Birthday Lunch and Technology Upgrade

Yesterday was a birthday lunch for my friend Shirley and sister Denise.  We met at a fun place called Beaches.  We got the very best table in a window corner with a view of the Columbia River.  We were treated like royalty and the birthday girls were given purple sparkly crowns!!

I gave them each a ZZ plant.  The Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a tropical perennial plant native to eastern Africa, from Kenya south to northeastern South Africa. I also got a cache pot for each with copper fall leaves and acorns on them.

They ordered a healthy meal of roasted chicken and cauliflower, I had a mini personal pizza.  We chatted away during lunch and I tested out my new iPhone camera.. here is a sailboat in the middle of the river.. it was raining and I was shooting through a tinted window with raindrops running down the window and about a quarter mile away.

Beaches is in Vancouver, Washington across the river from Portland, Oregon and not far from PDX, Portland International Airport.  So while we dined and chatted we watched a succession of airliners pass by.

Two barges sailed by being pushed by tugboats... see the sailboat behind it?  That's the one I zoomed in on above.

The lovely and friendly waitress presented Denise and Shirley with a fresh bag of caramel corn they make themselves.  Denise told the waitress about the wonderful dessert she had not long ago which was vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce with caramel corn on top.. and the waitress surprised her with this!  She shared some bites with us and sure enough, it was DELISH!

Shirley and I had the Key Lime Pie... oh yum.

After a wonderful celebration and lots of chatting and fun, we headed out, this sweet hostess opened the door for me and I said.. wait.. I have to take a photo for my blog.. LOL!

I'm looking forward to going back.  By the way.. that is a huge oversized Adirondack chair by the door.. I can imagine many people have their photos taken in this.

Denise sent me a photo of where she put her ZZ plant, in her kitchen window, it should be happy there.

The seasonal display at the nursery where we bought the plants was amazing!

I was most attracted by this fuzzy pink flowered plant but did not check its name.. anyone?

I've updated to the new iPhone 11 Pro Max - my 2 year old phone's battery was wearing out.. and to be honest.. I wanted this one as the camera is supposed to be quite an upgrade.  I found this bling-y case on Amazon for cheap.  

The saleswoman was very good and told us how important it would be for our health to invest in 2 Apple watches.. :-)  You can even give yourself an EKG on it, which I have done and it told me it was normal and I had an excellent heart rate.  It also tells you occasionally to BREATH.. and to get up and walk for a minute.. and if you fall down (I've heard) it tells you to get up and if you don't it asks if you want it to call 911!

It's neat because you have dozens of different watch faces to choose from.  And most importantly, you don't have to have your phone nearby and can make calls from your watch.. Siri will also make the call for you, too.  And of course I got a beaded watch band for it.. again.. very inexpensive.

I walked into the den this morning and look who was making herself comfortable in my easy chair?  Why, it's miss Mocha!  ::snap::

It's a swim day.  What are your plans for the day?
((hugs)), Teresa :-)