My 26th

Well, I'm officially past my "mid-twenties," but I still had one of the most a*m*a*z*i*n*g birthdays ever!  That is very much thanks to my incredible husband, wonderful mom, and awesome friend, Katie ... I cannot thank you all enough for making this surprise weekend totally unforgettable!

As most of you know ... Roanoke, Virginia is just about my favorite place on Earth ... so spending my 26th birthday there was definitely one of the best presents anyone could have given me.  Justin was an absolute saint to volunteer to keep Jackson on his days off so that mom and Katie could take me to Roanoke for an impromptu "girls weekend."  What a blast!

We left early Saturday morning so we could arrive in Roanoke before lunch and show Katie around our beloved "hometown."  Then, we headed to the Center in the Square for lunch ... I hadn't been there since the remodel, so it was really neat!  Katie was surprised that downtown Roanoke "was like an actual city."  It certainly brought smiles to everyone's faces.

After lunch and some light window shopping, we checked into our hotel.  It was a little surreal staying in a hotel in Roanoke ... but really fun ... especially since Justin used his hotel points to snag us a super nice room!  Mom was so cute proclaiming "this is the first hotel bed I've ever slept in that actually feels clean."  Thanks, babe!

After check-in, we headed to Valley View for some "much-better-than-Winchester-mall" shopping ... then to the movies to see "The Vow" ... then to my birthday dinner at Kabuki!

To work off some of those dinner calories ... ahem ... we headed up to the famous "Roanoke Star" atop Mill Mountain for a view of the city at night.  Katie couldn't believe how incredible the view was from the top of mountain.  I couldn't believe how amazing it felt to visit the star again after so many years away!

Although it was getting a little chilly by this point of the evening ... we still couldn't imagine a snowfall the next morning after this beautiful 60 degree day... but we were wrong!  Shortly after we awoke, the heavy flakes began to fall (I seriously cannot remember a year where we haven't had snow on my actual birthday).  So, we decided to leave Roanoke a little early.  We were actually able to drive out of the snow ... and stop in Lexington, Virginia for lunch at Macadoo's.  Katie loves sandwiches, so we wanted to treat her to a Roanoke staple even if we weren't in Roanoke anymore.  It was a hit!

The car ride home was another laugh fest (much like the entire weekend), and I was a little sad to drop Katie off at her house.  However, all good things must come to an end, right?

Thank you to everyone who made this weekend so very spectacular.  I will certainly never forget my 26th birthday ... even if I do want to forget the very obvious gray hair that I discovered tonight when I got home!

Growing up is hard to do (but good family and friends ... and a healthy dose of the 'Noke make it so much sweeter)!