Last year was the first year I was blogging during my birthday. Here is the post I wrote to celebrate: “Triskaidekaphobia + 51 is the new 21“. Now I realize that being 51 and 21 are totally different, so that part was a joke. But there really is a phobia about Friday the 13th, and that was the day on which my birthday happened to be last year. And indeed I was also born on a Friday the 13th. So for me it is a lucky day! Speaking of lucky, I had the fortune of being painted by the Artistic Chicks! Yes, Paul Broughall (the talented painter behind the chicks) was one of my Sunday Spotlight Snap Sistas. I am so grateful that he and the Chicks created this portrait!
This year I will be celebrating in London again, and friends are traveling all the way here to spend it with me. I will be with my doggie Stella and of course my best friend and soulmate, my Hubby. I will miss being with my grown children and their spouses and my grandbabies and other family. But each year is different and I am grateful for every birthday. As it is a miracle to even be alive as I shared before in a post called Outlived.
Therefore to honor this day, I want to share some quotes, 52 in fact! One for each week of the year. I have always loved quotes and I collect quote books. These are only a few that have inspired me, made me laugh and ponder the gravity of it all! . My 52nd birthday celebrated with 52 weeks of quotes
- Love is the force that transforms and improves the face of the world-Paulo Coelho
- We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up at the stars- Oscar Wilde
- When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart-James Joyce
- Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate. – Alan D. Wolfelt
- A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.
- There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw
- Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has the ability to comfort. –Norman Kolpas
- Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.–Craig Clairborne
- Cooking is like love. It should be entered into without abandon or not at all.–Harriet van Horne
- Food is the most primitive form of comfort.-Sheila Graham
- A good cupcake and a good life have many of the same ingredients; good timing, sugar and spice. –Evelyn Beilenson
- One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. – Virginia Woolf
- So long as there is food in the mouth, so long will the words be sweet. –Hindu proverb
- Food to a large extent is what holds a society together and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences.–Peter Farb and George Armelagos
- Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly. –M.F.K. Fisher
- Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. –Voltaire
- A mother holds her child’s hand for a little while, and holds their hearts forever- Irish Proverb
- That which is meant for you will not pass you by-Irish proverb
- A mind once expanded cannot go back
- Real heros don’t wear capes, they where dog tags
- Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country- JFK
- The true beauty of a woman is reflected in her soul- Audrey Hepburn
- Some people think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes strength is letting go-Herman Hesse
- Our highest purpose in life often comes from our deepest pain.
- This too shall pass
- Be careful how you treat a stranger they might be an angel unaware
- Some people are so poor all they have is money
- Be the sunshine in someone’s stormy day
- Imagination is more important than knowledge- Albert Einstein
- When the power of love over takes the love of power, then the world will know peace- Jimi Hendrix
- I”ve learned that people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel- Maya Angelou
- The new year lies before you like freshly fallen snow, be careful where you tread for every footprint will show
- Cooking is love made edible
- The real measure of your worth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money
- The greatest success we will know is helping others to succeed and grow
- The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer someone else up
- Whatever good or bad forture may come our way, we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value- Herman Hesse
- Life is a constant process of dying- Schopenhauer
- LOVE is not as much about saying “I love you” but how much you can prove it is true
- Be careful how you live your life you might be the only Bible some people read
- B.I.B.L.E. stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
- “How do you spell LOVE?”-piglet “You don’t spell LOVE you feel it” -Pooh
- A friend who is far away, is sometimes much nearer than one who is close at hand- Kahil Gibran
- Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful- Thich Nhat Hahn
- Spread Love wherever you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier-Mother Teresa
- I have decided to stick with LOVE, hate is too great a burden to bear- Dr Martin Luther King Jr
- Laughter is the sound of the soul dancing-Jerod Kintz
- When everything seems it is going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind not with it- Henry Ford
- Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “oh crap she’s up”
- There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling, that is why you were born- Oprah Winfrey
- The biggest tragedy in life isn’t dying, it is dying and meeting the self you could have been
- Be the change that you wish to see in the world- Mahatma Ghandi
Thank you for sharing my journey with me this past year! What a year it has been. Hubby and I traveled to Copenhagen, Kenya, Istanbul, and Iceland. I went to America several times to see family. We were back and forth to Ireland my soul home. And we were able to explore the U.K even more. I enjoyed cooking professionally and for pleasure. I was able to teach cookery classes and share some foodie fun through Snapchat. I attended blogging and social media events. I met amazing people and made new friends. I was honored to speak at the National Women’s Enterprise Day in Galway. And I won a couple of competitions.
To sum it up, I am in awe of this incredible life and respect both the ups and the downs. And I am excited about what the future holds. So here’s to another 52, please God!
LOVE and gratitude,
YDP
