Sunday, February 19, 2012

nSunday, February 19, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2002. Mattie was one month old and that afternoon I decided to take all sorts of pictures of him to create a birth announcement. Though I never used this picture, I happen to love it! It shows Mattie's curiosity and intrigue with following my every move.

Quote of the day: Imagination enhances our lives by supplementing the inadequacies of the real world, or our experience of it, and can also give us the vision to transform present reality into something new and better.  Erik Blumenthal


Today was a day ruled by imagination. Not my imagination, but that of my friends. I met up with Tanja and Katharina in the morning. Katharina celebrated her 12th birthday last Friday, and though we had plans last week to make her day memorable, they graciously rescheduled these plans because of my medical issues. We had a lovely lunch together and chatted about all sorts of things. Katharina even surprised me with a few gifts of my own. She picked out a bracelet for me that says Mother, Love, Forever. It has to be one of the most thoughtful gifts I have received, and it means even more because it was given to me by a child. After lunch, Tanja arranged for all of us to have a double chocolate pedicure at the Hotel W in Washington, DC. I knew such a thing was possible in Hershey, PA, but I did not know such fun existed in my hometown.

Tanja snapped a picture of Katharina and I getting a pedicure. What made the day extra special was knowing that Katharina had never been to a spa before nor had she ever had a pedicure before. So it was very special to share these firsts with her. She enjoyed it, and the fragrance of chocolate was intoxicating. They even gave us hot chocolate to drink! A chocolate pedicure is an incredible experience for a chocolate lover. Mind you, you aren't putting your feet in a bowl of chocolate, but instead your feet soak in warm milk with chocolate shavings, and then all the products used have essences of chocolate and chocolate oils. I was thrilled to be introduced to this heavenly experience.

I told Katharina that in a way she also helped to inspire a party my friend Tina was hosting for her daughter this evening. One day a couple of weeks ago, I told Tina that I wanted to do something special for Katharina's birthday. So Tina began brainstorming all sorts of ideas with me. In the process, she was mentioning the wonderful cupcake stores in DC and Virginia. Her conversation inspired me and I told Tina in jest that she could plan my next birthday party ----sweet store hopping. So tonight I got to see what such a party actually looked like in action and I had the honor of being invited.

There were 17 girls at the birthday party today and in order to get them to six different stores, Tina creatively had a solution to this transportation issue. She rented this amazing pink limo. This limo caught the attention of almost everyone we passed in Georgetown. People were snapping pictures of it and the girls inside the car were excited and felt special. Tonight's adventure I have no doubt was something these girls won't forget anytime soon. It was like being a character in the movie Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, and of course the big difference was there was no flying glass elevator. Instead, we had the longest and most pink car I have ever seen.

This pink number took us to six different sweet locations: Sprinkles, Georgetown Cupcake, Pops, Sugar Cube, Alexandria Cupcake, and the Dairy Godmother. Our first two stops were in Georgetown, and each time we got out of the car, people would come over to talk with us and wanted to know what the occasion was and how they could rent this car. This car got the attention of both young and old and the girls inside the car were having a great time, singing along, joking around with each other, and if there were room to dance, they would have been doing that too.

Some of our stops were crowded. For example, Georgetown Cupcake (MY FAVORITE ON THE TOUR!) is so popular, the line to get into the store was about two blocks long. But Tina preordered cupcakes and simply walked into the store, grabbed the box (with mini strawberry cupcakes inside---which were incredible) and then the girls got to enjoy them in the limo (as you can see in this picture). At each location stop, all the girls got out and we took a landmark picture!

One of the stops along the way was to a candy store called Sugar Cube. Though we took photos of the girls at each location, I think this one gives you a feeling for the energy level, fun, and happiness within this group.

I did things today I had never really done before. I am so lucky to have friends who want me to share in these special moments and include me in this way. Naturally of course, I am grateful and happy for this, and yet at the same time I would be lying if I did not say it is hard to know that I won't have these special moments with my Mattie.