Union Market = fabulous day 2 of birthday

A few weeks ago, a dear friend somewhat cryptically asked me what my birthday plans were. She asked if I'd save her a day because she had somewhere to take me. I do love surprises and such advance planning and readily agreed that today would be her day. M picked me up this morning and ferried me down to Union Market, a year-round indoor market in Northeast. What a perfect idea! Rows of food and drink stalls line three main aisles: meat; fish; bread; cheese; wine; pressed juice; Korean; Mediterranean; the still-ubiquitous cupcakes... We decided to eat our way and commenced with a stop at the juice bar, Goshen (I had a fabulous carrot-ginger-lemon concoction), before detouring through a fun housewares store, Salt & Sundry, where I bought the best item: a travel tin of Maldon finishing salt. After I waxed rhapsodic about Maldon, M bought one too. Isn't this charming?!

Then it was on to Rappahannock Oysters Co, yes! the same as that at the farmers market where I bought the clams last Sunday, where we chowed. Raw oysters, red snapper tartare with sorrel juice, crispy chives and some fabulous citrusy business, and a beautiful white gazpacho with cucumber, grapes and Marcona almonds. It was absolutely delicious, and the plating was top-notch. Doesn't this all look incredible? It was.

We also did an olive oil tasting at All Things Olive; there I bought a bottle of Frantoia oil from California. It's got an intense peppery aftertaste that made me cough in such a delightful fashion. I used it atop some mozzarella di bufala tonight for a super-caprese: perfetto! Fresh bread was bought at Lyon Bakery (and seriously enjoyed tonight), Turkish Delight and ful medames at DC Mediterranean and finally we ambled towards M's car.

Can you believe the two days of cool experiences I've just had? Thank you to my wonderful friends.

With today's goodies, I made and we just devoured this magnificent salad plus the ful.

Happy Birthday to moi

I have felt awash in friends and love today; boy am I lucky. After my little ones wished me a lovingly loud Happy Birthday as I ascended the basement stairs and I dropped them at school, I had coffee with a friend and his precious baby daughter (got a nice baby holding fix there!), worked out, received a call from another friend who sang to me, came home and opened some cards, heard from my parents and sister + more friends, was taken to Dumbarton Oaks for a private tour with two pals, then to lunch at Blue Duck with said marvelous pals, picked up the kiddos, made whipped cream-mascarpone frosting for the strawberry cake and cupcakes I made yesterday and am now in repose with a glass of pink champagne. Thank you so much, to everyone, for the happy wishes! I appreciate your thoughtfulness more than you know. Photographic evidence of today's beautiful (though cold) bounty (on principle, I refused to wear socks and was vaguely sorry to have done so):

Blue Duck was without the Brussels sprouts but I'll let it go because they still had the grits on menu. Our food overall had some misses -lemon ice box cake, deconstructed? sometimes you just want a hunk of cake, you know? when we ordered it, we were unaware of the deconstructed element- but also some serious highs; wow on the cracked spelt salad with roasted grapes and Meyer lemon, and the three of us felt positively giddy to be "ladies who were lunching", hair brushed and all!

Photo unearthed, salad extraordinaire

Just as I was about to commence making my springtime shrimp and grits, T called to say he needed to work late. Plan B was another fab-o kale salad, chock full of garlic-n-toppings plus a wedge of Humboldt Fog just cuz. Delicious! And, because it's almost my bday, I indulged in two glasses of the magnificent Pinot Noir from Iron Horse and read the entire Science section from today's NY Times. Bliss.

Who else feels they've not seen this picture ↘ enough lately? Moi! So, here it/he is! I'm telling you, if those eyes came a'purring towards me....

Because really, is enough ever enough? I'd ask for BC for my birthday, but I think I'm getting a chaise lounge for my backyard + a tortilla press which, obviously, together make the closest second a gal could imagine.

I've had just enough wine to be on the right side of caring that snowflakes are tiptoeing from the sky -they'll be gone by morning- and am off to jump into, gasp!, the front section of today's paper.

Miracles.