Darlene threw an incredible birthday party for me this past Friday. It was a Chicago-style hot dog party, which was challenging because some of the key ingredients are simply not available here. For example, she had to have a local bakery make the poppy seed buns as a special order and we had to use food coloring to make the relish the appropriate neon green. She also had some friends in Chicago send a few other ingredients, but sadly the box arrived a day late, not due to any fault of our friends. Receiving things form the mainland is random at best. It really wasn’t a problem though and those ingredients have already been put to good use this weekend (we have A LOT of leftovers).

It was a really great night and a fun party. It was a little strange to celebrate without the usual group back in Chicago but we are very lucky to have so many great new friends. Thanks for a wonderful birthday party Darlene!!!