HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY!...

"Each candle stands for five years."
"But I'm not twenty."
"uhhh..."
"Just push that one down, make it shorter."
"Good idea."

...to all of you! (unless it is your birthday, obviously.) Yesterday was my 19th birthday!
I have tried to compose this post since last night but I have been so busy preparing for my party tomorrow that I haven't had a chance.
I started cooking/baking/preparing for my party at 10:00 this morning when I finished my shower after my ride. I didn't sit down until 7:00 for dinner.

Here is a quick recap of my birthday:
I had overnight oats with almond butter and sprinkles, because sprinkles make things festive and it was my birthday after all.
I got back on the bike! (12 miles. 1 hour, 15 minutes.)
Are you wondering what socks I wore for my birthday ride?
Hannah Montana socks, obviously.
I figured out how to keep these cheap elastic headbands on: 3 well-placed hair clips!
I reached down to scratch my leg and got fingernails full of dirt. I looked down and I was all filthy (as I usually am after rides.)

Post-workout I broke out this bad boy:
With more sprinkles.
Dad and I watched some world cup and then I brought back a childhood classic for lunch:

I used to have pb&j sandwiches cut into these shapes so I made laughing cow+jam+sandwich thin shapes:
With a salad and scraps:
Green smoothie with sprinkles:
Pecan pie Larabar:
We went out to dinner for my birthday. We went to The Tomato Head, the only place for vegetarian/vegan food in my area. We had the hummus plate appetizer:
And I had one huge ass salad:
I don't think you understand how big this is.
I had to take home half of it with the leftover hummus, honey carrot dressing, and a big ass vegan chocolate chip cookie that I haven't eaten yet because of this:
Wholly shit, that's a big cake. (Only my family calls me that.)
Did I have a piece?
Uh, yeah.
Did I feel bad about it?
No, I decided it just wasn't worth it.

I got some awesome presents:
I don't like most shows, bands, things, ect (sourpuss?) but when I do like something I don't like it, I LOVE it. I don't have interests, I have obsessions. Daria is one of my obsessions. Hello Kitty is another one (and cats in general). My family knows these things.
But what my family (dad) really knows is that I love food (dark chocolate).
Alright, in the next few days you will get a birthday party post. But for now, this is all I have the energy for. I'll leave you with a quote:

"I like having low self esteem; it makes me feel special." -Jane Lane, Daria

Home again, home again, jiggity jig jig.

Did your parents ever say that? Whenever we went on a trip, right as we pulled back into our driveway my parents recited: "Home again, home again, jiggity jig jig." It's a Mother-Goose nursery rhyme.

A new obsession ensued today.
My breakfast was this Larabar (+ 1/4 apple).
My favorite thing? The ingredient list. Holy bajesus. (What is the origin of 'bajesus'? Bad Jesus? Bangin' Jesus? Mispronounced Beetle Juice? Or Betelgeuse the star?....) It is sitting on my food journal.
Back to Larabars. I was really skeptical as to the ability of this bar to keep me full. I usually have a filling bowl of oats or cereal, that is filling. This tiny bar? I'm not so sure about this. I know it isn't advertised as a breakfast or meal replacement bar but I was eating it for breakfast and I wanted it to stick.
Good golly. It was so good, so tasty, and kept me satisfied until 3:30 when I was able to eat.
"Why couldn't you eat 'till 3?"
Because today I headed home, durr. Didn't you read my header?

Say goodbye to the background.
When I stopped for gasoline, I grabbed this to keep me entertained and hydrated.
When I got to my house, I scoured the kitchen. Uhm. This was my lunch.
I knew a trip to the grocery store was in order so I filled my travel cup with Crystal Light and I was off. (I know, I know. Those packets are full of all sorts of terrible false things but I was not feeling naked water today.)
I have a party coming up, in case you don't remember. The party is Saturday so I grabbed some things including the Biscoff and flat bread crackers in the photo.
And um.....just to carry along this new Larabar obsession...

(There's a "Tropical Fruit flavor that I don't remember buying...I stay away from things with such titles. I don't like orange juice, it has orange juice in it. I'll tell you how it goes.")

And then, a meal. Oh yes, I cooked dinner and it felt (and tasted) so good.
And you better believe that I bought fruit, tons of it. (Peach and cherries pictured)
I have assembled my overnight oats and it is now time for bed. Goodnight, lovies.

There's a Glitch in the Matrix.

