Birthday Week and Summer Tea

My birthday was Tuesday this week, and I have had so much fun celebrating! 

On my actual birthday, Mark and I picked up donuts from our favorite local place (Stimmel's). Later, while Mark was at work, I went out to lunch with my friend Chad. We had planned to try the new BBQ place in my neighborhood, but they were closed. Instead, he drove us down to Findlay so I could try a Mexican place that he discovered has a New Mexican/Hatch chile section on their menu! We also got ice cream at Dietsch's, a Findlay favorite. Between all of that, I had nice phone calls from Mom, Grandma, and Julie. Later, Mark and I split a burger at Two Foxes in BG...it was a lovely day! This week, I also enjoyed time at the pool with Lucinda one day and Terry another, and I joined the Jordan family for (most of) one of E's baseball games (where he pitched for the first time!). 

And, on Friday, I hosted my annual summer tea. 

To drink, we had: lemon lime infused water, cold brew iced tea (regular black and also coconut oolong), and a new recipe: coconut pecan agua fresca. 

I also served some savory treats: broccoli cheese dip (in the mini crockpot), grilled veggie & cream cheese tea sandwiches, and zucchini egg cups. 

And plenty of sweets: pistachio bread (my Mom's recipe, from Emilie Barnes), sugar cookie bars, dundee cookies (a recipe from Mark's family), chocolate bark (1, 2), and cherry chocolate scones (adapted from this recipe). 

As always, I enjoyed having a day set aside to hang out and catch up with people from all different parts of my life here in BG: work, common meal, Global Connections, etc. And this time, I even remembered to get a couple of group photos! (Though a few people who came at the end aren't pictured; you can see that Mark decided to join us for a bit). 

And, I was tickled that a couple people brought gifts: Chad always brings flowers from his garden (just about the only time I have fresh flowers in the house!), and Wendy brought a quilt square she made--not knowing that green is my favorite color, but it's perfect. 

It's really true what they say about relationships and happiness--it's been a full and very happy week (and month!).