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tisfan · 4 years

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I Take Thee, Witch

Chapter Two - She’s Got the Moon in her Eyes

Bucky had missed weekly bar night with his friends three weeks running. He couldn’t help it. Wanda was just so intriguing. And lovely. And friendly. For the first time in ages, he wasn’t constantly worrying about everything. Being around Wanda was like a balm for his soul.

“We’d been wondering if you’d fallen off the planet,” Nat said to him, bringing over the first round of drinks as she slid into their usual corner table. “I put in some orders for cheese fries and fried mushrooms.”

Sam, her boyfriend, made a face. Sam did not like mushrooms, and he was a bit of a health nut. Or so he claimed, although when no one was paying attention, he would snitch a piece of fried food. He did jog a lot, though. Bucky was more of the opinion of only run when chased, but whatever made people happy.

“Still planet-bound,” Bucky said, grabbing his drink and taking a long swig of cheap Long Island Iced tea. He could feel that in his teeth, and if he was lucky, he wouldn’t be puking it back up later. Nat would always buy the first round, but she always bought the cheapest shit possible. “I might have met someone.” He went ahead and got that out of the way, because if he said it now, he’d still be mostly sober while they grilled him about it.

Which meant he might not say more than he planned.

Like how perfect she was, and how much better he was sleeping just because he knew he’d see her in a few days. How much he laughed when they were together; Wanda was funny and endearing and had a wicked, sly sense of humor. The way her mouth reminded him of creme brulee and the way her skin smelled like jasmine. He knew the way sunlight reflected off her hair, and the glitter of moonlight in her eyes.

She was nothing like anyone he’d ever dated before, and even though it had only been a month, Bucky was pretty sure he was only a few dates away from the L word, and he did not mean lesbians.

As far as Bucky could tell, she was perfect. Which would set off all sorts of alarm bells with his friends.

“That’s great, Buck,” Steve said, putting his arm around his girl, Peggy. “When are we going to get to meet her?”

“Not so fast, ya losers,” Bucky said. “Last time I brought anyone around, you all scared her off.”

“We scare because we care, James,” Peggy said. “And Ophelia Sarkissian wasn’t a person, she was a snake in a human suit. We only worry about you.”

“Yeah, bunch of overbearing mother hens, the lot of you.”

“Well, you can’t just leave us in suspense,” Nat said. “Tell us about her.”

Bucky told them a few basic things; what she looked like, that she wasn’t American, but instead from Sokovia. “She and her brother came over as refugees after the Sokovia earthquake,” he said.

“Wait, you said her name was Maximoff?” Sam asked. “You mean, like Pietro Maximoff?”

“Yeah, that’s her brother.”

“Oh, man,” Sam said. “I’d love to meet that guy.”

“Huh?”

“Pietro Maximoff is an Olympic sprinter,” Sam said with exaggerated patience. “He took four gold medals for Sokovia--”

Bucky shrugged. “She hadn’t mentioned much about her family, really, aside from that she had a twin brother and that her father works for NASA.”

“Yeah, after the Sokovian earthquake, we got a lot of their top scientists,” Nat said. “I think I’ve heard of this man.”

“So, you gotta bring her around, Bucky,” Steve insisted. “Of course we want to vet your friend, make sure she’s a good match.”

“She’s a good match,” Bucky insisted right back. “We’ve got a lot in common, and I’m really just enjoying her company.”

“What, precisely, do you have in common with a Sokovian refugee?”

“We both like coffee,” Bucky said. Which was very important. He’d had a live in girlfriend for a while who had not liked coffee at all -- not even the smell of it -- and that had made things very difficult for Bucky. They’d gone to several different coffee shops. It seemed like Wanda knew every single one in the city. “And walks in the park.” Wanda also knew where all the benches were in the park where they could sit down and make out for a while and no one would bother them.

“Walks. And coffee.”

“No, I agree with Bucky, it’s important that she likes coffee,” Sam said.

“We’ve gone to the movies a few times,” Bucky said. They had done that, but he rather hoped his friends didn’t ask him about that, since he didn’t remember anything about what they’d seen, since they spent most of the film necking in the back row, and Bucky’d been too hot and bothered to worry about what the actors were doing. “And I’ve gone back to her place to watch TV.”

“Netflix and chill, I like it,” Nat said.

Everything always seemed perfect, whenever Wanda was around. They seldom had to wait to get seated, even at the popular places, a reservation would open up, or a large party was just leaving. She was like Bucky’s own, personal good luck charm.

“I’m glad you’re happy, James,” Peggy said. “But you should bring her around.”

“That’s a lot of pressure, meeting the friends,” Bucky said.

“So, we will double date,” Nat suggested. “Me and Sam, yes? Go out and have drinks or something?”

“I’ll ask her,” Bucky said.

“You could just text her,” Steve suggested. “Ask her if she wants to come over now.”

Bucky hesitated. He and Wanda didn’t really text. Not really. Sometimes he’d text her, but usually when he did, she’d just pop over for a quick visit. It was never more than fifteen minutes or so, but she frequently seemed to be nearby. If he texted her now, would she just walk in?

Hey, having drinks and apps with my friends. You want to join us?

A moment later his phone buzzed. I’m not far, I was out. Sure. Give me a few minutes to freshen up.

“She’s on her way,” Bucky said, smiling with helpless delight. He was going to get to see her on a night he hadn’t expected to.

“That was quick,” Nat said. “What is she, a stalker?”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “She said she was already out,” he noted, but a frisson of unease went down his spine. Had he told her where they were? He didn’t think he had, but before he could figure a way to check his phone discreetly, she was walking in the door, and waved when she spotted him.

She was perfect. Bucky stood to go greet her, already reaching for her. She melted into his arms with a quick kiss.

“I’ve been dying to meet your friends,” she said.

“Well, I’ll introduce you.”

For @livewire28

#bewitched AU #winterwitch #Bucky X Wanda #Steve x peggy #sam x natasha

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brokestminimalist · 6 years

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Progress Report 10/8/18

Sorry about the lack of a report last week. The fuckening was upon us.

Household Inventory: Threw out some crap, don’t remember what it was. Tossed old ratty nightgown and replaced it with warm cozy one for winter.

Reuse/Reduce/Recycle: Paper/plastic.

Emergency Fund: Fuck my life. Just fuck everything.

Breakfast: Banana muffins

Lunch: Ravioli with meatballs

Dinner: Frozen pizzas. Wendy’s on Saturday. Burger, fries and creme brulee at fancy restaurant work meeting on Tuesday.

Home Improvements: None

Fast Food Incidents: McDonald’s one night, Wendy’s on Saturday.

Catastrophes: Car still leaking oil. Property taxes are due. Still owe boss money. Cat in renal failure. Fuck everything.

Sleep Quality: Crappy.

Water Only Deviations: Small coffee each morning. Tried a strawberry Fanta, instant regret. Was like drinking fizzy cough syrup.

Work: 45 hours

Relaxation: LOL what’s that?

Outings: Took New Dog to a Dragon Boat Festival and strolled along the river, much rolling in grass and meeting new people was had. Now he smells like dead fish.

Walking: None due to being punched in the face by fall allergies. I had hoped that staying in would minimize my exposure to the pollen, but I am still miserable. Walking routine will resume tomorrow.

Thermostat setting: 77 degrees, outdoor temps in high 80′s / low 90′s.

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mgyang · 3 years

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Paso Robles Day 6

Dear Me,

Yesterday was a rest day.

