Poor Big-O.

Yesterday was his birthday, and he was excited for his party: A sleepover with his best buddies in a big tent in our living room. Alas, it was not to be.

The day started off just fine — our now eight-year-old(!) popped out of bed bright and early and ran into our room with his brother. After birthday hugs and a present from his mom and dad, Big-O got himself changed and ready for brunch. He wanted to go “someplace new,” so we decided to trek into the hills of Woodside for grub at Alice’s.

Tucked among the redwoods high above the Silicon Valley, Alice’s has been serving casual eats since the 1960s. (The building that houses the restaurant, however, has been around since the early 1900, when it was a general store that supplied the logging industry.)

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In the restaurant’s cozy dining room, we met up with Sidney, Jory, and little M, and the seven of us celebrated Big-O’s birthday over eggs and bacon…except for me, ‘cause I was in the mood for a burger. I mean, how can you pass up a menu item called a “Hog Burger”? Even without the buns, the thing was huge: two sirloin patties topped with avocado, grilled onions, and waaaay more cheddar cheese than anticipated.

Plus, the side order of sweet potato fries was pretty great.

Big-O had a good time, too, though he seemed a little tired. (Foreshadowing!)

After our bellies were full, we drove to Zest Bakery in San Carlos to pick up dessert for the birthday boy’s bash. He’d requested a chocolate bundt cake, and I knew just the place.

Zest is a terrific gluten-free bakery that whips up all of its goodies from scratch, and it certainly didn’t disappoint: Big-O’s cake looked delicious.

But when we got home, Big-O told us he was tired, and volunteered to take a nap before his party. Henry and I exchanged looks — this kid hasn’t napped since he was three — but we didn’t mind having a couple of extra hours to get ready for the sleepover party (with the assistance of Lil-O and his stuffed cat.)

An hour-and-a-half before the guests were set to arrive, Big-O emerged from his room, flushed and feverish. Uh, oh.

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” he protested. “I can take some medicine and I’ll be fine!”

We explained that he might feel better, but he’s contagious, and his friends wouldn’t be very happy if he got them sick. I called our guests’ parents to tell them that the party was postponed. Henry held Big-O as he sobbed.

After dinner (just leftovers from the night before, so I didn’t snap photos), Big-O was feeling well enough for some cake. His brother handed him a party hat, and we sang “Happy Birthday” twice for good measure.

At last, we coaxed a smile out of him.

Happy birthday, big guy. We love you very much.

Happy Birthday, Big-O!

I can’t believe the older of my two sprouts is SEVEN. Shoot. I’m an old mofo. 

In honor of his birthday, the Double-O’s and I baked some cinnamon bun muffins in the morning.

I bought some baking mixes from White Lion Baking Company after reading the glowing review on Everyday Paleo. The cinnamon bun muffins were a breeze to bake, had a delicate and moist crumb, and just the right amount of sweetness. Big-O loved them — even though he doesn’t have a sweet tooth at all. (That fact makes me question whether he is truly my son, as opposed to an alien implanted in my belly all those years ago.)

For my breakfast, I scarfed down a muffin, a few slices of Applegate Farms organic roast beef, and a handful of Paleo trail mix before I dashed off to  Lil-O’s preschool for my bi-monthly co-teaching assignment.

 At lunchtime, I came home and ate some more slices of roast beef and reheated a bowl of cauliflower fried rice.

I was still hungry so I ate a packet Steve’s Original Grass Fed Just Jerky and some dark chocolate. Uh, huh. I eat dark chocolate daily now. Bite me.

I had a little time to myself before I picked up the boys, so I seasoned some pork chops with Tabil, salt, and pepper…

…and threw them in the SousVide Supreme. I guess it’s a little telling that in my free time I’d rather dunk some swine in a warm bath than take one myself…

In the afternoon, my sister arrived from L.A. to help Big-O celebrate his special day.  When the two of us picked him up at school, her physical presence elicited his most ecstatic response of the day. I feel the same way and wish she still lived up in NorCal — but my squeals aren’t as cute.

For dinner, we all went to Sumika at the birthday boy’s request. We don’t come here often because Japanese food isn’t exactly Paleo (due to the soy, sugar, mirin, and vegetable oils), and I can’t resist the stuff with the badness in it.  Sumika is Big-O’s favorite restaurant — at his request, we dined here last year for his birthday, too — and the exceptional food is worth the detour off the Paleo highway.

Tonight, we ate a TON.

We shared some shrimp-stuffed shiitake mushrooms (yes, those are crispy noodles on top)…

…simmered daikon…

…chicken karaage…

…Okinawan-style stewed pork…

…beef tataki…

…and a bazillion skewers.

We chowed on chicken livers…

…crispy chicken skin…

…pork cheeks, chicken breasts with coconut sauce, chicken thighs…

…boneless(!) chicken necks (my FAVORITE)…

…pork-wrapped enoki mushrooms…

…chicken meatballs…

…chicken wings, and more chicken skin.

Halfway through dinner, our table was graced with a special appearance by the Unabomber Santa.

Happy Birthday (again!), my darling son!

Happy Birthday, Fitbomb!

He’s assured me he’s safely arrived at his midlife crisis. 

This morning, Big-O, our in-house mini barista, pulled us shots of espresso…

…and helped make his dad’s birthday frittata.

Hubby and I split the frittata, which was made with leftover emergency protein, four eggs, a splash of cream, and chopped cilantro.

