Going Old School for My Valentine

This year I treated Gllen to a valentine in gllenblog style.

Ingredients include:
Vanilla Ice Cream,  granola bar, mango and hot fudge.

We're still sweet on each other after 8 years.

<3 my Berf.

Darkness Falls

The other night, we had a severe thunderstorm that took down the power in our neighborhood for at least three hours. It happened around midnight on a Saturday night, so Gllen and I were still up - he was working in his office and I was camped out in the living room. After a few flickers and wobbly attempts to stay on, the power went out and I heard an expletive coming from the office.

Two minutes later, Gllen wanders through the dark to the living room to sit on the sofa next to me. We sat in silence for a minute. He stared at me, every flash of lightning illuminating the blank stare turned my way. It was as if the power went out in Gllen as well.

After five minutes of feebly attempted conversation, Gllen is still sitting next to me, immobile. He tells me, "I've thought of at least 8 things to do, and all of them require electricity."

I tried to engage him on that topic... but he just countered with more silence.

Finally, he asked me, "Should we eat our ice cream?"

I'm sure he could hear the laughter in my voice. "No... It's fine. Just don't open the freezer door and it will stay cold enough in there."

We lapsed into silence again. I decided to light some candles and try to read a book. Gllen sat.

After I settled myself in and was about to crack open my book, Gllen asked about the ice cream again. "It's been a long time! I should dish up the ice cream so it doesn't go to waste."

"It's fine!" I told him. "Don't worry about it!"

An hour passed.

We finally decided to go to bed, but even that was futile. Gllen wasn't tired enough to sleep, so instead, he laid there, occasionally shaking his fists into the air and chanting, "Power, power, power. POOOOOWWWWEEER!!!"

After a while, I told him, "You know - you would never survive an apocalypse."

He scoffed at me through the tomb-like darkness of the room. "Yeah I would."

I rolled my eyes to myself. He added, "When the apocalypse happens, I know exactly what to do. You eat all the ice cream. And that way, it's like a celebration."

 

Ice Cream XI

Let's call this "Ice Cream and a Half" where the Half is literally HALF THE CONTAINER OF ICE CREAM!!!!!

Happiness is the Little Things

I got Gllen to go to Target with me today. At first, he didn't want to go, because we he asked me, "Are you going to wander around and shop for stupid things?" I said yes. Then he moped about and kept repeating "I want to go to Clancy's."

We finally compromised and agreed to do both for each other. First Target, then Clancy's. I warned Gllen that there was a pair of shoes that I saw online that I wanted to try on at Target... I didn't want to hear any complaining once we got there. So, as we approached the shoe section and I was about to stroll down the first aisle, Gllen says "Only ONE pair, Girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes at him. I slowly made my way through, Gllen shuffling behind me in misery. When I didn't stop and exited the aisle he gave me a hopeful and questioning look. I told him, "I didn't see them, so we can go."

He broke out into a huge grin and brightly said, "This is the best thing that has happened to me all day!"

Then I bought him some ice cream.

Ice Cream X

Another abandoned ice cream photo I happened to find on my phone...

Ingredients include: Best Peaches Gllen Has Ever Had, Chocolate Chip Cooke Dough Ice Cream

Ice Cream IX

I had a few random ice cream photos on my phone, so here is me getting around to sharing...

Ingredients include: Apple Crisp, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Chip Cooke Dough Ice Cream

Ice Cream XIII

A delicious looking ice cream! He actually allowed me to photograph this time... no sneaking the phone out or quick clicking away while he's not looking.

Ingredients include: Vanilla ice cream, raspberries, bananas, chocolate syrup.

Ice Cream XII

I think he's managed to shock me... after all this time, I can't believe that he can actually do it with a bowl of ice cream... but here it is!

Ingredients: Bananas, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Skinny Cow Mint Ice Cream Sandwich

I knew it was a mistake to allow him to try a Skinny Cow. (But he was so sad that he didn't have ice cream at the time, I pittied him!) When he tried it, he scornfully took a bite and slowly the sneer melted away and turned into happy chewing. Now, weeks later, this bowl of ice cream represents the extent of his frozen treat greed. Nothing in the freezer is safe.

Ice Cream XI

We found a roll of film from our 35mm camera that we were testing food photography with. Guess what was the first picture on the roll???? You got it - ice cream!

Ingredients: (From what we can tell) Grape Nuts, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Syrup

Ice Cream X

Ingredients include: vanilla ice cream, mixed berries, hot fudge, bananas, High Stakes Poker

Quite possibly this is when Gllen is the happiest he'll ever be.

Ice Cream IX

Last night I heard a lot of swearing coming from Gllen's office. He was playing in a tournament, and I assumed it was going downhill. Finally I asked him if everything was ok, since the stream of grumbling was so drawn out.

Turns out, he was upset that he hadn't bust out of the tournament yet. He really badly wanted a bowl of ice cream and kept NOT LOSING. So, I gave in and offered to make it for him. He accepted, but also instructed me that he wanted bananas in his ice cream, and that they should be split into three equal pieces. Talk about a prima donna.

So, I made the bowl of ice cream he requested. Ingredients include vanilla ice cream, bananas, raspberries, chocolate syrup and almonds.

Right after I gave it to him, he busted out of the tournament.

But he reassured me that I could make him "Bad Luck Ice Cream" anytime.

Ice Cream VIII

He almost didn't let me get a photo of this one... Ingredients include: Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, Baby Swiss Cheese

Ice Cream VII

Ingredients include: Figs caramelized in Butter and Honey, Vanilla Ice Cream, Pear and Hazelnut Fruit Preserves and Drizzle of Honey

Ice Cream VI

Ingredients include: Croissant, Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Raspberries, Chocolate Sauce, Parmesan Cheese

Ice Cream V

Gllen was looking for some fruit to put on top of his ice cream last night, and I made the mistake of telling him that tomatoes were technically considered a fruit. He tilted his head to the side, considered the notion, and then (I don't know how he rationalized it) came to the conclusion that, YES, he WOULD put tomatoes in his ice cream.

Ingredients include: Cripix, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Syrup, Cherry Tomatoes and Black Grapes.

To his credit, he did not actually like the tomatoes in his ice cream. But he did eat them, so...

Ice Cream IV

Ingredients include: English Muffin, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Syrup, Raspberry Jam and Cheddar Cheese

Ice Cream III

Ingredients include: Crispix, brown sugar, ice cream, maple syrup, chocolate syrup and raspberry jam

Late Night Treats

Here's another bowl of ice cream... consumed on Tuesday evening. Ingredients include: Vanilla Ice Cream, Crispix, Chocolate Syrup and Raspberries.

He wasn't very hungry... (Ice Cream I)

Multiply this by ten if you want to know how Gllen normally makes a bowl of ice cream. He was only a tiny bit hungry that night, so he created a tiny bowl to appease his sweet-tooth. Ingredients include Vanilla Ice Cream, Corn Chex, Chocolate Syrup, Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and Strawberry Banana Naked Juice.