A Knoxville Birthday Surprise

Wow I am a super-bad blogger these days, aren't I?

My apologies to my thousands of adoring fans...I am about to have some extra time on my hands so hopefully blogging will become more common in my life but more on that later.

Last week I got to make a trip to visit a very, very special person in my life...MY MOM!!!!

April 22nd was her birthday...a very big birthday but we're not mentioning numbers...so after weeks of scheming and dreaming with other family members and friends, I went to Knoxville to surprise her.

I arrived on Thursday, the day before her birthday, and surprised her at work. I didn't get a picture, but I have a video that I couldn't figure out how to load onto the blog. But she was super-surprised and jumped up and down and screamed and clapped her hands like a 6-year-old who had just been told she was about to leave for Disney World.

Awesome.

So after catching up on Thursday night, and laughing about what a great surprise I pulled off, we made it an early night because we had big plans for Friday!

We just had some dinner and drinks at one of my favorite places...Bonefish (always have to go there when I'm near one...we ain't got no fancy restaurants 'round these parts) and went home to cuddle with doggies and get some beauty rest.

My sweet mom with her two youngest children...Pepper (black and white), and Bella

Like me, my mom has a heart for animals and rescued these two cuties.

They are hilarious, and constantly behave badly, but they sure are cute!

Precious...

Here are the Lillies I brought to surprise mom!

I thought hey were appropriate because her birthday was so close to Easter this year.

And they made her house smell amazing!

So anyway, like I was saying, we had a big day planned for Friday. I had called mom's boss ahead of time and got his permission to let her have the day off (Shout out to Paul and Casey at Law's Interiors & Designs in Knoxville!!!! Love your faces...y'all are the bomb).

I woke up early and made mom breakfast in bed. It was lovely. Then we showered, got prettied up, and went to pick up my Aunt Lynda. Lynda is my mom's older sister, and she had helped in the scheming and secret-keeping of the whole weekend.

The three of us traveled to Asheville, North Carolina for a fun birthday day trip! It is only an hour and a half drive, which we totally didn't mind because it just meant more time to spend together chatting, gossiping, lauging, and dreaming...

First we enjoyed an AMAZING lunch at a downtown restaurant called Table. This girl was in heaven in a nice restaurant!! One word: Heaven.

Literally, at one point during our meal I just looked at my mom and Lynda and said, "I'm so happy." Because I was.

Then we hit the street of Ashville for some shopping and gallery-browsing. It was a little gloomy with a chance of rain, but we did not let it deter our sunny outlook on the day!

After a little this and that, we walked to a local spa where we had appointments for manicures and pedicures.

I would totally recommend this place is anyone is every looking for a good spa in downtown Asheville.
The service and atmosphere was amazing, and the prices were very reasonable.

The birthday girl taking it all in!

Mom and Lynda getting pampered!

My Aunt Lynda is a director of a huge city-wide festival in Knoxville, The Dogwood Arts Festival...maybe you've heard of it?....and it just ended. So she was READY to RELAX. Big time.

Here's me! In my robe. Love it. I would stay in a robe all day every day if it wasn't considered fashionably unacceptable.

After mani's and pedi's we went back to Knoxville for a quiet night at home. The doggies here so happy to see us!

Funny little fur babies...

Lynda brought groceries, and I brought wine and champagne...

We slaved in the kitchen together and wound up with a fabulous feast...

Pasta and salad...wine...movie...family...what more do you need?

We watched The Kings Speech while chowing down...a wonderful end to a wonderful day! I loved celebrating with my mom and Lynda! What a fun surprise...

I am so grateful for these women in my life! What a lucky gal I am to be surrounded by women who work hard and play hard. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend! Reba and I are participating in the Tunica Humane Society Doggie Dash tomorrow so wish us luck!