gifts from my awesome framily

(Framily= a word I just made up meaning 'friends who are family')
So, I finally got some documentation of my birthday haul. Of course, as I uploaded my pictures, I realized I forgot the tea from Steph...it's already nestled away in the tea cabinet! Yummy Pumpkin Spice tea that smells like that first bit of fall, when you wander into the country store.
Everyone was super thoughtful. After reading all my posts about my mail art pen pals, I got a lot of fun stuff to do some collage art!
From Donna: some great old postcards, souvenir cards, antique wallpaper bits, one of her chicken feathers, and some matte cuttings from when her hubby worked at a frame shop.
From Renee: some old stamps and stickers. Ahh, the memories!
It's true that I invited people over for a tea party, and then asked one of them to bring a teapot, because I don't actually own one. 'Oh, I forgot the teapot!' she exclaimed. I'll just boil water and we'll steep in our cups, no biggie. 'Well, why don't you open your gifts, first!' [giggle giggle] So, of course, I could guess I was getting my very own teapot! So cute, too.
I really was overwhelmed by the gifts! Donna and Nate also gave me this great vintage kimono! So, now I have two...does that make me a collector of vintage kimono now?
They also gave me this great raised garden kit! It's a little circle and I'm so psyched about it. I had decided to keep my herbs separate from my veg beds this year. I was just going to use pots, but this is perfect! Spring has GOT to get here soon! These hilarious candles...I love that my name is too long to fit in the package...the 'R' had to take a back seat to the other letters. Of course, we only used the 'J-E-N' anyway.
This was funny! That's the bag of gifts from Donna, and sitting next to it is MY old Raggedy Ann doll. From when I was too young to have much more memory than a vague recollection of owning it. But what a great thing...I love getting together with these girls and laughing and talking about when we were younger. I love having family that is more like old friends...people you CHOOSE to love and hang out with. Sometimes family can feel like an obligation...I like the feeling that we actually DO enjoy each other. (Some times people don't understand our family dynamics...but I won't get into that!)
And Donna's chickens gave me these great fresh eggs! The blue ones are so pretty I will be sad to eat them...but oh, so happy at the same time!! :)

And, my super special hubby cracks me up. When I left yesterday morning for work, there was a homemade CD with my keys. He had downloaded a Pink Martini CD for me AND tickets to see them this summer at the Melody Tent (a small local music venue).
When I thanked him, he told me the story: He heard the music after a music reviewer friend of ours mentioned the band. He then saw that they would be performing at the tent this summer. So, then, to make sure I would actually like to see them, he played the CD while making dinner the other night...noticing me check the iPod to see who it was. 'oh, do you like them?' 'they're fun!' So, that was that...a little trickery to make sure I would like my gift! He's so cute.
And:

I forgot to mention my sources for my food!

The scones and tarts came from joyofbaking.com and this is, ultimately, the clotted cream recipe that I used.