I had a lovely birthday, but I’m still having trouble getting over the fact that I’m 34. In my mind I’m still 26. I’m not sure if that will ever change.
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Last week I heard that telltale thump behind the screen door. A package! For me! This is what was inside:
Check out that wrapping paper will ya? And the candy. And the tin bird. And that’s a Jill Bliss notebook. It is all swoonworthy. Thank you so much Zhenecka and Ptichka. I love everything you sent.
My actual birthday was yesterday. I was awoken by loud hurrahs and smiles from my dear family. They brought me breakfast in bed (with coffee and a newspaper!), and cards, and more gifts? namely a very cool wasabi-coloured Roots hoodie and some Nigella measuring cups I’ve been coveting for ages. (Regular readers will recognize that these fit perfectly in my “everyday beauty” model of living.)
The day’s agenda was up to me. We went to the National Gallery to see the Emily Carr exhibit. It was amazing. It is difficult to admire artwork with squirrely children, but I enjoyed myself all the same. There’s an “art studio” at the end which encourages visitors (okay, children, but I think anyone could participate) to sit down and make their own Emily-inspired piece of art using watercolour pencils. What a great idea.
This is what greeted us outside the gallery:
We ate lunch downtown at the Blue Cactus and then went to Rideau Hall where we watched the changing of the guard, walked through part of the gardens (see totem pole pic below). The girls collected acorns and ran through the sprinklers. Did you know that the Governor General has a really nice play structure too?
When we got home, Mark took the girls to the park and I went to ValVill. I bought Emma a blue Gap hoodie (3 bucks!) and myself a fancy t-shirt from Mexx as well as some table linens.
For dinner we had takeout sushi dinner from MHK (I love this place, and you must order the Dragon Roll). I would have taken a photo of the lovely spread but was too hungry to do so.
After dinner we all played frisbee at the park, which was great until Emma got hit in the throat and our game came to a tearful end.
Thank you Mark for giving me the gift of a great day. And thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. It meant a lot to me.
