A perfect day

We had a such a lovely day yesterday. First, we met D's aunt and uncle at the newly renovated Stepping Stones Children's Museum, which is completely gorgeous. Of course, I had to feel a little sad that it's been updated just as we're leaving, but we did enjoy this museum quite a bit over the years here. We then went to The Brewhouse for lunch, a place we've visited multiple times and have always found it to be delicious and very child-friendly. D's cousin and his girlfriend joined us, the kids played with their new toys (thanks Aunt L and Uncle P!) and we were able to linger and talk after lunch was over. D and I are very thankful that we both have family living in the NY area. We've enjoyed their presence at birthdays and other times over the years and they will all be missed.

We got home around 3pm and were expecting friends for a Hanukkah dinner around 5pm. Normally, I would start to totally stress out at this moment. But we had spent a frantic hour before leaving cleaning up the house in preparation for a showing. And I had prepared the chicken entree I planned to serve too, so it sat marinating and waiting just to be popped into the oven.

I am not a very accomplished cook, so we don't do a lot of entertaining. Every time we do, we have a great time and wonder why we don't do it more often. But it's always a LOT of work that makes me feel overwhelmed. This time, the Chicken Marabella was ready and would cook for an hour, leaving me with time to greet my guests. I also planned to make wild rice which takes an hour to cook. So the only things I had left to do were to prepare the green beans and set the table (In case you're wondering about the Hanukkah part of the meal, we bought latkes at Fairway and they were the best latkes of my life!).

Here's a picture of the table. I love how colorful it looks. Chaotic, but definitely colorful. It's funny; I got this tablecloth in Niger 13 years ago, and haven't used it much recently. It felt like that traveling part of my life was over. But happily, it's not!

 Here's a pic of me and my dear girlfriend S. I will miss you!

 After dinner, we cleared off the table and made Hanukkah cookies! This is a tradition that's very dear to me.

Our friends have two sons. Here's 5yo T with my M

Here's their cute 3yo, L

Hey, at least I look good, right?

The big guys were really cute, too.

 Here's how the night ended. The guys were talking about communism and who knows what else while drinking Scotch next to the fire. It made me sad because in the 3.5 years here, we've never used that little nook in that way. For the first 3 years we lived here, we kept it covered and out of reach so little hands would not harass the fire doors and little heads would not crack on the concrete floor. And also, the seats are quite uncomfortable. But isn't it adorable?

It was truly a perfect day. Thanks family and friends!