#AND i ate beef for dinner (for free!!! by the way...) it's insane what food and sleep can do to you like? who knew

[belleandsaintsebastian]

going to study in the library this weekend.....sit in a park....read. watch a movie from start to finish. play my bass. sleep!!!! :))

[serrj215]

There is no place like home for the holidays (Thank god! One is enough)

Beast Boy closed the door and put his back against it. He had let out a breath he had been holding since they came onto the estate grounds. He slid down the door to the floor in defeat. He should have known better, he should have known that this was going to happen. It's not like these people were going to change since he left. They were not going to put any effort into being better people just because he was doing something as trivial as bringing his girlfriend for Christmas. Still the Doom Patrol was family, and that was what holidays were supposed to be about right?

"You're late." That was Steve's greeting when Beast Boy and Raven came to the front door. No Merry Christmas, no how are you?, or how have you been? Just "You're late." and "Dinner is on the table." As Steve walked away. Leaving them holding their bags standing on the snow covered landing. They were actually almost 20 minutes early but that was late enough for Steve. Then, right then Beast Boy knew he should have grabbed Raven and ran. Rita was a different story and was quickly at the door ushering them inside, trying to warm the cold welcome her husband had given them. It was Rita that had asked them to come, wanting to see them, wanting her family together for Christmas.

It was December 23rd a Friday and a holiday weekend, that is when it started to set in that this might be the longest 72 hours of their lives. Beast Boy knew that bringing Raven home for the holidays was going to be rough, a bit awkward, he just didn’t think that Steve's greeting was going to be one of that high points of the evening. Everything went downhill from there.

From the moment they came into the dining room they were bombarded with horrible questions. Negative man kept asking Raven "So what do you see in him?" He repeated the question throughout the meal. Like Raven was going to change her mind since the last time he had asked. When he alternated it with asking Beast Boy "You off that no meat thing yet?"

Robot man was almost as bad, after shaking hands with Raven he asked "So when are you due?" Raven tried to take it in stride but her other hand tightened around Beast Boy's . "Come on, to stick around Jolly Green midget he must have knocked you up?" he said with a laugh. Raven's fingers tighten so hard Beast Boy was sure something cracked in his hand.

"Charming." She said in her monotone.

As they sat down at the table the questions just got worse.

"So are you a Rabbit too, or do you eat real food?"

"How is his training going, been keeping him off the furniture?"

"Has he met your parents yet?"

"The last election was a sham wasn't it?"

"What are you exactly?"

He couldn’t remember who asked what, it was coming at them from all sides. It was like a mortar attack of all the things normal people knew better to ask. All Beast Boy could do was look at Raven and try to convey to her how sorry he was with his eyes. It was like they were trying to one up each other, who could ask the absolutely most Inappropriate thing. Raven did her best to stay polite, trying to redirect the conversation and sipping water. Rita tried to cut through the noise, asking about the other Titans, or talking about the holiday plans, but those conversations got lost in the storm of the others awful comments and horrid questions.

The food was not much of a distraction. Roast Beef, a rice pilaf with bits of sausage, and salad drenched in a ranch dressing. Apparently they really did think that being a vegetarian was a phase. This left their two guests a dinner of some steamed green beans and peanut butter sandwiches that Rita made for them on the fly.

Then came the stories that Beast boy had hoped they would have forgotten already, and politics, and more questions. The meal lasted about 15 years, or about an hour and a half depending on your perspective. Neither of the couple ate much, who knew that embarrassment was so filling.

The desert course was an augment about sleeping arrangements. After a lecture about what is proper and how they went to the trouble of getting the guest room ready for Raven and the old chestnut of "No unmarried couples are sleeping together under my roof!" Beast Boy found himself alone in his old childhood bedroom. Raven was ushered off before he could even really say "goodnight" or more importantly "I am sorry".

He sat there staring at the carpeted floor for a while. Eventually he lifted his head up to look around. Cartoon posters, some of his old action figures locked in the same battle he left them in years ago, a dozen other reminders of how young he was when he lived in that room. It was exactly the same as when he left. Beast Boy was not sure how he felt about that. He remembered Robin once telling him that when he went home to Gotham his old room gave him a sense of comfort. This place just reminded Beast Boy that no matter what, to the Doom Patrol he will always be a child. Reinforced by the fact that his bunk bed was made with his old Snoopy bed sheets.

He took off his shirt and let it drop to the floor before laying down on the bottom bunk. His feet stuck out over the end of the mattress by a good 6 inches. He closed his eyes and folded his arms under his head. He had to figure out what to say to Raven to make up for all of this. What could he say? "I am sorry Raven I was raised by horrible people please don’t leave me!?" He thought it was a miracle that she put up with his personal brand of bullshit, asking her to put up with his families collective insanity, he half expected her to teleport all the way back to Titans Tower as soon as she was alone.

"What is it with you and bunk beds?"

Beast Boy's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast that banged his head on the bed above him.

"Aaa…That sounded like it hurt." Raven said quietly, her head hanging down from the bunk above him. Her head disappeared and she gracefully lowered herself to the ground. She was wearing her night clothes, an oversized T-shirt and cotton pajama pants. Beast Boy didn’t know what to say as she joined him on the small mattress.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, messaging his aching forehead.

"Cuddling" She said as she wrapped her arm around his chest. "We have done it before, or did that blow to your head affect your memory?"

"Ha ha, Seriously. We're going to get in trouble."

"Oh yes" she said pulling herself tighter to him . "They might find us and throw us out of here," She softly kissed his bare chest "Force us to go get a hotel room" another kiss just below his collar bone. "Where we could share a bed like we have been doing for the last year now." Her lips touched the base of his neck. "Then the next morning we can get food we can both eat and might even have sex. " She raised her eyes to meet his. "Wouldn’t that be awful?"

Beast Boy's smile broke though. "Rae I am-" He couldn’t get the words out, she attacked, the kiss was insistent and hungry. Her tongue pushed its way in to caress his. His arms out of pure instinct wrapped around her, his left hand sliding down her back to rest on her ass. What had happened and where they were had started to fade away as she nipped on his earlobe knowing exactly what it would do to him.

"Raven" he groaned out as he felt her teeth gently biting into his neck, a distraction from her free hand undoing his belt

Knock!

Knock!

"Garfield? Can I come in?" Rita was outside the door immediately breaking the two apart, off the bed and onto their feet.

Neither of them thought about teleporting, or shifting or anything that they had practiced or trained for. At that moment they were not superheroes, they were two young people about to get caught. So in a panic Raven hid in the closet and Beast Boy tried to look and sound calm when he said "Come in"

Rita came in wearing a silk robe that went down to her bare feet. "Are you okay?" a look of genuine concern on her face.

"Yea, I mean I am fine" He was trying to stay calm, hoping Rita wouldn't notice that anything was amiss. If she had knocked just a few minutes later…Beast Boy sat back on the bed and tried to appear calm, but if there was a woman on earth walking that knew him as well or maybe better then Raven it was Rita.

"About Dinner, it's just how they are. " She said as she walked over to sit on the bed next to him "They mean well. Is Raven alright? Steve might be a telepath but that man can be cast Iron dense. "

"I hope so. " He said, trying not to look at the closet door with his lover on the other side. His sharp ears could hear Raven's heart jump when Rita mentioned her name.

"Let me make this up to you both. Do you remember that breakfast place we used to go to?"

"Bennet's?" Near the park!?" Beast Boy's ears perked at the suggestion and the memories of peanut butter pancakes, and a blueberry oatmeal that he couldn't find anywhere else.

"Why don’t the three of us sneak out early for Breakfast, do you think Raven would be up for that?"

"Totally! she loves waffles." he said with a grin. Finally something was going right on this trip.

"I do want to get to know her better, but be warned an embarrassing story or two might slip out. Oh, one more thing." She said as stood up and made a beeline for the closet.

"Ah ugh Rita!" Beast Boy started to stammer out. As Rita gently rapped on the closet door.

"Raven, Sweetheart. You can come out now, It's okay." Her tone was soft and motherly and It nearly floored Beast Boy to hear Raven be called 'sweetheart'.

Not waiting for her. Rita opened the door to find the flustered young woman. "I think you will both be more comfortable in the guest room." she said with a smile.

Raven walked into the room slowly, as if she was about to spring a trap. "Thank you" She was able to eke out "Are you sure? I mean Mento s- "

"It was not that long ago that I was young and in love. I am sure." A smile on her lips. "As for Steve," Rita leaned in close to whisper to Raven. "I will take care of my man, you take care of yours. The guest room is on the other side of the house, but we will try not to keep you two awake."

Rita turned quickly and was out the room with a hast "goodnight kids" leaving the young couple to stand there processing what just happened.

"What did she say to you?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest. "Gar, with those ears you heard what she said to me. Do you really want conformation?"

"No" He shook his head "I don’t need that mental image."

"Good, Because there is a fairly large bed downstairs waiting for us. "

In a swirl of black energy they were gone.

****************************************************

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Steve said as soon as Rita entered their bedroom.

“Do what darling?” Rita was completely calm knowing her husband's words were all bluster.

“You know exactly what I am talking about!” He folded his arms across his chest. “Why did you-”

"Because Steve, this is my home too! And sometimes I think I need to remind you." She said slowly walking toward him. "Because they're in love and I think you forget what that is like as well.” Her hands pulled the knot apart on the robe she was wearing. "Because you may have no interest in grandchildren does not mean I feel that way. “She pulled the robe off her shoulders and let it fall around her feet. “Because you have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.”

AN

So its been a while. This has been sitting in my draft folder for too long, I wanted to get it done by Christmas but that didn't happen. I do not know if I will write more but trying.

Also I am on Ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/30270621 here and other works.

[rgr-pop]

little-brisk

all of this is insane, what  the fuck is a mandatory payday dinner, who the fuck thinks 'there will be food at the meeting' means 'and you have to pay for it', never MIND the union thing, what is going on over there

okay to be fair, as much as i am stressing on main, i actually DO want to go out to eat with my small department, at least two out of five of whom may eventually become my “friends” (the director is really cool actually but library directors can’t be your friend) (laptop daddy is in probationary trial period), in this periodic event they have literally because they all identify as foodies, that sounds honestly fun to me, but it’s the LOGISTICS of the whole thing. this is a really intense microsoft outlook organizational culture and that’s by far the biggest transitional struggle i am having, hr notwithstanding. and to be fair also i consider all these union antics to be a good thing because it’ll motivate me to be involved right off the bat! 

NOW, the workshop thing. the reason that she had to pay for the food herself was because it wasn’t a d s a exclusive thing so we couldn’t use d s a funds which i think we could have done (unsure re: bylaws) if it had been. (it was a w* the p*ople thing), and anyway my local didn’t have a bank account til like three days later. it was one evening and one eight hour day, and she cooked the first night, so i gave her five bucks for her trouble, she said she was also bringing bagels and eggs the next day for breakfast. but then she had lunch CATERED and it was actually fine because it was by this ethiopian family that uses our community center to run a catering business and it’s way better than any restaurant, but at the end, after we all ate, she was like...btw i paid ten dollars a head for this. which is really a lot of money lol. and it was really good. and i had kind of been a pig and embarrassed myself and she had kind of been like, everybody eat eat there’s so much left over! so i did and...so that was that.

i like this girl and she is d s a, but she is also heavily involved lots of more “community organizing” style work, and whooo it shows. that was a real “organizer” move lol. say what you will about the socialists but one of the reasons i really really really like my chapter is that almost none of its core members come out of that realm of professional “organizing” and “organizer culture” which is like, i’m sorry, my least favorite thing, and the kind of thing that produces people being like “free food/actually i paid ten dollars a head for this” *is on the community center entrepreneur incubator board*

the d s a itself provides actually free food as much as possible and increasingly so now that our local has a bank account. when i first was privy to this planning i was concerned because they put kind of an emphasis on “healthy” food and i personally do not believe that that should be the focus--we know we have food insecure people so the goal should be to provide a combination of snacks and calorie rich foods at EVERY public meeting, imo, and if that happens to include vegetables then that’s cool. anyway what was i saying? yeah i’m less concerned about that now since at the last political ed meeting the disney princess (who is keto, natch) brought us all curly fries while she ate her roast beef without a bun... THAT’S feeding people!

[pyrogina]

my keto experience

Intro/TL:DR

As a preface I can report that I lost 17lbs in 30 days while strictly adhering to a keto diet.  I'm a 34 year old canadian woman who works from home as an artist and a huge helping factor for me was the freedom to stay home on the bad days and the ability to purchase fresh meats and vegetables on a weekly basis. This is a really tough diet but if you put the right pieces in place, it might work for you too.  Additionally, I am NOT a dietitian/nutritionist in any way, shape, or form.  Everything posted here is from my own experience and a modicum of research on the net.  Please double-check my facts before you begin this diet for yourself.

