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Garden Party Cocktails, Graduation, and an Apology

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I never said good bye. I’ve broken the main rule of the blogger code. You know -   the stay in touch, keep your readers informed or you will lose them rule. What can I say? Sorry doesn’t always help. What about temporary insanity? Yes, I can definitely claim that. I last wrote about Pad Thai and since then my life has been upside down. The most important thing I can tell you is that when you have a child graduate from college- well, it hits you.

 

 When you have two graduate from college, it is more like a double punch when you lose your breath and your knees are on the ground. Thank goodness it wasn’t triplets. It has taken me a long time to collect my thoughts as they have been scattered all over Pennsylvania in five different hotels, two cars, countless restaurants and among lots of people, including one set of grandparents. And as quickly as we all came together as a family we are all quickly scattering apart. I can now honestly say that we don’t know when or where the four of us will be together again. That is a hard concept for me to grasp. Ok, all you pragmatics out there. I know that is life. It just didn’t hit me until recently. I know this is what we prepared our kids for, but no one prepared ME. It will take awhile to fill you in on all that transpired since April 27th but I won’t bombard you with the nitty gritty in just one post.  I plan on savoring the memories- slowly, but with gusto. Like eating a dark chocolate hazlenut truffle in 4 bites, instead of two.

 
The truth is that it took 21 years to get to this point. Many good years, lots of tough times and struggles, but yes, the kids are OK. And I am soooo proud of them. Not only do they now have degrees the best part is seeing what they have become. Yes, I know they are still BE coming but that won’t change their drive and their kindness and their pride in who they are. They have all the tools of what I think success is and they have the tenacity to see it through. One speaks Chinese and charms people, in addition to being an accomplished guitarist and outdoorsman. The other conquers numbers and solves problems and never takes no for an answer. She also is an avid runner and tennis player. They are both excellent skiers. And thank goodness, they both can cook!  Both are BIG thinkers and both believe in this crazy world. And though they are both sooo different, they made it their own way, on separate paths and they did it without killing each other. I think they are even starting to like each other again. Sigh. They are both trying to do what makes them happy in this world and that makes me happy. I forgot to mention that they are both beautiful and perfect.  Well, most of the time. One must always have something to aspire to.
 
 
So our wonderful weekend at Bryn Mawr started with  dinner at Minella’s Diner, a place I wish we had in Denver. It has everything you could want in a diner and it satisfied after  a long day of travel. One had days of travel, but that is because South Africa is far, far, away. Friday brought convocation and Saturday was the BIG day that began with a lovely brunch,
 
 
 the making of a balloon owl (Bryn Mawr's mascot),
 a decorated car,
 
                          
lots of waiting and then the bagpipers and drummers led the way.
 
 
 
 Very exciting. Graduation was, well, graduation,
 
 
 and then it was on to the garden parties.
 
 
 Bryn Mawr has a great tradition where the girls gather on the lawn as their personal garden party girl gives them a tea party.
 Caty (dressed in light pink) knows how to party!
 
 
She planned a delightful tea complete with tea sandwiches, 
 
 
 
fruit and cheese,
 
 
 
  homemade cake pops
 
 
 and superb cocktails.
 
She even decorated the table with Zoe’s favorite flowers (gerber daisies) and little metallic zoe’s scattered all over. I think if medicine or tennis wasn’t calling her name she would be a perfect party planner. And so the weekend continued. Perfect weather, fantastic occasion, wonderful family, great friends, good food, and refreshing cocktails. The perfect recipe to make anyone happy. And I want you to be happy, too. I want your afternoon to be glorious and refreshing.  So...Maybe after you make this garden party cocktail you will accept my apology and realize even bloggers lose their minds!
 
The Princess Graduate
Notes: St Germain has been a favorite of mine for several years now. It is an elderflower liquor and has a very subtle, flowery taste.You can mix it into anything and I do! In this case we started with using wine or champagne as a base and added a splash of chambord. You can tone it down and add club soda. But we morphed it into Arnold Palmer’s and that really made our garden party sing.
 
Garden Party Cocktails
 
 1 and ½ shots Iced Tea (I make sun tea by using 4 bags of black tea to 1 ½quarts of water.) I then squeeze the juice of half a lemon and two packets of sweetner into it.
½ shot Lemonade
½ shot St Germain
Splash of Chambord or raspberry liquor –
 
This makes one cocktail in a champagne flute. Feel free to adjust your measurements. And Chambord can be optional. It is the St Germain that makes it sing.You could also add ice cubes but we didn't have any. 
 
Cheers!

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  1. Steve Berke says

    I enjoyed reading your work. I'll come back for more

    Keep up the good work 🙂 from TheStillery, a night bar in stuart Florida

    Reply

  2. Abbe says

    Beth, I totally agree with you. Make sure you are kept busy and plan your first visit to see her. It will give you something to look forward to. And it is good, just different. Thanks for reading.

    Reply

  3. Beth says

    I have one graduating from high school this week. She's working at camp all summer, then off to university in the fall. I know this isn't good-bye, but our family will look a little different, and it feels bittersweet.

    Reply

  4. Abbe says

    It is always nice to be missed. Thank you so much for the congrats and I have a lot of catching up on your blog to do, too!

    Reply

  5. Kitchen Riffs says

    Welcome back! I've missed your posts. Sounds like you've been tremendously busy and have had lots to occupy you. Congrats to the graduates! And the cocktail looks great. Thanks so much for catching us up with what's going on.

    Reply

  6. Abbe says

    Thanks Anonymous Janine. I appreciate your reading and it would be nice to see you, too!

    Reply

  7. Anonymous says

    I really enjoyed reading about the kids,seeing a picture of your mom and love your writing. You are the best. You need to make a cookbook along with your stories. It would be a best seller.

    hope to see you soon. love, Janine

    Reply