Hello, hello, hello! Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time. I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake! I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny! This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.
Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight. I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.
On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.
It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.
I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!
My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!). We saw all sorts of fun things.
Nana (grandma) was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc. I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom! When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!
My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!
We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice. I got a bloody mary to drink.
And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.
I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.
My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!
I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa). I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets. My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.
We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives. I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!
We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s. I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.
I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!
My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team. It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun. My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!
After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches. I had a small vodka and coke,
and a small slice of pizza.
And then there was more cake and more tears!
Quite a night was had by all 🙂
For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.
We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby! Lunch was buffet style at the party.
Cheesy potatoes,
fruit,
and veggies.
And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece.
Over the course of the party I sipped a beer
and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.
My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold! It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house. More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!
It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.
We all had a small piece.
When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner. It was a great last meal. I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!
My grandmother shared her side salad with me,
and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.
They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!
I also had a small piece of bread.
I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold! I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.
Mmmn. I ate 3/5 pieces.
It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!
This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport. Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!
For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast. A banana from my grandmother’s house,
and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.
My flights were all blissfully uneventful. I was very excited to see the husband at the airport. Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume. He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.
My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye! I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!
Zevia Winners
I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.
Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack
- (#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
- (#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
- (#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
- (#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
- (#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!
Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case
- (#9) Molly – Sounds good!
Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!
