The Color of Tea

I just finished reading The Color of Tea on the train ride home from work today. The author writes of heroine Grace's struggles with past and current relationships. Grace opens a lovely cafe specializing in French macarons to escape the worry and pain of her life. As the chapters progress (each named after a creative and tasty-sounding macaron), Grace slowly creates a more fulfilling and happy life.

I loved the author's depiction of friendships and marriage in the novel. And I definitely have a serious craving for macarons! If you are looking for one last summer read, this book will do the trick.

Happy Friday!

Weekend Getaway: D.C.

Tonight, I'll be packing up my weekend bag for a trip to D.C. Dave and I go down to the capital every summer to visit friends and explore the city. Normally, we try out different hotels, but this year we are returning to The Normandy. Check out the gorgeous rooms:

 

Our plans are still a bit up in the air, but we are going to try to check out the Newseum. Have you ever been? I've had my eye on this museum for a while, but we never managed to fit in a visit.

I'll be back next week (I have off all week!) to share photos. Have a great weekend!

Thirty

So, I turned 30 last week. That's a big deal, right? It felt really good to enter my thirties - I was starting to get bored of my twenties. :)

Dave planned an awesome birthday week for me. In our family, we welcome birthdays with a week-long celebration that includes small gifts, dinners out, and fun activities all in addition to cake and gifts on your actual birthday. For my thirtieth birthday week, I received some really sweet gifts like a bottle of my favorite perfume and gift certificate for a manicure. Dave also surprised me with flowers, dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, a night at the movies, and he made me homemade pizza.

Our families joined us for dinner at Heirloom, a fabulous restaurant in Chestnut Hill. We dined at a long family-style table in the middle of the restaurant. I tried foie gras and had short ribs with grilled peaches. So good! We all went back to our house for cake, coffee, and gifts. It was a super fun night and I felt like one fortunate girl.



P.S. My parents gave me a new camera and I'm so excited to share some much-improved photos with you soon!