Belated Birthday Weekend Grab Bag: List of Favorites

1. Boy Wonder woke me up in the wee hours Sunday to be the first to wish me a happy birthday: "Happy birthday, Mom, do-you-want-to-snuggle-and-watch-birds-with-me-here's-your-glasses-so-you-can-see-them-do you see-that-one-on-the-tippy-point-right-there-oh-he-flew-away."

2. Miss M gave me a beautiful handmade bag that she and our sweet friend, Sarah, designed and sewed for me:

Isn't it gorgeous? There's a beautiful sewn detail on the ribbon. And I love the contrasting interior.

3. We had a fantastic Sunday brunch with my mom at my favorite restaurant.

4. The Spouse promised me a new digital SLR camera.

5. We had the best BLTs ever (Bentons bacon, farmers market tomatoes, and Tomato Head rosemary rolls) with our friends, the Ns, and saw Despicable Me in 3-D.

6. We made pizzas at a friend's house and ate chocolate cake with sparkler candles and chocolate sauce.

7. I laughed at a card my friend and fellow coffee-drinker, Grace, gave me: "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."

8. I bought four new books at Carpe Librum.

9. We had Ben and Jerry's ice cream cones. And even though Boy Wonder was wearing a white shirt, I let him order Phish Phood--chocolate ice cream with marshamallows--and I didn't scold him when he used his shirt as a napkin.

It was all good.