Is keto for you?

The first and hardest question to ask yourself about a ketosis diet is, Can I Endure this? And you should not feel any guilt if the answer to that question is no, because this is a very invasive and aggressive diet that will cause you physical pain even if just for a brief amount of time. Similar to vegetarianism, or is extreme cousin, veganism, a keto diet involves cutting out large swaths of the food pyramid to facilitate this diet. This does not mean going hungry, the foods that are removed will be replaced with other foods, only without any (or minimal) artificial or natural sugars. Sugar is just a chemical, which doesn't sound like a huge sacrifice, right? Most adults don't bother adding sugar to anything other than tea or coffee, but sugar is much more deeply rooted in our lives than you may realize.

Carbohydrates can be found in virtually every type of ready-to-serve foods: breads, wraps, pastas, fried snacks, hors d'oeuvre (these are examples of things I ate before this diet). All of these delicious and very satisfying foods have a fiber content and sugar content. You're still allowed to consume these, and I encourage you do so, but make sure to monitor the grams of total carbohydrates you consume that day. During this diet you will only be allowed to consume 20 grams (to 50 grams, depending on your body and personal needs) a day. remember this. Those 20 grams of carbs maybe the difference between you having a normal day and one of the worst days of your life.

Before I chose to begin a keto diet, I had been exercising casually (as before I was sedentary, more details on this later) and consuming about half as many carbohydrates as I had normally done in my life before. During the two years I was living this way, I was able to lose approximately 20lbs (from about 230 to 210).  If you're starting your diet or lifestyle change from scratch, maybe try starting here first.  Its significantly slower (10lbs in nearly a year), but it will not cause any pain or significant inconvenience.

What’s the big deal?/What to eat?

Sugar is a chemical, and more than that, its a drug that your body has been dependent on since you were a wee baby in your mama’s belly.  Sugar makes your brain work and when you mess with your brain’s intake of the all-important-life-sauce it goes into panic mode. In the first 2-3 days (up to 6 if your me!) you will literally, physically go into a state of depression.  Many had described it to me as ‘keto flu’ but as a survivor of 2009s Swine flu, I can most assuredly tell you that keto is much, MUCH worse.

First, my appetite became very finicky (and i'm already a very picky eater).  I had no desire to eat the genuinely tasty keto meals that my boyfriend had lovingly prepared.  I didn't want to draw, and I wasn't even in the mood to play easy video games.  All I felt like doing was crying or sleeping (which I did, for 9 hours in the middle of my 3rd day).  This is why, whenever I speak to someone who’s even moderately interested in this diet to BOOK TIME OFF YOUR JOB!!! It’s inconceivable to me to be forced to face other human beings in this state of physical distress.  You need to pamper yourself while in this state in order to endure it and ensure your success.

There was one more bump in the road around the one-week point but i'm fairly certain it came down to a combination of dehydration and moodiness (period) so perhaps that was an outlier.  Either way, water is the key when you start feeling shitty.  Get yourself a nice BPA-free water bottle that you're comfortable carrying around and keeping full of fresh water.  Once your body is in ketosis (you can check using those little paper sticks you pee on from the drug store, wash your hands!) you will get tired and moody the very instant you become hungry at mealtimes.  Sometimes you don't even feel the familiar hunger pangs from your previous diet and mistake it for just a general bad mood. Always have a sip of water, babes; that’s your brain telling you to hydrate.

Alternatively, after eating a keto meal you still may feel hungry or unsatisfied, even sad (longing for your favourite dessert).  This is where those 20g of carbs come in pretty clutch.  Finding your perfect portion of reward may be impossibly difficult, I can only tell you what made me feel better when I got the cravings.  Blueberries are quite sweet, they have a lot of natural sugar, but a handful of them sufficed as an incredibly sweet treat (some keto dieters have proclaimed that ‘regular things taste much sweeter than before’, I didn't experience this). Minigo/iogo yoghurt cups are fatty and sweet and work as a decent replacement to ice cream (count the carbs!).  On extra tough mornings (in addition to bacon and eggs! Totally keto!) we would split a cavendish oven-fried hashbrown (about 15g; 7.5g split between my partner and I).

There are a surprising amount of natural foods that are not keto, but in careful proportions, can be incorporated into a daily keto diet.  Most every fruit (that I checked) is very sugary but can make for a nice dessert.  Certain vegetables like carrots or potato have too many carbs to be anything more than a boost when you feel shitty. Red onions have a very small amount of carbs (sugar and fibre work together to your benefit!) and server to replace pasta as a side to a nice steak dinner.

On that note, you need fibre to make your BMs move.  Cutting carbs from your life means your number 2’s go bunny mode…. Take a sugar-free metamucil on any day where you have more meat during a meal than other types of food, or the toilet will be a nightmare.

Meals:

Cutting away pastas, breads, and other sides seems like an insane task but with some discipline and creativity, it's quite manageable.  Breakfast didn't change much: eggs any way (sunny side for me, cheddar omelette for my BF) with bacon or sausage. Lunch was some combination of chicken breast and various salads (so many salad dressings are low or no carb! Read the back!). On steak night, we replace noodles with sauteed red onions fried and seasoning.  Snacktime was usually pre-sliced cheddar cheese (go NUTS that shit is A-OK!), unsalted peanuts (other nuts have marginally more carbs, almonds and sunflower are moderate, check what works for you), or small amounts of beef jerky.  Accompany those snacks with a big drink of water, or if you've had enough of that, certain drinks are acceptable like tea or coffee (with sweetner and high fat milk, skim milk is too sugary), diet sodas, sugarfree drink mix (migo, nestea).  Just remember water, water, water.

Is it worth it? Pros/Cons

Cons:

-HURTS LIEK DRUG WITHDRAWL (you're literally coming down from the lifelong chemical addiction of sugar.  It hurts like Trainspotting)

-MEAT (you will be consuming a lot of animal product)

-POOP (even when you have your metamucil, the toilet can take some time)

-SWEETS (the cravings for your favourite yumyums will almost never stop, it takes monk-like discipline)

-BORING (you can't go out and enjoy meals/drinks with friends and family without them or the restaurant making odd or even crappy exceptions.  Keto menu options are slowly becoming popular though)

-TIRED (the first week or two will be very tedious and you won’t have any energy, even your favourite hobbies may seen unfulfilling for a time)

-ALCOHOL (basically none, unless you like vodka and sugarfree mix, you'll get drunk a lot quicker and end up feeling shittier without carbs in your body to process the liquor)

Pros:

-INSTANT RESULTS (in my first week i lost nearly 10lbs, and then two for every subsequent week. note that, just like any diet, there will be bounce-back)

-APPETITE LOSS (once you get into the swing of this, after the 2 week mark, you’ll find you no longer are pained when your hungry and the bigger cravings subside)

-BUDGET (this is a bit of an odd one and may not necessarily reflect your cost benefits.  Before engaging in this diet, my BF and I discovered we were spending too much money on restaurants and leaving the food in the fridge to waste.  This was primarily because we were too lazy to cook.  Getting off our asses and cooking 6 days of the week made an immediate impact on this for us.  If you already do that, this won't apply.  Concurrently, we spent more money at the grocery store ensuring we always had fresh meat and vegetables; this did net us positive)

-REWARDING MEALS (having to stop and think about what it takes to make a tasty and satisfying meal has forced us to look at things in a different way.  Making yourself and your partner a healthy, supremely tasty meal gets those endorphins peaking)

-EXERCISE (Unnecessary! Your choice! Just note that building muscle increases your weight as muscle weights more than fat)

My fave meals:

-Coffee (reluctantly replacing 1tsp of sugar with a fairy-dust sprinkling of sweetner cos i HATE sweetner, its 20-30x stronger than sugar so you only need 1/20th as much)

-Eggs and bacon!!! (sausage sometimes too)

-Garlic grilled chicken with spinach salad (onions, sliced almonds, feta, dressing)

-Steak and red onions (meat rare and onions grilled with seasoning)

-Spicy ground pork tacos (replace the taco/burrito with large boston lettuce leaves, shredded cheddar, green onions, diced tomato, dab of ranch sauce)

-Baked chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and spinach, topped with parmesan

-Slow-cooked pulled pork slathered with sharp cheddar (just eat with a fork!)

-Baked shrimp with garlic butter and parmesan

-Jalapenos stuffed with ricotta, cream cheese and cheddar, then wrapped in a strip of bacon (great late-night snack)

-Even changing the texture of a cheese can change the taste of the meal.  Shredded cheddar adds a salty bite to a lettuce wrap, grated parmesan can trick a baked chicken breast into thinking its breaded.  creamy cheeses can replace other baking sauces entirely.

-Diet pops (make sure its 0 sugar!), and tea/coffees with sweetner are fine, they do contain a lot of sodium though, make sure to drink 1-for-1 with water (meaning: every diet coke or tea you have, accompany it with the same amount of plain water so your body can process it and pee it out).

Variations/Control:

Vitamins: It should be noted that I take a daily multivitamin (C3+D) as I generally don't get enough sun or fruits.  I highly recommend you take these just in general. They help keep skin soft and blemish free (I initially began taking these because of acne on upper arms and it cleared within days).

Activity: As briefly mentioned earlier, I began shifting from sedentary (not moving much, sitting for hours a day) to a more active lifestyle about 2-3 years ago. This entailed a personal regimen of making an attempt at physical activity approximately half the days of the month (period week was generally excluded).  Every other day I would attempt one of the following: walking at least 2km, 15-20m of floor exercises (‘lady push-ups’, sit-ups), 15-20m of time on the indoor bike, or an hour of house related chores (lifting, laundry, cleaning, anything that involves getting sweaty).  In addition to these, yoga is peppered into my lifestyle as frequently as possibly, particularly in the morning before breakfast. On days where i'm unable to exercise, I at least attempt the basic yoga poses to stave off my (no-longer chronic) back pain.

[samsuelu]

I recently took a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas to the lovely Bermuda.  I thought I would give a little review of my experience on the high seas.  I’ve been on several cruises, one of which was on this very same ship, so I thought my perspective may be helpful to some. Or maybe it won’t be, but I’m going to do it anyway!

I went on the Grandeur of the Seas a loooong time ago. I was still in high school it was at least ten years ago.  I remember the experience being amazing, so much so that I was depressed when it was time to disembark.  Seriously, I was ready to chain myself to a railing or something so I wouldn’t have to leave. Unfortunately I did not have the same experience this time.  Bermuda was amazing, I’ve been there before and it’s one of my favorite places on planet Earth. I have no complaints about the Bermuda experience and would gladly go there a thousand more times. Or a million. Or I could move there.  The actual cruise ship experience itself proved to be a bit disappointing. This is crazy to me and not what I expected at all. I’ve never felt “disappointed” with any cruise, which is why I decided to write this. It wasn’t entirely negative, not at all.  It just did not live up to the cruises I’ve taken in the past. When you take into consideration how much money you spend, they should all be incredible.

One of the things that bothered me the most was how most of the activities seemed to be a ploy to get you to spend more money. I’ve already spent a ton of money to get on here, I don’t want to pay for a bunch of stuff that should have been included. When you think of a cruise, you think all inclusive for the most part, right? Me too. And that has pretty much been my experience in the past. Now let’s clarify, I’m not talking about shore excursions and soda and things like that. This isn’t my first rodeo. I knew those would be extra. I’m talking about activities like jewelry making. You would think that could be included, right? You’d be wrong. Cost extra. Making your own sushi? Cost extra. It goes on and on. Though the group that went to the make your own sushi class did say it was tons of fun and the staff teaching it were fab.

The stuff that was free was often geared towards getting you to buy something, like spa treatments or fitness consultations. I just wanted to do something without being accosted for more money. Oh, and if you book a spa treatment you better be sure you actually want it. My sister found out the hard way that if you make an appointment and cancel less than 24 hours ahead of time then you still have to pay half of the cost. This was not communicated to her at any point when she booked. She also booked the appointment on the first day for that same night, so how she was supposed to cancel 24 hours ahead of time I don’t know.  She went to the salon (connected to the spa) to get her hair done later in the trip for formal night and said she saw a small, out of the way sign posted about this policy. Seems a little fishy to me.

Four of us actually ended up getting our hair done at the salon for fancy night and let me tell you, it was really nice. The people working in the salon were super sweet and personable and we were all pleased with the finished product.  My sister and I both have mega thick hair that can be hard to work with but they were total pros.

