2021 was a milestone year for my family. A lot of us have turned over a new decade in our lives. My cousins and I all celebrated our big 4-0, my oldest cousin turned 50 in October, my aunt had her 60th in September, and my uncle and his cousin (and my mom’s) turned 70 in October. We commemorated the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. My grandmother would have had her 90th birthday next week. It’d be too cold to celebrate at Twin Lakes like we did for Great Grandma so we might have done it at Olive Garden, Rizzo’s or Persichetti’s.
The Fourth of July weekend was my weekend to celebrate my milestone year. That Wednesday before the holiday I turned 40. Celebrations were being planned. My cousins love the Jean Bonnet tavern in Bedford and I was asked if I wanted to come here to celebrate my big 4-0. I gladly agreed to it. We met at my aunt’s house and spent a few hours in downtown Bedford that afternoon before dinner. It’s beautiful but everything closes early. In addition it was raining while we were en route. I did to see where Bedford Springs was located and I think I’d have enjoyed this part of the trip if we got to see Fort Bedford or take a nice drive around Shawnee State Park (it was too wet to take a walk around the lake that day).
We met up at the Jean Bonnet Tavern with my uncle and my two cousins early in the evening. We had a nice big table waiting for us in the main dining area. I ordered the loaded potato crisps as my appetizer and a raspberry margarita for my drink. For dinner, I had the chicken parmigiana with a house salad. At the end of the night before heading home, I got to see the goats 🐐 and my cousins fed them but I was a little bit squeamish to do the same myself.
The day before I got a text from my sister/twin/fashion buddy. She wanted to make plans for us to get together for lunch. Sara and her mom had a birthday gift for me. We agreed on having lunch at the Olive Garden in Greensburg (we wanted to do coffee at White Rabbit or breakfast at Sun Dawg but both places were closed). Sara tagged me on Facebook wishing me a Happy birthday and it brought me to tears.
We met for lunch at Noon. She greeted me at the door and got us a table. Very sweet of her. We ordered our food and enjoyed each other’s company. We were dressed fashionable as always. I wore a pastel blazer and T-shirt with jeans and she wore a dress. We also talked about work and of course, fashion. Sara saw me with my Coach purse and said, “Coach should hire me to promote their product.” We had a great lunch and a wonderful time together. She gave me my gift bag and I loved everything she and her mom put together. I also loved the birthday cards and posted them on the blog.
There was a third celebration on the Fourth of July. My mom had my cousin Katie and her family up to celebrate the holidays and my birthday. It was the first time Patrick and Henry would be visiting and they would have the opportunity to swim in our pool and jump on Annabelle’s new trampoline at her new house. Mom made enough food to last us a week. Meatballs, sausage, watermelon 🍉, Mac and cheese, and plenty of drinks to go around. It was perfect weather for swimming, which is what the younger ones all did. After we ate, I showed off my Coach purses to my family. I would do the same thing at our family reunion in October.
We ended the night and the birthday weekend by watching the fireworks from Katie and Matt’s new place. This weekend I turned 40, and I felt fabulous, fantastic, and fashionable. From the looks of it, I enjoyed every minute of it.
Stylish 🍒 