I took out MJ for her morning poop. We came back and I charged my phone. At around 10 AM, MJ and I went out for a longer walk. We walked towards downtown and made our way around the park. They were setting up for a concert, slated to start at 6 PM that evening.

We hurried back to the Airbnb before it got too hot for Miss MJ. The morning heats up quickly here in the central valley.

I got in bed and with the intention to read but instead got distracted. I logged onto instagram on my phone. Not the instagram app, but the internet browser app. Since I deleted IG from my phone last year, I haven’t been inundated with pictures of friends for self comparison. It hit me like a tidal wave as I scrolled through everyone’s posts.

Can you believe that? I was literally having the best week company paid time off, and I was like but how come I don’t have anything to post on IG (even though I had voluntarily elected to quit the damn platform). I know that sounds crazy. But social media is a fucking powerful drug.

I got out of bed and walked over to Brian, and I was in a mood. Partially his fault, but really, it was social media’s fault. What was his fault, you ask? Well he promised me after his meeting we’d go out to get gelato. It was now 15 minutes passed the end of his meeting.

He said a lot of things. One excuse he made, was that he was working and what did I expect from him while he was on company time? I made clear to him that although I understood, he is entitled to a 10 minute break and it would only take 2 minutes to cycle over to the gelato shop (literally 2 blocks down on our exact street). I told him, if he can spend 10 minutes looking for land cruisers online, then he has 10 minutes to come get ice cream with me.

I didn’t think that was unreasonable. But maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know.

Men have a way of making everything they do seem like the absolute most important thing--and they get to do what they want when they want.

I’m not saying it’s malicious on their part. It just seems to me, in my encounters with men, that they just think so highly of their own time and needs. How do we raise more women to be like this? How do I be more like this?

Do I even want that? It seems inconsiderate, in my opinion. But maybe that’s why they give so many less fucks. Another attribute I admire.

Anyways, after a discussion on it, we rode our bikes to get gelato from the Market Walk. Unfortunately, it was overpriced. And melting. Maybe I’m biased as I used to work in a gelato shop. Rule number one is make sure your gelato display is on point. Their display was lacking a lot of love. We walked over to the coffee bar. Brian ordered the Golden State latte and I ordered a kyoto cold brew mojito (it was interesting, to say the least, as they added some sort of jalapeno flavor to it).

When we got back to the airbnb, he continued to work and I started reading again. The memoir was getting juicy. Like a Lifetime Movie drama. I was in love with this woman; and finally half way through.

Before Brian and I headed out to dinner at fancy schmancy French restaurant, I popped a cookie. It kicked in during the main course as they placed my whole Branzino in front of me. Brian ordered a white blend of syrah and I got a glass of the chablis. For our main dishes Brian got the muscles in a meaty red sauce and I got the whole fish. For our sides we got the carrots, pomme puree, and the house gifted us french fries. We devoured everything. It was delicious. (For memories sake, the restaurant was called Les Petites Canailles)

For dessert we got the Creme Brulee. The top was not so cripy but tasted more like a fire roasted marshmallow. The cream inside was so pillowy and light. The vanilla custard unlike anything I’ve had before. A high person’s delight. A fucking wonderland of a treat.

On our walk back home, there was a shirtless man dancing around in the street by himself. Brian got nervous and made us cross the street. I could feel it in his grip. He held my hand like we were in another country on a crowded train platform, and he didn’t want to lose me. And even though his hands were getting sweaty, he didn’t let go until we were inside the Airbnb gates.

I was high as fuck.

We got inside and were greeted by a happy MJ. I laid on the carpeted floor of the living room while Brian put on a vinyl. He then walked over to me and asked me for dance; his arms pulling me up from the ground into his warm chest. He spun us around and around and I stumbled about--giggling.

I love this man.

Love,

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yuikatakuesugi · 7 years

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Kiss under the mistletoe - Ren Shibaski

It was Christmas eve, Ren and Yui are getting ready for their Christmas date, what Yui didn’t know is Ren had this special night planned for them, first was dinner at a popular and fancy restaurant, than a walk through the illuminated Christmas lights than to spend the night at a well reviewed and fancy hotel and a Pandora bracelet as a Christmas present, but knowing Yui she’ll feel bad if she didn’t get him anything, but she did. . “I hope she’ll like the surprise” he said to himself.

Ren just finished getting dressed and done fixing his hair so he decided to check on Yui to see if she’s done, he stood in the doorway smiling at her. Yui felt eyes on her and turn in the direction and smiled, Ren smiled back and asked “You ready?” Yui replied “Yeah, just about done”, “Okay, I wait for you in the hall” Ren said Yui nod and started to grab her purse and the knitted scarf and a last check in the mirror and shes good to go. Yui walked out of the room and met Ren at the hall “Let’s go” she said smiling

They got into the car and their Christmas eve journey is about to begin, after a couple minutes Yui spoke up saying “where are we going?” Ren looked over at her with a mischievous smile and said “It’s a secret”, “What? a secret?” Yui said back pouting “We’re nearly there” Ren said still smiling at Yui cute posture. “We’re here” said Ren, Yui stepped out of the car they walked into the restaurant and couldn’t believe her eyes and turned to Ren and asked “Ren, how did you-“ Ren cut her off and said “don’t worry about it, just enjoy tonight and oh you look beautiful” Yui blushed at his words.

“It’s amazing how you got a reservation at this place, it’s normally crowded during Christmas” Yui said “It wasn’t that hard to get a reservation, I just wanted you to have a happy Christmas” Ren said sweetly Yui smiled at Ren thoughtfulness and said “Thank you, I am very happy”. Ren and Yui ordered a three course meal, they ordered and their meals came out 20 minutes or so they ordered “ Poulet au Champignon Vol au Vent Puff pastry case filled with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy white wine sauce for entrée “ and split it in two too share, “Wow it looks so good” Yui exclaimed than the next meal came out “Veau Oscar Thin slices of veal pan fried, topped with prawns and asparagus, finished with sauce béarnaise” for the main, Yui eye sparkled and than realized that she was hungry Ren smiled at her and said “Bon appétit” Yui smiled and said “okay”.

“Mmmm it’s so good” Yui said smiling “It is” Ren said smiling, one of the joys is that getting to watch Yui eat with joy is happy enough for him, “Lets make a toast” Ren said “To a very beautiful girl and to have a very Merry Christmas with each other, Cheers” Yui smiled and said “Cheers” as they clinked their champagne glasses, after finishing the two meals the dessert came out for dessert they had “Creme Brulee and Mousse au Chocolat”. “Looks good” Ren said “Indeed it does” Yui replied. As, they finished their dessert Ren got up to pay for the bill and they both left the restaurant and set off for their next destination. “Lets go for walk” Ren said “uhh okay” Yui replied. As they were walking they come by the illuminated Christmas lights when Yui saw it her eyes started to sparkle “Wow, it’s so pretty” Yui said smiling “I’m glad you like it” Ren said, Yui turned to Ren and when she did Ren stole a kiss which caught Yui by surprise “What was that for?” Yui said surprised “Mistletoe” Ren replied, Yui looked up and then averted her eyes, Ren laughed at her embarrassment and held her hand to walk through the lights. As they walked through the illuminated lights Yui eyes sparkled even more “wow” she exclaimed Ren looked over at her with a smile, he was so happy to see her enjoying herself and smiling since he loves to see her smile the most.