There were some fun, legitimately free things to do. The movies they played on the top deck were awesome.  It was a cool atmosphere to kick back, have a fancy drink, and watch relatively new movies. They even played the second Guardians of the Galaxy! The rock wall was super cool but it was only open for about two hours a day, if at all.  They had shows every night but I never made it to any of them, for one reason or another. Most of the time the reason was that the shows were at 7:00pm so if you wanted to go you would have to eat crazy early or crazy late because dinner in the dining room took quite a while (but was totally worth it). They had a really fun dance party with a DJ at the club on board. It may have been all the alcohol in my system but I thought the fella played a great mix of music and everyone seemed pretty hyped.  My sister participated in a cute “Finish the Lyric” game put on by the Cruise Director which had the whole audience into it (see my upcoming vlog for this).  We missed the Newlywed Game when they did it but it was recorded and played on the TVs in our rooms. Watching cruise guests play this classic made for fun viewing!

You could also turn to the pools for some free fun. The issue was that they were very often filled to the brim with kids and the adults only pool was rarely open.  They did all this advertising for this adults only oasis, that was legitimately beautiful, but it was a real crap shoot to catch the pool open. Kids weren’t supposed to be allowed in the hot tubs anywhere on the ship either, but the lifeguards didn’t enforce this. My aunt had to ask lifeguards twice to say something because the hot tubs were full of kiddos.  On one of these occasions, the lifeguard’s first response was to ask what she wanted him to do about it. Um…your job, perhaps?

The bar situation proved to be a challenge at times, as well. Listen, I like to drink sometimes and I feel like it’s not unreasonable to want a buzz from time to time on vacation. I think many people are of that mindset. But jeez, the bars frequently closed at like 10:00pm or 11:00pm. When you want to let loose on your vacay and are at the mercy of the bar staff on the ship, this presents a problem. Then there were the drink packages. My Aunt and Mom usually get some kind of wine package for the trip so they can save a bit. They planned to do the same on this trip until they found out that the wine package only provided like three options for wine. It also felt like the only advertised packages were the ones they wanted you to get.  I found out about a package on like the second to last day of the trip, ten drinks for $80, that I would have totally purchased if I had known about it earlier on. Yet they were still advertising drinks out of pineapples when they were out of pineapples at all the bars. That’s right folks, all the bars. It’s okay though, the dining room staff saved the day by giving us a pineapple to physically walk to a bar to get that drink.

The night we docked overnight in Bermuda, my group boarded the ship after spending some time on the island and we were looking for something to do. It wasn’t that late but the bars on the ship were closed, of course. There were staff cleaning in a lot of places, which I totally get needs to happen, but some of them acted as if we were in the way as we tried to navigate around the ship.  That’s a bit problematic when we effectively live on the boat, are on vacation, and it’s like 11:00pm.

Let’s talk about something positive. That food! So amazing! The dining room service was on point.  I definitely recommend doing the formal dining room and not the stuff on the top deck. I feel like this is where most of us were able to get our money’s worth.   We ate like kings and queens every night. The menu included a wide selection of dishes from beef, to chicken, to fish, to vegetarian. The dining room staff worked so hard and tried to give us everything we wanted. Want two entrees? No problem. Three appetizers? They didn’t even bat an eyelash. Here I found that incredible customer service I had grown to expect from cruise vacations. Lunch in the dining room was fantastic as well. That salad bar they had, I dream about it.  We also ordered room service for breakfast one morning and the person who brought us the food was so sweet that it added some positivity to an early morning.

There were a few things here and there that were a bit questionable. For instance, there was a crab dish one night that had some imitation crab meat in it. It didn’t bother me so much, I had two, but for the money we all spent I can see where that would be a problem. There was also no bar staff allowed in the dining room for some reason, so if we wanted a drink at dinner we had to bother our already busy wait staff with it. No fellas carrying around drinks of the day or shooters for us. I would have also loved to go a day without being hounded about making a reservation at a special restaurant that, of course, cost extra. I’ll stick with the mountains of free food, thanks.

I felt like the dress code wasn’t enforced enough in the dining room.  Now I realize this makes me sound like a snob, but they have a classy vibe going on in there. I don’t particularly like to dress up myself but I do it because it’s what’s appropriate and it’s kind of nice for vacation. If most of us can follow the rules and look presentable, why can’t you? I get the first night when everyone’s luggage might not have been delivered on time or maybe you’re new to cruising and didn’t know. After that, I feel like it’s disrespectful to come into the dining room in your cutoff shorts and tank tops.

Our second day docked on the island, the dining room was closed for lunch. Everyone had to be back aboard about midday as we were pulling out. This meant we all went to the top deck to eat at the same time and it was miserable. We had to awkwardly hover and monitor tables so we could pounce when someone got up.  The lines for the buffet style food were insane and slow moving. I just feel like this was something they should have anticipated and prepared for. I don’t understand why the dining room was closed when reason would say there would be a flood of people looking to get their grub on all at the same time.

Our room attendant was great, especially having to deal with how messy our room was. I have no complaints about the room situation. I knew it was going to be small and cramped. Like I said, I’ve done this before. I actually felt like there was a good amount of storage space for how small it was. The other folks in our group also told me they had good experiences with the room attendant and that he was very attentive.

We had a very helpful and informative shopping expert who did seminars and information sessions on the shopping on Bermuda. She had lots of good info on where to go and lots of deals for money off or free stuff when you got there. She was frequently in the stores on the island and was very present around the ship.  The stores on board the ship also had a great selection of stuff. They did free alcohol tastings and there ain’t nothing wrong with some duty free shopping.

We all enjoyed our shore excursions, mostly because we were in Bermuda (duh).  There was a good range of excursions to choose from by activity and by price.  I always feel safer when I’m doing something that’s affiliated with the cruise line and I don’t have to worry about getting lost or being late to the ship.  I felt especially good about this when we went to book our excursion the first day and they told us the one we had chosen had been removed as it no longer met their standards. Whether it was a safety thing or an issue with it not being worth the money being charged, I appreciated that the activities were scrutinized in this way.

A lot of the problems we had came from little things that kind of added up. I just feel like every time I’ve been on a cruise the level of customer service has been impeccable. On this trip I often felt like I was a bother or that things were just falling through the cracks. For instance, we paid $80 for birthday decorations and cake for my cousin in our room.  Though I had chosen chocolate cake for her, they brought vanilla. I know that’s not a huge deal but dang, that setup was expensive so to get it wrong is a bit frustrating. There was also stuff like cups, plates, trash, etc. being left all over the ship without being picked up.  Now keep in mind that there aren’t trash cans anywhere that guests can get to so we can’t throw stuff away ourselves. It seemed to just sit around and accumulate. One night a gentleman was cleaning the top deck by hosing it down, sending the cups and garbage flying all over the place. Super swank.

I certainly don’t want to give the impression that I had no fun at all. That’s simply not true. We all definitely enjoyed ourselves. I’ve just never been on a cruise before where I felt the customer service was so lacking in certain areas and that they were after my wallet so hard. I wonder if maybe the Grandeur is a training ship now or if Royal Caribbean is putting more money and effort into their newer, megaships. Maybe they were short staffed or something. My previous trip on the Grandeur went so differently that I have to wonder what changed. I personally feel that the experience shouldn’t suffer because I can’t afford to cruise on one of their floating cities.

At the end of the day, I believe a lot of the experience will be what you make it. My family, friends, and I had tons of fun despite these issues and it hasn’t changed my outlook on cruising. What is has done is taught me to do research and read recent reviews before booking.

Keep your eyes out for my cruise vlog and pics, they’re coming soon! Also, check out my previous blog post where I talk about 10 things you absolutely need to pack for a cruise vacation (“Essentials to Pack on a Cruise”).

Thanks for visiting! Don’t forget to subscribe!

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Getting ready to board

Docked in Bermuda!

That waterrr!

    Cruise Review: Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda I recently took a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas to the lovely Bermuda.  I thought I would give a little review of my experience on the high seas. 

[poolenick-blog]

Thai food is famous for its spiciness, but in northern Thailand, especially in the district of Chiang Mai, influences from Burma and China are distinct. This results to milder curries and a more pronounced use of other ingredients such as ginger and turmeric. This may not sound appealing to some, but I tell you: it’s sinfully goooooood. ‘Rose of the North’ last October, surely I wouldn’t pass on the chance of going on a food trip — especially since Chiang Mai (and Thailand in general) is praised for its rich and flavorful dishes, more so for those that you find on the streets and public markets.

Now, there are a lot of night bazaars and market avenues in the city and it could get really dizzying; but you can go to

» READ: Top 10 Things To Do in Chiang Mai, Thailand

After you sort that out, continue down to this list to see the top 10 Chiang Mai street food dishes that you should absolutely try and not miss out! .title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, .title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, h2{ border-color: }

Chiang Mai Street Food

#1 – Khao Soi (Egg Noodle Curry)

Photo

from Rachel Moon/Shutterstock You can choose from beef, chicken, or pork khao soi; obviously, I took chicken for this one.

A Burmese-influenced dish, though its name translates to ‘cut rice’, it is actually made up of deep-fried crispy egg noodles dipped in a coconut milk curry soup. It is always accompanied with a dish of shallots, cilantro, lime, pickled mustard, ginger, and chili paste.

This was rich and flavorful wherein the taste of the soup was akin to that of yellow curry; but of a thinner consistency and not so spicy. Apparently, khao soi comes in different types: some serve it in curdled blood, rice noodles, etc. but this one that we ate was a Traditional Lanna Style type of khao soi.

For this type of Chiang Mai street food, it is available in every food place, but we recommend you to try out a local favorite of Thais: Khao Soi Samerjai located at 91 Charernras, Fahharm, Mueang Chiangmai (beside restaurant Wat Fa Ham). In here, they also offer other various Thai dishes that if you fancy, you could absolutely try! #2 – Khanom Jeen or Khanom Chin

Photo from SAHACHATZ/Shutterstock While we were strolling around Warorot Market, we saw a LOT of these small dimly-lit sections in which a lot of Thai people are eating dinner. One thing we noticed distinctly is that they were mixing a lot of stuff from the veggies that were laid out in their tables. We wondered what it was, and here we discovered khanom jeen or khanom cheen, a very common and CHEAP but filling Chiang Mai street food made of thin rice noodles.

It first starts with you, choosing the kind of soup that you’d like. It could be (1) chicken in coconut curry soup, (2) fish balls in curry soup, or (3) pork blood soup. This will then be mixed with white noodles which are thin fermented rice vermicelli (it’s like spaghetti, but thinner — which makes a lot of people say that this is like Thailand’s version of spaghetti).

They will put this in a bowl, and then when you sit down, there are free vegetable ‘toppings‘ for you to use: raw string beans (I was surprised to see them eating this raw! I’m not used eating it raw…), basil, beansprouts, pickled mustard greens, shredded cabbage, and chili. Sometimes they include fried pork grind and eggs, but these eggs are not part of the free ‘toppings’ as this will cost you ฿10 baht for one.

Now I could not believe that I only paid ฿20 baht for this. I was already very full and yet it was only less than a dollar! Plus: it tasted VERY good too! It was insane, that you should just try it for yourself. #3 – Sai Oua (Grilled Spicy Herb Sausage)

Photo from LaysRock/Shutterstock A lot of street vendors sell different meat balls or pieces on a stick. Usually, beside those sticks are these ‘Northern Style’ sausages that are coiled around in a shape that reminds me of what else but… poo. But don’t let that stop you.

This can be piping hot and spicy since after taking a bite from it, it first gave me a tinge of herbs but then it was quickly followed by a sudden rush of chili — it was fiery! But still delicious and rich in its own way.

Made from ground pork, this sai oua is filled with spices such as lemongrass, cilantro, shallots, pepper, galangal, and dried chilies. As if that wasn’t enough, they mix in chili paste too! Sounds scary, right? But it’s worth a try!

Apparently, to mellow down the burst of spice, this is best paired with… #4 – Sticky Rice

Photo from wason yuyatmak/Shutterstock

This Chiang Mai street food was a JOY to eat. We have sticky rice back at home in the Philippines, but not in a way that’s prepared like this: mixed with sweet stuff!

There are different kinds of sticky or glutinous rice in Thailand and they’re usually wrapped around in banana leaves. Some are mixed with fruits (hence the famed Thai mango sticky rice as pictured above), with coconut, with violet rice, with beans, or with egg custard. Sometimes they even put artificial colors on the rice!

For me, I loved the egg custard the most! You can usually buy these sticky rice packs on the streets and #5 – Pad Thai

Photo from Victor FlowerFly/Shutterstock I bet you’ve seen this coming!

Aside from sampling curries across Thailand, pad thai is another dish that you shouldn’t skip on — its huge popularity speaks for itself in the first place! And as what you may already know, it’s a stir-fried rice noodle often with different toppings and sauces.

