Today is Ledcat's birthday and she gets to spend it at a dinner for my work.  Wow!  That's love, folks. 

Last night, I threw her a surprise party at Hoi Polloi on the Northside and it was awesome with a capital AWE.  Jessica, Sandra, Daniel, Christopher and Julian did a great job prepping for the big day and giving us super-duper-delishus service.  Our friend Kerry at KS Kennedy Flowers delivered a beyootiful arrangement.  We specifically invited vegetarian friends, gay and straight, all of whom raved about the food.  Even our little picky eater niece -- the Pickle -- approved of the pb&j while our friends' 14 month old boy dug into a bowl of vegetarian chili. 

The nice thing was that the party sort of stretched out over 4 hours.  There was no single moment of party rapture even though I had to pick a critical mass moment for the cake.  People rolled in and out.  I mean 16 people, plus kids, but still ... it was really nice and I am very grateful to the Burgan clan for pulling it all off.  They even baked a cake especially for Ledcat (they being a joint Sandra/Jessica collaborative cake effort).  She's been telling people about that all day. That really touched her.  And my father thinks that cake is the best thing he's ever eaten and has already planned his next five birthdays at Hoi Polloi.

I was so happy that Ledcat enjoyed her party.  You always worry about these things.  I knew she suspected something was up so I tried to throw her off the trail.  She would never expect someone she knows just a little bit to bake her a cake.

Later that night, I asked Jessica about that as we discussed donating our magazines to their coffee table.  She summed it up very sweetly ... "It is the neighborly thing to do." 

That has hung in my heart all day long.  I've never ever lived in a place where I had a neighborhood space to which I felt drawn.  Aside from 7-11 when I have PMS and there's nothing nurturing about that.

Hoi Polloi is a wonderful place to be.  The Burgans are this awesome family that just share their great vibe with whomever walks in the door.  Sandra is the creator of cakes and must be always appreciated.  The food is yummy and gets this somewhat stodgy lesbian to try all sorts of new soups

And they say "yes!" when you want to throw a surprise birthday party right in the middle of their business. 

Neighbors.  That's the real birthday gift for Ledcat (and me!). 

Happy Birthday Ledcat!