As they walked back to the car and got in, Yui looked over to Ren and said “Thank you for today Ren, I had a lot of fun” Ren looked over at her surprised than smiled and said “Hope you don’t think this is the end there is one more surprise” Yui eyes opened wide and then ponder to herself about what the surprise is. As Ren kept driving and as soon as he reached the destination he parked in front of the hotel and got out of the car and opened the door for Yui, Yui was in a shock and looked over to Ren “Let’s go” he said Yui nod and they headed towards the entrance once he got the key from the reception desk they entered the elevator and headed up to their room. Ren put the key in the door and opened it up and inside was all decorated with a Christmas tree a bottle of champagne and a few Christmas lights.

“Wow, this is beautiful” Yui said as she sat on the couch, Ren opened the bottle of champagne and poured it into the glasses and handed Yui one and said “Lets have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”, “Yes let’s, Cheers” Yui said as they clink their glasses. As if realizing he forgot something he said “Oh right, I got something for you” Ren said Yui looked at him, “Here, this is your Christmas present” He said Yui took the box from him with a smile and said “Can I open it?” Ren nodded once Yui opened the box her eyes opened wide and said “I love it, thank you Ren, I cherish it” “Sure” he said and put the bracelet around her wrist.

“Actually I got something for you too” Yui said, as she gave Ren the bag with the scarf in it, “This is for me?” Ren asked she nodded, “I hope you liked it” she said once he took the scarf out of the bag and said “Did you make this?” Yui nodded looking shy a sweet smile spread across his face and said “Thanks, I take care of it, I love you”, “I love you too” Yui said back, Ren leaned in to kiss her as the kiss grew more and more passionate they spent a passionate Christmas eve together in each other arms.

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opepin · 7 years

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february: week 3

13: it was a pretty busy work from home day. we made egg mcmuffins for breakfast, went to work for a bit, and then kevin cooked the bulgogi and i made the rice cake soup when he had to get on a call. i worked until past 5 pm and then i rushed to get ready for the museum of science chocolate night. kevin and i argued a bit on our way out and our way there. :/ it was because expectations and assumptions weren’t made clear, but even if we’re mad, holding hands makes everything better, ahah. we walked to the museum -- bad idea because of the wind T_T we made it in one piece though! there was so much chocolate. there were chocolate fondue fountains, little bites, cheese and cracker and veggie plates, and there were a lot of activities too. kevin and i didn’t get anything from the bar haha. we participated in a scavenger hunt which led us to exploring the museum more and we participated in a create-a-claw competition. our machine got the most hearts and we got added to the board. our claw machine was called the “winnie the pooh” claw :3 lol kevin irked me at some points because he was too into making it and he also left me at a chocolate wall picture area for food so when it was my turn, i was alone :( we did take a picture there though.

my favorite exhibit is the playground one. i loved running and swinging and etc. i got super dizzy from the spinning machine though. we got some goodie bags from the innovator’s table after handing in our scavenger hunt and then we ate our last chocolate covered strawberries before heading out. i got a penny/coin thing for boston now! we decided to walk off our sugar and took the red line back home. kevin got me a valentine’s day gift and couldn’t wait until tomorrow to give it to me. apparently, it was left in the package center for a few days because he couldn’t sneak it up due to our wfh days ahaha. my bear got me cozy bear socks! <3333 i mentioned it maybe a few weeks ago and i guessed he just got it for me so my feet wouldn’t be so cold all the time <33333 i have the best boyfriend (: i also picked up my victoria’s secret package and idk how to feel about their seamless underwear. anyway, i worked when i got back and kevin did the dishes and gamed. i skipped my workout today because i had to get work stuff done. we also did a good amount of walking so i didn’t feel as bad. then i showered and slept at like 1 or 2 am after talking to kevin for a bit before falling asleep. :P

14: waking up wasn’t terrible! i rushed a bit to make myself an egg mcmuffin but i made it to my regular train on time. the office was pretty full today, which made me happy. yay, i’m back in the office! i also got my business cards ;D i went straight to work because the deadline was at 1 pm. i got everything done but there is still something in the journey map that is bothering me. i’ll definitely fix it for the future or find a better solution. i ate lunch at the desk and then went downstairs to get foumami for dinner. the rest of the day were calls on calls. laurie came into the office today and organized a welcome lunch for all of the new hires in boston. apparently, we make up almost half of the office -- that’s crazy. i guess everyone else works in new york. i met up with kevin at the train station and then we ordered dinner at the fat cat. i got a side of fries to go with my salad that i devoured when we got back home. i got a bibimbap salad and they just drenched it in gochujang and i don’t think i’m going to finish it. x__x;

we drove to pick up food from fat cat and thanks to my terrible navigating skills, we had to drive around to get to oh my tea. they ran out of green tea (LOL gg) so we ended up getting just a rose tea with boba. it was alright. we quickly ate (the fries are so bomb) and then headed to cafe artscience for our three course dessert. it was a pretty bad ride because i am a terrible navigator and then i froze up because we kept missing our turns and stuff. we did get there a bit late but more or less on time. sigh. i almost had a panic attack -- i was so shaky from freaking out about boston’s windy ass roads. we sat at the bar, ordered a drink we didn’t finish, and finished a dessert alcohol a bartender gave us for funsies. kevin and i talked about some sad things, actually LOL. we drove home and then watched an episode of supernatural. i fell asleep and then woke up, showered, and got ready for bed. i was so tired.

15: the office was full today because we were getting a free lunch today LOL. it was a frustrating morning thanks to the project i’ve been struggling on and trying to fix. i kind of got it, but it’s just finicky. i worked on that until lunch and then we all went to bostonia public house. i met andrew and cole and i talked with him along with charles and kien. oh, i finally got to see cole again. when i walked into the office, he scared me awake LOL. i had to leave for a 1 pm call so i didn’t get to eat in the restaurant :( john left early too and asked me if i was going and then i told him i didn’t get my food yet and he just laughed at me LOLOLOL. he had gotten his food already and ate it. x_x i walked back with josh, a new developer. i got back a bit late and i had to take a bathroom break in the middle if the meeting, but it was ok. i caught up with phil and then i switched tasks for the day. i finished up right at 5 pm, talked with laurie and cole, and walked to south station with cole. then i got on the train and just bummed when i got home. i got my rotofugi package today: cute dino pin for my book bag, a mitten shaped tea infuser, and one of mary’s jade evolved rock figures! i also switched my side cabinet with charles’ because he wasn’t using his for any protective storage and i wanted to leave my laptop. so i took the key and locked up my pc laptop in the office. yay, now i can store things in the office without being suspicious or worrying.

oh, i got sprayed with water because boston drivers are assholes. i got hit 3 times basically and the water soaked my leggings and boots. -__-” kevin came back from climbing, we watched supernatural and then i did a bit of exercise because i haven’t been doing that these past two days D: sigh. i’m on such a sugar high/craving right now... well, i combated that with kickboxing today! it was much fun~ then i washed my hair and while it dried, i got two groupons for me and kevin to go to new england’s dessert showcase and for a sunset boat tour on the st. charles river~ i still have hillary’s gift card and i wonder if i should spend it on a maybe (need to call and ask) glassblowing class and/or pottery decorating class~ then i blow-dried my hair, brushed my teeth, and hopped into bed at the usual time -- around 1 am. haha.

