As you already know, I turned 25 last Thursday.  I’m the sort of person who believes that celebrating your birthday on only one day of the year is for chumps.  I like to spread my birthday out over a few days, so that I get a chance to see all of my favorite people and celebrate to the fullest.

 

I spent Thursday having a relaxing day.  I had lunch with my brother and then treated myself to a massage and a facial.  The massage was lovely, but the facial wasn’t so great.  I just wanted to relax, but the beautician kept harping, trying to sell me products while she was working on my skin.  I don’t mind if I go to the salon and the beautician recommends some products after my treatment is over, but I find it rude when they try the hard-sell technique while you’re trying to unwind.  I had a quiet birthday dinner of pizza with my housemate while we watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.  I love that film, and I haven’t seen it in years.  It made me miss my grandfather a little though, because he loved films that feature orangutans.

 

On Friday I recieved a surprise package in the mail from my gorgeous friend Amanda.  Inside was this adorable ladybug butter dish:

Ross arrived on Friday night and we went for a drive to Baskin Robbins.  I am a total ice-cream addict, and in my opinion, you can’t go past Baskin Robbins for exquisite ice-cream.  I was ecstatic that they had my favorite flavour- caramel turtle.  It’s this delicious toffee-flavoured ice cream dotted with chocolate turtles that are filled with runny caramel.  It’s divine.  Ross treated me to a huge sundae and also gave me this awesome present:

It’s a Lego Hogwarts Castle!  Ross and I spent many hours over the weekend building the castle, and I am so impressed with how it turned out.  It’s massive, and the details in the castle itself are so intricate.

This is one of the towers, which features a dungeon, the restricted section of the library (which is guarded by Mr Filch and Mrs Norris) and the astronomy tower.

The middle tower holds the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms.  I adore the tiny copies of the Quibbler and the Marauders Map that sit on the tables in the common rooms.  The Gryffindor fireplace has a button that you push and Sirius Black’s face appears in the flames.

I put Dobby in the Owlery.

I think that Dumbledore’s office is my favorite room.  He has a little crystal ball, a potions chest filled with ingredients (including some claws, bottles and a frog) and The Sorting Hat.

The set also includes Hagrid’s hut.

This is the inside of Hagrid’s hut.  Notice the little bottles of spices over the fireplace and Norbert the dragon!  There’s a little button at the back of the fireplace that makes the embers light up!

On Saturday night, Ross and I went to his sister’s housewarming party.  She’s been in Canberra for nearly a year, so we are very glad to welcome her back to Melbourne.  Before the party, I went thrift-shopping and came back with this gorgeous kaftan:

I never want to wear anything else.  It’s so beautiful, with a peacock design on the front and gorgeous bright colours.

Ross’s sister made rainbow cake.  It was kick-arse awesome.

On Monday I caught up with my mum and dad.  They gave me a stack of presents, including my very own sewing machine, a slow-cooker, some cook books, a gorgeous fascinator and a new journal.  We all went out for Japanese food that evening.  My Dad is like me in that he’s pretty adventurous with trying new foods, but my mother is a rather picky eater.  I was so proud of her because she was very brave and tried everything that we ordered and liked most of it.  Dad put me in charge of ordering dinner, so we got loads of small dishes and then shared them around.  It was a very happy night with lots of laughing and joking.  I had a massive smile plastered on my face the entire way home.