Birthday Tea Party

Earlier today, I went with some friends to our fabulous nearby tearoom for a birthday celebration! Natasha's birthday was yesterday, and mine is Monday, so we celebrated both. From left to right, there's Mom, then me, Maddie (Natasha's daughter), Angela, Dana, and Natasha. I coerced everyone into donning hats for the occasion; there are hat racks all over the tearoom with hats and boas and such to wear! Angela and Dana are both homeschooling friends - in fact, they were with us on our fun nature study picnic!

A happy surprise when we arrived today is that my oldest niece Jennifer was sitting at the table next to ours (she's in the background in the photo above), and I hadn't seen her in quite a while! Technically, she is my sister's former step-daughter; it's much simpler for me to just say she's my niece because that's still how I think of her. Anyway, she was having her own little get-together with friends, so they didn't join us, but we did get to talk for a few minutes, and I found out she's expecting a baby this fall! Yay!

I got the chicken salad croissant and salad because it is SO yummy, and the little scones with lemon curd and amaretto-flavored whipped cream are heavenly. If you feel like drooling a bit, go read the menu from Tea Leaves & Thyme on their website. We had two delicious teas: one called Empress of Japan, which is a mix of green and black tea with fruit bits; the other was a decaf apricot black tea. Yum, yum, yum!

I'm so blessed to have wonderful friends, and to be able to include my mom in that list of friends! Sometimes I send her flowers on my birthday (but not every year or it wouldn't be a surprise!) just to thank her for giving me life. So far I've never felt that sense of dread for ANOTHER birthday coming along. Every day I'm given is a blessing, so I'm going to try my best never to complain about "another birthday"! Not long ago, I met a lovely lady while in the check-out line at a plant nursery, and she summed it up perfectly. She was asked if she qualified for a senior discount, and another cashier said she had stopped asking that because so many people got offended at being asked! That dear woman said, "Anybody who complains about their age ought to be spanked! I am 78 years old and glad for every year! I've had too many friends and family pass on too young, and I am going to celebrate every single year God gives me!" To that, dear lady, I say a hearty "AMEN!"