And then it was Party Time.......

Yes, it was that time again, my birthday, just like every year, one week after mothers day.  And this year was the BIG one.  It is so hard to believe that 10 years have passed since that fabulous night at Denpasar Moon where I celebrated my 50th with so many friends and my wonderful family.  But time stands still for no one and here it was again, the seventeenth of May and I was turning 60.  

When one reaches a milestone like this there is nothing else to do but celebrate and we did that in style.  We had many discussions about what I would like to do this year and decided that dinner with family and friends would be a nice thing to do before heading off for a new adventure overseas.

And so began a couple weeks of party time.  It began on the Friday before before having dinner with friends.  We had a wonderful night at a favourite restaurant in South Yarra.  Da Noi's was yummy as usual and we walked home again trying to undo some of the damage their degustation menu had caused.  

We spent Saturday afternoon at the footy watching Essendon winning in a game that had us on the edge of our seats.  It hadn't looked so good at half time but we left smiling so we were happy in the end.

On Thursday, at work, I was spoilt with a yummy White Chocolate Mud Cake as I would not be there the next day and I even got to bring some home for Bill.  Friday was the big day and I had taken the day off starting my 2 weeks leave early.  I had a lovely day relaxing and doing some shopping before returning home to get ready for the big event.  We were all meeting here for a drink before walking 'Downstairs' for dinner.

Bill arrived home early and before long we were joined by Mum, Maree, Faye, Rem, Ethan, Jarrod and Aaron.  Also joining us was one of my dearest friends Joy and her husband David.  Joy's Mother and mine had been girlhood friends and we first met when I was about 11 or 12.  I'll let you do the maths, but it has been a long time and although we have lived in different states for many of those years we have always remained friends.  It was so good to have her there to help me celebrate my big day.  We all enjoyed a drink or two and some nibbles with lots of stories and laughs before we moved that party downstairs for an absolutely lovely meal.

Returning back upstairs we were a little noisier than when we left but I'm sure the neighbors coped.  Rem took over the barista duties and we all had coffee and Birthday cake which had been made for me by a very talented young lady I used to work with.  A beautiful bouquet of vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream icing.  'Cakes by Barbara' had done a great job and we all enjoyed them very much.

It was a fabulous night and though I really missed having David, Gareth and their families with us I enjoyed talking to them through the day.  Thank you both for my lovely presents, I will treasure them always.  And everyone else spoilt me as well and I now have some lovely new jewelery to show off as well as 2 scarfs, some lovely perfume, a hand made quilt, a gorgeous throw rug and a wonderful new picture for the wall.  I will find my own parrot one day Nolan, but in the meantime I love yours.

The next night the party theme continued with dinner at Choi's, another favourite Chinese Restaurant, in Hawthorn.  Cheryl and Shane were joining us from St Leonard's for the night and together with Astrid and Hans from Chum Creek we had another wonderful night full of good food, good wine and loads of fun and frivolity, most of which seemed to be at my expense.  The 'seniors' jokes seemed to be the topic of the night - how rude!

On Sunday morning we had brunch with Cheryl and Shane at Panettes in South Melbourne before heading into the NGV to see the wonderful Monet's Garden exhibition.  This was just beautiful and after we all had been and visited the garden last year a lovely way to relive our memories of that day.  No pictures could be taken of course but we did love this amazing piece in the foyer of the gallery.  Kohei Nawa's PixCel Red Deer in glass, acrylic and crystal beads is just stunning and captivates everyone as they enter the gallery.

Once home again we said goodbye to our guests and then it was time get the suitcases out and pack for our new adventure.  We were off to Norfolk Island the next morning.  Watch this space for the NI adventures.

And so now all that is left for me to say is a huge thank you to all my wonderful family and friends for all your cards, texts, Facebook messages, phone calls and pressies.  For those that were here in person, we had a great time, and for everyone else, I know you were here in spirit and I did think of you all.  Thank you so much for being my friends!

Until next time.........