Grateful to Friend Gil for Capturing Pieter's 93rd Birthday

 We sure are grateful to photographer friend Gil Gillis for capturing Pieter's 93rd Birthday Dinner with Friends.

Pieter is ready for Mass and for his special Birthday Dinner following...

Wearing the very same Escada silk dress with roses, Escada patent leather sandals and Majolica pearls, that I wore for Pieter's 80th Birthday dinner with friends and family. 

Pieter's Goddaughter then flew over from The Netherlands, for being here!

Wearing my special handmade bracelet, a gift from Blogger Friend: {Rose Bracelet from Enma in Spain - Blogger I Admire} ←click on link.

We were greeted by friend and Lady Chef Maria Runggaldier from Ristorante da Maria ←click on link.

She hails from Bolzano, the capital of the Province of South Tyrol in northern Italy.

Both of us were quite surprised to find our invited friend Gil Gillis, the previous owner of our local TV station, with his professional camera...

How precious for having these photos as a lasting memory!

Thank you so much Gil for you thoughtfulness!!!

Now Gil is in the group as well, standing next to me, as Tara, the young lady on the right, took over his camera.

He personally has trained Tara, to become a professional photographer herself with TheFurgPhoto ←click it.

Pieter received his dessert with a Birthday candle on it and we of course sang Happy Birthday to him.

As a Dutch touch, some white tulips in vases with pebbles, graced the table.

Ristorante da Maria

Our Menu 

All in all, it was a perfect evening.

This text on a towel, wrapped around a wine bottle that Pieter received as a gift from our friends, sums it up perfectly:

THE SOUTH

Where tea is sweet

and accents are sweeter.

Summer starts in April.

Front porches are wide

and words are long.

Macaroni & Cheese is a vegetable.

Pecan Pie is a staple.

Y'all is the only proper pronoun.

Chicken is fried and 

biscuits come with gravy.

Everything is "darlin"

and someone's heart is

always getting blessed.

FOND MEMORIES! 💖

On my FB Page Mariette's Back to Basics

1,249 views on Pieter's LinkedIn profile.

Tea Time and Spring Flowers

One of the our daily highlights is having Afternoon Tea

Yesterday afternoon with fresh cut Fragrant Daffodils from our garden with fresh Camellias.
On my side table with the beautiful Hand Crocheted Lace topper.
A gift from dear Susan from the blog: Ava Grace's Closet and you ought to visit this sweet blogger friend!
My other dear blogger friend Celia M. High Heeled Life & Resilientista would very much approve of this Self Care Moment!

Healthy Living and Relaxing with Green Tea, Mixed unsalted Nuts, Seaweed (Costco) and Rice Cake from Whole Foods Market.

A close up of that healthy portion...

Believe it or not, two of our feline brothers LOVE each a piece of Seaweed and Bandido-boy also eats one or two Cashews!
In reply to blogger friend Jim from The Road to Parnassus I have added these photos from the type of Green Tea used...

Organic Green Tea
A Blend of Sencha & Matcha

My photos got taken with very dark weather so that's maybe the reason the tea looks strong...
Having fresh flowers is one thing but the lack of sunshine for good photography is often another!

Thanks for visiting!

Related post:

{My Rice Cakes FIT in this Dutch Rusk Tin} | previous post showing you my Rice Cakes...
{Meaningful GIFT from The Fairmont Empress Victoria} | previous post showing you the table topper...

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{GIFT from High Heeled Life @Resilientista}

FINALLY... I manage to post about the incredible gift from Blogger Friend Celia M. High Heeled Life & Resilientista 

She offered this Luxurious Beauty Bag from Canada's High End Department Store Holt Renfrew...

Bloom into Spring with a Luxurious Beauty Bag Give-away was her post about this International Give-away.

On Friday, June 3, just before we left for Atlanta to attend my Apple One to One session, the mailman delivered it! 

High End Beauty Bag in leather with a scarf attached to it and filled with luxurious gifts at a $ 240 value...
It sure made me blush!
THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH DEAR CELIA M.!

Look at the beautiful gift wrapping...
Makes one's heart beat faster!

Celia M. does believe in Angels, like I do and she used this incredible card...
I was in heaven!

After carefully removing the beautiful gift wrapping I was delighted to also find her NEWLY DESIGNED & PUBLISHED
'The Resilientista Planner'
The Resilientista Planner - Reveal!!! & How to Get a FREE download ←click hyperlink to get your very own.
Make sure you follow Celia M. High Heeled Life & Resilientista and Celia M. Resilientista
click both of the above hyperlinks

This is a half year planner for 2016...

Now, let's have a peak inside this Beauty Bag...

WOW, need to start that soon when my nose has stopped peeling off skin from my bad cold this past week!

Feeling so very pampered...

What a lovely Masque Collection!

Here I have to admit that all my life I've never indulged in anything like this...

Living a very frugal life, making do with our budget did not allow for it.

Looking at so much luxury for my skin did create butterflies in my belly...

Pictures made on top of the bed at the Hyatt House Miami Airport where we had 3 free nights for points...

This is: 

Molton Brown

Delicious

Rhubarb & Rose

Bath & Shower Gel

Made in England

Turmeric & Cranberry Seed
Energizing Radiance Masque by Kiehl's

Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque by Kiehl's
All this will be heavenly!

