Happy Feeling :)

How the Queen's milestone b'day at the start of the month got pushed to the day before yours truly's b'day, i will not know. I am not complaining either...Departure Lounge made for an apt setting - jalapeno martinis and prosecco cocktail gave the evening a jump-start. Food was excellent - considering we must have tried almost everything on the menu - would love to whip up such crispy yet cooked brussel sprouts with chili and lime. MeltingPot for dessert was a let-down but i had my fill of chocolate covered straw-berries.

On the day itself, friends sprung a surprise. Thanks to LilC else they would have been stranded in the cold trying to wake up aspirin grogged self. Must say, they are a good-cooking bunch (not to mention artsy)...my first taste of Appams with potato stew, vermicelli upma, poori-sagoo, jalebis and an apple spiced cake with delicious sauteed apples. Amid all the cooking and eating, BigC posts a note for LilC...as if she could read and if she did, as if she'd listen...something tells me she made the note after checking it out for herself - "Don't Touch! Don't Lick! the CAKE!" Given the busy times at work, it was a happy feeling knowing they took out so much time. N made a pumpkin chocolate cake. Closed out with 2 spookalicious parties - what 12 year old requests "her" arugula salad for a b'day treat and how can it not be done justice given all the pomegranates and persimmons flooding the stores?!