birthday suit

top, club monaco. skirt, handmade by issa. booties, jeffrey campbell. clutch, bloomingdales.

once you pass a certain age, birthdays become more and more difficult to take. this year, i wanted to do something low-key, so saturday night i celebrated over dinner with a small group of friends at a casual, b.y.o.b. italian restaurant. after we had our fill of food and emptied out three bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne, we decided to continue the festivities where else but ...the 62-hour sale at our local ikea! i'm sure it says something about your age when, instead of at the standard bar or club, you opt to spend your birthday at a home furnishings store. but there we were, at 11 p.m. on a saturday night, working off our wine buzz while posing on furniture in our dressy garb, making toasts with swedish meatballs, and ending the night with $1 hot dogs and 50 cent frozen yogurt cones. it was completely random, absolutely ridiculous, and certainly memorable. to sum it up in a word, it was...awesome. further proving the point that having a good time isn't about where you go or what you do, it's all about the people you're with.

this is what i wore on sunday, my actual birthday, to have indian food with the fiance. the skirt is actually one that issa custom made for me! its hard to see in the picture, but the fabric is a lovely brocade-type material, and i was ever-so-careful to cover my lap with my napkin during dinner so as not to spill any of my chicken masala on issa's beautiful piece of work.

all in all, my birthday weekend couldn't have been better. i am a lucky girl to be able to celebrate another year closer to thirty with such an awesome group of people. and thanks to all the readers for the birthday wishes!

- roz