Today is my birthday and Bookman and I both took the day off from work to celebrate.

Our day began with breakfast at Seward Cafe. We love this place. I had a super green tofu earth and a bottomless cup of coffee:

This is a half order and is so filling that even when breakfasting at 8 a.m. I am still not hungry by lunchtime. This deliciousness is made of hash brown potatoes, onions, scrambled tofu, broccoli and vegan cheese. Toast with tahini on the side there, and ketchup. Bookman had the same thing but also had salsa on his.

I had thought we would go to the conservatory today to look at the spring flower display garden, get some warmth and color. I like doing this for my birthday because generally it is cold and gray and sometimes threatening to snow. Not this year! I got sunshine and 65 degrees (18C)! Unprecedented. So we took a lovely long walk around the neighborhood that included a stop at the library. And then we ambled around our garden, looking for bare spots that needed plants, talking about a new garden area we are going to dig in the next few weeks, and admiring the green buds and new growth of spring on everything else.

By then it was time for a present. Since I am 44 on 4.4, I have been joking about what an extra special birthday this is. Bookman agreed and got me an extra special present. I love fountain pens and have several. I have wanted for years and years since I tried it at a pen store, a Mont Blanc Meisterstück Mozart. But it is expensive and I could never justify splurging on myself like that. So Bookman decided to splurge for me.

See, it even comes with a glowy halo to go with the 14K gold nib. It is the smoothest, lightest, most beautifully crafted fountain pen I have ever written with. I will be able to write for hours with this baby!

As if the pen weren’t enough, Bookman also made me cupcakes: banana split cupcakes to be exact.

What is a banana split cupcake? The cupcake is banana cake. Then there is pineapple and chocolate swirled into the batter.

Then, on top, goes the “buttercream” frosting, sprinkles, chocolate drizzle, walnuts and, of course, a cherry.

And how did they taste? Fantastic! I thought they were going to be really rich, but they weren’t. Sweet, yes, but not overly so and not heavy at all. I could have eaten them all but I shared with Bookman because I’m nice that way and he gave me that Mozart pen.

Now for some reading a quiet evening to end a perfect day.