spring or winter?

 i was surprised to see the crocuses poking their heads out of the ground when i took laundry down to the laundry room today. hmmm . . maybe these are daffodils. it's february 19th! (greg's birthday). this is the earliest i've ever seen them come up. i must have missed the snow drops. i should check the corner garden.

 i had to meet greg in our apartment coop's office to sign new paperwork, which everyone has to do as a loan was refinanced. afterwards, we walked over to one of our favorite cafes/diners (owned by a fellow neighbor in the complex) seeing several other neighbors there who had done similarly. it's a favorite place to be for everyone. we had lunch there before greg went back to work, and i walked to veniero's for his birthday cake.

 along my walk i passed the callery pear trees which were budding! another big surrprise.

 in the evening we attended my friend jeanette's community concert. she is with a new orchestra this year, not far from our apartment and in a beautiful concert hall. it was free and we were there early and able to get great seats. i really enjoyed being able to see the musicians so well, and as principal violist, jeanette was right in front. they played tchaikovsky's romeo and juliet overture, and symphony no. 5 in e minor, opus 64. it was exciting and beautiful and i loved it. it's always fun when someone you know is up on the stage.

 back at home chanda had the cake ready and we celebrated with greg.

 we each gave him a cute card. i'll have to add the pics of them later.

the veniero's cheesecake was delicious!