Hamptons Birthday

Christine and I rode the Jitney out to the Hamptons mid-morning on Friday. We got to the house and met Neil and Nate's friends Jason and Aseem, who cooked a fantastic dinner for all of us that night. Photo note: these are a mix of shots from my camera and Jason's, but the really good ones are his!

Jason made us Moscow mules to drink...yum...we also had lots of the boys' favorite rose from Wolffer Estate.

Aseem grilled potato wedges. He microwaved them for a few minutes so they were par-cooked when he put them on the grill, tossed in a blend of spices.

Jason grilled Romaine lettuce for a Caesar salad. Fantastic!

The next day was my birthday! Neil made scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for us to enjoy poolside. Late in the morning, we got dressed and went into Sag Harbor for lunch at B. Smith's on the water.

Our delightful waitress Dee was quite excited to have a birthday girl and insisted I taste one of the restaurant's signature watermelon margaritas. Almost all of us had a lobster roll...mine came with a special birthday salad, garnished with an edible flower. We had fun looking at the yachts in the harbor, especially the one with a Mini parked on it!

Dee offered up some words of birthday wisdom. She said 35 is a good age because, "all of that foolishness you used to go for...you're not going for anymore." I wrote her quote down in my notebook, and she autographed it for me.

Next stop was the Wolffer Estate. The boys wanted to get another case of rose, so we also had a bottle of celebratory champagne while we were there.

Then we drove through Amagansett and toward Montauk to meet our friend Mae at Cyrils beach bar. It was quite a scene, and we all got a big kick out of the people-watching. The crowd was practically spilling out onto the highway.

After such a big day, we needed a low-key dinner. We ended up at World Pie in Bridgehampton, where we had three very funky -- and tasty -- pizzas. One was duck with cilantro, green onions and hoisin; one was a taco pizza; and one was bacon and pork with pineapple.

Christine got me a Devil's food cake, and we just ate it at home in our jammies. What a wonderful day! Who could ask for more -- great friends, great food, great weather. I feel like I am living the life! PURE JOY.