Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Love in London

One of the nice things about having a birthday away from home is that you get to extend the celebrating.

First, Dad, Lo and I had our mini celebration. Dad’s birthday is the day before mine so every year since I moved to New York, he’d come in for the weekend and we’d go out for a fancy dinner and nightcap at the Beauty Bar (lol). This year, they were in Paris the week before our big days. No Beauty Bar in Paris, but we had our fair share of fancy dinners, and they also surprised me with cake, flowers and gifts one night.

Then, I had my lovely dinners with Mel and Jo and Pierre. It’s not been easy being away from my dear friends back home, but new friends like these make life a whole lot sweeter.

And finally, over the weekend, I hopped on the Eurostar and went up to London to celebrate with Chris, Dana, Annika and Aidan. It was also Annika’s birthday on Monday; between the two of us, we celebrated 43 years (I’ll leave the math to you).

As usual, Dana whipped up incredible food—a lovely family dinner Saturday night and all kinds of dishes on Sunday for Annika’s Hello Kitty party. At our “adult” dinner, Chris poured the champagne, and the kids passed my camera around to get some stunning family portraits.





The rest of the weekend was equally wonderful. Lots of hugs and affection (Annika and Aidan are the biggest love bugs). Nice gifts and good conversation. Craziness at the kids’ party, and relaxation in between.




As much as I love the eating, drinking and partying that a birthday inspires, the best thing about them is hearing from everyone you love, reflecting on your life and relationships, and realizing just how lucky you are.

No comments:

Post a Comment