BIRTHDAY CAKE L-O-V-E ...

Who knew that birthdays could get better with age….

I am elated with the many loving surprises that I continue to receive regarding my recent “Ageless” May 3 Birthday!

Cake is pretty much my favorite dessert and I got FOUR (well, three and a half to be exact). As you can see in this post there are four different cakes. My friend the Amazing Gracie made me a homemade vanilla raspberry one with lots of whipped cream and it was divine!  My cousin made me a red-velvet with cream cheese that tasted absolutely spectacular (that was before she gave me a sparkling box filled with gifts)!  My dear friend Lynne had a special cake ordered from a local bakery that was simply beautiful and truly delicious. And when my sisters and mom took me out to dinner, they had a wild and crazy mini chocolate bomb cake delivered to the table that we all devoured in less than two minutes.  

And not only were the cakes so special, but, so were the presentations. When Gracie presented hers she had a little wind up device/music box that played Happy Birthday. And when my sisters, mom, and Lynne gave me theirs it was with my favorite cake accouterments, no, not ice-cream, BALLOONS! I LOVE those pretty puffy& colorful things! It was so sweet to have the cake and balloons. It brought me back to my youth and I felt very young! Having my own birthday balloons made me giddy and I appreciate people taking the time to get them for me….who doesn’t love presents?! And my mother always buys me a crown, a tiara, or something child-like for my birthday. She tells me I am her Peter Pan!

Friends texted all day, some called with magical messages, and one sent a video of her son (also my friend who just got accepted to St Andrews College) playing a violin to the song of Happy Birthday with the magical product I just developed glowing the background!  It truly was precious.  I was so touched. Later that evening my boyfriend brought me some home-cooked food, the BEST CARD EVER and a beautiful crystal necklace in the shape of a heart and the color of the sky. He told me I am about to reach the sky with my dreams!

And, that earlier that night, right before I sat down to dinner with my sisters another super tremendous friend sent a very special message for me saying “Thank you for being born!” It just kept getting better.  Even my friend, the writer Roland Merullo, sent a birthday wish. And, I was so happy and excited that here I was with cakes, gifts, toasts, flowers, serenades, gifts left at my door, and it wasn’t like I was sweet six-teen or a five year old….as a full-fledged adult it felt pretty darn good to have such a special day with so many genuinely wonderful surprises and heartfelt affection all around me. When you give LOVE, you get it back!!! And LOVE is Ageless....

There is even more to come (that is why you might notice one of my cakes says Renee-A-Palooza)…I have been promised a trip to the MFA, another dinner out, and a home cooked meal by more loving and devoted friends! I believe Oprah is right when she says the more grateful you are the more you have to be grateful for. And, speaking of grateful, well, I just realized that I actually had another birthday cake (that’s 4.5)! My cousin Greg and his wife gave me a cake and sang happy birthday to me two weeks before my birthday (don’t you just love cousins)?!

This past Sunday I capped the four day celebrations off with a fabulous pizza & wine party in my honor at Aunty’s great-granddaughter’s hip and trendy new home…Thankfully she has high ceilings and mega big windows because all that love and magic around me had to go somewhere….