bowlhaven birthday fun! (image heavy)

Yesterday was my BIRTHDAY! and I had the BEST TIME! 

I woke up in the morning to Mike playing "Swept Away" by the Avett Brothers beside my bed. What a great start to my day! Love him.

At work, I had a lot of friends wishing me a happy birthday throughout the day. My sweet friend Alana even got me a pink orchid that was sitting on my desk when I got in! 

We had a graduate luncheon for all of us who are graduating from Simmons College tomorrow, which was really nice! The food was excellent, there were some guest speakers...and overall it was just a really nice little gathering. I graduate with my Masters tomorrow.... ahhhh!

I came home from work to a perfectly wrapped little giftbag sitting on the coffee table. My card read "You rock my world" and the words on the inside melted my heart. Mike got me a cute necklace from an artist, Natsuko, off of Etsy. It is much like the necklace he got me back in 2009 during our first trip to NYC at Christmastime. However, I lost that necklace biking over the Golden Gate Bridge last Fall, and I have been looking for one to replace it ever since. The circles represent each of us, and they are linked together, as we are. He also got us tickets to the Newport Folk Festival (previously mentioned on my blog) for both Saturday and Sunday! We want to stay in a little bed & breakfast Saturday night down there, so I am open to suggestions! Lastly, Mike gave me the Avett Brothers Live Volume 3 DVD... I love watching them perform. They have so much energy, its contagious!

So here's the BEST part: We planned on going to Sacco's Bowlhaven/Flatbread Co. for pizza, beers, and some bowling with friends! It is half Flatbread Company -organic pizzas, so delish! and half candlepin bowling.  As far as I knew, 4 of my friends were meeting up with us for some good ole fashion fun.  Well, whadda ya know? Mike totally surprised me! We walked in and there were my best friends, Aly & Ang sitting at a table for 20! I was so SURPRISED!!! and excited, trying to take it all in... because I am rarely surprised (yet Mike has been able to pull this off 2 years in a row on my birthday). I couldn't imagine who was coming and filling up the other 16 seats, but they slowly trickled in. Friends from college, friends from Boston and then... my FAMILY! Mom, Dad, Garrett, Colleen & McKenna came for pizza! We ate so much pizza, had yummy drinks, it was just the best. 

A few friends stuck around after pizza for bowling, and I am surprised we didn't get kicked out. We were being absolutely crazy silly, loud, and just having the best time.

I am still smiling ear to ear. What a great birthday.