A Birthday Party

My friend Matt graciously invited me to accompany him to the birthday party of his Italian American friend Ed. It was a festive party with delicious food and interesting conversation.

Ed ha prepared a wonderful assortment of delicious Italian food from appetizers to dessert. The main courses were vegetarian lasagna and eggplant parmigiana and the desserts were tiramisu, flan, sherbet, and chocolate cake. You can see Ed at the end of the table putting on the finishing touches to the table.

 Some of the guests - Maddalena on the far left and Carl on the far right. Next to Carl is Ed's daughter.

Two more guests - Buck and Bob

Fabric creations

I went with my three good friends to the Box Project exhibit at GW's Textile Museum. In the photo above, against an incredible backdrop, are (from left to right) Marie, Barbara, May, and Christine.

Marie in her museum shop purchase, a very fashionable winter hat

After viewing the very interesting exhibit, we walked over to the Magic Gourd Chinese restaurant on 23rd Street for a delicious Chinese lunch and lively conversation.


From left to right, Marie, May, Barbara, and Christine

Below you will see some examples of Art in a Box.

Friendly Lunch

   

                                               Bill                                     Chris and Arthur

Arthur and I met my good friend Bill for lunch at Busboys and Poets. Bill and Arthur hit it off right away and had a talk about chemistry that was quite above my head but fun to listen to.

Lunch chez George

Susan and I were guests for lunch at George's. He prepared a delicious vegetarian lasagne and I brought a birthday cake (chocolate with cream cheese icing) for Susan.

Host George in his Irish shirt 

George's piece de resistance - vegetarian lasagna

(very labor intensive, he says)

Concert with Barbara

Barbara and I went to a lovely concert at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Falls Church. The musicians formed a trio with harp, flute, and bassoon.

Lunch with Mike

My dear friend Dona and I went to Mike's for lunch to celebrate her birthday. As usual, we had so much to talk about -  topics past, present, and future.

We share almost 52 years of memories and we will continue to create memories.

Dona

She brought me an adorable Christmas gift. His name is Snowball and I can pop him in the microwave to warm him up! He has joined my other eleven Adorables and has been very enthusiastically received!

After lunch we came back to my house for panettone and espresso.

                        
 Here is a photo of the original eleven Adorables watching TV one night.

Coffee, anyone?

My good friend Janet introduced me to a really cool and cozy place to relax and enjoy a coffee and croissant. This enchanting coffee house is called Cervantes and is located in Springfield. Here are some photos to give you an idea of the ambience.


Janet in a cozy chair with her latte in front of her

Me in a cozy chair enjoying my cappuccino

Our heavenly almond croissant has not arrived yet!

 Burlap bags full of coffee - the aroma permeated the air

 Stairs going up

 Main floor

Holiday Dinner

Marcello and his family joined us for a holiday dinner.

 Christian

Colin, Claudia, Lara, Adriano - (counterclockwise starting in upper right)

Eleni's with Claudia

My granddaughter Claudia and I went to Eleni's for waffles but discovered, to our dismay, that waffles are only served on the week-ends. We had to settle for pancakes but they were delicious! We were happy!!

Visit from Two Ashburnites

Marcello and Christian paid us a visit on New Year's Day.

Adriano 

Marcello 

Christian