I was kidnapped

and had one of the best birthday celebrations EVER!!!!!!!!!!! Kara, Carmen and Staci {{{{Hugs}}}} to all of you. You guys ROCKED my world yesterday in a pre-birthday celebration!!!!!!!!!

The day started off at Kara's house. Carmen and Staci trekked from Thousand Oaks and braved the 101 traffic (and scary fire) to meet in L.A. All 3 ladies made these gorgeous grab boxes filled to the brim with goodies for each of us (so everyone got a present!! How cool is that!?!) The boxes are AMAZING!!!!!!! Kara's delightful boxes are the 3 in the middle (the butterfly, dress and tiger). Carmen's boxes are the three tall delicious cylinder ones (yummy pinks/purples, Autumn colors and greens). Staci's scrumptious treats are the cigar box shapes ones (hee hee guess which ones I got?!? That woman KNOWS me and what makes me larf! Her boxes say SING, JOY and VOTE!) I will show you later what treasures they held.
After we went through the boxes (I could have easily spent all day doing this), our first stop was ZINNIA in South Pasadena. I LOVE this store. I LOVE how they have expanded. Tamara and the gang have done an amazing job. It is a must stop at anytime you are in So CA. It never fails to make me squeal. Check it out-
Hi Carmen, Kara and Staci!!!!
Look who was there!! Tasha! Hi Tasha, where's Jazmin, the Wonder Pup? Tasha was lucky enough to be taking of Joe's amazing classes!!!!
Ahh, I forgot to take pictures the rest of the day. I was simply having too much fun (can one have too much fun??!!) Our next stop was the antique store across the street where I found some treasures. Then lunch at Heirloom Cafe which had the best egg salad sandwich I have ever eaten and a scrumptious cupcake (always more yummy when you share!!)

Off then to Kino-buy-it all, I mean Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo where much fun was had. Next stop was Pulp on La Brea (ahhhhhh new paper). Then, Millie Papercrafts on La Brea (I LOVE this store!!!! She had tons of fun new goodies!!!).

We went back to Kara's house to rest a bit. The ladies were extremely generous. I will share the goodies in another post. Let's just say my jaw dropped several times and I still can't get over their generosity and how much they spoiled me.

We ended the night at the Farmer's Market at Monsieur Marcel where we ate one of the best meals I've ever had in my life. I am in love with ratatouille provençale. Oh my. Yum. It was so much fun and such a sweet birthday treat.

Thank you thank you thank you to Kara, Carmen and Staci. You three have created a day filled with wonderful memories. I am extremely lucky to have such wonderful, thoughtful, caring and generous friends. Thank you again. I'm still dancing!!!!