Steve (DOS) and I attended a fun surprise party for my sister Jenni’s 60th birthday the weekend of June 21st. As l posted photos on Facebook, several people said “Jenni you look 40, not 60!” And my “baby sister” really does look more 40ish that 60!
The 60th party was held at Jenni and her husband, Lawrence’s house in suburban Maryland. Lawrence took her out to a Saturday afternoon matinee theater show in Washington D.C., while Jenni’s daughter, Nikki greeted the party-goers as they arrived at their house. Nikki, monitored Jenni’s arrival status via a GPS app; pretty high tech for informing everyone of their arrival time!
DOS and I had most of Saturday free until the 5pm-ish party, so we took my cousin Patty (who had flown in late Friday night from California) out to lunch before heading over to the evening party. I hadn’t seen Patty for several years as she lives in Southern California, so it was great seeing her , and we were so glad she could come so far away for a quick weekend trip. We went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, which also had several birthday party groups going on while we were there.
When Jenni and her hubby, arrived home, (around 6pm, an hour later than expected due to DC area traffic) everyone yelled “Surprise!”, and she was totally taken back in amazement, with a few tears mixed in! Along with DOS and myself, Jenni’s in-laws from Florida were in town, her best friend Susan from upstate NY, my cousin Patty from California, as well as local friends and family as well.
It was really a fun party for everyone, with a great mix of people, and everyone had a great time. People brought cards and gifts for Jenni, which were left in a pile, and she opened later. Lawrence’s son had brought a huge custom-made cake for Jenni, which was decorated with a cruise ship, as she works in the cruise industry; very fitting!
I took a few photos at the party, but mostly just enjoyed the time seeing my sister and family, and enjoying the company.
On Sunday, we went out to brunch at Uncle Julio’s, a Mexican restaurant along a boardwalk type complex around a lake. We had a nice lunch there, and later drove Patty to the airport for her long flight back to California.
On Sunday night Jenni opened a few of her gifts, including the one’s from Patty, Susan, and DOS and me. We had given Jenni a 60th birthday card (along with a couple gifts), that showed some of the prices of things, movies, music etc that was popular during her birth year of 1965. She responded with a spontaneous “nun pose” with her sweatshirt, as a nod to “The Sound of Music”, which was one of the most popular movies that year!
On Monday, it was unbelievably hot in Maryland (actually the whole East Coast of the US) this week, with temperatures hovering around 100F, so we decided against going to Charlottesville as it was way too hot to be visiting wineries and sitting outdoors at some of the venues. Instead, DOS and I went to Roanoke a few days early, and decided to do Charlottesville on another trip. We’ve been to Charlottesville several times and really enjoy it, but Fall is actually a much nicer time to visit there, both weather-wise, as well as with the beautiful foliage. So we next headed to Roanoke for the week where we are now. We took our time driving to Roanoke, which was about a five hour drive after stopping a couple times for recharging the Tesla as well as for lunch.
It’s now the last week of June and we’re staying in my home town of Roanoke, Virginia for a week or so at the Hyatt Place near the airport and Valley View Mall. Bye for now!
