Celebrate Good Times! C'mon!

It's been a bit of a rough week, so I'm dwelling on the positives: Sunday I had an amazing day, filled with celebration.

Daylight Savings meant that 9:00 a.m. came earlier than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I trotted off to my friend Melanie's (she who gave me the cloth napkins) house for brunch.

Now, my party philosophy has always been that all utensils, napkins, cups and such should be tossable, hence freeing me from clean-up. It's time for me to change my ways, however. At brunch, Melanie used compostable partyware, some version of which can be picked up at natural groceries like Central Market and Whole Foods.

Shelley and Katie are modeling the compostable cups, filled with mimosas. Don't Katie and Shelley look fetching?

The cups and plasticware are made of corn products, and must be composted to fully biodegrade. And yes, I do know that there are ethical issues involved in using a food product (corn) to create non-food products (cups). However, this is one alternative to just throwing partyware away.

Melanie also used cloth napkins at the party:

I think Shelley could have a career as an eco-friendly model, don't you?

I had to leave the brunch early, however, so I could receive one of my birthday gifts: Girls' Fun Day with my friend Darcy and her daughters. We went out to lunch and took in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. This was my special birthday request, and I loved my gift -- no wrappings required!

The girls take in "Two Circle Sentinel" at the museum's sculpture garden. Much discussion ensued about whether the sentinel guarded circles or was made up of circles.

P.S.: Our model, Shelley, is the author of Exercise Gumbo, a blog dedicated to non-traditional exercise. According to Shelley: "I hate to exercise, but I like to do things that are fun." That's a refreshing approach to fitness. Check it out here.)