New Years Eve

Noted:  when one decides to go vegan in advance of a wedding, it's a good idea to advise the bride of this.  Otherwise, one might find themselves facing a New Year's Eve party with "WW Friendly" meatballs and turkey dip.

{Insert sound of screeching tires here}

The weird thing is, my sister knew I was with our crew's resident vegan yesterday.  In fact, she talked to him on the phone while we were in the wine aisle (clearly, we were not in Maryland at the time) of Trader Joe's.  Here's the thing:  he's one of my college besties, but we don't see each other but one guaranteed time a year.  Therefore, you would think that she would have thought something was up (especially since we were in a grocery store), but apparently, none of this translated into "Lindsay's going vegan."

Hence, all the "exciting" meat options at tonight's do.

I already know this is going to be a challenge.  After all, New Years means wine, and wine usually begets all that incredible cheese and grease to coat the stomach and "soak up the fun."  Still, I'm determined not to fail on the first day (well, second...I was a super-good girl yesterday and that even included going to the Redskins/Cowboys game). I'm combating this with the Trader Joes Bruschetta I bought yesterday (which is delicious) as well as the first recipe I'm tackling from the "textbook."

I'm going relatively easy for the first effort (mix and marinate!): the Lemon and Garlic Marinated Mushrooms on page 22.  Thanks to an apparent run on mushrooms at the Giant, and the fact that I was SO not going to drive all over Baltimore on New Year's Eve, I had to substitute Baby Bellas.  Despite this, each of the four servings is only 3 PointsPlus, so that's a definite win there.

Even better, the guy who's going to kiss me at midnight texted earlier to find out if tahini is vegan-friendly because he wanted to make sure he "brought something I could eat."  That's both sweet and appreciated.

I'm nervous about tonight.  Extremely nervous, as it turns out.  Still, I'm not going to let it take over my night. I'm determined to try my best.  To make good choices as long as good choices are in my control.  Once they are not, I will either go to bed (I'm staying over) or...you know what, there is no "Or" here. If I find myself out of control, I'm going to bed.  It's better that way.

Happy New Year!!