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cheesygroove · 3 years

Text

With a roll of the ice

pairing: Wheein x f!reader

c & ws: smut; ice play; sensory deprivation; mentions of alcohol; a lil swearing.

wc: 2k~

requested by anon

Round ice cube molds. You could have just gone for a regular plastic ice tray, the cheaper option at the store. But if it can serve a sexual purpose, why not? The process of moving to a new place with your girlfriend had you overanalyzing the simplest home utensils you needed. It was good to have that kind of freedom to choose.

Wheein just had the simpler intentions for it, though. One night, you came home to find her drinking alone at the still empty living room, lights all turned off. The lighted up fireplace was the sole reason you could see her, sitting with legs crossed and a glass in hand. A bunch of bottles, a second glass and her sketchbook, as well as her drawing materials, were all scattered around the floor.

"Whee, what are you doing...?" you asked while taking your shoes off. "I thought your group photoshoot was tomorrow," you worried about her drinking; better to not have to deal with a headache on the next day.

"I'm just having some coke. The alcohol is for you," she explained. "Can you get the ice for us?"

Not wanting to ruin the mood she set up, you used your phone flashlight to walk to the kitchen. There, you grabbed an ice bucket and emptied the silicone trays inside, shaking it a little to prevent the round cubes from sticking together.

"I would have picked it up before, but I didn't want it to melt before you arrived," Wheein said when you came back and placed the bucket on the floor.

"It's okay, babe," you assured, kissing her cheek tenderly after sitting by the fireplace with her. "Anxious because of work?"

She let out a sigh. You knew her really well.

"Getting better already, actually. It's good to have you here." Wheein smiled at you, stroking your knee with her hand. "I just needed to relax a little. Tomorrow is going to be a full day."

You nodded, reaching for a glass and the bottle of flavored vodka. Being so close to the fireplace, you reconsidered the idea of picking a drink that would burn you up even more. The current warmth was nice and it felt cozy, but it could be too much if you added more heat to it.

"Settling for the coke too? What a saint you've become," Wheein teased. A soft drink could be nice too, you thought, leaving your now full glass on the floor to look at her. She held a round ice cube between her thumb and index finger, rolling it slightly by moving both fingers in opposite directions. Well, now that brought you some thoughts back.

"This kind of... feels good," Wheein said, puppy-like eyes entertained with the water now dripping from her thumb, "it doesn't get sticky when it melts a little. And it rolls."

Right. It rolls. You pictured something like that, back at the store, wondering if it really would have this effect against her skin. Not simply dragging the ice across, but rolling it, gave a different perspective to everything. You bit your lip in excitement, now knowing your fantasy was real.

And well, why not feel this for yourself? One hand went to the bucket, but you needed both to get the ice out — it got stuck together. You appreciated the round shape inside of your mouth, rolling it around with your tongue, feeling your warmth slowly melting it. You sucked on the ice a little bit, stopping when Wheein's eyes met yours.

"You look really sexy doing this," she remarked. A side smirk allowed one of her dimples to show up, which turned into a laugh after you touched your own cheek, feeling the small ball formed by the ice. "So pretty."

You admired Wheein for a moment. Weak shadows danced around her figure, following the movement of the flames; hair recently dyed red held up in a neat bun, leaving her neck fully exposed. Around it she wore a bandeau, neatly positioned so that it didn't cover her Caddo tattoo. You found that detail particularly inviting, and added to the fact that she clearly wasn't wearing a bra...

"Why don't you try this too?" you suggested. The ice had melted already, but the cold sensation it left in your mouth, somehow, had you feeling hotter between your legs. "You'll find the temperature contrast sexier than me."

Wheein's gaze went down to your mouth, filled with desire for your humid lips.

"Can I try it from your source?"

"Please do."

Wheein really did move first. The coolness of your mouth warmed up in hers, as she simply stole that from you by chasing the kiss with all her greed. You felt like the flames from the fireplace itself had engulfed you when her legs wrapped around your waist, pulling you to the floor with her. Although when your lips parted, she was the one craving to cool it down.

"Oh my," she was able to say while gasping for air. Holding you by the back of your neck with both hands, she placed a few more quick presses against your lips before speaking again, "Hmmmm. I liked that it was... unexpected. Your mouth felt so soft from the cold."

You smiled when her fingers delicately caressed your cheek, tucking a strand of loose hair behind your ear. Wheein had her eyes on something else while doing it, though. Still holding your weight over her body with your elbows, you looked over your shoulder to discover that she eyed the ice bucket.

"Wanna try that again? With more than a kiss?" you asked, full of a smug satisfaction because the question wasn't even necessary — Wheein's pleading face spoke for itself.

_____

"Love, you really trust me a lot for this, huh," you said while tying the bandeau to the back of her head to use it as a blindfold. Depriving her from the sense of sight was part of your original fantasy, a way to allow her to have a better focus on the hot and cold feeling.

Wheein sat between your spread legs, backing herself into your lap after you moved closer to the fireplace. The orange light of the fire was now able to fully glow on her naked body. The air felt thick and hot when you breathed in, and a little sweat started building up on your back.

"I trust you more than I probably should," she whispered, leaning on your shoulder to place a few kisses along your jawline, "but you always repay it well."

"Right," you agreed, gently undoing Wheein's bun and letting the hair fall on her shoulders, making contact with your bare chest. One hand gave it a gentle tug, while you stretched the other arm to reach for the ice bucket, taking a round ice out. It quickly started wetting your palm, being just perfect for what you wanted to do. You got her hair out of the way with a harsh pull, pressing the ice against her neck. "I always make you feel so good."

