James' 21st Birthday!

Special K vanilla almond cereal w/ 1/2 sliced banana & soy milk. So good.

With a long black coffee from the Paddington Grind. Like my shoes? ; )

I grabbed a quick bite from the food court at the Westfield mall in Maroubra where we were busy buying some last minute things for James' birthday party. This yummy salad from Sumo Salad gave me the energy I needed to blow up all 150 balloons. Whew.

A hodge podge of sorts. Mixed greens w/ corn, tomato, carrots, chickpeas, avocado & pumpkin w/ balsamic vinaigrette, a bread roll, & a diet coke.

At James' party there was a ton of food. I only got a pic of some of the appetizers including brie & crackers, hummus, guacamole, quiche, & spanakopita. For dinner there were unpictured kebabs, sausages, & lots of salads.

For dessert there was the healthy option of a big fruit salad...

& James' amazing birthday cake that his aunty had made for him. This cake was insane! I love the surfer. It was made by Chris at Cake Occasions.

It was such an amazing night. James' sister & I made a slide show of photos and videos of James' throughout his life, and some of his friends and best mates (along with me) gave speeches.

A million drinking songs later this cute couple from the beginning of the night turned into....

girlfriend taking care of a very wasted boyfriend. Poor James was more trashed than he has ever been in his entire life. I guess that's what 21st birthday parties are for. Interesting fact: the dress I was wearing was James' moms from about 20 years ago.

After sleeping in super late at James' parents house, we made it back to Paddington where I grabbed a soy long black w/ honey from The Grind.

We lucked out & there were tons of leftovers from the party so lunch was as easy as warming up some roasted vegetables & adding the usual hummus & BBQ sauce.

Even though it was James' birthday I was spoiled & received a gift from friend and fellow blogger Winnecke. She works at a bakery, Sonoma, and after reading my blog and seeing how much I love grains she gifted me some of their muesli.

For dinner I had a bit of both the honey & breakfast spice and spelt maple & almond cooked w/ soy milk. I think I died and went to heaven this muesli was so delicious, it won't last long. Thanks Winnecke!

Monday Night Dinner

Believe it or not my morning did not start out with Starbucks. I know Patti you must be shocked! I was woken up by my mom w/ soy Latte from cafe Vienna.

Breakfast didn't take place (maybe because when I woke up it was already 10), so by lunch time I was ravenous. Thankfully we went to my all time favorite vegan restaurant Native Foods. Whether or not you are vegan you have to go there, even my carnivorous boyfriend and mom have been converted into Native Food addicts. Today we went to their location in Aliso Viejo.

They have a great selection of fresh juices w/ free refills. My mom & I always OD on the watermelon juice.

Isabella had french fries

My mom had the Tijuana Tacos

"two soft grilled corn tortillas filled with Native taco meat, Native cheese, salsa fresca, lettuce and guacamole"

I have this weird habit where I never order the same thing twice in an attempt to try everything on the menu. As of now there are only a few things left that I have yet to try. This time I had the Soy Amigo Taco Salad.

"A blend of romaine, cabbage, Native Taco A blend of romaine, cabbage, Native Taco Meat, and salsa fresca. Topped with corn, green onion, cilantro, tortilla chip croutons. Served with our original creamy chipotle dressing on the side"

This was delicious, I was not surprised though because honestly everything that I've tried at Native Foods has been really good.

Even though I was stuffed after eating this lunch, only a couple of hours later I ended up eating again because I promised my little sisters that I would pick them up from school and bring them to Sprinkles cupcakes.

My sister Emma is such a sweetheart she has been dying to take me here ever since she found out that they now serve vegan cupcakes. Even though I am not much of a sweets person I have always been a Sprinkles fan- I am a sucker for all of their modern packaging & cute decor.

Vegan red velvet cupcake. I love the V on top, adorable.

Post first bite!

After running around all day w/ mi madre later we went to dinner at my grandma's house. The tradition in our family is to have dinner every Monday at my grandparent's house along with my uncle and my little baby cousin Savannah. I haven't been to a Monday night dinner in ages, so it was nice to catch up w/ the fam and my grandma made vegan food for me.

We munched on some watermelon & drank chardonnay while waiting for dinner.

Check out this delicious spread. Everyone but me had homemade french chicken pot pie done w/ a white wine sauce and phyllo dough

crusty bread

Salad w/ avo, onions, tomatoes

roasted veggies (peppers, potatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, eggplant)

This was my plate (with lots of 2nds).

It was a great dinner, thanks grandma!