16: when i was about to leave, i got a call from a client and helped her out with ux360. this was my first support call and it was so out of the blue. i think i did a pretty good job, and i loved helping her. i know that this job will test my communication skills and help me become better at giving instructions. i feel like i don’t explain myself well sometimes because i just assume others (especially ones that are close to me) know what i’m talking about and why i am talking about it. i often go on tangents when i speak to people so, i need to work on that. anyway, i helped her and then went on over to the office. i was supposed to go to kane’s donuts with cole in the morning but since i was late, we pushed it back until after his standup meeting. it wasn’t busy when we walked in and i bought 6 donuts for the office: chocolate orgasm, red velvet, boston cream, honey dipped, cinnamon, and creme brulee. mmm. obviously, cole got the boston cream for himself. haha. everything was pretty much gone at the end of the day; i took home like 1/3 of the creme brulee doughnut for kevin. i don’t think anyone except me touched the creme brulee...LOL.

work was nice and busy. i went to get lunch with cole at sabroso taqueria and got their salad with chicken. omg it is such a good and filling salad. it’s just romaine lettuce, pico de gallo, and black beans. mmmmm. i worked until 4:40 pm or so and then headed back home a bit early. i forgot to check in with phil so when i got home, i skyped him and caught up for tomorrow morning. i’m planning on maybe taking wfh days once a week, but i’m not sure yet. i got my pouch from india hicks today. i’m still feeling akjfnsjkdf about the price but i don’t want to return it because i would have to pay another $6.95 for return shipping -_- so i’m kinda forced to keep it. the good thing is that it fits all of my cables and adapters! i chilled for a bit and then started cooking dinner. i made our usual coconut kale fried rice. then kevin came back just as i finished washing the dishes and we ate dinner. i had to finish up some leftovers of the rice cake soup and then i ate some of the fried rice. we are officially caught up with supernatural :O idk what we’re gonna watch now...maybe we’ll catch up with criminal minds? kdjnfskjfs.

kevin went to shower and then i bummed around a bit to digest my food. then i did some ab workouts. for some reason, my abs have been constantly hurting? maybe i’m working them out via cardio without me noticing... i did 25 min of pure ab toning, 7 minute of hip hop cardio (wanted to dance to this one new video), and 45 minutes of kickboxing. kickboxing is so much fun and i’m sore all over right now. x__x; i showered right after and then went to sleep. i was so tired. zzzz.

17: i felt so sore and tired waking up today. i still went to work because i love my team, haha. it was a pretty slow friday though. it did pick up near the end of work with a good amount of meetings. i ate lunch at my desk and after the meetings, i felt a bit lightheaded and i was super shaky. it might have been the intense thoughts i was having about adulting at that moment that caused it. it could have also been the black tea and the amount of sugar and salty snacks i’ve had this week. i didn’t snack anytime during the day so my body kind of shut down. i asked the front where the vending machine was and i had to take the shady af freight elevator down to the basement and walk to a corner to get to it. i got something salty and sweet: jalapeno cheddar puffs and nature valley honey oat bars. i ate it while going up the elevator. kevin was worried about me haha. i felt a bit better after eating. there wasn’t much to do afterward so dave told me to go home early LOL. i still waited for phil and kevin to get back to me though. i had a chance to talk to phil for about 10 minutes before hopping off and meeting kevin at the train station. i was still there before him even though he left earlier and i gave him time? so confused.

we got home and started bumming. i love fridays because i get to spend some downtime with kevin (((: we talked about how i was feeling about people working just to work vs people working because that is their life. i’m someone who makes work their life passion because we spend so much time working, i feel like it’s a waste to not do something you love with that time, you know? i don’t think it’s a good thing either -- i stress out a lot and etc, but idk i like being busy for a purpose and feeling like i am adding to something to society. i do understand why some people just work to work and have a life outside of it though. it’s just not my style. anyway, we talked about that and then we talked about maybe heading to new york for the first weekend in march. we also talked about a vacation in the summer...maybe a cruise? maybe paris?! kevin and i want to do an international trip together but i don’t have enough pto time accrued to do that this year T___T we’re both down for an off-season trip though. we’d both love to go to iceland. anyway, i sprung this on kevin too fast so he has the weekend to think about it (mostly just the ny trip though).

i somehow ko’d and fell asleep for an hour...i woke up when kevin just started cooking. i woke up hungry so i ate some leftovers and snacked a bit. then i helped prep some food, make the sauce, etc. i ate a bit more with kevin while watching a dota 2 stream. then i took it easy and did 45 minutes of hip hop cardio. i wasn’t feeling it. i went to shower and went to sleep pretty early. i just sleep during the weekends to recharge lol.

18: mmm... i woke up at 7:30 am then went back to sleep and woke up at 10 am and then went back to sleep and finally got out of bed at like 12 or 1 pm LOL. my life is truly bummy on the weekends. kevin was supposed to climb in the morning, but obviously that didn’t happen. so we ate brunch, went to kam man to get rice (omg it was so packed because it was nice outside and we went there at like 2 pm), got tickets to see ‘split’ at the movies, and then drove across the street to the mall so i could return my hdmi adapter and exchange/find seamless underwear. the return happened super quickly. i caught one of the workers at the door and he helped me out. then we stopped by a new thinkgeek store! yassss. they had some cute stuff in there. then we went to aerie to see if their seamless underwear was actually seamless. mmm, i asked one of the store associates and she didn’t convince me so we left and headed back to victoria secret. kevin went to target to look for bigger containers so we could access our rice easier while i looked for the seamless underwear i wanted.

it was packed in there and i could not find the ones i was looking for until i found someone and asked and she took me straight to the small table in the corner LOL. i got a better deal here than online so i picked neutral colors, got in line, kevin found me and i apologized for taking so long, and then i got my seamless underwear (FINALLY). i could have gotten another pair if i were a cardholder/printed out a coupon from pink but i didn’t know until later T__T it’s kinda still bugging me but eh it’s done. we went into target together and ended up buying cute colored stoneware containers, a cake stand (for our fruit LOL), and containers for rice. omg. hahaha. this is why we never go out of our way to go to target. then we drove back, kevin went climbing, i washed the dishes and all of the new stuff, put rice in the new containers, turned on the most recent episode of jane the virgin, moved our hard af brown sugar into one of the stoneware containers with a knife and a measuring cup, and then microwaved leftovers for dinner before heading out to the movie. haha.

kevin took a bit longer than expected so we were rushed to get out of the apartment. we packed some chips and pretzels in snack bags to eat at the movie. we got there about 5 minutes before the movie started. the movie was pretty interesting and creepy if you keep thinking about it, but it was hard to get in the mood because there were these teenagers (i sound so old) in the front who kept giggling, making childish comments, and were on their phones the entire time -__-” me and kevin were like wtf. we found out that the movie is rated pg-13 so yeah... we’ll only go to rated-r movies now LOL. we got back, cuddled, and then kevin annoyed me LOL and then went to game. i finished watching ‘reign’ and then forced myself to do some exercise even though i felt tired and bloated. i really need to stop snacking T__T it’s making me feel terrible. then i showered and ko’d at like 1 am or even before that.

