Congratulations Elisabeth!

Earlier this week, we broke bread (and toasted with a bit of wine) to celebrate Elisabeth's retirement from a very fulfilling 35-year-career! Her work as a project manager for a global company took her to various cities in the U.S. as well as other countries. 

Now she is looking forward to spending time in Michigan with her family and friends and completing some of those home projects that have been hanging out on her list for awhile. 

Desiring a festive location for this celebration, we chose to meet at the Wine Loft in downtown Kalamazoo which is owned by the Millennium Restaurant Group. This destination also fit into our goal of 'buying local' as the Millennium Restaurant Group was formed by a group of restaurateurs from the Kalamazoo area. The group owns eight other restaurants, each with it's own theme, mostly in Kalamazoo, as well as an event center. They also do catering from box lunches to fine dinners and are well known for their high quality food and service. 

The Wine Loft is nestled in the ground floor of the historic Haymarket Building and furnished with dining tables as well as cushy couches with coffee tables divided by curtains for more relaxed, intimate seating. The menu offers tapas for a light dinner or snack as well as salads, soups, flatbreads and full entrees. As you would expect, the wine list is extensive - both by the glass and the bottle. 

We arrived at 6pm on a weeknight, but the restaurant already had a scattering of guests. It's location, just a block from the Radisson Plaza Hotel makes the Wine Loft a natural stop for entertaining visiting business clients. After 10 p.m. it fills with the young and beautiful, dressed for an evening out and the music gets turned up a few notches. 

As usual, the girlfriends enjoyed hearing each other's latest news. Sarah updated us on her possible work trip to Germany this fall as well as her new volunteer opportunity to coach men and women who have been out of the work force for various reasons as they prepare themselves for new employment opportunities. 

Ruth shared some great photos of her trip to New York and the beautifully presented (and presumably tasty) food she and her husband enjoyed while there. We chatted about her upcoming status change to Grandma and how to balance helping with the new baby while giving the new mom and dad time to enjoy their new roles and bond as their own little family. 

We prayed for Anna who was not able to join us as she was busy nursing her mom back from a fall. We trust God to hear our prayers and heal mom as well as give Anna the capacity to show loving care during the healing process.

But what about the food? Ruth and Sarah each ordered a Flatbread which is much like a square, thin-crust pizza. Elisabeth and I were food twins, ordering the beet salad and crab cakes.

Beets are one of those things people either love or hate and you can count me among the lovers! With some smoked blue cheese, cipollini onions, honey roasted walnuts, beet juice vinaigrette and flat leaf parsley added to the mix, the salad was divine. The crab cakes were a perfect compliment, filled with blue crab and covered with a light crunchy coating.

To complete the celebration, Elisabeth and I ordered deserts to share. We parted ways on our desert selections. Elisabeth chose chocolate lava cake and I picked three Small Bite Cupcakes from The Cupcake Zoo, which is located just a couple blocks away from the Wine Loft. Both choices were delicious and paired with some decaf, they were a perfect ending to a great meal.

Once again it was great fun to fellowship with these Godly women and I can't wait until next month when we head back to the Richland Pub. 

Blessings until then,

Miriam

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

December is a crazy, busy month isn’t it? With the trimming of trees, prepping of Nativity Scenes, practicing for the church musical and shopping for Christmas gifts, it’s a whir of activity and let's face it... stress!

Which is exactly why taking time to enjoy a meal with the girlfriends was so important. We managed to find an evening that worked for the four of us and made it a date.

To continue our theme of staying local in Richland, Michigan, we chose Kare’s Village Diner. The proprietor, Kare (pronounced like the word “care”), dreamt of owning her own restaurant since childhood and happily opened her diner in the spring of 2007. You can read more about Kare’s here.

Since it’s opening 6 years ago, Kare’s has become a popular breakfast spot in Richland, located just across M-89 from the Gull Lake Schools campus. It’s a pretty small place with little more than a handful of tables. 

We knew they were open for lunch as well, but were happy to learn they are open until 8 p.m. most days, serving breakfast, lunch or dinner! On Friday nights they have a fish fry!

We arrived at 6pm and had the restaurant to ourselves. It was not Friday, so we checked out the menu and after some chatting with the waitress, all decided to order a hand-pattied burger. Ruth went for the basic burger with cheese, lettuce and tomato. Elisabeth continued her search for the best olive burger in Richland and Sarah followed her lead. I chose my favorite burger species - mushroom and swiss.  Hand battered onion rings or hand cut fries accompanied the burgers. 

True to the promise, the burgers were fresh and the onion rings crispy-fried masterpieces. Although the jury is out on the BEST olive burger in Richland, Kare’s has a place on the list of finalists. 



As the evening progressed, the conversation moved from excitement about the season to checking on personal concerns and discussing logistics for our upcoming trip to visit Snowbird Anna! As we watched the snow fall outside, we chatted about pedicures and beaches in our future. But it was the friendship surrounding us that made us feel warm that night.  

We reminded each other that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and to just... slow...down. 

Even though we felt stressed when we walked in, we enjoyed lots of laughs and love during dinner and left feeling supported and calm. Isn’t it amazing what good friends can do for us? That reminds me of a Bible verse: 

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 

May you experience the blessing of Jesus today and always,

Miriam

End of Summer Park Party

Meeting with girlfriends in the park in Richland on a most beautiful, warm and sunny summer evening after visiting our local Subway for our selected meals - life doesn't get any better than this!  

Delightful conversation followed as Miriam and Sarah tried the pulled pork and Ruth stuck with her Subway standby, the Italian BMT. I chose the oven roasted chicken and we all made it a meal by adding our favorite chips and cold drinks.  All meals were tasty, with many healthy veggie additions! 

It was a really comfortable evening on the picnic table in an active town square. We talked and laughed over the details of a recent excursion on the Kal-Haven trail, bicycling in monsoon rains that Ruth and  Miriam bravely attempted.  We were very proud of their efforts, however, in getting out there.

We all discussed those friends we had who were going through health challenges and prayed together, missing our friend Elisabeth, who was out of town.

Work and life challenges were again topics of concern, as well as our children and families. Updates on possible retirement areas we have considered were examined also. Wow, we can't possibly be saying that!  We're all way too young for retirement.          

It's great knowing each of us can depend on the prayer and support of our entire group! We all seem to be refreshed and lifted up after sharing time together.  

Looking forward to our next meeting and the next update,

Anna

In Honor of Friendship Day

My calendar indicates that today is Friendship Day, which made me think of Girlfriends Breaking Bread!

So, I found a couple of Bible verses about friends and thought what a better way to share them than on our blog. I hope these verses help you celebrate the joy of good friends. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

John 15:12-15

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Blessings to you and your friends!

Ruth