MORE CAKE! NOM NOM NOM

I subscribe to the theory that your birthday lasts at least as long as the cake does (exceptions include eating all the birthday cake in one sitting, of course).  By that token, my birthday lasted until at least Tuesday.

 

But it started last Wednesday, the 30th, with a “Happy Birthday, Mommy!” from Charles and a relaxing last day in France.  Soizic (we stayed with her and Guillaume and their lovely family) prepared Boudin for lunch, which is… BLOOD SAUSAGE, DUHN DUHN DUUUUUHN!  And it was sooo good.  Tony did not partake.

 

We had a pleasant afternoon touring Nantes, saying goodbye to my French family, and then we finished off the evening with the first of my birthday cakes after a delightful dinner of salad with a large slice of toasted whole-grain French bread with melty goat cheese on top.  Yum.  The cake was delicious as well, a rich chocolate, dark and thick but not too sweet.  The kicker, though, was the tangy, homemade rhubarb ice cream.  Oh, God, you guys.  When I can find space in my freezer for an ice cream maker, I might just make ONLY rhubarb ice cream.  It was so, so good.  And just to show you how much I love my children, I fed most of mine to my teething baby.  He liked the flavor, but I think he liked the cold in his mouth even more.

 

When I got home, my mom had also bought a cake for me, and Tony and Loris filled my house with flowers for my birthday:

 

From Tony

Peonies from Loris

 

I have thought before that it would have been a neat thing to take photos of all the flower bouquets I’ve received over the years.  I don’t get flowers so often that my camera would be overloaded, but it might have been nice to have an album of beautiful flowers to flip through to remind myself of the love they represent.

 

Tony also bought me some beautiful roses this week, and I am running out of places to put flower vases – with kids, they just can’t go lower than the counter.  So, my counters look amazing right now.

 

In all, I had a lovely, low-key birthday.  I am a big fan of birthdays, and I think people should have amazing birthdays and be heaped with adoration on their birthday, but you can’t always have a blowout, amazing party.  Sometimes, you get to have lots of cake and wine and flowers, instead. 

 

My birthday kicks off what I am going to refer to as “birthday season” in our family.  It starts with me, then comes my mom 11 days later, then Leland and Joe on the same day a week later, then Jamie ten days after that.  Add in several friends’  and kids-of-friends’ birthdays, and it’s a cake-tastic month.  Here’s a photo of the cake I made for an employee this week:

 

Chocolate Wet Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting and Strawberries

 

Leland wants a Lemon Meringue Pie, so at least we’ll have some variety there.  His birthday (and Joe’s) is also on Father’s Day, so we’re going to have an extra-special meal.  I’m going to bake Jamie’s cake, too, but I’m just not sure what to make.

 

And that reminds me: HOLY SHIT MY BABY’S ABOUT TO BE ONE YEAR OLD.

 

I don’t think I can handle this.