Hehe….now I can finally blog about this here! We have been planning a surprise party for my Mom for the past 6-9 weeks and it has been killing me not to talk/blog about it! A little background…my Mom & I share a birthday. Our birthday is Januray 9th. She will be 60, I will be 36. We knew that if we planned a surprise party for her that it would have to be either way before or way after b/c we have BTDT with her for her b-day in the past AND the weather in Ohio is notoriously un-cooperative in January (or really anytime between mid-December to the end of February or even early March for that matter). My Step Dad, Joe, and my sister, Kelly, were really the planners in this whole shebang. I did some minor things, but really, all of the props go to those two. They did an excellent job. Also, my Step SIL, Rebekah, did a wonderful job on the decorations and my Step Brother, Dan, provided us with the media devices to play the photo slideshow that Kelly made. Oh, and quite possibly the best thing (at least for Jon, myself and my Aunt Chris, who also follows a GF diet), the gluten-free cake…my MIL made an awesome carrot cake with cream cheese icing for us to have for dessert! YUM! Well, the bottom line…..SUCCESS!! She had no idea! YAY!! We did it again! My Mom, God love her, is so gullable. Mom, I mean that in the sweetest way possible. 🙂 I can’t tell you how many times we have surprised her now! We have done at least 1 other birthday and a Mother’s Day too, I believe. We love surprises!! The party was catered by someone my Step Dad hired. I felt more comfortable getting Jon & I frozen meals and heating them up in the microwave they had at the hall that we rented. Jon had an Amy’s Rice Mac & Cheese, I had a great Pasta Primavera made by Gluten-Free Cafe, which appears to be associated with The Hain-Celestial Group. I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful taste of this frozen meal. I chose it mainly b/c it was one of the only meals that had veggies in it and didn’t have onions in it at my local health food store. It was a little low in calories for a meal (I believe it was under 300, and that is great for those watcthing their weight, but not enough for me for a dinner), so I had some veggies, GF pretzels & crackers to snack on too. It was a wonderful night. Oh, and remember what I said above about the weather in January? Well, we had a freak snowstorm yesterday that created a driving nightmare all afternoon and night. We really didn’t get more than a couple of inches, it just seemed like it snowed all day and the road crews couldn’t keep up. I think weekend, Holiday shopping traffic added to the complications there. We all laughed how we planned this party early to avoid a weather nightmare and had one anyway!

Now, onto my breakfast Mimi’s Cafe chat. A few of us (okay, 14 of us) met this AM for brunch at Mimi’s Cafe. There are a few places around that do a sit-down breakfast gluten-free. First Watch is one, but they always seem so cramped and I didn’t see a party of 14 at 10:00 AM going over well (or quickly for that matter). So, we chose Mimi’s Cafe. They don’t have much GF info online, but they do have a notebook with foods safe for Celiac/gluten-free individuals available to view at the cafe. The staff at Mimi’s Cafe were amazing. They were extremely accommodating, the server checking with the kitchen and manager on anything she wasn’t 100% sure about. They were well versed on cross-contamination. I really don’t know why I have only eaten here one other time before today! They are 5 minutes from my house and serve breakfast, lunch & dinner and have lots of options! Jon had the bacon, cheese, & sausage omelette, jasmine rice and fruit bowl (okay, he didn’t eat the fruit, he gave it to me). I had the fitness omelette (egg whites, mushrooms, tomatoes & broccoli and I had them add cheddar cheese) with tomato slices on the side. Instead of wheat toast, they brought me corn tortillas. It only dawned on me just now that I should have spread jelly/jam on those…DUH!!! I also had a glass of tomato juice. Neither Jon or I got sick….a BONUS! The lunch/dinner options were extensive for GF. I will be going back. The prices were very reasonable and the portions were huge! Oh, they brought out free dessert to my Mom (and sang) and to my sister (who really did have a birthday on Friday). Everyone had a wonderful meal, even though our birthday guest insisted on paying!!! MOM! She said that she was so grateful for all the sacrifices we all made to celebrate for her and with her, that she wanted to get the bill. Thanks again, Mom, you ROCK!

So, add another place that is safe for those on a gluten-free diet. I am excited to go back again! I may have to do this instead of Cheeseburger in Paradise every now in then to change things up.