Celebrations, Contemplations and Wearing the new Skirt

As intended, I wore my new skirt on Tuesday for my 53rd birthday lunch, creating a new tradition in the process as is the second year I have made and worn a new birthday skirt.  Although I had no intention of being repetitious, apparently I wore the same shirt with both skirts. Last year's look was a bit more sophisticated though. Oh well, I am thoroughly enjoying my new skirt, even though G commented that I was going for "peasant chic" when he saw me in the skirt with the flat sandals.

 

When I made the skirt I had a strong suspicion that it would go well with my birthday present from G, a pair of tourmaline earrings and a bracelet, not matching as they are made by different designers, but very similar in color and feel.  The skirt also goes well with these favorite gladiator sandals, which I have had a few years.  The coarseness of the fabric complements the raw leather of the sandals, which is good because although I love the sandals I have had trouble pairing them with outfits at times.  I rather like the mixture of the pretty, feminine print with the coarser leather, and I am tickled that the colors of the skirt echo the colors of the daylilies I planted last fall.

This year I opted to go to lunch instead of dinner, partly because it makes the day seem more relaxed and I have that option since we are both retired, and partly because G is simply brighter in the afternoon.  Once again we went to the Culinary, this time to the American Bounty Room, where we hadn't dined since we had lunch with Marji last fall.

 

I had the duck confit salad which was incredible, even without the crusted goat cheese, which unfortunately has gluten in the breading, followed by the salmon and smoked scallop roulade, which was lusciously light.  The combination of the salmon and the scallops, at once tender and sweet with just a hint of smokiness and deeper flavors was perfectly offset by the lobster butter, and the most delicious artichokes I have ever eaten.  They were simultaneously astringent and tart, and full of nutty, earthy artichoke flavor combined with a rich buttery intensity, perhaps from the lobster butter, that almost a symphony of complimentary flavors.  I judiciously parceled my artichoke pieces around so that I could savor them slowly.  I ended with the banana white chocolate creme brulee, which was just perfect, and only just sweet enough, not as overwhelmingly sweet as I had feared, despite the combination of often too-sweet white chocolate with sugary bananas.

 

G had the crab cakes to start and ended with the modern baked alaska, which is a lemon sponge cake topped with strawberry gelato and then baked with a meringue topping.  I couldn't sample either but he raved about the dessert enough that I am seriously considering making a gluten-free version at home.  For his main course he had the grilled smoked pork tenderloin which amazed me because although it had all the tenderness and silky texture that I associate with well prepared pork tenderloin, the flavor was rich and complicated and far more intense than I expected with that cut of meat, having all the flavor of a rich slow-braised, caramelized, fattier cut of pork, except wrapped in the tenderloin package.  I would love to know how they did that.

 

While we were eating I was trying to pay attention to the flavors and enjoy the moment, but I was also thinking about how I would describe the meal, and thinking about all the food and travel blogs where people post photos of the delicious things they have eaten.  I found myself thinking "how do they do that?", when of course, I know "how" they do it.  They simply take photos.  Just as I was thinking this, and thinking that I couldn't really bring myself to interrupt a lovely dining experience and conversation by pulling out my camera and photographing my plate, the food was brought out to a group two tables down from us.  As soon as the waiters departed, the entire table stood up and pulled out their cameras and smart-phones and started snapping, playing musical chairs as they moved around the table photographing each other's plates.  It seemed like a game and a dance.  The flow of the restaurant was unchanged; no one seemed to notice.  I probably would not have noticed had not been thinking about that very subject. But I still couldn't do it.  Perhaps it is a generational thing like the tables of young people I see at otherwise fancy restaurants, interrupting their meals or their conversations to text.  

 

And there you have it.  At 53 I do not feel old although I acknowledge that I am on the tail-end of middle-age.  And yet, I am old fashioned and out of date.  The habits of the young sometimes seem completely foreign to me.  I do not disparage them, I simply recognize that my views are becoming passé.  I am not yet ready to give up my standards, nor am I willing to withdraw, but I also realize that everything changes, that time and culture marches on, and that the world will, inevitably, pass me by.  I can interact with the world and continue learning, I can remain youthful in spirit, but I cannot become young. No matter how much I grow and change, the building blocks that form my perspective will never be the same as those that form the basis of this brave new world, just as the framework around which I built my life was foreign to the perspective of my own parents and grandparents. As I celebrate my birthday, so I celebrate being able to be a part of an ever-changing world.  

Comments

[LPC]

Lovely post. And I do like the skirt:). Happy birthday, Mardel.

[BetsyV]

Happy Birthday, Mardel! Lunch sounds absolutely scrumptious. Very pretty skirt.

[metscan]

I wish you a Happy Birthday Mardel!

[SewingLibrarian]

Happy Birthday. I'm glad you and G had a lovely outing.

[Tiffany]

Belated Happy Birthday! The meal sounds absolutely divine - I love reading about food, and I enjoyed it even without pictures. I think your description of the photographic musical chairs shows just why it can sometimes be better to be a little old-fashioned ...

[materfamilias]

I'm glad you had such a lovely day, altho' I wish I'd got here in time you add to the birthday wishes -- here they are in belated form.
Food photographs can, of course, be a great way to remember -- and to share -- the joys of a good meal. But the food is much better honoured by the attentive, thoughtful analysis -- not to mention delight -- that you bring to it with your words. I've snapped photos of food, but without flash and without standing, moving, etc. But it's generally a quick substitute for the more sustained, deliberate savouring that you do here. A picture is not always worth a thousand words.

[Myrna]

Belated happy birthday. Wishing you a wonderful year.

There are many things I have chosen not to do - like Facebook - because I'm not interested or because I prefer a more personal form of communication. Others are making those choices and I've found that my decision distances me. Oh well. There is such a loss of relationship in today's world. Saying that makes me feel old. I often think that my children literally have no idea what they are missing because they've never experienced to identify that yearning.

[K-Line]

Happy birthday!! That meal sounds awesome and I think there is a bit of boho chic (not peasant!) going on :-)

[Gina]

Happy Belated Birthday!

[RoseAG]

The resturant scene with the cameras sounds like something we'll be seeing in a movie scene before long.

I returned from a weekend where we scattered the ashes of a friend who died last November. We treked to the top of his favorite hiking trail and unloaded our cars for a short walk to the appointed location. His SO scattered the ashes as two video and three still cameras recorded the scene.

I guess that's just the way we are...

[Kathryn, aka fzxdoc]

Happy Birthday, Mardel. Your birthday skirt and lovely new jewels look marvelous on you. May the coming year bring you much happiness.

[Duchesse]

Happy birthday! You look so fresh and beautiful in your skirt and sandals. I'm 10 years older, almost to the day (and found turning 50 way harder than turning 60.) You will only keep learning and growing.

Your earrings and bracelet, exquisite. The play of colour, depth and simple, modern design are all "Mardel"- and since given as a token of love, even more treasured.

[Susan Tiner]

Belated Happy Birthday Mardel! You look so lovely in your new skirt. I enjoyed reading about your meal and your thoughts on getting older. I turned 53 myself in February, and like you notice the generational differences.

[Ginger]

How fun... a birthday skirt instead of a birthday suit! :)

Happy birthday and you look fresh and lovely!