Hitting (and celebrating) 50!!!

Yesterday I wrote a rather personal post for my blog, to be published today, my 50th birthday (thanks, Paula, for imagining yesterday’s number to be my waistline or my weight, hehe…gave me a good chuckle! 🙂 ). But between yesterday and today I received so many lovely comments on my blog’s Facebook Page that I decided to write a different post this morning. Yesterday I’d asked my readers the question: what should I do on my 50th birthday?

Here are some of the answers I got:

  1. Welcome to 50!
  2. (Translated by yours truly from the original Italian): In the morning, go buy something you like, not necessarily anything expensive. In the afternoon, take a nap…it’s hot. In the evening: go out for dinner up in the hills, al fresco, with a few well-selected friends.
  3. Go for a day drive to a place you have not been and enjoy a lovely dinner there!
  4. Cuddle with your cats and then get a massage and pedicure and eat gelato.
  5. Enjoy all those things during the day and top it off with a wonderful dinner out in the evening.
  6. What about kicking back on the lounge perusing a copy of Bharat’s “Healing Spices (50),” whilst consuming 50 gms of alcohol of choice with 50 gms of chocolate of choice…and perhaps an episode of “Absolutely Fabulous” or something ‘Jane Austen-ish’ playing on the telly
  7. However you celebrate, I hope you and your family enjoy it. I myself like going for a walk with my family in nature, talking, laughing, having a picnic. A massage doesn’t hurt :-). May you have wonderful dreams tonight, and may they all come true.
  8. I spent mine in Bali! There are $5 massages there! I guess it’s too last minute for you, though, lol. Take that nutre walk with family and have your picnic afterwards. Then go get a massage. As per drs’ orders… sort of… I hope you have a GRAND birthday however you spend it!! More Birthdays!!
  9. Enjoy the day with your family and cats. Eat Cake and take it easy!
  10. Unless there is something burning you want to do on “that day” otherwise, just pick something to mark the occasion you would like to do anytime this year! That’s what I do! haha.
  11. Let’s pick a new star sign for July. I seriously object to both “cancer” and “crab” – with C.R.A.B. being the myeloma markers. Your assignment is to come up with something better, possibly Italian, we can adopt. The Pleides?
  12. Have a wonderful day just enjoying—–whatever–jus?t enjoy! 50 is GREAT!

Great suggestions, thank you all so much. 🙂

A few months ago, I decided to celebrate my 50th with a BANG…with a big, no a HUGGGGGE party to which I’d invite all our friends and all my students. But, to be super honest, even though everyone would have brought food and wine, a big party always means a big clean-up afterward. As much as I love my friends and family, is that what I really want?

No.

You see, I’m really a lazy bum at heart. And this is my birthday, so I can be lazy all I want! 😉 Besides, I’m seeing my girlfriends for dinner and a card game tomorrow evening…I’ll celebrate with them tomorrow…

Another problem: my 83-year-old Mom pulled a muscle near one of her ribs last week, so we can’t go out for dinner as originally planned (we were going to go to one of Florence’s best Indian restaurants)…

After giving this a bit of thought, this is what I’ve decided to do today: stay at home with my parents and my cats (Stefano’s at work, but he’ll be here for dinner, of course) and watch one BBC television drama series after another. A BBC marathon. Yeah! I have the 3rd and 4th seasons of “Larkrise to Candleford” (not my favourite BBC series, but I do want to know what happens to Dorcas and that prissy young gal…).

And I just picked up a HUGE “bongo” (= chocolate-covered, pastry cream-filled profiteroles, surrounded by blobs of chocolate pastry cream…yummmmy! See photo) from one of my favourite pastry shops. So we’ll just lounge around all day, as one of my blog readers suggested, and eat cake. Yeah! (By the way, that tray of small sweets, cream puffs and whatnot, were “pre-birthday” and made by another favourite pastry shop…)

Oh, one more thing. This is really important. On your 50th birthday, sugar apparently is verrrrry healthful…the best thing you could possibly eat, in fact. I read a study about that recently…yes…now, what was the name of the journal?…

P.S. Loved this video about robins, thanks Donna! http://goo.gl/qzLfN

20 Comments

  1. My anti-spam word was feast – has someone been tinkering?

    Have an Absolutely Fabulous day! For this day only I won’t begrudge paying my TV licence fee so you can enjoy Lark Rise to Candleford!

    As to the goodies since strawberries and dark chocolate are antiangiogenic it’s practically health food. ;D

  2. Happy Birthday, Margaret, and many happy returns of the day!

    As a birthday present I wish I could nominate you for some sort of international award in recognition of all you do for MMers – I don’t know how I would have coped without your help.

    You thoroughly deserve any treats you want on your special day. Back to normal tomorrow, though!!

    Jane B.

  3. Many Happy Returns on your birthday and may you have many many more! You are an inspiration to others. From my mouth to God’s Ear, may He (She?) smile on you and bless you for the next 50! (and beyond….) 😀

  4. Happy birthday. That delicious looking “Bongo” and a BBC marathon with drama series seems like a dream day celebration.

  5. Feliz Cumpleanos Margaret! I wish you a very happy day and a 50th year full of wonders! I am very grateful that you were born! Best Wishes, Debi

  6. HAPPY HAPPY Birthday Margaret.
    Enjoy every second.

    We ALL appreciate you so much
    Blessings

  7. Dear Margaret,

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

    I frequently visit your blog and many compliments for the great job you do and the help you give to people who have had the misfortune to be stricken by such a terrible disease as cancer.

    I have just found out, and would like to make known to all your blog visitors, that an Italian Pharmaceutical Company in my home city of Genoa (whose seriousness in the study, research and development of nutritional supplements has been confirmed to me by many medical doctor friends of mine), has developed and put on to the market, available in all Italian pharmacies, a new product made of Curcuma and Piperine.

    As you know, Curcuma at 95% is generally scarcely absorbable. I have seen this Company’s scientific leaflets for doctors information which explains that by their innovative formulation and research their Curcuma product has been made hydro-soluble and therefore bioavailable and absorbable.

    The products commercial name is ONCODEFENCE and for the time being is available only in Italy.

  8. Happy Birthday Margaret.
    Thanks so much for your blog and the information it impacts.

    Happy a very happy life!

  9. Tanti auguri! 50 is good – in fact 50 is also young – Hope you did just what you wanted to do today -including those sinful pastries and the profiterole cake.
    Just saw your question on one of thelists and decided to check up on you – in fact thought about you because it’s 47C today here – I am holed up in my appartment with water, ice packs and the air conditioner non stop.

    Is that Pericoloso on that picture?

  10. Tanti tanti tantissimi Auguri di Buon Compleanno!!!!
    Scusami tanto per il ritardo, ma in questi ultimi giorni non ho potuto collegarmi 🙁
    Un grande abbraccio
    Doriana

  11. Van harte gefeliciteerd met je 50e verjaardag!

    (Congratulazioni per il tuo 50e compleanno!)

    en nog vele jaren in goede gezondheid en stabiel
    (Molti anni in buona salute e stabile)

  12. Happy birthday Margaret! Hope you had a very sweet day in any sense of the word 🙂

    Wish you all the best now and forever!

    Robert

  13. Happy HAPPY Birthday Margaret!!! Thank you for all you do for MMers. Do you have any clue how special you are? How many people you’ve helped? You are an angel. Thank YOU!!!

    Best Birthday wishes for you from Me!

    Michelle

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