I TURNED 43 TODAY!!!

The secret to staying young is to
live honestly, eat slowly,

and lie about your age!
~Lucille Ball~

I have been working on being more honest.
With myself.
With others.
With my expectations.
With my limitations.
With my reality.
With everything except my age!

I again refer to my theory on why women should lie and represent themselves as being years older. You don't ever want to say you are younger than your actual age and get that awkward smile from someone who is about to call you out on your lie. You know the look. It is usually followed by silence. Instead, I prefer to say I am years older so I get the other smile. The one that tells you that even though you haven't really brushed your hair since Pepper was born; and the bags under your eyes are no longer considered carry-on size; and your smile is a little less vibrant than the rainbow it once was; you still look pretty young. I don't care as much about how young I look, but rather how young I act. I am so thankful that my children keep me young in spirit!

And speaking of eating slowly, Joey and I had the most relaxing, slow dinner ever. I had been waiting weeks for my birthday dinner at Heritage Prairie Farm and it did not disappoint! They are an organic farm in Elburn, which is right past St. Charles and Geneva. I would LOVE to join their C.S.A. this year, but it is a little out of our price range.

Salivate over my personalized Valentine's Day/Birthday Menu. Every savory morsel that passed my lips was more delicious than the next. I will, for a long time, dream of the cucumber and lime granita. I had never had microgreens before but they were so packed with flavor! When I saw the ravioli, I thought, where is the marinara? It was so light with just shaved pecorino cheese on top, I didn't even miss the sauce!

This is what helped me enjoy dinner.

Here is my sweet dessert.

I was full but I could not be wasteful!

Joey looks like he had more to drink

than I did. Not true in the least!

How hard do you think it was to find cute black flats to wear with my favorite dress and new bolero? I checked 6, yes, 6 different stores to no avail. On my last stop, I found these little purple beauties. The awesome Paris box is a birthday gift from Mil and Fil!

After asking her for fashion advice, my sister warned me that I couldn't wear heels to a farm. She was right. They were way too gorgeous and inexpensive (85% off) to pass up! Besides, a girl has to buy herself a nice present once in a while! We got to the farm halfway through cocktail hour and had to park at the end of the gravel and snow covered driveway. It was a long and slow walk. We almost missed the second half of cocktail hour. I decided to pretend I was just making a slow and graceful entrance, just like a queen would! Here is the walkway to the farm house. And lastly, please take note of my ever-present, yet only occasionally photographed angel.