The little birthday that could

There's nothing particularly special about turning 36. I mean, it's no 21 or 50.  Because of this fact, there was no particular reason I'd expect this birthday to go down as the best birthday to date.

(A close second was my awesome 30th birthday that many of you attended, where I was newly preggo with a baby Josie, then spent the weekend doing girly stuff with my sista. And the only reason this one tops that one is because I got to celebrate this one with the involvement of two little ones that didn't actually exist yet back then.)

Anyway, a certain Mr. Schneider set out to make this birthday really special. It was the first birthday I'd been able to celebrate without a baby in my belly or a baby home that is breastfeeding - in quite a while (as in years, yo). It was also a really big year - with big highs and big lows - to celebrate and remember. And, well, you all know that doing things like going above and beyond just falls under the umbrella of "what I do" according to Louie - so going above and beyond is exactly what he did!

In no particular order, my birthday weekend involved:

• breakfast in bed
• a special gift & homemade cards from the girls
• two cakes
• brunch with my parents
• an afternoon and evening out with Louie - where we learned how to blow glass & ate our weight in sushi
• a professional, two-hour massage

And here are some highlights, courtesy of the phone that I kept by my side to capture all the awesomeness, as it happened.

It simply does not get better than coffee in bed.

Except breakfast in bed.

Especially when that breakfast in bed is promptly consumed by the little girls who helped make it.

And, remember it snowed like crazy on my birthday, and that was a snowy surprise for all of us.

Here's Cake Numero Uno (so I could blow out a candle on my actual birthday). You'll notice the tooth marks of certain nearly-two-year old who couldn't resist it.

And later ...a two hour massage (after a brunch with Grandma & DD who then watched the kids so I could get away for this).

I really cannot even capture here just how awesome it was to learn how to make these glass pieces. It was really fun to work together on something creative. And, it was fun to do something that felt really intimidating at first. (I totally made Lou go first!)

 Think of it as sticking a giant honey dipper repeatedly into a 2700 degree oven! Seriously, it's so hot in there that it's blinding.

After dipping the glass, it's time to add color. We decided to make four hearts - one representing each of us.

Here's a quick video from Vine.

It's my turn! :)

After several trips to collect more molten glass on the stick, and turning turning turning always turning, then it's time to start shaping the hot glass with various tools.

After playing with glass for a couple hours, we went for sushi to Green Papaya. It was SOOO good!

Here's our dinner Vine! 

 After all that fun, there was still nothing better than being back in the company of these two!

Lou & the girls picked out this lovely bead and bell chain for me which hangs so perfectly over my favorite spot in the house - the window seat overlooking the back yard.

Here is my super special cake from a super special friend. Isn't it GORGEOUS? It was just as delicious as it was beautiful.

Here are the finished hearts - which will soon hang in a sunny window in the house, just as soon as we figure out how to secure them. These puppies are heavy!!

A very happy birthday it was indeed!!!