It was my Birthday!

I'm so thankful that my husband was home for my birthday. Saturday was my birthday, and the day always seems much better when it falls on a weekend.

I started out the morning with a wonderful breakfast made by my hubby. He made gluten free waffles with GF Bisquick. I also had a mimosa, fresh fruit with dip, and coffee.

We enjoyed football appetizers during the MSU game. For this game we ate skinless, boneless chicken tenders and gluten free bagel chips with cheddar and bean dip.  I'll post more about this dip recipe on a later post. 

For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Las Canarias. I savored the food so much that didn't document all of the food with photos! But as usual, it was decedent and delicious. We ordered a three course meal with a wine pairing. This is me with my final course, one scoop of coffee ice cream and one scoop of pistachio gelato. 

 The handsome man who made the whole day of food possible!

I love getting free birthday desserts! Even after my ice cream, they brought out chocolate covered strawberries for me. Remember last year when we celebrated my birthday in Dallas? I enjoyed some gelato then!

After dinner we went to a musical at the Cameo Theater. We saw The Marvelous Wonderettes, which was about four girls in the 50s and 60s. Following the show, we had some drinks downtown.

We were able to meet up with some friends I made while Justin was deployed where we danced the night away.

Me & Kara

So So Salad

First things first, happy 3rd birthday to my baby girl, Iivana. I had intended to make her homemade treats, but I was lazy and bought her a bone instead. I did fill up her pool from last year for her to play today. However, she wasn't too interested in her pool.

I love this picture that I took of her last week. She was out of food, so I went to the commissary to buy her some dog food and they had 2 dollar off coupons. Then I noticed that it was only 11.99 for a huge bag. We normally pay close to forty dollars a bag for her Nutro Dog food! I bought all they had stocked because it was such an awesome deal.

For dinner tonight I made a watermelon and goat cheese salad. It had a citrus vinaigrette that you make from 3 tablespoons of EVOO, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

I used mixed salad greens for the base. Although I wish I had chosen more of an arugula and spinach blend that had a little more flavor than romaine. I topped the salad with watermelon chunks, red onion, and goat cheese. Then I poured some of the vinaigrette.

I had some left over steak that I cut up and topped the salad off with. Overall the salad was okay; I think I had built it up more in my head. I think I would do with out the lettuce and try a different dressing next time. It wasn't horrible, but not something I will probably make again the same way. I'd be happy just eating watermelon and goat cheese. Maybe some basil and a balsamic vinaigrette would be better. But this was an easy and filling summer salad to make.

Traveling, Birthday, & Food

Well, we hung around the hotel while they fixed the van. Iivana enjoyed looking out the window at the hotel.

She especially liked laying in the bed.

We had a late start on Thursday due to the fixing of the van tire, and spent the night in Indiana. We arrived in Michigan on Friday, July 6, my hubby's birthday. I was even able to Skype with him! I sent him a package for his birthday that included a microwaveable brownie packet in a mason jar with a candle. The brownie mix is gluten free, Pamela's individual packets.

I also filled the package with balloons, an idea I saw on Pinterest. In each balloon, I included money or a note. Apparently I didn't keep track of the money and only sent him $11. His co-workers wondered if there was a significance to the number 11. (No, just a zany wife!)

For dinner on Friday, we enjoyed some Carlo's Pizza, a local place right by my parent's house.

Of course my pizza was gluten free. I ordered mine with mushrooms and green peppers. The crust was thinner, but tasted decent. It must not have been too bad, because I ate half of my pizza for dinner.

Iivana has been adjusting to my parent's house. She has more room to roam around, so we've been trying to think of ways to contain her. She managed to squeeze through the chairs anyways. She is loving all the attention from my mom and dad.

And now I'm brought to today. Sipping on Biggby coffee, I was working on comps for my master's most of the day. They are due tomorrow! Hopefully this will mean more regular updates in my future.

Quick Trip

Last weekend we were able to go to Michigan for the weekend. We were able to see tons of people; if only we could've had longer conversations with everyone. Justin set up a tacos and euchre tournament on Saturday night at his parent's house. I feel gracious for everyone who thought of me and brought GF treats! My mom made GF chocolate chip cookies, my sister Jill made GF brownies, my sister Kristen made regular GF Rice Krispie treats, Amanda made gourmet GF Rice Krispie treats, and Ashlee made GF cannolis! Not to mention Justin's parents had the house stocked with loads of GF foods from frozen waffles to bars and even marshmallows.

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos. I had told Justin that I was going to take many pictures, but I seemed to have gotten caught up too much into cards, desserts, and conversations.

Amanda's GF Rice Krispies: half are made with caramel and chocolate while the other half consisted of peanut butter and chocolate. I loved her plating of them too.

O-M-G GF cannolis!! They were so delicious that I ate two. (I would've ate more but everyone else gobbled them up too.) While I was eating my second one, I was completely distracted during cards and probably cost my partner a few points.

I was able to get one picture of actual people (not just food.) Hmm...here's wishing I had more people photos.

I was also able to spend time with my niece, Maren and my nephew, Jett. We bought Maren some Tom's for her birthday, which is this month. (You know how much I love my Tom's. I'm hoping to get some of the new ballet flats soon.)

In the summer I posted about my favorite Michigan things. Thinking about this weekend trip, I was able to repeat 4 out of my 5 favorite things! I saw family, drank Faygo courtesy of Aunt Sally, ate too many desserts, and bought more Jenna Kator purses!

