Birthdays. After a certain point many of us don't like them. They remind us that we're getting old and wrinkly. Some of us start to feel useless as we get older, even unappreciated.
Well, I'm not going there! I refuse. Yeah, the wrinkles are starting to form colonies on my face and the fat is migrating... everywhere! Still, I have great people in my life and so much for which to be thankful.

So I'm determined to celebrate every year I'm here.

Thanks to some really special friends, I was able to enjoy another year on planet Earth all week long. And, some of you are going to reap the benefits of my celebrating when this year's Christmas book comes out in November because my pal Jill Barnett has graciously given me permission to include her amazing chocolate cupcake recipe in the recipe section. Yum! Of course, there will be other recipes, too, because, as you can see from the pictures, the cupcake mania didn't stop with Jill's party. I'm testing recipes for the book and so I cupcaked more friends on the official party day. I can hardly wait to share these recipes with you in the book. They're yummy!
So, Father Time may have come around thinking he was going to be the party pooper at my party this year, but I fooled him again. Happy birthday to me!

I must admit, I've never gotten why anyone would want to live in Florida. This, I realize, is because I didn't always have the most positive experiences there. My first visit I learned you Floridians have alligators in the lakes and fire ants on your lawns. And I flew out barely ahead of a hurricane. Totally creepy. My second visit was summer before last for a writers conference. In July. I thought I would die. But last week I was in the Tampa area and had a very different experience. Warmth! End of January and I was running around in a sweater. Wow!

I had the opportunity to meet the fabulous sales staff for my new publisher, Mira, and stayed at the Innisbrook Resort. What a lovely place. The sun was out, the osprey put on a show, and I even got to spend some girl time with my fabulous agent Paige Wheeler in the nearby town of Dunedin, which is both scenic and a lovely place to shop. Probably one of the most unique shops we went in was this one pictured below that featured every imaginable kind of dangly from wind chimes to Christmas ornaments. Sensory overload! Loved it.
And loved Florida. I'll be back. Hopefully.