March the 3rd...

....was a very big day around these parts.  First and foremost, it was Troy's 42nd birthday.  And equally importantly it was the wedding day of our friends Adam and Angie.  Big day, and a wonderful one.

We sort of over-celebrated Troy's birthday due to the fact that his actual birthday would be largely taken up with wedding festivities.  So we started out by spending Friday night eating out with friends.  Just so you know, both of the phrases "eating out" and "with friends" are complete understatements.

First of all, we ate out at Lugano's.  That's a wonderful little Italian joint on 23rd East and 33rd South.  It is...beyond delicious.  We're not talking spaghetti and garlic bread here. Not that those items are undesirable, but this goes above and beyond. May I describe?  We started with an appetizer that consisted of half a fresh pear which had been caramelized on top like creme brulee, so it was sweet and crispy and juicy.  Then there was a lovely little blob of marscapone cheese on top with toasted pine nuts and a large basil leaf nestled in there and then prosciutto wrapped all around it.  One bite and you kind of had to put your head between your knees to keep from fainting away into food heaven. Such a fabulous combination of tastes and textures. We were chatting away happily until we all took a bite of the pear and it went really quiet for a moment, then we all started going, "Mmmmm...oh my gosh....Mmmmmm...."  Troy and I tried to keep it reasonable - we shared an appetizer then shared an entree (butternut squash risotto with pork loin roast and sauteed mushrooms and kale...).  And....then shared a dessert.  Pumpkin cheesecake that defies description.  Oh yeah and we had a few bites of our friends' tiramisu.  Mamma!  That's not food we need to eat very often but once or twice a year it's so much fun to indulge in a really fantastic meal.

And as for the other understatement - if you're going to indulge in a fabulous meal it's really nice if you can do it with wonderful friends.  The Griffiths. A paragraph in a blog is not going to do any justice to these friends, but I'll try to describe them by saying they were pretty much the chaperons of Troy's and my courtship and engagement.  Lifelong kindred spirits.  I don't know how else to say it.  We just love them dearly dearly and we definitely don't get enough time together.  I mean, Marianne and I try to chat on the phone now and then but generally there is some young person in one household or another needing help and attention.  To have the luxury of long uninterrupted conversation all evening long, punctuated only by the arrival of delicious food brought right to us was probably the best birthday present Troy could have asked for.  Divine.  Must happen again soon.  We were talking, oddly enough, about caloric intake.  And we decided that as much as people can over-feed our bodies we deplete our souls of the spiritual calories we need.  Good dinner with the Griffiths was a much needed calorie splurge for our inner souls.  Awesome.

Saturday itself was a whirlwind.  Getting up, enjoying a birthday breakfast of Belgian waffles, getting everyone ready to get out the door, dropping kids off at various locations, hustling down town to the wedding - very busy.  But we were so happy to be there.  In case you weren't sure, I'm talking about the wedding of my friend Adam, who's first wife was TerriLyn, my sister-friend who passed away a while ago.  And one of the absolute highlights of the day was seeing TerriLyn's parents there at the wedding, participating in the ceremony, taking the place of Adam's parents who were unable to be there.  It was absolutely touching beyond belief and brought up a well of emotion in me that was hard to contain, though not of sadness.  It just made the wedding so much deeper and more poignant, exhibiting the circle of family here.  Angie looked like a fairy princess, so beautiful, so happy.  Just absolutely alight with joy, and Adam did too.  I was so honored to be there.

After the wedding in the morning we enjoyed a birthday lunch for Troy with his parents.  Morris and Carol came over and we present Troy with his birthday gifts of the various parts needed for this neat umbrella-flash set-up thing for the camera.  I sound like a professional, I know.  We just enjoyed the afternoon together, building a fire to keep the gloomy clouds at bay before we headed out for the reception that evening.

I guess we just hadn't had enough celebrating because on Sunday evening we had a few friends in the hood come over for lasagna and salad and an amazing German chocolate cake our friend Myca made.  It was seriously out of this world. My favorite moment of the evening was when Cullen and Rick both revealed that they were unfamiliar with the story of "Where the Wild Things Are."  Really?  I wasn't aware that it was possible to grow up as an child in America and not have that story completely memorized.  Troy felt the same way.  When I heard that, he was silent for a moment and then he hopped up, grabbed our copy of Maurice Sendack's classic, and began reading.  Rick felt that as long as he was being read to, he might as well do it right so he quickly sat on the floor at Troy's feet and got read to proper.  Cullen wasn't far behind.

Wow.  What a weekend of enjoyment and celebration.  Which means we totally overate.  It was really... delicious. Happy Birthday, my wonderful husband, and happy new beginnings to Adam and Angie.