Chilling with the family!

How is everyone’s Thursday going? I hope well! I had a nice visit with my family in Los Angeles. More on that in a minute….

Tuesday night we went to The Hamburger Factory in Poway to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I had some wine:

And a salad:

And some barbequed chicken and baked beans:

And some unpictured hot wings and onion rings. Oops. We went to our friend’s house to help him finish his birthday cake. Of course I had to have some….he had red velvet cake! Ugh……

Wednesday morning I was excited to try a new product:

Yes! I’ve been so excited to try this flavor of Laughing Cow cheese! I spread it on a wheat tortilla and added some egg beaters:

With some cantaloupe on the side, it was a delicious breakfast.  I loved the new flavor! I dropped the kiddos off at school and made my way to the train station for my visit to Los Angeles. My brother’s birthday was this past Monday so we needed to celebrate!

I had an apple on the train:

I enjoyed the two hours reading magazines. My mom picked me up and we went shopping at the new mall in Santa Monica. We stopped a Pizza Antica for lunch. We split a pizza:

And a lovely salad:

It twas delicious! There wasn’t a crumb left! After shopping for a few hours, I was hungry again! We picked up my sister in law to bring her to my parent’s house and she was nice enough to bring me a couple of these babies:

Yum! I always forget about these. Must purchase!

We made our way back to my parent’s house and hung out and drank wine until my brother came. Then it was time for the birthday boy to pick what he wanted for dinner. He went with a family favorite:

King Taco! YUM! Their carne asada burrito is off the hook. But I decided to try a chicken burrito this time:

It had chicken, cilantro, onions and guacamole. I die. Their hot sauce their is ridiculously hot….too hot for even me I must admit. I ended up with Cholula. :)

Then it was time for birthday cake. There were several options!  My mom had some leftover regular cake:

And she bought my brother two (yes 2!) ice cream cakes. He’s a little spoiled and likes two different flavors. :) I decided my cake was lonely so I added a slice of ice cream cake:

Ahhhh better! We hung out a bit longer and my brother and his wife went home. Time for bed!! No kids to put to bed and nothing to get up early for…..nice!

I leisurely woke up and made some breakfast:

My happy face breakfast has returnth! English muffin with peanut butter, cantaloupe and some green tea. I took a shower and my mom and did a little more shopping close by her house.

Lunch was The Cheesecake Factory. I had some of their yummy dark bread:

My favorite salad: Herb Crusted Salmon Salad with the dressing on the side:

So good! I love their balsamic vinaigrette! Then it was off to the train station I go!

A little way into the trip, I decided to get a snack:

The two hours flew by and finally I was home!

What’s your favorite Cheesecake Factory dish?

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