Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend. I’m feeling much better now that the weekend is here! Work has been stressful, per the usual, but I’m hoping to get some quality rest time in over the next day or two.
Today started great with scrambled eggs and cheese on whole wheat rolls with slices of blood orange on the side.
After brunch, I headed out to help with Zumba instructor auditions. We had some new guys going through group auditions today. Live auditions will be next week. You may remember when I went through auditions (back in 2010) – it’s scary stuff! The girls did great, and I can’t wait to see who makes it to the live auditions!
After the auditions, I headed home to do a quick packing job so we could head out to visit my family for my mom’s birthday. We were actually heading straight to their house for a quick change and then out for dinner. That’s right…I had to cheat on Eat in Month (since I already used my 1 cheat meal pass for that new restaurant opening event). I called my mom the other day to tell her when we were coming in town, and she excitedly told me that she’d made dinner reservations at a local Japanese steak house. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t supposed to be eating out…especially since she seemed so happy about it. And, I want my mom to have a happy birthday celebration. 🙂 So, I figure I’ll just tack another day to my challenge or something to make up the difference.
So, anywho, after a quick car ride, we did a quick outfit change and then headed out for dinner.
The martinis were on special, so I got an Asian Pear.
Soup (plus salad – not pictured)
I got the chicken and shrimp combination for my meals.
I think mom had a good birthday dinner…even if she was too shy to tell the staff we were celebrating. She didn’t want the big show they always do there.
We had a really special treat waiting back home. My sister had commissioned her friend to bake us a birthday cake for my mom and hubby’s birthdays (they both have January b-days).
We got a butter chocolate drip cake.
Please note luscious chocolate drips. Mmm…
The cake was, of course, delicious. I’ll probably still bake another one for hubby closer to his birthday, though. 😛
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I was hoping to share some meal plan ideas for Eat in Month (as resources/links, not my own plans). Does anyone out there already blog meal plans or know of any sites that do? I’d love to see some links and share them with the EIM challenge participants. please leave the links in a link.
The pictures of the cake are gorgeous…it looks delicious! It sounds like you had a great dinner with your family 🙂
I think it’s awesome you’ve done so well on your Eat In challenge!! I blog my weekly meal plans at the beginning of every week, they can be found in this category:
Meal Planning
I can’t think of meal plans on any other blogs off the top of my head, but one trick is to come up with themed nights so it’s easier (and more fun) to come up with meals. Example: Monday-Taco night Tuesday- Seafood night Wednesday- Pasta night etc.
That looks like an amazing cake. Happy birthday to your mom 🙂
As an aside, the photo for your pancakes with raspberry sauce photo gets me every single time I visit your blog. It looks like something I would eat at any time!
Have a great Sunday!
I don’t post my meal plans on my blog (though maybe I should start?), but I did write a post awhile ago about the process I go through to plan my weekly menus. If you’re interested, it’s here: http://www.relishments.com/blog/2010/11/menu-planning/
in this case, cheating was absolutely necessary! eating out “just because you don’t feel like cooking” is one thing. Eating out to celebrate a really special day is another! I’m glad you allowed yourself to go. It looks like it was totally worth it 🙂 I love Japanese restaurants!
That cake is gorgeous! What a great way to celebrate you’re mom’s and hubby’s birthdays! 🙂
I’m going to check out those meal planning sites, I do Meatless Monday and fun Friday here. Meal planning saves money, time. I like to be prepared.