And the winner is...

And the winner for most creative presentation of a birthday gift, ever, is Melissa/Meg W./Jordan!

I was lusting after a certain necklace at Melissa's jewelry party that I did not purchase. I found a gift bag with the necklace box on my bathroom counter this evening. But inside the box - no necklace. Instead, a note that said Gabriella had my gift. Hmm... I had just pulled the Gabby decal off my wall... then I remembered the cardboard cutout. And that Jordan was moving today, and had joked about leaving in the shower at his apt for the next tenant. So I flung open the shower curtain, and there she was, wearing my necklace! 

I'm glad that I saw her tonight, rather than at 6:30 tomorrow morning. 

I heart my awesome, creative friends. :)

Coloring the Envelope

This is Emma when we were working on Father's Day cards this morning.

WHY??

Here's a photo of Em and me from my seventh birthday celebration of the week. Notice there are 4 candles on the cake rather than 28. Emma wanted to "help" me blow them out.

Here are some Emma "fast facts"~

Her favorite word these days is, "why," closely followed by, "what did you say?"

E: Where is Mimi?

S: In the shower.

E: Why?

S: Because she's dirty.

E: What is all this junk in your bag, Stephanie?

S: It's not junk, it's clothes.

E: Why?

S: Because I don't want to wear the same thing the whole time I'm here.

E: Why are the giraffes racing? (in her book...)

S: I have no idea.

...you get the picture.

The funniest happening of the day was when we were at dinner after church this evening with some of mom and dad's friends. Emma randomly shouted, "BIBLE" really loudly.

She likes to tell the world that she "peed in the 'mode." 

Also, she is really terrible at hide and seek, and she always wants to play. She won't close her eyes. She just wants you to hide while she's watching. When it's her turn to hide, she doesn't wait for me to close my eyes either. 

Oops.

I brought the Wii home to mom and dad's for the weekend so they could - hopefully - begin to understand its coolness. Mom is a big fan of bowling...

Now about this photo... can you see that long-ish strand of beads hanging down from the greenery on top of the entertainment center? Yeah, that's my necklace. Or part of what used to be my necklace.

Somehow while I was playing tennis, my necklace broke and half of it shot up onto the top of the entertainment center. Bet I couldn't do that again if I tried.

I think the Nintendo people are going to need to add to their warning at the beginning of the game - make sure there are no people or objects around you, and remove all jewelry.

I have to admit, I'm a little bummed about the demise of my necklace that I only had for a week, but I think the laughter might have been worth it.

The Search Is Over. (Or - I finally found... what I've been lookin' for...)

Not only was today my birthday, but it was also the day that I found the Wii! It went a little something like this- around 11:30, when we were getting ready to start our croquet tournament at work, I got a text from my excellent roomie Meghan that said all the Meijers had 30 Wiis today. I couldn't really do anything about it till after the croquet/lunch extravaganza. So around 1, I was calling lots of Meijers. 

"Do you have any Wiis?"

"What? Weeds?"

"No! Wiis!"

"Oh. No."

But then... when I called Mooresville, I got a different answer! They did, indeed, have Wiis in stock. I think my only words to Lynn were, "I have to go." She understood. I hopped in the car and made the trek to Mooresville (about 30 minutes from work/downtown). On the way there, I felt like every car was going to Meijer to get a Wii. I sat in construction traffic. I saw a bizarre electrical fire on the side of the road. Then I finally arrived. 

I headed straight to the video game section. I went to the glass case where the Wiis are supposed to be... and... nothing. I was a little upset. There was no Meijer employee anywhere near the video games, so I went to hunt one down. They paged someone to video games. I waited... and waited... for about 15 minutes. Dad called to wish me a happy birthday, and I told him what I was doing. He said I don't have time for video games. True... but he has never played the Wii! I was getting angrier by the minute. Did I really just leave work and drive half an hour to get there and not get a Wii? I was writing a blasphemous Meijer blog post in my head. 

But then... someone finally showed up. I told her I'd just called and was told there were Wiis in stock. "Oh, yes," she said. "They're in the photo lab. Come with me." Well that makes sense. Don't let anyone know you have them... keep them hidden in a different department! Things were looking up, though. Not only did they have the Wii, but also the Wii Fit. So I picked that up as well. I did a little skiing this evening. Apparently I lack balance. (Anyone in my yoga class could've told you that!) 

I'm glad that my mission has been accomplished and that I no longer have to spend time calling 16+ Game Stops everyday to see if they have a Wii! I do have a feeling that it's going to become a money pit because of all the fun accessories and games... but anyway, here's to many fun hours of playing the Wii! 

As promised.

Here are a few photos from the weekend's big party. There are many more on Facebook... and even more than that on my laptop. Just ask, and I can show you a slideshow complete with music from the HSM soundtrack. (Have I mentioned that I love my Mac? That's another post for another time.)

When Lauren and Ryan came in with this cardboard cutout of Gabriella, I almost lost it. She made her way around the house all evening, but my favorite was when she was here, on top of the entertainment center. All night the joke was, "why is Gabby just standing there?" I will continue to wait for Jordan to bring her to church... because she needs Jesus, too.

Our cake rocked. Sure, Costco couldn't make an "official" HSM cake, so we worked with it. We got the basketball, and had them put "Happy Birthday! Bet on it!" on the cake. Then we found a fun HSM candle at Party Tree.

The pinata was one of the highlights of the evening. Sure, we could've done a little more planning as far as its placement goes, but the two ladders and the broom were a great improvisation. And we hit it with my Swiffer handle. Good thing I live on a street with no traffic!

A shout out to my friend and closet blog reader Mark. Thanks for sweeping the street!

I'm guessing all the local Hallmarks are now sold out of this card. It's the one that plays music. I got three of them, and Jordan got one of these, and one other HSM musical one. And, I got two of that other card as well. Out of all the cards there are... I guess great minds think alike. :)

I think it might have been my most fun birthday party yet!

Editor's Note: Just as I was finishing that, the power went out. We've had some pretty crazy storms here lately! An hour and one horror movie-ish scene with the roomie later, and way past my bedtime, it's back on. Let's hear it for IPL. And the electrician who accidentally left his really awesome flashlight here a few months ago. (I tried to give it back, but he never came to pick it up.)

Preparing for the Party (How Old Are We?)

Yeah, I'm turning 28 on Thursday. And yeah, I'm having a High School Musical Birthday Party tomorrow - a joint party with Jordan, who turned 27 a couple weeks ago. (Twenty-eight means I am officially in my "late twenties." Twenty-seven can go either way, but 28 is definitely the late twenties.)

Anyhow, Liz and I had a field day at Claire's yesterday when we found a whole HSM section, complete with three-foot wall decals of Troy and Gabriella.

(Let's hope these will actually come OFF my wall when the time comes...) Not only did they have tons of fun HSM stuff, but most of it was 50% off! A sign that HSM is going out of style? I'm not sure... but it was definitely lucky for us!

Jordan is dressing up like Troy, so I am working on a few Gabriella-ish things, like the "T" necklace... Photos to come next week! Bet on it!