Golden Birthday Extravaganza: I'm Officially 28!

The day after the party was my actual birthday.  To continue the celebration, we all went out for brunch at an adorable little family owned restaurant.  We all wore our mermaid jewelry to keep with our fun mermaid celebration theme.  When our food came out, my third "golden birthday fairy," Bethy, told us to close our eyes.  When we opened them all our food was dusted with edible gold star sprinkles, our drinks had gold striped straws and in the middle of my gluten free sausage and eggs breakfast was a golden mermaid holding a birthday candle for me to blow out!  That girl knows how to celebrate a theme!  It added such a fun and festive touch to our meal.

Our cute server brought out a special birthday flan on the house for us all to enjoy for dessert!

After breakfast we had to say goodbye to Bethy, she needed to get back in time to go to some classes.  Again, I am so unbelievably grateful she made the time to come to CA to help me celebrate my birthday, love you sis!

The rest of the day consisted of relaxing, taking naps, enjoying treats, and just soaking up our time together in California.  Before we started to get ready for dinner Laura gave me a birthday gift, I could not believe she got me a gift!  Just being there in California with me was the best present ever!  Along with some other things that I am super excited about, she gave me some Disney treats 

MICKEY MACAROONS!!!!! I did not know these existed, but now I crave them Every. Single. Day.  The raspberry one was my favorite, it was stuffed with real, whole, juicy raspberries.  I am not joking when I say it is one of the top three best things I have ever eaten in my life.  She also gave me a coconut Matterhorn macaron, which have been a favorite of mine ever since I discovered them when we spent 24 hours in the Disneyland for leap day in 2012.  To see pictures from that epic adventure, click HERE

The best part of her gift was this handmade golden birthday crown!!!  I loved it the instant I saw it, it is so my style and so perfect for the occasion.  Thank you Thank you Laura!!!!

Then we headed to my favorite restaurant in Disney for my birthday dinner!  I love southern food, New Orleans, live Jazz music, Mardi Gras and my southern sisters so it was the perfect night out at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney.

I love these two beautiful sisters more then words can even begin to describe.  They are such fun, hilarious, selfless, giving, creative, talented, thoughtful, and loyal friends.  I have said it before and I will say it a million more, I am unbelievably grateful to have them in my life.

Shrimp and grits is my favorite southern meal, so it was a no brainer what to order for my special night out.

We HAD to order the bananas foster for a couple of reasons. first, they make it table side which is always fun, no matter what.  Second, bananas foster was invented in Ralph Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans, and I had the opportunity to eat there a couple years ago. 

After dinner we went to see The Book of Life, that cute new movie about the Day of the Dead.  It was so adorable, I loved it, especially the soundtrack.

Thank you a million times to all my wonderful "golden birthday fairies" who have made this birthday one I will remember for the rest of my life.

Golden Birthday Extravaganza: Mickey's Halloween Party

From San Diego, we drove to Anaheim to spend a few days at Disneyland!  The main event of this birthday trip was to go to Mickey's Halloween Party dressed as Ariel and her sisters.  We had been planning our outfits for months.  Everyone chose a color scheme they wanted to work with, except for me since I was going as Ariel and she has pretty iconic colors.  It was so much fun to see what everyone came up with! All our costumes were different and we all wore different graphic T's, but they all had something to do with mermaids.  My costume consisted of a green sequin tail, a purple graphic T, the most amazing red wig I found on ebay and all my jewelry was under the sea themed!

We got together one night before the trip and made our shell crowns, they were so much fun to make and they turned out better then I even imagined!

We had so much fun spending the entire day together getting all dressed up as mermaids! Bethy flew in just for the party, I was so happy to have her there!  I am so glad she could work out a way to come with her super busy school schedule. Laura works all kinds of magic with make up, she seriously is such a pro. She was so sweet and did my stunning make up.  I have never worn such fun or intricate make up and I was so grateful for her to the the time to create such a fun look!  She has got some skills!

After my make up was done, Angie came and added all the embellishments.  Glitter, pearls, gems, and scales.  You can't see the scales very well in this picture but you can see them super well on the picture of Angie below.

Then it was time to get dressed up.  Bethy helped me pin my sequin tale in place.  Then I put on my crown and we were ready to go!

Yep this is a picture from home, in my dirty mirror with my chubby Louis in the background.  But this way you can see my sequin tail!

While we were making our crowns, we looked at a picture of Ariels sisters and picked out who everyone most resembled based on their color schemes.  Laura was Alana, Bethy was Attina, and Angie was Andrina.  

The park is all decked out for Halloween and the party.  Right when we got there, the Micky and friends parade was just stating, perfect timing!

Right after the parade it was time for Halloween themed fireworks at the castle!

I loved Angie's whole get up, I especially loved the way her tail turned out!

After the amazing firework show, we set off to ride some rides and go Trick or Treating!  That's right you can go trick or treating in Disneyland!  They give up treat bags at the gate, then you can visit the numerous trick or treating stands they have set up all over the park, it was a total blast!

After years of just barely missing it, I finally got to ride Space Mountain's Ghost Galaxy

As we were leaving they had a villains parade going on, it was super fun to see all the Disney villains you normally don't see in the park.

This was such a memorable evening, and a birthday celebration I will never forget.  Thank you forever to Laura, Angie and Bethy for being there with me and making my costume go beyond my wildest dreams!  I love you all with all my heart!