You might have already tasted it from the Thai restaurants near your hometown, but you should definitely try pad thai that’s from Thailand itself. It’s very tasty and savory! This was the first Thai dish that I actually fell in love with when I first had my taste of ‘Thai’ in a restaurant in Manila; and tasting it here in Chiang Mai was even better! #6 – Quail Eggs

Photo from Evgeny Ermakov/Shutterstock This is another one of those Chiang Mai street food stalls filled with people — so I had to try it out! For this, they are simply fried quail eggs that are mixed with coconut milk; but, there are other types that are mixed rather with fish and soy sauce.

They weren’t too sweet and they were very scrumptious in every bite. It was the perfect ‘dessert’ to cap one of the nights where we went ‘street food’ shopping in Chiang Mai. #7 – Som Tam or Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

Photo from Tortoon/Shutterstock This is basically made up of shredded green papaya. They would first pound the chili, tomatoes, garlic, and long beans into a mortar; and then they’ll add the papaya, bruising it well so as to incorporate the flavors of the former set of ingredients. What comes after will be fish sauce, lime, sugar, and some nuts.

I think if you ordered for the special that costs ฿5-10 baht more, they will add seafood to it!

At first I was scared that it would be really spicy — as with any normal initial reaction to a new Thai dish — but gladly enough, it wasn’t! There was a hint of spiciness of course, but everything was so well balanced that I wouldn’t mind having som tam for appetizers from now on.

So try it too, especially since it’s also one of the very popular Chiang Mai street food dishes. #8 – Kaeb Moo (Crispy Pork Rinds)

Photo from Regreto/Shutterstock This is much like chicharon from the Philippines so I was pleasantly surprised that it also exists in Chiang Mai! As such, kaeb moo are simply crispy friend pork rinds often mixed with salt and garlic. (Sometimes even with chili).

To date, it has different variations: (1) curls of just the crunchy skin or rind with a part of fat for added goodness and cholesterol, haha! Obviously, for those into healthy-eating, it’s fine to taste one or a few just to remember how delicious a pig’s fat can be. #9 – Grilled Pork, Fish, or Chicken

Photo from Evgeny Ermakov/Shutterstock Aside from the variations of small meat stuck on a stick, it’s also great if you could try the bigger portions: grilled fish, grilled pork parts, and grilled chicken.

They can be veeeery tasty! And sometimes, when you order chopped parts of these, it comes along with chili or some other seasoning. I personally think that this is a good Chiang Mai street food when you’re about to launch into a night of drinks with your friends. Prices for this vary, but often times, chopped parts of pork or chicken costs around ฿40 to 60 baht. #10 – Exotic Food!

Photo from Chaikom/Shutterstock Surely, Thailand has its own set of crazy street food too. I ate a cricket before in the Philippines and they had grasshoppers too — however, they were very small and the insects in Chiang Mai were biiiiiig.

I am not putting this on this list for its taste (though some will find it good; but all I taste is fear and crunchiness). I’m rather putting this on this list for the experience, as well as for you to have the ‘bragging rights’ of saying that you’ve ate one! Haha, and besides, Bear Grylls did say that these pack a LOT of protein and with no fat! So, why not?

Aside from crickets, there are ant eggs, silkworms, bats, dried lizard, etc. etc. etc.

» READ: My Experience Eating Insects in Chiang Mai

Other ‘normal’ exotic food that are NOT insects would have to be the usual Asian fruits: mangosteen, durian, lanzones, jackfruit, dragonfruit, rambutan, sugar apple, and basically every weird fruit that you see that you normally don’t see in your country. (Make it a challenge among your travelling buddies to make it more fun!). .title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, .title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, h2{ border-color: }

OTHER TOP CHIANG MAI ACTIVITIES

Chiang Mai Food Tour Dive into the food stalls at the Chiang Mai night markets!

Thai Massage Complete your holiday with an authentic Thai massage!

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Unique NO-riding interaction with these gentle giants!

.title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, .title-bar:after, .title-bar:before, h2{ border-color: }

Overall

As per common sense, be mindful that street food is famous for its poor sanitation and health rating (not all, but some — or okay, most of them) so, proceed at your own risk. But I personally think that it’s totally fine, as long as it’s on moderation. And besides, it would be such a pity if you skip on these when they’re not only sooooooo yummy, but also incredibly CHEAP.

And surely, finding and spotting these Thai dishes is also very fun!

How about you?

What do you think of these Chiang Mai street food dishes?

Would you like to try them out? Why or why not?

Or have you tried any of these before? How was it?

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The post Chiang Mai Street Food: 10 Dishes You Must Try appeared first on I am Aileen.

[40countdown]

This is it! The Final Episode! The Last Installment! The Swan Song of the Blog! I’m 40 as hell already! (01-14-18)

Original Goals 

Looking back at the goals I laid out in the first post for this blog… I didn’t do bad.

Body Goals:

My weight is where is should be.. Weigh in 158.5  

The 2 inches off the waist didn’t happen. Ha! The waist is as trashy as it was but probably no worse.. since I never measured with tape I have to judge based on which pants I can or can not button and how uncomfortable it is to put a sock on.. which still tends to fluctuate after a few good or bad weeks.. but I’d say I’m right about where I started.

(this is from today at the gym when I registered for a thing... :D) 

The elbow miraculously healed.. the pain is gone but last week I noticed it was radiating heat like a nuclear reactor so.. I might wanna get it checked out.. or maybe I just have a hot laser in my elbow from the spider bite. #superpowers

We all know that I pissed away any chance of being “11 months smoke free” a long time ago, but I recommitted to ruining that goal this past week during vacation/birthday celebrations when I torched 2 full packs of Marlboro Reds. I really do think the 2 Tough Mudders I’ve signed up for will help keep me from reaching for the reds in my weaker moments.

Blood pressure has not been checked but I’d be surprised if it’s great after the birthday week vacation I’ve had of all night bars and all day food closing out with a delicious “brisket burnt ends” sandwich from The Joint.

Career Goals:

Documentary is not finished, but it is much closer and I’m more fired up about it than ever! This one is gonna hit like a Bruce Lee kick, y’all. I aim to complete and submit to festivals by the end of March and that is still absolutely manageable with my much lighter spring semester schedule.

Longer term job offer.. I got that since I got the full time job offer this past August which I’ve accepted. I also did get accepted to an MFA Screenwriting program, but I declined to go in favor of the job and the chance to actually finish the film.

Feature film script.. I know exactly what I want to write next but.. that goal seems insanely over ambitious looking back.. I definitely assumed everything would go much faster with the doc than it did, but.. I’ll say now that by this time next year I fully expect to have achieved that goal. Can’t wait to write again!

Heart/Mind Goals:

I aimed at 7000 minutes and 20mins/day average.. The phone won’t tell me how many minutes unless I sit and add up each day.. but it does say 21 mins/day avg for the year, which is crazy! I touched on what I feel like I get out of meditation a few times earlier so I won’t yammer on rewording the same thoughts, but it feels good to know I’ve been able to take a small step in the direction I think is good for me. I want to do much longer sits this year.

Elliptical/Sauna.. 

I’m sure I also averaged 20/mins in the sauna for the year but the elliptical I walked away from in favor of shorter runs on the treadmill so.. I sorta traded that and my phone doesn’t track the treadmill so.. you’ll have to take my word that I feel I probably did also get that average. I was in the gym a LOT this year. Ha!

Fed My Head:

I aimed at 12 audiobooks and I did 17. I would love to do even more but editing requires the focus of all the faculties I possess.

I certainly however did not “read more than 10 books.” I read chunks of a lot of books mostly relating to preparing film syllabi and keeping my head in the film problem solving space. But I just finished of Year of Magical Thinking, given to me by my dad after my friend Palma died. It’s a tough read b/c of what the author went through, and not at all what I expected from the title, but I would recommend it for anyone who cares about people :)  

A Very Special THANK YOU to Scott McCarthy 

Owner of Balance Strength and Fitness Center www.balancefitnesstraining.com

Scott voluntarily gave me a 4 day workout routine. He tailored it to my situation, a slowly healing elbow and someone who can’t spend 3 hours in the gym everyday.. and while my food and beer habits probably prevented me from losing the belly flab, I definitely gained noticeable muscle in my arms, chest and legs. So, I’m certainly stronger than I’ve ever been and in a pretty well rounded way. Without Scott’s workout plan I’m sure that I would’ve waffled from one thing to the next w/o seeing any results, but with it, I had just the right amount of workout 4 days a week and I was able to push myself each time I walked into the gym. And it was great to know that I had a map from someone who looks like the Incredible Hulk and has been training people for 20 years. He just moved into a new place and upgraded the gym that he owns. He also knows a ton about nutrition and will happily call bullshit on a lot of fads that come through, but he’ll tell you exactly why it’s bullshit. Much Respect! Scott! I owe you some video work, brother! Let’s coordinate and we’ll put some cool spots together for the gym. If you (dear reader) are in the Delaware area and want to get real about training stop reading this and drive directly to his gym… unless it’s really late. Then just go FIRST THING TOMORROW!

Final Thoughts..

I want to thank every single person who read this thing even once and especially those of you who shot me a little word of encouragement or a book suggestion along the way privately or publicly. I truly do believe as an experiment it was successful even if all the goals weren’t met b/c I did have the idea of being held accountable for my actions in mind probably more than you’d imagine. And while it didn’t keep every cheeseburger or cigarette out of my face, it did get me to meditate on weeks where I might not have at all. And the fact that I mediated a few times or ate healthier a few times to be able to report that I had done so doesn’t make me feel like I’m somehow a fake. I was as honest as I could be about everything I did and in the case of food, exercise and mediation in service of the audience.. I still get the benefit of each thing even if it isn’t coming from some pure unpolluted source of willpower. I think there’s a bit of horseshit in most ideas that swirl around purity anyway, so.. I’m good with using the blog in the way that I did.

I’m also glad to be done. Ha! I’m happy that I stuck with it for the full year, but.. I’m looking forward to returning to keeping my shameful failures quiet like everyone else online. When I get time I will probably go back and read through the entire year and there’s a chance I might gain some personal insights from that, so I look forward to doing that. And after a borderline belligerent 10 days in New Orleans to celebrate the fact that I’m still standing at 40, I’m also looking forward to getting back to regular exercise (which I did none of in Nola even tho I brought the running shoes :D) as well as returning to eating more like an athlete in training than an idiot with a death wish. I did yoga Thursday and got back in the gym for the first full workout of the new year today - one week after getting back from vacation.

Goals for 2019:

Heart/Mind

Some kind of dinner with people once or twice a month Keep a daily food and exercise journal Mediate 30mins/day Listen to 20 Books Read 5 Books

Career

Get the film sold at a festival Finish a feature screenplay and get lead cast attached  

Body

Zero Cigarettes Lose most of the belly flab - I just signed up for an 8 week fitness challenge at my gym :) Maintain Gym routine (4-6 days/week weights, 2-3 mile runs 1-2 days/week) Keep doing yoga once a week Keep an eye on Blood Pressure

Food

Take probiotic stomach supplements for a year.  Beef no more than once a week (taper down to once a month by end of year) Quit fast food. AKA - quit being gross, AKA quit using my organs as an industrial sludge filter    

Eat more good for your gut stuff in general (straight copying my cousin on his cabbage soup/quinoa moves)  

Booze

Alcohol limited to dinner with friends and 1 glass of wine with dinner (I did this wine w/ dinner thing for a stretch of time in the past. It worked and I like it). Not drinking makes it a lot easier to quit smoking as well - I once quit both for 9 months.. I did the one glass of wine/night all last week. It worked. And I’m cutting beer completely for the next 8 weeks so as to get fucking shredded to maximum and win $750 from this god damn fitness challenge.

I think a big part of why some people find it hard to finish writing books.. or anything is b/c they don’t feel like the end is good enough.. and maybe this end is lacking. I put off writing it for a couple weeks b/c I wanted to make it special in some way.. I wanted it to feel like an amazing ending.. but done is better than perfect and I am now done. I love y’all! I really do! Thanks for all the support!

And remember.. “when things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up.. then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.” - (fictional character) Josey Wales  

Get Mean in 2019 ;)

[hannahwayward-blog]

40 Hours in London

Hello all (aka hey Mom, Dad, and Donald)!

As I write this, I’m coming off of a whirlwind day and a half in London and am couple hours into my nine-ish hour flight to Mumbai from Brussels. Recaps and pictures below the break, but in a nutshell, I got to catch up with one of my dearest Duke friends and her adorable English boyfriend, ate some delicious food, and walked about 15 miles -- and, most surprisingly, got my first sunburn of the summer!

Read on for a very long post, which includes details on my first time getting lost (of many this summer, I’m sure), on a very flamboyant production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” and my key takeaways on solo travel so far.

