The Sunday before last, Erik and I had a very important social engagement honoring this styling guy:

Henry is Erik’s first cousin once-removed, he lives two blocks away from me, he let me study him for my final grad school project, and he turns one year old this month! To that effect, Erik and I suited up in our Sunday best and headed to church for Henry’s baptism.

Apparently, baptisms were very popular that day. I’m not sure what the standard is (this was probably my second time in church for a reason other than someone’s wedding), but about 7-10 babies were being celebrated! Henry got his swim on and kept a smile on his face the whole time:

And within moments of being released, he and his pinstripes were off and running. No one could keep up!

Following the service, Erik and I snagged a ride with Erik’s Uncle Jim out to Staten Island where Uncle Jim and Aunt Lois had prepared a phenomenal post-baptism first birthday soiree at their HOUSE (capitalized because it is a real, live, free-standing house, and such structures excite me very much after 10 years of NYC apartment-living!).

I walked in and saw veggies, and my heart sang. I beelined for the sweet red peppers and tzatziki yogurt dip.

I admired the dinner table …

… but I did not touch it because it was not yet time!

I contented myself with the gorgeous display of appetizers: spanakopita and sweet meatballs with currants, mmmmmmmm!

I also took a stroll out back and cried over the garden that is not mine:

Lois’ veggies are well on their way!!!

(I stopped crying over how impressive the garden is when Lois gave me a big bag of fresh picked salad (including romaine, arugula, and mesclun) to take home with me.)

As soon as I saw full plates making their way onto the patio, I ran inside to assemble my own with string beans and veggies, apricot-glazed (I think?) chicken, onion foccacia, and lots of fresh fruit:

Look at those colors! The hallmark of a perfect meal 😀 I had seconds, obviously.

We digested on the patio for a while. I admired babies. (Surprise!)

  

There is so much space at this house!

When the raindrops started to sprinkle down, we moved inside for the best part of any birthday party: cake time!

Henry came out for a quick cameo to appease the singing crowd …

  

… and then he was whisked off to bed while the rest of us pounced!

The cake was chocolate with real strawberry slices between the layers and buttercream frosting. I got my corner piece:

The party wound down around 6 or 7, and Lois packed up a whole grocery store of leftovers for us to take home: ham, green beans, potato salad, fruit, cake … not to mention my fresh-picked garden salad. We didn’t even have to go shopping for food since Monday’s lunch was taken care of:

When Erik and I got home from the party, we went for a brisk walk around the neighborhood in an attempt to work through some of the extra belly weight we were carrying around after that feast. Nighttime in the Slope is unbeatable … except for, maybe, nighttime on a beach 😛