I'm the lucky one

That's me and my mom, dancing to a Dan Hicks tune,

played by Toki and John, 

who gave their music so generously and spontaneously.

The abundant weekend was delicious from start to finish. 

Family (two moms, two dads, one mother-in-law, plus the usual Us) and friends and colleagues helped me celebrate my graduation. The party was organized by my dad and step-mom (with help from dear husband--great table-mover in the rain, that one,  even if he did keep trying to get us to accept lasagna as our main meal), both of whom are quite expert at giving events. 

We had hula hoops and a lovely harbor:

And a sweet venue in the cozy Rockport Boat Club.

That's her, Annie the Amazing!

The eating was great, since the amazing Annie of Artichokes and Asparagus was our caterer extraordinaire. (Keep checking her blog, she said she will have some recipes posted soon.) We had salmon with tri-pepper salsa, lemon-rosemary chicken, orzo with shitakes, lentil salad with roasted cumin and chard from Annie's garden, fresh asparagus, and her own sourdough bread.

 The butter had a Johnny Jump Up in it. Adorable.

When the sun came out, briefly, the blogger graduate

leapt from her chair and delicious meal

 to snap some photos.

This lettuce is saying "cheese!"

It was waiting all winter in Annie's garden

to be a decorative table element at my party.

The decorations were by Jonas and E. and Jenny of Lokel Yokel:

The letters of the Hooray were spelled out using feet.

Fabric and paint and fingerknitting, with permanent markers 

(and a cardboard piece for providing a solid back to lean against), 

were provided for guests to leave their kind words.

It was the perfect party, with a few of my special folks who were only able to attend in spirit. Mostly, it was pretty great to be there with so many people who mean so much to me all at one time. Without them,  I wouldn't have done it anyway.