I landed in London around noon on Wednesday and took a bus into the city. Even after two years of traveling for work, I’m still completely unable to sleep on airplanes, so I was on about hour 24 of being awake. After unloading my extremely heavy (exactly 13 kilos) backpack and showering at my friend Nicole’s flat, I ventured out into the city. My plan was to go to the Victoria and Albert Musuem, and I took a scenic two-ish mile stroll there at Nicole’s recommendation. I walked through Chelsea and another neighborhood and passed at least 10 high-end antique shops and another dozen designer clothing stores, along with plenty of old brownstones that reminded me of my beloved DC.

Inside the Victoria and Albert Museum (which is housed in a beautiful building), I started to walk through the Early British Art exhibit, but only made it to about 1700 before a wave of exhaustion hit. Probably due to a combination of lack of sleep and lack of water, I felt light-headed and a bit nauseous, so I asked for directions to the cafe in the hopes of getting a bottle of water. To get to the cafe, I had to walk out the back of the museum, and there I was greeted by a beautiful, sunny courtyard centered around a wading fountain. The little park was full of families and people young and old, and so once I got my water I went back out and spent about an hour soaking in the sun. I ended up sitting next to three separate groups of Scottish travelers, all of whom had come to see the Pink Floyd exhibit at the musuem. Over the course of the hour, I eavesdropped on endlessly amusing conversations, ranging from discussion of bands (the groups had very differing opinions on Meatloaf) to their motorcycles (they all had them, que sorpresa!)

Unfortunately, London’s uncharacteristic warmth (it was almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit!) was too much for my iPhone, which overheated and required me to go back inside. I took up a spot in the cafe, which ended up being the best decision I made that day -- in my overheated state, I had missed it earlier, but the room was one of the most gorgeous, ornately constructed I’ve ever been in, and a man had just sat down to play the grand piano in the center. For the next hour, I listened to the musician, who was quite talented, while I tried to set up the European SIM card on my phone.

Here’s where the plot thickens. The SIM card had already caused a bit of confusion, because apparently my provider needed to unlock my phone before I could use it, but I couldn’t call them because I couldn’t get the SIM card to work on my phone. I was able to get my mom to give Sprint a ring, and they flipped the switch, but I had to completely erase and reset my phone for everything to work. I backed my phone up to iCloud (which I’d never done before...oops) and popped in the new SIM card, intending to load the backup from the cloud. However, all of this required WiFi, and the V&A (which had remarkably fast free internet access) closed at 5:30 and swept me out, despite the fact that I was not even partway done downloading my apps and data. With the SIM card, I was able to use data to run the apps once they were loaded, but the SIM card wouldn’t work until the download of the backup was complete, which involved downloading the apps. This download required WIFi, and so I suddenly found myself stranded, with no apps yet downloaded onto my phone - including Maps - and no way to download them.

I wandered through the neighborhood looking for a locale that could provide free WiFi, and I must have gone into about eight different restaurants and bars asking if I could buy a drink and if they had public WiFi. The answers were all no - either they couldn’t serve drinks without food, they didn’t have WiFi, or - in one case - their WiFi wasn’t working. I finally gave up and sat down in an Italian bottega to collect myself as I was feeling pretty frazzled, and, after initially telling me no, the manager took pity on me and gave me the internet password while I enjoyed my glass of sauvignon blanc.

Newly equipped with a map, I made my way back to Nicole’s where she and her boyfriend, Ed, shortly joined me. We walked to a DC City Center-esque part of the city, where we had a tasty dinner al freso and caught up. I went back to Nicole’s for the night exhausted (at this point I’d been awake for almost 36 hours!) and slept like a rock.

Thursday dawned way too early -- I’d set my alarm for 7:30, which is the time I usually wake up naturally, forgetting in my sleepy stupor that I was five hours ahead and 7:30 would feel like 2:30 AM. I snoozed until about 10:00 then got up and showered and headed out. I ate a quick breakfast on the go (Coke included, of course) and, at Nicole’s and Ed’s recommendation, took the Tube over to the London Bridges stop.

I had forgotten that this was the site of last week’s terror attack in London. In stepping out of the Underground I was immediately greeted by a huge, roped-off swath of bouquets and cards laid in memory of the victims. Police men and women roamed the area, and I was asked to show the contents of my purse. The pseudo-memorial was a stark contrast to such a beautiful, sunny day, and I spent some time reading the cards and signs extolling the strength of Londoners and their city before heading down to Borough Market.

Borough Market was delightful, and very busy given that this was only its second day open following the attacks. Like the memorial at the Tube station, the area had a heavy security presence, but there was nothing somber about the scene. Green-canopied food stalls crowded together haphazardly in a maze-like arrangement (similar too, although far less cramped than, the bazaars in India). Each sold a different type of food, ranging from bright pastel-colored macarons to fresh shucked oysters. I roamed through for a while, then walked over to the Southwark Cathedral, at which Ed is the organist. I spent an hour or so walking through the cathedral, which is the oldest Gothic cathedral in London and was attended by many noteworthy Londoners, including William Shakespeare. Like many of the older European churches I’ve been to, the floor is made up of a patchwork of grave markers, and monuments and memorials to the dead line the walls. The architecture and centuries of history were well complemented by Ed’s beautiful organ playing; he was accompanying one of the church choirs as they rehearsed. Also notable is that I got to meet the cathedral’s semi-famed feral cat, Dawkins, who greeted me and let me pet her when I arrived.

After touring the cathedral, I went back to the market and, again following my hostess’ recommendation, got a salt beef sandwich on a bagel (bagels over everything). It was delicious, and I sat and ate by a grounded pirate ship -- well, not really a pirate ship, but it looked like one and I actually have no clue what it was -- and listened to an amusing conversation between to 40-something business men next to me about the public speaking class one of them was currently taking.

From there, I decided to wind my way down the Thames to Shakespeare’s Globe. On the way, I passed all that remains of the Westminster Castle. These two walls were uncovered behind some warehouses, and represent the back wall of the great hall, in which the King of Scotland and Joan something had their wedding feast in, like, the 1600s. Only in Europe! I also passed the site of the original Globe theater, which burned down, was forgotten and then rediscovered, and is now an archaeological site beneath a condo building.

At the new Globe theater - Shakespeare’s Globe - I discovered that there was a 2:00 PM show, and he time was 1:15! Unfortunately, I was told that the show was sold out, but was given the option to queue in the Returns line in the event that anyone did not want their ticket. Multiple tickets for real seats (as opposed to the standing room “cheap seats”) were offered to us for 45 GBP and up, but that was too steep for me. However, a couple in front of me already held standing tickets but was waiting to purchase seated tickets if they could. When two seated tickets at what they felt was a reasonable price were offered, they decided to take them, and gave their standing tickets to me and the girl in line behind me - for free! I could not believe my luck.

The interior of the Globe was designed to mimic how it would’ve looked in Shakespeare’s time - round, with different booths for seated customers, and then a large pit where commoners could stand and watch. I joined a few hundred others (apparently the pit can hold up to 750, but it was luckily not that full) to watch the adaptation of Twelfth Night. Performed as a disco-esque musical, but still largely sticking to Shakespeare’s original text, the production was colorful and laugh-out-loud funny. The cast was small - only 10 or 12 actors, all of whom were insanely talented. Our narrator was a large, black man in drag, wearing a gold sequined gown, bright blue eyeshadow, and a humongous afro wig. Also notable were the man playing Count Orsino, who was hilariously and intentionally oversexual, and the small girl playing Malvolio, who really stole the show with her antics and affect.

After the two-and-a-half hour show, I took a short walk up to the Tate Modern, which has been on my bucket list since I missed it during my last visit to London nine years ago. By this time, my dogs were barking, so I bopped up to the observation deck (from which I mistakenly though I saw the Eiffel Tower… it’s a huge tv tower…) and went through one of the exhibits before calling it a day. The exhibit was exactly as weird as I had hoped -- centering on art as performance, it included abstract videos, lots of near-nudity and body modification, and lots of mundane black-and-white photographs that were too boring to be considered art, but somehow here they were 

I took the Tube back to Nicole’s and enjoyed a nice hour and a half off my feet while updating my daily budget and snacking on some of my leftover airplane food. Once she and Ed got home, we regrouped and headed to Aviary, a new rooftop restaurant and bar, at which Nicole’s roommate was DJing that evening. The sunset from the rooftop was stunning, and I was able to use a blanket that the bar had on hand once it went down and I was suddenly freezing. Nicole had two free drink coupons, so we each got a grapefruit gin and tonic - v tasty - and ordered a burger and fries to share. Despite the very poor service (think a labyrinth… every question only created more questions, and the answer to most was “no”), the food was really good, and we left full and happy.

Back at Nicole’s, I regrouped and repacked for my early morning flight. I had booked a 4 AM coach to Heathrow and was terrified of oversleeping, but my body refused to stay awake so I got about three hours of zzz’s before getting up, showering, and once again hitting the road. I successfully made the coach (I was one of four passengers) and got through Heathrow without issue and with enough time to grab a parfait and a Coke - my standard airport breakfast - before my flight to Brussels boarded. I had 90 minutes or so in the Brussels airport, which gave me enough time to go all the way to the far end of the terminal for Starbucks. In my efforts to trick my body into India time, I ate a “lunch” sandwich around 9 AM local time, then boarded my flight to Mumbai and here I am!

Mumbai will be tricky for a few reasons. Originally, I was supposed to travel with someone else this summer, and our meet-up was supposed to be tonight in Mumbai. Although the person bailed on me and forced me out of our trip - hence my completely different itinerary than initially planned - we’re both, to my knowledge, still flying into Mumbai tonight, and I would like to avoid a run-in if at all possible. The second sticky situation is that I’ve booked a flight to Kolkata that departs within three hours of my arrival in Mumbai - you may reference the aforementioned situation for my reasoning behind this seemingly masochistic endeavor that will result in me traveling for 22 hours. Because I booked that flight separately, I have to go out through customs, get my backpack from baggage claim, then once again check my bag, go through security, and board my next flight. It took me at least an hour to get through customs when I last flew to India, although I’m hoping to Mumbai airport is more efficient than CCU in Kolkata. So - fingers crossed for me please!

I’m so, so unbelievably excited to be back in Kolkata, my favorite city in the whole wide world. I’m already experiencing my first bit of culture shock, as I”m one of, maybe, five white people on my huge, very full plane to Mumbai: cue the awkward stares. It’s funny, because when I think about my time in India I never think about the staring, but there certainly was plenty of it. I’ve also experienced my first communication barrier, as the sweet middle-aged lady beside me keeps trying to talk to me but we have no common language. I’m definitely nervous - it’s going to be a real adventure being there by myself with a serious Bangla deficit, but I’m up for the challenge.

My thoughts so far before I wrap up this egregiously long post:

1. Traveling by myself is DOPE. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I don’t feel guilty for, say, only looking at one exhibit at a musuem, or for sitting outside in the sun instead of looking at Medieval Art (which, to clarify, I love - but I have a feeling I’ll be seeing plenty of museums this summer).

2. Jet lag is a sneaky sneaker. Although I’ve managed to sleep and wake up at all of the appropriate times, I have definitely felt “out of it” - lightheaded and achey and definitely not fully myself. BIG ups to Nicole and Ed for putting up with me and making my first two days of this summer amazing and much less scary than I thought they’d be. Which brings me to my third and final point...

3. Four years later, I’m still feeling #foreverDuke. Ed, as a Brit, apparently doesn’t fully understand the culture of “school spirit” that exists in America, and Nicole and I were trying to explain to him that it goes deeper than sports teams (although #DDMF, always) and colors (although we do bleed Duke Blue). How lucky am I to have friends that I met on literal day one of college that still love me enough to invite me to their homes in foreign countries and provide me with itineraries and food and warm beds? Feeling very #blessed by the Duke network and #thankful to M&D for making my dream come true eight years ago.

That’s enough for now -- I’ve way overshot the mark here but I still have four hours to go until I arrive at BOM, so I’m gonna read some GoT. I’ll catch y’all on the flippity flip -- next post will be from the home-away-from-home that I’ve loved the most, the City of Joy itself :)

[jonasmaurer]

Disney Magic: Miami to Bahamas and Castaway Cay

Sharing our experience on the Disney Magic from Miami to the Bahamas and Castaway Cay.

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one. We’ve been enjoying Tucson’s spring-like weather and spending lots of time outside. We spent Saturday afternoon at the petting zoo and headed to Trail Dust Town to ride the rides before tacos and margaritas at Calle Tepa. Sunday, the girls had a birthday party and I also finally made our way through the epic mountain of unpacking + laundry from last week. I feel like I can *kinda* start the week caught up a bit on life.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a recap of our cruise!! It was our second Disney cruise and it didn’t disappoint. Disney just does so many things right: the experiences, dining, staff, cleanliness, everything is just top notch. I didn’t think we’d ever be “cruise people” – as a person with anxiety the very thought of being stuck in a boat in the middle of the ocean scares the sh*t out of me – and we’re officially obsessed. It’s our favorite way to travel right now. We get to see new places as a family, all while enjoying shows, characters, incredible dining and amenities, and even get some couple time since the kids LOVE kids club.

