves to see me in color, but I couldn’t…it was love at first feel and ultimately I’m a comfort girl! This dress is so much more than another black dress and I will get so much use out of it! It can easily be paired with heels to be dressed up but can also be paired with flip flops and a jean jacket to go casual. It was an instant winner in my eyes!
But the third dress was a serious contender too! It was actually a skirt and top paired which was pretty unique for my wardrobe. Super cute, but it was just love with the Alexander Wang dress!
I so enjoyed my time getting styled by Emmy! If you are in the area and ever in the need, go find her at Green Hills Mall!!
The finished product was…
Well hello 30! We’re gonna have some fun this year!
All dressed up with somewhere to go, hubs surprised me and took me to…
Rolf and Daughters AKA RAD. This place was high atop my list of places to try and such a nice surprise! It’s consistently named one of the best restaurants in Nashville so we’ve been wanting to try for ourselves and see what all the hype was about. It was by no means a bad meal, but it also didn’t stand out as one of the best to either of us. The menu encourages sharing, so we split two small plates (Beef Tartare and the Lamb Sausage) and two large plates (Pasteurized Chicken and Garganelli with Pork Ragout) Dessert was a must and we went with the Apple Crostata. Sounds like a ton of food, but we both left desiring a little more. There were definitely some interesting flavors, and the atmosphere was super cool. I wouldn’t say not to go, but it wouldn’t be the first to come to mind when making suggestions either. One super cool fact about this place though, they slaughter all of their meat in house – we both found that to be really unique, and the meat we did have was super fresh and tasty!
On our way home we stopped to grab a bottle of wine and some Ben + Jerry’s. Beau was still up so we shared our ice cream with him which made for a perfect end to the evening! Check out my chocolate faced cutie singing “Happy Birthday” 🙂
Love my loves who made this day perfect from beginning to end! And Greta too who was sleeping when we got home!
Thank you to all who took time out of their day to send me Birthday wishes! Each call, text and wall post made me smile. It was so nice to be remembered by so many on my special day! 🙂
This is thirty, and thirty is feeling good to me!
Be Blessed + Be a Blessing
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