Wheein's first reaction was to recoil at the sudden cold feeling, gasping loudly, but you held the ice in place with a strong grip on her neck.

"Shhhh, Wheeinie," you whispered on her ear as her gasping slowly turned into moaning, pleased with you using your palm to roll the ice against her skin, "this is just a massage. We haven't even started yet."

When it melted into a piece too small to be rolled, you simply dragged it across her chest, stopping at an already hardened nipple. The sensation of her skin under your cooled fingers felt softer than usual, the increased sensitivity having you muttering a curse against the back of her neck. Your other hand fetched for more round ice while you still held her boob, squeezing her nipple. Water dripped from your fingers and rolled down her stomach.

"More. Please," Wheein begged impatiently. Her hands were on your thighs, which were reddening from her burying her nails on them every time you did something right. You hoped to see a mark there by the end of the night.

"If you keep hurrying me up, I won't be gentle," you warned, shoving the ice against the boob you had neglected before and holding it strongly. Wheein's scream at the sudden shock ended up in a loud cry, her back arching at you circling the cube around her nipple. "Is that what you want, huh?"

"Uh-huh," she was able to shout out in agreement between her delicious moans, head now dropped backwards onto your shoulder. You moved your body to the side so you could whisper directly at her ear.

"What a slut you are."

Wheein lustfully mumbled a few yes yes yes I am when you stressed that word, like she had done many times before. She gasped in surprise when you stopped rolling the ice on her nipple, and gasped even harder when you took that same nipple in your mouth. Sucking the cold out of it. What was left of that cube you used to roll down her body, leaving behind a trail of water and stopping just before her pussy.

"Did you make a mess on the floor, Wheein...?" you asked.

You had inclined your head forward to look at the space between her legs. With all the action, Wheein had her knees up and under her chin, throbbing cunt fully exposed to the hot air. She was dripping on the floor, so much was the arousal.

"Hmmmmm, no. There's a lot of ice melting here," she lied. You smirked while thinking of how you would punish Wheein for that, one hand drowned in the bucket and getting really cold. The round cubes were now slowly turning into water altogether, coming out already humid — which meant that you didn't need to wait before using it on her.

"I would've been way nicer to you, Whee," you said, "but you don't deserve it."

Ring and middle finger squeezed her labia on each side, making the hole wider for the ice. Her reaction to the intimate contact with the cold immediately showed that she wanted you to put it in, her nails definitely leaving your thigh scratched this time. Instead, you simply stimulated her entrance, rolling and rubbing the round ice against it, even letting just a tip in. Wheein moaned sweetly, whispering your name, almost begging you to fuck her.

You took the ice into your mouth before it fully melted, wanting to taste her liquid even if the water was mixed in. Wheein grunted in annoyance from that, but there wasn't time to take her protests further — the same fingers which squeezed her open before now slid with ease inside of her, producing sweet wet sounds with each pump in. Part of you wanted to grab more ice, to roll it on her skin, to do anything, but you couldn't do much when her moans and then screams of pleasure filled your ears. Your hand was soaked with her climax in almost no time.

"Mmmmhm... Can't believe you didn't..."

You laughed when her words kept trailing off — Wheein was absolutely spent. She tiredly dropped into your arms after her orgasm, trying but failing to sound her complaints. Now any warmth was welcome, yours or from the fireplace, her hands pressing yours against her body to hug her tighter.

"What? You really wanna complain when I left you in this state?" you scoffed while gently removing the bandeau she wore as a blindfold.

Wheein sat up to face you, narrowing her eyes and pouting her mouth. She trembled a bit, still lacking the necessary balance, but kept her posture.

"I... I... Fuck." She gulped and shook her head, recollecting herself. "I just wanted you to roll the ice inside of me!"

ao3 link

#mamamoo fanfic #mamamoo imagines #mamamoo smut #wheein imagines #wheein smut #gg fanfic #rounded ice is the best really #didnt proofread so hope this is fine #wheein x reader #mamamoo x reader

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flapperfromthefuture · 5 years

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Huh. Greenland is in the news a lot lately, for reasons that would only seem normal in some horrifically overblown satire.

My dad sent me two articles yesterday that quoted residents of tiny Kulusuk, Greenland, a village on the eastern coast of the country.

Most people in this world have never set foot in Greenland (including the orange sociopath who wants to buy it. With what, the money from the for-profit concentration camps?). But my dad and I have, somehow.

It feels like a dream. Those halcyon days of 2008. My dad and I took a graduation trip to Scandinavia in July. We’re big fans of universal healthcare and the Maelstrom ride at Epcot (RIP), so we figured we’d feel right at home.

We flew Icelandair to Reykjavik—a big comfy plane, I remember—and in the seat pocket was a brochure advertising day trips to different destinations, including Greenland. My dad and I had talked about how Greenland would be close enough to visit while we were in Iceland, but in a very vague and alien way, like how you know you’ll be closer to the sun when you visit Hawaii but you don’t really think about it until you have a sunburn the shade of a pink hibiscus flower, and even then, you’re not going to visit.

Greenland was like that. We knew it would be nearby, but didn’t have the first idea of how to get there, or any clue what we would find if we did.

But now, I held Greenland in my hands. And it was a picture of a smiling elderly woman in a kayak in the middle of beautiful blue water lit by the sun. Greenland looked warm, inviting, and reasonably priced.

