That "Big Birthday" Celebration

This past March 15th was a BIG BIRTHDAY for me.  And my sweet husband made sure it was not only big, but also very special.  I loved everything about the day and weekend, and James did such a wonderful job of making it a 30th that I will not forget.

My Mother started off the week by shipping me a huge, heavy box (more on the contents later) with instructions to only open the top envelope.  In it, I found a card for every day of the birthday week, which made me smile each morning when I opened a new card.

It also made me really miss my parents and feel sad that they weren't able to attend the little party that I knew James was throwing me that Saturday.  I mentioned this to my mom and to James throughout the week, but they let on nothing about the biggest birthday surprise....

...James flew them in on Thursday (my birthday) to surprise me!  I was SHOCKED!  I answered the door in my normal "work from home" attire (i.e. work out clothes), absolutely no make up, and while wrapping up a conference call - thinking it was just James getting home from his normal work travel and wondering why the rascal couldn't get into our house without me coming to the door.  After he said "I have someone here to see you" and I screeched "Who is it?  I DON'T HAVE MAKE UP ON!", I saw my dad come around the corner and my mom followed while filming the scene on her iPhone.  It was so much fun - I can't remember that last time I was that surprised!  After I collected myself, we kicked off the birthday weekend with a great dinner, catching up, and me saying "are you really here!?" a hundred times.

Birthday Dinner!

Not only was I glad to see my parents, but our birds and potted plants were super glad to see those two again (the yard never gets as much TLC as when they come to visit).  :)  But I digress...

Surprises did not end with the parents, but James had also arranged a very fun, "Texas"-themed party (with help from the super creative, Kellee Murphy).   All my favorite things:  friends, BBQ from Fox Brothers, Ms. Leron and Aunt Wyllene's red velvet cake...  James even made a collage of baby / kid / adult pictures for guests to sign.  How cute it that?  Get this boy on Pinterest and he would be unstoppable!

It was a great party and I had a blast catching up with friends / family and celebrating a new decade.  Some great pictures of all the festivities below, courtesy of my dad who fortunately had his camera out for the event!

All the way from Alabama!

Not sure if Calvin is qualified to arrange candles, seeing as he's not on Pinterest

My sweet Mother

Sweet MotherS.  

Up to no good, I'm sure...

People also brought some super funny cards and great little gifts.  I always feel a little awkward sitting and opening them in front of the whole group, but there were quite a few laughs.  The card that got these laughs said:  "(outside) The Democrats took your birthday cake.  (inside) They wanted to share it with people who weren't fortunate to have a birthday today, like you do".  HAHAHAHA, even this little liberal could appreciate the humor.

I have gone through all my pictures to find one of James and me from the party (or even the weekend), but I can't find one dang shot!  He made the birthday weekend one for the storybooks, and I can't tell you how much it meant to me.  Such a sweet husband!

Hello New Decade!

Sunscreen Season!

As we enter into Spring and Summer, just a little Public Service Announcement to make sure you are in SPF at all times while outside! No such thing as a "safe tan", and nothing wrong with being a little white. As you can see, pale is the new tan. :)

A shout out to the Murphy's for this super cute shirt. I love it. One of my fav birthday gifts. I am going to need lots of time to update on my birthday last weekend, but stay tuned for that post.

Spring Break 2012!

When you're no longer a student, not a teacher, or don't have school-age kiddos, Spring Break doesn't mean much...unless you proactively plan a girls trip around the first of March and pretend like you're coeds again.  :) Just kidding, there was none of that craziness this past weekend, just a fabulous, fun, r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g beach/spa trip with a great group of girlfriends.

I still can't believe that we managed to pull it off and find a weekend where the six of us could all meet  - how is that even possible with our crazy lives?!  After weeks of planning and hundreds of emails back and forth about various topics like "do we need a rental car", "how many spa treatments should we book...each?", and "Wristbands!?  Keeping it classy!", we all arrived in Fort Lauderdale late Thursday, traveling in from Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Charlotte and New Orleans.  Could we have been any more excited!?

"Here's to a fabulous weekend!"

Let me lay out how our next few days went:  Wake up after 9 hours of sleep and move to the lounge chair at the pool.  Get up from the lounge chair to find the pool waiter.  Laugh a bit with the gals.  Flag down the pool waiter again for a little snack.  Get up from the lounge chair and head to the spa appointment.  Stumble out of the spa appointment to melt back into the lounge chair for a nap.  Wake up from the nap, reposition on the lounge chair, and maybe find that darn pool waiter again.  Gossip a bit with the gals. Watch the sun go down from the lounge chair, and figure it's about time to get up, get dressed, and find someplace with good seafood for dinner.  Pick-a-little, talk-a-little with the gals.  Head back to the room and fall asleep - another solid 9 hours - and then repeat that day all over again.  

Seriously?  Can I just do this every weekend?

(I'm going to ignore the fact that I did see lots of emailing on the mobile devices, and a few people had the audacity to whip out their laptop from their pool bag.  I would pass judgement, but I was one of those sad souls, too...)

I know that Ft. Lauderdale may have received a bad rep back in the day, but I actually found the hotel and the places we visited to be fantastic.  Definitely could not complain about the accommodations, nor the views:

Nor could I complain about the food.  Lots of really lovely seafood out there, and many great choices on the water.  I always know we're at the beach when the fresh filet is served while I can smell the surf outside.

