January birthdays suck, especially when you love nature yet it’s cold outside and you’re dealing with what I’ve come to conclude is central sensitization (although, thankfully, it seems to be getting better, albeit slowly).
That being said, my birthday wasn’t terrible considering it was a milestone one – I turned 50!
Initially I wanted to get eggs benedict takeout from a local restaurant but I was really worried even with it being a five minute drive from the house that it would get too cold. Then I saw the price – $17 – and decided I didn’t want to chance it.
Instead, we decided to try a new coffee shop. It was a whole debacle not knowing where to order (tablet they had setup, or counter), but Joe got an iced coffee and I decided to try a basic iced latte.
Let me tell you, that is the single best iced latte I’ve ever had and there was nothing fancy about it. I didn’t get any flavors and yet it was lightyears better than Starbucks, and cheaper too! Unfortunately the rice krispie treat I also ordered was no good. Flavor wise it was no better than what I’ve made myself, plus it was hard. Like I could possibly chip a tooth trying to eat it hard, yet it didn’t taste stale. I had to heat it up in the microwave to soften it.
We were almost home from our coffee run when I told Joe I wouldn’t mind a breakfast sandwich from Wendy’s, so he turned around so we could head over there. I love their maple bacon chicken croissants and breakfast potato wedges! Luckily they are pretty close to the house so back-tracking wasn’t a big deal.
When we got home with our food we had to park on the street because our neighbors were getting new kitchen appliances and the delivery truck was completely blocking our driveway. Not hanging over, parked entirely in front of the drive making it impossible to get in or out. Joe was so aggravated. They should have attempted to ask us if it was ok (which they couldn’t have, or our doorbell would have recorded them coming to the door) but like I told Joe, at least we weren’t trying to get out of the driveway to go somewhere since they ended up being there at least a half hour past the time we arrived home.
After we ate breakfast, I opened my gifts from Joe:
A wooden Blue Jay to add to my collection
A bird of the day calendar
The Cure’s latest concert release
A coffee table book of photographs of The Cure over the years (all taken by the same photographer and with a forward written by Robert Smith).
The bird on my calendar for my birthday is so cute!
The funny thing is when Joe bought me the same calendar last year, I was like “ugh, don’t really want that”, but grew to love it. When I mentioned at the end of the year I was sad the calendar was finished, he decided to get me another one. I told him next year to get me a dog one similar to it.
Other gifts he got me that aren’t pictured:
A chickadee coffee mug
A purple Brooklyn Nine Nine t-shirt
He also bought me a glucose monitor. I was looking at them months ago but I don’t remember ever adding one to a gift list. Who knows, though – Amazon seems to ignore the default wish list I’ve set up and just adds stuff to other lists. In any case, we just requested a return and dropped it off at the Amazon Fresh store.
After Amazon Fresh we went to TJ Maxx to look around but didn’t find anything good, and then to Costco to pick up a few things.
We killed a little time before heading back out to pick up lunch from a place called Taco Dale, which we took to the arboretum to enjoy in the car. I brought my trusty 80’s E.T. themed TV tray so I didn’t make a mess since I ordered birria.
It was so good! I thought ahead and brought a cooler, ice packs, and containers which proved to be useful since I could only eat half of my food before feeling stuffed.
We drove around the arboretum and ended up seeing a belted kingfisher and two red-headed woodpeckers! I didn’t bring my camera, just binoculars, but it was still fun. We even stopped in the visitor center to get a free blueberry scone (thanks to the points we earn with every visit) and hiked by turtle pond which was frozen over.
After the arboretum we did some shopping at Trader Joe’s before heading home.
Dinner was the previous night’s leftovers – a dish Joe starting making last year, which I love – ground chicken, Hokkien noodles, green beans, and green onions seasoned with sesame oil & coco aminos.
After dinner we watched some TV together and enjoyed a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie.
I was shocked that a Marie Callender’s pie was better than the local pie shop strawberry rhubarb that we picked up from Aldi last year and tried at Thanksgiving. It was more than twice the price and was so awful we threw most of it away. I’m glad there’s an affordable option for when the craving strikes.