My birthday weekend has been fabulous so far. No sleeping in for me today (we’re off to a birthday party for my friend’s daughter), but I got ten hours of sleep on Friday night, which is normally what I get over two nights combined. After sleeping for ten straight hours, I woke up with a sore back. Not cool, 35. Not cool. Later this afternoon we’re having a big family birthday celebration. I’m looking forward to spending time with my favorite people.

Around The Net

~I read Roo’s account of her undercover trip to a brothel in South East Asia and…ugh, I don’t even know what to say (except that her writing is amazing).

~Friendships in your 30s are hard because life at this stage is so crazy. But with a little effort, friendships can still flourish. I don’t see my friends nearly enough, but we have a standing monthly brunch that I move heaven and earth to try to attend. Soooo what I’m saying is, I definitely identify with this article.

~These surf photos destroy me (in a good way) and make me want to paddle out.

Cinemamatic

~Mike and Annie saw Maleficent last weekend. It was Annie’s first live-action movie in the theater and we were a little worried that it might be too old for her, but she really enjoyed it and wasn’t afraid. While some of the plot points were a little mature for her to understand, she was able to grasp them with a bit of explaining from Mike. Mike says he enjoyed it, and while it wasn’t perfect he’d definitely recommend it to little girls who love princesses and the like.

~55 essential movies your child must see before they turn 13. I agree with most of these. Annie has already seen 17 of the movies on this list. I think that most of the movies on here are really amazing, but do I think kids will like all of them? Not sure. The Kid, for example, is a fabulous movie, but it’s just soooo different than what’s out there today. That’s why it SHOULD be on a list like this, but I worry 13 still isn’t old enough for many kids to appreciate it. What do you guys think?

Shop For Me

~I received some gift cards for my birthday, lucky me! One of my cards is to Zappos, and I’d like to spend it on a pair of black sandals…flat, cute but casual. My problem with Zappos is unless I know EXACTLY what I am looking for, I get overwhelmed. I always feel overwhelmed when I browse at Zappos. So…anyone bought a pair of cute & casual black flats lately?

~I also received a gift card to Nordstrom…whenever I get a card to Nordy’s I always fight the urge to stretch my money by only buying stuff that’s on sale, vs splurging on one thing that I wouldn’t normally buy. I’m kind of tempted to apply the card toward sunglasses, or maybe this dress or this dress or this one…but who am I kidding, I’m just going to buy underwear.

Silly Stuff

~I bought that Kinetic Sand stuff for the kids. I play with it after they go to bed, there’s no shame in my game.

~The fam (me, Mike, kids, Gramma) went to a party for the Honest Company launch at Target. They had fun photobooths and bib-designing stations for the kids.

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The founders of Honest came over at one point and gave James some love, which was surreal. Annie was a proud big sister, telling everyone that it was her brother on the box. I was proud of her, because her brother received a lot of attention and she wasn’t jealous at all.

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Still so weird to see his little face on the box!

Happy Sunday, everyone!