Richard Marx Blows!*

Since starting Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I've seriously been so conscious of what I buy, eat, and where it came from. Yesterday I was in Target and needed some cheese, and I actually struggled with whether or not to just go without until I could make it downtown to pick up some freshly made cheese. We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen yesterday and had taco bell today, and I honestly felt so weird about it. Talk about processed foods! This is good, though. Even if it's silly, it at least serves my belly well. I've found over the past few weeks when we've been eating in more, and eating loads of fresh fruits and veggies, my guts have been much quieter, especially after a few really rough weeks. I can't wait until next week when I can get back to a normal, non-birthday schedule of cooking. Which reminds me, I still haven't done anything with that eggplant...

Tonight is the big Mexican Fiesta Birthday BBQ, where we shall grill up quesidillas. Another struggle came today -- ignore the hungover belly and hit the Farmer's Market for veggies....... or just go to Fresh Seasons?? I figure Fresh Seasons is at least a lesser evil than, say, Meijer, so off I went. It seems a lot of the items do come from Michigan, so that made me feel a little better about things. While there, I discovered all the plant items were on sale. Now, you all know I'm like Ted Bundy when it comes to plants. But I so badly want to have a green thumb (as long as worms aren't involved), so despite my better judgment, I picked up a few new plants for the front porch. I'll have to ask Krissy for some care tips! I'd like to see if I can actually manage to keep these alive for longer than two weeks. At least I should be able to manage with the spidery cactus I bought for my office. HA!

Bday Celebration Recap 1

Last night, Birgit, Brad, and I went to Grizzly Peak for a pre-birthday celebration. The bar in "the Den" is our favorite place to go, as the two bartenders, Justin and Nick, are super awesome. Not only do they pile on the free drinks, they're great guys. While Brad stuck with his usual (beer, boring), Birgit and I killed who knows how many pink birthday concoctions. Justin is the more brutal of the two, also sending over random shots of stout and whiskey. It was a slow bar night, so we chatted up all the servers and everyone at the bar--definitely a super fun pre-birthday. Even when the cocktailers kept turning the '80s channel off on us, once even daring to try the reggae channel. Ugh! Needless to say, a lovely evening, but I couldn't quite manage the sobriety test Brad gave me. Man, walking a straight line is tough!

*That which prompted cocktailer to permanently veto '80s channel.