Week 22/23: Belated Birthday Celebration & Crafts That Don't Involve Alcohol

The week after my birthday, I planned an outing with friends to celebrate. Our group of friends has decided that in 2019 and going forward, each person plans their own birthday. It just makes it easier than all of us trying to remember everyone else's birthday and deciding who would plan and arrange the get together.

We spent a few hours at an outdoor outlet mall and then headed to Thorn Creek Winery in Aurora. The winery has been around for about 10 years, but it was new to all of us. Aurora was formerly home to Sea World and Geauga Lake amusement park. Both have been gone for nearly 20 years, but I have fond childhood memories of both. The area is now populated with upscale homes for people who don't seem to mind a long commute into the city. People who own horses and have gardeners . . . .

This was the view from the parking lot. I figured it would be a scenic place because they seem to have a lot of private events and weddings. I had to double check on the date a few times to make sure it was open to the public on the day we had planned.

There are numerous outdoor seating areas. We were lucky to have such a nice day.

This was the view from where we were seated. There were little white lights wrapped around a lot of the trees. It must be beautiful at night.

We went for happy hour. This was my flight. I wouldn't say I loved any of them, but they were drinkable. They source the grapes from all over the country, so it's just a winery, not a vineyard. We had some appetizers and everything was delicious. A nice birthday celebration with a few close friends.

The following week, I told my middle child that I would attend a women's breakfast at our church with her. She loves to go to any event that involves crafts, because that's her thing, not mine! So, my new thing for week 23 was sucking it up and eating quiche and making a craft at church! LOL!

We decorated picture frames for some local nursing home/assisted living residents. I was confused at first, not understanding that pictures were not going to be going into them. It was actually a nice idea. Here are mine. The top frame I made for a man and the bottom one for a woman. I'm sort of proud of how professional they turned out!

I had to show the difference between my minimalist approach to this one, made by my daughter. She likes to cover every inch, no matter what the project! The post it notes cracked me up. I guess they didn't want us to offend anyone by putting anything religious on the frames. My daughter, who has autism, takes everything literally, so I hope 'Believe' wasn't too spiritual for the recipient!