Leaky Charm: "Over the Hill's" a bit dramatic don't you think....

Seriously...birthdays...it's not so much the age we turn

(although it can be a little bit depressing wink,wink)

but it's more about "WHERE DOES THE TIME GO??"

It's going by toooo quickly!

But I first want to thank all my family and friends for all the wonderful messages, letters and sweet gifts. It was a great day...even if I am getting old...

So the Wednesday before my actual birthday, Christel Satter asked me if I'd like to go on a walk down "The Long Walk" in Windsor Park. Of course I did and we did the lovely six mile walk to the castle and back. As we were approaching her car, she asked me if I'd been to the little pub located right outside Great Windsor Park called the Fox & Hound. I hadn't and she asked if I'd come in for something to drink. As we got in, Mary Fitzgerald was there with a big beautiful bouquet of flowers and said, "Let's have a birthday lunch!" I was completely surprised and had no idea in the slightest that they has planned this little outing. We had the nicest lunch together and I am so grateful for their friendship.

It was so much fun.

The waiter even surprised me with a delicious birthday platter for dessert.

Then on Thursday, Alyson planned a girls trip into London for my birthday lunch! I have been wanting to go into the Walkie Talkie Tower and Alyson got tickets to go into the conservatory and have an amazing lunch in the tower's restaurant. Sarah Knight and Stephanie Carroll came and we had the nicest afternoon together. We laughed and talked and they all spoiled me with gifts and Alyson even had a beautiful yellow cake made (my favorite color of course!) for us to eat for dessert.

The food was so colorful and delicious.

The views from the tower were incredible.

It was like getting a birds eye view on the Tower of London

We stood at eye level with the Shard.

The Thames and the HMS Belfast ship

How cute is this cake?! So thoughtful and not to mention delicious!

On Saturday, I got to attend a Women's Conference in Reading with

Rachel Wadman and Suzie Yates. It was an amazing day together being

spiritually renewed with such talented speakers.

Then on Monday, my actual birthday, Spencer took the day off and we went into London.

Quick Story: Spencer had sent me an email a few weeks earlier and asked me to "pick a spa package". I was pretty excited and they all looked amazing. But I asked him if instead we could bike around London to some sites I'd been wanting to see. I was too scared to bike by myself because the traffic is CRAZY, but I knew he would be confident enough to handle it and I could just follow his back tire.

He was so happy with this request and off we went.

We first went to "Postman's Park" where there are beautiful plaques sharing stories of "ordinary" people who had performed "extraordinary" deeds. Each of these people had all ended giving their life in the act of service...some for people they knew, and others for complete strangers. It was heroic and humbling to read about these amazing individuals.

Postman's Park

Spencer kept taking pictures of our adventure - (sorry there's so many of just me)

Next we rode to part of the excavation of the original London Wall.

It was built by the Romans around 200AD

Finally, we rode to Spitafield's Market in East London. I'd never been to East London till today and I quickly realized I had been missing out! It was a flee market of sorts that's on daily and fabulous high-end as well as starter-up stores combing the streets. After doing a little more shopping, we got back on the bikes and headed back to Waterloo Station...