Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Birthday Celebration

To celebrate my birthday, local Rotarians joined me at the Resurrection Roadhouse for drinks and apps. We started with some wine, lots of gossip, and introductions among those locals who crowded the bar during "locals night" where the chef features special apps and double wine and beer points for those of us enrolled in the wine/beer club (clearing of throat, yes, I am a member).
After the wine came a special present from our incoming Rotarian president, Deb. She is in CA with a sick father, with whom I share a birthday. A few years apart, her 92 year old father and I exchanged text messages today to celebrate our special day (seriously, how cute is that?). She went a step further and had champagne ordered at the restaurant to celebrate my birthday with the gals. I've known the woman for a grand total of six weeks, and she is already buying me champagne! And yes, for those who know of my collection, the bottle already atop the cabinets in the kitchen.
After opening cards, I grabbed what I thought was a wine bag. Upon picking it up did I realize it was far too light to be a wine bottle! That's when Kristi started to giggle. She had come to our home on 27 May when Brad and I hosted a fete for his change of command and birthday. When she arrived, we had popped out for moment, and while absent, she cased the joint. Apparently, she checked the cooler to see if the ice was cold and looked into the back door to see our slammin' spread on the dining table. When we pulled into the driveway, she was about to get into her vehicle and depart. A few hours later, when cleaning up the back yard of its bocci and cornhole games did I realize that one of the flamingo tent stakes was missing. "Perhaps Kristi or Amy took it?" quipped Brad. "Never!" I replied, "No Rotarian would steal!"
Alas, I was wrong.

Gifted to me was our missing flamingo tent stake, whom I blew up and posted on our table for the remainder of the evening. Five years later, and our totem remains a present figure at each of our celebrations!
Amy and the thief, ahem, Kristi
Linda Rae and Sharon
A sampling of the Rotarian Ladies

Then came the food. Chef Eric rolled out the good stuff for us foodies:
Flatbread with poached egg and bacon

Prawns with truffle oil

Pulled pork with a spicy black beans

2 comments:

Becca and Jason said...

I can't be friends with you anymore until I get to the real world and get to have food like that again. I definitely drooled.

I wish I could've spent your birthday with you and brought you an awesome Safeway fruit tart like you did for me on my birthday! Glad it was a good day anyway!

Happy Birthday and welcome to the 30s!
Becca

Flo said...

Happy birthday again Christina! Your dinner looked absolutely delicious, and your wonderful friends did a great job celebrating your milestone. It is such an amazing thing to be able to say you spent your 30th birthday at a gourmet restaurant in Alaska with brand new Rotary friends who remembered your mascot flamingo! :) I had no idea they made flamingo tent stakes, but that thing is absolutely adorable. And that food....I die!