A Lovely Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I almost squeezed in everything I wanted to do; I only missed my walk since "Eat, Pray, Love" ran long and sunlight was fading fast by the time I got home. (I opted for a family bike ride with the remaining sun, which I like better than walking anyway.) Three of my wonderful, amazing friends showed up to watch the movie with me which made it a lot of fun. I absolutely made the right decision to not allow DH to see the movie; guys don't get it, but I thought it was fantastic. (Which is a word of warning- unless you are with a really unique sort of guy who wants to watch it, leave him home. See it alone or see it with other women; DO NOT make a guy see it if there is even the slightest hint of resistance. He'll ruin it for you.) One friend brought kettle pop corn to share that was amazing! (I have to get her recipe.) The sugar coating on the kernels felt... lacy, almost. No, it didn't taste like lace, it was the texture, silly. Yes, I blew my sensible eating habits, but I really did have only two (HUGE) bites of Key Lime pie for dessert with my lunch. Good thing- it was really rich. Any more than that and it would have made me ill.

And I got presents! One of my friends brought me a lovely orchid, which is so special since my grandmother collected orchids. Every time I look at it I get warm feelings from remembering both my friend and my grandmother. Another friend gave me a silk plant that's also got little twinkle lights all through it. (I love twinkle lights!) She uses them for ambiance in her house instead of candles since she also has a child who LOVES to play with fire. (Her daughter and The Youngest, aka The Wild Child, are kindred spirits.) Now I have ambiance in my house, too!

Per my request, DH got me a Vita Mix, the Binford 2000 of blenders. (OK, I'd link you to an explanation of Binford 2000, but it seems it isn't on the internet. It's a reference to the show "Home Improvement" with Tim Allen, where his eyes would get real big when he was talking about souped up tools made by the company that sponsored his show within a show, "Tool Time". The Binford 2000 series was supposed to be top notch and super powerful. My Vita Mix is top notch and super powerful!) It arrived before my birthday but I decided to save it and didn't open it until yesterday. It comes with an instructional DVD that includes several recipes. We were watching it together (the little ones were fascinated) and DH was inspired by a citrus slushie recipe so that was the maiden voyage for the Vita Mix. (It was actually a margarita recipe but he made it minus the alcohol, of course, so we call it a slushie.) It was amazingly good and ever so festive. After that we tried to make a broccoli soup recipe from Alissa Cohen but it didn't turn out the way I remember it. (I had it at a raw foods "cooking" class a year ago; I think we goofed on the recipe.) The soup did get warm, though; the friction in that blender puts out some heat!

All in all, it was a good day and a good start to my 47th year.