my best year yet

so my 25th birthday is this wednesday & i'm pretty stoked. i'm having a birthday filled week : ) i mean i already picked up my free birthday gift at sephora. this postcard is from anthropologie & i still have to go to the body shop & two restaurants for free food. love my birthday haha. miguel & i have plans to go on a mini trip & to the city. i'm also pretty excited because i'm going to be having a party! it will include photobooths & delicious hors d'oeuvres : )

i just came back from a three day visit at miguel's. it was a well deserved visit as the last time i took the train to see him was three weeks ago. he is growing vegetables & fruit in his backyard garden (left over from the previous house tenants). i told him to go pick some tomatoes for the omelets i was making for breakfast & he came back with not only tomatoes, but carrots & squash too!

 fresh tomato & onion with swiss cheese omletes for yesterday's breakfast!

 speaking of cooking, i've been busy in the kitchen lately. for a fundraiser at church, i baked 176 cookies (four different kinds!) in one afternoon. it was incredible haha. i've also been cooking family dinners almost every night lately.

 linguine with vodka sauce, veggie meatballs & broccoli with garlic.

 brussell sprouts sauteed with garlic.

refried black beans with garlic & spanish rice.

 i'm making a 25 before 26 list & one thing is going to be to make one new dish every week : )

miguel came to visit me a week ago & we went to one of my favorite places in the city i live in - an island, stuck in the 1940s. i love the big houses & beautiful trees. we had a picnic in the gazebo & just had a nice, relaxing afternoon. i loved it.

 i got my first paycheck from my new job, & it was a pretty big one...i was really happy haha. so, during this last visit to miguel's, i payed for everything (since i actually have a regular source of income now!). it felt really good. hehe. i took him out for breakfast one morning & then lunch before he had to go to work & i had to catch the train home. i also took him to the theaters to see cloud atlas. i was actually full-on crying at the end. it was an emotional movie! have you seen it?? i'm amazed at how well the actors & the make-up artists did.

anyways, i took miguel out to one of our favorite breakfast places. it has THE most delicious french toast. i don't usually like to eat sweet things in the morning, but these are amazing.

 we were both pretty full after that breakfast.

we went to my doctor's appointment & the movie afterwards (with a little shopping!). it was raining by the time the movie was over so we headed home, curled up with some tea & edamame & watched stepbrothers. i always have amazing days when i'm with him : )