Geburtstag....

Hand made invites.....

Had to order all but pasta since my recipes all call for ingredients I can't seem to find here...

What a great Gerburstag....(birthday)!  I love birthdays because I am a strong believer that it beats the alternative.

All the small things today added up to make it one of the best days of my life.  The first thing Karina said to me this morning, "I am so happy it is your birthday today" "Oohh thank you honey" I responded and she quickly adds, "it means we get to stay up late for your party."  Well there you go. My day just kept getting better...

• My neighbor surprised me by singing "Happy Birthday"  in ENGLISH as I was getting out of the car this morning.  
• When I walked into the  Butcher,  in unison they said, "Happy Birthday" in English.  I could tell they had been practicing hard to pronunciate the words correctly.... but then quickly converted back to speaking German with me,
• My dad Facetime (called me via video camera on I-Phone) what a gift it is to be able to see my father across the ocean.  The biggest gift came during this call when he said the magic words children of any age thrive to hear from their parents, "I am very proud of you"
• My neighbor brought me a HUGE gift...brown sugar and self-rising flour (as seen in picture)  She had noted my frustration at not being able to cook many of my recipes since these are 2 items not found in the German market.
• A Day full of email messages and skype attempts.....sorry I couldn't answer...prepping for party
• Cooper vacuuming the house for me...
• Karina and her two friends decorating the front door with sidewalk chalk for my birthday....which I wasn't happy about when I first saw...but then I laughed when I realized they got the idea from 3 king day
• Jason helping me clean the kitchen until midnight with a smile on his face....
• So many gorgeous flower arrangements, teas, and a handmade gifts. (Check out the great flower arrangements they sell her in Stuttgart....I love the flowers here)
• The nice surprises that people also brought Karina and Cooper (and Rocky) flowers, chocolate, treats to help bring good luck for Gerburstag. 

You just don't find these two in the store...

Our front door....

Jenny's fabulous artwork...Handmade gifts are my favorite...

The flower arrangements are gorgeous here....

In Germany, it is the tradition  to host your own Birthday party, which is exactly what I decided to do (after asking Jason if he minded since it was a "work" night) I decided to hand draw the invitations since we didn't have a printer this weekend.  It quickly became a family affair since we were running short on time to get the invitations out. After they were all assembled,  Karina, Rocky and I set out to deliver them to all of the people we have come to know the past month.  I am so lucky to have met so many friends so quickly.  I know I continue to say how lucky I am in life in this regard..but it deserves a "thanks" to my lucky stars at least once a week!  Tonight we all celebrated together with food and Champagne.

Now that the cleaning is done and it is 1:00 am here, I must go to bed.  For tomorrow night brings a new adventure... I have a jazz concert to attend....     By the way,  Jason quickly ran out and bought a printer Saturday night...enough manual printing for him!

The kids had fun too....talking to the two "Big Girls"

How did we not take many pictures?