A Christmas Present Day

Yessa and I agreed we should spend my Christmas present day together sooner since we wanted to be sure nothing got in the way of enjoying it. Her boss gave her the whole weekend off after Christmas, so we decided that Saturday would be our day.

To refresh, I selected from assorted options to pick the perfect day.

Buds, Yessa, and I went to CrossFit together in the morning. Buds partnered with our friend Stacy, and Yessa and I were a team. The WOD was called "Son Of A Nutcracker!"

Yessa and I got time-capped, but Buds and Stacy only missed the top spot by 30 seconds!

Then home to get ready for our day out.

For our sushi lunch, we headed to Umai, which is like the sushi train restaurant we frequented in Nashville, but up a notch in quality and price. We got there at noon, when they opened, and it was already nearly full. That worked fantastically for us because we were seated in the back, tucked away, just how we like it.

You order from your own little screen if you want something specific, which we did.

Your specific order chugs down the top track, stopping directly in front of your seat. You can see my sweet potato sushi and an avocado sushi on the top rail in the picture below.

The clear plastic covered plates at the bottom of the picture are the assorted sushi train items that roll by. You may pluck whatever you'd like off that rail. There are tiny cameras that read the QR code under the plates so it's charged to your table when you take an item. Yessa and I had fun figuring out the intricacies of the system.

I am eternally indebted to Imani for introducing me to the deliciousness that is sweet potato sushi many years ago. 😍😍

This was also the first time I had ever seen Yessa try a sushi that was too spicy! She's had sushi she didn't care for, but this spicy salmon did not hit the spot. She was intrigued by it, but we ended up taking the second bite home to Buds. It was too peppery for Yessa.

After our scrumptious lunch we made our way just a bit down the road to Barnes and Noble. We browsed and chatted and searched and sat and read for a good long time here. After much deliberation, we each chose one book. The one I selected, Between Two Kingdoms, I just finished this morning before we left on our train trip.

From B&N we made a stop at Trader Joe's, passed a car accident, then pulled into our favorite driveway to see what the rest of the crowd was up to.

Once we were settled, we decided to round out my magical Christmas gift with some baking. The chocolate chip-olive oil- tahini cookies are always delicious, so that was our first effort.

These cookies have to spend some time in the freezer, so we mixed them up before we left, baked them up when we got home.

We ended the night with watching of our current show, "No Good Deed." It has a satisfying ending, and it was a delightful capstone to a more than satisfying day.

Thanks, Secret Santa. 😻😻😘😘 I loved our day out.