Here’s a recap of our trip!

Disney Magic: Miami to Bahamas and Castaway Cay

The Disney Cruise experience

We flew to Miami for this cruise and the entire boarding process was seamless. Since it was our second cruise, we were able to board the boat early, so we went straight to the pool. This was the quietest time at the pool during the entire cruise. (Pro tip: keep your swimsuits and a change of clothes in your backpack since you check your luggage at the port and don’t get it until a few hours later, when it’s waiting at your room.)

We previously cruised on the Disney Wonder and the Magic is the sister ship. The layout is almost exactly the same – the names of some of the lounges and restaurants are different – and it was nice to get on board and already know where everything was. After our swim, we grabbed lunch from Cabana’s and the girls at ice cream on the top deck until we checked into our rooms.

The rooms are pretty small, but I feel like they really maximize the space you do have. (We opted for a Deluxe Oceanview room which has a large porthole and split bathrooms.) The couch in the room transforms to a bunk bed for the kids – the stateroom host sets it up each night and puts everything back in the morning – and you can slide your suitcases under the bed. While the rooms are smaller, the beds are extremely comfortable and you have everything you need.

Our stateroom host surprised us with chocolates and towel animals each night, in addition to pirate bandanas and some extra little treats.

Dining options on the Disney Magic

The dining on the ship is out of control. It’s literally everything you could ever wish for, 24/7. Room service is included – you just need to tip – so if you want a Mickey bar delivered at midnight, you can live your best life and go for it. The dinner is on a rotation basis, so you dine at Animator’s Palate, Rapunzel’s, and Lumiere’s, and alternate each night. There are two seating options (5:45 and 8:30) and if you want to get Cabana’s, a quick bite, or room service, you’re not obligated to attend your seating time.

Here’s a rundown of the different restaurants and what they offer:

Cabana’s: Buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. They have everything you could ever wish for, plus different international dishes: chicken congee, Indian curries, Mexican food, so many different options. This is a great choice for breakfast because you don’t have to sit down at a restaurant and wait. You wake up, head to deck 9, and breakfast is waiting for you. Mickey waffles, omelettes, fruit, oatmeal, corned beef hash, breakfast potatoes, eggs, sausage, smoked salmon, pancakes, pastries, yogurt, and smoothies were available daily for breakfast, in addition to so many other things.

Daisy’s: Daisy’s De-lights includes more quick bite options like wraps, sandwiches, salads, soups, fresh chopped fruit, and you can also build a bowl from different healthy ingredients (lettuce, veggies, lentils, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.). We liked this for quick and easy lunches by the pool. Each day, the girls ate a fruit plate from Daisy’s with pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes.

Pinocchio’s: Pizza, veggie burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, and fries. The girls had pizza daily while we were there and everything is cooking out by the pool. I don’t remember seeing this but the Pilot said that next to Pinocchio’s they had gyros and falafel!

Formal dinner options: (the menus give you a choice for appetizer, salad/soup, entree, and dessert. You can mix and match as you like! For example, you can order two appetizers for your meal, skip the salad course, or order different entrees for the table to share.)

Rapunzel’s: Rapunzel’s was one of the more formal dining options. When we ate at Rapunzel’s, it was also Pirate Night, so the meal options were more creole style. I’m not sure what the regular menu looks like, but the food was excellent.

Lumiere’s: This is a French-style restaurant. I had some insanely delicious horseradish crusted salmon, lobster, and a salad. Liv was able to order escargots, which is one of her favorite foods.

Animator’s Palate: Animator’s was our first night on the ship and didn’t disappoint. For the longer cruises, they give you special placemats to draw a person. At the end of the night, they project all of the drawings onto the walls and make them dance to music. It’s SO fun! While they didn’t do that this time, they still had a special light show and sorcerer Mickey made an appearance.

They had this gluten-free chocolate walnut cake that was FROM MY DREAMS.

Dinner at Palo

While we were on the ship, we also had the opportunity to dine at the adult’s only restaurant, Palo. (You can make reservations for brunch or dinner.) It’s an upcharge of $40 per person plus any alcohol or specialty drinks, which felt extremely low considering everything they offered. They even wheeled a charcuterie cart around the restaurant and you could pick what you wanted!

Everything was wonderful, but the star of the show is the chocolate soufflé. The Pilot and I agreed that it was in the top three of best desserts we’ve ever had.

Entertainment and activities on board

There are SO many activities on the ship, from character greetings, to BINGO, to dance parties, silent discos, karaoke, and live Broadway-style shows. We were at the pool for a few hours each day, watching movies on the top deck, swimming, and snacking, before heading back inside to grab dinner.

We saw two shows on the ship – Tangled and Twice Charmed – and while they weren’t our favorites (the live shows at the parks are better quality), the girls LOVED them. We also did almost every round of BINGO and won once, which was exciting.

Castaway Cay

Everyone told us that Castaway Cay was incredible but I didn’t fully understand until we were there. The island is surrounded by clear, turquoise water, and there are lounge chairs and umbrellas as far as you can see. The sand is insanely soft, and the kiddos can borrow inner tubes, snorkel equipment and life jackets. You can also rent jet skis, paddle boats, kayaks, and paddle boards. They have full restaurants on the island (all included), the famous ice cream stands (you can make yourself an ice cream cone on the ship any time of day. They always have chocolate and vanilla and will rotate in a special flavor, like mango or strawberry), an entire stand of fresh chopped fruit (the mango was SOOOO fresh and good), kids club, a spa, luaus, and activities.

They have a 5k that morning that I registered to do, but it was raining and windy so I skipped it. The weather calmed down just enough for the girls to spend a couple of hours playing the water and building sand castles. It started to pour, so we hit under an umbrella until it blew over. Then, we had lunch at the restaurant (BBQ food with burgers, chicken, veggie burgers, sausages, potato salad, chips, coleslaw, and cookies, along with fresh fruit) and had the best time. I can’t wait to make it back one of these days!!

What to pack for a Disney Cruise

For this cruise, it was much warmer (in the 80s!!) so I only brought a jacket or hoodie for each of us. We wore an outfit for breakfast, our swimsuits and coverups all afternoon while we were at the pool, and then another outfit for dinner.

If you book a Disney cruise, I would absolutely check out what themed nights they’re doing. (Sometimes they do a Marvel night or Pirate Night, or there might by princess greetings or character breakfasts.) Our themed night was Pirate Party, so naturally, we all dressed up like pirates. The last night of the cruise is usually formal night, which can range from full sparkly dresses to just a cute dress and sandals. Really anything goes.

Some of my favorite things to pack for a cruise:

��� Pop-up hamper (this is a game changer, especially for longer cruises. It makes it so easy to put your dirty clothes in one spot and just haul the entire basket to the laundry room)

– Laundry pods. I love bringing home a suitcase full of clean clothes! It’s less depressing to unpack when the clothes are clean.

– Door magnets. There are so many cute ones on Etsy!

– Your own sand bucket and beach toys. They have them on the island but so much easier and less expensive to bring your own.

– Placard Originals princess dresses. The girls have amassed quite the collection over the years. I love that they’re play fabrics instead of the itchy shiny fabrics that are usually used for princess costumes

– You can check out my full packing list for Disney Wonder to Alaska here!

Have you been on a cruise? Where did you go?

What’s the #1 place on your travel bucket list?

xo

Gina

More:

Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise Recap

Girls’ Disney trip

Liv’s first trip to Disneyland 

Note: This post isn’t sponsored and we paid for all travel and accommodations. We use Costco Travel for cruises and highly recommend it!

The post Disney Magic: Miami to Bahamas and Castaway Cay appeared first on The Fitnessista.

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[remembermemorablememories]

Sunday, January 13, 2019

post #370

main points:

- brunch with sheena at IHOP

- finish booking seattle and chicago trip with jwoos

- two NY app reviews

- looking around at other local smash tourneys

- dinner with dad and sheena

- help dad clean up / set up the kitchen a bit for renovations / 7 minute workout

- find resources for how to learn chinese through watching TV shows and found a viki, a site with an insanely useful learning tool!!

- help sheena with her AP lang essay

today i:

- woke up at 10am. i felt really exhausted and passed out shortly after and woke up again to my alarm at 11am. i chilled out in bed for a bit and finished up typing friday’s blog post. it snowed like an inch last night :o dad had already woken up to shovel the snow and he and mom had cleaned up most of the kitchen cabinets and made some space for the garage to move the old counters into. they had also added plastic covering for stuff in the living room like TV and couch

- went to get brunch with sheena at IHOP. we spent a while trying to figure out where to go and we just settled with IHOP lmaoo. dad gave us the last two dunkin donuts so he could recycle the box. we left and got there around 1pm and got a table for 2

- we both got a breakfast sampler. she upped her pancakes to strawberry bananas but i stuck with the normal buttermilk. i usually get a french toast combo but i was feeling something more salty so i got the sampler. it was p good

- came back home around 2:30pm and finished booking the seattle plane back home and the seattle airbnb with jwoos. we figured out what we were gonna do and the timeline and then booked everything over messenger and then we were done :D 

watched an excellent video on the benefits of college from johnny harris, the guy from vox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYjBxxm0lmM

- i did two NY app reviews and also just kind of browsed around the local smash community website. trying to see if there were any other tourneys nearby. there’s one happening next tuesday and it’s like a 40-50 minute drive from me. idk if it’s worth it cause the event doesn’t seem to have too many people showing... at least on the fb event

- ate dinner with sheena and dad around 7pm. we were pretty hungry and mom went to go pick up grandma and grandpa from the airport to take them to their place in philly. we started eating and had some beef + potato, beef tender and some veggies. it was part of the stuff dad was preparing from yesterday cause we won’t be able to use the kitchen much starting tomorrow. it was a pretty good meal. dad talked a bit about the soviet union and communist china with rations for foods. and how they used potatoes a lot. each family in china, even if you had the money to pay for food, could only get a certain amount. which is wild... like a set amount of rice per family, set amount of meat. it didn’t matter how many people were in your family... people would starve. mom came home halfway through us eating and also joined in on eating. then she went to take a shower and sheena went upstairs to do homework. dad talked to me a bit about the government shutdown and then materialism / spending money in a capitalist society like the U.S. vs in asian countries like china

then we packed up the dishes. he stored the foods and i washed the dishes. then i helped him put up a plastic curtain thing from one side of the kitchen into the open front door area so that it would block out dust from the renovations

- i did a 7 minute workout with sheena in mom’s room. dad reminded us to do it :p mom was on her phone on the couch chilling while we did it LOL. we had to do it in their room cause the living room’s taken up by all the new cabinets that’ll be installed

- i spent some time online trying to find a way to learn chinese by watching TV because i really want to learn it well (finally). my dad suggested it and so did many people on the internet from what i saw before. i came back to a fluentu blog post that suggested a few TV shows to watch, starting with chinese dramas. i tried to watch a chinese drama but it was kind of hard to understand with chinese speaking and chinese subtitles... i was like... i need a way to understand what they’re actually saying

so i thought maybe the solution was to get more guided videos. and i went back to the fluentu site. i found it before and tried a free trial. i signed up for another free trial and realized why i stopped using it. though they have a good approach to learning, the selection is a bit limited. i was hoping for more full length TV shows but they had mostly short 3 minute commercials. it was cool that i could select vocabulary/subtitles to save them for later to learn. they also had double chinese subtitle and english subtitles. i was like “that’s handy”

i watched a paper marriage commercial. then i tried to watch a TED talk and i realized that reading just the english subs might actually be all i needed. so i found a chinese drama with english subtitles on viki and watched the first 3 minutes. it actually wasn’t too bad. but i feel like i still needed chinese subs to understand the english equivalent of what they were saying... so i needed double subtitles

i found some reddit threads where people asked and a few people pointed to downloading different tools that can display multiple subtitles. then someone said viki had a learning mode that was built into the web player... i was like... whaaaaat??

i looked up viki learning and there it was: a chinese and english double subbed list of 30 chinese drama TV shows. i spent some time finding one that i thought i might actually enjoy watching. then i started the first 10 minutes of it and was so impressed. it had the same features as fluentu. i could click on the vocabulary in the subtitles to understand what it meant, while also getting the english equivalent. and it was all 100% free??? without even needing to make an account?? BLASPHEMY!! i was wonderfully surprised. what an amazing site. my dad also came to check in on sheena and me and i showed him the site and he was also impressed. good job viki team :D 

i watched the first 10 minutes but then had to stop cause sheena needed some help with her lang paper :p she was writing the refutation and concession paragraphs for a paper about creativity classes and whether they should exist or not. she needed help with examples for her argument and i gave her some ideas and worked with her for 20-30 minutes

- took a long shower around 11:30-12

- sheena needed some more help with the concession + refutation points. she needed to come up with a concession example/conclusion so i helped her out until 1:40am, where she finally finished and printed it out. she went to sleep :p she gotta go to school early tomorrow. the grind begins again

- i’m writing this at 2:29am i’m gonna brush my teeth and sleep

[exfrenchdorsl4p0a1]

12 Simple Meals That Make Weeknights Special

Do you have a hard time remembering what you ate for dinner the night before? That won’t happen with these memorable meals. From a crazy-delicious Crustless Broccoli Quiche to a one-pot White Chicken Chili, you’ll be thinking about these simple suppers long after the dishes are done.

