Prebirthday Flowers!

On my last Friday as a twenty-nine year old,

I received a bouquet of flowers.

I nearly dropped the ball on this one though.

An unrecognizable phone number kept calling my cell phone,

but when it called my work,

I was like WTF? 

Who could this possibly be?

And why don't they just leave a message?

Turns out it was the flower delivery dude.

I had no idea who they were from.

And I thought that perhaps he just go the wrong person.

Jon had tried sending flowers to work

when I interned at the TimeWarner Book Group (now Hachette)

the summer I turned twenty-one.

I think I got them the next day--a little worn for the wear

of being traveled around in the hot June weather.

They were from Dani, Sarm, and Hetal! 

Such awesome, awesome ladies.

Aren't the flowers just gorgeous?

I love the peach.

It's vibrant and happy and summery and fun.

Last year I bought myself two dozen peachy/orange roses.

It was so nice that someone else thought to give me flowers!

I love flowers!

I wish I could've brought them to Florida with me.

When I got them at work, I set them on my desk

and every time I looked up it reminded me of how awesome

my friends are and how turning thirty isn't so bad.

They love me anyway.

I brought them home,

and set them in the corner of the computer screen/our TV.

Happy flowers.

Happy day.

I brought them with me to my aunt's house

and gave them to her since I couldn't bring them to Florida.

It brightened my day,

and rather than wilt and die in my apartment while I was gone,

I hoped to brighten hers.

Birthday flowers!!!

Joy's 30th Birthday Dinner

We went to Chez Sardine for Joy's 30th birthday dinner.

It was a nice intimate affair

with great travel stories that featured

a lot of food

and a delicious array of food and drinks in our mouths

that filled our bellies.

It was some good celebrating.

I made the card above in the morning:

Liberty of London stationery carved into a 3 and 0.

I wanted more space to write

the secret thing I've been writing in my cards

so I didn't cut out the 0.

I rather like how it looks still filled in

and unmarred by the 0's gash.

What do you think?

Jeckin and Pinal's Big Fat Indian Wedding

Great times.

Great food.

Great people.

Happy family.

Happy friends.

Happy lives.

The Rispoli Cannoli Cake (and Pep Turns 30)

The Rispoli cannoli cake is a thing of magic.

My family has been ordering Rispoli since forever.

Their lobster claws are legendary for a snack.

Their cannoli cakes are legendary for special occasions.

You have to make sure you order it correctly though

or else you'll probably be disappointed:

whipped cream

cannoli

chocolate pudding

and strawberries.

No rum.

When our friend Pep got into Columbia med school,

we celebrated with his favorite:

a cannoli cake.

But I totally messed up the order:

Rum, maybe?

I don't remember. 

I got really sick from the cake sugar and champagne

that I passed out on my way to the bathroom.

But definitely buttercream and nuts.

Blech.

I got it right when he graduated med school/got into Columbia residency at least.

There's something beautiful that happens with the way

the whipped cream, chocolate pudding, cannoli, and strawberries

moisten the underlying cake.

It's like heaven in your mouth.

The cannoli cake seems to be a phenomenon of northern Jersey.

Pep turned 30 last month,

and he couldn't find one in the stupid city of Boston to celebrate properly with.

Nor does Rispoli ship cakes.

(Do you ship delicate masterpieces? Probably not.)

In any case, he was in town to take some test,

and we got him a cake and a lot of White Castle to celebrate.

Like a lot of White Castle.

Birthdays are the best with cannoli cake.

And becoming older isn't as terrible.

A Present for Someone Turning Thirty *or Whatever Age

Last year my friend Charleen turned thirty,

and for her birthday

I got a little inspired with the gift-card holder that

I got with a gift-card purchase at Anthropologie.

(By the way, she was getting married later in the year,

so I wasn't being weirdly pushy about it or anything.)

I thought this might be a little inspirational to someone

who's thinking of what to get someone turning thirty,

especially since a ton of us are coming of that age this year.

What's that?

Oh, I mean, we're turning twenty-five!

Ew, thirty is, like, so old.

I guess that for whatever age

this nifty little gift works for a variety of people.

Who doesn't like lists to ponder?

And gift-card money to spend?

I'm sure cash would work well too.

If you do find yourself making one of these,

let me know how it goes!

Last Year's Dumpling Party

Around this time last year, we had a dumpling party.

There was a small ordeal in actually finding the wonton wrappers

above 14th Street and on the west side,

but I overcame that obstacle after visiting a handful of stores.

We filled dumplings with different ratios of shrimp, pork, and beef.

And shaped them freestyle.

There were quite a few dumplings made

that night.

There were quite a lot of us to make them, thankfully.

Jon's roasted sweet Japanese potatoes

with fancy aged balsamic.

Mmm . . . appetizer.

Jon's homemade seafood broth, homemade garlic soy sauce,

shiitake, and greens, and all that good stuff.

With a freshly made soft boiled egg.

Dessert was leftover corn cookies

with a dab of ice cream

and a bit of citrus on the side.

It was sandwiched and dusted with extra corn flour.

Dani brought flan.

(So delicious!)

Pam brought cupcakes from Chikalicious.

(So delicious too!)

That was a really fun evening,

though I don't think everyone enjoyed eating the dumplings

as much as they enjoyed making them.

At least there were a ton of desserts!