Mother’s Day 2015

Today is Mother’s Day! And luckily, I got to share the day with my mom. I always cherish the times I get to enjoy hanging out with my momma one on one. She’s so much fun to be around, she’s always positive, and she always has a warm smile on her face.

I know, I know, everyone always thinks THEIR mom is the best mom, just like everyone always thinks THEIR dog is the cutest dog. But, she really is the best. And my dog is the cutest.

So for Mother’s Day, I took my mom and stepdad out for brunch and mimosas at Palace Cafe. It’s a cute little restaurant on Cherry Street here in Tulsa that I really enjoy going to.

For brunch, I had the crab cakes Benedict, my mom had the biscuit of the day which was a biscuit topped with steak, poached eggs, and hallandaise sauce, and my stepdad had the salmon BLT with an Asian twist to it.

   
 

I didn’t get a picture of the salmon, but it looked great!

My gift to my mom was really brunch and spending time together, but I also got her a couple of small gifts.

 

I got her a box of 5 nice chocolates from my favorite local chocolate store here in town. I also got her a pair of socks. Yep. Socks. I never claimed to be the best gift giver. But my motto is, I buy what I like. I learned that from my sister. Anyways, they’re inspirational socks with sayings such as “I am confident” or “I am amazing” or “I am a great friend” or “I love you” which is the quote on the pair I got my mom.

After brunch, our plan was to go ride bikes on Riverside. It was supposed to rain, but thankfully it held off all day, so we did indeed get to go ride bikes!

   
 

Bike riding with my mom was a blast! We rode all around the cute town of Jenks and also up and down Riverside.

Here’s a couple pics of us on the pedestrian bridge over the Arkansas river.

   
 

Notice how the picture my mom took is half sky and no bike? ….lol. She’s never claimed to be an expert photographer, but I love her anyways.

After our 5 and 1/2 mile bike ride, we decided to go get coffee and dessert at Starbucks. Since the weather today was absolutely amazing (warm, breezy, and overcast) we sat outside and enjoyed our coffees and smores tart.

   
   

Yum! We shared the 310 calorie tart for the perfect afternoon dessert.

Right next door to Starbucks is a health store called Complete Nutrition. I’d never been there before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, and to my surprise, they had Quest bars!

  
If you don’t know about Quest bars, you should! They have the best stats ever. Obviously the nutrition varies on each flavor, but the smores bar (my favorite so far) has 180 calories, 8 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 1 gram of sugar, 20 grams of protein, and 13 grams of fiber. Seriously, the fiber part gets me! It’s the perfect snack. 

So yeah, there are other “health” bars out there that taste better, but these taste really decent considering their nutritional value. We each bought 4 bars and 2 bags of the Quest brand chips.

If you know me at all, then you know my weakness is chips. They’re salty. They’re crunchy. They’re delicious. They’re not great for you. These Quest chips are a GREAT alternative to regular potato chips.

  
The chips have 120 calories per bag with 2 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs, 1 gram of sugar, and 21 grams of protein. They have a protein taste, yes, but these could easily pass for baked chips served along side a sandwich or with a dip. I would buy them way more often if they weren’t so expensive. Yum! I think I’ll take a bag with me next weekend to Dallas for a car ride snack.

For someone who is trying to go vegetarian or at least eliminate a lot of meat from their diet, these chips (and bars!) are a great way to make sure you’re hitting your protein goal.

After leaving the health store, I brought my momma home and headed to my own home to enjoy the evening with MY child, my doggy, Pudge.

  
She watched me eat dinner, listened to some Nicki Minaj songs with me, got some yummy treats (I assume they’re yummy, though I’ve never tried them), and we enjoyed a long walk outside in between the rain/thunderstorms.

Today was a perfect day! I love weekends. I love spending time with my mom. I love combing the two.

Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend!

I’m planning to do a “What I ate _______day” post this week, maybe Tuesday, maybe Wednesday, whatever day I feel like it really.

Until next time!

No funny meme today, but I’ll leave you with an inspirational quote. Couldn’t be more appropriate for my future Mexican vacation.