The Best Birthday Yet and Birthday Gift Haul

After 23 years of birthdays, I feel like I've been very fortunate to celebrate my birthday in an awesome way each year. This was the 2nd birthday I've spent with Clayton (technically 3 if you count the night we met ;)) and he made sure that it was extra special. Not only did Clayton make is special but so did my family. My gma and sister Saylor came up to visit the weekend before. They brought a few gifts that I LOVED. Here's a quick little haul of the gifts I received this year.

1. Happy Birthday Kitchen Towel

My sister is really good at picking out really interesting gifts. I love this cute little towel. I know you "can't" really use it year round, but it was something to make my day extra special. And I may or may not still have it hanging up :)

2. Celebrating You Book

There have been few gifts in life that have made me cry, but they tend to come from my Grandma is they do. This year she got me this cute book and although its a small little book, that some may argue is for kids, it means a lot to me. It's just something that is sentimental and something that I will continue to treasure. She even signed it, which makes me tear up when I look at it.

3. Blackhawks Canvas

It wouldn't be a birthday or holiday if I didn't receive something Blackhawks related right? My sister, Sav, picked out a medium-sized canvas print of the United Center with the logo in the center. It's a pretty cool piece that will likely end up in Clayton's man cave one day. I haven't had the time to hang it up yet. Before I know it, my living room is going to look like a sports hall of fame.

4. Rings

I change up my jewelry pretty often and I tend to receive a lot of costume jewelry from family. I love these rings because they are dainty and a good addition to my current ring collection. I like the promise ring that Clayton gave me, to be the focal piece and other rings be simple...so needless to say, these are perfect.

5. Tupperware

As an adult now, my wishlist has turned less fantasy and more practical. I mean, I asked for a freaking Swiffer Wet Jet for Christmas! I've been doing a lot of organizing and rearranging in our apartment and my gma decided that I might need some more Tupperware. I feel like this is how it starts and then 10 years later and 600 mismatched containers later, you end up with enough Tupperware to save Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers for the next 5 years. But, I will say that it was kind of an awesome gift. I am trying to do some better meal prep for our lunches in an attempt to be a bit healthier. So, these assorted containers are already coming in handy.

6. Starbucks gift card

Because I'm a basic white girl, I live and die by Starbucks. Okay, to be honest, I don't really go to Starbucks as often as my family thinks I do. I am now sitting with about $100 in Starbucks money....and that will probably last me the whole year! It's nice being able to just pop in to get a coffee when I'm feeling it. Also those summer teas get me in the best mood!

7. Xbox live

I've been a "gamer" since, well, forever. My dad has had quite a few game systems in his life and I can remember kicking his ass on Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64. I got a Gameboy Advance pretty young too. Clayton got me an Xbox One for Christmas last year and I've been taking advantage of Overwatch for sure. My dad typically buys my Xbox Live subscription as a gift and it's just another one of those things that you really want, but just aren't sure if you want to spend your own money on lol!

8. Blackhawks Jacket

Now, this is the gift of all gifts. This jacket has been haunting my dreams every day since I saw it. The Hawks posted a photo of the Jacket and I just decided I needed to have it. So little did I know that Clayton was going to drive all the way to Chicago Friday morning and be back that afternoon to give me my gift! He even took the night off so we could spend it together. I'm in love and obsessed with this jacket.

9. Michael Kors Purse

This was an early birthday gift...but one that I've been wanting for a LONG time. My gma got me the Jet Set Tote last Christmas and she got me the matching wallet this Christmas. Clayton has always wanted to get me something Michael Kors because he knows it's pretty much my favorite handbag brand. Well, while we were in Nashville for New Years, the Opry Mills mall had a Michael Kors outlet...and this purse was a whopping 80% off, which meant it was around $80! I've been looking for a smaller everyday purse and this one is a perfect size! I also wanted it in black and it just so happened that this was their last one. It was fate if you ask me :)

I love each and every one of these gifts. My family seriously knows me so well and they chose some awesome gifts to spoil me for my birthday! These gifts were great, but the best part of my birthday came when Clayton told me that the 2nd part of his surprise included a quick trip home to watch my high school's show choir invitational. If you don't know what show choir is, here is a quick video of my group at Nationals :

Show choir was a huge deal to me when I was in high school (I was in both my all-girls group and mixed group in high school), and performing has been in my blood since birth! My mom danced when she was young and my dad was in a band for awhile. My grandpa can play a variety of instruments and even taught me how to play a little bit of guitar! Anyway, Invitational was always so special for me because it lands on my birthday every year! The show choirs even sand Happy Birthday to me on my 18th birthday right before my group performed! It was awesome! I haven't been able to go home and attend the competition due to school and other things, but Clayton knew how much I wanted to go. He was keeping things pretty hush hush but finally let me in on the plans Friday night. The next morning we got up and drove to my hometown to visit my family and sit through 8 hours of competitive show choir. Clayton is seriously a trooper for sitting through a long day like that. It was so fun to expose him to what I did during my high school career. While he was chasing pucks and taking slap shots and I was teasing my hair and conquering the stage.

Anyway, I can sum up this birthday by saying I am very grateful for the people I have in my life. They took the time to celebrate with me and I love them all! I find that as I get older, birthdays get less significant, but this one was still special!