1 Birthday cake

5 friends

6 am

packing 43 lunches

THEN:

90 minutes in

105 degrees with

40% humidity.

YUP, that’s

Bikram Yoga. 

It is my honor to create memorable birthdays for my friend LaNae for the past few years, and the next several.  We’ve done lunch with friends, spa days, up north weekends.  This year was different than any of those.  

I asked her to reserve the date and trust me.  SHE DID!!  Having NO idea, I just gave her some instruction; It’s gonna be a ponytail day, be awake at 6am and trust me.  And SHE DID!!  It would have been a piece of cake to spread the word with 20-40 people who would have loved to celebrate, but this was low key.  This was just 5 chicks who have what we need and enough to share.   Wait, wait, wait, not JUST 5 chicks.  These are outstanding women, pillars of grace and strength.  It could be mistaken as schizophrenia, multi faceted personality: humor, compassion, faith, tenacity, courage, perseverance and love.  There was not a silent moment during the 11 hours we were together… well, wait, there was, and that was the greatest discomfort or challenge of the day, the 90 minutes in the yoga studio. 

Drive in to Detroit:   We passed out 40+ lunches to just plain folks.  We thought maybe it had been a while since some of them had a fancy lunch packed just for them and delivered in with a happy wish. 

They were all so gracious and offered Birthday Wishes to LaNae, blessings from God and even warnings for us to be safe on the streets.

 The price of each lunch came out to $2.51, which consisted of a hefty ham and cheese sandwich with a gourmet dressing and lettuce, a piece of fruit, a can of pop, a bag of chips and of course as slice of  LaNae’s double chocolate, colorful birthday cake.  A napkin and fork were of course included.  The colorful ribbon and tag from LaNae added a nice touch.  I would have gladly provided these lunches as a catering job for $8.00 each. 

I don’t know when I will do this again, but it felt so good to share LaNae’s birthday with this group of friends and to meet so many new friends that we may never see again.  Next time you plan a birthday celebration for a friend or family member, what will it be?  What do you have to celebrate?  And if you ask me to be in charge, brace yourself and TRUST ME, I’ll be making plans at LuLu’s Table.