Sushi Celebrating….

I started my PRE-Birthday Eve day off with a 5 mile run upping my run/walk ratio to 5 minutes jogging with 1 minute walking breaks.  I have to admit, it was pretty tough and maybe I was adding on  mileage too quickly, but, I DID it!  I will have to see how I feel next week in upping to 6 miles or I may do a 4-5 mile repeat.   It felt AWESOME though to start my day with a nice LONG (for me) run under my belt.

I wasn’t starving, so I waited a bit before I sat down for breakfast.  4 pts, fast and delicious.

1 c Kashi Go Lean

1 banana

Handful of Blueberries

1/2 c FF milk

I was so ready for the celebrating to start, but, it wasn’t happening until later on.  So, I did a little shopping and stopped for a tall FF Chai tea latte ( 3pts).

When the mail came, it was present time!!! Woohoo – I LOVE all my friends who are so incredibly thoughtful.  First up (I actually received on Wednesday night) was from my hair dresser/awesome friend.  She knows I LOVE Trader Joe’s so she got me a gift card and then  this really cool “LIFE” bracelet to help me get through my half marathon training.  She wanted to have something I could wear to encourage me as I work up on those miles – how thoughtful is that?!

Next up was the gift I received from one of my BESTEST friends ever (who has to live in Texas for some reason) 😉  She knows all the things I LOVE….

How cute are these plates that she got at World Market – LOVE THEM all and can’t wait to show case them on The Blog 😀

She also knows to feed my cookbook addiction, although in all fairness, I did give up 2 cookbooks to get one more 🙂

I went with a lighter lunch to use up our leftovers in the fridge.  I started with Parmesan Zucchini…..

Then, topped it with Sausage and Spinach Soup.

AMAZING!  I LOVED the extra veggies and the flavors of the soup definitely get better as they sit.  Not bad for 5 points 🙂

I shared an orange from our neighbors tree with The Husband for dessert.

All together with another Sobe Life Water ~ Black and Blue Berry – it has 0 calories and is sweetened naturally with carrot juice – LOVE that.

I am not sure if I ever told you all that The Husband LOVES soda – it’s one addiction that he pretty much wants to keep (it’s the bubbles!)  I was pretty excited when I saw that Pepsi and Dr. Pepper are coming back with soda made with REAL SUGAR.

Yeah for no High Fructose Corn Syrup….I mean, if he is going to drink it, why not have something that is a little bit better for him 🙂 He swears it doesn’t taste the same though (probably because he knows its better for him :))

I finished all my usual weekend routine (laundry, grocery shopping, etc) and sat down for a few episodes of “Chopped”.  I think that may be my newest Food Network addiction.  I snacked on a few BBQ popped chips since The Food Network ALWAYS makes me hungry 😀

Finally it was time for some SUSHI CELEBRATING!!! Mikuni’s is by far my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SUSHI place ever.  I do not get to go often anymore because it is located in Sacramento where I used to leave (BEFORE The Husband came along) 😀  He knows it is my FAVORITE place and set up to have my entire family meet us there….LOVE HIM!

I started off with Miso Soup and HOT Green tea.

Plus a little Edamame.

I had a shrimp tempura piece, a green bean then my mom gave me a bite of her KALE Tempura.  I LOVE that they made KALE CHIPS!!

They brought out chopsticks for everyone and my NON-SUSHI loving Husband thought this of the Chopsticks 🙂

They had cute chopsticks made up that were rigged with a rubber band so the kiddos could use them too.

My FAVORITE appetizer came out next.  Sear BBQ Ahi Tuna in a SPICY SRIRACHA DIPPING SAUCE….Picture SRIRACH WITH PEANUT BUTTER = LOVE!!!!  I had one piece and shared with everyone else.

My Sis, Niece and I shared 3 HUGE rolls. 

The 1st roll is called TRAINWRECK ~ Shrimp Tempura, spicy AVOCADO Blend, crab mix, topped with chopped unagi, sea steak, sesame seeds, onion, spicy zig zag sauce and unagi sauce.  I LOVE how the spice creeps up on you AFTER you eat it.  I had 3 pieces of this deliciousness!

Next up is the SPICY PETER 2 roll which we ALWAYS get.  “ DF shrimp, crab salad, spicy tuna, AVOCADO, eel, seared tuna, 2 spicy dream sauces, masago & onion.  I had 3 pieces of this AWESOME roll.

The last roll was my sister’s pic and was from their special HOT NEW OSUSUME Menu.  TASMANIAN ROLL ~ “Salmon, Asparagus, topped with Tasmanian Ocean Trout, onions, yellow onions, sliced lemon and a touch of chili oil.  You know, this roll was good, but, not spicy at all.  I actually liked the super thin lemon with rind on top,  I had 2 pieces of this roll.

Since we were there celebrating my birthday (even if it isn’t until MONDAY), I got to spin the MIKUNI Birthday Wheel.  I won one of their T-Shirts ~ FUN!

Here are a few pics of all of us.  My SUPER CUTE niece who is all grown up now, but, she has good taste because she LOVES sushi too 😀  That would be my Body Bugg showing for those wondering what’s on my arm 🙂

Here I am digging into my PRESENTS (a total group effort, but, more on that in a sec).  I didn’t realize how I was “holding” my card – oops – wrong finger 😀

My super skinny sis (who is running the half with me) and her Hubby.

The Husband, My Dad, My Mom and super cute niece.

CUTEST KIDS EVER ~ My niece and nephew….

The Husband sorta had to tell me what he was making me for my birthday yesterday or my gifts wouldn’t have made sense.  As you all know, he LOVES to build/make me things for gifts….remember the pantry?  He managed to coordinate with my family to give gifts that go with what he is making…..

So, I am not allowed to share pictures until it is final, but, guess what ~ he is building me  A HUGE GARDEN complete with a REDWOOD GARDEN BOX!!!! He knows I LOVE The Farmer’s Market and wanted to bring it to our house – how cool is that?!  I can’t wait to show you all.

With that being said, here is all the FUNTASTIC gifts my family gave me to go with our new garden.

My MOM”s super cute homemade garden card.

 

Plus a ‘I LOVE MY GARDEN’’ rock complete with a HOME DEPOT gift card attached to the bottom of the rock 😀  I LOVE it – thanks MOM and DAD!

My SIS was in charge of gardening supplies.  She stocked up a GARDEN basket complete with SEEDS to plant….HELLO KALE, LETTUCE AND SWISS CHARD!!!!

She also included a growing chart for all seasons!!!!

Complete with everything you need to know for when you can grow it and the best time frames.

All together with the pitch fork my niece brought over too….FUN!  Thanks SIS & Family – I CANNOT wait to use it all….hopefully I can make my organic garden grow 😀  I totally LOVE the group gift efforts and have such an AMAZING family 🙂

PHEW!! That was a LONG post, but, totally worth the wait, right?!  It was such a fun day and the best part is the celebrating is continuing through MONDAY ( My ACTUAL BIRTHDAY)…Yeah! 😀

The Husband is patiently waiting for me to blog so we can head out to the movies….It’s a toss up between The Lovely Bones, The Book of Eli and Youth Revolt.

BE SURE TO CHECK BACK TOMORROW AS I AM HOSTING AN ANNIE’S GIVEAWAY in honor of my birthday…..I wanna share the LOVE with my readers 😀

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend ~ see ya’all later!