Later, my dad would joke that the brochure should’ve had a little asterisk that said, “Sun not included.”

We booked the excursion after a few days of traveling around Iceland, during which the sun never set, I taught my dad the correct pronunciation of “Bjork,” and narrowly stopped him from buying a heavy wool sweater that a) he would never wear, b) would take up a good 80% of his suitcase and c) COST $800 IN AMERICAN MONEY.

I was very keen on steering Dad towards light, easily transportable souvenirs, like hats and figurines of elves, because I’m the one who had to carry his suitcase all over Scandinavia.

Because, you see, my dad had a hernia. He’d been cleared for the trip and was having surgery as soon as we got home, but he wasn’t allowed to lift anything heavy or walk for too long. Fortunately, Iceland is full of cute shops and cafés with plenty of places to sit down and relax and have some delicious skyr, so we were doing great.

My dad asked the woman at the front desk of our hotel what the weather would be like in Greenland. She said it would be same as Iceland, crisp but sunny and in the high 50s.

This was a lie.

Of course, if we had done any research at all (we didn’t have decent smartphones yet! So long ago!), we would’ve been able to better prepare ourselves, but instead we went to the one Thai restaurant in Iceland and imagined what Greenland would be like.

I assumed that where we’d be going would have a national park vibe—lots of picnic tables and slightly terrifying bathrooms but lovely vistas and well-marked places of interest. Definitely a vending machine or two, probably a little café with sandwiches and chips and maybe a fruit cup. I pictured a single stoplight that was always blinking.

Dad, on the other hand, pictured multiple stoplights, full service restaurants and gift shops. My dad loves a good gift shop.

We walked to the city airport from our hotel. I wore a hoodie, my purse and a wool hat that I’d purchased as a souvenir, while Dad had a windbreaker and not one, but two hats—one for fashion, one for function. We both wore jeans and regular sneakers that were best suited for walking on pavement that has no moisture on it whatsoever.

My dad had a hernia.

We packed a little bag of muffins from the hotel’s breakfast spread, just in case we needed a snack on the flight or the café in Greenland was running low.

Naturally, we ate all the muffins while waiting to board the flight. It was eight in the morning, and we weren’t getting back to Iceland until six or seven in the evening.

“It’ll be okay,” said Dad, brushing muffin crumbs off his windbreaker.

We were flying Iceland’s internal airline, Flugfelag, which will be my alias if I ever go into hiding. Our ride was a twin engine propellor with fifty-six seats. Not a lot of wiggle room. I had never flown in a propellor plane before, and mostly associated them with “Things that James Bond or Indiana Jones have jumped/been thrown out of.”

And the plane’s name? The Fokker 50. Thank you and good night.

We met our excursion guide, Captain Karl, who was Danish. We were the only Americans on our excursion—everyone else was Japanese or Chinese. The rest of the flight had been booked by a Russian tour group, and they looked ready to go, with massive parkas and winter boots.

Our flight attendant was too tall for our plane. She was at least six feet tall (and wearing heels!) with long blonde hair and giant blue eyes full of fear. Her shoulders hit every overhead bin whenever she wobbled down the aisle. She had to stoop down to give the safety announcement so she wouldn’t bang her head on the ceiling.

During the safety announcement, Dad nudged me and said, “In the event of a water landing, you have fifteen seconds to live.”

The flight was only ninety minutes, but the last thirty were turbulent with steep rollercoaster drops and ghostly footprints of glaciers that grew as we descended.

We glided over pitch black water and grayish green ice floes, and then landed . . . on something that felt less like a runway and more like driving through a puddle.

“Dad, there’s mud on the window,” I said, trying to understand what I was seeing. Mud doesn’t hit airplane windows, not unless the baggage handlers are having a mud fight.

“What?” said Dad, as mud and gravel splattered against our first view of Greenland from the ground.

“It’s a dirt runway.”

Dad said, “Oh, that’s different,” but told me later that he was thinking, “This is a more remote place than I thought.”

The runway was dirt because a cement runway would freeze and break apart. Oh, and because of the weather, flights only ran (to this airport at least, in 2008) between May and September.

We climbed down the plane’s stairs and were immediately hit with a blast of freezing air. It was sleeting, a mix of ice and rain that couldn’t make up its mind, but in the wind it was just substantial enough to pierce your skin.

And we had a hoodie and a windbreaker, respectively.

The Russians were all putting on their parkas.

“Uh-oh,” said Dad.

Kulusuk’s airport is one of Greenland’s minor airports, about the size of an elementary school library, but they had a gift shop that sold winter coats. What luck! Dad beckoned me to try one on.

“Nice and warm—and they look pretty sharp!”

“Dad, did you see the price tags on these?”

“No, but they can’t be that bad.”

“They’re 7,000 Danish krone.”

“I’m good with that!”

“Dad, these coats are one thousand dollars each.”

“. . . Never mind,” said Dad.

Freezing would be bad, but cheaper—and easier to explain to my mom.

Captain Karl gathered us around and said that it would be a forty-five minute walk to the village of Kulusuk. That . . . wasn’t going to work for us. We explained to Captain Karl that my dad had a hernia and rather than rightfully berate us for going to Greenland with a hernia that could rupture at any second, Captain Karl yelled something to a guy in Danish and the guy yelled something back.

“Hans will take you,” said Captain Karl. “He’s outside.”

“Does he work here?” asked Dad.

“No, he just . . . hangs around.”

