My Birthday Blog Bash!!!!!!!!

(OR OTHERWISE TITLED: IT'S MY BLOG AND I'LL PARTY IF I WANT TO)

Welcome to the Maine Beach House! If you haven't been here before, this is my dream home I escape to with my writing group when we're in need of a little whine... ooops! I mean wine. And want to gab. About writing things. Or girl things. Or just laugh a bit. We laugh a lot here.


Could there be a better place, then, for my fortieth birthday bash?

I spared no effort in cleaning it for you, so come in, grab a fruity refreshing drink and join the party!


I made lots of little h'ordeurvey things too. Feel free to grab some on your way by.



That looks like a lot of raw fishy stuff on top there. Maybe you'd rather have something fried?

Mmmmm.... Spring rolls!
I think I'll take one of those Martini glasses with shrimp cocktail. Yum! In fact, I might take more than one...


Shall we retire to my favorite place in the house? The porch! Isn't this to die for? I even bought a new table for out here so we could eat here if we wanted. Off to the right you can see the ocean - that would be the Atlantic. Off to the left are the gardens. I won't be offended if you want to wander off there for a little bit and enjoy the gorgeous flowers. They don't even bother the most sensitive of allergies! Blog gardens are nice that way.


I know most of you are already sneaking around trying to find the library. Fine. It's over there.


There's a great comfy couch to sit and read, but don't even go hunting around the desk trying to find my WIP. It's hidden. :)

Since it's such a perfect day (it's always a perfect day in blogland), you might want to head down to the pool, too. I've got some fluffy towels, and extra swim suits in the pool house if you need them.


I started the grill up. Are you hungry after all that activity? Nothing better on a warm summer day than some barbecue!


Of course, if you are a little weirded out by the heads on those fishes (really! now why didn't I chop those off before I put them on the grill??? Oh yeah! I don't know how to clean fish...) Perhaps we should just stick with a good steak . Can't go wrong with that...


I suggest pairing that with a nice red wine. If that's your thing. I know some of you are wary of the red-wine-headache. I'm pretty sure blog wine is safe, but I'll understand if you'd rather not.


Of course, if you'd rather have something a little less fancy, a good hamburger is always available.

I'm not really a beer drinker myself, but I hear that's great with burgers on a warm summer day, so I stocked the fridge for those of you who like it.

I think I'll stick with my favorite:


Ah! Refreshing! I think I'll take one of those steaks and an ice-cold iced tea... with lots of lemon!!

If you are still worried about Mad Cow thing, I stopped by the Farmer's Market too, so there are plenty of fresh veggies to nibble on.


And, of course, fruit salad. All organic. It took me a long time to find one - I mean make one - without bananas. I detest bananas. And since it's my birthday, I left them out.



If the porch is full, feel free to find a spot in the conservatory. I love how the sun fills this room! It's a perfect place to relax with a margarita, too!


Oh look! It's birthday blog magic! The kitchen is clean! Looks like I get out of doing dishes tonight! Who's up for a walk on the beach?


Isn't the sunset gorgeous on this beach? What? You expected to see an actual photo of the sun setting over the water? This is the Atlantic. The sun rises here.


But you know what's really cool about this photo? It's actually taken at the beach behind my dream beach house!

It gets a little chilly when the sun goes down. If you stay long enough, we could always set a fire in the living room and retire there for dessert.


Anyone for bite size desserts?



Or shall we dive right into the birthday cake?



Well, go ahead! Grab a glass of champagne there and let's have a toast!


To another decade! To all my blog buddies who have gotten me through this year! To us!