Happy Birthday To Me

After about a year (on-and-off) of living in Germany, I noticed one interesting peculiarity (as if there was just one):

People are supposed to throw their *OWN* birthday parties!

Now, where I’m from, all your friends take you out for your birthday – lunch, drinks, dinner, whatever ! It takes a week or two to get through all those meetings, so your birthday gets to drag blissfully on and on”¦

But, “˜when in Rome’”¦.. so at the last minute I plotted to throw my own little bash. My objectives were: fun, easy & no cleanup. My original thought was “hey, let’s charter a boat on the Alster, serve champagne & little wursts, bring in an oompah band, everyone wears lederhosen, and then we have some fireworks!” Soenke quietly reminded me, that since I am not Donald Trump, I might not have a yacht party in my budget. Sigh. Why not???!!

SO I decided to host a small soiree at T.R.U.D.E., a cool restaurant on one of the Alster canals, with red brick & red paint interior, and a *non-smoking* section!! The food is excellent – especially the little homemade raviolis with ricotta & pear inside, served in gorgonzola sauce with baked plums. The word T.R.U.D.E. is an acronym that describes the drill that dug the first tunnel under the Elbe River in Hamburg. (One of the actual drills apparently sits outside the restaurant but I’ve never noticed it).

But I get ahead of myself. Soenke totally surprised me by waking me up with breakfast in bed, a homemade chocolate cake (!!) with 29 flaming candles (good choice, babe), and a beautiful little RED box from Christ (everyone’s favorite jewelry store in Hamburg). That’s all I will say about THAT – and YES it is a ring and NO it is not an engagement ring!

With such an auspicious start to my birthday, I decided to push my luck & suggested a shopping tour of the furnishings stores in the greater Hamburg area. Soenke bit his lip & agreed, so we took off for Dodenhof and Möbel Kraft (both well outside the city). They were both completely PACKED. But we managed to eek out a new dresser for the bedroom (currently we use an ironing board in that capacity), 2 lamps for our nightstands, and some overhead lighting. Another bonus, I got a great driving tour of cute German towns that I’ve never seen before.

Soenke suggested we stop for ice cream – “Eis” in German – on the way home. Germans LOVE their ice cream, & inhale it regardless of the temperature outside. Our local Eis Café was full, even though temperatures hovered around freezing. Whatever!

We returned home with just enough time for me to babe up, throw on my birthday crown, and head to T.R.U.D.E. A fabulous group of partyers joined us : Hauke, Antje, Sally, Lena, Klaudia, Mehmet, and Knut. They singlehandedly stocked my kitchen, my beauty regimen, and my movie schedule with delightful and thoughtful gifts. Danke, danke!

A big Thank You to everyone who sent me birthday wishes ! And a GIGANTIC thank you to Soenke for making my birthday very very special!!

——————–

My breakfast birthday cake:

A cool, colorful carpet at Dodenhof:

Soenke got ice cream, NOT me ! :

Prego Sally joins me at T.R.U.D.E.:

Antje & Hauke show their long-lasting love:

I should have used the flash for eurobabes Lena & Klaudia! :

Eurodudes Knut & Mehmet sip the bubbly (ok, Mehmet is pretending to):

One of Germany’s finest inventions: the button-operated, automatic salt & pepper grinders!:

I love him !: