Am I in Unconditional Love?
So here I am, back to blogging. I thought I’d be back sooner given in my last post I said my resolution was to blog more often. I guess technically I haven’t broken that resolution. I just got started a little late. The important thing is I’m back, right? I have the day off of work (Happy Birthday MLK!) and am sitting by myself at Panera with a hot chai, semi-listening to the jazz coming out of the speakers in the ceiling, getting lost in my thoughts. For the most part, I’m in ideal writing mode, but when I say I’m lost in my thoughts right now, I mean it literally. I’m lost in them and trying to make sense of them. It’s kind of funny that its moments when I’m not near my computer or don’t have a pen and paper to write with that I have such clarity, great ideas and revelations. And now here I am staring at my computer trying to sort through all that I’m thinking and feeling and make sense of it all. I won’t go in to detail other than to say there’s been a lot going on these past few weeks and life has been a little emotionally draining.
I will say I have been thinking a lot about love. I’m not just talking about romantic love, but love in every sense of the word, especially the love you have for yourself.
I had a conversation with someone whom I love deeply about some past and present situations and experiences, and the topic of self-loathing came up. He said that he suffered from a lot of self-loathing over the years. And it got me thinking about my own relationship with myself. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced true self-loathing. I mean sure I’ve had moments when I haven’t always liked myself, but for superficial reasons. I have regrets. I have things I wish I could change. I have desires in my heart that might never come to fruition. But I don’t hate myself for them.
This conversation made me ask myself a lot of questions, but one especially important one that I never thought about until recently—am I in unconditional love with myself? Do I love myself despite all the wrongs and rights in my life? Do I love myself despite looking in the mirror and wishing I was thinner? Do I love and accept myself from the inside out, despite the imperfections and the moments I’ve acted on pure selfishness?
I think we all have moments of self-hatred (hello, puberty?). But that’s part of being human. It’s part of how we grow. I think it’s okay to hate situations, experiences, maybe sometimes even other people, but not to hate ourselves. I think if we try to learn from our mistakes, go after what it is in life we REALLY want instead of settling, take chances, do what we can to keep our bodies healthy, love hard, work less, and say what we really think and feel, then those are things that can help us love ourselves despite ourselves.
While I’m busy making sense of all the stuff weighing on my heart and mind, I do feel good about what I’ve been doing to get back on track for my body. I still continue to exercise religiously but for awhile my eating habits went down hill and I have definitely noticed it on and off the scale. I was eating out a lot and eating more sweets than usual. I started the New Year with another resolution, something I called a 4S Rule-Sweets on Saturdays, Sundays and Special occasions only. Yah, that lasted about 8 days. But I’m back to cooking and I also started using My Fitness Pal to track all my food and exercise. I’m finding it a pretty good tool since it counts calories, carbs and fats, rather than points like on Weight Watchers. Plus it’s a free online tool, which is always a plus. I think counting my calories will work better for me and hoping I can stick to food journaling along with the blogging!
Have you ever questioned your love for yourself?
Do you judge others by higher or lower standards than you judge yourself?
I’ll be back…
…in January!
When it comes to blogging, I’ve been naughty, not nice. I deserve coal. I’ve been really bad about keeping up with writing. It’s been a mix of a lack of motivation and not a lot of time. And with the holidays here, I’m not even going to pretend I’ll be able to keep up with blogging. So, I’m taking a little break for the rest of the year. But like Arnold said, “I’ll be back.”
New Year’s Resolution: Blog more frequently!
If you’re looking for Christmas gifts, here are some suggestions (by Oren Arnold):
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
Wishing you a happy, healthy, safe and blessed holiday season. Until then, be well!
Eat Me, DC
God doesn’t give you the people you want; He gives you the people you NEED… to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be.
As much as I love to cook and try new recipes, I’m not really one to watch cooking shows or follow any big name chefs. But, I went to see Guy Fieri at the DC Cooking & Entertaining Show. Groupon had a special for $36 where you got admission to the show and to see Guy Fieri live. Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis were also there. Not a bad deal, but I was mostly excited about all the free food samples, which there were rows and rows of!
Paula Deen spoke right before we went in to see Guy. Her recipes scare me…not b/c they don’t sound good, but b/c they are artery clogging. And she annoys me. Seeing Guy was pretty cool. I do occasionally watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The dude totally has ADD though. He was hyper, talking all over the place, starting stories and never finishing them, etc. but it was cool seeing him. He also brought his son with him to help him cook which I thought was fun. They made Macdaddy Mac and Cheese, Stromboli and S’Mores Pizza. I have to say the pizza sounds interesting since it has cayenne pepper and chili powder as ingredients. Intriguing, right?
So, some of the things we tried that I loved and hated:
Organic Watermelon Mint Iced Tea. SO good. I know it sounds like a weird combination, but it really worked. You could taste both flavors but neither was overpowering. Vanilla Bean Salt. I had never seen so many flavored salts, but they all just taste pretty much like salt. So, I don’t get it. Do you use flavored salts?
Sarabeth’s Preserves. I’m not a jelly snob. Good ol’ grape jelly works for me so normally jellies and jams don’t excite me. But, when you see a sign that says “Oprah’s Favorite Jam” it makes you want to taste it. I tried a bunch of flavors like peach apricot, blueberry cherry, raspberry key lime and strawberry rhubarb. OMG…the strawberry rhubarb was awesome. I bought a jar. Right on Oprah! This is now “Neyal’s Favorite Jam”.
Mushrooms in a Box. I did not try these. Interesting concept and they grow in box and I think out of coffee grinds, but I couldn’t get myself to pay $20 for one. Though I did consider getting one for a white elephant game. Organo Gold Coffee. The selling point for this stuff? It’s pure Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum. But I wasn’t sold. I don’t even know what ganoderma lucidum spore powder is or why it’s in coffee. Tasted like ordinary coffee to me.
Chilean Olive Oil. It made for a pretty picture but I was not a fan. It was very bitter and had a strong aftertaste. Vegan tapenades. These weren’t bad but nothing that made me excited about taking another bite. But, I can say I tried.
Stiff Willi Chilli. The only thing I liked about this was the name. I’m not sure exactly what it was that I didn’t like. Something about the spices didn’t mix well. Sheep cheese. Tempting, but neither my friend pictured here or me tried it. Have you ever had sheep cheese?
Kerrygold Cheese. These were more intriguing to me than sheep cheese, so I had to try! They had a Dubliner cheese made with Irish Stout, aged cheddar with Irish Whiskey and some blue cheese. These were very good and had unique flavors. Definitely my favorite of all the cheeses we tried. Tiramisu Marscapone. The name was more exciting than the taste.
Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter. The name speaks for itself. YUM. I had no idea all these flavors existed…White Chocolate Wonderful, Smooth Operator, The Heat is On, the Bees Knees…so much peanut butter fun. And, they sell this stuff at Whole Foods. So glad I was introduced to these. Heini’s Amish Cheese. These cheeses were your basic cheddars, swiss, etc. What I really liked was the bread baskets. Such a cute idea and I had never seen it done before. I’m definitely copying this idea next time I put together a cheese tray.
Edible Flowers. Pretty to look at, ugly on the taste buds. Maybe it was a crunchy texture thing that threw me off. Sweet Potato Butter. I had never heard of this before! I love anything sweet potato so I was super excited to try this. This was really good. Kind of reminded me of pumpkin butter in a way. I would definitely give the blue ribbon to this spread just for it’s tasty uniqueness. Next to the jam, this was the best thing I tried.
Bread pudding. This was actually the first first sample we had. Had lots of rum in it. Can’t go wrong there. Lazy Dog’s Organic Dog Treats. Okay, so I didn’t try these, but you better believe I bought some. I have never seen pizza crust flavored dog treats and my Rileypoo has an obsession with pizza crust, so how perfect of a find was this?! He was very excited when I gave him one, but I think he still prefers Dominos. 
After about 3 hours of walking around, tasting, drinking, tasting, tasting, tasting, we left with fully bellies. We definitely ate the most random mix of foods that day, but it was fun trying new things. The grossest thing I tried was Indian chai candy. I love chai, so I thought it would be good. But no, it was quite possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted. I wanted to spit it out so bad but the vendor was trying to sell me on how healthy it was b/c it was made with spices and raw ingredients. She was talking, while all I kept thinking was how it tasted like anise, ass and dirt with a hint of turmeric. Yuck. I guess you never know until you try.
Are you a fan of any big name chefs?
What is your favorite food/drink/spice find?
What’s the grossest food you’ve ever tasted?
My 14,000 Ft. High, My 1,500 Ft. Low
Think for a moment beyond yourself. If everyone thought that way, imagine the way the world would be.
Hiking the volcanoes in Hawaii was awesome, but nothing was more beautiful or breathtaking than being at the summit of Mauna Kea. It’s the closest to Heaven you could ever feel without being there. It’s the tallest mountain in the world, rising 32,ooo feet from the ocean floor to the summit. At the top, we were 14,000 feet from sea level. The Hawaiians consider it to be the most sacred place among among all the islands. Because of how high and isolated it is, there’s an observatory at the summit where the Smithsonian and countries from all of over the world have telescopes to take pictures of space. Getting up to the summit takes about 2 hours and you have to stop to acclimate yourself to the elevation as you go up. And of course the higher you go up, the colder it gets.
Here we are at about 9,000 feet. High enough to be above the cloud bank.
We made it to the top right before sunset. Watching the sunset above the clouds was like watching God paint the sky. Absolutely stunning. The only bad part was that it was SOOO cold up there. I had on a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, and a parka and it was still so cold. But really, the view was worth it.
After watching the sunset, we went back down to about 10,000 feet to stargaze. We got to see the moons around Jupiter, the craters on the moon, the milky way, tons and tons of stars. Looked like God through glitter in the air and it stuck. Almost made me want to be an astronaut! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!
In addition to feeling like we could reach out and touch stars, we wanted to be as close to the bottom of the sea as we could (without being certified to scuba dive…something we’re both going to do for our next trip). But, we snorkeled at every beach we could find and swam in 1500 feet of water with wild spinner dolphins. We saw a million different kind of fish, octopus, turtles, and more. A few highlights…
We also booked a tour on a boat that takes you out into the middle of the ocean to swim with dolphins and manta rays. This was an amazing experience, too. It was only us and 2 other people, so a very personal experience. The captain goes out into about 1500 feet of water searching for the dolphin pods swimming around. Once he finds them, you jump right in the water with them. The water was so clear and listening to the dolphins and having them swim around you was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I’ve swam in confined areas with dolphins before, but there really are no words to describe this experience. The dolphins swim right next to the boat, you below you’ll see the beams of sunshine beaming into the water with dolphins swimming about 200 feet below us, then making their way up toward us and then they swim all around you.
We also got to swim with manta rays. This was pretty cool b/c these things are huge. It’s hard to tell but the one Chris was swimming towards in this picture was 12 ft. wide. Overall, this was dolphin swim was our favorite part of the trip. We can’t wait to go back to Hawaii again just to do this!!
Best. Vacation. Ever.
Where’s the best place you’ve ever gone on vacation or lived?
Neyal vs. Volcano
We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets. ~Marilyn Monroe
As promised, I’m sharing some highlights from our trip. Going through 756 pictures has been time consuming, but I’m excited to share some of the best moments with you this week. Today I’m starting with waterfalls and National Volcano Park.
On the way driving to the falls, we found a scenic route off the highway that took us right along the coast. It was absolutely beautiful.
Akaka Park State Falls
When we got to Akaka Falls the first thing you see are the falls in the distance. I couldn’t wait to get up close. There are actually two sets of falls here, each with paved trails you can hike over to. The first set of falls were a little hard to see behind the trees, but there were great views of this waterfall.
Rainbow Falls
Rainbow Falls is another park on the eastern side of the island. It’s called Rainbow falls b/c you can usually see rainbows reflecting off the water. But when we got there, there actually wasn’t a lot of water flowing or any rainbows, but still breathtakingly beautiful.
National Volcano Park
After our morning of exploring the falls, we made it over to the volcano national park. We first stopped by the the ranger’s station, grabbed a map and we were on our way to exploring.
Part of the park was closed b/c of high levels of sulfur dioxide, but there was still plenty to see and lots of areas to hike and drive to. Just being around active volcanoes and seeing their impact on the geological landscape of the island is absolutely amazing. The most recent eruption was actually this past September so we missed it by a couple of weeks.
This pic below shows what it looks like from inside a lava tube, which is where lava once flowed beneath the surface during an eruption.
After the lava tube, we took to some of the trails. It was amazing how windy it was up there and of course we lost one of the maps b/c it blew away and there was no way to run after it.
After hiking around, we made our away over to the eruption viewing area. As night fell, it started to get unbelievably cold, but the view was totally worth freezing for.
Mother Nature is truly amazing. Spending the day at the waterfalls and the volcanoes was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Outside of the wind and the sound of the falls hitting the water, it was quiet and you could just get lost in all the beauty around you. I felt so far away from the hustle and bustle of “the real world”. I can’t wait to go back.
Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?
She’s Baaaaack!
Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are, in fact, not just surrounded by assholes.~William Gibson
Like the little girl in Poltergeist said, “She’s baaaaack.”
I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote. I don’t want you think I got eaten by a shark or swallowed up by lava when I was in Hawaii. After 2 amazing weeks of exploring, snorkeling, hiking, star-gazing, and relaxing and no time in front of a computer, it took me another 2 to get through all the work and emails that were piling up while I was gone and get back in a routine again. So now that I’m all caught up on that end, I can get back to blogging!
Did I already mention how amazing Hawaii was? Seriously, it was the best vacation I’ve ever been on…like a dream!! It was such a perfect blend of relaxation and adventure and it felt like we had the island to ourselves the entire time, a major benefit of going to an island that’s not heavily populated and during off-peak season. It’ll take me a few blog posts to get through all that we did, so I’m going to start with some of the best (and worst) local foods we ate.
It all started on our flight from Honolulu to the Big Island. We were treated with Passion Orange Guava Nectar. It was very sweet, but as tropical tasting as you can get. I’m not a big fan of juice in general, but I thought it was a nice break from the soda and juices you get offered on regular flights. At least it wasn’t SPAM juice.
I had read about this place called Ultimate Burger on Yelp. I know, I know, who goes to Hawaii just to eat burger and fries? Not something I would typically pick to eat on a tropical island, but I was interested in this place b/c all of its food comes from local farms and is organic, not something you typically find at burger joints. All of their food is made from scratch daily and very fresh. The beef is from local farms from cows that are 100% grass fed, free range, and not given antibiotics and hormones. I’m very picky about meat, so this place just sounded good. And OMG was it! We both got cheeseburgers and split an order of fries with aioli sauce. Not only was the food good, but you didn’t have that “I just ate a greasy brick” feeling in your stomach after eating it.
Next we ate SPAM….okay, not really. I’ve never had SPAM and it does not appeal to me whatsoever. I’m already picky about meat as I mentioned, so meat in a can (is it even meat??), yah no thanks. But the Hawaiians love it. It was on the menu at most places we went to and you could find plenty of SPAM products!
Let’s talk soft shell crab for a sec. I’ve had it in sushi before but never plain. I can’t say this was something that really appealed to me. I was a little creeped out by seeing their legs (I’m the same way with calamari). But, I tried it. Not horrible, but not something I would choose to eat again. They were crunchy and chewy at the same time if that makes sense.
One of the favorite places we ate at was a local diner called Big Island Grill. This place was pretty cheap (in comparison to other restaurants in Hawaii) and the portions were huge. I got a salad with their fresh fish of the day which was moon fish. See the purple thing on the left of my plate? That’s their version of a sweet potato. It tasted just like one, but it was weird eating something that color. Chris got a local dish with roasted pork with cabbage and Hawaiian salt, beef teriyaki and garlic mashed potatoes. Both of these dishes were good.
But what was AMAZING was their Hawaiian Mud Pie. Seriously it was the best (and most humongous) dessert I’ve ever had in my life. It was made of a chocolate, macadamia nut, Oreo cookie crust with Kona coffee ice cream, chocolate chips and macadamia nuts coffered with hot fudge and whipped cream and drizzled with mango. Seriously, this was worth every single calorie, though together Chris and I couldn’t even finish one piece. It was so yummy trying though. This was by far my favorite thing I ate on the island. 
Since I’m starting to drool just looking at those pics again, let me jump to a local dish I was not a fan of but something I was told everyone who goes to Hawaii has to try: A laulau with a side poi and rice
Okay, so what is poi and what is a laulau? Let’s start with the purple bowl of creamy stuff in the top left corner—the poi. This is a main staple starch in the Polynesian diet made from the taro root. It’s really hard to explain what this tasted like, almost like plain yogurt and sour cream had a baby without all the tartness. Can’t say I’ll be disappointed if I never eat this again. The little white cup in the top middle was frozen coconut, which was good. It’s like an after dinner palate cleanser. The big green thing is the laulau. This is a really traditional, time and labor intensive food. A luau leaf is stuffed with pork and fish and then wrapped again in ti leaves, then put in an underground oven. Then, hot rocks are placed on them and they are covered in banana leaves and buried again and not ready for a few hours. While I appreciate all the work that goes into making it, I can’t say I was a fan, which is surprising b/c I do like fish and pork. The leaves just seemed a little bitter for my taste and the meat inside this one was salmon and pork (with yet an extra side of pork) and somehow the flavors didn’t seem to mix together well for me. It was also served with rice, onions in vinegar and lomi salmon salsa. I’m glad we tried this since it was a traditional dish, but not something I would pick to eat again.
