27 it is...

well, last week i celebrated my 27th, another year of life, but it was a little bittersweet due to the fact that a family member passed away... so its been a time for reflection and celebrating life...  something i learn and appreciate more with each passing year is just how precious life and loved ones are.  i think it's so important to cherish each day with friends and family and to appreciate what God has given you.... ok enough with my melancholy monologue, i'm a big softy at heart...

back to my post - on my actual birthday i headed into downtown LA with my mom {what a great shopping buddy} for some quality time and to get some much needed items that i can't get locally in orange county.  we had high hopes of making it out to tai pan trading in ontario, if you haven't been there GO!  alas we got stuck in a ton of traffic leaving LA, so we bypassed and met my dad, bro, SIL, and nephews for a looong dinner, but that's another story!

while in DTLA i picked up some fun new things for future accessory ideas...

very bling-y & will be very bridal!

my mom also bought me this awesome orchid arrangement while we were in the flower district 

- love it!

after our big day and lengthy dinner {but great quality family time} i finally made in home in time find my jet-lagged half asleep hubs at home with my second floral gift of the day... my all time favorite roses!

what a guy...

 
the following night my friends and their spouses joined us out for a fun night at a local deli & piano bar - and we were pleasantly surprised that the food was great, with huge portions, and the music was great too!  i highly recommend the Derby deli & dueling piano bar in Mission Viejo,
for all of you in orange county!

here's a photo of the girls from that night

and here are my birthday gifts to myself:

a two tone bracelet with silver chain and gold hammered circles at the center of the bracelet, got lots of compliments on this one, so i think this could be making it's way to the shop soon!

i also made myself some big and sparkly earrings for the evening too:

these are a gold webbed component with golden shadow swarovski teardrops along with what i like to call gold disc balls... this photo doesn't even show off how sparkly these earrings are!

while this past week was a crazy one, i'm glad it's passed and we're moving on with this new year and i hope 27 is a great year!