43rd birthday gifts
A Wonderful 43rd Birthday

I turned 43 this past weekend! To celebrate, John and I did a long weekend getaway at the same Airbnb in West Virginia that we stayed at a few times last year. We had a fantastic time, and I brought some gifts with me to open on my birthday. Here’s a peek at my gifts:

43rd birthday gifts

Mountain Getaway

Before I get into my birthday gift haul, let’s take a moment to admire this awesome photo that John took of me by the Airbnb’s fire pit on Saturday night. I like to call it “Queen of Fire Mountain.”

Queen of Fire Mountain

We spent most of the weekend hanging out at the Airbnb like we usually do when we stay there. This time around, we went on a couple little excursions. The weather was beautiful on my birthday morning; we drove to Trout Pond Recreation area in George Washington National Forest because I wanted to see if we could find any native orchids. Spoiler alert: we found some!! I wrote about the experience over on my orchid blog.

Wild Lady's Slipper Orchid
Geeking out over a wild orchid

While John was driving us back to the house, I saw a black bear!! We were on a two-lane highway, and I saw two big paws go up on a fence across the road. Then I saw a bear’s face peek up over the fence. When the bear saw our car coming, it ran away. I was SO thrilled to have spotted a bear on my birthday! Such a treat. Though the area is known to have bears, this was the first time we’ve seen one there. And I’m happy we were in the car when it happened.  😛

A massive storm rolled through that afternoon, which paved the way for an absolutely spectacular sunset.

Birthday golden hour

IT. WAS. UNREAL. What a wonderful birthday gift!

Birthday sunset

My Birthday Gifts

Here’s the full list of gifts I received, most of which are gift ideas I sent to my mom when she asked what I wanted:

An Incredible Stone

There’s a mini story behind the labradorite piece. When I recently discovered a crystal vendor at our local flea market and mentioned that I love labradorite, she showed me this big, polished hunk of labradorite with a purple flash. I thought it was absolutely stunning, but I didn’t buy it on the spot. Honestly, I was afraid to ask how much it cost. When I showed John the smaller crystals that I bought, I told him about the amazing large labradorite that the vendor had. Being the very thoughtful husband that he is, he went to the vendor and bought it for me!!! This is the best photo I’ve captured of the purple-and-gold flash…I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

Labradorite with purple flash

Dainty Little Things

Here’s a closer look at the jewelry I received. You know how much I love dainty jewelry, so the necklace and two pairs of earrings are perfect for my collection! I adore this necklace:

Tai crescent moon necklace

These adorable earrings will work well in any of my ear holes (I have three in my left ear and two in my right):

Cupcakes & Cashmere earrings

I’ll share about the skin care products once I’ve had some time to use them. I have a lot of stuff in my skin care stash right now, so it might be a little while before I get to a couple of the products. Suffice to say, I’m very excited to try them all!

I was also psyched about the Rose Apothecary candle, which is part of Beekman 1802’s limited edition Schitt’s Creek-inspired collection. It smells amazing and the packaging is adorable.

All in all, I had a fabulous birthday weekend. I’m truly fortunate to have been able to enjoy a weekend away with my husband, and to have received all of these lovely gifts. Thank you to John, my mom, and my friends for all of the wonderful gifts! I’m looking forward to seeing what my 43rd year has in store.  🙂