Alright now, I have a few confessions. First off, I have hidden from you the huge sci-fi (Yes, sci-fi as in SCIence FIction not syfy as in "we can't spell but it looks cool.") nerd that I am. Nerdom explains the title. You know when Neo sees two black cats walk by, one after another? And Keanu Reeves says in his languorously sweet lexis, "Whoa, deja vu." and everyone freaks out saying "There's a glitch in the Matrix! They Changed something! MOUSEEEE!!! NOOO!!!!" Okay, I'm the one screaming "MOUSE NO," but you get my point. or maybe you don't yet. Just look at this:

Now do you get my point? Okay, good.

I've been eating a whole bunch of the same stuff.
I want fruit. I want fruit so badly.
"But you have consumed a lifetime's amount of grapefruit and watermelon lately."
I mean I want my staple, the daily banana back. I also want juicy, fresh summer fruit that is so succulent it would be indecent to eat in public. I want fruit that has juices dripping down my chin as I lean forward, completely engulfed in it's seduction. You follow? Did you blush? Because that's how good a summer peach is.

But for now I don't have that fruit, I did however bring my other recent cravings, nuts and granola.
Second confession, you are going to see this picture of granola again when I make my granola post....

Third confession, I had two interesting meals but I forgot my camera.
Last night for dinner we ate Indian food. Vegetable Vindaloo. It was so good.

(It looked something like this.)

Today for lunch we went to a cafe and I had a salad made of these things:
Mixed baby greens
Blue Cheese
Pine Nuts
Pear

With a pear vinaigrette on the side for dippin'.

You may or may not see that salad recreated. I'm leaning towards may. It was freaking delicious.

Also, I have been vigorously reading T.C. Boyle's tantalizing prose in Talk Talk.

Also, it has been hot and humid enough in this kitchen for hot yoga or a sauna or one of those Native American sweat lodges. Today, a fan was moved in here. Awesome.

Food shopping is better than mall shopping.

After my post last night I took a trip to Kroger. I went for two things. Very important things.

Yeah...grape tomatoes and ice cream. Not sugar free, not hardly. But it was the closest to sugar free that was available in small sizes.

So dinner looked like this:
That isn't mashed potatoes, it's mashed cauliflower. It is so good.

Then there was some of this:
While I watched these:
And then I got to this:
"If you wanted ice cream so badly why did you not eat it immediately?"
I don't like eating a sugary dessert right after a meal, I prefer to cleanse my pallet with fruit and if I still want it later, I will have a dessert. I don't know why, I just do it that way.

For breakfast I did not want oatmeal. I have felt slightly sick the last few days and oatmeal feels like sick, dying people's food right now....strange. I also couldn't bear any more peanut butter....

As a matter of fact the only thing I wanted was my grandpa's biscuits that my grandma would fill with butter fresh out of the oven. Once it melted she would cut up two biscuits for me and drizzle over sugar free maple syrup (my grandpa couldn't have sugar, hypoglycemic).
Now, my grandparents died when I was thirteen but his biscuits were really just Bisquick mix and I could totally make them myself. Only problem is that I didn't have Bisquick. Or soy milk. Or butter. Or SmartBalance for that matter. Or Syrup. So, I ate this:
Eaten while I finished Where the Wild Things Are. (I fell asleep watching it last night, oops.)

I will tell you that I am not a picky eater. Yes, I have a diet I follow but I don't count that as "picky" because if I didn't feel meat was wrong and dairy, sugar, and caffeine didn't make me feel funny, I would eat those things. There are however a couple things I dislike. Pancakes and waffles are on this list of five to ten items. I think it is because I grew up eating biscuits like pancakes. Seriously, you can't beat it at that point.

Guess what I did today? I went to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market. Yeah boy.
Loot:
Trader Joe's^
Whole Foods^

I have a dinner planned with some of the Trader Joe's goods. (You see where I'm going with that?) I can't find Crofter's anywhere around me so I finally got some along with Justin's Maple Almond Butter that I have been dying to try and some chocolate almond butter.

For lunch I dug into the Tomato Basil Hummus. (Oh my gosh, I had been on a hummus hiatus because it began to bore me, but this stuff brought it back with a kick!)
With a couple of these:
Some o' this:
Dipped in a bit of this Chocolate Almond butter:
(Not very chocolate-y)

I think I prefer my own almond butter. I salt it, I think it brings out the nutty-ness and sweetness.