We met Hans at his truck and he was more than happy to have company on the drive to the village. The dirt road took us past walls of snow and along cliff edges with no guardrails to spoil our view of the glaciers below. The truck had no seatbelts, so I basically did a full somersault in the back every time we took a hairpin curve.

This truck could have been built by a movie production designer who was really gunning for an Oscar. I could actually see the dirt suspended in the air and smell the rust that covered every exposed surface. A thousand cigarette butts were artfully strewn around, and the battery light blinked a dull red, like it had been ignored for a very long time and was in no rush to alert anyone.

Dad got the front seat, and he was eager to ask Hans about life in Greenland. Hans was Danish but his wife was a native Greenlander Inuit. He had lived there a long time, but couldn’t remember exactly how long.

The landscape ahead of us was grey, bleak, and unending. And it was July.

“How short do the days get in the winter?” asked Dad.

Hans said, “Oh, the days don’t get short at all! In January we get five and a half hours of daylight. That’s not short.”

He took a curve around a snowbank at least thirty feet high, and I did a cartwheel in the backseat.

Hans added, with aching sincerity, “If I had to live somewhere where it was dark all the time, I’d get really depressed.”

Upside down in the backseat, I thought, “Holy shit.”

Five and a half hours of daylight means eighteen and a half hours of darkness.

Past the snowbank, the clouds parted enough for us to see a glimpse of a graveyard, and crayon-colored huts in the distance.

This was Kulusuk, sixty miles south of the Arctic Circle.

Hans dropped us off at the supermarket, which was maybe a quarter the size of the average American drugstore. Still, they had everything you could possibly need—medicine, fishing gear, diapers, meat, rifles, clothes, even gumballs.

Most people in Greenland still hunt and fish to survive. There was some fruit on the shelves, but it was all long past fresh and very expensive.

We waited for Captain Karl and the rest of the group to arrive. The few people who trickled in and out of the store looked startled at the sight of strangers just standing around, poorly dressed, but then just went on with their shopping. We met another Danish tour guide who lived in the village, and the local police officer. My dad, a former cop himself, was eager to talk to him, but he only spoke the Inuit language. The Danish guide explained that he didn’t have a badge, or training, or really many duties—he got the job because he liked driving the police cart.

In 2008, Kulusuk had 310 people. Now it’s around 280.

Captain Karl collected us—he had a very reserved Danish manner but I’m pretty sure he was both relieved and shocked that we had survived the ride—and we joined the group down the road in a large red building that served as a community center. Just a short walk in the freezing rain and pounding wind was enough to soak us to the bone.

We watched a presentation led by an older Inuit woman in traditional clothing—she was Hans’ wife. Their very cute granddaughter demonstrated songs and dances while the woman told stories in Inuit—which Hans translated into Danish, so the guide for the Russian excursion could translate into Russian. Dad and I were out of luck, but the Russians seemed to enjoy it.

It was still a good show, though. The little girl posed for pictures with the tourists afterwards.

I wonder where she is now. What she thinks of all that is happening in her country. What she remembers about dancing for tour groups and posing for pictures.

Our next stop was a small grey hut—finally, a gift shop. The owner of the gift shop was a woman from Iceland who was married to a Danish hunting guide, so she spent half the year in Greenland and half the year in Iceland.

Dad told her, “You should spend half the year in Hawaii!”

We picked up some keychains and postcards, but then I saw a glimmer in my dad’s eye—he’d seen something expensive. It was a grey winter jacket with a Kulusuk patch on the sleeve. My dad can’t resist a good patch.

“I would look so cool,” he said. “First person on our block to have a Kulusuk coat, that’s for sure!”

“This costs $1,800 in American money,” I said.

“But look at the patch.”

“Where would you wear this? You barely go outside in the winter.”

“I’ll wear it going back and forth to the mailbox!”

“You can’t pay eighteen hundred dollars for something you’ll wear for thirty seconds a day,” I said. “Mom will murder you.”

Dad grudgingly admitted defeat.

Next on the itinerary was a kayak demonstration—but the winds were 40 miles per hour, and the seas were too rough, so the demonstration was canceled. It was raining even harder now, so we were directed to a small church. We sat in a pew at the back and watched the Russians, huddled in their parkas, whip out open-face sandwiches and tiny bottles of vodka.

“Talk about being prepared for cold weather!” said Dad.

Captain Karl briefed us on our return to the airport. Next to the supermarket, there was a dock, with a metal ladder about ten feet long, that we would climb down to a flotilla of small boats that would take us to the airport in groups of three or four.

I am kicking myself eleven years later for not taking a picture of this ladder, but my dad and I have breathlessly described it so many times I can still see it perfectly.

This metal chain ladder was not connected to anything other than the very top of the dock. It wasn’t the kind of ladder that painters use—with a fixed structure that supports the rungs—but the kind of ladder you’d see on a treehouse, with metal chain loops between the rungs. So as you’re climbing down, you’re holding onto a slim metal chain that is moving with you—and the 40 mph winds—as opposed to steadying you as you descend.

The sea was so rough that if you lingered for longer than a few seconds on this ladder, you were going to get slammed with a wave of freezing water. You know, on top of the freezing rain that was dunking you from the sky.

So it goes without saying that everything in this scenario was soaked—the ladder, our shoes, and our hands. I hadn’t been able to feel my fingers and toes for about six hours at this point. There was no way I would be able to grasp and hold onto the ladder safely, and gripping with my mud-soaked, treadless sneakers that were made for power-walking around an air-conditioned mall? Not going to happen.

We watched the first group descend the ladder, clinging on for dear life. Once they managed to throw themselves into the boat, it took off, spraying them with freezing water all the way back to the airport.

“Did you see the fear in that Chinese lady’s eyes?” said my dad later. “I think she wanted us to notify her next of kin. I was just imagining what would happen if my hernia burst.”

Oh yeah. That hernia.

Dad and I quickly assessed the situation, as another group threw themselves over the dock and into the boat.

The best case scenario would be to fall in the water and freeze to death in fifteen seconds. Worst case scenario would be falling off the ladder, hitting the boat and breaking a limb or your back and then hitting the water and freezing to death in fifteen seconds.

And the last thing you would hear would be the laughter of the glaciers, mocking you for thinking you could conquer Greenland, which even the Vikings abandoned because it was too cold.

But the worst worst case scenario, for us, would be if Dad’s hernia burst (causing him to fall off the ladder, hit the boat, fall into the water and freeze to death in fifteen seconds).

“If my hernia bursts, they can’t rush me to Kulusuk General Hospital,” said Dad.

Kulusuk’s medical services, at least at that time, were provided by a single resident nurse. There were no highways to other towns—people traveled into the interior by snowmobile.

As Dad said later, “Maybe I could’ve been transported to another town by a Russian tourist, drinking vodka and driving a snowmobile for the first time. My only hope was they would rush me to the gift shop.”

I said, “We aren’t going on this ladder.”

We approached Captain Karl, who was really very patient with us considering the number of unprepared demanding Americans he must deal with on the regular, and he sent us over to a Danish guy, who took us to a garage near the grocery store, where he asked an Inuit guy with a pickup truck to take us to the airport.

Once again, we got in a stranger’s truck with no seatbelts—but we would’ve happily ridden in the truck’s bed clinging to the bumper just to avoid that ladder.

However, there were only two seats. So yours truly, an adult, had to sit on my dad’s lap for the entire ride. But I didn’t want to risk sitting on the hernia, so I sat kind of halfway on his knee and then held myself up as best I could by gripping the doorframe, with my head squashed against the window, so I wouldn’t bump my dad’s hernia.

The route back to the airport was just as wild as before, with icy hairpin turns and ditch-sized potholes, all of which our driver took with one hand on the wheel, because the other hand was holding his cell phone. He was talking to someone in Inuit the entire ride—probably telling them, “You won’t believe the idiots I have with me. Yes, they’re Americans.”

That long stretch of road along a sheer drop-off into the ocean was really exciting, and I only hit my head careening around the turns maybe six or seven times. I only lost a few piano lessons, nothing I’ll miss.

We made it to the airport, but the weather was getting worse. We met up with the rest of our group, who only knew us as the weird Americans who kept disappearing, and Captain Karl, who was worried that our plane wouldn’t be able to take off. There was another tour running that day, where after their time in Kulusuk, people were taking Russian helicopters to another town with a hotel.

Dad and I watched people board this Soviet-era helicopter that was struggling to stay upright in the freezing wind, and gulped. The years and the elements had not been kind to these helicopters.

“They look like someone sent them through a reverse car wash,” said Dad.

Years later, while watching Chernobyl, my dad recognized the helicopters that were flying in the clean-up crews.

“That’s the helicopter we saw in Greenland!” he said. “Am I glad we didn’t have to fly in one of those!”

Thankfully, our plane was able to take off. Our statuesque flight attendant knelt down to welcome us back. Captain Karl gave us lovely “Certificates of Achievement” with our names on them. He spelled my name as Elisabeth, which made me love it even more—I have it framed in a place of honor, next to a painting my dad made of the picture at the very top of this post.

As we sat down and buckled our seatbelts, Dad pulled a plastic bag out from under his windbreaker.

“You’ve had the muffin bag the entire time?”

“I shoved it under my shirt,” he said. “For warmth.”

On one of the hottest days this summer, locals in the tiny village of Kulusuk, Greenland, heard what sounded like an explosion. It turned out to be a soccer field’s worth of ice breaking off a glacier more than five miles away. Greenland lost 12.5 billion tons of ice to melting on August 2, the largest single-day loss in recorded history. NASA oceanographer Josh Willis: “Greenland has impacts all around the planet. There is enough ice in Greenland to raise the sea levels by 7.5 meters, that’s about 25 feet, that would be devastating to coastlines all around the planet. We are all connected by the same ocean.” —CNN

The climate crisis is causing unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety to people in Greenland who are struggling to reconcile the traumatic impact of global heating with their traditional way of life.The first ever national survey examining the human impact of the climate emergency shows that more than 90% of islanders interviewed fully accept that the climate crisis is happening, with a further 76% claiming to have personally experienced global heating in their daily lives, from coping with dangerous sea ice journeys to having sled dogs euthanized for economic reasons tied to shorter winters. — The Guardian

As a result of these climactic troubles, many Greenlanders are experiencing solostalgia, a term coined to describe the psychic pain of climate change, a feeling of missing home even without leaving, as home, the Earth, is changing. Courtney Howard, the board president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, told the Guardian that Arctic people are now showing symptoms of anxiety, “ecological grief,” and even post-traumatic stress related to the effects of climate change. “The impact of climate change on mental health is a looming public health crisis,” she said. —Quartz

We knew eleven years ago that the climate was changing and that Greenland was melting. It’s 800,000 square miles and 80% is covered by an ice sheet that all of Greenlandic society and every city in the world that’s on a coastline depend on for survival, and it’s melting. My dad and I knew that before we went there, and we didn’t even know enough to bring decent shoes.

