Two people I love have done the nicest things for me this week. My husband went shopping for my birthday and came home with the most FAB coat, blouse and bag. Did it on his own, and he picks out amazing things for me — always has. He's a gem.

Then, my best friend of nearly 20 years gave me a gift card to go shopping at Nordstrom and made an appointment with one of their shoppers (my friend knew I had been wanting to do something like this).

We arrived and, based on an earlier phone discussion, the stylist had pulled a variety of wonderful items that were ready and waiting. We spent 90 minutes trying, reviewing and discussing, and I paid for it all with proceeds from a return and gift cards I had saved. I tried to stick with basic pieces of good quality (jeans, skinny black pants, dress pants, a dress, and trench), with a couple of funkier blouses to spice it up. More black than I had wanted, but...

They had also made an appt. for both of us at the Chanel counter, where we had our makeup done. That was a real eye opener, literally.

A short lunch and a quick trip to J Crew rounded out the day. It was a great girls outing, and a fantastic birthday gift, as you might imagine. I will try to post some photos over the next few days, and I will be very interested in your feedback.

What a fun (and tiring) day.