40+2

I think I speak for all of us who will celebrate a birthday in quarantine: this one will be memorable. Not as exciting as my 30th or fun as my 40th, but unique for certain.

We've had weather whiplash lately, so above all, I'd been hoping for sunshine. And, luckily, it gorgeous last Thursday...sunny and warm. 🌞

My day started with homemade cinnamon rolls! Tony stayed up until midnight making them the night before.

It was a new recipe for him that got an A+ in my book. Cinnamon roll + coffee = perfection.

Samuel made me toast and a card...

And I read my tall stack of cards that came in the mail. It's great to feel so much love as soon as you wake up.

Mid-morning we went out onto the deck to watch two F-16 fighter jets fly over in honor of our frontline workers. They flew over all of the major hospitals that morning and we live by one. It was so cool to see...and loud! (My neighbor took this pic. We have too many trees in the backyard.)

I went for a gorgeous jog after lunch. I rarely run in the neighborhood since I prefer the park behind our house, but thought it'd be nice to have a change of scenery. I sprinted the first lap and then dragged on the second and third. Oh, well!

Before dinner, we Zoomed with Mom, Dad and Beth. In advance of the call, Beth reached out to a handful of my besties to request birthday messages, kinds words and a funny story or two from our friendship. It was really touching (and entertaining!) to hear what they wrote. 💜

Since we can't go to a restaurant, Tony picked up a variety of dishes from Forno for dinner (and we popped a bottle of Prosecco!)...everything we ordered was delicious!!

And I baked a funfetti layer cake for dessert. We'd had a pretty heavy day of good eats, so I had made a fluffy whipped cream topping for the cake...and then remembered that Samuel is not a whipped cream kid. Oops! So the cake was a big hit with MOST of us. Most importantly, the birthday girl. 😉

Beth sent me the pretty red sweatshirt I'm wearing. It's so me that I hate to take it off.

Like my 40 + 2 candles? Brie commented that I could buy a second "40" candle and put two on my cake on my 80th birthday. I loved that idea.

And to cap off my day? I took the super cute PowerPoint trivia quiz that Brie made about me! I passed...phew!

I definitely went to bed with a full and grateful heart. It was a wonderful 42nd birthday. I celebrated with loved ones near and far AND we're all healthy and doing well. Can't beat that!

P.S. More fun over the weekend:

Skyping with neighbors, including our former neighbors who live in Belgium. Lots of good laughs!

Running the Girls on the Run Virtual 5K with Brie in our neighborhood. A beautiful day made it even better!

Trimming the boys' hair just a tad. I hated to do it, but Samuel had curly sideburns and Sebastian's bangs were in his eyes.

Hosting a round of Masked Singer Jr. that Brie organized with members of her Book Club. She was "The DJ" (middle left) and the other contestants are blacked out below. Two club members were the audience/judges.

There were lots of smiles and laughs when the participants revealed their faces. It actually was a challenge to guess who some of the girls were behind the masks!

Celebrating Mother's Day! Brie made me this clever card that has a "keyboard" at the bottom and then looks like a text chain between the two of us at the top...

And Tony made some more five-star pizza with our black market yeast. Lucky me!

P.P.S. These two gems gave me so much happiness! Thanks, Beth! 😘