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| Janet's birthday party was held at The Lucky Lobster, the newest restaurant in town. Cute and colorful - perfect for a party! This was the start, and many more people came to celebrate. It was a fabulous, fun night. |
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| Birthday girl Janet with Annett (who decorated for the party) |
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| Happy Birthday, Janet!!! |
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| The cute and delicious birthday cake cake was made by T&C Kitchen here in town. It says "Happy Birthday Baby". |
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| Kind of last minute we decided to have a cookout for the 4th of July. We invited lots of friends, and people came and went, and we probably had about 40 guests in total. This was just part of the early crowd, most of whom stayed late. |
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| Birgit and Mirko had just adopted a puppy from the local Humane Society, and they brought her (Penny) to the party. |
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| Thankfully Tango liked Penny. Tango shared her bed and seemed to watch over the puppy (just 11 weeks old). |
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| Good friends Guido and Simonetta made it. Unfortunately, they are leaving Belize soon. :( |
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| Eric cooked BBQ chicken on the grill. |
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| We also had deviled eggs, salad, cornbread, baked potatoes and baked beans. |
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| Gluten-free brownies and Mayan chocolate truffles were contributed for dessert. |
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| We all had a great night, and everyone was worn out by the end. |
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| We went to dinner with just Mark and Sabrina, and on our walk to Chef Rob's Sabrina noticed two bright stars near each other and asked if they were planets. That reminded Eric that tonight Venus and Jupiter would be at their closest and appear to come together that night. We kept tabs on it, but it got cloudier and this was the closest we saw them. According to what Eric read there is a theory that the Star of Bethlehem was actually this type of event (the "joining" of Venus and Jupiter). |
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| It was a windy but lovely evening, and the moon was also full. This photo was taken right from the dinner table. |
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| Gluten-free and regular appetizers |
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| "Shrimp Bisque flavored with aged rum" |
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| "Pumpkin soup with Caribbean spices" (This is Sabrina's favorite, so she got an extra soup instead of the salad this time.) |
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| "Garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette" |
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| Mark had "Red roasted pork tenderloin in a balsamic coconut sauce |
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| Cara's special vegetarian dish of stuffed eggplant and mashed plantains (we think plantains - they were not potatoes) |
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| Eric had "Local grass fed rib eye steak with rum sauce" |
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| "Sauteed shrimp" (without the garlic cream sauce for Sabrina) |
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| "Classic Rich Chocolate mousse" Mmmmm...rich and delicious, made with the phenomenal local Mayan chocolate. The hard piece in the center is caramel sugar, and Cara and Sabrina loved it. We told Chef Rob and he gave us each a piece to eat on the walk home! :) |
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| We know the builder of the house going up across the street from us, and we were curious about what it looked like, so he let us take a look at it. |
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| The huge rooftop deck has views of the ocean (think sunrise) as well as of the savannah (yes, sunset). |
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| Their ocean view |
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| Savannah view |
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| Savannah view |
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| Somehow it came to be that Simonetta would cook an Italian dinner for several of us this evening. She came over to our place to cook. It was also Nick's last day here this visit (and a beautiful day), so a party was in order. |
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| The bamboo bar, ready for guests... |
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| Nick and Eric bringing down another table. |
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| Simonetta and Guido - a team in the kitchen |
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| Lobster tails for the sauce... |
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| Sauce in the works... |
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| Guests start gathering at the bar. |
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| Jean-Marc, Dolores and Guido looking at the "gift" Lea brought Mark from his recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. |
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| It was the gift that kept on giving this night. Let's just say that we all got inducted into the club (pictures not necessary). |
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| Gluten-free appetizer plates for Cara and Sabrina (including two types of bruschetta toppings, pesto, and olive tapenade). |
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| Bruschetta - one with tomato, arugula and goat cheese, and the other with tomato and basil |
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| Pasta cooking - almost ready... |
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| DELICIOUS!!! |
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| This was near the end of the evening, and it must be a sign of a great party! Notice that Mark has both his flip flops (okay), Guido has none (normal on the beach), but Jean-Marc has only one sandal (what!?) |
