Daddy’s Little Girl

Dad: Why? What card?
Me: *roll eyes* Dad, it’s your birthday on Sunday. You totally forgot your own birthday, didn’t you?
Dad: *light bulb flashes* Oh yeah, it is my birthday! I forgot. Thank you, darling. You know I love you the most, right?
Me: Ha! I’ll bet you say the same thing to my brother.
Dad: *chuckle* You’ve heard of a Daddy’s Little Girl, right? Now, have you ever heard of a Daddy’s Little Boy?

Hee, hee, hee. I guess I should keep this from my brother. But my dad’s right. I am a Daddy’s Little Girl, and I feel so freaking blessed to also be the BEST Daddy In The World’s Little Girl. Beside God, the person(s) most important to me are my parents. Why? Well, for one, I’m the most important person to them. And two, no matter what happened and whatever crap I got into, I was always the most important person to them.

Thus last night, as I lay in bed, I knew exactly what my thanksgiving for the day was: my dad. I have so many great memories with him, and as they flashed in my mind one by one, I couldn’t help tearing up:

Thank you, Dad, for always calling me your “pride and joy.” You told me you were proud of me when I came back home with excellent grades. But you also told me you were proud of me when I was lying in the hospital from anorexia.

Thank you, Dad, for believing in me. You listened and trusted me when I begged you to let me out of the hospital. You turned to the doctors and told them firmly that you know me, and that you know I will be able to recover, despite them calling you a crazy, irresponsibile parent.

Thank you, Dad, for still loving me and praying for me, even though I struggled with that same anorexia for several more years after that. I continuously lied and deceived you in order to hold on to my ED, yet you still loved me. You kept on praying, you comforted my mother, and you encouraged me.

Thank you, Dad, for letting me go. You stopped trying to control and regulate my meals and behaviors, but totally entrusted me to God. You let me go to Singapore, and your faith in God’s ability to healed me eventually did lead to my turning point in Singapore.

Thank you, Dad, for everything, including all the love you will continue to shower upon me in the future. And thank you, God, for giving me the best daddy in the world, though I don’t deserve him.

One last thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!! (I’ll keep your age private;-))

Unfortunately, I was not able to celebrate my dad’s birthday in person yesterday, but I certainly did some celebration of my own…with some amazing LA bloggers! Love how my New Year Prayer Topics are being fulfilled within a month!

The above picture is from Lynn!  

Quite a crowd, but Veggie Grill turned out a pretty good place in accommodating large groups. But for some reason, it was decorated in Christmas colors:
Which also meant lighting was terrible. But who cares, so long as I can still see these lovely ladies’ faces?
As you already know, I adore blogger meet-ups. I’ve never once had a blogger meet-up in which I left with a negative impression on the blogger, and this one was no exception.
Every single one of them were incredibly nice and sweet: Lynn is spunky and outgoing, Christy is passionate and witty, Erin is cheerful and funny, Ameena is gentle and sweet, Kate is adorable and charming, Suzanne is warm and amiable.
Don’t just take my word for it, you gotta meet these people. I can hardly wait to meet them again myself.
Anyway, back to the food. The Veggie Grill is a vegan restaurant, and a lot of their dishes offered “chickin”. Meaning, imitation meat. Okay, I’m open to vegan cuisine, but I draw the line when it comes to “meat”. If I’m gonna eat vegan, I’d like to stick to real vegetables.

So I ordered a soup and salad combo with All Hail Kale salad and Bean-Me-Up chili:
 Marinated kale and red cabbage, roasted corn salsa, agave-roasted walnuts with a ginger-papaya vinaigrette.
 Red & white beans, touch of soy cream, chopped green & red onion.

The kale salad was awesome. I couldn’t believe the kale was raw, because it was incredibly tender, without any of that bitter aftertaste. In fact, it was probably massaged in some kind of marinade, which was slightly sweet, slightly tart. 
The  best part was the agave-sweetened walnuts, which was sweet, sticky, and crunchy. Yum.
I could detect some specks of quinoa, but couldn’t really taste it. Which is a good thing, because I’m not a fan of quinoa (the stuff I make turns out fishy for some reason).
The chili, however, was blah. I kept thinking it was missing something, and even looked around for Tabasco sauce. But now I realize it was missing one key ingredient which is actually banned from this restaurant: beef.
I’m sorry, but chili needs some kind of meat for that hearty, flavorful satisfaction.
The crackers that came with it was amazing though. It was thin and crispy, and sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds.
I think it was fried, because it was rather greasy, but so, so good!
Most of the other bloggers ordered pretty much the same stuff. Most ordered salads, like this Baja Fiesta salad:
 Chopped romaine, papaya, avocado, roasted corn salsa, quinoa, cucumber, cilantro with a ginger-papaya vinaigrette.
Erin was the brave one to try the “meat” dish:
I think this was the Carne Asada? She got it in a wrap with Sweetheart fries (sweet potato fries).
 Grilled veggie-steak, marinated in Mexican spices, with southwestern spiced vegan mayo, red onion, lettuce, tomato in a wrap.

Bloggers in action:
Never gets old. Tee hee!
This is random, but Kate has the CUTEST haircut ever.

I had a wonderful time, everyone! I hope we get to see each other soon! Perhaps Doughboys Cafe? That would be like the antonym of The Veggie Grill though.

Question of the day: What do you think of the concept that the daughter is always Daddy’s Girl, and the son is Mama’s Boy?
And what is your opinion on imitation meat? Any good ones you know? Or horrible ones?

P.S. I believe I am Daddy’s Girl, but obviously I’m Mama’s Girl as well. What can I say? I’ll always be the favorite. Take that, little bro!