let's celebrate!

birthdays are a funny thing. at the early stages of your life you can't wait for the years to come. i think the first big one for me was around the age of twelve, when i could "officially" start babysitting. then of course the sixteenth year brought my drivers license, dating, and freedom. freedom from what, i'm still not sure, but it represented freedom. there was of course the age of eighteen. i think i remember feeling all grown up. like i had really accomplished so much in that ity bity amount of time. looking back, it was truly insignificant but a right of passage i guess. i couldn't await the anticipation of the next big adventure in my life. all associated with age. when i'm such and such, i'll be married. when i'm such and such, i'll own a home and have children. when i'm such and such, i'll travel the world.

currently, i can't comprehend i'm the age that i am. i think to myself...shouldn't i have accomplished so much more by this point? shouldn't i have been so much further along? i'm not sure who writes the book on where you should be at what age. but i'm throwing the book out. i'm going to celebrate the stage in life that i'm at. i'm going to celebrate the moments i have each and every day that make me who i am. i'm going to celebrate my seven year old who asked me what "that" was, as she pointed to the cassette player in the car. i'm going to celebrate the fact that it's not my birthday today. it's my friends day. and i'm going to celebrate her. her life. her accomplishments. we're all going to celebrate with a little lunch. a little time well spent. and this fabulous little refresher.

vanilla italian soda

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tbl vanilla extract

1 tbl almond extract

2 liters lemon lime soda

1 can spray whipping cream

in a saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved. (about 7 minutes) remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Cool and refrigerate.

to serve, mix 1 cup syrup with 1 liter soda over ice. stir and pour into glasses. garnish with the whipping cream.