happy birthday to me (almost)

as i know i won't blog tomorrow....

Dee and I have decided to start a tradition for her remaining time in london…with it us going out to a restaurant for lunch or dinner on a Sunday (lunch until x-factor is done…we can’t miss x-factor). Our first night was at the Providores for Sunday Roast Dinner…a set menu of £29 where we were treated to a glass of whine, a 3-course meal, followed by tea or coffee.

Let me tell you, the food was Michelin star worthy!

I had an amazing glass of pinot noir with my starter of pan seared venison on top of a veg fritter and covered in amazing salsa of fruit and nuts; the main was pan grilled trout with mangetout, potatoes, minty peas and cauliflower; and my delish coffee complimented my espresso infused quince topped with home made sorbet (raspberry and mango) and two biscotti.

Wow.

How can we follow that up?

Tuesday brought a familiar face my way…that being Jackie from the Calgary office. It was great to see her again. We weren’t on our own though…she brought along one of her colleagues from Houston and I brought along one of my peeps (Hoho) who also knows her, and it made for a fun night. What started as a quick beer ended up being dinner and it was good to get caught up with what was going on at home as well as talk about travel and whatever we felt like talking about.

I was also blessed on Wednesday as my friend Georgina, who you may remember is not only a colleague at work but also makes jewellery as a separate business, came back to me with a piece I had commissioned her for. See, when I was in Sicily, I bought a Dodo pendant but didn’t get the bracelet as it was way overpriced…and as kismet works, that was when I found out that Georgina makes jewellery and therefore gave her my pendant to see what she came up with. And I tell you, its quite a beauty.


She calls it the Blue Lace Dodo Bracelet, with my gold Dodo charm, blue lace agate, citrine, purple Swarovski crystals and gold plated findings. So happy…and then she gifted it to me as an early birthday present. How lovely! If you didn’t check out her link before, her company name is vingt huit jewellery.

When we got to Friday, it was Dee’s birthday so we met at Smollensky’s off The Strand…an ‘american’ themed restaurant. So I got excited when I saw the menu of hot wings, cobb salad (with ranch, 1000 island dressing), racks of ribs, and jambalaya…but as with any type of restaurants, the brits just can’t do north American food. It was a good attempt but I don’t know why they just can’t do chicken wings the way they’re supposed to be done. Here they maybe broil them...don't know...then cover in bbq sauce. Its ok though….Christmas holidays is just around the corner and I can get my fix of spicy hot with blue cheese dip the way they're supposed to be done. Yay!

Saturday was my and dee’s joint birthday party and much fun was had by all. You can see the pics here, so there’s no need to talk about the food, the drink, the friends and the fun. Special mention to my Bim who made our fabulous handbag birthday cake....it was delish!

I’ve meet an amazing group of people here and am feeling quite blessed.


That being said, tomorrow is my actual birthday. 37 is a number that will take some getting used to…the other 30 numbers seemed so much easier. Not sure how to explain it. Oh well, I soldier on and pray I make it to my 80s…I want to earn every wrinkle while I can.