Dad just texted me, “I keep wondering what Kulusuk looks like now. This is pretty scary—has to be a wake up call.”

My dad is an eternal optimist, which allows him to do things like travel across the world with a hernia, but we’re long past a wake up call.

Dad and I Go to Greenland Huh. Greenland is in the news a lot lately, for reasons that would only seem normal in some horrifically overblown satire.

#climate change #denmark #greenland #iceland #travel

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soomstudies · 6 years

Text

grocery shopping with svt

a/n: i!! went grocery shopping with my friends and suddenly got inspiration lol enjoy sorry the lengths are uneven AHAHAHA ( can be idol or non idol au )

Seungcheol

i feel he kinda tries to get only what’s on the shopping list

but he fails miserably at it

“we came here for eggs and rice only!”

“but the ramyeon... is on sale...”

carries all the shopping bags because he insists that he should do it

and even if he doesn’t insist, it kinda becomes the norm for him to carry

Jeonghan

he doesn’t go grocery shopping until you’re down to the very last ramyeon packet or the last cup of orange juice

when he realises, he immediately rushes out with you to go shopping

like you’re just chilling and suddenly

BAM

“we need to go shopping tonight.”

“sure”

he tries to buy as much as possible in one go so he doesn’t need to go again so soon??

y’all struggle a little carrying so many bags back to the dorm/house/apartment but he insists it’s better to struggle at once than to go all the time

yes i really had to use this gif for jeonghan

Jisoo

so you two go shopping pretty normally

it’s nothing super special

but he likes to shop with one hand holding the basket and the other holding yours

soft bb i love shua i mean who doesnt

and you guys talk about your day as you shop

about the cute cat you petted on your way to school/work

or about the new project hes working on

or sometimes you even complain about those stupid classmates/coworkers or at how annoying it is that the train was delayed

and as you’re complaining, he quietly adds some strawberries and chocolate into the basket

because the moment you go home, he rushes to make some nice strawberry chocolate desserts because he knows you love them

and he just wants to make you feel better and make sure you end your day well!

and after a delicious dinner that you may or may not have cooked together,

you two fall asleep satisfied with your tummy filled, and cuddled together under the warm blanket

Jun Hui

sneaky boi he makes sure you two eat before shopping so you’re not hungry and impulse buy

psychological stuff yo

he’s not cheap he just wants to stick to the list

because if not i feel he just impulse buys a lot ;;

you: hey im gonna go grocery shopping tomorrow, you wanna come?

him: !!! yes!! but after dinner

you: sure sounds good

it usually works pretty well

just that sometimes he gets so excited about dinner with you that you two completely forget to go grocery shopping

smh cuties

it ends up you have to go on a completely different day

even then sometimes he makes a booking for a nice restaurant that’s nowhere near a supermarket

and the process repeats

but how can you blame him? he just loves spending time with you

hes a cute dork hes the best

Soonyoung

hes the one who wants you to sit in the trolley and pretends its a racecar

going nYOOOOOOM down the aisles and drifting to the next one

you kinda fear for your life

but don’t worry hes got it under control!

for the most part.

there was this one time he accidentally let go of you and you went right into a tower of chocolate powder tins.

it was super embarrassing and no one stops teasing either of you over it.

you two raced in the grocery store a little less after that but still occasionally do have your fun!

Wonwoo

you know the video of the dude making ikea puns with his gf?

yeah that’s wonwoo in the grocery store

and he does it in this really monotonous voice

“hey... do you think we should’ve taken a trolley instead of a basket?”

“hm? why?”

“i don’t think we have mushroom left”

“...”

his nose scrunches up in his iconic laugh and you have to laugh because hes so adorable!!!!

“but really, i think we need a trolley instead”

Jihoon

the type to go to the grocery store and stand in the freezer aisle for ten minutes in the summer

he’s not browsing he just wants free aircon

hes also the one who sees grocery shopping as a chore the most. :(

if hes alone he tends to just grab what he needs and get out as quickly as possible

but if hes with you he doesn’t mind have to stay a little longer and ponder over which type of ramyeon he wants most that week or which packaging of cola he wants to have today

he wont say it, but if it gives him an excuse to spend a little more time with you, he’ll stay

Ming Hao

the one whos a master at finding discounts and the most “worth-it” item.

you: “let’s just get the 4 pack one...”

hes keying it into his phone calculator

“no no this is better. buy 5 get 1 free”

he just puts it in the trolley and you go with it

you: hm. looks like the cereal price increased a little...

him: the cereal whAT?!??! excuse me who the Fuck decided they can do this

“boi u can buy gucci???? but not a little more pricey cereal????????”

“look ok-”

Mingyu

hes the main reason i wanted to write this ok

as a man who can cook, he must go grocery shopping once a week

he likes to drag you along

if you’re short he likes to tease you because you can’t reach things

like you’re halfway diving into the icecream freezer because the icecream you want is at the very back and he’ll just be giggling for a bit

of course he helps you in the end what a gentleman

lol jk he puts it even further at the back

because he really loves seeing your cute pout and you hitting him lightly in annoyance

and he really just likes to spend time with you so he drags this on for as long as possible until he finally helps and passes you the icecream you wanted

ugh im so soft for bf!mingyu :(

Seokmin

he does the thing that dude in the vine does where he pronounces everything weirdly

i can see him doing it in his high tone rap voice too

“yo look at these kehloggeh’s frosetitties flakuhs”

“ras kraspas yo”

i really dont know how to write what hes saying forgive me

and sometimes he will pronounce regular korean words in a really bad foreigner accent??