Laura Mercier - Foundation Primer * Hydrating

Sisley
HYDRA-GLOBAL
Hydration
Intense
Anti-Age

CHANTECAILLE
Magnolia, Jasmine and Lily Healing Emulsion...

Guerlain
ABEILLE ROYALE
Honey Nectar Lotion

CLINIQUE
Repairer anti-gravity eye cream

DARPHIN
Stimulskin Plus
Anti-Age Global

And to top it off:
Signorina eau de parfum
by Salvatore Ferragamo.

THANKS A MILLION SWEET FRIEND!

{Feeling Pampered with Silk/Wool Cap from Blogger Friend}

Oh my, on Christmas Eve, I was for the last time out of the house and than a very bad flu floored me literally.

Did not even notice that 2015 ended... it went past me.

Only on my Dad's 95th Birthday I managed to be up in the late morning and call him in The Netherlands.

From than on I improved, but did not want to be out in the nippy, windy weather as the warm temperatures from Christmas had suddenly dropped, even getting some night frost.

What a surprise when on Thursday, January 7, the mail delivered a parcel from France.

A sweet hand knitted gift from Anett from the blog: Faden Stille whom I follow since 2010. We have become virtual friends!

Friday, January 8, I did join Pieter for Rotary lunch and afterwards I did wear my silk/wool cap for taking a walk. Wearing of course my coat as well!

Spunky girl looks fluffy during the cold weather.
Me, showing off my crows feet from a great smile...!

Driveway is still damp and the weather dreary looking...

But our Verbena continues blooming inside the fiber glass window boxes from Flower Framers of Cincinnati!

Enjoying my Chanel boots; bought from tip money for consulting work in California!

You can read more about that here: {My Favorite Boots}

My silk/cashmere Jodphurs from Bergdorf Goodman 1994 still fit me perfectly and I love wearing them in winter time.

Matching cables in my Escada silk/cashmere sweater from December 26, 1993 - actually my very first Outlet score bought at Potomac Mills in Prince William, VA. We were traveling by car to the funeral of our Jewish friend in Delaware when we stopped at this Mall for lunch.

Thanks a lot Anett for so much WARMTH!

It warms the heart and the ears on a nippy winter's day...

{Glass Christmas ROSE Ornaments from Anonymous Blogger}

We ALL love parcels in the mail don't we?

~ 

Well, especially if a sweet Blogger Friend is sending such a perfect gift!

Look here: Glass Christmas ROSE Ornaments... and all 8 of them arrived in perfect condition.

A true BLESSING in many ways.

Lavender being my favorite color, together with the teal, these glass roses made for a perfect wreath with some fresh Rosemary sprigs.

Thank you ever so much for this precious gift dear Anonymous!

Someone knowing very well about my addiction to Roses and Angels...

~ 

Took this photo outside in the last rays of sunshine.

We both went with two of our kitties to the Vet, before I could make my photos...

This LED Pillar Candle did just perfectly fit the wreath that I created with some florist wire.

Flameless candle is also kitty-safe!

I've placed them on a large 12.25 inch or 31 cm Pillivuyt serving plate.

Don't you love these colors?!

With the lavender they are also most fitting for the Advent Season.

How very thoughtful in multiple ways...

Wishing you all a blessed Advent Season!

{SWEET Gifts from Celia at High Heeled Life}

SWEET Gifts from dear Celia M. High Heeled Life & Resilientista, a Blogger Friend I very much admire!

We did have brunch with her and with Susan from Ava Grace's Closet, while visiting Toronto, Canada in June.

Look what sweet Celia sent us home with:

Pure Maple Syrup; Orangic Wildflower Honey from her lovely state of Ontario, Canada.

Also 8 Syrup Wafers... So sorry that my husband Pieter had eaten some of them before I even could take this photo!

We ALWAYS do use Pure Maple Syrup with our waffles and/or pancakes.

That's what I did again today, see photos below...

The remainder of those 8 delicious Syrup Wafers.

YES, I got to taste one; when it comes to sweets, husband Pieter will win!

Such delicious Pure Organic Ontario Wildflower honey!

Guess when my husband will ever reincarnate, he will be a 'Honey Bear'

Yes, I baked plenty of Multigrain Waffles, using the Multigrain Mix for Pancakes from Trader Joe's  

We got fresh raspberries and blue berries from Costco in Jacksonville, FL.

Yummy looking out on our balcony in the sunshine!

Generously drizzled with delicious Maple Syrup...

Still lots of Waffle Hearts left over for indulging many more times in Celia's Pure Maple Syrup and fond memories!
Freezing them and reheating in the Toaster...

THANK you ever so much SWEET Celia for so many SWEET Gifts that keep on giving!!!

Please do visit this very special lady as only yesterday she went through the very tragic anniversary of her accident in 2006.

Related links:
{Brunch in Toronto with Blogger Friends I Admire} | previous post by me
Meet Celia M. | How High Heeled Life came to be: About Sunday, October 29 in 2006...

Managing Change with Celia M. | YouTube video Excerpt from Celia M. Speaking at BIST (Brain Injury Society of Toronto) - Oct. 28, 2013