The official blog of Denise M. Baran-Unland, author. Discover her books for all ages at bryonyseries.com.
Showing posts with label Happy Birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy Birthday. Show all posts
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Thursday, July 23, 2020
From Jasmine, With Love
The day AFTER my birthday, Timothy's girlfriend Jasmine stopped by my house and totally spoiled me with gifts.
The reason she came the following day is because she did the same for my granddaughter Riley Marie, who turned four the same day I, Denise Marie (Marie was my grandmother's name and my godmother's name) turned fifty-nine.
Riley lives in another town and county, probably the same distance away from Jasmine's apartment in the opposite direction. On Jasmine's way back, a bad storm blew up, and we advised her to wait a day with her gifts.
Because Jasmine is a cake decorator and works for Jewel, she's deemed an essential worker and worked all through this pandemic.
I also had four grandchildren with birthdays since this began. And Jasmine has been amazing at making sure they have balloons, cake and gifts, all of which can be purchased at Jewel.
Now here's what she brought for me:
Flowers that are still fresh and are gracing the center of my kitchen table - in a color and scent "Henry" would approve.
A BryonySeries cake (yes, Jasmine has read the entire trilogy. She just lent her copies to a friend and bought an entire new set for herself, in case they don't come back to her).
Here's a closeup of the "bryony" vines.
And here is a closeup of Henry's purple rose, which I saved for last and split with Rebekah.
A proclamation of the perfect day...
...which Faith approves.
Jasmine also brought "emergency coffee," but I will never need to break it because...
Jasmine also brought these.
Yes, it was!
The reason she came the following day is because she did the same for my granddaughter Riley Marie, who turned four the same day I, Denise Marie (Marie was my grandmother's name and my godmother's name) turned fifty-nine.
Riley lives in another town and county, probably the same distance away from Jasmine's apartment in the opposite direction. On Jasmine's way back, a bad storm blew up, and we advised her to wait a day with her gifts.
Because Jasmine is a cake decorator and works for Jewel, she's deemed an essential worker and worked all through this pandemic.
I also had four grandchildren with birthdays since this began. And Jasmine has been amazing at making sure they have balloons, cake and gifts, all of which can be purchased at Jewel.
Now here's what she brought for me:
Flowers that are still fresh and are gracing the center of my kitchen table - in a color and scent "Henry" would approve.
A BryonySeries cake (yes, Jasmine has read the entire trilogy. She just lent her copies to a friend and bought an entire new set for herself, in case they don't come back to her).
Here's a closeup of the "bryony" vines.
And here is a closeup of Henry's purple rose, which I saved for last and split with Rebekah.
A proclamation of the perfect day...
...which Faith approves.
Jasmine also brought "emergency coffee," but I will never need to break it because...
Jasmine also brought these.
Yes, it was!
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Birthday Presents
Our family creatively approaches gifts.
We don't, generally, have wish lists or buy "wish" items. Instead, we keep interests and the element of surprise in mind and then give from the heart.
That said, here are some of the lovely birthday presents I received these last couple days.
A fish and water scene (left) and a mermaid (right) that my granddaughter Jessica made in Vacation Bible School. Note the heart shape in the fish scene near the bottom left. I love all the blues!
We don't each much red meat in our family, but I do like a nice steak a couple times a year. Timothy, who did all the grilling on Sunday, came home with a great one when he went to the store with Joshua. Both boys were pleased with their purchase. And since Timothy is a chef, he had to show me the raw beef and point out all its wonderful attributes that made it a great steak.
And, yes, because I'm a mom, I shared a few pieces with Christopher and Joshua, who both love steak and whose budgets haven't allowed for steak in years.
Jasmine and Rebekah made this BryonySeries cake, which I shared at The Herald-News yesterday. Yes, it was too much cake for me to finish, but Jasmine's goal is to own her own bakery, so any chance I can show off her efforts, I do.
Two employees did ask for her information, so I sent them the link to her Facebook page. Here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/sugarnspiceandeverything/
Jasmine and Rebekah also made me this cat blanket. Yes, I own cats (rather, they own us), but white cats are also a BryonySeries trope. The blanket is purrfectly soft and fits nicely on my bed.
This lovely purple rose preserved in glass came from Cindy and her son Justin.
Rebekah wanted to take me to a paint night at the Book and Bean Cafe last night to paint mermaids, but it wasn't in her budget. So she assembled this kit so we can have our own painting time.
These three grandchildren on the floor (from left: Riley, Jessica, and Ezekiel), called me at work to sing "Happy Birthday" along with Joshua and Amber (standing in the background, right).
The handsome young man on the stairs is another grandson, Micah.
And then Riley wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, while I sang it to her, alternating the verses. The best part was when we got to "Happy Birthday, dear Riley," and then she sang in a sweet little voice, "Happy Birthday, Grandma Baran," and then we sang the last line together.
When I arrived home from work, this card from my sister, featuring a picture of me and Faith, was waiting for me.
Have a beautiful day, readers, writers, and BryonySeries fans. ;)
We don't, generally, have wish lists or buy "wish" items. Instead, we keep interests and the element of surprise in mind and then give from the heart.
That said, here are some of the lovely birthday presents I received these last couple days.
A fish and water scene (left) and a mermaid (right) that my granddaughter Jessica made in Vacation Bible School. Note the heart shape in the fish scene near the bottom left. I love all the blues!
We don't each much red meat in our family, but I do like a nice steak a couple times a year. Timothy, who did all the grilling on Sunday, came home with a great one when he went to the store with Joshua. Both boys were pleased with their purchase. And since Timothy is a chef, he had to show me the raw beef and point out all its wonderful attributes that made it a great steak.
And, yes, because I'm a mom, I shared a few pieces with Christopher and Joshua, who both love steak and whose budgets haven't allowed for steak in years.
Jasmine and Rebekah made this BryonySeries cake, which I shared at The Herald-News yesterday. Yes, it was too much cake for me to finish, but Jasmine's goal is to own her own bakery, so any chance I can show off her efforts, I do.
Two employees did ask for her information, so I sent them the link to her Facebook page. Here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/sugarnspiceandeverything/
Jasmine and Rebekah also made me this cat blanket. Yes, I own cats (rather, they own us), but white cats are also a BryonySeries trope. The blanket is purrfectly soft and fits nicely on my bed.
This lovely purple rose preserved in glass came from Cindy and her son Justin.
Rebekah wanted to take me to a paint night at the Book and Bean Cafe last night to paint mermaids, but it wasn't in her budget. So she assembled this kit so we can have our own painting time.
These three grandchildren on the floor (from left: Riley, Jessica, and Ezekiel), called me at work to sing "Happy Birthday" along with Joshua and Amber (standing in the background, right).
The handsome young man on the stairs is another grandson, Micah.
And then Riley wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, while I sang it to her, alternating the verses. The best part was when we got to "Happy Birthday, dear Riley," and then she sang in a sweet little voice, "Happy Birthday, Grandma Baran," and then we sang the last line together.
When I arrived home from work, this card from my sister, featuring a picture of me and Faith, was waiting for me.
Have a beautiful day, readers, writers, and BryonySeries fans. ;)
Thursday, July 16, 2015
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