19: mmm got up late again. i’ve been feeling very tired lately. it’s probably the mix of my diet and new exercise routines. x__x i started laundry right away, ate breakfast with kevin while watching a pokemon showdown stream. then i cleaned the kitchen and bathroom while listening to music. then i curled my hair and tried looking for something to watch on netflix but they took down all of the cooking shows T____T i watched youtube videos instead. then i folded laundry and kevin and i went grocery shopping! lol we went pretty late because he wanted to game a bit longer. we stopped by oh my tea first and i got the aloe honey green tea bubble tea (hot) and i got kevin a pineapple green tea with bubbles and lychee jelly. they were both really yummy. then we drove to kam man and it was practically empty. we stopped by bj’s before it was about to close for the day and then we made it home at like 7 pm? lol kevin was hungry and wanted to buy so many other things that we didn’t need.

we microwaved leftovers and watched the latest episode of supernatural on the cwtv app and then started watching ‘izombie’ while cuddling and just relaxing. i think we have a new series to watch for now. it’s not the best but it’s entertaining. we then prepped the veggies for tomorrow’s ratatouille pasta and then i just prepared for working from home tomorrow. i wasn’t feeling well still... then i showered and found out that it’s that time of month but it’s been hurting a lot more than usual. ugh. so i just went to sleep and tried to make the pain go away :(

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tranquildr3ams · 4 years

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Happening Gourmand Vieux Montreal is currently happening held between January 16 to February 9, 2020. A handful of restaurants in Old Montreal is participating in this food event filled with special priced menus for lunch, brunch, dinner and happy hour. We had time to as a Battle of Ingredients in January replacement to go out with the group to try out a meal at Taverne Gaspar for their dinner menu.

Drinks

Blueberry Tea Cocktail

Honey Old Fashioned

Being a tavern, there is a no doubt that we were expecting some delicious cocktails. The first is one that I was recommended from the waiter as a hot cocktail called Blueberry Tea that has black tea, Grand Marnier and amaretto. Its really delicious and such a warm feeling to have a nice hot cocktail in the winter.. The second is my husband’s where Old-Fashioned is his go-to and for Happening Gourmand, the Honey Old-Fashioned which has bourbon, honey syrup and orange bitter. Its a nice taste and the husband liked it quite a bit. If we go back, he said that he’d try the other old-fashioned on the menu called MTL Old-Fashioned.

Appetizers

I realized that I didn’t take any pictures of the appetizers except for my own replacement for dairy-free option which was a green salad with balsamic vinegar. The actual options on the menu is:

Seasonal Root Vegetable Soup

Arugula Mango and Avocado Salad

Mains

Beef Mignonette

Winter Risotto

Cheeseburger

Confit Duck Leg

There was a good selection of mains and ended up with the Beef Mignonette which was the option that didn’t need to be modified except for taking out the mashed potatoes and replacing it with yet another green salad. I have to say, the beef itself was cooked very tasty. My only issue with this whole thing is that they didn’t think about how to replace mashed potatoes with fries or something instead of a second green salad. I was having a feeling that I had turned into a rabbit during this meal.

I believe that everyone did enjoy their meal pretty well. My husband took the cheeseburger (as expected) and he thought it was pretty good. The only meal that isn’t shown here is Mussel and Fries.

Desserts

Maple Creme Brulee

Sugar Pie with Chantilly Cream

Lactose-free option: Chocolate Chip Shot

Last for dessert, we had two main choices: Maple Creme Brulee & Sugar Pie with Chantilly Cream. I think that perhaps the dessert was the letdown for the main. My husband took the Maple Creme Brulee and it was a bit disappointing in his opinion. As for the sugar pie, I believe that as expected it was rather sweet, maybe overly sweet. I can’t quite remember that one. However, a really nice surprise for their lactose free option was to replace with a shot. The waiter chose to give me the chocolate chip (or I can’t remember if my friend went to follow-up and chose it for me..not too sure). Its really a great one that if you go to Taverne Gaspar should try because if you didn’t know what liquid chocolate chips taste like, this shot was like drinking a chocolate chip. It was absolutely delicious.

Overall, Taverne Gaspar was pretty alright. The ambiance was very good and it was overly loud as what you’d expect in bars. The food was delicious just probably not quite focused in the balance of structuring meals or not as well-thought through. However, if you don’t have the nuisance of lactose-intolerance then these issues shouldn’t occur. And of course, as a bar, their drinks are definitely a huge highlight and a place that we’d go back to try some other of their cocktails as they all sound very good. Despite some little disappointments, the overall experience was comfortable and nice.

Happening Gourmand 2020: Taverne Gaspar (Montreal, Canada) #HappeningGourmand #TaverneGaspar #Montreal #OldMontreal #VieuxMontreal #Restaurant #MTLResto #Tavern #Food #Dinner #Recap

Happening Gourmand 2020: Taverne Gaspar (Montreal, Canada) #HappeningGourmand #TaverneGaspar #Montreal #OldMontreal #VieuxMontreal #Restaurant #MTLResto #Tavern #Food #Dinner #Recap Happening Gourmand Vieux Montreal is currently happening held between January 16 to February 9, 2020. A handful of restaurants in Old Montreal is participating in this food event filled with special priced menus for lunch, brunch, dinner and happy hour.

#Appetizer #Cocktails #Desserts #dinner #Food #Happening Gourmand #Main #Meal #Montreal #Old Montreal #postaday #Recap #Tavern #Taverne Gaspar #Vieux Montreal

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g33klady · 6 years

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Celiac Traveling in Toronto, ON

I was speaking at a conference in Toronto, but this trip I took alone. Hubby had just started a new job and couldn’t come with me.

As a celiac, traveling can be a nightmare. You never know what kind of food culture a place will have. I use the Find Me GF app constantly while traveling - you can see other’s ratings, whether they’re celiac friendly or not, etc. It’s always a gamble, though - nobody’s celiac is the same, where some might feel comfortable eating McDonald’s fries, but I do not.

Where I was staying in Toronto was very celiac-friendly, so here it is all in one place (instead of just on Instagram)!

My first adventure out was during lunchtime, to a place called Kupfert and Kim - with a tagline like “Wheatless | Meatless” how could I go wrong? They were super attentive to my various allergies/intolerances (everything there is gluten free, but I’ve got some other food restrictions). I thought I’d come back a few times, but only ended up going once. I got an amazing paleo falafel dish, with a side of roasted yams with a lemon tahini and horseradish chimichurri. It was SO GOOD! So many other things on the menu I wanted to try - definitely need to go back!

Dinner that night I found a spot with a teammate called Kit Kat. It was tiny, and the wait was VERY long (even after we got a table). But the food was decent enough. Not enough to go back, unfortunately.

I had a lemon chicken, and creme brulee (of course).

The next day at lunch, I kinda wanted to go back to Kupfert and Kim, but found another spot nearby called Basil Box. Another 100% gluten free place, and lots of options for a quick lunch.

I decided on a salad with chili lime shrimp. It was supposed to be mild, and maybe I’m a weakling but it was super spicy to me. It was delicious too! Another place I wanted to visit again - so many different things to try!.

After that I gave my talk at the conference, and my teammate and I decided to hit up this place called Sweet Jesus. It’s an ice cream and coffee shop, and the combinations they had were crazy and amazing.

The gluten free option they have is the “Sweet Baby Jesus” with a peanut caramel and some chocolate bits and sauce. I can’t have chocolate (no caffeine) so I got the Sweet Baby Jesus minus the chocolate. I’m sure it’s amazing with, but it was still pretty good with just the peanut caramel!

Right down the street from my hotel was O&B Canteen, and it had good ratings so I checked it out. Not a ton of options but some really good ones!

I got the skirt steak salad, and it was soooo yummy! Their only GF dessert was chocolate, so I had to miss out :(

The next day was my last in Toronto, and I had yet to have poutine (in my life!). I found a place nearby on the Find Me GF app, so that was my lunch destination - Buna’s Kitchen.

I got the “comfy” duck poutine, and a fall harvest millet salad. I was not prepared for the amount of food I had just ordered! The poutine had a GF gravy, a perfectly cooked egg, and omg the duck! I am supposed to stay low sodium, and this dish was packed with sodium but OMG so worth it!

