Blessed

Every year, my birthday falls close to Thanksgiving Day.  Sometimes it's actually ON Thanksgiving Day. My birthday was yesterday. It was a biggie--and one that I had tried hard to forget about. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against celebrating birthdays. I love celebrating the birthdays of friends and family. in fact, this is my  basic philosophy on birthdays:

 (Card I found on etsy a year ago--SO sorry I don't remember the artist)

Gifts aside, and even though we should do it more often than one day a year, it is a chance to tell someone "I'm glad you were born because you matter to me."

Mark and Aaron had left the day after Thanksgiving to go to a Texas A&M football game with my brother and our niece (a senior at A&M), and came home yesterday afternoon. Christa planned a girls-only lunch with family and a few close friends at a lovely restaurant. It was the perfect celebration, as I had been quite adamant about not wanting a surprise party. Across the table from me was this little sweetie--things don't get much better!

 After a delicious lunch, I celebrated with a butterscotch creme brulee--with candy-coated popcorn on top (yummy!).

 The restaurant graciously only put a single candle on the plate. But I still needed help blowing it out.

I love this picture--with my mother and granddaughter.

And the other two exceptionally special women in my life, Christa and Jill.

The whole group who made my day so very special.

Did I mention that there were gifts? All so very wonderful. I'll share just a couple of them:
A "Live a Colorful Life" mug--and it's orange inside!--and a scarf that will surely inspire a quilt (don't they look perfect together?)

My family knows that pictures are probably my very favorite gift in the world. And while I'm so very thankful for each gift and card I opened (and I'm sure everyone will understand when I say this), it would be hard to receive a better gift than the hand-painted and hand-written cards I received from Levi and Charlotte.

A special thank you to all the many people who took the time to leave a message on Facebook or Instagram. I appreciated them more than I can say. I feel very blessed.

Just a reminder--tomorrow is my tutorial for a cute selvage Christmas wall hanging over at Ellison Lane Quilts. With a giveaway! The fun has already started so you might want to head over right now and check it out. And then come back tomorrow!