cupcakes, my birthday and super glue

so glad october is here. loving the weather. em and i took the day off on friday to play in atlanta. we left on thursday afternoon and spent the night with one of my best friends and her girls. the drive down was full of music and chatting. em and i had been looking forward to this trip for over a week and could not wait to get in the car and away for a night of just girls.

we arrived at their house just in time to help with the finishing touches on her reduce, reuse, refashion clothing show that she puts on in the spring and fall. she is and has always been one of the most innovative, creative and motivated people i know. she can do anything. so she decided to put together this little clothing business a few seasons ago. in a nutshell, she sends out an email to a vast group of girls asking them to gather up the clothes that they no longer want or wear and she will sell the clothes for them at a consignment sale in her home. she has a system involving tagging, pricing, the percentage the sellers will make, etc. and holds this sale in her home for a weekend. this past thursday evening was the cupcakes and champagne preview show for the girls that had contributed clothing to the sale. this is the time to come. you get first dibs on all the good stuff. so when em and i walked in and saw the house we formally knew transformed into a consignment boutique full of prada, marc jacobs, tori burch, calypso, j. crew and more...we lost our minds. em started trying on boots, i was thumbing through the things my friend had pulled for me (love having the friend benefits), and in short, we were in heaven. it was a little chaotic and my normally calm and collected friend was a little freaked when she realized she had 30 minutes until party time and still had not had a shower. nothing a glass of red wine couldn't fix. i had the bottle in tow. the party was a success and a lot was sold. i met a girl who is the cousin of the bass player for drivin' and cryin' and almost had her do my highlights on friday morning. opted out since em and i had our day already planned but did get the scoop from her on all of their stolen equipment for any of you followers...

friday morning my friend and i enjoyed some coffee as she got ready for the show. em and i headed out with our directions and plans around 10:30. first stop was trader joe's. we love it. we got giddy just pulling into the parking lot. once inside, we explored each aisle and picked out a handful of nonperishable items that we could take home. yum. our next stop was woo. we love this beauty mecca too. it is a small makeup boutique that has the best hair accessories. we bought some really cool metallic hairbands and another one of our favorite headbands, but in a tortoise shell this time. we left there and ate at another favorite spot, zoe's. we sat outside and had grilled chicken and a greek salad. another yum. we ran into publix after lunch to grab tylenol, super glue and gum. don't ask. em and i were cracking up as the guy was ringing up these random items...

em is great with directions and the perfect person to read them to you while driving. we left peachtree battle shopping center and headed toward howell mill to our next destination. i took her to star provisions and ann mashburn. ann mashburn was a vogue fashion assistant, glamour editor and j. crew stylist. her husband, sid, has a cool mens store right around the corner. her store is the epitome of elegance and style. everything in there is simple, chic, timeless and utterly incredible! i could spend the night there surrounded by must-have wardrobe necessities. after we left, we walked next door to star provisions. love this store. i want my kitchen to look like this store. it's amazing. we stepped into the bakery and found ourselves in line behind vern yip of hgtv. our star siting for the day. we really looked like country come to town as we tried to snap his photo with my iphone and at the same time were oohing and ahhing over all the things we loved...

our last stop was atlantic station for target and ikea. em wants a bedroom makeover for her birthday, so we went to ikea to scout out some ideas. we found several things that she was interested in and i found a faux cowhide rug that might just suffice for the real thing that i have been coveting for our home some day. we didn't buy anything, just idea shopping. we took lots of photos of fabrics, chairs and lamps before leaving...

what a day. we had the best time and to say it was priceless time spent together doesn't do it justice. we headed back to our friends' house to meet up with pb and wil. they were joining us for friday evening. my friend's husband and son had been on an overnight field trip and were returning as well. we all reunited, enjoyed some drinks on the deck and then went to have dinner at a mexican place they love. at some point in the evening, i went to the ladies room and when i returned the whole mariachi band was singing happy birthday to me. it wasn't my birthday. i exclaimed this several times before ruining the fun and blowing their plan. i now have a framed photo of me in a sombrero that says feliz cumpleanos from this place...

sooo....a great weekend and great memories. i love the times we spend together with family and friends. it really is priceless.