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…
