Posts Tagged "hats"
This really was the sweetest day ever
I think I had theeeeeeeee BEST birthday party ever yesterday. It was so awesome that I’m not even worried about next year. See, exactly. I had the biggest group ever come together for my birthday [18 for the tour and 20 for dinner, including myself] and with all the love there and with people driving in from over an hour away just to be there, made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I was very touched.
The day started out with a tour of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory in Berkeley. It took about an hour and we spent the bulk of it listening to a lecture that was actually pretty good. Our guide went through the history of the company and their process for making chocolate and now when I want to have a solid bar of chocolate, only Scharffen Berger or another high end chocolate will do. None of this 10% cocoa and 90% sugar crap for me. It was interesting to learn about the company. The best part was that we could tell that she was a bit over with giving the tour but her light sarcasm completely won over the group. We respond well to sarcasm.
We ended up tasting five different types of chocolates: the 70% bittersweet chocolate, a 62% dark chocolate nibby [which is their "grown up" version of the Crunch bars. Instead of using rice krispies they just add more chocolate - teeny tiny chunks of chocolate...so insanely good!] and their 41% milk chocolate bar which was so rich and creamy that it was almost like it was still dark chocolate. The best part is that if you just let the chocolate melt in your mouth you can taste the different “notes” in the chocolate. It’s as if you were eating wine! We also tried their limited edition Finisterra bar and a milk chocolate with almond and sea salt. We definitely did get our dessert before dinner.
We were let loose in the gift shop armed with our dollar coupons and we had trouble picking what to buy. I ended up splitting with Lindsey and getting three chocolate bars and three truffles [including a Mexican chocolate that almost tasted gingerbready - so good!].
After the tour, we made our way to Bay Street for dinner at Elephant Bar. Jacqui [my former college roommate] gave me my first gift: a cd of baseball history as told by Greg Proops and a wonderful new hat to add to my collection:
Because she knows how much I love wearing things on my head.
Let’s just say I was the most popular person in the restaurant to every girl under the age of 10. The pink and feathers are very attractive to that set. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I passed by. The fun continued over dinner and Jacqui regaled my half of the table with stories of us in college, including the hip checking of the kid at the the soft serve machine incident. Apparently everyone else preferred her version to mine. Of course. She LOVES telling that story.
I’m just glad everyone had such a wonderful time. Everyone mentioned how much they enjoyed themselves and it must be true since we were still talking about it today. That and I had three requests to plan other peoples parties. Though now I also have be commissioned to make many, many cookies thanks to the plethora of cookie cutters and the recipe books I was given [thanks Eye, Cin and Mike!]. I’ll be sure to bring a plate of something the next time I come over to their house.
So once again, thank you all for joining me on Saturday for my birthday. I had a blast and I’m glad you did too. I love you all!
Read MoreHere’s to a happy 2-6…
Yes, it was fantabulous.
Thanks everyone for making this a great birthday!
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