Sweet & Sara Valentine's Extravaganza

Something that my parents have in common with the lovely Sara from Sweet & Sara is that they're both very good at surprises.  Happy Valentine's Day to me:

After staying wrapped for precisely 5 seconds:

I brought out the giant tote bag to pack my snacks for work.


photo upload acting up again

If you don't know me, I should explain that when I hear "Valentine's Day" I really hear "Chocolate Day" and, thusly, eat only my swag for 24 hours.  You suckers who take all month to eat one box of chocolate?  No!  You're doing it wrong.  I can clear one whole layer for breakfast.

Speaking of, let me just say that not one of you can deny that rice crispies are breakfast.  Mine just happened to be in the form of a treat.  Decadent?  Maybe.  Portable and efficient?  Definitely.  Don't judge, jealous.

Who says there shouldn't be dessert with breakfast?  I thought a mini-smore was in order. Okay, two.  Hey, I didn't make up the packages.

By 10:00 am, my face already looked like this. 

For lunch, why not a peanut butter smores?  Why not indeed.

I had a late afternoon meeting scheduled; sometimes you just need a snack to keep yourself going. 

On Valentine's Day, shouldn't it be a chocolate-dipped, strawberry marshmallow heart?

My intake by 5:00pm.

For the final meal of the day, I chose...dessert!  Biscotti, anyone?

Graham crackers?

Call it dinner, call it dessert; it was my main meal.

In the interest of full disclosure, there was also flowers.  While I appreciate flowers, I want it on record that if I have to choose between flora and edible treats, I choose the latter.

And, finally, my money tree bloomed!

As you can see, I gained weight and riches.  Hope your day was sweet as well.

Coconut Cake and a House Made of Kale

A great friend of mine was expected this past weekend to take a break from her busy life and come see the fruits of my labor renovation money.  When we were planning the day in advance, she promised that she had "dessert covered" and my mind raced.  You see, she is a very good friend.

I was excited for her impending visit all week and, that day, was awakened by a surprise phone call that there was a delivery waiting for me.  Always happy to accept an unexpected delivery, I raced down the stairs, in my pajamas, to retrieve what turned out to be this beautiful fruit arrangement.

I don't love fruit, but I couldn't help but to be impressed by the presentation of this creation.  Yet no sooner had I closed the door on the delivery man did a dark thought cross my mind.  Had my friend sent this in advance of her impending arrival?  "Oh, hell no," I thought.  You see, I am rotten to the core.

Within a matter of minutes I had rationalized all of the reasons my kind, thoughtful, and intelligent friend would not have promised dessert and then presented me with fruit, but it wasn't until she this box arrived that my mind was put at ease.

Aaaah.

Oooh.

I'm not embarassed to tell you that as we enjoyed enormous slices of the fluffy-creamed, dense-caked, coconut decadence we had the nerve to discuss living healthier and more positive lives.  Days later, I'm still stuffing my face with glorious cake but I am trying to be less negative.  Or, at least, roll my eyes less and not curse at parked cars.

In our defense, we did set the attractive fruit arrangement on the table as we cake-feasted, but alas only a strawberry was consumed between us. 

The following day Two days later I decided to give the healthier eating a try and I began to dissassemble the fruit concoction in order to pack it up into work-suitable containers.  Mid-way through I spied something familiar; was it kale?

Lo and behold, it was.

And, once all of the fruit was removed, I was left with a house made entirely of kale.  How cool is that?

I guess my local supermarket isn't the only place that thinks kale is best used for garnish.  A kale gift arrangement; now that would be something.

Surprise kale notwithstanding, let's just say that the cake is gone.  But I will note that so too is the fruit!  Perhaps not coincidentally, another friend has since sent me the "fatify" app... as if I'm not doing a good enough job of that on my own.