IMG_4193.JPG, originally uploaded by spackletoe.

Joe and I were invited up to visit friends, Tim & Shana, for my birthday this past Saturday. Not only did they slave away in the kitchen to prepare appetizers (bacon wrapped waterchestnuts and buffalo mozzarella with tepanade and roasted sweet peppers) and dinner (garlic lemon angelhair pasta with shrimp and a salad with homemade dressing) but they also took us to see the Huntington Gardens and for a drive through Pasadena to look at all of the amazing architecture of the houses.

This is a picture of me and Joe, taken by Shana, in the Japanese Garden portion of the Huntington. I could spend hours sitting in there, it was gorgeous! We got a great workout walking around the grounds and were able to catch up with Shana and Tim. It’s so hard to get together with everyone’s busy schedules and we hadn’t seen them since November.

I have some pictures that I want to post from the day…but I haven’t made the time to get them onto flickr yet.

Most of you have probably read Joe’s blog and know that we open escrow today on our townhome. We’re super excited about how things have been going with this process but won’t celebrate until escrow closes and everything is done. There are just so many things that still need to happen before property can change hands. In the meantime, we’ve got some packin’ to do!

I’ll post some pics tonight, hopefully, in-between laundry and other chores. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!