Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to me. A bit later....

I shopped, saved, and waited to get these little beauties! I saved my Christmas and photography money to get the bookcase, and Josh let me buy the picture of Christ for my birthday! I love them both! They make a big difference in my living room. Christ seems to watch and preside over our home, and I feel peace and love when I look at this painting.
I installed some lights I got from IKEA in the top of the bookcase yesterday, and hung up the funky green chandelier thing from Tai Pan. I'm really happy how it turned out. My living room seems more cozy and complete this way :)

We celebrated my 27th birthday on sunday at Ali and Howard's. Ali put a lot of work into making this beautiful from scratch German chocolate cake! Yes, it tastes as good as it looks. She also made some amazing carnitas! They were SO good! I don't know if I liked them or the cake better. She also got me a few really awesome presents. I got a whole bunch of bare minerals eye shadow which I secretly wanted and she just happened to get it for me. Some seriously gorgeous flowers! Some really beautiful jewelery. A jade necklace and some copper chandelier earrings. A waffle maker that makes waffles in the shape of hearts that looks way nice and will be super fun! And to top it off, a really nice hand written card from her and Howie. Thank you SO much! And thank you Howie for cleaning up the mess with your sore foot!