it's your birthday (na na na na na na na na).

this weekend was miss shel pierre's 30th birthday extravaganza. abby (justin's sister-in-law) and ben (shel's boyfriend) put together a surprise party for her a few weeks ago--and i had been looking forward to it until it arrived on saturday night. we all arrived at the reserved location at the local (bar) and waited. there must have been around thirty+ people. shel and ben showed up and BAM. she was stunned. completely awkwardly stunned. it was very "shel-esque" and perfect. she deserved such a great celebration. she is such a generous and lovely human. i was so excited for her all night. meanwhile, justin was the only one sporting his party hat all night (typical), and we talked to the pierre parents for awhile. i have said it, and i will say it again--i LOVE his family. they make me smile and laugh so much.

afterward, i stole justin away for the rest of the night and hugged on him awhile (since it had felt like i had not seen him in ages).

in the morning i craved the chocolate chip pancakes. justin googled to no avail. we settled for non-chocolate chip pancakes at a local uptown diner. yummers. we had some good mid-morning conversations.

then we went to urban to shop for shel's presents. we are the worst shoppers together, and the best shoppers. we picked the most random, funny collection of gifts possible for her.

justin had a phone interview so we stopped at the beat for some caffeine and parted ways for a half hour. he paced side streets. i tried to find a coat to buy (because i was cold). fail.

we met back up and went back to his house, grabbed sweatshirts, blah, blah, blah, and we went to see the movie a serious man. since it was the coen brothers, i expected bizarre--but this movie was ridiculous! i did enjoy it, and there were several undercover minnesota references. while we were leaving, there was this adorable old man waiting outside the doors who stopped us to ask if we liked the movie. we affirmed. he told us he was one of the rabbis in the movie. aw. he was so proud. so sweet.

we left to eat (at a place i will not name, because if jenna phillips found out she would murder) and justin and i immortalized our togetherness on a march of dimes pumpkin for all of the world to see. how romantic. right? we went back to his place, watched an episode of pushing daisies, and i left later that night.

monday was shel's official birthday--so the whole pierre family met at justin and shel's place and we went to see david cross's comedy show. hilarioouuss. i was sitting behind a broad shouldered man, though, and my neck hurt to look around him. ouch. after the show we all went back to their place to watch the end of the vikings/packers game. none of us really understand sports--but it was fun to make fun of the whole spectacle. it was a really good night.

so, happy birthday shels! you are a wonderful woman.

and i adore my boyfriend. he makes me smile so much... it is sick! my life would be so gray without him and his strange ways. good thing he leaves a lot for tours and such, or else i would gladly spend all of my waking time with him.

i also miss all of my girls. let us hang soon, please? girl time only?