Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday.  A milestone people keep telling me.  I suppose.  But does it matter?  The important thing is how I run the race.  Everyday.  When I get to the end will I hear "Well done, good and faithful servant"?  Will my legacy be that my children all follow hard after the Lord?  Will they tell their children and their grand-children how much I loved them and more importantly how much I loved the Lord? 

Yes, it's my birthday.  But the race is far from over.  I intend to pick up the pace and run better than ever.

Valentines Day done pink and brown

My daughter and I decided to host a Valentine luncheon for 2 friends.  We planned a delicious menu, had a great time preparing the decorations and tried to make everything perfect.  We knew we had scored the jackpot when our one friend exclaimed upon entering the kitchen, "This looks like something out of Better Homes and Gardens!"  I'm not sure I would go that far, but we were pretty happy with how it turned out.

Our inspiration came from this adorable "china" we found at Dollar General before Christmas.  We bought plates, bowls and tall coffee mugs.  (actually they may be called latte mugs.... I don't know)  We loved the pink and chocolate brown color scheme and we took it from there.

This was the card we made to display our menu.  We had a Fettucini Alfredo dish for our main course.  It was outstanding!  With that we had homemade bread.  For dessert Bekah made an amazing chocolate cake with chocolate frosting which she decorated with pink silk flowers.  And, if that weren't enough chocolate, she made caramel hot cocoa made with Ghiradelli caramel chocolate squares.  The whipped cream on top made in heavenly!

For our centerpiece we used 3 glass domed cupcake holders which we filled with more pink silk flowers.  We put a brown beaded garland around the base of them and nestled the menu in between!  So fun!

I even decorated my antique dry sink in the corner of the kitchen.  I used my heart quilt I made several years ago, my red candle lamp Joseph gave me one Christmas, a serving tray I painted and Bekah's beautiful cake.  It looked amazing!

One last picture of the plate that inspired our color scheme and our menu. 

We had so much fun planning and preparing everything, but the best part was the afternoon of fellowship with two wonderful women.  They happen to be sister-in-laws and told many stories of their adventures over the years.  This was our third tea and I hope to blog each one after this, now that I'm learning a little more about blogging.  Stay tuned for the March tea.  The wheels are already turning to make this one just as beautiful and special.