happy (birthday) hour

friday was my 25th birthday. that's right...i'm officially closer to 30 than 20. very strange. but anyway, i decided that i wanted a low-key birthday (but still wanted to celebrate) so craig and i invited friends and family to join us at our favorite local watering hole, bobby simone's, for happy hour(s). i mean, with 1/2 price cocktails and $3 guinness, who wouldn't have a good time?!

the bar was super crowded (way more crowded than usual), despite the fact that we got there at 5:15pm for the 5-7pm happy hour specials. even though it was packed, we managed stake our claim in a small corner and slowly expanded our territory as more and more of "our people" arrived. we visited (and drank) and ordered food (and drank some more). if you ever make it to bobby's, their cosmos are amazing - my personal fave of the countless that i've enjoyed over my 4 legal drinking years.

we all had an awesome time catching up and visiting and the time passed quickly. so, after 3 cosmos (i usually only get one or two because they're rather strong), happy hour was drawing to a close, so we headed out. when we pulled into our driveway, i realized there was an unexpected vehicle - my cousin's, who hadn't been able to make it to the happy hour celebration. (to my credit, much earlier in the night, i told craig i thought something was up, but i didn't know what exactly. his goofy smile and attempt to deny that anything was going on confirmed my suspicions...)

craig & me

i got out of the car and walked into a lovely party. there were streamers and balloons and my favorite people. erin and brian, cate and chad and my sis, hannah. the girls had made a delicious spread of gourmet pizzas, antipasto salad and a feta and mushroom tart. everything was so yummy and the cosmos (slowly) wore off as we enjoyed girl talk at the table while the boys talked about who-knows-what (probably sports and work would be my guess) in the family room. it was a great birthday with great friends. thank you guys! you're the best!!!

my only request: next time you're planning a surprise for me, craig, reign me in a bit. i thought i was going home to pjs and pizza. had i known there was a party lurking in the wings, i would have passed on the 3rd cosmo and had some champagne with my girls instead : )