Earlier this month I turned 40.
I wasn’t dreading it. Actually, I feel younger and healthier than now than I did 10 years ago. My birthday weekend was a good one.
It started out on a Friday night by celebrating my son’s birthday—his birthday is two days before mine. My parents drove up from San Diego and met us the Cheesecake Factory at the Anaheim GardenWalk. 
The Cheesecake Factory staff is always very accommodating when it comes to my family’s special dietary needs—even for this gluten free vegan. I went for the Kale & Quinoa salad with a side of fries. Sadly, no cheesecake for me though.
Saturday morning, I made it out to Angel Stadium for the American Heart Association 5k Run. Although I didn’t PR, it was a fun run! I even got to take a selfie with Wendy Burch of KTLA5! 
The highlight of my day was getting to meet my IG friend Jesica (of Run On Organic) in person. She was in town for Natural Products Expo West. She took a break from the expo at the Anaheim Convention Center and we had lunch at Healthy Junk, a few blocks away. It’s always great to hang out with and chat with social media friends in real life—especially someone as cool as Jesica. 
Sunday morning, my birthday, I got up early and made my way to one of my favorite places—the beach! I set out to run 10 miles. Unfortunately, my knees wanted to remind me how old I was and I forced me to take some walk breaks. Still, 10 miles are 10 miles, right? 
After my run, my wife offered to treat me to lunch at Seabirds Kitchen, an all vegan restaurant. YES!!! So headed out to The Lab, the AntiMall. I had my usual, the Holy Smokes Bowl and a side of fries. We also tried out the fried chickpeas… yum!
After stuffing ourselves as Seabirds, we decided to take a walk at nearby TeWinkle Park and then stop at Starbucks for my birthday beverage. The barista got my name right! ;)
After we got home, it was time for a nap… it ended up being a longer nap than I had planned so I didn’t have a chance to bake my gluten free vegan birthday cake. It’s okay. I improvised. 
So this is 40. If my first weekend was any indication of this upcoming year of life, then I’m eager to see what it has in store for me.
