On Mother’s Day, I awoke and headed to the gym. I had the whole place to myself early on a Sunday morning and it was wonderful to sweat and grunt without judgement. When I returned, I took Sophie out for a walk and we did our rounds saying, “hi” to the sheep and donkeys. Today was not a Mother’s Day where I was awoken to giggling children and breakfast in bed. I can still remember their excitement when they led me out into the living room and I saw the hundreds of construction paper hearts they had stuck on every imaginable surface. These memories will be mine forever and it goes without saying that all of my children did reach out to me to wish me a happy day. It was good I had something planned or I’m sure I would have become melancholy to be away from them.

I had been invited to my friend Stella’s house for a luncheon along with four other very lucky ladies. Stella’s husband was in the U.K. traveling and she decided to make her friends a glorious meal. I knew two of the other women but met two more and was grateful to have been included. Stella’s house was beautiful as always–but this time with a gorgeous table set and pretty vases of flowers every where you looked.

The meal started with steamed artichokes served with her mom’s vinagrette. We all required instruction on how to eat the beautiful flowers and though a bit daunting at first, it was well worth our efforts. After those dishes were cleared away, out came a Coq Au Vin that was fantastic and a green salad to accompany. Next came the cheese course. God Bless France! It was made more fun by Stella having each one of the cheeses symbolic of each of her guests. We had to guess who was which and it didn’t prove easy. I turned out to be a blue cheese labeled with the adjectives, “determined, strong, and blue”. I don’t usually like blue cheese but this one was fantastic. I’m not sure how determined or strong I am but blue is my color…..

After the cheese, when we couldn’t possibly eat more, Stella challenged us with her famous chocolate mousse. It was served in beautiful china tea cups. It is truly the best mousse I have ever tasted. Even though I was full, I wished my cup would never empty.

It was not Mother’s Day in France and in fact, only two of the other women invited were mothers so we did a toast to “strong women and friendship” which seemed very appropriate. I feel so blessed to have a friend like Stella who entertains with such passion and excellence! I also feel lucky to have widened my social circle just a bit more laughing around a table, eating artichokes.