The harvest millet salad would have to wait for the next day - it was yummy with cranberries, garbanzo beans, and roasted butternut squash and a light dressing. Slightly sweet but very tasty.

Before leaving town I stopped at a Balzac’s for a decaf latte and an Energy Circle - can’t seem to find them anywhere else!

Another great trip! Travelling can really suck, so it’s amazing to find such a celiac-friendly place!

#celiac #travelling celiac #Travelling Gluten Free #gluten free #gluten free toronto #gluten free ontario

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tryingtokeepcalm · 7 years

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Shakespeare and No Company (The Tale of a Happy Introvert)

I’m writing on the train on the way back from Paris and feel so literary!

Anyway, to return to yesterday… We got up around 8 and had breakfast. It was very French, in that it was made up of baguettes, cheese, ham, and hard-boiled eggs. The baguettes were good! Bread and butter, how can you go wrong? Others didn’t like it, but a lot of the people here seem to never like anything.

After breakfast we went to Notre Dame to meet up with Jay, the Culture by Design professor. I had met him before when I went to St. Paul's last week. So he talked about the Cathedral for a bit and then we went in. Just as pretty as before! Still didn’t got to the top cause we didn’t have a ton of time but that’s just one more thing to look forward to when I get back! After Notre Dame we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. This was especially sad, to leave the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore behind but more on that later.

Once we got over to the tower we took a ton of pictures and Jay talked about it for a while. We basically talked about how it has come to represent Paris and France and why exactly that is. It was a really interesting conversation.

After our talk, I got in line to go up the tower with a big group of us. And so began our afternoon of standing in lines and shivering. It was very windy and cold! At first the top was closed so we were just gonna go to the middle, but then it opened back up again! So we stood in the security line, stood in a food line, stood in a ticket line, stood in another security line, and stood in two elevator lines. But FINALLY we made it to the top! It wasn’t nearly as windy or cold (so long as you were standing on the one sunny side of the tower), so we took tons of pictures! Everyone was pretty hungry at this point (they hadn’t gotten fries like I did) so we didn’t stay at the top for very long. It didn’t freak me out as much as I remember it freaking me out when I first went up. Maybe because I’ve imagined it higher since then. Anyway, we took the elevator back down to the second level and then walked down the rest of the way down. And my calves are feeling it today!

Finally, we were back on the ground. It was around 3:30pm at this point, and I could see the rest of the playing out in front of me, leaving me not visiting the bookstore. So I bolted out of there and took the metro back over to Notre Dame. I did have a moment of panic when I took the metro to a station that no longer had the connection I needed. So I panicked but then I figured it out.

And then I was there! My own personal Mecca! My promised land! My favorite bookstore in the world! It was just as glorious as last time! They had switched a few things up, but it has been almost three years so… it makes sense. I spent nearly a full hour browsing and just talking in the general splendor of it all!

I ended up getting two books: “No Regrets: Three Discussions” which is about a panel of artists and activists talking about what they read/how they read in their early twenties. So, I thought it was very applicable, being in my own early twenties and all. I also got “The Power” which is set in this world where women have the ability to kill people with their minds, making them the dominant sex. Needless to say, I’m very excited to read both of them!

After the bookstore, I decided to walk along the Seine for a while. It was wonderful and warm and sunny! I loved it! I walked through a park and got a chocolate crepe. In retrospect, I really should have sat down and eaten it, instead of walking with it. My hand was covered in chocolate and my jacket didn’t go unscathed either. Luckily, I found a bathroom and used the rest of my coins to pay for it, so that was nice!

I continued walking until I reached the Champs-Elysees. I saw the Arc de Triomphe at sunset and that was cool! I walked back down to the Seine and saw the Eiffel Tower again. Then I started getting hungry so I walked back up to the Arc to find food. I went to a pizza place and it was really good! While I was eating, Kelly texted me back and asked if I wanted to meet up again.

So I finished my dinner and walked over to the Eiffel Tower and met with the group. We walked over to a bar that Jenny found. It was actually really American and we chilled there for a while, them ordering drinks and me reading under the table. But it was really chill and nice. I tried some cider and beer that both tasted pretty good!

Finally, we left because we were all fading. It was nearly midnight but I wasn’t leaving the city without having chocolate mousse! So Kelly, Catherine, and I went over to this restaurant down the street and got mousse and creme brulee! #fancy

We then took the metro back, all basically half asleep. But we got back to the hostel in one piece, despite getting separated for a spell. I took a shower and went to bed almost right after getting back. We lost an hour of sleep cause of daylight savings time, so going to bed at 1am probably wasn’t the best decision.

Steps/Miles: 29,346/11.93 miles

#london #update #paris

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mylittletripsoftheorld · 7 years

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FIRST POST!!: All of January, Part 1

