Drew's 14th birthday celebration! Friday, July 19, 2013, marked Drew's 14th birthday -- and the celebration HAD to be at her favorite restaurant (it really is her favorite...she has always gotten very excited just realizing we are arriving there; she loves the food and the chance to dine with us on the front porch patio).  The restaurant has been called the Berlin Inn; in late June of 2013 the staff bought it from the owner -- but did not have the wherewithal to pay the extra requested to keep the name.  So, it now is the Brooklyn House, named after the Brooklyn neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in which it sits.  But the food is still European and excellent, so it remains her and our favorite. But -- the new owners closed it for a month to clean and spiff it up, and repair what needed repairing, before reopening it looking pretty much as it always has.  To give you an idea of what it does look like, here is Drew standing with Jane in front of it, just before it closed for a month.... Drew and Jane in front of the Berlin Inn (now Brooklyn House) in Portland -- on the first day of Summer, June 21, 2013 ...And yes, that IS the famous porch upon which pooches may dine with their owners, in the background right behind them.  The restaurant is built within a former house in the neighborhood. There was the problem, of course, that the Brooklyn House was set to reopen on Friday, July 26, one week later than Drew's birthday.  However, Drew is a celebrity there, and the new owners said that of course they'd open the porch early and serve the party on the 19th.  We specified a buffet to make it easier for everyone, and in addition to the various delicious food items for the 28 human attendees, there was to be rice and meatballs -- the same delicious meatballs the humans had before them -- for the pooches.   And of dogs, there were six -- four of them German Shepherds.  Drew, of course; Gwendee, also a longhair with a penchant for carrying her Frisbee with her everywhere, up with her family from Corvallis, 80 miles south -- she looks a lot like Drew; there was Flossie, the sometimes-goofy GHD belonging to her friends and colleagues at Oregon Episcopal School, the Whitmores; and there was her new friend Zephyr, a good boy who is not quite 6 months yet, but looks pretty grown up and who was very well behaved.  Zephyr was brought by Maggie; they both live a block away from us.    There was also a Yorkie, Amy; and Brodie, a Cairn Terrier (which is what Toto was, in the movie "The Wizard of Oz").  You will meet them all in the slide show below, along with most of the guests! As usual, it may take a few moments for the slide show to load, but be patient.  Once it is fully loaded it will automatically cycle through all the pictures in order.  It starts with the moment Drew learned, on the late afternoon of her birthday, that there was going to be a party!  But she didn't yet know how big it was going to be.  It was the biggest party she has ever had, and she once again got a special cake, prepared just for her, near the end.  Of course, it was delicious and the humans had some of it too.  It was a carrot cake. Enjoy Drew's 14th birthday party...! Image:    Click HERE to return to the home page!