Love and a Chicken Pot Pie

Celebrations.

I love 'em.

Yesterday my dear friend, K2, celebrated her 29th birthday.

Again.

I am just glad she was willing to spend the day with me.

We dined on Homemade Chicken Pot Pie...which is where the title of this post comes in.

I was so excited to show it to you...

And then I forgot to take a picture.

We also had a wonderful salad that was delicious (thanks Becky!) and then we got down to the real reason we had gathered today.

This is the Yellow Cake with Double Chocolate Frosting from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. And it's as good as 4 sticks of butter can be...really, really delish.

Oh it was rich, but the coffee (with a splash of Italian Sweet Creme) cut the sweetness perfectly.

Here we are, looking happy and sweet.

I love to decorate a table. Really love it, but I never know what the table will look like until the day I put it all together. Usually, 30 minutes before the party starts I am scrambling around the house trying to find ways to make the table look pretty. Very, very rarely is it pre-planned.

Late Thursday night I decided we needed a festive birthday banner so I cut scrapbook paper into triangles and sewed them into some double-sided binding. I just zipped them through my sewing machine...didn't use pins or nothin'.

If that isn't living-on-the-edge, I don't know what is.

The Girl was recruited in some paper-flower making while I threw some scrap fabric on the table. A banner, some tulle, some candles and flowers and, voila! A decorated table.

The Girl wanted to sprinkle fine glitter all over the table, but I axed that idea, as good as it was.
Sometimes there really can be too much of a good thing. Plus glitter is tough to get out of the carpet.

So it was a fun little soirée. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

Fall Break: Its a Good Thing

Our stay-cation was eventful...

Full of laughter....

And very satisfying.

There were highlights: Getting a hug from the door-keeper (and complete stranger) at Sam's club; finally hanging curtains in our family room; and spending an entire week with my man.

There were low-lights: having a root canal and allergy testing that required four days without antihistamine.. which was much harder than I anticipated.

But... there were more highlights:

Spending time with friends over sushi and soup; helping a young nursing student by listening to the first sentence of her thesis statement (I sat down next to her on a couch at Barnes and Noble); rearranging three rooms in our house; sleeping in with The Mister, and of course... there was that thirty-eighth birthday thrown in there for good measure. I love me a good birthday.

I wish I could tell you each detail, but it isn't necessary. It was a good, good week...a gift in and of itself.

I woke up on my birthday singing Sandra McCracken's Grace Upon Grace, which was inspired by one of my favorite Prayer books, The Valley of Vision.

I am going to close this post with the prayer entitled Grace Active , it is the prayer of my 38th year...for I have received grace upon grace...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grace Active

LORD JESUS, GREAT HIGH PRIEST,

Thou hast opened a new and living way,
     by which a fallen creature can approach thee
     with acceptance.
Help me to contemplate
     the dignity of the Person,
     the perfectness of thy sacrifice,
     the effectiveness of thy intercession.
O what a blessedness accompanies devotion,
  when under the trials that weary me,
     the cares that corrode me,
     the fears that disturb me,
     the infirmities that oppress me,
  I can come to thee in my need
  and feel the peace beyond understanding!
The grace that restores is necessary to preserve,
  lead, guard, supply, help me.
And here thy saints encourage my hope;
  they were once poor and are now rich,
     bound and are now free,
     tried and now are victorious.
Every new duty calls for more grace than
  I now possess,
  but not more than is found in thee,
     the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.
To thee I repair for grace upon grace,
  until every void made by sin be replenished
  and I am filled with all thy fullness.
May my desires be enlarged and hopes
     emboldened,
  that I may honor thee by my entire
     dependancy
  and the greatness of my expectation.
Do thou be with me, and prepare me for all
    the smiles of prosperity, and the frowns of adversity,
    the losses of substance, the death of friends,
    the days of darkness, the changes of life,
    and the last great change of all.
May I find thy grace sufficient
      for all my needs.