A Week in My Life: Week 13

Strawberries have always been synonymous with Spring for me. I finally found delicious gluten-free granola that I've been eating non-stop, too! 

Yes there are two bottles of wine in this photo. I was making mealoaf and, I promise, it was not your grandmother's meatloaf. It was probably the best thing ever. 

I'm so thankful for gluten-free pasta. This Ancient Harvest Quinoa brand is the best if you are or are considering going gluten-free.

There's a kitty in my cupboard!

I've been drinking hot water and lemon just about every morning. It's become the perfect kick-start for my day.

Again, I'm acutely aware of the fact that all my photos are food related... I eat a lot. I made these earlier this week! 

Meal planning...

The inside of a Moroccan bowl that Luis bought me for my birthday. 

I'm propagating basil and another plant in my kitchen. 

Raspberries, goat cheese, and honey... get in mah' belly! 

That particular basil plant has since died... My succulent, however, loves the light in my apartment. 

Editing and working. 

This is what late March looks like in Northeastern Illinois. We live right along Lake Michigan, so we decided to go for a walk at the Marina. To be fair, it was sunny when we left and within the 5 minutes it took us to get to the marina, it had clouded over. Luis later got a cold... I blame myself.

A Week in My Life: Week 29

Here's what the past week looked like:

Like most of you, the beginning of my week was full of wrapping and unwrapping presents. My living room has only recently recovered from this whirlwind.

 My incredible husband ordered me a huge box of French macarons from an NYC bakery as a Christmas present! I couldn't believe it! I ate them all within two days... The best dessert I've ever tasted.

Getting back into hard-boiled eggs. Just a little dash of cayenne pepper and salt and you're good to go. 

We had our first sights of snow earlier this week. I was very happy. 

Despite everything being so cold, my succulent has been doing really well. There's a new root sprout that has started to grow out of one of the plants. It loves the large picture window, apparently.

I love snapping photos of my cat sitting in the window. She has such beautiful fur. 

Baby's breath.

 I borrowed Canal House Cooks Every Day and have been obsessed with some of the recipes found within. I made one of their caprese salads, but instead of basil, they sprinkled chopped chives, sugar, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes and mozzarella. It's exquisite...

 Christmas Eve candlelight service.

 Yay, more snow!

 Beautiful persimmons at the grocery store.

 In addition to the pots and pans set that my parents gave me for Christmas, I also received three cast-iron skillets! There are 6, 8, and 10 inch pots. Really excited to make the a gluten-free cornbread recipe I've been eying.

Random, I know, but this is the best yogurt I have found to date. If you find it, buy some. You won't regret it!

Door County Trip: Part 1

Sometimes, in life, you do things because they make you feel good. I know. That sentence was about as eloquent as Barney... but seriously. For most people out there, a lot is required of them, whether it be at their jobs, with family, or unforeseen complications. But sometimes I feel like we glorify "busy" in our society. You meet with friends and the first answer you get when asked how they are is, "ugh, I'm just so busy," like it's socially unacceptable to be anything other than overwhelmed. We forget that everyone has responsibilities and run-ins that they'd rather not have.

And I am absolutely, 100% guilty of doing this... all the time. Life has me in a bit of a choke hold right now, but why should that be what I meditate on each day? If my twenty-two years have taught me anything, it's that life changes and it changes rapidly. What I'm going through now will seem so distant in a few months. Some aspects will remain, but things come and go. And I'm forgetting one thing: I'm not alone. And don't get me wrong: I'm not saying we can't have an honest dialogue about what ails us. I just don't want my problems to be my focus.

That's why we take vacations! It's necessary to disconnect for a few days, literally vacate your life and your mind for a brief time, and reconnect with love, happiness, and peace. It has nothing to do with denial or blindly sweeping things under the proverbial carpet, but it's all about perspective; it changes when you remember what it feels like to "just live."

Neither of us had been to a winery before, and we really wanted to go on a wine tasting tour. We ended up at Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery for a tour and tasting. Their winery sits right next to their fairly extensive orchard where they grow their own fruit to turn into wine and other products to sell in their market. The barn houses the wine production facility and tasting room. It smelled amazing in there. Not only do they make wine from grapes, but they also turn peaches, apples, and cherries into amazing wine. Plus, we got to keep our tasting glass (I'm a sucker for freebies...).

 

Waiting for the tour to begin. We had amazing weather!

I love this photo that Luis took of an old truck through the grape vines. 

Luis was pretty adamant about getting out on the water in Door County...

More specifically, he wanted to go parasailing...

So he did! He chose to be suspended at 500 feet, which was the highest option you could choose. 

...Can't even see him...

What do you do to reconnect with yourself and with life?

On the Road Again

 

FINALLY. Luis and I were able to put life aside and get the heck out of town! Last weekend we took a vacation to Door County, Wisconsin, one of the most beautiful places on earth (in my opinion)! 

My family and I always took a trip up here every summer. Fond memories are associated with this place, and did I mention that the drive up is absolutely gorgeous? Well it is. Especially in the Fall.  

So we packed up my little car, grabbed the camera, and were off! We passed so many farmer's markets, cows grazing (hehe), and pumpkin patches. 

Door County is rife with antique shops and vintage stores. I hated being dragged into these places as a kid (hello, creepy) but now, it's hard for me to look away if I see one. Also, I have got to find a new way to include myself in my photos... The turn-and-pose-and-smile is instinctive when I want to take a picture quickly and not look like the blogger creeper...

We found some great stuff but didn't commit to anything because of some things that might be changing in our future. We also found some... not so great stuff. This doll? What the heck...

The first thing we did when we checked in was unpack... Ok I lied. I unpacked, Luis fell asleep. It's ok though... he drove the entire time and that gets incredibly exhausting.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Alexander's of Door County. Um, AMAZING food. We ended up going back twice... I ordered Chicken Alexander which was breaded with crushed hazelnuts, topped with asparagus, brie and a lingonberry dill sauce. Absolutely phenomenal. Also, their cocktails were perfect. 

Stay tuned for more about our trip!