I'm 26!

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 26. My day started at 5:15 when L's alarm went off, and my day was business as usual throughout the morning. This is a busy time of the year at work, so I stayed busy until lunch. I made a run to UPS to mail presents (hello, crazy crowds already!) and treated myself and L to Chipotle for lunch.

(Please excuse the quality of the photo - I took it purely to rub it in to my friends that I got Chipotle for lunch.)

I plugged through the rest of the afternoon and started getting ready once work was over at 4. L and I went to the mall and had my traditional photo with Santa - my Mom would've flipped if I didn't. It was odd since this was the first year in a photo without my sister, and I always feel a little silly waiting in line with little kids, but I do enjoy the tradition.

(Again, please excuse the quality. I took a photo of a photo to send to my Mom for approval.)

For the record, here are some of my favorites from birthdays past:

1st birthday - the year it all began.

Early 1990s at some point - who doesn't love center parts and tacky turtlenecks?

2 years ago - about 1 month before I met L - the year our work party was at a vineyard, we ate dinner at Dish, and I got my Duke jersey!

L and I went to dinner and then swung by DQ for an ice-cream cake - my favorite. We went home, dug in, and watched "My Week with Marilyn" til I was too tired to stay awake.

I'll get most of my presents next week when I go home, but to tie me over, L got me the #1 thing on my birthday/Christmas wish list - the Gramercy watch from Kate Spade. I am in l-o-v-e!

Hope everyone else is having a good week as well!

XO - Catherine