Sunday, June 24, 2012

For My Birthday

Fuller Lake
Last Tuesday was my 34th birthday.

Brian was scheduled to work that day, so we celebrated the day before, heading up to Fuller Lake to hike for a few hours.

If you're a big fan of quiet, little mountain lakes, then you'd love Fuller Lake.   

Especially if you like to fish.  As you can see in the photograph above (feel free to click on it to make it larger), out on the lake, several fly fishermen drifted along in float tubes, hoping to catch trout.

But fishing isn't my cup of tea, so we walked around the small lake instead.  The three of us made it almost two-thirds of the way around, before it was time to stop and feed Noah.  After Noah devoured his bottle, we dipped his feet in the lake and then hiked back to the car. 

That evening, Brian made dinner as well as crepes filled with ice cream for dessert.

It was a great birthday. 

But unbeknownst to me, the best was yet to come.

The next morning, on my real birthday, I awoke at 7:30 am, stumbled out of bed, and quickly walked out to the family room.  There, I found my husband sitting on the couch, feeding Noah a bottle.  I was confused--usually my husband leaves for work at 6:30 am--but there he was.

"What are you doing here?"  I muttered.

"I took the day off," Brian replied with a small grin. 

A big grin appeared on my face.

But it gets even better.

Brian explained that my birthday gift was a day off.  No diaper changes, no feedings, no Noah duty for me.  He would do it all.  Husband of the year, I tell ya.  

My response: "Oh my gosh, that's so perfect."  

And then, I headed back to bed and slept for another hour.  What can I say?  I LOVE sleep!

After that, Brian made breakfast for me--french toast, sausage and fruit.  (Isn't he the best?)

Following a long, hot shower, I tackled two DIY projects that I've been eyeing on Pinterest for some time.

Project #1:Creating a faux roman shade for the master bathroom window using this tutorial.

Here's a look at the roman shade from afar.
And two close-up shots.

Wondering how much it cost me to make this roman shade?
Here's the breakdown:
$10 for two tension rods (Target)
$7.50 for fabric (on sale--30% off--at Jo-Ann's)
$3.50 for Liquid Stitch (Jo-Ann's with 40% mailer coupon)
Total cost: $21

Project #2: Using this tutorial, I adhered a black-and-white photograph of Noah to a piece of canvas.

Unfortunately, I'm not entirely pleased with the finished product.  Here's what I'm going to try next time: I'll paint the canvas with black paint before adhering the photo.  Second, I'm going to order a larger-sized photograph.  This time around, I ordered an 8x10 photo, but it wasn't quite big enough to fully cover the 8x10 canvas.  Go figure!

Still, it was a relatively inexpensive DIY project:
$1.49 for 8x10 photo
$2.50 for 8x10 canvas
$7.50 for Liquitex Matte Varnish
Total cost: $11.49

After I finished my two DIY projects, Brian, Noah and I headed to Old Town Auburn where we strolled the streets, dipping in and out of a number of shops.  We bought a Fisher-Price activity play mat for Noah (which he adores!) at a children's consignment shop and feasted on Mexican food for dinner.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday--two days in a row!

J

P.S. After Brian put Noah to bed on my real birthday, he turned to me, exhaustion written all over his face, and said "Next year, I'm getting you a gift."  My reply, "No-o-o-o-o!"   

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