BSOM: Birthday Weekend!

Birthday Cupcake from a
friend of mine :)

Well my birthday weekend was definitely one for the books! One of the best birthdays I've had in a sometime :) The birthday adventure began Friday when I threw a get together for all my close friends, it was the first birthday party I've had in a few years and it was a blast!! All my really good friends attended, and all of my girlfriends got to meet one another which was really cool.

Beautiful Tigers eye necklace my
cousin gave me :)

We had all kinds of snacks and drinks including punch (which I had never made prior to the party). My mom made me a delicious candy cane ice cream cake which was made with white cake mix and of course the candy cane ice cream, it was sooo good and such a hit at the party! My mom typically makes me mint chocolate ice cream cake made with chocolate cake mix, but I wanted something a little different this year, and she definitely came through for me for my birthday cake :)

My delicious birthday cake :)

After a fun night of partying with all my friends, my boyfriend and I took a little road trip down to Watsonville where we stayed the night. We decided on Watsonville as it's pretty central to both Monterey and Santa Cruz, which is where we wanted to venture. We woke up early Sunday morning and took Highway 1 down to Monterey where we walked around Cannery Row and enjoyed a couple of state beaches that are in the area. After soaking up Monterey we headed back on Highway 1 and stopped by Sunset Beach, a beach we've been wanting to visit for some time. It was our first time at Sunset Beach, but it definitely wouldn't be out last as it's my new favorite beach! I loved it because it went on for miles, and there wasn't a soul around! It was like we had our own personal beach for a few hours, definitely one of the highlights of our trip! After our little stop at Sunset we headed to Santa Cruz hitting up the downtown area first. We were kind of limited on time and sunlight so we just went to our favorite shops, including an antique shop Mr. Goodie's Antiques & Collectibles which I previously wrote about here, and a local art supply store called Palace Art supplies which has unbelievably low prices on quality merchandise! After going to our usual favorite shops we headed to the Wharf for some dinner. Our favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz, The Dolphin, is on the wharf which is where we headed but unfortunately they were closed earlier than usual as it was Sunday. So instead we headed to our other favorite place Gilda's, we were dined on Salmon and Crab Cakes..both were out of this world! Really love eating on the wharf as every restaurant on the wharf has an ocean side view, can't beat that when enjoying a delicious meal! We got back on the road after dinner, heading up Highway 1 to another favorite destination of ours, a small berry stand/shop type thing called "Swanston Berry Farm". But unfortunately that place was also closed as they have winter hours right now which we were unaware of. But I highly recommend it as a stop as the berries are delicious and all organic! We arrived home later that night exhausted but full filled! We got a lot done in a small amount of time, and it was definitely a birthday to go down in the books! Not only was it my first time going to the ocean for my birthday but it was also the first time I had gone away for my birthday with a significant other!