Birthday

For my birthday, three of my nieces assembled from Tacoma to Redmond, brought two charming great nieces (14 and 16 years old) and took me out for dinner, a play, a slumber party in a luxury hotel, and high tea the next afternoon.  When we arrived at the restaurant (the Ringside Fish House) for dinner, all in our little black dresses (mine is navy)  we were treated like royalty!  The maitre'd asked the occasion and I, being the shy little thing that I am, sang out loud and clear, "My nieces are taking me out for my birthday!"  After dinner, I was presented with a chocolate bombe. Soo much fun.  My 14 year old niece tried raw oysters and liked them.  She was sitting there quietly and I asked her what she was thinking.  She said, "I'm trying to find the right word for all this.  I think it's 'exquisite.'"

The 16 year old niece should be registered as a lethal weapon of mass distraction.  Her little black dress was short, with spaghetti straps, and no jacket.  After the play, as we prepared to walk the block back to our hotel, I suggested that she wear my coat so we wouldn't attract any unwanted attention.  All the people standing  in the crowd around us, waiting for the elevator, nodded or smiled. Her auntie, who works in the police department in Tacoma, calmly said, "Oh, it's OK.  I have a gun."  People literally backed away from us and we rode the elevator down in splendid solitude.  And we did not get any unwanted attention.

 Here we are, dressed for tea the next day.  Aren't we a bevy of beauties?  Tea at the Heathman is a splendid occasion, and we savored it to the max!  As you see, everyone has hats.  Miss 16 was wearing a one-shoulder mini dress with bare legs, and was just too cold(no meat on her bones!), so another auntie loaned her a red sweater.  And she pulled off her darling little hat because it hid too much of her pretty face.












Sweater-loaning auntie, and niece with darling little hat.


The next day, my actual birthday, DH took the day off.  We met MJ for breakfast at Dean's and we all had french toast.  (I have declared my birthday to be the Feast of French Toast.)  Then DH and I went grocery shopping.  Did you know that if you tell them it's your birthday at Trader Joe's, they will give you a bouquet of flowers?  Squeeee!  DH also took me out for sushi for lunch, then fixed my favorite dinner - chicken in tomato sauce for dinner.

The next day, LG took me out for lunch, and I had french toast again - with white chocolate creme anglaise instead of syrup.  (Tongue flutters in ecstasy)  I proclaimed that it was my birthday, and they presented me with a darling meringue frog.  I ate it all and almost licked the plate.

THEN, LG told me to name my favorite yarn store, and she was going to buy me the skein of my choice.  We went to Angelika's and I got Lorna's Laces in Desert Flower - pink and rose and turquoise.  :-)

As we fondled our wary around the store, I would come to a new selection of yarns and involuntarily gasp and coo over them.  Oh, the pretty colors!  Oh, the luxurious textures!  Oh, the wide and varied potentialities.  I wound up buying several various skeins to keep my birthday yarn company.

I have been getting the most awesome, thoughtful gifts!  Miss 16 gave me a pink teacup.  Miss 14 gave me elegant napkins with beaded edges and fancy napkin rings.  Sweater aunty gave me a darling felted purse in purple!  Gun aunty gave me a bounty of teas from Teavana and a huge jar of German rock sugar.  Her little boy (who did not join us) gave me a perfect orange Fire King glass cup and saucer.  The niece who arranged it all gave me a coffee table book of color photographs her husband had taken on their honeymoon in Ireland.  MJ gave me a plethora of goodies, including a dainty sandalwood fan that transports me to exotic climes.  DH gave me a brag-able watch that is waterproof to 300 feet, so I never have to take it off, thus I will never lose it, thus, I never need to buy another watch again!

JM, in Oz, sent me a beautiful necklace with a pendant of stitch markers decorated with deep pink pearls.  It's sooo stunning!  It really looks like jewelry.  And she called me long distance from Sydney to wish me a happy birthday.

People are so good to me, it just blows my socks off.  34 birthday wishes on Facebook!  Well, I did proclaim on Facebook that in honor of my birthday, all schools, banks and government offices should be closed, there should be fireworks and parades, dancing in the streets, and necking in the parlors, so I guess EVERYONE got to celebrate along with me.

It's good to be 63!