End-of-decade celebration

I recently hit a “zero” birthday, and Igor commemorated it by playing this video as I walked down the staircase in the morning:



I actually hear this video nearly everyday because the boys ask for it, but I didn't expect it to be played on an actual birthday. I was really touched. It was really funny, however, when Ivan came down a minute later, yelling, “Who woke me up with this stupid ‘Happy Birthday’?”

I had to go to work as usual, but didn’t have to cook. Igor and I picked up dinner from the Russian store, including eggplant stuffed with beef and zucchini souffle. Dessert was not the usual Napoleon, but Curly cake, layers of vanilla and chocolate cake, with mocha and nut frosting in between. But what a funny name – I’m sure something got lost in the translation.

I also celebrated with some of my girlfriends over the weekend. Mainly women from my bookclub, which hasn’t gotten together since Ivan’s birth. We had a lovely afternoon tea at Upstairs at the Pudding, comparing how raising young children (including seven boys under the age of 6 – plus another one due in a month!) and new careers have affected our marriages, and discussing how our 20-year old selves would react to our current lives. I even got presents - a complete surprise - including chocolate (always a hit – and not the Hershey kind!) and books (including the fabulous Essential New York Times Cookbook – 1400 of the best NYT recipes since 1850!). The boys later had fun with the tissue paper, using it to wrap more presents for me like a pencil and board books.