What I would eat again are some of the following, which were amazingly fresh and unique:
Grilled tuna burger on a coconut roll with shredded beets, lettuce and wasabi mayo.
Really, really, really fresh sushi, mango rolls and sesame tempura shrimp.
Tempura battered fried ice cream. Good, but didn’t come close to the mud pie.
Traditional luau food. Coconut rolls, potatoes, poke (fresh raw fish with seaweed and spices), mahi mahi, kalua pork (fresh from the pig), veggies and teriyaki beef.
Mai tais! Apparently this drink was invented at a bar and restaurant called Don the Beachcomber in Kona, Hi. So, we were lucky enough to try it where it was invented. Dee-lish.
Mango margaritas.
Sweet potato fries with fresh parmesan and fish tacos.
And Chris’s favorite thing he ate in Hawaii are these sandwiches below. We found this little hole in the wall deli in Hawi on the northern part of the island called Lighthouse Deli. Their sandwiches were huge, but SO good. Chris got a Cuban and I got a pork with sautéed onions and cheddar. There was a ridiculous amount of meat on these and the flavors were very robust. They also had a fridge full of unique sodas. I tried a blood orange soda and Chris tried a 100% natural cola. This place was definitely a great find. Dee-lish!
We ate well in Hawaii as you can see. But, we also had our fair share of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, cereal and bagels. Eating in HI is definitely expensive so we went to the grocery store and bought stuff for breakfast and lunches. We save A LOT of money doing that. Luckily the hotel room had a mini-fridge. So now that you saw some of the unique foods, I’ll be back soon to talk about the unique experiences: hiking active volcanoes, swimming in the ocean with wild dolphins, star-gazing at 14,000 feet and more. Aloha!
Have you ever tried SPAM? Poi? A Laulau?
If you’ve been to Hawaii, what are some of the unique things you ate there?
Have you tried traditional dishes in other states or countries?
What are you dressing up as for Halloween?
This Week in Nature
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins—not by strength, but by perseverance.~H. Jackson Brown
This week and last have been a little odd. It’s almost October and we have strawberries growing again, flowers sprouting in our front yard out of nowhere, and I accidentally got dog poop on my hand and sat in bird poop within an hour of each other (yah, it was a crappy day…haha). I’m also starting to feel at one with Mother Nature b/c of all the random things I’ve come across recently.
Exhibit A: Trying to get to the parking lot at work but having to wait 4 minutes for these geese to cross the street. I was already late and tried beeping the horn but they took their sweet time.
Exhibit B: The creepy, huge praying mantis I almost put my hand on as I was trying to open the glass door to the parking garage. Ginormous.
Exhibit C: Huge ass mushrooms. Like big enough that if Smurfs were real they could make houses of. Don’t you agree?
Exhibit D: Going to throw something away and having this giant bug staring at me. Not sure what it was but it had no problem smiling for the camera.
Exhibit E: These dead flies that are stuck to the green onions in my garden. So weird and I don’t know what the deal is. On the left there, there were 2 flies stuck together, dead. Maybe the fly version or Romeo and Juliet? I don’t know. But then the tops of a few other onions have dead flies on them, too. Gross.
Exhibit F: Opossum in my back yard. These things are not cute. They look like overgrown rats with their beady eyes and long tails. I’m glad it posed for the camera.
I can’t wait to see all the nature I’m going to experience next week in Hawaii. I was there when I was 7 and I remember the cockroaches were huge and the mosquitoes were even bigger. I also remember hitting a big fish with my foot as I was swimming and swimming in the ocean while it was pouring and seeing a rainbow after. Funny how that’s the stuff I remember as a kid. I’ll be taking lots of pictures when we’re there so you’ll hear all about my trip and see all the glorious nature when I get back. But I’m sure none of my pics will rival this one of me with my brothers in Hawaii below. It’s my favorite picture ever!
