As I said, my birthday (April 20) was a bit of a bust
(that's an understatement). My Mom got sick, we got in a fight, I got stuck at work all day
and nite, it was just a bad day.
The only thing that did go according to plan was my (much needed, as always) massage that morning followed an hour or two later by a sushi lunch (that almost was canceled, but luckily worked out).
I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the miso soup! Oh well. Kind of my birthday tradition now. We had my b-day lunch there last year too. Me like.
My Dad picked up my cookie cake, even though nobody left their bedrooms to see me after I got home from the office. I took a picture even though I didn't really want it anymore.
My Mom also picked me up a grocery store cookie cake (the one above was Nestle) when she didn't think she'd be able to pick up the ordered one. No pic of that, though.
On Thursday, my Mom checked herself into a hotel to try to recover from her pneumonia where she could rest, have food brought to her (via room service), etc. I stayed home and felt sorry for myself all day. On the plus side, I got my DVR down from 90-something % full all the way down to the 30's or 40's. Crazy! Now that's what I call productive....lol.
My friend Sam was supposed to spend the weekend with me and my fam, but between knowing my Mom & I weren't feeling well (I forgot to mention I had a migraine all day Thursday) & realizing he had a lot of homework, he decided he'd come next weekend instead. Definitely for the best considering all of the fighting (though I'm sure if he came it prob would have been less tense, but ya know!) It all works out how it should.
Friday at work a birthday package arrived.
Don't mind if I do!
Cute, right? My signature sign off. :)
On Friday nite, the madre and I made up and she invited me and my Dad to meet her at the hotel & asked us to take her out to dinner (kind of a mini b-day thing for me, but not my official b-day dinner, which was
supposed to occur the following nite). We chose Cru wine bar thanks to the location to the hotel & some leftover Christmas gift cards we had lying around.
Cava Spanish Sparkling Vino
Sample of a cheese plate (not really my thing, but the fig preserves were pretty tasty & the raisin bread)
Seabass with white beans in a ginger mushroom broth
The waiter also bought me another (free!) glass of sparkling wine for my birthday. Thanks, guy!
Unfortunately, mom & I got in a fight (that neither of us can figure out how or why) at dinner and weren't speaking again. Saturday for lunch my Dad was supposed to go with my brother & I to cash in my free Grimaldi's b-day pizza, but he was acting weird so I called him on it (probably not the best timing, since I really wanted that pizza, LOL). He kept walking away, saying he couldn't talk to me, I was irate, etc. When actually I was speaking calm & clearly and he was the one raising his voice.
Very head scratching. But it was just one of those things where you can't come to a conclusion so you both end up frustrated. He was stuck in the middle and didn't need to be, but I digress.
Naturally, my Mom and I made up again. She was over-steroided (thanks stupid ER Clinic) and having side effects and couldn't go out (so much for my big birthday party again, right? *sigh* :-P, but I wasn't in the mood anyway, so postponing it was for the best), so we ordered in room service and she had my real birthday cake waiting in the room for me.
chinese chicken salad (pretty good)
butternut squash soup (I had my dad pack half up & take it home for me, but it was realllly good)
Oh my god, so good. It was an opera cake with chocolate jaconde sponge cake, white chocolate mousse, brandied cherries, dark chocolate hazelnut crust, & dark chocolate on the sides. I DIE.
I ended up staying the nite to make sure my mom was OK (she was told to quit taking her predisone cold turkey and she was still shaky, had a little facial numbness, etc). She was also scary sleep deprived and had some hallucinations. Um. Scary. We ordered an overpriced pay-per-view movie & snuggled up. Luckily she dozed off in the middle (though still didn't get a full nite rest *sigh*).
Room service breakfast
Muuuch greasier than I expected. I ate half, then ate the eggs only out of the second half and left the rest. Also, the description made it seem like the eggs would be over easy, but they were cooked through. That was the whole reason I got them!! And I forgot to request dijon mustard, otherwise I prob could have eaten the whole thing. But I'm sure it was calorie-city anyway.
After she woke up, my mom said in her steroid craziness she wasn't sure if she'd be feeling well enough to come home (not sure how that mattered lol not like we were gonna put her to work!), so she had booked a (new) hotel for one final nite. It was a Hyatt Place, mine & her fave chain, & only $55, so instead of canceling it we just decided to make a fun Easter out of it. A restaurant chain I like (the one time I went, anyway...), but nobody in my family will ever go to, is Roy's, that hawaiian seafood place. She offered to have Easter dinner with me there, since it was next door to the hotel. Yes, please!
Not sure what was on here, they just bring edamame to your table, but it was pretty good. Kind of salty and spicy?
Lychee caiprinha, which was terrible. And very very strong. It tasted like rubbing alcohol mixed with lychees.
Macadamia crusted brie. The purpley looking sauce was some raspberry sauce, not sure about the green? But it was good.
Beet salad. It came with my mom's pre-fixe meal and she gave it to me. I ate it all. Except the beets. Ha. I HATE beets (except raw, shredded ones). I took 1 bite of the red beet & (accidentally) ate an entire yellow one (I thought it was fruit). Yep, confirmed. Still disgusting. But the rest of the salad was fresh and yummy.
Corn crab crusted barramundi (which, thanks to evesdropping, I later learned is a type of red snapper, my fave) in a sundried tomato fondue. Again, no idea what that green sauce is. The veggies = roasted fingerling potatoes & sauteed spinach. Tasted much more unhealthy than I anticipated based on the menu description, but was very good. LOVED the tomato sauce.
Duh, who goes to Roy's and doesn't get the hot chocolate souffle?
Come on.
Finally, and hopefully, it seems like this storm has passed.
,
Amanda