WOW!! What a month! I meant to make weekly posts about all of adventures, but life kind of got a head of me. So I’ll make this a 5(ish) part post! Where to begin?? Well, let’s start in Chicago where I caught my overseas flight. My awesome parents drove me to Chicago to catch my first (and definitely not last) solo international flight. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous. I was so stinking nervous!! I made it through check-in and security and then made my way to the gate and sat for a little over an hour. I finished up some things on social media and talking to friends and family since I wouldn’t be able to talk to them for the next 8-10 hours. Before I knew it, my flight was boarding. I double checked to make sure I had my tickets, passport, luggage receipts, and that all of my items in my carry on and sax case were secured. I got in line for board the plane, and then proceeded to my seat. I found a place for my sax in the overhead compartments and thankfully I had a window seat towards the back! I always love sitting by the window so I can look out and watch the sky and see the world beneath me. At first I was sitting next to a mom who was traveling with her children and HER mother. She then switched seats with someone my age so she could sit next to her children. This new person was Ambreen! We talked for a good hour or two! The flight ended up getting delayed for around a half hour due to different things so we just talked about who we were and where we were from and where we’re going and all that good stuff. After taking off and at a comfortable altitude, flight attendants brought around drinks and eventually dinner. We both watched some movies that were on once we figured out the television.... it may have taken us longer than was socially acceptable. I watched The Martian and it was soooo good!! When we were somewhere over Canada, I looked out the window and saw the Northern Lights! They were absolutely gorgeous!!! After reaching the ocean, and The Martian had finished, I figured it would be best to try and get some sleep so that I wouldn’t be terribly jet lagged once I reached Munich. Despite being woken by a little (understatement) turbulence somewhere in the northern Atlantic, I slept fairly comfortably. I woke up a little before dawn, and was fortunate enough to watch the sun rise as we were crossing over the English Channel into Belgium. There was so much snow!! And so many nuclear power plants! Once a majority of the flight was awake, the flight attendants brought around breakfast! Before we knew it, we were landing in Munich!! Ambreen and I both had a significant amount of time before our next flights, mine to Verona, hers to Oslo. Once we figured out where we each needed to go for our next flight, we found a cafe to have some food and I had my first authentic German beer!!! It was something, and that something is VERY strong. I didn’t finish it in fear of either getting sick or getting to turn for my flight. Eventually it was time for Ambreen and I to part ways since she had to catch her next flight. So I was on my own. In the wilderness of the Munich airport... so I found my gate and took a nap for about an hour because I was so tired. As the time approached for my plane to start boarding, things went a little differently than I originally thought. We checked our tickets and then boarded a bus!! It looked like a mtd bus. The bus drove us to the airplane, which was fairly small, out on the terminal. This was a new experience for me! The plane was mostly empty, but I ended up having an aisle seat next to an Italian man. I fell asleep right after the plane took off, I was so tired. I wasn’t even awake when the flight attendant came around with drinks... and COOKIES. Ack! After sleeping for a little over an hour, we landed in Verona!! Walking off of the plane, the first thing I noticed was the mountains!! BEAUTIFUL!! We again to an mtd like bus to the airport and I waited for my luggage. I felt absolutely ridiculous with my backpack on my back, my sax on my front, and pulling a large suitcase in each hand. I walked out of “customs”, which was putting my two suitcases on a conveyor belt to be scanned, and looked for my director! That’s when I realized that I had no idea who I was looking for. I stood around a little bit, and then decided to take my winter coat off because I was dying. Then this guy in a tan coat and a gray beard came up to me and said “Illinois??”. He saw my section jacket (Marching Illini represent!!) and saw the block I! This was Claudio! My director for the next four months! He helped my take my two very large and fairly heavy suitcases to his car. He drove a smartcar. With some sort of miracle we managed to fit my two suitcases, backpack, saxophone, and ourselves into his car. He drove to the apartment that I will be staying in and helped my bring my suitcases upstairs (I definitely needed it). I met one of my new roommates, Hailey, and then Melissa! I was sharing a room with Melissa. After Claudio left, we had a couple hours until dinner, so I unpacked my suitcases and backpack, got almost everything situated, and took a nap. Boy did I need a nap. Then it was off to dinner! Hailey, Melissa, and I walked to a restaurant called Casa Vino. Claudio new the owners and after the other people in our group arrived, along with Claudio and his wife, we began dinner! Eating dinner in Italy is much different than in the US. We spent more time talking and socializing than we did with eating dinner and drinking wine, but it was a wonderful time!! The other girls in our group from Illinois were Annie, Anna, and Yvette! They were all super nice and I’m looking forward to spending the next couple months with them. Once we had finished, which was well after midnight, we headed back to the apartment and went to bed. The next day we met at the school and Claudio led the way to La Contadina for lunch. We ate sooo much, there was an entire course of cheese, and then we pasta with pesto and apple pie for dessert. After lunch, Claudio took us on a tour of the city! We walked for probably an hour or two, and saw so much! Claudio told us about the arena, Juliet’s balcony, piazza erbe, we climbed the church bell tower (beautiful view), the library, one of the old roman gates and some of the ancient roman road, a statue of Dante, the oldest bridge, some old cathedrals where we saw some ancient mosaics, and we even stopped and got some mulled wine to warm up! After our tour, we stopped at Ins for some groceries and then headed home before dinner. For dinner we went to San Matteo which is a church that got remodeled into a restaurant! The food was amazing! I had pizza with pepperoni and black olives, had spritz for a beverage, and then had nutella tiramisu for dessert! One of the other girls had a shot of limoncello and I had a taste and it was something. The next morning we met Claudio at Castelvecchio to get on a bus! We rode the bus up the hill and got off at the top and Claudio led us to a restaurant called San Mattia, which had a gorgeous view of the city of Verona. Claudio helped us translate some items on the menu and both Hailey and I thought that the fettuccine with artichoke sounded delicious and ordered that... but alas. Instead of artichoke, it was OCTOPUS. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for trying new foods. But I usually like knowing what I’m getting ahead of time, rather than taking a bite into my pasta and being greeted by a strong, fishy taste and small octopuses in my noodles. Soooo both Hailey and I ordered pizza and then I had creme brule for dessert! After we had finished lunch, Claudio set us off on a scavenger hunt in Verona! Melissa, Yvette, and I were one team, and Hailey, Annie, and Anna were the other. It was so easy! We were basically re-tracing our steps from our tour the day before. Good job Claudio. We completed the scavenger hunt first and our team won a 30 euro gift certificate to a cafe by the school. Yvette went home, and Melissa and I went to Pam for some grocery shopping. We then went back to the cafe and the other team still hadn’t arrived. We waited for other team to arrive and then Melissa, Hailey, and I went home to get ready for the next day! The next day we went to our school for the first time! IDEA Verona. We had our orientation, where we were told the rules, how to access the internet, our classes were confirmed, and all that good stuff. Once we had gone through all of that, some ambassadors of a group called Erasmus came to talk to us. They basically told us that they held different activities for students that study abroad to interact with each other and get to know each other. Once we had finished all of our meetings and whatnot, we went with Claudio so a little cafe, called San Zeneto,by the school and had lunch and welcome drinks. I had spritz and a ham sandwich. After that, the 3 of us (Melissa, Hailey, and I) headed down to piazza erbe so Hailey could exchange her American money for some Euros. Then Melissa, Hailey, and I got chocolate covered strawberries and walked around a little bit before going home, getting fries for dinner on the way home. The very next day we started classes! Our first class was fresco painting. We got to the school at 9:20 and painting started at 9:30. Our instructor taught entirely in Italian, which honestly wasn’t too bad! It was fairly easy to understand what she was saying and how she was explaining. She talked to us about how fresco was made and how we were going to make our own! Which we then proceeded to do! We mixed together our fresco plaster and painted it onto a canvas and then left that to dry. We then chose our subject which we would be painting. I chose Caravaggio’s Medusa. Pretty gruesome and exciting. Then we took tracing paper and traced over a black and white copy of our subject. This took up the remainder of our class time. After class, the 6 of us looked for a place to have lunch! We ended up at a little place by one of the old city gates. I had the most beautiful white Russian I had ever seen and some penne pasta! We then all walked to see Juliet’s balcony and I got a picture with the statue grabbing her boob. It is said that it is good luck to grab/rub her boob, which you can tell by how shiny it is from so many people doing such. We also went to a kitchen store which was having a big sale so I could get wine glasses and be classy. The next day we went on a field trip for Italian Business, even though I am not taking that class. To be completely honest, it was hard to understand what this field trip was about, but it was still cool to experience! We went to a building that was by the arena and these two older gentlemen talked to us about what they did and the different events that they held that benefit the community and help them understand things that are American and such. After our meeting, we had some time before art history, so Claudio took us to the cafe where our gift certificate (from the scavenger hunt) was good for. I had a coffee beverage which had Nutella in it, YUM!! Then we went on our own way to find lunch! Since Melissa and I wanted something quick and fairly cheap, we went to a Subway that was close to Castelveccio and simply had that for lunch. For dessert we decided to head down to a shop that we had seen close to piazza erbe that sold macaroons! We got 6 flavors which included: bubblegum, tiramisu, lavender, banana & rose, chocolate & vanilla, and orange. The tiramisu was my favorite! Then we headed back to IDEA. The day before I had signed up for a cooking class so I went to the office to pay for it and I found out that we had to buy paintbrushes for painting. Woot! Then it was time for Art History! Our instructor Andrea (I might have misspelled it, RIP me), is fantastic! We spent our first class learning about the three main periods of art and how to identify the different Greek/Roman pagan gods in art! I’m super excited for this class since we’ll be taking all sorts of field trips and when I eventually go to Rome, I’ll be able to understand the art more! After class, Hailey, Melissa, and I made a quick stop at Pam for some more groceries then headed home. On Thursday we had our last class for the week, photography! We spent some time talking about ourselves and what would be happening over the next of weeks. We then dove into the history of the camera which was pretty interesting and extensive. We went through a slide show about different kinds of cameras and how they worked. After a break, we watched a video about Galimberti, who is a photographer that uses polaroid camers to create incredible picture collages! The movie was in Italian with English subtitles, and at some points it was hard to stay awake for some of it. After class, everyone came over so we could plan some of our big trips!! Since my refund for my loans hadn’t come in yet, I could only buy one of the tickets for our trips. I booked my ticket to Prague for a weekend in March!! I’ve never been to the Czech Republic, so I’m excited to be able to scratch that off of my map! That night I had my cooking class! It was a lot of fun and absolutely delicious! It was at this older Italian lady’s house, Anna, Annie, and myself attended. The lady had a student staying with her from Switzerland and he spoke French, so I was able to talk to him with the French that I remember from high school. We made pasta, cooked peppers, stuffed veal, more pasta, chicken, and it was all delicious! I ate so much that I thought I might explode! Once we had finished, Annie’s host mom drove us home. I went to bed in preparation for the next day: a day trip to Florence.

