Birthday Wishes, Flowers & The Fête at CityRange

Today was very interesting for me. It was the first birthday since I became interactive on social networking websites like Facebook and LibraryThing. I had comments all day long from my online friends. It was fun. Two people even smooched me, meaning they gave me BookMooch points which I can use to get books! I heard from some old friends from high school, which was special to me. Several emails came in. My favorite was from BF in Sweden who wrote:

Isn¨t it your birtday today? Many hip-hip from Stockholm! I hope you are celebrated properly. How do you celebrate your birthdays? Here is dark and rainy but it is lit up by many Christmas trees that the city has put up on different places. And within 10 days the sun will start coming back I guess about one minute per day to start with and then accelerating. Thinking of that makes me feel so good!

I told BF that it was dark and rainy here too... I will be very happy to see the sun come back. I feel like I have a touch of the winter blues this year. I'm fighting them off as much as I can. We have so much to be thankful for and I try and remind myself of that every day.

Mom sent me these lovely, cheerful flowers. How can anyone not smile when presented with Gerbera Daisies? I have always believed they were the happiest of flowers. Thanks Mom!


We have so much to celebrate: D's birthday (since he didn't get to share it with his family), LRL's birthday, my birthday, LRL & BBL's anniversary, and then our annual Christmas Eve soup... it's a busy time. LRL & BBL will be traveling for Christmas so we wanted to spend a special time with them before they go. I have been wanting to eat at CityRange since coming to G'ville, and D was able to get a good deal, so we decided it was time to eat there.

I thought LRL and BBL both looked so festive tonight and happy. I couldn't resist taking their picture. I didn't plan it, but that star behind BBL makes her look like she's wearing a crown. And you know what... she is. I hope she felt special tonight.


Today I ate broccoli and carrots for lunch because I knew dinner was going to put me over on my calorie allocation. I was so ready to eat real food! After lunch I printed off the menu and went over it. An hour before going to the restaurant I was still trying to narrow down my choices. I finally settled on the Grilled Mojito Salmon. D had the Black & Blue combo (Blackened Beef Tenderloin with Blue Crab cakes). LRL & BBL both chose the 7-Herb Prime Rib with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, it was all GOOD.



The waitress didn't have to ask us twice about dessert. I felt it was imperative that LRL and I have birthday cake & ice cream. It was difficult to photograph, but this is Chocolate Volcano cake with a molten center and vanilla ice cream. Luckily, it was a sensible portion - just enough to finish off the meal right.



LRL insisted that I have dibbs on the spoon. I didn't argue.


As we were leaving I asked the hostess to take our picture by the Christmas tree. I think it turned out very well considering how dark it was inside the restaurant. It's been awhile since all four of us were in the same picture.


LRL and BBL gave D and I our presents and we absolutely LOVE them. Hiking sticks with all the bells and whistles! We will definitely put these to good use. And now BBL & LRL will be with us when we go off adventuring. We've already stashed them with the hiking gear. Thanks so much!