1. Crustless Broccoli Quiche

There’s really only one way to put it: this quiche is insanely delicious. And I promise you won’t miss the crust! It reheats beautifully so feel free to make it ahead or warm it up for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch. GET THE RECIPE

2. 30-Minute Asian Beef Bowls

This dish is a MAJOR family-pleaser and can be made in just 30 minutes from ordinary supermarket ingredients. And the beauty of “bowls” is that everyone can create their own. GET THE RECIPE

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Sun-dried tomato pesto gives these grilled cheese sandwiches a gourmet twist. My son calls them “pizza paninis” since they taste like hot, crispy pizza sandwiches. GET THE RECIPE

4. Thai Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups

You’ll love these fresh, crisp lettuce cups filled with Thai-style minced chicken. Whenever I make it for dinner, I have to force myself to put the leftovers in the fridge right away before starting the dishes, otherwise I’ll finish them off while no one is watching. GET THE RECIPE

5. Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Red Chili Sauce

I’ve had Coconut Shrimp at many restaurants, but this homemade version beats them all. It’s remarkably easy to make: you can do all of the prep in advance, and the sauce comes straight out of a bottle. GET THE RECIPE

6. Orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli

This delicious pasta dish is adapted from Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich. Not only is it quick and easy to make — 25 minutes tops — the whole family eats it up, broccoli and all. GET THE RECIPE

7. Baked Salmon with Pecan Panko Crust

This dish takes a total of 20 minutes – 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake – yet tastes like something you’d order at a fancy restaurant. It’s perfect for when you have company coming at the end of a long day (and you’re asking yourself, “What was I thinking?”) or on a busy weeknight when you have to hit the kitchen running. GET THE RECIPE

8. Cashew Chicken

You’ll toss that greasy Chinese food menu away after tasting this tender stir-fried chicken with roasted cashews in an authentic garlic sauce. GET THE RECIPE

9. Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp

In this quick and easy recipe — adapted from The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift — jumbo shrimp are bathed in a brine flavored with salt, sugar and chili powder, and then sautéed with loads of fresh ginger and garlic. It’s a dish that appeals to kids and adults alike. GET THE RECIPE

10. Vietnamese Shredded Chicken Salad

This salad is so satisfying, you can get away with serving it for dinner. It’s easy too: you simply shred a rotisserie chicken, chop some veggies, whisk the dressing, and dinner is done. GET THE RECIPE

11. Broiled Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Tangy Honey Glaze

Inspired by one of the most popular Cooking Light chicken recipes, these chicken thighs are delicious, family-friendly (they’re not too spicy), and incredibly easy to prepare. The chicken is seasoned with a homemade spice rub and then broiled with a sweet and tangy honey glaze. GET THE RECIPE

12. White Chicken Chili

I’ve tried many white chicken chili recipes over the years, but none as satisfying as this one. The best part: it calls for a rotisserie chicken, making it a one-pot meal you can have on the dinner table in under an hour. GET THE RECIPE

type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=562a5752e4b0ec0a3894331b,561562b3e4b021e856d33659

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2pWvhJW

[rtawngs20815]

12 Simple Meals That Make Weeknights Special

Do you have a hard time remembering what you ate for dinner the night before? That won’t happen with these memorable meals. From a crazy-delicious Crustless Broccoli Quiche to a one-pot White Chicken Chili, you’ll be thinking about these simple suppers long after the dishes are done.

1. Crustless Broccoli Quiche

There’s really only one way to put it: this quiche is insanely delicious. And I promise you won’t miss the crust! It reheats beautifully so feel free to make it ahead or warm it up for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch. GET THE RECIPE

2. 30-Minute Asian Beef Bowls

This dish is a MAJOR family-pleaser and can be made in just 30 minutes from ordinary supermarket ingredients. And the beauty of “bowls” is that everyone can create their own. GET THE RECIPE

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Sun-dried tomato pesto gives these grilled cheese sandwiches a gourmet twist. My son calls them “pizza paninis” since they taste like hot, crispy pizza sandwiches. GET THE RECIPE

4. Thai Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups

You’ll love these fresh, crisp lettuce cups filled with Thai-style minced chicken. Whenever I make it for dinner, I have to force myself to put the leftovers in the fridge right away before starting the dishes, otherwise I’ll finish them off while no one is watching. GET THE RECIPE

5. Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Red Chili Sauce

I’ve had Coconut Shrimp at many restaurants, but this homemade version beats them all. It’s remarkably easy to make: you can do all of the prep in advance, and the sauce comes straight out of a bottle. GET THE RECIPE

6. Orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli

This delicious pasta dish is adapted from Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich. Not only is it quick and easy to make — 25 minutes tops — the whole family eats it up, broccoli and all. GET THE RECIPE

7. Baked Salmon with Pecan Panko Crust

This dish takes a total of 20 minutes – 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake – yet tastes like something you’d order at a fancy restaurant. It’s perfect for when you have company coming at the end of a long day (and you’re asking yourself, “What was I thinking?”) or on a busy weeknight when you have to hit the kitchen running. GET THE RECIPE

8. Cashew Chicken

You’ll toss that greasy Chinese food menu away after tasting this tender stir-fried chicken with roasted cashews in an authentic garlic sauce. GET THE RECIPE

9. Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp

In this quick and easy recipe — adapted from The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift — jumbo shrimp are bathed in a brine flavored with salt, sugar and chili powder, and then sautéed with loads of fresh ginger and garlic. It’s a dish that appeals to kids and adults alike. GET THE RECIPE

10. Vietnamese Shredded Chicken Salad

This salad is so satisfying, you can get away with serving it for dinner. It’s easy too: you simply shred a rotisserie chicken, chop some veggies, whisk the dressing, and dinner is done. GET THE RECIPE

11. Broiled Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Tangy Honey Glaze

Inspired by one of the most popular Cooking Light chicken recipes, these chicken thighs are delicious, family-friendly (they’re not too spicy), and incredibly easy to prepare. The chicken is seasoned with a homemade spice rub and then broiled with a sweet and tangy honey glaze. GET THE RECIPE

12. White Chicken Chili

I’ve tried many white chicken chili recipes over the years, but none as satisfying as this one. The best part: it calls for a rotisserie chicken, making it a one-pot meal you can have on the dinner table in under an hour. GET THE RECIPE

type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=562a5752e4b0ec0a3894331b,561562b3e4b021e856d33659

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2pWvhJW

[repwinpril9y0a1]

12 Simple Meals That Make Weeknights Special

Do you have a hard time remembering what you ate for dinner the night before? That won’t happen with these memorable meals. From a crazy-delicious Crustless Broccoli Quiche to a one-pot White Chicken Chili, you’ll be thinking about these simple suppers long after the dishes are done.

1. Crustless Broccoli Quiche

There’s really only one way to put it: this quiche is insanely delicious. And I promise you won’t miss the crust! It reheats beautifully so feel free to make it ahead or warm it up for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch. GET THE RECIPE

2. 30-Minute Asian Beef Bowls

This dish is a MAJOR family-pleaser and can be made in just 30 minutes from ordinary supermarket ingredients. And the beauty of “bowls” is that everyone can create their own. GET THE RECIPE

3. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Sun-dried tomato pesto gives these grilled cheese sandwiches a gourmet twist. My son calls them “pizza paninis” since they taste like hot, crispy pizza sandwiches. GET THE RECIPE

4. Thai Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups

You’ll love these fresh, crisp lettuce cups filled with Thai-style minced chicken. Whenever I make it for dinner, I have to force myself to put the leftovers in the fridge right away before starting the dishes, otherwise I’ll finish them off while no one is watching. GET THE RECIPE

5. Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Red Chili Sauce

I’ve had Coconut Shrimp at many restaurants, but this homemade version beats them all. It’s remarkably easy to make: you can do all of the prep in advance, and the sauce comes straight out of a bottle. GET THE RECIPE

6. Orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli

This delicious pasta dish is adapted from Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich. Not only is it quick and easy to make — 25 minutes tops — the whole family eats it up, broccoli and all. GET THE RECIPE

7. Baked Salmon with Pecan Panko Crust

This dish takes a total of 20 minutes – 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake – yet tastes like something you’d order at a fancy restaurant. It’s perfect for when you have company coming at the end of a long day (and you’re asking yourself, “What was I thinking?”) or on a busy weeknight when you have to hit the kitchen running. GET THE RECIPE

8. Cashew Chicken

You’ll toss that greasy Chinese food menu away after tasting this tender stir-fried chicken with roasted cashews in an authentic garlic sauce. GET THE RECIPE

9. Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp

In this quick and easy recipe — adapted from The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift — jumbo shrimp are bathed in a brine flavored with salt, sugar and chili powder, and then sautéed with loads of fresh ginger and garlic. It’s a dish that appeals to kids and adults alike. GET THE RECIPE

10. Vietnamese Shredded Chicken Salad

This salad is so satisfying, you can get away with serving it for dinner. It’s easy too: you simply shred a rotisserie chicken, chop some veggies, whisk the dressing, and dinner is done. GET THE RECIPE

11. Broiled Spicy Chicken Thighs with Sweet & Tangy Honey Glaze

Inspired by one of the most popular Cooking Light chicken recipes, these chicken thighs are delicious, family-friendly (they’re not too spicy), and incredibly easy to prepare. The chicken is seasoned with a homemade spice rub and then broiled with a sweet and tangy honey glaze. GET THE RECIPE

12. White Chicken Chili

I’ve tried many white chicken chili recipes over the years, but none as satisfying as this one. The best part: it calls for a rotisserie chicken, making it a one-pot meal you can have on the dinner table in under an hour. GET THE RECIPE

type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=562a5752e4b0ec0a3894331b,561562b3e4b021e856d33659

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2pWvhJW

[rickyatradboud]

It's been a while!!

SO when I said I was done traveling.... here I am again! That Italy experience was eye opening and taught me a LOAD of lessons. 

Due to that, and with a HORRIBLE visa / residence permit issue going on I have been dealing with living on a very very tight budget and that has come with some stress, but at the end of the day (or weeks,rather) I was able to make it through with the help of my family. Because of all of that I haven't been out much in what feels like a very long time. 

Billy arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday April 22 and he stayed the whole week until the next Sunday morning! It was crazy to see each other for the first time after three months. We spent the next two days exploring all of Nijmegen together- going out to all of the little bars and cafes I have always wanted to go to but never took myself. Billy tried "FEBO" - my favorite Dutch fast food and he loved it just as much as I do- it made me really happy to see Billy enjoying Europe so much. I showed him all around my town, relaxed in the parks, and tried different Dutch foods all day long. Billy liked the krokets the best! Billy's third day in The Netherlands was our first trip to Amsterdam where he had veal krokets on bread with mustard :-) In Amsterdam we visited the Hemp Museum, Cat Museum, and walked around Vondelpark.  We also took a tour of the Bols House Gin Museum which included a cocktail at the end! My drink was pink and had yummy whipped cream on top. It was a great day in Amsterdam.

