my mom had an important birthday on saturday and celebrations were the order of the day. the phone rang all day long, flowers were delivered, and battalions of cards lined the TV and end tables in her living room.
we started the day by having breakfast with a good friend
who is about to turn 96 himself. john is a wealth of stories about albany and life in general and we always enjoy getting together with him when we visit. he and david have really hit it off.
we spent the afternoon with my sister’s family; the kids were super-excited to bring grandma a birthday gift and share a piece of cake with us.
in the evening, the grownups all convened at a lovely local restaurant, mezza notte, where we treated my mom to some fine dining and lotsa wine. the restaurant is amazing; we had three courses of appetizers, salads, and entrées, each one sublime. it’s well worth a visit for a very special occasion.
we took advantage of the opportunity to get a photo of all the hanson women together, and then finished our meal with a kahlua-and-cake concoction from villa italia
(where else?? i think all of our most special occasions since childhood have been marked with a cake from this bakery—and rightly so).
it was yummy, and a lovely time was had by all. i just wish my brothers and sisters-in-law could have been there . . .
after dinner we went home, changed into jammies and settled in to watch a movie
i finished up the boxleaf shawl and got it off the needles
not the greatest photo (it was dark by the time i got to take pictures). it’s soaking now as i write and when i’m done, i’m going to stretch and block it. hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and we can take some really nice photos on tuesday.
this morning we rose early to pack and get on the road back home. it was a gloriously beautiful day for driving; the roads were quite empty, the weather was fine, and we made excellent time.
i made lots of headway on my holidazed sock and now have just about half the foot left to knit—maybe i’ll finish that up tomorrow during classes.
you can see here that the yarn has a strong striping pattern when knit in stockinette (as in the underside of the foot). the twill rib pattern of the leg and top of the foot helps to break that up nicely so that it seems to take on some subtle, in-between shades of gray and looks a little tweedier. more like one of those magic eye paintings than hard stripes . . . just another example of how to use pattern to break up or diffuse the effect of a striping yarn (if you’re looking to do so).
the yarn—shalimar zoe—is excellent; i just love working with it. it is knitting up into a classy-looking sock with sturdy feel that i’m sure is going to hold up over time. just lovely, thank you kristi!
and now i’m going to see about blocking that shawl—i think i’ll put on my audiobook and lose myself in that for a while.
30 thoughts on “let her eat cake”
Happy Birthday to your mom. The cake is absolutely beautiful. I also love the sock you are working on.
Happy birthday Anne’s mom!!! May you have many more!!
What a wonderful birthday! And I love all of those family photos — it looks like a wonderful day 🙂 (And which audiobook? Inquiring minds and all…)
Happy birthday to your Mom!! Great photos. And I love that sock you’re knitting.
Happy birthday to your mom! It sounds like the day was celebrated in a lovely way!
OMG that cake is gorgeous!!! I wouldn’t want to eat it! And yes, which Audiobook? I’ve got quite a collection going myself…
It sounds like you had a lovely time. That is a beautiful birthday cake. I feel that family moments like that are precious.
Oh! Happy birthday to your mom! I wish I could spend my mom’s birthday with her. Spend all of the time you can with her. The cake is gorgeous! What did you make for her? Did you mention it here? I forget!
That cake looks incredible! HB to your mom. I can’t wait to see the shawl blocked! Love the colors.
Happy Birthday Mom! What a beautiful cake!
Happy Birthday wishes to your mom. What a perfect celebration…so glad you could be there!
Happy birthday to your Mom! That cake looks fabulous! I’m glad you had such a nice visit.
happy b-day to your mom! what a great way to spend it!!!
LOVE the sweater you are wearing in the hanson women photo…
Happy Birthday Mom! It sounds like you had a great visit.
Happy Birthday to your Mum, she’s such a lovely woman, and the photos are SWEEET. What a fabulous day and love the ‘got back home, and in the jammies for a movie’, that’s my kind of day!
Anne- Happy Birthday to your mom– she looks so pleased to have you guys there to spend it with her.
And Italian bakeries are the best!
My mom’s birthday was Sat. too. We went to the movies and ate delicious cookies instead of cake. 🙂
No way. No WAY is your mom the age you say she is (and I won’t spill the beans here). She looks absolutely wonderful! Happy birthday to her!!!
Damn – John looks fantastic too. There must be something in the water there.
What a wonderful picture of your family!!! You are so luck..and to visit Albany too…I’m jealous!!!!
Happy Belated Birthday to your Mom. That cake looks wonderful and that’s a great tradition. Lovely photo of all the Hanson women.
What a lovely celebration! Happy Birthday and many, many more to your mom! What a great photo of the Hanson women. Good looking cake, too!
Happy Birthday Anne’s Mom 😉
What a fabulous photo of the Hanson women!
Looking forward to seeing the blocked version! What a cake! Almost too pretty to cut. Happy and healthy 8oth to your lovely mom.
Those Hanson women – joy distilled in a photo!
What a wonderful birthday celebration! I lost my Mom in November, a couple of weeks after her 83rd birthday. I’m so glad you got to spend this special one with yours. The shawl (even in the dark light) looks amazing–I’m sure the next set of pictures will really show it off. 🙂
Okay, that cake looks way yummy. And the empty plates – well, they’re empty. That says something for sure!!! And the picture of all the Hanson women; even your sister!! Wow. What a special occasion! Congrats to your mom!!!
Oh – and I’m on my second pair of gridirons now. I’m obsessed. OBSESSED. Can you say WAFFLES????
I want to let you know that I’ve given you a “Kreativ Blogger Award”. I would imagine that you probably get a lot of them…you’re an awesome knitter and designer, and I really enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for sharing your stories, pictures and designs and for inspiring and entertaining so many of us knit bloggers. 🙂
Many happy returns to your mom. I wish I could still celebrate my mom’s birthday…well, I think of her, of course. But it’s not the same.
I’m sorry…this might not be the most polite thing to say…but I keep thinking “Crime Scene” when I look at the holidazed socks. Don’t they look sort of like black and white socks that have been caught with a little blood spatter? Cool…if a little morbid.
The Hanson women look like they had a wonderful time. With a cake like that, who WOULDN’T have a smile on their face?
Happy birthday to your mom – now I see where you get your good looks!
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