“당근 구매하자” -> “danggoon gumayhayjya” pardon google translate

overall super fun to shop with and always makes you laugh while shopping

Seungkwan

i feel that... he (like minghao) tries to buy food at a cheaper rate...

to the point he buys wholesale.

he also likes to phone his mom a lot

mama boo knows whats best

whatever she suggests, he will buy straight away, and he’ll make sure to get enough for you too

except cucumber and tomato

he steers very clear of those

Hansol

the worst at grocery shopping sorry

like you HAVE to go together because if you don’t,

hes just walking around with his headphones in and spacing out while looking for some peanut butter idk (like im sure yall seen the clap choreo video)

cute

when you go shopping together, he makes sure to take out his earphones but he likes to hum a lot when you guys shop

he also likes to talk a lot about new artists he’s into and songs he likes!

and even though it’s been a long day and you had to go shopping or starve,

because it’s his voice, you feel at peace and like all the stress has left you

hes your healing <3

Chan

a little different and cliche this is way longer than expected

you were shopping late at night and realised you wanted to buy some squid for supper

you go to the seafood section and are relieved to see there’s just one left

sp you run to it but you grab it at the same time as some really cute guy

the two of you look at each other for a while in awkwardness but he finally lets go and says “sorry, you can have it”

mc why didnt u talk to him

the next week you went again for shopping but guess what happened at the fruit aisle this time?

the dude from before is there and he grabbed the same pack of blueberries!

he lets you take it once again

and this just keeps happening all the time, even when you try to go at different times??

sometimes he lets you take it sometimes he asks for it claiming “the hyungs will kill me” whatever that means

one day he’s with a friend and the moment they see you, they start walking to you very quickly

??? two cute guys coming closer what they doin

the friend pushes him to you and tells him “ok chan go talk to the cute person”

he very awkwardly goes “hi i’m lee chan and uh... well i think you’re pretty cute. could we go shopping together sometimes?”

he’s nervous and blushing and cute and hoW CAN YOU SAY NO

it’s the start of the cutest relationship

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angel-eats · 3 years

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Harry Potter Sweets 🍭🍬🍫🍦

So today’s post is 100% inspired by my recent rewatching of all the HP movies (whoops!) and my recent trip to the Harry Potter store in NY. I bought a shit ton of the special, magical candies they have so I figured I’d tell y’all what to get and what to skip! Let’s go!

GET

Exploding Bonbons

These were absolutely delicious. The white chocolate coating was nice and light (not too sweet) and the orange/pineapple fillings were refreshing and blended well! There’s also a really fun magical factor that I won’t spoil but is really cool!

Fizzing Whizzbees

These have a super cute shape (little bees) and have a similar magical factor to the bonbons. These candies are all pretty expensive so these are great because you get a big bag! I really enjoyed the fruity flavor but if you eat too many at once it can get a little artificial tasting.

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans

These are super fun! They really have both disgusting and tasty flavors! It’s super fun to just pick randomly with a group of friends or family! I would say something else about the taste but honestly, they’re not supposed to taste great so. I highly recommend these though!

Butterbeer Ice Cream

This ice cream was super tasty and definitely sharable! It was a vanilla soft serve with butterscotch syrup swirled throughout so it was really rich in taste but still delicious. I also think it's a great deal because this cup was huge and super filled but was cheaper than just a regular cup of the liquid butterbeer (which I’ll talk about later).

Shock-o-choc

These chocolates were...interesting. They’re dark chocolate with chili powder mixed in and they definitely have a kick to them. The chocolate was kind of cheap quality however I would recommend getting it because it’s a lot of fun to try. And even better, it’s a lot of fun to tell your loved ones its regular chocolate and make them try it lol!

SKIP

Felix Felicis

This was like 6 bucks and was just a shot of sugar water. Like not even flavored so yeah don’t get it.

Amortentia (Love Potion)

Same as the Felix Felicis except it was rose-flavored so even worse. This one did have a cute bottle though so if you wanted to buy it and display it I get it.

Peppermint Toads

These are actually pretty good quality chocolate but the mint was super overpowering and kind of medicinal in flavor! I usually love mint and chocolate flavored things but it was too much even eating one of these tiny toads.

Butterbeer (Liquid)

This form of butterbeer was just a bit too much for me. Like I said before they use butterscotch syrup but here it wasn’t cut with anything so I found it too sweet and too strong. Also, again, a small cup of this was more expensive than a big cup of ice cream.

Chocolate Frog

Now you do get a lot of chocolate here but 1) it's hard to cut or bite through cause the frog is completely solid and 2) the chocolate was super cheap and not tasty at all. You get a wizard trading card with this which I do think is a cool keepsake but it's random so you could get a witch/wizard who you don’t even know. So what I recommend instead is to buy the slightly more expensive version where you get a plastic frog and an Albus Dumbledore trading card because then you can display the frog AND you have a card with a wizard you actually know.

