Girls' Night Out Again

My daughter M came up Friday afternoon to go to Girls' Night Out in Fairhaven with me, an annual event that we enjoyed in 2013 and 2012, as well. All of the proceeds go to the clinical trials program at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center here in Bellingham, helping to pay for research-based treatment not be covered by medical insurance (coverage for clinical trials varies among medical insurance providers).

As in previous years, after purchasing our "passports," we walked around Fairhaven getting them stamped at a variety of stores. We spent the most time at Forte Chocolates, which recently opened a store in Fairhaven, and offered a generous variety of samples for Girls' Night Out. I've never been fond of white chocolate, but theirs is exceptionally rich and creamy, and not overly sweet, and after conscientiously tasting nearly all the samples, I decided that Forte's white chocolate with lemon and black pepper was my favorite flavor.

As further proof that my sweet taste buds are awake again, after a vegetarian Thai meal, and more strolling to shops, we also had gelato, and the modest scoop of dark chocolate and the other of Italian hazelnut, which together constituted a "small" serving, tasted delicious.

I did more walking this afternoon and evening than I've done for several weeks, given my recent hip and leg issues, but not enough to offset those indulgences.

It was wonderful to have this time with M, which ended late Saturday morning, as she had other commitments in Seattle--but not before we enjoyed homemade waffles made by Phil and topped with our individual preferences for maple syrup, butter, chopped pecans, black currant jam, banana slices, and vanilla yogurt. (No one chose to top a waffle with everything...)

(The original photo was in color, with Dramatic Tone in use, but I prefer this mono version.)