I was on the hunt for the Peninsula Drive purse. Prior to our trip, I noticed it was sold out online and wasn't sure if I'd be able to find one. I had told Justin my one request of the weekend was to go to the boutique in Monroe that sells the Jenna Kator handbags. I wanted to look at them for myself because things often look slightly different in person. When we pulled up to Belle Fleur, it was closed! I was disappointed because I had checked the store hours earlier. However, there was a phone number on the sign, so I gave it a ring. The store owner said that January is a slow month and they were at shows so they decided to close for the weekend. But she was so kind to drive to the store to see if the Peninsula was in stock. Fifteen minutes later she called me and they had one more in stock! So Justin and I went back to the store and were able to look around at everything.

The Peninsula Drive

I began to fall in love with more of the purses as I browsed the store. With a little encouragement from my hubby, I decided to purchase another one! I also bought the Huntington in brown.

Like our Detroit rug that I scored an awesome deal on from a Groupon? I figured it was a fitting place to take photos of my new handbags since they are Michigan inspired and designed.

If only weekends were longer...

Rest of Weekend Trip

Last Saturday night we went out to dinner at Kenichi in Dallas to celebrate my birthday.

Justin tried some different Sakes.

I, on the other hand, had a sake mixed drink which was similar to a mojito.

We started with an appetizer: fried rice with pork belly - that we ate with chopsticks only! We were chopstick champs. It may have took us a while, but slowed down our eating for sure.

We participated in a Sake bomb world record!

We shared two sushi rolls. The Mean Green - which had some spicy sauces I couldn't eat, but Justin could enjoy.

Miami Roll - wrapped in cucumber in a vinaigrette, that was so delicious. I could fully enjoy this one with out skipping out a part of it.

Birthday gelato!

Happy Birthday to me!

After dinner we went to the bar area to watch the Tigers's game. We happened to run into Don Nelson, former NBA player and coach.

We enjoyed a few beverages with him

The next day we had tickets to the Lions versus Cowboys game. We had amazing seats.

And were able to see an amazing game, where the Lions came from behind. I love seeing Dallas fans in silence!

So...even the cheerleaders came pretty close to us.

Go Lions!

Cowboy Stadium view as we walked to our car after the game.

Homework Break

I told Justin I had a ton of homework to do this weekend, so we had to lay low. I have a literature review due in 2 weeks and haven't really started yet, so I had to spend some time this weekend working on it. Even though I've been reading on and off all day, I have yet to write anything. In fact, I still need to read through a few more articles before I commence writing.

My birthday was on Thursday the 29th of September, so last weekend we went to Dallas for my 27th birthday, the GF Expo, and the Lions vs. Cowboys football game. The weekend was awesome!

We opted to fly there because we scored a great deal on plane tickets. The only bad part was that we left Saturday morning at 6:00 am! Here's Justin on the bus to the rental car place.

We started off breakfast at the Kozy Kitchen. We arrived before they even opened, but needed a full breakfast before we hit up the Expo.

Justin ordered the "Hangover Helper" which consisted of grass fed buffalo, eggs, basil guacamole, and mushrooms. Although we weren't hungover, it was fresh, delicious, and filling. We actually could've shared this because both of our choices were huge.

Our breakfasts were filling because they were packed with fresh vegetables. I ordered the "Veggie Connection" which was an open-face omelet stacked with various in-season vegetables. Yes, I ordered eggs! I've been eating eggs a little bit more, as long as their masked with plenty of "stuff" like vegetables or meat.

Then we made our way over to the Gluten and Allergen Free Expo. We bought tickets for the vendor fair to check out different products.

I only took a few pictures...I probably could've taken one at each booth. I ate so many samples of sweets and junk food that was all GF! These chicken tenders were awesome! They are even at Disney World; I think Justin and I will need a trip to Disney World soon.

Dallas area Subway's have gluten free buns! The other day in class, it seemed everyone around me was eating Subway...how I longed for one after smelling everyone's sandwiches.

Who doesn't love Woodchuck cider? They even had a new pumpkin, which is the perfect fall drink. In fact, we picked some up after dinner last night at Central Market. I was able to enjoy one today!

Like I said, I didn't get pictures of all my favorite booths. I signed up for a two year subscription for Living Without Magazine. We also bought a cookbook that the author signed for me. I'll post more about it when we try some of the recipes. I sampled some Udi's Snickerdoodle cookies, which are even better than their chocolate chip cookies. I picked up some awesome Pamela's samples that I've never tried. I've been taking a sample of something different in my lunch everyday. I've been trying some products, I've never had before!

After we had enough of the Expo, we needed some lunch. Since I've been so deprived of Subway, I convinced Justin to go to there. Plus, we had a dollar off coupon that we wouldn't be able to use anywhere else. You can see the GF rolls are in a sealed package in the right hand corner.

 The girl changed her gloves and cut the bun with a new plastic knife. I ordered a turkey sandwich with all my favorite veggies.

We took them back to the hotel to eat. The buns were pretty good too, they were soft and had an okay consistency. It was great to have some Subway...now if only all Subways would get GF buns.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency! 

The balance of veggies, meat, and bun was perfect together!

 I also bought some bread mixes. The brown bread mix should bake a bread that we can make Reuben  sandwiches from! I'll let you know how it goes.

After lunch that Saturday, we were exhausted! We took a nap before heading out for my birthday dinner. (I'll hopefully post tomorrow about that and the rest of our weekend.)