Belated Birthday Dinner + Nicole’s VIDEO Debut

Posted by Lauren and Nicole

N: Last night, we headed over to my dad’s house for Lauren’s belated birthday dinner.  I brought over some guacamole that I made with 5 avocados, 1 red onion, and half a jar of cilantro lime salsa.  It was yummy and definitely passed my taste-testing :)

L: After skydiving yesterday, I came home and ate watermelon + broccoli while I roasted orange cauliflower for Friday’s dinner. (Picked up the orange cauliflower at Sunday’s Farmer’s Market!) I kept it really simple and coated them with balsamic vinegar, paprika, and pepper. I roasted them for 20 minutes at 410 and then let them cool. They were in the fridge overnight and then re-roasted in the oven right before dinner for 10 minutes at 410.

N: On the menu was LOTS of delicious food.  Veggie skewers, shrimp skewers, steak, Portobello mushrooms, white potatoes and sweet potatoes, salad with mango salsa, guacamole and carrots/celery, fresh fruit, and a few bottles of hot sauce… quite a feast!  My dad got to work being the grill master, as usual.

N: While the grill was going, my dad showed me a few of our drawings from the younger years. (L: I think my watercolors are more sophisticated hahaa) He also showed me a page of a homemade dance that I made up one day.  When I was younger, I absolutely loved choreographing dances.  I would make up dances and perform them for my family like I was a celebrity.  Tonight, yours truly performed one of the classics.

Mine on top, Lauren’s on bottom

N: After dancing my heart and soul out, I chatted with my dad about USC orientation and how awesome it was!  I also made him wear the “Proud Trojan Parent” pin that I brought back from LA, which inevitably led to some inappropriate jokes.

N: Then it was dinnertime!  The table was packed with homemade grub.

L: I love my dad and Lauretta’s cooking! Lauretta’s definitely a skilled chef, her peanuty marinade on the shrimp was fabulous. I made sure to take home a lot of extra seafood + veggies for random meals this weekend.

L: Wow. Look at that plate!

L: Blowing out the candles…. What you see there is a slab of delicious fudge brownies with extra chocolate icing. When surrounded by a bed of berries, it makes this more of a healthy slab of brownies, I read that somewhere. :)

N: Along with the triple fudge brownie (mini) cake and berries,  cookies ‘n cream ice cream made it’s way to the table.  Despite all of the temptation, I made a special plate for myself of crunchy peanut butter, Oreos (they’re vegan!!!), and lots of berries.  A spoonful of cookie, PB, and fruit = YUM.

L: I had a date with Megan planned to go see HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2!!! so I scarfed down the yummy brownie, said my goodbyes, and drove to CineLux Almaden Cinemas (2306 Almaden Road, San Jose).

(picture from Yelp)

Holy hot flash! This movie made my temperature rise and fall faster than a certain roommate of mine who may or may not have gone through menopause recently. TMI? Too bad. Seriously, this movie was AMAZING and it literally made my body temperature rise really high. I had to take off my jacket 3/4 of the way through because of the adrenaline.

Neville, oh Neville. You were terrific tonight. And Snape, that pensieve montage, money. Well done, Yates!

From 2007 and OOTP, but still pretty much identical to Friday night’s DHp2

N: After Lauren left, I spent some time catching up with my dad and Lauretta.  We chuckled as we talked about fake IDs and I entertained them with some college stories.  Then, I headed home to change (read: put more clothes on because San Jose is so cold lately!) and head out to meet some friends.  It was such a great night with yummy food and fun family :)  Happy birthday again, Lauren!

Q4U: Did you ever make up dances as a kid?

Q4U: Did you ever participate in a talent show?

Question: Did you go see Harry Potter?!!! What did you think?