Birthdaaaaaaaay!

One week ago, I celebrated my 31st birthday, also known as Sara's "thank god I'm not 30 anymore" 31st birthday party.  And it was awesome!!  I had (I think) about 40 people turn out and it was held in the Butterfly Lounge at Grim's on Capitol Hill.  I had the space reserved ahead of time, got to bring my iPod with a sweet party playlist (that I spent hours working on after getting input from friends... 'cause that's how I roll), and even had a signature drink that Caleb the bartender created for me.

My friends came from all over the place, and I felt so loved and thankful for the turnout.  Besides my sister and cousin, I had friends from high school, friends from college (both in my sorority and not), friends from PwC, friends from Expedia, and friends of friends that became my friends along the way.  They drove from Portland and Chelan and even flew in from Boise and Dallas!

One of my favorite parts about the night was the fundraising that happened.  I asked people to bring a few bucks cash to contribute to a collection for the National Brain Tumor Society, in lieu of buying me a drink or bringing a gift.  And we raised $285!!!!  I am so thrilled.  Somewhat selfishly, I'm planning on holding onto the cash for now and including it in my fundraising for the next Portland Brain Tumor Walk this summer.  First place in fundraising will be mine this year.  :)

I cannot thank everyone enough for coming to my party and wishing me well; I hope that everyone had a fun time!  I was a little overwhelmed by the kind words written in birthday cards and teared up during a speech that Steph made during the party.  But as we discussed before the party, no crying allowed!  So I held it together.  Barely.

Amy & Steph

Aaron, Dawn, Desi, Maria, Eric, Carl, Molly

Danny and Jess, a fellow brain tumor dominator

Heather, Tiffany, Syd (who brought delicious little cupcakes, thanks!!), Cathleen

Lindsay & Kevin

Mindy & Steph

My dollars and brains collection jar (thanks for the crafting, Mindy!), classy cross stitching, and cupcakes!

Casey, Mindy, and Steph, all the way from Dallas and Boise (and Tacoma!)

Karrie, Steph, Kelly, Denise, Sarah

Me and Jackie O'Lantern, an inside joke with my college girlfriends

Megan, Crystal, Lindsay aka Michael, Brittany

Steph's speech :)

My collection jar, my signature drink recipe (F*30), and Jackie O

I didn't end up with pictures of everyone; if you have some, please send them to me!  31 is feeling good so far and got kicked off with a bang.  I hope everyone had as fantastic of a night as I did!  Thank you ALL for helping me celebrate!!!