Wonderful Weekends: Hotel Motel Holiday Inn

Last Thursday was my birthday.  On my actual birthday, I went to Glen Ivy Hot Springs, relaxed by the pool, soaked in the mineral baths, basked in the sun, and sipped on Pina Coladas all day long.

Map of the Grounds at Glen Ivy Hot Springs

Then Dan whisked me away to The Veggie Grill for Dinner.  I got the Grilled Chick'n Sandwich with Sweetheart Fries.  Dan Got the BBQ Sandwich with Mac and Cheese and we split an order of Buffalo Wingz.  All was delicious (except we didn't really care for the mac and cheese much, but no fault of the Veggie Grill..it is great for a GF option, we're just not big fans of rice pasta.)  and I brought home a piece of carrot cake to enjoy in bed while watching TV.

Dinner at the Veggie Grill in Irvine

We headed to Long Beach to the Holiday Inn to meet up with friends for drinks in the penthouse bar.  For those who are familiar with Long Beach, this round tower of a hotel is in a pretty random spot. Sure it's pretty close to the airport...but so is all of Long Beach.  Neither Dan or I had ever been there, but would always tease about how when we made it big, we would stay in a room at the Long Beach Holiday Inn and have drinks in that bar.  Silly us.  Anyone can hang out in that bar, and you certainly don't have to be highfalutin to enjoy a nice room on the 11th floor overlooking the runway.  Since most of our friends and family still live in Long Beach, we thought it would be a great place to meet up.  Dan and I got a room, so we wouldn't have to worry about driving (Thank goodness, because we both had way more than our fair share of drinks!)

Holiday Inn of Long Beach

Sunday morning we headed to an old, old favorite...The Potholder, to get a greasy breakfast to fight off the hangovers.  We hadn't been there in many years.  So long in fact, that I didn't remember whether or not they had any vegan options.  Well, they didn't haved much, so I settled on a side of breakfast potatoes, a dry veggie burger, and some toast.  Ha.  It's a good thing I'm not too picky, and was happy just to get some food in my belly.  And we were a day off because I did find out a bit of interesting news.  Long Beach now has its very first vegan restaurant.  Long Beach Vegan Eatery opened its doors today.  I'll be heading there tomorrow to check it out!

We headed home to our girls and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around watching TV and snacking on pita chips and hummus. 

A wonderful weekend indeed.

VeganMoFo and Birthday Dinners

Nope. It's not my birthday. My birthday isn't until next week. But, I thought I would take this opportunity to say how much I love birthday dinners. Birthday dinners are always dinners that I WANT TO HAVE. No one argues about the menu or where I want to go out to eat. You know why? 'Cause it's MY BIRTHDAY!

I'm sure I've mentioned before, that my husband is not a vegan. He's not even a vegetrarian. Although he has become more and more open minded over the years, he's still light years away from ordering tofu at a restaraunt if there is steak or chicken on the menu. Unless, of course, it's MY BIRTHDAY! This weekend we will be dining at the new Aliso Viejo location of Native Foods.

Sorry, babe, there's no chicken or steak on the menu.

Even if I cook dinner for myself on my birthday (Which I am more than happy to do, afterall, I love to cook) anyone and everyone around on MY BIRTHDAY, has to eat what I want to make.

Two of my favorite birthday dinners of year's past:

Turning the Newman backyard into a Beer Garden and having our own Oktoberfest. We made our own Seitan Brat's complete with kraut. Read more about it here.




This was the month after we got married. I couldn't wait to show off all of our grown up stuff. I mean seriously, we had a full set of matching silverware! I wasn't so into food porn back then, but I always remembered my mom taking pictures of the set table and the cake on special occasions. The menu was VWAV Seitan & Portobello Stroganoff, green salad, french bread, and yellow cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. We also had wine and beer and kava-kava tea that we brought home from our honeymoon. That stuff tastes awful, but sure makes for interesting conversation!




So there you have it. I love birthday dinners. Next week, I will be sure to report on my next one...