"WHERE THE ANIMALS ARE SERVED FIRST...AND AREN'T ON THE MENU!"
Saturday, February 1, 2014
A Trip to Long Beach, A Birthday, a Brand New Critter Cam and the Arrival of El Toro at the Lazy Vegan!
It was a busy week at the Lazy Vegan with a whirlwind trip down to Long Beach to see my dad & step mom, plus a birthday celebration (mine!) and more! It was great to see my dad doing well at an excellent rehab facility. Get well soon, Dad! And great job as the supportive partner, Deb! Am hoping that soon Dad will be home and a normal routine will resume! Had a fun & relaxing 49th birthday doing one of the things I do best...shopping! Thanks to generous birthday checks (the givers know who they are!), I took myself to the mall (hardly ever go there) and scored big time! Amazing January sales! Also got really fun themed gifts from my sister and basically was spoiled by all...got a new critter cam, too! Am having some issues figuring out the settings on the fancy, high-def, "hybrid" critter cam, so no videos this week yet on the blog from the brand new camera...but I'm confident I'll figure it all out in time. OH, and a final tidbit of excitement: a bull now resides at the Lazy Vegan! In the form of a painting called "El Toro" that the foreman first spotted while we were out enjoying a birthday lunch at our favorite vegan restaurant!
Explorer bun!
Curious bun.
Dining bun!
Oh, that super fun empty sweet grain pan game!
The first of many portraits of moi (it was birthday week, after all!) - here the foreman took a photo of me wearing my new coat...a super score from the Gap; regular price: $168. Sale price: $39.!
The foreman identified this as being the "Hairy Woodpecker" according to the bird field guide!
Morning visitor to the water feature!
Toby loves his naps - pretty much all day long.
The foreman after reading his list of animal care taking instructions! He took care of the crew while I was gone all day in Long Beach!
So adorable together.
Quality time with the donks!
Trying to get Luigi in a photo with me is no easy task.
Here he finally allowed a quick shot!
The invasion of the turkeys.
The following group of photos are from the trip...unfortunately rather out of order...but you get the idea!
Dad is doing a great job getting stronger! Keep up the good work, Dad!!
Oh, what fun! On the morning of my birthday I received an email from my mom alerting me to a surprise at the bottom of my driveway!
Opening gifts!
Celebrating with the fun cupcake candle Snap gave me!
Fun assortment of gifts from my sister!
Woo hoo - the fancy new critter cam!
Yes, this is excessive...but everything was on sale...plus, at two stores I got an item for FREE! How is this possible, you ask? I've found that being enthusiastic about my birthday - and announcing the fact that it IS my birthday - seems to have a fun effect on most people! At Silk Moon in Sebastopol they gave me a beautiful green scarf for free (I also bought the fun red checkered shirt pictured above) and at my favorite thrift store, the owner insisted on giving me a top I picked out for free. Fun, fun, fun!
Birthday eve - celebrating with a raw, sugar-free piece of vegan cheesecake!
Selfie in the dressing room at Macy's!
A Macy's clerk took this one!
"El Toro", as first spotted at the restaurant...
And then on the wall in his new home!
I love seeing El Toro from my desk!
At Slice of Life for b-day lunch.
Excuse the weird order of photos once again. Posing in my new hat with Toby!
At my favorite thrift store!
Free scarf at Silk Moon!
The nice flannel Woolrich shirt I bought on sale!
My FAVORITE brand of clothing: Free People!
Birthday latte!
Yes, by golly - I had PANCAKES with strawberries and pure maple syrup for my birthday lunch! They were DELICIOUS.
Hard to see in this photo, but I'm showing off my beautiful birthday earrings from my aunt Bubba & uncle Neil! Thanks again to everyone for making my birthday the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!