After breakfast, I went to the women’s class at CrossFit Palo Alto and spent an hour making sure I’d be incredibly sore in the evening. Tomorrow will be worse, but it’s the good kind of sore that I welcome.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon stomping around the house, super-pissed off because the Kenmore chest freezer in our garage STILL hasn’t been fixed or replaced. Apparently, the Sears warranty buys you nothing more than the following:

• A three-day wait for a service technician to come look at the freezer;
• A four-hour service window, during which the technician does not arrive;
• A very late visit from the technician, who spends an hour scratching his head, only to tell you what you’ve already known for days: The damned compressor is busted.

On top of that, the repairman told me that he doesn’t have a replacement compressor and needs to order one. And he doesn’t have time in his busy schedule to come back and actually fix the freezer until a week from now.

AND? Labor and part for the repair costs $500, which is THREE TIMES what I paid for THE ENTIRE BRAND-NEW FREEZER. “But don’t worry,” the tech told me. “It’s all under warranty, so Sears will pay for the repair.”

BUT WHY WON’T SEARS JUST REPLACE THE FREEZER SO IT CAN SAVE SOME MOOLAH AND I CAN ICE MY MEAT TODAY?

He shrugged. “We can’t do that.”

I’m done with you, Sears.

[UPDATED 10/1/11: Wow. I got a super-quick response from the Sears executive office! A nice woman named Deidra (whose job is to deal with gripers like me) got in touch with me and is working to replace my freezer! It pains me to be a complainer — I usually just stew in private — but sometimes I guess the squeaky wheel gets the new freezer.]

After the repairman left, I made myself a quick lunch of leftover Kalua pig lettuce tacos with mashed guacamole.

I had half an avocado remaining, so I broke out my new super-duper Avo Saver!

(Thanks for the tip, Marcia!)

Fit Daffy and her adorable son came over in the afternoon and she patiently listened to me bitch about the dismal state of my chest freezer. She also generously gave me a huge stash of Hawaiian Sun frozen coconut milk!

Are you all worried about where I’m gonna store the precious packets of medium chain trigycerides? Or the three bags of meat Fitbomb brought back home from the freezers at his office in anticipation of our chest freezer actually being fixed? DUN-DUN-DUN!

Never fear, Dr. HA’s mother offered to store it all in her empty freezer until our $180 freezer gets a completely nonsensical $500 makeover! Yay! I’ve got my own Paleo fairy godmother!

Now back to our regular programming…

For dinner, we celebrated hubby’s birthday at Martins West…

It was a relaxing way to finish the day — good grub and laughs with our little posse.

It’s my birthday today and I had an AWESOME one! In fact, I’m not so cranky ‘cause I indulged in some ICE CREAM and DARK CHOCOLATE. Wheeeeeeeee! It’s fun to go off the rails once in while!

The morning started out like most Tuesdays because we packed lunches for the kiddies…

…I ate some fat and protein before my women’s class at CrossFit Palo Alto…

…and I gathered my kicks before hitting my WOD. (Thanks for the new socks, Fitbomb!)

As usual, the women’s class was fun and challenging but I did get a nasty bruise on my shin when I landed on my tush while practicing snatch balances and dropped a barbell on myself. Ouch! Now I have to wear knee highs all the time.

After class, I met my good friend H and her darling daughter for a birthday lunch at Birch Street Restaurant in Palo Alto. Birch Street is the new, tinier incarnation of perennial Palo Alto favorite Bistro Elan. Prices are high but the quality of ingredients is pretty exceptional — especially for Palo Alto. For example, they serve lots of local and organic produce and feature sustainable and grass fed meats from BN Ranch. If you are dairy-averse, stop reading the rest of this post. You’ve been warned!

Being a super indulgent friend, H allowed me to order for the two of us. We shared two salads: one with La Quercia prosciutto, Kashiwase peach, feta, and watercress..

…and another with heirloom tomatoes and burrata.

Yes, those are some big ass crunchy croutons but I ate around them.

For our mains, we shared a Greek salad with lamb meatballs, romaine, black olives, feta, “eggplant chips,” yogurt, and cucumber…

…and a cast-iron seared BN Ranch grass fed flat iron steak with fries.

I didn’t eat any fries but only because I was so damn full.

Lunch was tasty (for Palo Alto) but the best part was catching up with my buddy and making goo goo faces at her adorable daughter.

After my leisurely lunch, I pampered myself with a Swedish massage at LaBelle Day Spa. Truth be told, I kinda hate massages but I had a bunch of knots in my shoulders that had to be rubbed out. My masseuse was fantastic and she made me giggle when she politely inquired if I had a cat, in reference to my faded double-under whip marks on my arms. I casually told her that I’d been a bad, bad girl.

As soon as my spa hour was over, I rushed home to pick up the Double-O’s from school. Then, we went to Big-O’s dentist appointment before hopping on a northbound train for San Francisco to eat dinner at Marlowe Restaurant.

We ordered and ate the same items we did last time but I got a special birthday appetizer created by Big-O: a virtual cupcake filled with kabobs!

Marlowe serves up tasty eats but my two faves are definitely the deviled eggs…

…and the roasted marrow.

Since we were in the city and it was HOT and it was my birthday, I requested that we head to Humphry Slocombe for some dessert.

Man, the Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee ice cream is GOOO-OOOOD! Yes, it’s a tad sweet for my like-a-sugar-virgin taste buds but it was worthwhile treat.

When we got home, I ended the night by savoring a couple squares of dark chocolate from Monique’s Chocolates. Thanks H! 

Now, I’m going to happily slip into a diabetic coma…