Before we head to Hawaii we’re going to my cousin’s wedding. She and her high school sweetheart are getting married. I’m happy for them of course, but it got me wondering about the whole marrying the first and only person you’ve ever loved thing. I mean in theory it’s beautiful and sweet and romantic. But at the same time back when I was in high school, I thought I was “in love” but what do you really know about love at that age? Can you really grow as a person if you’re always growing with the same person through such critical years in your life when you’re supposed to be adventurous and exploring the world and exploring life? Do you become dependent on that person to define you? What do you really know about love until you have new experiences, have your heart broken, break someone else’s heart, kiss different lips, or feel different arms around you? I mean, isn’t part of the fun to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince? Maybe for some people marrying their high school sweetheart works. Deep down I’m a hopeless romantic so I like to believe it does. But it also makes me wonder if you’d ever go through life wondering what else was out there?
What do you think about marrying your high school sweetheart?
Have you had any strange nature encounters lately?
Take Me to the Greek Food
People possess the inner resources for growth, they seek the frontiers of creativity, the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. The point is to help remove obstacles to the individuals reaching this. If the environment is right, people grow straight and beautiful, actualizing the potentials they have inherited.~ Abraham Maslow
Even though it’s the end of summer, that doesn’t mean I have to give up eating like it is. I still have a few stragglers in the garden such as tomatoes and herbs and oddly enough strawberries are starting to bloom again. I decided to go Greek this weekend and made a Greek Salad with Lemon-Dill Grilled Chicken and the most amazing layered Greek dip you’ll ever have in your life. You. Must. Try. But first the salad. It’s super easy to make and full of flavor, protein fiber and veggies.
Greek Salad with Lemon-Dill Grilled Chicken
Now for the most amazing Layered Greek Dip ever. I think you’ll even be inspired to put on a toga while making it and feel like a Greek God when eating it. Seriously, it’s that good. I made it for a party I went to and it was gone in less than 15 minutes.
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups prepared hummus
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- 1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/3 cup sliced green onion
- pita chips or multigrain tortilla chips
In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and garlic with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and combined. Spread cream cheese mixture into a deep 9-inch pie plate or shallow serving dish.
Evenly spread hummus on cream cheese layer.
Top with cucumber, tomato, olives, feta cheese, and green onions.
Cover and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.
I threw on a bit of extra feta (because really can you ever have too much?), tomatoes and cucumbers and it turned out even more awesome. Just serve it with pita or tortilla chips. It’s so easy to make and definitely a people-pleaser.
So even though I’ve been in a Greek food mood, I’m trying to get pumped up about the idea of eating Spam. Okay, not really Spam—more along the lines of eating fresh pineapple, fish, macadamia nuts and Kona coffee. This day next week, I will be in Hawaii!!! It seems really weird to say that and I’m not sure it’s even hit me yet that we’re actually going. We just really needed a vacation and our anniversary is next week, so Hawaii, why not?! We have so much fun stuff planned: hiking in National Volcano Park, stargazing at 14,000 feet atop an inactive volcano on the Mauna Kea Summit Observatory which has one of the largest refracting telescopes in the world, snorkeling and swimming with wild dolphins. Can you tell we’re ready?!
Have you been to Hawaii before? Any recommendations for things to do on the Big Island?
Where’d you go on vacation this year or do you have any fun trips planned?
P.S. Make that Greek Dip!!
The Cure For My Heart & My Tummy
Say this is it, don’t say maybe, don’t say no. Say this it it, don’t hold on, don’t say slow. Say this is it, don’t say next time, don’t say when. Say this it, don’t say later, no, don’t say then. Just say yes! Do it now, let yourself go. Just leap, don’t look, or you’ll never know. ~From “Just Say Yes” by The Cure
I’ll never forget the first time I heard The Cure. I was 12 years old, hanging out at my cousin’s house and she had just bought their tape (yes tape, remember those?) Mixed Up. I immediately fell in love and some 20 years later they are still my all-time favorite band. Considering I’m a jovial, fun-loving, optimistic and outgoing person, it’s a little ironic that The Cure—a British band known primarily for its melancholy, alternative, “goth” rock lyrics and music—would capture my heart and that I would continue to love them as much as I do even all these years later. What can I say? Robert Smith, you captured my heart. Not b/c I particularly have a thing for smeared lipstick on men, but his lyrics always seemed to speak to me and reflect so much of my own inner turmoil in past relationships. When I was a teenager, I had 9 Cure T-shirts (back in the 90s it was really cool to wear band T-shirts, I swear). But now that I’m older, I’ve traded in Robert Smith for Michael Kors and Steve Madden. But since I still hold my T-shirts close to my heart, I had a few of them used in T-shirt blankets that my friend made. The first blanket uses one of my Cure shirts as the center 2 panels and for the second blanket you’ll see the whole bottom row shows my Cure love. I love these blankets! If you’re looking for something to do with old T-shirts that you love and don’t want to let go of, my friend Rachel at Nice Rakc makes them. She made both of mine and did an awesome job!
