Happy Birthday!

I woke up to snow on my birthday this past Friday, much like every other birthday. Thankfully we didn't get hit hard like other locations, so my plans went off without a hitch! BJ surprised me Thursday night with the Monster High Create a Monster Blob/Ice girl set. He obviously knows that way to my heart is through toys! I told him I'd be happy to wait until morning to open it, but he was too excited by the find to wait any longer I guess.

I have been looking for it since I saw people posting pictures on flickr, so I had to take some bad lighting pictures that night before ripping into the packing! The pack I got had defective arms that can't bend at the elbow. I e-mailed Mattel about it right away and they're sending out a replacement!

We finally won a Mittens Fluff n Stuff on ebay and it arrived on Thursday. When Lalaloopsies first came out, I thought they were super cute, but pledged that I wouldn't start a collection because I was already deep into my Monster High obsession. Then the minis came out and all hell broke loose. My first full-sized one was Charlotte Charades which I wanted specifically to put into the skeleton outfit made for Patch. I finally got that on clearance at Toys R Us so my dream has been realized! By the time I gave into my desire, Mittens had been retired and price gouged online, but I found one with her polar bear for a reasonable price and now I'm done with full-sized ones. Until I saw April Sunsplash. Bloomington TRU doesn't usually have good stock, so when all these new toys were there, I died! Plus, Lalaloopsies were buy one get one half off. Done deal. I got the minis Choco Whirl Swirl and Cake Dunk n Crumble for a present to myself and BJ was the greatest and nabbed April for me with Mango Tiki Wiki just to get the deal. I cleaned out this year, but I promise it usually doesn't happen that way. 

I didn't sleep at all and woke up early because I was beyond excited about the day to come. BJ made me my favorite breakfast: tofu scramble breakfast burrito with hash browns, mushrooms, green pepper, broccoli, and hot sauce. He forgot the fakin' bacon, but it was still an amazing way to start the day. Then we were off to Body Worlds at the Science Museum! There were a lot of kids coming in for field trips to see it as I had expected, but we got there right before it opened and the potential for a lot of snow kept some of the schools at home. It was really awesome. I was disappointed that some of the displays that were part of the 2006 tour hadn't made their way back for this engagement. BJ didn't see the exhibit last time it was in town, so he never got to see the pregnant lady and the man on the horse, which must be traveling elsewhere. The fetuses were my favorite from this go-around. If it ever visits your area, see it! It isn't scary or gross. It is so interesting and remarkable and full of things the average person will never see. Sadly, the exhibit began with a display that said death is a slow process that begins at birth and once a person reaches mid-twenties, it's all down hill physically. Not the greatest thing to hear the day I start my 25th year.

After we were done at the museum, BJ had planned on taking me to Two Smart Cookies for a vegan peanut butter cookie. He didn't take note of when it opened and so when we found it, it wouldn't be open for another hour. We are not St Paul people and had no interest in lollygagging until they opened, so I suggested we head over to Cupcake. The Mall of America location never has vegan cupcakes. Whenever we go there, the person working always says the last one was just sold or that someone just came in and bought whatever they had left. [If you're that person, other vegans would like a tasty treat while walking around the mall; you can special order them if you'd really like a bunch of cupcakes. Cupcake, please make more. Nobody buys the gluten-free ones. Cut back on those and increase production of the vegan variety.] We went to the University location and decided not to share one as usual in celebration. This place won Cupcake Wars for a reason. Yum!

After we finished our cupcakes, we headed over to the Electric Fetus because it's a fun place to visit and get interesting trinkets and whatnots. BJ got me a hologram bookmark of polar bears walking and this button because of an obvious nickname I have.

When we got home, I had a nice long chat with my good friend, Agent I, about life and movies. I have some in transit to my library that I can't wait to watch. It's always nice to be remembered on your birthday- or any time for that matter! He recently commissioned a painting from me saying that he wanted the subject matter to be violently cuddly with my characters. This is what he got.

A Friday would never be complete for us if we didn't take a stroll around the Mall. Interestingly, I hate the Mall of America. It's full of tourists toting their millions of kids around in strollers which prevent them from remembering how to walk above zombie pace. Weekdays aren't as bad though and walking inside is better than walking outside in the cold, snowy Minnesota weather. I had a reason for going there as well. I got a free eye shadow from Bare Minerals just because it was my birthday!

We had a couple of hours to kill when we got home before we had to pick my mom up from the airport. We'd eaten at Galactic Pizza on Tuesday and I still had a slice leftover which I finished off. The vegan Paul Bunyan is my favorite! I had eaten at most every place on my list of favorite veg-friendly spots in Minneapolis during my birthday week and the culmination of my foodgasm was about to come. All the was standing between me and Evergreen was my mother's return from Mexico. Picking her up at the airport was sort of a fiasco, but we finally found her and made our way to Eat Street for a party in my mouth.

Mock beef and broccoli, tea, and five spice deep fried tofu. And chopsticks. I made myself not inhale the whole serving plate to save room for some scrumptious vegan strawberry Muddy Paws Cheesecake from Galactic Pizza. I did not get a picture of that because it was one of those times when desire trumps all and before I knew it was scraping the to-go box clean. My mom is a skeptic of anything vegan and she agreed it was delicious and could fool anyone. She even said she wished she had another slice!

I ended my birthday weekend with brunch with BJ's family at Pizza Luce Richfield on Sunday. His dad ordered a regular and a vegan Breggfest pizza for everyone to share. BJ  had the vegan burrito and I got the tomato florentine with hash browns. I tried BJ's, but was happy with my choice. The vegan Hollandaise sauce was stupendous, but I didn't like the tapenade because I hate olives no matter how many times I give them a chance.

I got gift cards to my fave stores, Target and Michaels, which I promptly used! A dress I'd been eyeing at Target went on sale for the exact amount of the gift card and I had a zero balance due to the great state of Minnesota not having sales tax on clothing! Then I went to Michaels to pick up some cardstock for a project I have in mind. I had a 50% off coupon and finally picked up the Martha Stewart fringing scissors for $6.50! This year of my life is certainly off to a pretty good start. Now I need to get to work!