Belated Anniversary Wishes!

Two important dates passed recently! May turned one year old, and Carolyn and Brandon celebrated their first wedding anniversary! It's kind of hard to believe - time passes so quickly, bringing many changes and reasons to be happy along the way. May has developed a favorite facial expression over the course of a year :)  

Birthday Week

Hooray! My last post already seems so far away because the sun has started shining, the breeze blowing, temperature rising, and now all the snow is gone and it feels springy! I hope it is here to stay. I was looking through some photos today that I took during my "Birthday Week." I had decided that the week before my birthday I would do one small, special thing each day to make the days feel a little out of the ordinary, and to put me in the mindset of transitioning into my next year. See, it's already starting to feel like time goes by so quickly, and I know it will just continue to race forward as I get older. I don't like the idea of my birthday flying by in one day and barely having time to realize I've reached a different number. I just need a little more time to process...plus I like celebrating birthdays! Well anyway, the week started off well, but then I caught some sort of flu-like virus, which was the pits. I was knocked off my feet for a couple days and birthday week seemed to be officially derailed. There were some bright moments though; Will came over to make soup multiple times, and Trish sent many funny texts to help me smile :) These photos are from the beginning of the week, a visit to a French bakery just 2 blocks from my apartment that recently opened - it is so good - with my friend Nicola. Everything is delicious (amazing croissants and quiche) and filling, and the atmosphere charming. If you order coffee or cafe au lait they serve it in a bowl, which is nice because, some days, mugs just don't seem large enough. Also, I started using a new bar of soap that I received as a gift from some friends when they were passing through, which doesn't sound like too big of a deal, but it's just a really nice bar of soap. It smells so clean! It's Swedish and it's so pretty, and in case you'd like to give it a scrub, here it is.

So you see, it was still a nice week despite getting sick. And now I am 26! (Does that sound old??)

The Most Awesome Birthday Gift Ever

This is long overdue, but I want to brag about (and say thank you) for the amazing birthday gift that Tara gave me back in February (when I turned the big 2-5).  It's a chocolate subscription!  She stumbled across the company Standard Cocoa, which delivers three bars of specialty chocolate to you, or someone of your choice, once a month, for as long as you like.  The last bar I tried was Hawaiian chocolate with coconut milk and caramelized ginger, and it was out of this world.  The couple who runs the company say their mission is to "connect chocolate lovers with people who love to make chocolate."  So now, amazing chocolate is regularly delivered to my doorstep.  It's literally the gift that keeps on giving!  Actually the chocolate is delivered to my landlord's doorstep, and then he resists the temptation to eat it and hands it over to me.  When I explained the subscription to him he said, "That is the most awesome birthday gift ever!"  I totally agree :)  Sisters are so great; thank you Tara!  Actually, I was given a few really cool and surprising gifts this year, so maybe I will share the others as well...

Cheers!
xomo

T.W.O.R.G.B. - Birthday Breakfast

 Hm, this is a little delayed, but The Week of Really Good Breakfasts came to a close last Sunday on my birthday!  It was a toast buffet (I love toast), and featured avocado with poached eggs, and ricotta and jam. Pretty simple because I had to come up with a dinner that would feed about 20 people later that night, but simple things are often the best.  If you have trouble poaching eggs, what I always do is bring the water to a boil, crack an egg into a bowl, and then hold the bowl very close to the surface of the water and let the egg slip in.  I let them cook a little longer than I would expect every time, until they start to take a definite shape and the yoke section is maleable to the touch, but not completely relaxed, and then take them out with a slotted spoon and pat off the extra water.  The whites are firm and the yolk is still runny, but not undercooked.  That's the way I like 'em, anyway.  I've decided to continue with T.W.O.R.G.B. because it's so delicious, but it has to be a little less intense, so I will just do a weekly breakfast post.  There are lots more recipes to try :)

Birthday Breakfast

Happy Happy Birthday to my best friend in the world!  Carolyn turned 24 today, and we celebrated with a great brunch on the porch, cocktails in the very late afternoon, and a festive dinner with lots of laughter and stories at night.  Food, family, and friends; what more could you need?  Well, we all gave her presents too, I guess :)

Birthday Festivities

Irene's birthday was about a week ago, and there wasn't a lot of time to celebrate the day because of school and concerts, etc.  But we spent the afternoon drinking coffee and eating assorted desserts, playing birthday-themed bananagrams, and chatting away.  And she received a very nicely wrapped present :)  Just a bit of quality sister time!

Happy Birthday Irene!

Happy Birthday to the coolest little sister EVER!  Irene turns 17 today!  Here she is playing her first public gig with a group that she formed with her friend.  They're called Young Mountain; they write their own songs and are pretty promising :)