So far being 50 means nonstop eating.
My birthday celebration began last night when Andy and I went out for a wonderful dinner at Mistral, which always feels special. I started with the Maine Lobster and Mascarpone Tortellini with English Peas, which had me quite literally mopping up the sauce with scraps of bread so as not to lose a single drop. For my entrée, I went with the Pan-Roasted Atlantic Halibut with Rock Shrimp Risotto. Yum, yum, yum. Oh, and we had a delicious Malbec/Cab blend (Malbec is our new fave). For dessert, we shared the warm chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream and sauce anglaise. Stuffed to the gills isn’t even the word.
This morning I got breakfast in bed and lots of presents! Beautiful earrings and an equally beautiful bracelet, plus fancy chocolates that I will not share. Oh, and flowers and pretty desk accessories and more.
And the most exciting thing of all, a Lytro! It’s a new kind of camera that is like something from the future. “Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space.” Whatever that means to people who understand such things, to me it means that I can take a photo and then focus after the fact on whatever part of it I want! And you can too! Here, for instance, is a photo I took today:
If you click on the flower, it comes into focus and Steph recedes into the background; if you click on Steph, she sharpens up and the flower goes blurry! And you can double-click anywhere to zoom in. I am really just getting the hang of it, but you can see many more cool examples here.
We then had brunch at the Biltmore. Julie and Pete got the French toast, which is like no other French toast you can imagine: thick-sliced cinnamon-swirl babka coated with Cap’n Crunch and corn flakes, drizzled with vanilla icing, and served with warm apple butter. Be still, my heart.
When we got home, Julie had made a scavenger hunt that took me all over the house following her clever clues. My treasure was a clay cat that she made.
And then, because we hadn’t eaten enough yet, we went out for Chinese food with Andy’s parents, since Jerry’s birthday was last week. And then came home to a decadent chocolate cake from Que Brada. I’m never eating again.
Throughout the day I got loads of phone calls and emails and Facebook messages and tweets all wishing me a happy 50th! Julie’s soccer coach reminded me of what Gloria Steinem said when someone told her she didn’t look 50: “This is what 50 looks like.” Indeed!
Happy 50th birthday! Sounds like your thoughtful family treated you like a queen, which is how it should be!
Posted by: Elena | April 22, 2012 at 08:29 PM
Happy 50th!! Love the scavenger hunt!
Posted by: Sandy | April 22, 2012 at 10:03 PM
Happy day-after-your-birthday! Sounds like it was delicious!
Posted by: Mir | April 23, 2012 at 08:21 AM
Happy birthday! I may never eat again, either, just from vicarious gluttony! But I am not eating that French Toast. Standards must be maintained!
Also, hard on your heels, as I turn 50 in June. Trying to be cheerful about the inevitable.
Posted by: Wendy | April 23, 2012 at 04:09 PM
Happy birthday! Wishing you all the very best! It sounds like the celebrations were wonderful!
Posted by: Rachel | April 25, 2012 at 01:16 PM
Happy {belated} Birthday! Quite jealous of the Lytro - let me know how you like it after using it a bit.
Posted by: Kelly | April 25, 2012 at 05:13 PM