But, my favorite part of the weekend - of the entire trip - was the girls that I spent it with.  I love these ladies, and it's wonderful to know that no matter how far away we are, how long it's been, or where we are in our lives, we can pick right back up right where we left off.

100th Post - Can You Believe?

This marks our 100th post...100 sassy updates from our little family.  I would love to say I'm going to mark this occasion with something really spectacular, but, alas, nothing really to report here!

We're doing great, loving life, and looking forward to lots of exciting updates in March. As a teaser, you should expect to see upcoming posts on the following:

• Someone is living it up in Latin America, without his Spanish-speaking wife!  Although I am JEALOUS, I'm excited that James got this opportunity to visit the region and participate in some very interesting meetings and discussions.  Can't wait to see his pictures (hope he is actually taking some...) :)

• While the cat's away, the mouse will go lay on the beach with a fruity drink in her hand!  I'm headed out tonight for Florida, where I'll meet up with a great group of girlfriends and enjoy some nice 80 degree temps.  Now, you'll definitely see pictures from me.  Especially because I'm venturing to the Sunshine State with a new lens!

• After we get back from our trips (oh, and I celebrate a little big birthday), we are going to be expanding our family with another furry family member.  How adorable are these little Vizslas?  Among these cuties is our little gal.  We can't wait to get her on the 24th!!!

There ya go - lots to look forward to so stay tuned!

(Note - none of these pictures are mine.  Hope I'm violating copyright laws and don't know it....)

Months with Rs - Yum!

My Grandmom, who had strong roots in Louisiana and French Cajun in her blood, taught me that oysters can only be enjoyed in months with an R. If I had thought about it long enough, I probably could have realized that all the excluded months were warm, summer months (not great for shellfish) but somehow it just seems easier to say "does February have an R in it? Oh, wait, it has two! Bring on the shuckers!"

This weekend was fairly uneventful, minus Oysterfest which was the yummy highlight. I had never had any type of oyster other than raw or (still my favorite) fried, but here in Georgia I learned to like them steamed. Since this month has two Rs and Atlanta decided to celebrate it with a festival, we got to enjoy a couple of buckets with friends. Not a bad way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

DIY, Y'all

I do enjoy a good DIY project when one comes my way, even if the planning phases for such a project is years in the making.  James bought an old Bass beer mirror from his favorite wateringhole, which thankfully sadly closed down a few years ago with this whole Streets of Buckhead fiasco.   I finally got around to doing something with it last week.

(Side note: McTighe's was one of those old Irish pubs that was loud, smokey, and just the type of place for the boys to get into no good.  I think that James and Michael Murphy probably tacked a few more years to their life with its closing, and I know that I am a much happier person since I no longer have to endure it.  I love a good hole-in-the-wall, but this place was more like the gateway to hell.  Okay...maybe that's a little dramatic...but it was TERRIBLE.)

So, the mirror was in great shape except for a beat up wood frame which had nail holes and some green and purple glitter.  (I'm thinking a Mardi Gras party that got out of control?  Who knows...)  I've been thinking through how to spruce it up, and decided for a black, painted "rub through" look.  Turned out pretty good!

The mirror is now making me think that I need to redecorate downstairs, with new colors and furniture. I shared this with James who gave me that look like "don't go there, crazy woman!".   :)  Oh well, at least the mirror is looking pretty cool!

We're Still Around!

So, what have we been up to lately?  Honest to goodness, I had to look back on the iPhone to figure out what we have been doing the last few weeks.  Sadly, I didn't capture much except the usual snapshots of the kitties.  Between James' school work (he has some very hard classes this semester, including Stats), my newfound love of yoga, and the fact that we need to be lazy on the weekends to survive our weeks...not much to report out on, folks.

In case you were wondering about our felines, they are still kicking.  Considered now "seniors" (since they are 8 years old), they do a lot of chill-axing.  But, they laid around constantly at 2 years old, too, so I'm not that worried.

Loving the fire with her white mouse baby

Loving her new perch

Loving...absolutely nothing about her life

Oh, and there has also been a lot of COOKING going on in the Sasser household.  I don't mean to brag, but we've turned out some good dishes as of late.  First, there were the batches and batches of soup that we made for the church soup kitchen.  I got teased on Facebook for using Veg-All (hey, I was following the recipe and you don't question the older church ladies!!), but I can fondly remember my grandmother making a very mean beef-n-veggie soup with Veg-All.  I thought it turned out great!

That same weekend we had a birthday party for the lovely Mrs. Kellee Murphy.  Thank goodness she requested the chocolate cheesecake because I was dying to try out this new recipe.  It was a keeper!  (Just wish I could have convinced all the guests to take some home, because I polished off that sucker the next week....)

This week I get to...yes, "get to"...travel to NYC for work.  (Now that I'm not on the road each week, these monthly trips are actually pretty fun!)  Since this trip coincides with a holiday, it means one thing:  gotta take my colleagues some baked goods!  Can't wait to pass out these hearts!  I even made enough for James to take to his team in Washington, DC.  The Sassers are spreading love all up the NE corridor, one heart shaped cookie at a time...

There ya have it, folks!  We're around, but just not too exciting.  I'll be sure to post more this week if we can manage to get into something good.  :)