The next day we woke up early to take a bus into Antwerpen, Belgium. That was my favorite trip of my entire time here. We spent one night in a small hotel right outside the city center. The location was perfect and we had a great big window with a window seat and a view! In Belgium we ate and drank all day and night all over the city. The food we ate was amazing - for dinner we went to an underground medieval restaurant where Billy had AMAZING fish stew and I also had great beef "Antwerpen" stew. We also went to the oldest pub in Antwerp where I tried beer made from monks- it was delicious! Billy's favorite part was probably the Absinthe bar we found, he said it was the nicest bar he has ever been to in his life and that made me so happy. The next morning we woke up and ate delicious Belgian waffles right outside the MAS museum where we climbed all the way to the 10th floor for a panoramic view of Antwerp (travel note the 2nd and 10th floor are free!) Outside of a big church there was a beautiful pub that looked very old and had a lot of character with many statues of saints surrounding the entire pub. After a great lunch we caught our bus to our next destination: Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Billy's mom was so nice to use her travel points on Billy and I- getting us a great hotel in Rotterdam which was right next to a huge beautiful park. We arrived to Rotterdam on Kings Day, which is basically The Netherlands version of Saint Pattys Day so there were a lot of drunk people in orange roaming the streets. It was a cool sight to see and we had a quick beer and bite to eat to celebrate before heading to our hotel. We walked through the large park on our way and stumbled upon a large Kings Day Music Festival on the beach! We climbed up a small hill and sat in the grass to enjoy some free music and the nature- the park was so green and had beaches with Windmills and also a farm animal area which was really cool. This park also has a pancake house in the middle of the forest which we went to for Breakfast in the morning. Billy ordered us pancakes- mine had cheese apple and bacon inside and I ate the whole thing! The last night of the trip Billy's mom provided an amazing hotel again which I will forever be thankful for! We got to stay at the Hilton Amsterdam Airport. It was so nice to be able to spend as much time as we possibly could together that Sunday morning before Billy's flight - the airport and hotel were connected! The best part was that our room got upgraded to the very top floor, "The Executive Floor".... it even had an "Executive Lounge" with FREE FOOD AND ALCOHOL !!!!!!!!  We had the best last night ever feeling like VIPs!  

It was really nice to go out so much and not have to worry about spending money. Billy took all of my financial stress away for the entire week and on top of that we had an amazing time traveling The Netherlands and Belgium together!  Saying goodbye was super sad and I definitely miss having Billy here already, but I am looking forward to the rest of my time here and soon it will be July 17th already! Time is flying.

The best way to cure a sad mood is music - the Tuesday after Billy left Madison and I went to see JOHN MAYER at Amsterdams Ziggo Dome. (Another travel tip: the cheapest seats in the house are the best at Ziggo Dome. We paid under $50 and had an amazingly close view!) The concert was really special for me because I have always wanted to see John Mayer and his new album has become one of my favorites to listen to when I want to relax or take my mind off of things for a while. I love John Mayers lyrics, and my favorite song he played was Born and Raised. The whole stadium lit up with phone flashlights / glow sticks/ lighters when Born and Raised played, John Mayer even had the big screens and lights behind him turned off to show just how many people were lighting up The Dome- it was beautiful. His last song was just himself and a piano on stage.

Madison and I caught the last train back to Nijmegen after the concert and headed to Ibiza in the morning with two other girlfriends we have made at Radboud! The two girls are from California so we have 2 east coast and 2 west coast girls all excited to finally see some sun again! We arrived in Ibiza, got to our hotel and immediately ran out onto the hotels beach area to warm up. Mainly all of the beaches in our area were nude beaches, but thankfully our hotel only had a few topless woman and no naked men in sight (PHEW). We had fun being silly and enjoying the wonderful feeling of not having to wear our bathing suit tops at a rocky part of the beach we found - no one was around and it was our own personal paradise. Although Ibiza is known for their insane party scene, we did not go to any of the clubs in the city center. To enter the famous clubs you have to pay an $80 cover fee and that just was not in the budget. I don't regret not going to the clubs because the 4 of us were able to have a really fun time all together just around our hotel on the beach and watched movies that I downloaded on my laptop before the trip. It was really nice to not have a strict plan to do anything and to not spend a lot of money doing much of anything other than burning our skin and gossiping all day long. It was a real girls trip- my first spring break type trip without any parents- and we stayed safe and had a blast  :)  

After two days in Ibiza, next up is Lisbon, Portugal! I am writing this as I wait for my gate to be announced at the airport. The 4 of us traveled to the airport together but split up for or travels, all on different modes of transportation from Ibiza to Lisbon, which kind of makes for a fun reunion to look forward too! Madison and I are meeting at the Lisbon airport and staying in a hotel together to stay safe. I am excited to see another new city and spend more time with the friends I have made :)

Madison and I reunited at our hotel for our first night in Lisbon! We were pretty tired from all of the travel so we spent the night watching a movie with pizza delivery and enjoyed the nice shower/comfy beds.

In the morning, we were supposed to meet up with our two girlfriends but we decided to just keep our room at our hotel for our second night to make things easier. We may meet up with them for dinner or drinks tonight, but for now, Madison and I are relaxing on a large stretch of beach, soaking up the last day of sun for a while. The beach is huge- at least twenty miles of beautiful shore line with the city in the distance and many small beach cafes on the piers (travel tip: this is the cheapest way to enjoy your day and a great hamburger and pineapple juice was under 5 euro!)  

For our last night, Madison and I are now heading to a sushi restaurant in the city center and then plan to be home early for our flight in the morning.  

After two nights in Lisbon Madison and I are taking a cheap flight to Paris and spending 9am-9pm in the city before a cheap overnight bus back home to Nijmegen. After this trip I will have visited a total of 7 countries in under 4 months!!!!!

Amsterdam/ Zaans Schans/ Edam/ Rotterdam/ Utretch, Netherlands

Zurich/ Luzerne/ Rheinfalls,Switzerland

Barcelona/ Ibiza, Spain

Milan / Venice ,  Italy

Lisbon, Portugal

Paris, France

Antwerpen, Belgium

It is a dream to be traveling so much. I am so thankful for my family for helping to make all of this possible not only by financial support but also by their emotional support; my family has shown that they believe in me to be able to handle a 6 month study abroad and they are always just a phone call away when I miss them. The best part is, MY GRANDPARENTS ARE COMING TO VISIT ME IN LESS THAN 5 DAYS!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Grandparents are the most amazing people in my life- they are the most supportive and caring grandparents a girl could ever ask for. I have missed my Grandy and Grandpa more than I can explain. Sometimes I wish I picked a school in Philly so that I could have spent my college years with them- that’s how great they are. They are my favorite traveling companions and I am counting down the hours until their arrival. It will be the best week ever.  

[awholenewworld-dcp17]

"today's special moments are tomorrow's memories"

Honestly, I don’t have free time. If I’m not working, I’m spending my time exploring the parks, and if I’m not doing that, I’m sleeping. (Or, since mom and dad brought me the fourth book, reading Harry Potter) (Holy moly donut shoppe it’s getting good) (But more on that later) Speaking of mom and dad visiting, I think I will look back at my time here viewing that as one of the highlights - so I think it’s important to document a little bit of it here. They got here on a Thursday night, and clearly they’ve missed me SO much because they drove straight to my apartment from the airport! After showing dad around my stomping grounds, I happily hopped right in their rental and we were off. We went to their hotel to check in, and decided on making our way to animal kingdom for the rest of the night (can’t waste a minute in disney!!) I had heard on the DL that animal kingdom had been doing practice run openings of their new nighttime show, Rivers of Light, which wasn’t due to officially open until the following night. Well, we waited and waited around for that to happen, but apparently it was never going to because they had perfected it enough to hold off on showing it again before the grand opening. So basically we just wasted our time for a little but it’s okay bc I helped sir and lady-noob-a-lot navigate and set up their My Disney Experience aps so we could link and get fast passes and plan for the following days! Also, before calling it a night, dad and I rode the dinosaur ride, and that was super choppy and scary, but super duper cool (prayers for moms neck to get better before returning so she can do rides like that next time!!). Friday, I had off work so the three of us went back to animal kingdom to continue the adventure. Of course, not without stopping at golden coral for all you can eat breakfast (ratch but soooo good!!!!). In DAK, we saw all of the shows, did pretty much all of the attractions (with the exception of rafikis planet watch lol), and walked through the animal treks that they have for guests. It was funny because dad and I were making fun of mom for wearing a poncho on kali river rapids, but then dad ended up being the one to get soaked on the ride lols. The day flew by and before we knew it it was time to get in line for the grand opening of Rivers of Light. (Just a little back story on the show - animal kingdom has kind of a bad reputation of being a “half day park,” meaning people will just go there in the morning before ending their day else where. They have never been able to have a firework show because of the animals or many night time activities, so they have been making multiple efforts to amp up the night life, and Rivers of Light is one of them.) The line to get in was INSANE. Luckily, we ran into my roommate and her boyfriend and hopped in line where they were, which secured us a seat that I’m not sure we would have gotten otherwise. The show was pretty awesome, they have stadium seating around a giant lake - which ends up being the stage for the show. They have floats and water tricks and fire and projections and music, which all come together to wow the crowd. And when I say the crowd, I mean everyone - including the little girl in front of mom who she felt the need to stranger talk with the entire time lol. After the show, we dipped and made our way to, of course, Magic Kingdom!!!! We actually got a lot done there that day too, as we planned our fast passes for rides like Peter Pans flight and splash mountain, etc etc. Like I said, can’t waste a minute in Disney, so we were there until the end and then I joined them back at their hotel on the pull out couch - oddly comfortable, btw. On Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel - complete with Mickey waffles. I actually had to go to work that night, so we decided to do Hollywood Studios in the morning since it is in walking distance from the boardwalk. We did all of the HS classics - great movie ride, toy story, voyage of the little mermaid, beauty and the beast show, and more! Mom and dad actually decided to come with me over to work, and were so kind as to drive the rental since it looked like it was ready to rain. I showed them around on the boardwalk as much as I could considering the downpour that had begun, and we had lunch/dinner at Big River. It was good. I went to work after that and sent them on their own little way to explore. I believe they actually continued on to the walk to Epcot and later returned to HS for the Star Wars fireworks, but you’ll have to ask them for details on that. Sunday I had to work again, but this time in the morning. When I got off around 6, I met them over in Epcot for our Soarin’ fastpass, dinner at the garden grille, and the tail end of illumiNations. Doesn’t sound like much, but that night actually ended up being one of my favorite parts of their trip. Soarin’ had always impressed me, but they just recently refurbished it to show you places around the whole world. For those of you that don’t know what it even is, you’re probably lost and I don’t even really know how to explain. But it’s cool. The Garden Grille is a rotating restaurant in the Land - all you can eat, family style, character dining. The food was delish but the characters had to be the highlight. Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale all came up to our table and greeted us throughout the meal. Mickey was so cute and spent a lot of time with us. His antics included stealing moms phone to “talk” to Chris, stealing dads phone to take a selfie with him (and take up close pictures of Dale), rearranging all the plates on the table to be in the shape of Mickey heads, and going back and forth “conversing” with Chip. Chip and Dale were impressed that we were able to tell them apart, and weren’t afraid to reinforce our knowledge by pointing out the differences in their nose and teeth. Pluto was so cute as always. I got a hug from him and another picture because you can never have too many pictures with Pluto. We made him jealous that there was another dog barking in the land, but quickly assured him that he’s our favorite. He also made dad scratch his nose and like his little foot kicked when he did. Idk if I explained that right but ugh I just love him and it was adorable. After din, we caught the tail end of illumiNations, the fireworks in Epcot. While we didn’t necessarily have the best view, it was kinda neat to see them from a perspective I don’t usually get. I stayed the night with them again that night, lol just couldn’t keep myself away from the pull out couch. Monday I had off work again so we spent allllllll day in MK!!!!! So fun so magical. We were like fastpass machines and planned it all perfectly so we actually used 11 fast passes each that day!! Consequently, we were kind of all over the park and less than systematic about the layout, but hey at least we got our steps in! We even saw the 3 o'clock festival of fantasy parade and watched the wishes firework show sitting in front of the castle!! AND, we ate at Be Our Guest!! Honestly, I was slightly disappointed but I had real high expectations. It is the most in demand restaurant in all of disney world and we only got random reservations last minute because someone canceled. I had homemade lemonade, French onion soup, beef brisket, and a chocolate mousee cupcake thing. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, and it was really cool to be in the beast’s castle, but I just for some reason was expecting more. Speaking of delicious, don't worry! We tried the grey stuff! And it was just that - delicious. TBH I don't even know what to say about magic kingdom because if I documented every part that I loved about it I would be documenting the day in its entirety. We rode the carousel, which was kind of out of the ordinary for us but a cute fun little thing to do. I maxed out buzz light year, the usual. Around 9pm, we used one of our last fast passes for splash mountain again and then checked to see if we could get a new one. Get this! They had another for 9:15! So we rode again, and again. Really good times. The next day, Tuesday, was time for mom n dad to leave. I had work in the morning so they dropped me off and it was a sad time. Lynne cried, as per usual. Tim was pretty sad to say good bye, too, I could tell. They continued their day on for a few more hours in MK before the airport, and I absolutely adore them for that. I didn't hear too too much about that leg of the trip, but I know they had Mickey ice cream bars and that alone is enough to write home about. I can't believe how long it has taken me to update this, because now I can sit here and say they'll be back in 3.5 weeks! Time is going by incredibly fast and like I said I feel like I don't have a free moment. Really guys, I'm not even close to being caught up on the bachelor and that's saying a lot! I wrote this post on the bus to work because I forgot to bring Harry Potter lolol, so maybe I should start leaving the book at home more often. That's all for now, promise to be back soon.