Birthday Morning

Well, I became ?1 on Sunday--really quite a lot older than I thought--a shame, really.

The day started out with a birthday cake, of sorts, which I will share with you due to its uniqueness.  Can you figure it out? It was doubling as breakfast--I suppose.

 

Yep--frozen waffles, strawberry ones, alight with candles. Actually, these are the second batch of candles as it seems the first batch suffered the sad fate of melting into the hot waffles which then became quite waxy--as I've been told. Did I love this cake? You betcha (in the words of our newest Shakespearean pundit.) How much more fun is this than frosting with garish red and blue roses scattered about? A lot! Creative? Oh yes! From the mind of a 12 year old? Of course.

After this sumptuous feast (which I didn't eat), Ken and I dropped Casey off at church and went on our way to a lovely overnight at a wonderful spa/resort in the Temecula wine country. Of course, on the way, we stopped at a couple other wineries to sample their wares and enjoy the absolutely beautiful day God had given us.

 

Thornton Winery--Great Tapas and Wine 

One of the nice bonuses of lovely wineries are the shops where you find unusual gifts for hard-to-buy for friends--such as my Italian family. Now I can't wait until Christmas to find out if they like what we found. We do--in fact, we bought a couple things for ourselves, too (surprised?)

Eventually we wended our way to the South Coast Winery and Spa Resort. Son Jeff had given us a generous gift certificate for Christmas last year so we figured it was time to enjoy it. The property is very beautiful and the villas quite luxurious, with private patios, great beds, set among the vines. Nice! Of course, I needed to sample the spa by having a relaxing massage and then we rested until dinner--a hard day.

Before leaving the next morning, we had a tour of their winery which included a very nice wine tasting session, pairing 8 different wines with fruits and cheese. I had never understood how various wines do so well with blue cheese, pepper cheese, swiss, more, grapes and strawberries. This was a nice ending to a nice celebration. Then it was time for the leisurely drive back to San Diego--ready to hug our 12 year old and help with his homework. Life does goes on.

       

Thank you Jeff for the gift and the child-care. I love you!