Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday. How old am I? I don't want to talk about it.

Last night, Nick and Amy threw me an Anti-Consumerism birthday party. Everyone brought food they made from things they already had at home, and gave gifts of things they had but didn't want. No spending money was allowed! It was so much fun and I ate delicious food and received some lovely things--a velvet shawl with ruffled trim that once belonged to a friend's mother, a pretty picture frame with a jeweled dragonfly on it, warm gloves, yarn for knitting, a mug that says boys are stinky (well they are!), a beautiful sequined top, three Kasey Chambers CDs, a glass hurricane lamp, a watch, and more...it was awesome.

I made and brought vegan nori rolls from the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook, but added extra chili oil and some red pepper flakes to spice it up. They were fantastic and everyone devoured them, even the meat eaters. Amy made me this amazing amaretto cake she had made and I had admired on Christmas Eve (she remembered). That was devoured, too. All those who stayed after midnight got copies of a few of my latest books, as a thank-you for making it to my actual birthday. These included the Shakespeare Poetry of Love boxed set and the Beer book. We finally left about 1:00 a.m. It was great--thanks Amy and Nick, I love you!!




I realized after people had basically fallen on the food and left nothing in their wake that I didn't take any food pictures! I'm posting some people pictures instead.

My parents took us out to Atlas for a birthday lunch. I had the Veg Heaven burrito, which was beautiful, but again, I forgot to take a picture of it. We had a great time--thanks Mom and Dad!





Everyone was so full from lunch that we all warmed up individual leftovers later, as we got hungry, rather than having a formal dinner. The bet ends in three days! But we also decided to continue it for the rest of the year, in a modified form, so we can save money to spend Christmas in Oaxaca together. We are still working on the exact terms. A grand total seems not to reflect the efforts we want to make, to buy local, avoid products made in China, buy quality things that will last, not waste money on junk, etc.

In the meantime, our few trips out this weekend, using the excuse of my birthday, have catapulted us way over budget. Nick and Amy better be thinking about where they want us to take them out for dinner on February 1...