Boba | Don't Blink

I passed on a Thursday Rundown last week because I published a 40th birthday blog post. But back to our regularly scheduled programming because I have five fresh topics for you tonight. Let’s jump right in…

Joint Birthday Party – On Sunday, I had one last hurrah celebrating my 40th birthday as I did it in conjunction with my brother turning 37. My bro celebrated his birthday on September 23 and he kindly waited until after I entered “over the hill” status for both of us to be honored at my parents’ house. As you can see, the elder Reser brother received the bigger cake. Love you, Glen!

My 40th birthday cake was delicious…and I think Glen liked his mini bundt cake too 😂

Panda Express Dinner – Normally my dad would grill steaks, ribs, or chicken for an event such as a joint birthday celebration. However, Glen and I made a request for our party: rice bowls! My parents made a bunch of bacon fried rice and then hauled in big containers of Panda Express orange chicken and Beijing beef. It was quite the feast and I must say the presentation was aesthetically/colorfully pleasing.

Besides the Panda Express rice bowls we also had fruit and salad. So good!

Boba Mystery – I don’t get the boba craze. Don’t understand it one bit. My kids love boba tea with boba pearls. Me? I dislike the taste of tea and the texture of boba pearls makes me squirm. But this past Sunday as a reward for running errands with me, I purchased Sloan and Beau boba drinks at the Spokane Valley Mall food court. They pleaded with me to try their drinks and I just about threw up when, despite my best efforts, I sucked up one of the boba pearls from Beau’s liquid creation. These drinks are not for me.

I am NOT a fan of boba but my kids are. This is them with their drinks at the Spokane Valley Mall this past Sunday.

Jack-O-Lantern Pizza – I think the last time we bought one was three years ago so we were due for one this Halloween season. Last week we purchased the $10 jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphy’s. I don’t think this latest pie looked as nice as the one from 2023 but it still tasted great. You will notice that the photo below doesn’t include the signature olives for eyes—like their daddy, the kids won’t eat them—so Sidney removed them.

This was our 2026 Papa Murphy’s Jack-O-Lantern pizza that we purchased last week.

Thanks, Retro – Once again, I was completely spoiled by Retro Donuts owner Jon Fine on my birthday. He delivered two boxes of donuts to my parents who eventually drove them over to my house (after taking a couple treats for themselves…hey, it’s only fair) for my family to enjoy. And believe me, “enjoy” is putting it loosely because the donuts from Retro are out-of-this-world. But what truly needs to be mentioned is that Retro Donuts celebrated its 10th anniversary yesterday (Oct. 14, 2026). The shop will be celebrating the milestone over the next 12 months as they should.