Sawako's birthday tradition

   Cafe Gratitude, here we come! Infinitely grateful for good friends, and for taking time to celebrate together. Sawako brought me an ingeniously-designed cell phone strap from her trip to Japan last month, to match hers. She named our monkeys "Georgie Clooney" (see earlier post). Love you, dear friend!

   We feasted on our usual sweet potatoes with tamarind glaze & mint purée, roasted Brussels sprouts with miso-maple glaze, the "sushi bowl", and the veggie burger with mozzarella nut "cheese" and avocado. With chocolate hazelnut pie, aptly named Bliss. Too-full and happy.... a running theme in our friendship.

   I will miss Sawako so much when she and her husband moved to Oceanside, California. So I'm savoring all the time we have together now… And already looking forward to the times I can visit her in her new home!