
Every year since I turned 30 (except last year, of course), I have hosted a “Celebration of Life” for my birthday. This is my way of thanking those friends whom I cherish so dearly, and who were so important in making my last year so meaningful.
This year I had the most extraordinary group of women. These are women whom I respect as people, business women, mothers, friends, runners. They are kind, generous, successful, funny, open, thoughtful, continually growing as people, honest, and non-judgmental.
I believe that you are a representation of those with whom you spend the most time, and dang! I am blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible people, I must be pretty awesome!! (Haha)
For this year’s dinner I had to take a different approach than I had originally planned. It had to be vegetarian, egg free and gluten free to accommodate my guests’ and my dietary needs. So….

For appetizers, I made caprese skewers. Tomatoes, basil and mozzarella pearls placed on skewers and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

For dinner, we had a salad (using greens from my Tower Garden), pears, pecans and goat cheese; roasted eggplant; and vegetarian lasagna.


All the while, my handsome Boo served as bartender with signature drinks for the evening.
This was easily the best “Celebration of Life” that I have ever had. The company was extraordinary, the food turned out as close to perfect as I expected, and it just goes to show how blessed I am to have so many wonderful friends.