This Month’s Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

I celebrated my birthday today, beginning with the discovery of a dozen fragrant roses in pastel shades of yellow, peach, cream, and pink that Rene had left for me to find when I awoke. He arrived home in the wee hours of the morning after braving tsunami warnings and working all night as a caricature artist at a Grad Nite in San Francisco. Bless his heart, he made a special trip uptown to an all-night Safeway to buy them for me so that I would have flowers to herald the start of my special day. What’s more, when I opened the fridge, I found a bright pink bakery box with a gorgeous cake inside [see gorgeous cake above]. There were also a half-dozen e-mails from family, friends and clients, and my Texas brother Michael called to wish me a Happy Birthday in person.

Much to my surprise, at an unexpected moment in the mid-afternoon, Rene and Will appeared in my doorway with a regalia of streamer-filled squibs and a perfect tenor chorus of ‘Happy Birthday to You’. The remainder of the afternoon was spent running errands and tending to mundane household tasks until time for dinner with my publisher…a meal so delicious and memorable, I’m saving it for tomorrow’s blog.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.