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#Italy #verona #study abroad

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tranquildr3ams · 4 years

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Drinks

Blueberry Tea Cocktail

Honey Old Fashioned

Appetizers

I realized that I didn’t take any pictures of the appetizers except for my own replacement for dairy-free option which was a green salad with balsamic vinegar. The actual options on the menu is:

Seasonal Root Vegetable Soup

Arugula Mango and Avocado Salad

Mains

Beef Mignonette

Winter Risotto

Cheeseburger

Confit Duck Leg

I believe that everyone did enjoy their meal pretty well. My husband took the cheeseburger (as expected) and he thought it was pretty good. The only meal that isn’t shown here is Mussel and Fries.

Desserts

Maple Creme Brulee

Sugar Pie with Chantilly Cream

Lactose-free option: Chocolate Chip Shot

#Appetizer #Cocktails #Desserts #dinner #Food #Happening Gourmand #Main #Meal #Montreal #Old Montreal #postaday #Recap #Tavern #Taverne Gaspar #Vieux Montreal

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g33klady · 7 years

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Celiac Traveling in Stratford and Kitchener/Waterloo, ON

I was speaking at a conference in Kitchener, so my husband and I decided to make a bit of a vacation out of it and go to Stratford as well. I had been to Stratford before - in High School I attended on a school trip to see some Shakespeare plays, as I’ve always had a thing for his works :D But my husband had never been to Canada, so this was a new adventure for him! And Kitchener was new to both of us, so adventure for us both!

Stratford

We stayed in a little hotel that’s on the second floor above a pizzeria. We were a bit skeptical but it was a great little hotel room! We stayed at the Wellington Street Inn - check it out if you’re in the area! Definitely not for more than 2 people :D

We got to Stratford late afternoon, and wandered a bit before finding some dinner. Using the Find Me GF app, we decided on Rene’s Bistro. After reading the reviews, I couldn’t wait to try the seafood mac and cheese!

In place of bread they offered some GF crackers and goat’s cheese. Perfect!

Of course I ordered the seafood mac and cheese with GF pasta. Now I also need to stay low sodium, and I shouldn’t have eaten the whole thing, but I did :/

It was amazing! We of course needed to have dessert, so we split a creme brulee

It was insanely good! Great service and amazing food, we will definitely be back there if we’re ever back in Stratford!

In the morning, we went to one of the nearby coffee shops Revel. We were happy to find they had some pre-packaged delicious cookies that were GF!

They were really tasty! We were happy to find these a few more times while in Ontario, and got a few each time.

With breakfast out of the way, along with some shopping and wandering the parks, we stopped in at Balzac’s for some lattes and found the Energy Circle cookies again, much to our delight! They had some GF brownies as well, but I can’t have chocolate so we skipped them.

Then we headed off toward Kitchener/Waterloo for some lunch.

Kitchener/Waterloo

Our first stop in Kitchener/Waterloo was Rawlicious. We were not disappointed! The reviews were great, and it being 100% gluten free, I had no worries about the meal.

We had spring rolls as an appetizer, but we ate them too quick and I didn’t get a picture! I had a delicious raw pad thai, and it was great and so filling! My hubby had a zucchini pesto bowl. We both loved it so much! We don’t normally eat raw, but could definitely see that we’d be able to without a problem.

One suggestion - have some beano beforehand ;)

After all that healthy raw food, when we got to our hotel in Kitchener we decided to go find some frozen yogurt or ice cream. The froyo place across from the hotel was closed, so we looked on the Find Me GF app for some alternatives and found one about a mile walk away. So we walked up and down hills for a while until we came across this odd little location with amazing ice cream - Four All.

By the time we got there, it was close to closing and they had sold out of scoopable ice cream - all they had left was pints. All of their flavors available were GF, and we decided to each get a pint and eat it on the long walk back. Because that’s how we roll!

I got the Fresh Ginger flavor and OMG! It had little bits of ginger in it, and real fresh ginger flavor. It was spicy and sweet and so amazing! My hubby went for the classic vanilla bean, which was so creamy and delicious.

We walked a TON that day, so felt like we deserved that treat... We were splurging, for sure :D

Dinner that night was much later - we had to digest! But we found what sounded like a great burger place on the Find Me GF app, so we decided to check it out. We were not disappointed! South St. Burger is so good!

They not only have GF buns that are in separate wrappers, they have a separate toaster, and separate toppings to avoid cross contamination. Everyone changes their gloves, too. I am super sensitive and had no reaction, it was AMAZING!

The burger was thick and juicy, the bun was beautifully toasted and delicious, and the fries were awesome. We wanted to go back but didn’t get the chance. I’m drooling a bit thinking about that burger now...

We got some groceries for breakfast the next day - some Udi’s bagels and cream cheese - to put in our hotel room mini fridge, so no breakfast joints will be reviewed here :D

I had a scheduled dinner for speakers of the conference at a place that wasn’t in the Find Me GF app. I had assurances from the organizers that I should be ok. I will be adding them to the app, because they were awesome!

The dinner was at 271 West. Because I need to be low sodium, and I haven’t been great about it leading up to this dinner, I talked to a waiter and got my meal figured out. It looks plain, but it was really tasty

The thing is, it’s not just that I had salmon and veggies. They were AMAZING staff. One guy, maybe the owner, told me that the soup of the day was chicken noodle, and they had made fresh gluten free noodles for the soup because they knew someone that was gluten free was coming with the speakers group. I wish it wasn’t so hot that day, because that’s the most amazing thing for them to do!

Also I had creme brulee for dessert again - no picture because I inhaled it. So good!

Last meal stop on the trip was Taco Farm. After reading the reviews, we had to go! It was absolutely worth dealing with construction traffic! My only regret is not eating more there! They were also featured on the Food Network show You Gotta Eat Here and I endorse that :D

Everything on their menu is GF, except the churros. We were so excited, it took us a while to decide. We ended up with the smoked sweet potato taquitos for a starter, and splitting a 4-taco platter (I could have eaten 2 of those myself!) with fried fish tacos, and smoked chicken tacos. OMG sooooooo gooood!

After tacos that we didn’t overfill ourselves on, we decided we needed some froyo. After we went to the one across from the hotel and got “we *think* it’s gluten free”, we decided to hit up Menchie’s. We’ve been to them here, so were confident we’d have a good experience.

After the last of the bagels in our room in the morning, we checked out and hit up the local Balzac’s for some lattes and more energy circles!

Overall, we ate really well while in Ontario. I hadn’t spent any time there since being diagnosed with celiac so it was nice to find!

#celic #travelling celiac #gluten free #gluten free stratford #gluten free kitchener/waterloo #travelling gluten free #celiac

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