1:30 p.m. I definitely forgot to pack myself something for lunch. I open up a packet of Kirkland Signature brand salted almonds from a snack variety pack that work provides. They will get me through the next hour until I can eat something bigger.
2:45 p.m. I get home and am in a hurry. The person I’m dating and I are taking a little road trip to Grants Pass, Oregon, to see one of my favorite artists live and then camp in my car, but I still need to get all my stuff together and go pick him up. It’s almost a three-hour drive and the show starts at 8-ish p.m. I pull out one of the cold chicken breasts I made last night and just eat it whole, with my hands. A little chaotic, yes, but it tastes good and it’s easy to eat while I’m gathering everything. Once I finish my chicken, I pull out a Costco-size bag of Late July tortilla chips ($8.79) and munch on them while I continue to pack. These chips are my absolute favorite; they’re seedy, salty, and crunchy.
I decide to only pack a small bag of chips for snacks so we’d find food for dinner and breakfast once we’re in the area.
9 p.m. Well, pretty much nothing has gone according to plan. My car started overheating about halfway through the drive and we sat stuck at a truck stop in Drain, Oregon. Some amazing human helped us out (or tried to, anyway) and inspected for issues. We fill up the coolant and top off the oil and decide to head home and see how far we can make it. As we’re driving now, we can’t stop for dinner, but we eat snacks he packed for our journey: trail mix and pretzels, plus my Late July chips. It’s definitely not a fulfilling dinner, but honestly I’m a little too stressed to eat a real meal.
Saturday total: $0
Sunday
8 a.m. My car didn’t end up making it all the way back to Corvallis, and we ended up camping stealth mode overnight somewhere to allow the car to cool down. I’m pretty sure it has a major issue, so I’m feeling a bit stressed, but it’s Sunday and there’s not a whole lot I can do about it now anyway.
I decide to lean into having a day off that I don’t normally have off. We’re going to try to drive my car near his apartment so we can grab breakfast at a small Corvallis café called Interzone. They have nice coffee and a vegetarian/vegan breakfast, and after not eating dinner last night, I’m starving.
8:30 a.m. My car started smoking on the drive over there, so it’s parked and ready to be towed another day. At Interzone, we each order iced Americanos and breakfast burritos, his vegan and mine not. He pays, and it’s around $30 for everything.
9:15 a.m. Coffee is hitting differently today! First of all, I haven’t had espresso in ages. Even after being a barista for years, espresso affects me pretty strongly. It’s much-needed after the exhaustion of yesterday. The breakfast burrito comes out and it’s loaded with tofu and beans and potatoes and salsa and avocado and sour cream. Mmmm. I’m so hungry I could eat anything right now, but this specifically is hitting the sweet spot.
4:30 p.m. I’m still hanging out with the person I’m dating, and he makes me some peanut sauce noodles with vegan chicken, topped with some green onions I had brought him from the farm. Again, food is my love language and I’m not used to someone else cooking and providing food for me, so this is overwhelmingly sweet. It’s simple and tasty and exactly what I love.
9:30 p.m. He drives me home (I live about 25 minutes away), and I’m kinda hungry again. I make myself an Einstein Bros. cheesy bagel with cream cheese to hold me over until the morning. The bagel is amazing because of all the melted cheesy goodness and reminds me of being a kid eating the exact same thing. Grocery store bagels used to be my favorite thing when I was growing up.
Sunday total: $0