a very happy birthday

I cannot even begin to tell you how loved and honored I felt last night when my family pampered and spoiled me for my birthday! It had already been a wonderful day full of phone calls from dear family and friends wishing me a happy birthday, and even some time alone to do a little shopping (thank you Rachel for taking the kids to the pool!!) and then a nice afternoon visit with my friend and birthday mate, Melissa. I've never had a friend with the same birthday as mine, and now I have one who lives just a block over from me and who is a wonderful person! That is so cool.





I had a very difficult time just sitting and relaxing while dinner was being prepared- I guess I'm so used to being the one doing it all. That is why this was a wonderful gift! Before dinner there was cheddar and blue cheese with crackers as an appetizer, which were so good. Then there were pork chops from our local meat market, grilled with homemade barbecue sauce, and a wonderful cold pasta salad with cucumbers and herbs that was really delicious. And some Georgia muscadine wine to go with them. I was thoroughly enjoying this when Jason got up from the table and came back with a beautiful plate of berries drizzled with a mouthwatering dark chocolate sauce which was also made from scratch, and a glass of sparkling blueberry wine.





And THEN there was yet another dessert (this was MY kind of meal!) called a chocolate raspberry clafoutis, which is sort of like a custard but sort of like a cake too. It was delicious as well and I was beyond stuffed with all this good food, as well as amazed at the cooking SKILZ Jason was dazzling me with! All I said was that I did not want to cook dinner on my birthday, and he did all the research and preparations for this amazing meal. The girls set a beautiful table including a bouquet of roses and lavender picked from our yard, and fancy folded napkins. Daisy helped Jason in the kitchen quite a lot too, and he said (as I do on many occasions) that he could not have done it without her.





And then there were presents! I was very surprised and excited to receive the DVD set of Freaks and Geeks, one of our all time favorite TV shows, as well as a membership to the wine of the month club at Gosford Wine! I get 3 bottles a month of their choice, along with tasting notes in my email box. I am SO excited about that! Now we can try out some new wines and look for some new recipes to try along with them, which I am looking forward to very much.



After presents we got the little kids in bed and I came out to a spotless living room- picked up and vacuumed by Daisy & Hazel- and we settled in to watch our first installment of Freaks and Geeks. We had our second helping of fruit with chocolate sauce somewhere between episodes 2 and 3 I think. What a fantastic night! I feel completely spoiled and loved, and I am hearing from my friends that Jason has raised the bar for birthday celebrations, which I just love. Everyone should feel so well taken care of on their birthday! Thank you Jason for making it a truly special birthday for me. So far I am loving 35!

Thank you also to everyone who commented on my last post- it is wonderful to see everyone checking in. Here's to another great year!