surprise surprise!!!

looky who i spent the day with on saturday!!!!
from left- myself and marianne, nicky -the stitchy life, milla- the girl who married a bear, amber- violet folklore, heather - moonshine junkyard and missa- thrift candy

last friday myself, nicky and our husbands headed up north for missa's super surprise filled 40th birthday. missa had surprises coming at her left and right all weekend! nicky and i showing up at her door was just one of the many. i can't really put into words how wonderful it was to spend time with such kindred spirits. unfortunately i didn't really get that many pictures but here ya go-

last year milla sent me this beautiful dress that numerous island gals had worn while pregnant. i loved the fact that so many had worn it before me and was filled with anticipation wondering who would wear it next. when heather announced that she was pregnant, i knew where the dress HAD to go, into the hands of this radiant lady!
(photo by amber)
i can't wait to see her in it!

after spending a little time at missa's we headed off to do what we do best... we went thrifting!

it was sooo surreal to be with everyone in person! i enjoyed every minute of it!

i remember when i first came across amber's natural mothering blog years ago. i was so intrigued by her. but then she was gone or rather not blogging there anymore. it wasn't until quite some time later that i realized violet folklore was her blog. i really wish i could have spent more time talking to her...but there is always next time. and there WILL be a next time :D
there were lots of awesome shops filled to brim with things i'd like to have, but skirt chaser vintage took the cake by far!

we were all quite happy sifting through all the racks of awesomeness.

we chatted about blogging and how hard it is to explain to people the connections you can make through the internet. we spoke of how interesting it is that our personalities come through pretty clearly and basically just the strangeness of the whole thing.
after our thrifting, amber and heather had to head back home :(

we went back to missa's for some more conversation and a beer. i wish i had gotten pictures of us sitting on her adorable porch. i could have sat there talking for hours but we had to get going. missa had the biggest surprise of all just hours away, her surprise party!
we stopped that afternoon in petaluma for some dinner and drinks. what a cute little town!

we spent the rest of the night at the party. and what a party it was! there was a rack of vintage clothes for the taking and nicky suggested we dress up for some fun, goofy photos.

missa's husband, lucas, deserves a husband of the year award. not only did he organize and plan everything, but he kept it all a secret as well! nice job! there were such amazing details everywhere- pictures of missa when she was little, cool candles, awesome music and so much more!

beautiful girls were there too!

missa even rode the huge red rabbit! i told her she rode just like sissy in urban cowboy :D hahaha it was awesome!

there was dancing and laughing and milla was kind enough to sit and talk to me for quite some time while fed marianne and she slept. it was just a perfect night that i wished would never end. but it did :(

the next day we headed back home. we stopped off in san fransisco for a quick photo op and for erick to get the oysters he'd been craving all weekend.

yummy!!!

an unforgettable time!
happy birthday missa!
i miss you girls already! and can't wait to spend lots more time together in the future.

(amber's photo)
and speaking of spending time together, i hope to meet all my bloggy friends in person. because friends you are, even if we haven't met face to face.

make sure to read heather's post here and amber's post here. and i'm sure it won't be long for the rest of these lovely ladies to be chiming in with their own account of the weekend.

♥anne