let us be grateful to the people who make us happy

 . . . for they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom {marcel proust}

flowers from friends

i had a lovely birthday weekend. i got lots of mail with lovely birthday surprises:

housewares from the ultimate homemaker

lots of jewelery from a lovely lad

new spectacles from, well, myself

the perfect backpack from the perfect grammy

then, on saturday, my wonderful dc friends had a party for me! old and new friends gathered in my apartment for veggie burgers, corn, watermelon, cookies, georgetown cupcakes (!!!), kstate vs ucla football (go state!) and of course, fun and games :)

the yummy spread

happiness

they were a personalized smorgasbord

mr newsweek himself carved me a melon basket!

lovely, amazing friends who made my party happen :)

all in all, i had a lovely time. i hope everyone else did too! i only wish i would have captured a group photo of all the attendees . . . next time i promise i will so you can meet all my new friends.

and this post would not be complete without a picture of the princess pup:

just don't touch her while she's snoozing and we'll all be ok . . .