i'm 25, y'all!

last week i turned 25. 

that's right folks, a quarter of a century. 

and i. feel. OLD!

my dear friends organized the greatest rooftop party to lessen the blow,

complete with bbq & a triple chocolate cake.

{they sure know what hits the spot!}

so happy to have y'all in my life.

happy big-20...

...to the most beautiful girl i know. 

love you sis!

xoxo

happy birthday, hubs!

i love you, and i'm so happy i get to call you mine!

this is going to be a big year for you, and i'm thankful

we get to spend it together. 

happy 28th!

xoxo

birthdays in the park.

 following tradition, we gathered in the park for a

lovely birthday get-together to celebrate mine and klane's birthdays!

it was so great.

angie was thoughtful to put it together,

and todd even surprised me with a delicious amy's bread bday cake. 

{and you know how i feel about those...}

i love all of my friends. 

we are truly lucky to have such a great group of buds.

we love you all!

double the celebrations. double the fun.

today is quite the day for celebrating!

not only is it father's day

{love ya, pops}

but it's also my beautiful mom's birthday 

{love you too, momsie}

my parent's are some of the coolest people you'll ever come across.

i'm pretty sure they're the reason i had friends in highschool.

although, todd and i are not with you two now, 

we're doubling up on the celebrations in our home.

i'm so thankful for you two and for the example you continually 

set for me and my family. 

i only hope i'm as cool of a parent as you are!

yee haw!

i love being able to go out with friends. especially if a birthday is involved! {happy bday pat} we met at a very cool restaurant in brooklyn called viva toro. despite there being horrible train traffic {no surprise there}, everyone made it—all twenty of us! dinner was great, friends were great, and there was a mechanical bull in the middle of it all. being from texas, i had an obligation to ride that bull, and ride it i did!

happy birthday rockstar!!

{devo lives on}

{SURPRISE!!}

{yoko ono & john lennon}

{one of the many roasts}

my dad was turning the big 5-OH, so the only 

way to celebrate such a year for such a man was in rockstar style!

since todd and i were already going to be in town, my mom and i thought

it would be fitting to secretly fly my siblings in for the big surprise.

and let me tell you...it was ALL a big surprise

{or at least we like to think so— the american airlines woman just so happened

to tell my dad that a "ryan lucero" was on our flight when he called in 

to check our flight status. but that's for another story. thanks aa}

pops—i love you and am so thankful we could be in town to celebrate the big day! 

{and don't worry, despite your "seasoned" age, people still mistake you for my older brother}

boxing with the hubs.

ever since todd took his first boxing class {see here}, he's been obsessed. 

and i mean obsessed!

this boy eats, sleeps, and thinks boxing 24-7.

whenever he has free time, he's watching old fights or instructional videos.

i'm fearful that one of these days he's going to put down the wall street journal and look for a job in the ring. 

{don't get me wrong, i'm all for dreams, but i sure hope this isn't one he's dreaming of achieving...}

instead of continuing to pay for a pricey monthly membership, he's dubbed me as his new coach. 

so every night, i wrap up his hands, we put on our mitts and we train.

i even have a cool pair of training mitts.

it's fun to see him get so excited about something

{and even more fun watching my arms get ripped}

we laughed until we cried.

 

after a long week, sometimes you just need a good dose of girl time.

easy as that.

fortunately, angie's birthday celebration provided just that. 

not only was it the perfect time to celebrate beautiful angie, 

but it also gave the girls an excuse to get out on the town for a night and just talk. 

girl talk.

{as much as todd loves his girl talk, he never quite seems to initiate it...}

but seriously, i love these girls.

after a carb-filled dinner at carmine's,

we walked to alexa's adorable studio where we laughed so hard that we were literally crying. 

mix that with a little bit of alexa's delicious red velvet cake, 

and I almost didn't want to come home.

she loves you, yeah yeah yeah.

s

most definitely, the highlight of my weekend was getting to celebrate

john lennon's 70th birthday in the park with friends.

we had blankets, a cool breeze, levain's cookies, and a biography on the big screen.

it couldn't have been better!

i've always loved the beatles, but i have a new-found love for lennon.

so much, i just might name my first-born after him. 

watch me.

feliz cumpleanos to T.

happy happy birthday T!

hubs is very funny when it comes to his birthday presents,

he doesn't ask for "things", he much prefers experiences.

so that leaves me every year wracking my brain for a new "experience"

last year—trapeze school. (check out his skillz!)

this year—personal boxing lessons!

let me just say, after this month, you're not gonna want to mess with my cobra!

i love you, old man! 

happy birthday!

23 and couldn't be happier.

i'm 23 today.

i'm really feeling this is going to be the year.

woot. woot.

 :: pic taken at rockaway beach right before the sun burnt my body. ::
my whole. stinkin. body.