36 + 1 Birthday Weekend

On Saturday, I turned 36 + 1 (I'm thinking that if I always start by saying "36", it's like I'm actually more or less still 36...I'm pretty sure this will work), and Adrienne threw me the best birthday weekend ever!

It started with Saturday morning birthday pastries, coffee, and presents:

Wine from Rachel, pickles and Portuguese pepper paste (made & canned by Adrienne!), a poster, and a terrarium in a...um..chemistry thing!

Then, later, Amanda, Matt, Susie, & Robin came over for whiskey tasting fun:

And pickles:

Two types of cantaloupe by Adrienne, okra by Adrienne, eggs by me, and some amazingly fantastic kimchi that Susie brought for the festivities!

And delicious cheesy, saucy noodles:

A good time was had by all, and I, for one, learned something about the whiskeys we tried.

The birthday fun continued on Sunday morning, when Adrienne made me an ultra-special breakfast:

Poached eggs on grilled polenta, with parmesan sauce, bacon, & heirloom tomatoes!

Add a little fancy champagne, and some potent hot sauce Amanda gave me, and it was the perfect breakfast for easing on into yet another year:

Thank you Robin, Susie, Matt, Amanda, and Adrienne for making my birthday weekend so wonderful! And a special thank you to Jon, who handled finding the perfect birthday blueberry pie (there are no pictures, because unfortunately, it was so delicious it disappeared in an instant...oops)!!