{a birthday trip}

this past saturday, 
we celebrated my amazing momma's birthday.

joel and i drove with my parents to e. lansing and met up with my 

brother and sister (yessss).

and as we always do when we're all together,

we had a fantastic time.

i love my family.

we started the day by grabbing some delicious "dubs" 

& loaded fries at the famous menna's joint.

then we walked over to mad eagle so i could drop off a jewelry order.

it was my first time to the boutique and i instantly fell in love. 
i found it to be a perfect home for my jewelry.
it is in great company there, including some lovely garments from this brand.
i'm lucky i walked out of there without spending money 
(hubby helped make this possible).

next we made a stop for joel : marshall music.

here he is admiring his long lost love, aka the guitar that he once upon a time sold so he could buy my engagement ring. one day, i will surprise him with a new one.

once we were able to tear joel away from his former lover, 
we headed to the city market where i got some locally made honey 

& fresh strawberries at a dollar a carton.

we walked the riverfront a bit and then headed to cooley gardens,

which is full of pretty flowers. this was probably my favorite part of the day.

{yellow roses are my mom's favorite.}

we finished our joyous day off with root beer floats from a & w.

perfection.

days spent with my family are my favorite.