Sweet Baby Birthday Wishes

This year my actual birthday was less than fantastic.  The weekend before I had met my parents in New York and it was fantastic, but on my actual birthday I went to class all day and then came home and studied.  Tons of fun, let me tell ya!  I did, however, get two really fun surpirses!  Sara sent me an email with a great picture of my boo wishing me a happy birthday.

I miss them so much and I can't believe how much Jackson is growing up!  How cute is he?  And such a great artist at such a young age!

Another great surprise was that my friends Heather and Erik had their second daughter that evening.  Heather and I had joked for months that maybe Madelyn would be born on my birthday and then it actually happened.  What a sweet surprise.  I can't wait to meet baby Madelyn when I go down to NC next week.  

This picture is from Heather's blog but it was so cute I wanted to copy!

  

New York, New York

The weekend before my birthday my friend Laura flew up from NC and joined me in Philly. From there we took a train to New York city and met my parents in Manhattan. We spent the weekend navigating the subway system, doing tons of touristy stuff, and getting spoiled by my parents.
It was really nice to have a trip to see my parents and also that Laura came up since there wasn’t much celebrating of my birthday here in Philly. The few friends that I do have here all seemed to be out of town for work or vacation.
We had fantastic weather, walked through central park, went to the Empire State building, the Gugenheim, Rockafeller Center, etc. By the end of the weekend my feet were absolutely worn out but I had so much fun!

In Central Park

Times Square all lit up

At Rockafeller Center

Laura at the top of the Empire State Building

Me at the top of the Empire State Building

Girl's Weekend

On Thursday Susannah and Bryan drove up to Philly to spend the weekend with me. They were supposed to fly up but a few days ago their airline when bankrupt and left them high and dry without a flight. Seriously! But, aside from the 7 hour drive, it worked out better that they drove.
Over the weekend we did tons of touristy Philly stuff including eating cheesesteaks at Gino’s, visiting the Liberty Bell, Independance Hall and the Besty Ross house, an afternoon at Reading Terminal Market, touring the Philadelphia Art Museum (and running the “Rocky” steps) and of course a nice long visit to IKEA!It was such a fantastic weekend and SO nice to have the girls here. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of their visit which pretty much means I had a great time.