50th Birthday Bash - Revisited

Greetings to one and all,

OK, so got to do this a little earlier than planned. We had a small crisis at the office and a major program that is used for tracking our contracts and such decided to take a nose dive. Yes, right at the holiday and so we are frozen in motion awaiting it to get repaired. So decided to use this time and get some of the details put together.

Last October I was pretty darn sick for a few days and it allowed me time to look at how much I had been pushing myself with work and all. Decided that I needed to downshift a bit and so the GALA weekend became the FUN weekend and was cut in size by more than half. Initially there was some inner frustrations, but the more I reviewed it the more I saw that I needed to do this for me. So first up was cutting the size of the party. Went from over a 100 to a coupe of dinners for 12. Also, out the door, the week at Disney World. I spent December 1-6 in New York City and had a great time as you saw in the blog reports. Why over numb myself and do Disney...it is there and will be enjoyed when I go in 2010. As for the weekend, it was one of three prime weekends in December this year and many people were happy they did not have to make a decision about whether to come or not.

The whole celebration kicked off Thursday evening when Michael arrived from the beach. He drove up after school and got in even with the nasty weather. We paused long enough for him to drop bags, but soon was off to Shanghai Gardens for dinner. Boy, I love that place. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and back at the apartment we got settled in and he gave me some lovely gifts. There was the 10th anniversary of the French Rugby Team's calendar. He also gave me some wonderful Duke's Mayonnaise and their cookbook and oh my did he give me the fireworks! After a good sleep, we were off early in the morning to enjoy breakfast at Glo's Restaurant up on Capital Hill. Michael had to have Eggs Florentine. I opted to have the Potato Pancakes with bacon and eggs on the side. Yummy breakfast, especially since Michael also got a cinnamon role to boot! At this point it was back to the casa as we were to split with me headed to the airport and Michael north for holiday shopping.

With the clock getting closer to noon, Connie's flight would soon be here. I have known Connie for like 20 years. We have not seen each other in 6 of those years and so it was a joy to have her fly out from Washington, DC. God love her that she went over 5 hours without a cigarette for me! Upon arrival we drove drown to Tacoma and enjoyed lunch at Duke's Chowder House with Mom and Janet as they drove up that day from Portland. It was a delight to sit there and look out on the beautiful Pudget Sound and see the boats, ships, birds and various sights to make the day all the more enjoyable. Afterwards, we headed up to Seattle and got them all checked into the hotel for the weekend and I got to depart and enjoy a nap! What a wonderful thing it is. Really made the evening nice.

About 5:30ish people began arriving at my place for a "wine tasting" but I have to share it was more like a wine drinking event. No worries, it was fun for one and all and Michael had done an amazing job in selecting wines for the evening. People brought wine as well. All too soon were were off and running for the Brooklyn Restaurant for dinner. You have heard me go on and on about this place. It is such a delight. Four of us got to enjoy 2 dozen oysters and that was sheer heaven. We also had the joy of consuming a generous gift from Uncle Markie - a double magnum of a Mt. Baker Vineyards Tempranillo. I got to enjoy my favorite small plate - Day Boat Scallop with Foie Gras that is just to die for. For Main Course, I split two dishes to try a little more...first up was the Cervena Venison and it was served wrapped in wild boar bacon with a roasted cauliflower puree, boulangere vegetables and marrow bone. A lovely cherry jus finsihed it off. Delightful to be sure! The other dish was Wild Alaskan Black Cod that is truffle dusted with a butternut squash and fennel gratinee. Golden chantrelle mushrooms in a smoked chardonney oil completed the dish and for a flourish, lobster bisque. Oh how I wanted to like, if not love, this dish. It did not happen. And that rarely happens there. But hey, no one is perfect. One thing I did get to enjoy was a serving of their Key Lime Cheesecake which is FABULOUS! Granted, I did not get to blow out my birthday candle since someone was over zealous and did so for me, but I had a couple of other opportunities over the weekend to do it. Afterwards, Michael and I caught a cab back to the apt. and sleep soon followed as the next day was to be a full one to be sure!

End of part I of the weekend...look for the rest to be posted soon.
Cheers, Chris