Remember waaaay back, a TV program called “Queen for a Day“? Well, that’s how I felt on Saturday, October 11, when a lovely party was held in honour of my recent special birthday.

I hesitate to tell you how old I am now, because when most younger people think of my age, they immediately picture the old idea of – well, “old.” You know, something like…

… or maybe:

But actually, this is me at 80:

I was super happy as you can see, since my children, Kathryn and Jeremy, threw me a lovely birthday brunch party at a terrific restaurant, Comida Mexicana 514, where these photos were taken!

So to give you a flavour (so to speak!) of how my big day went, that included great food, fabulous family and friends, and loot bags to boot. Ohh, the loot bags! Stay tuned…😜

The highlights – oh, so many highlights, like the flaming sparkler millefeuille presented to me at the end of the meal. And the wait staff – including the owner herself – singing several verses of the Spanish version of a Happy Birthday song! And all my loved ones gathered around! Don’t let the phones in some of the pictures fool you – we were looking at the menu, trying to decide which delectable meal to order! (You scan a QR code with your phone, and then the menu is right there on your screen.)

The out-of-towners – Jonathan, Nathalie, and Taylor, in Montreal from Vancouver. Son Jeremy and daughter-in-law Lucy, in town from Southampton, N.Y. Such a pleasure to see them all.

And that final cake, the heavenly buttercream chocolate melt-in-your-mouth goodness – can you tell it’s my favourite? 😋 Thank you Kathryn, our post-resto visit to your condo for cake and ice-cream, plus a look at some of your holiday photos, was delightful!

WAIT! I almost left out one thing – the loot bags! The loot bags for each person I spent days preparing! The 7″ x 4.5″ yellow mini-bags I stuffed with various goodies such as bubble-gum lollipops, miniature chocolate bars, butterscotch candies, coloured markers and little notepads, rubber duckies, tiny ink stamps, mini-post-it (generic) notes, aaaaand…. poems! Yes! I had written a personalized little poem for each guest, coloured the emoji with markers (since our colour printer conked out long ago), glued each poem to a fancy index card (See in the photo what John’s card says on the back!)… and after all that – after all that work, well, not work, really, since I had FUN doing it all… but then… after John and I arrived at the restaurant (early) and were sitting with cups of coffee and I started thinking… I realized… I LEFT ALL THE LOOT BAGS AT HOME 😱 in a shopping bag by the door, just where they were supposed to be, for me to pick up and TAKE WITH US TO THE RESTAURANT so I could give them out to everyone at the end!

Aarggggghhhh!!! 😨 So. No ifs, ands, or buts. I had to go back home to get the bag o’ loot bags, and come back (12 km X 2). We don’t have a car! I refused to even think of asking such a favour of anyone. (No one was there yet except my children – no one had a car there.)

I took a very expensive taxi ride home and back again to the resto. The lovely Iranian driver with whom I had a fascinating chat, waited while I retrieved the darn bag chock-full of the wonderful LOOT BAGS I had laboured over. It was fine. I was glad.

Everyone loved them! 🥰😜😅

A splendid day was enjoyed by one and all!!