Okay, so what the hell does The Cure have to do with my healthy living/food blog? I had a lunch meeting at the Grand Hyatt down in the heart of DC and we ate at their bar & bistro called none other than Cure! And the lunch I had was awesome!
Before I get to the food, I have to mention the phenomenal (and I don’t use that word often) limeade that I had. This was really one of the most delicious drinks I’ve ever had in my life and it had a basil and mint foam on it. So, so, so good.
So for lunch they have this special where you can pick 4 small dishes for $15. There was so much on the menu that looked good. I was glad there was this option so I could try a few things. So what did I go with?
- Roasted tomato soup with basil cream
- Roasted beet salad with sea salt roasted beets, pumpkin seed crusted goat cheese and tarragon vinaigrette (this was to die for)
- Slow roasted pulled pork sandwich with corn relish and stout BBQ
- Roasted chicken breast sandwich with spinach, mozzarella and a sundried tomato spread
Did I mention how delicious everything was? I’m hoping to schedule another lunch meeting their again soon b/c there are so many other things I want to try and I can’t wait to get my lips on that limeade again.
Since I felt so inspired by The Cure today, I thought I’d leave you a few of my favorites.
Pictures of You is a pretty popular song, but it has extra special meaning to me. My husband knows it’s one of my favorites and he and his best friend who is a musician did a recording for me with Chris singing. Chris has a great voice and it turned out awesome. What was even cooler was that they surprised me and played it during dinner at our wedding reception for everyone to hear. 
Who is your favorite band or musician?
Do you like The Cure? What’s your favorite song by them?
The Halls of Congress
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. ~John F. Kennedy
This is a fun time of year here in DC (I say this with a mild tone of sarcasm). I love that it’s starting to feel like fall. The air is cool and crisp, but it’s still warm enough to wear sandals and flip flops, which I do until it’s cold enough my toes are about to fall off. I love everything the fall brings, pumpkin spice lattes, football, great hiking weather, etc. The thing I don’t like about it though is that it makes it an extra crazy time at work b/c it’s the end of the fiscal year and you have to plan out for next year, which is hard to do when you don’t know what future funding is going to look like. Last week I attended a Congressional briefing in support of research on diabetic retinopathy treatments. I do a lot of work around diabetes in my job and this is an extremely important issue. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults ages 24-70. Anyone of us working in health and medicine knows diabetes and obesity are becoming major issues for our country, and there are so many complications associated with them. So funding for research for treatments (and prevention) is very important.
It was a beautiful day to spend on The Hill. Great views, great people-watching and great energy. Though I really have to laugh at all the staffers. I swear they all shop at the same yuppie stores b/c they were all dressed alike, same sunglasses and everything. But anyway, I snapped a few pics at the House building so you can get an idea of what it’s like.
Rep. Gene Green from TX speaking. Senator Boozman from AR also spoke.
The halls of Congress.
After the briefing I sat outside awhile to catch up on email and soak up some sun. I love the grounds and the fountains around the Capitol.
When I got home that night I was looking forward to using tomatoes and zucchini from my garden in a new recipe I found:
Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Tian
This made a great side dish with grilled chicken. It was so easy to make. The parmigiano-reggiano cheese gave it really nice flavor. I will definitely be making this again and highly recommend you try it. Next year I’m going to try to grow eggplant in my garden. So much you can do with it and I love when I find tasty veggie dishes. Yum.
Have you ever been to Congressional briefings or to Capitol Hill?
Do you have any good veggie side dishes to share?
How many people do you know with diabetes?
I used a quote from JFK today. Did anyone happen to see the ABC special last week, Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words? It was extremely compelling!!!
