What do you do to make your loved one’s birthday special?

On my train ride into the office, I got off quite a few stops early to go to Steven’s favorite bakery (Deerfields) and pick up some of his favorite donuts for him (yes, the same donuts last year’s donut tower was made out of)! When I got off the train, the conductor said “Leaving so early?” When I told him I was going to the bakery, he said “Deerfields? I LOVE that place! I would hold the train for you if I could.” Ha. What a nice guy. I wish he could have held the train for me! Luckily, the bakery is right by the station, so I walked there (in the snow) and back and caught the next train. I made sure to pick up donuts for two of my coworkers too!

Steven picked me up after work, and we went to Red Robin for dinner. Red Robin is actually my favorite restaurant, but Steven wanted to go there since we hadn’t been for awhile. I love it because they have two different kinds of veggie burgers and BOTTOMLESS Vegan Steak Fries! Of course, the veggie burgers aren’t vegan, so I get the Red’s Rice Bowl without the fried noodles on top. I still love going there because I think it is great that they cater to so many diets. They even have a great tool online for calculating the calories in your meal.

Onion Rings

Red’s Rice Bowl (actually on a plate)

Whiskey River Boca Burger with Fries

Plus, the give you free ice cream on your birthday (after they sing you an obnoxious song of course)! You can’t beat that!

Steven opened his gifts before dinner. I gave him Pictionary, the same lego calendar I got Lauren (it’s so cool!), his favorite Christmas Tree Cakes, and a little monkey (we have an inside joke that he likes monkeys). A few days ago, I told Steven not to go in my closet because I had a small present in there for him that was not wrapped. So during dinner, I said, “Oh no! I just realized I left that unwrapped gift at home! You will have to open it later.” and acted all sad. But it was a trick (more below).

After dinner, we went bowling. Fun fact – we used to be on a league so we both have our own bowling balls and shoes.

I was a bit rusty – it’s been awhile! We bowled three games and Steven’s top score was 190 and mine was 132.

Steven had one of his donuts when we got home.

Is it salmon flavored?

The glorious inside of the donut

After he finished the donut, I gave him the “little gift” that was in my closet – which was really a HUGE gift that I could not have taken to the restaurant.

I got him the weight stand he wanted, and get this, I only paid a fraction of the price it was listed for on amazon! We have a reward program at work, and I used my points to get $80 worth of amazon gift cards to use towards his gift. Score! It felt good to get Steven something I know he really wanted AND needs!

The new weight stand (before, the weights just sat on the floor in this spot)

I hope Steven enjoyed his birthday – I know I enjoyed it!

What what your perfect birthday day be like?

I actually got mine this year- I got to spend the day on the river, relaxing, then eat vegan chocolate cupcakes and cake!

I know some people could probably care less about veganism (understandable), so I chose Saturdays for these posts since readership is usually lower anyway. Along with my marathon training posts on Sundays, you can just skip over the entire weekend if neither is of interest to you. Easy peasy!

I was going to begin by addressing CournteyInControl’s “What made you decide to go vegan?” but I thought I could better answer Erin’s question, after our dinner tonight. So I will probably save Courtney’s question for next week.

First though, I must say, it is my goal to permanently follow a vegan lifestyle, but if I find my health is negatively affected, I will have to re-evaluate my diet. On to the first question…

Erin asked, “Will Steven become vegan also? How will this affect meal planning/cooking?”

Steven will not be becoming vegan, at least today. But he is on board with helping me eat vegan.

Most of the meals we eat on a day-to-day basis at home already are vegan – boca sandwiches with fresh veggies, salads, pasta, beans and rice, etc. Where the problem comes in at home is with pre-packaged foods. A lot of items we didn’t think would have eggs or dairy in them do. Last night we wanted to make a homemade pizza, but all of our pizza crust mixes had milk in them, so we couldn’t. However, I picked up a dairy and egg free mix today, and it worked out wonderfully!

Homemade pizza made with Namaste pizza crust, red pizza sauce, zucchini, onion, tomato, spinach, olives, and…

…cheese on one half.

The finished pizza

My dinner and…

…Steven’s dinner!

Which plate would you take?

I think eating out will be an issue AT FIRST. We usually visit one of three places – El Famous Burrito (his favorite), Red Robin (my favorite) and Subway (our healthy favorite). Okay, and let’s throw Sweet Tomatoes in there too. At El Famous, I get the Chilles Rellenos (cheese). At Red Robin, it’s the Royal Red Robin Burger (cheese and egg). At Subway, my sandwich is pretty much vegan, but I need to check and see what’s in the bread.

I don’t want to ruin the eating out experience for him (or anyone), so I need to do some research and figure out what I CAN order before we go out. I can get a burrito instead of Chilles Rellenos, and ask for my burger without cheese and egg. Hopefully it won’t be too big of a deal. We don’t eat out often, but when we do, I don’t want it to be stressful for him or me!

I think making this change means that meal planning requires actual planning. It’s won’t be as easy to throw things together anymore, at least at first. But, we will figure it out, together.

“It’s one of the things I love out there, dad” I proclaimed. “As soon as the weather gets warm, you see all these awesome cars – Aston Martins, Ferraris, Lamborghinis…”

“Yeah. I didn’t see anything like that on my way home from work Monday.”

“What, you didn’t see any Lamborghinis?”

“No,” he replied. “I don’t think there are even 10 people in Waterloo [Iowa] who can pronounce it.”

Ha ha.

“I was really excited to see it,” I continue.

“Yeah. It’s nice to know that at least someone enjoys what they’re driving.”

Yeah, that guy in the Lamborghini and Steven in his Infiniti.

The point of me writing this is not to point out how funny and sarcastic my dad is. Nor is it to bore you with another post about cars (although I probably have).

I just wonder… why do I notice these things? Why do cars interest me? Why don’t they interest some people? Why do I get really excited when I see a nice car?

My dad is a mechanic, but I know nothing about how cars WORK. I just know when I see one I like – it’s usually streamlined, aggressive, and curvy.

I have a list of the cars I would like to own. But I haven’t even driven a quarter of them. It’s just an aesthetic thing.

Maybe it’s time for me to get in the garage with Steven… and help him with the project car. Oh yes. The infamous (in my mind) Datsun 1978 280Z. That’s a whole ‘nother post.

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Today’s Idiom: to carry the day – to win the approval of the majority

Kim’s suggestion to go to Red Robin for lunch carried the day, although not everyone got the Gardenburger Royal Red Robin burger.