My Birthday Weekend

As I mentioned before I decided to throw a huge party to celebrate turning 30 this year. I had a theme and mandatory dress code that everyone had to adhere to. Since most of my friends and family live in Northern Virginia I knew that coming down to my new home in Florida was asking a lot, so I wasn't shocked when a lot of people weren't able to make it. But for the friends that were able to make it—they made me feel so special, loved, and celebrated all weekend long. I shared a whole separate post about Oliver's birthday (click here to read) and my birthday party (click here to read) but the whole weekend was so special to me that I wanted to be sure to document it so I always remember 🥰.

Friday, February 3rd

On the day of my and Oliver's actual birthday, I ran around to get some of my birthday freebies #IYKYK and when I got home I had the most beautiful flower arrangement from my parents. My parents always know how to make me feel special on my birthday even from miles away 💕🥰 I love you Mama and Papa Katz!! Then my best friends all arrived right as I got off work. Perfect timing! We let the settle into their bedrooms, gave them their welcome bags, and chilled for a bit before everyone decided to go to Universal Studios for the remaining few hours of the day. We literally got to Universal Studios around 5 p.m. and stayed until they closed! I was bummed that the Rockit was out of commission, but still, we moved through the park and knocked out everything we wanted to do with the limited amount of time that we had. While we were sippin' on Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice in Diagon Alley I just looked at all my friends with such appreciation. How cool is it to say I got to spend my 30th birthday in Harry Potter World with my very best friends ❤️. After Universal Studios we got dinner at an Italian restaurant not too far from the parks where another friend who just got to town met up with us. Then it was time to head home to celebrate Oliver's birthday. Click here to read about Oliver's 7th birthday. After everyone sang Happy Birthday to Bean, we headed to bed because the next day was going to be busy!

Saturday, February 4th

Today was the day of my birthday party! I don't want to go into too much detail in this post—so you'll have to click here to read all about My 2000s Emo Themed Birthday Party—but boy it was a long day that day hah. Right away I started to finish setting up the house, decorating, rearranging furniture and you know—all the things you have to do for a party. Luckily I had help! Most of the house crew did their own thing that day and hit up the grocery and liquor store before coming back to the house. But a few of us stayed behind and helped set up the house, blow up balloons, and welcome other friends who came in that day. Before I knew it it was time to get ready!!! Click here to read about My 2000s Emo Themed Birthday Party.

Sunday, February 5th

The word of the day was HUNGOVER. After going to bed around oh 5 a.m. 😅, I woke up to a surprisingly not so trashed house (thanks Marie for cleaning before I woke up 😜). My besties had to hit the road earlier since they drove and a few others had early flights, so I didn't get to see them that morning, but about 6ish more friends didn't have flights booked until Monday morning. So we all hung out around the house, cleaned up a little bit, ordered breakfast thanks to Mama Katz for surprising us, and chit-chatted about the previous night. I love doing these recaps after a party with friends because as the host you don't see all the drama that unfolds, but thankfully, there was no drama!! Just some good laughs as we talked about the party. Everyone had temporary tattoos on from the previous night (including myself) I really liked these little ones I had by my elbow and for some crazy impulsive reason I decided to go get another tattoo! For those who don't know I only have one tattoo and it's because I'm such a baby with needles. I don't know what got into me—30 really changed me okay 😂—but my friend Maria and I did walk-ins at Fallen Heros Tattoo and Jacob Rivera took such good care of us. He made us laugh a lot and took most of my nerves away. I decided to get my last name in Greek right above my right elbow. I freakin' love it. I am obsessed with how it looks, how cute and small it is and I honestly keep forgetting it's there. I also love that I did this with one of my best friends and it will be a memory I definitely never forget! Click here to watch Getting My Second Tattoo Vlog. After we got our tattoos we stopped by Publix to get ingredients to BBQ it up with the rest of the gang back at the house. We played poker, ate burgers and ice cream, and laughed so damn much! Thinking about that night I'm laughing now. We stayed up not too, too late hah, but afterward, we all crashed and the next morning we hugged goodbye, and just like that the house was empty again. It was surreal that I had over 20-something friends come to visit me for just a weekend. As I said before I felt so loved and the word grateful doesn't even begin to cover how special I felt. I truly love all of my friends so much and I already miss them a crap ton 🖤.

@michelekatsaris my 30th birthday was amazing 🫶🏼 more details on micheleonel.com ✨ • #birthdayweekend #30thbirthday #birthdayfreebies #universalstudios #elderemo #birthdayparty #dogbirthday #oliverthehusky ♬ You Get What You Give - Pomplamoose