What a fun weekend! I’m still recovering!

FRIDAY!

On Friday evening, I taught Merry Fitness Boxing with Mr. Worldwide. Everyone was in a fun, festive mood!

Steven and Troy were on their way back from a road trip, so they met me, Jen, and Declan after class for dinner. It was fun to hear about their trip!

SATURDAY!

Saturday was Steven’s birthday! For breakfast, I had some vegan donuts he picked up the day before at Craft Donuts + Coffee. How sweet of him to bring me home some!

He got Sugar + Salt, Cranberry Orange Frosted, and Elvis Sandwich. The flavors were good, but of course, they were a bit stale, being a day old.

State	Date	Name	Flavor(s)	Rating (0-4)	Photo
Kansas	1/15/18	Mud Pie	Cake Chocolate Frosted
Illinois	2/7/18	Do-Rite	Chai Maple
Illinois	2/17/18	Holcomb Hollow	Lemon Vanilla
Ohio	3/23/18	Holey Toledough	Blackberry Hibiscus & Cinnamon Roll
Wisconsin	4/1/18	Holey Moley Coffee + Doughnuts	Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Glaze, Cinnamon Sugar, Banana Bread, S’mores, Raspberry, Samoa, and Apple Fritter
Ohio	5/12/18	Brewnuts	Lemon Ginger and Oreo P’Nut Butter
Minnesota	10/13/18	Glam Doll Donuts	Maple Buttercream & Toasted Coconut, Blackberry Henessy Icing, Fresh Jam, & Brown Sugar Bits, Chocolate Icing & Sprinkles, Fresh Raspberries & Vanilla Icing, Sweet Potato Filling.
California	11/11/18	Twisted Donuts & Coffee	Lemon Icing
Illinois	12/22/18	Craft Donuts + Coffee	Sugar + Salt, Elvis Sandwich, Cranberry Orange Frosted

Steven opened his birthday presents after breakfast (I got him a smart watch), and I did a few chores, then we went to the warehouse in his new car, and got lunch out.

Then it was time for birthday festivities with friends! We went to Axe MKE, an axe throwing bar, with Bobbi, John, Jen, and Troy. Steven and I enjoyed throwing axes (really, hatchets) in Cleveland, and thought pairing it with alcohol was a brilliant idea! Hee hee.

We got some drinks, an instructor went over the rules and techniques with us, then we had an hour and a half on our lane to throw. We played top score from five throws for a while, then teamed up for ladies vs. men.

Oh, and had more drinks and food.

I wasn’t getting the hang of throwing at first, which kind of surprised me since I’d done it before. Then Steven gave me a tip to NOT follow the instructor’s advice to step then throw, but to step and throw together, which felt more natural to me. I did better after that! I think the key with this is doing what feels natural, and for me, going through the motions a few times and exhaling when I let go (like a strength move).

Steven did really well all night (winning almost every game) and everyone got the hang of it! Actually, I think I was the worst. Ha! But I had fun!

We completely destroyed the center of our board – so much that the hatchet wouldn’t stick in the center of the bullseye anymore.

Our instructor took our center board down after we finished and we saw him outside in the street with it and he asked if we wanted it. Sure! Why not?!

We were pretty slap happy at this point… and for the rest of the night. I’ll spare sharing the stupid things we joked about, since I know they’re only funny to us!

We went to Vanguard Bar for dinner, a beer and brat bar that has a meat menu AND a vegan menu!!!!!!!!

Oh. My. Gosh. The food. It was amazing. I will be thinking about these loaded french fries for months to come.

Everyone raved about the Baked Potato Balls (not vegan). And we all loved our sausages (I got the chili cheese dog).

And we all loved that we were in a bar and could continue being loud and inappropriate and that that was fine. Ha ha. When we picked this place, even though it said bar in the name, I was picturing something much tamer in my head. I have no idea why. But I loved the atmosphere and would love to go back (and to go back to Axe MKE!), especially now that I know there is no wait staff and you order at the bar (ha ha, when we finally got a table we were like, “wow, what’s taking so long?” DUHHHHH).

After dinner, dessert was a MUST. We went to the “VEGAN CAKE?!?!!” place but it’s closed until February (womp womp) so we went to a cookie and ice cream place instead. Then had a rambunctious ride home.

You know what’s amazing about having so little daylight? You are continually surprised by how much time is left in the night. We left for Milwaukee around 3:45, and got back home after 10:00. It felt late the whole time because it was dark, but it wasn’t really! Woo hoo, winning!

Jen and Troy picked up Declan from his aunt’s then came to our house to spend the night, where we had a cat toy fight (I have a ton of soft spongy tiny soccer balls that are fun to throw around), hung out for a bit, and went to bed after midnight, once Steven’s birthday was officially over!

SUNDAY!

On Sunday we slept in a bit,

made breakfast, then hung around chatting until about 1:00 pm. Then Jen, Troy, and Declan left, since we all had Christmas-y stuff to do. I ran a few errands, then came home and baked some things to bring to Iowa. And did a few things on my computer (like write this!). And wrapped a few presents. And made more food to bring to Iowa, and dinner.

We had such a fun time on Steven’s birthday. It was great to have a carefree, goofy night with close friends so close to all the holiday hullabaloo.  We were all saying how we hadn’t laughed like that in ages! We laughed, and talked in a silly pretend voice we gave Bobbi’s potential new kitten so much our throats all hurt. Ha. I’m looking forward to the next time we all get together.