Julie's Milestone Birthday

In mid-November, Michelle and I were so excited to plan a fun outing in honor of Julie's milestone 50th birthday. We bought early bird tickets for Nutcracker Market, and it was so fun to enjoy the festive atmosphere with holiday shopping. We snapped some photos and enjoyed the shopping with all the unique vendors, and we even ran into several friends as the shoppers started to arrive in droves. Thank goodness for the early bird tickets so that we could enjoy our shopping before the crowds made it difficult to even move down the aisles. It was SO fun while it lasted, but that was our cue to head out to our next stop.

We made our way to the Galleria area and stopped at one of Julie's favorite spots, North Italia, for some drinks and bites. The three of us have always been perfect restaurant buddies because we love to order multiple plates and share - our favorite way to eat! It was a pretty day to enjoy the area, and we stopped for some more shopping before heading to Michelle's house for the big birthday surprise for Julie. 

Michelle had done some birthday decorating and we surprised Julie with some yummy food and a very special version of her favorite snack - charcuterie! We had the house to ourselves with Michelle's precious pup, Missy, and we were looking forward to a fun evening ahead.

As we sat around the kitchen island enjoying the yummy snacks and drinks, the doorbell rang and the "main event" of the day arrived. It was Lauren, our private makeup artist from Jentry Kelley Cosmetics, a popular makeup and skincare line based in the Houston area. Michelle had arranged for Lauren to come for the day to conduct a personalized makeup lesson for the birthday girl (and for Michelle and I as well). It was such a special treat to have our colors matched and to get step by step instructions for how to apply our makeup. Let's be honest, at our age, we need all the tips we can get, ha! We had a great time exploring the makeup options and seeing how Lauren brought out our natural beauty and glow. The birthday girl was beaming and beautiful, and we each took our turn in the chair.

It was such a fun and unique milestone birthday experience for Julie, and we were so happy to celebrate with some much-needed girl time together. We originally planned to take our fancy faces out for a birthday nightcap, but a sudden torrential downpour made us stay put (which we really didn't mind). We made sure to take lots of photos to capture our new look. As for me, it's likely my face will never look this good again but I sure enjoyed it while it lasted, HA!