That's it! I hope this helps someone or just is informative! Thanks for reading! See y’all at the next feeding! ❤️ angel

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neverthelessicontinue · 5 years

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Nevertheless Reviews: Misfits Market

https://www.misfitsmarket.com/

What is the Misfits Market? A company that offers a subscription box that delivers fresh veggies and fruits to your door. Their website states “In America, many of us still don’t have access to high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables. We waste as much food as we eat. Almost half of what our nation’s farms grow is never eaten. Much of this is due to modern-day beauty standards for food. Misfit fruits, misshapen vegetables, and delicious but odd-sized produce are squandered at every level. It’s not healthy, it’s expensive, it’s a problem on a huge scale.” Their company states they specifically try to combat this and that “unlike other brands” they “aren’t focused just on dense urban areas. [They] are made to go to every zip code”. They currently deliver to all zip codes in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, Ohio, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky; they're also taking pre-orders in Alabama and Georgia with first deliveries the week of October 21st. They're growing quickly, so if your state isn’t listed, join our waitlist and you’ll be the first to know when we come to your area.

Do they ship with plastic? Nope! Each box arrives in cardboard, and all “plastic” bags are actually compostable. The only actual “plastic” they ship with is their ice packs- which can be cut open once they are at room temp, emptied and recycled.

What did you buy? This company offers two types of subscriptions: a smaller Mischief Box or a larger Madness Box of produce. Both claim to allow you to pay “25-40% less than it would cost at your local grocery store”. They fill up your box with fruits and veggies and then ship it to you. You choose to receive a box either every week or every other week. If you’re on a limited income and don’t want to have a reoccurring fee- you can actually “suspend” the delivery dates for as long as you need to.

I ordered the basic Mischief box since I live alone and am still learning to cook with the limitations of chronic illness. My groceries arrived 2 days after ordering in a nicely packaged box. The ice packs were recyclable, and the two small plastic bags that more delicate produce was in, were 100% compostable! On top of that- the produce was wonderful! Maybe not perfectly shaped like grocery store stuff- but it was very clean, fresh, and organic and it came with recipe cards to try (although these are random and do not directly relate to what’s in your box). I’ve taken to collecting the recipe cards so I can create a recipe book. : )

What you get in the box each time is technically random- and distinctly based on where you live and which organic farmers are near your location. I’ve seen the variety change to different types of things each month- following the local growing seasons of where I live. In the summer we had lots of fruit- now in fall, we have lots of squash and beans. It’s a great way to learn what your local area’s seasonal produce is like- and get to try new things you wouldn’t normally eat. Pictured above are two photos- picturing everything from the boxes I received. The top photo was my first box, the bottom was my most recent. In my most recent box, I got a spaghetti squash. To my honest shame, I’d never had spaghetti squash before. I did a quick google search, learned the simplest recipe, tried it- and loved it!

Were the items worth the price? There are a LOT of grocery delivery companies out there. It can be a huge time-saver, but in many cases getting groceries delivered isn’t sustainable or affordable. As someone who doesn’t drive (and uses a wheelchair)- getting groceries can be frustrating and expensive. Uber XL that fits my wheelchair starts at $10 a ride, so a grocery trip can easily be $20+ dollars just on travel. Even worse, most grocery delivery companies don’t have a package-free option; everything comes in plastic. I chose this company over others because everything involved is sustainable, recyclable, or compostable. On top of that- I did an active price comparison of what I got in my box compared to my closest local grocery store. The box was definitely cheaper! The small box feeds 1-2 people for a week and costs $22 total. The larger box feeds 3-4 people for a week and costs $35. That includes everything- including shipping. I honestly have found this box insanely helpful. During weeks when I can’t leave my house, it still allows me to have healthy fresh produce!

The only issues I’ve had with Misfits in the past few months of regular deliveries have been minor. Sometimes I would get so busy with work in the morning, I’d forget to check my mail and the box would sit outside for some time longer than it probably should’ve. During the summer and early fall when it’s very hot here, that meant that the ice packs were fully melted by the time I got to them- and the greens a little wilted (i.e. kale, lettuce, etc). However- the food was always safely edible and super yummy! There was one occurrence in my most recent box where a single orange had a dime-sized patch of white- but the kind of mold that grows on bruised or overripe fruit shouldn't hurt you if you accidentally eat it. In fact- one of the more common types of fuzzy white fruit mold is actually Penicillium, which is the same species that Penicillin comes from! I simply washed the orange VERY well and it turned out just fine. In all honesty- it might have been my own fault for waiting too long to bring the box in! Oops!

If you want to try it Misfits Market and see if you like it- you can use my link to not only get 20-30% off your first box, you can help me get a discount on my groceries too! I hope this review helps you decide if a service like this is right for you on your sustainable journey! ♥️ http://misfitsmarket.refr.cc/kaydees

#neverthelessreviews

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jonathanbelloblog · 6 years

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Quick Take: 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf SEL Premium

SAN PEDRO, California — If you have never owned an electric vehicle and normally drive more than 100 miles on weekends, an EV with a limited range can put you in a stressful situation. Case in point: the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf SEL Premium.

Choosing to live dangerously, I volunteered to spend a weekend with an electric vehicle—a challenge I had purposefully deflected every time an EV has shown up in our fleet. That said, I have actually driven other EVs including the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf, and Fiat 500e, but never for an entire weekend.

Prior to departing our office in El Segundo, I plugged the e-Golf to a 240-volt level 2 charger at a nearby ChargePoint station to prepare for the voyage ahead.

By the time I made a run for the door, 3.14 hours of charging time cost $5.68 and added 65 miles, giving a grand total of 118 miles of range—a few ticks away from a full charge. The updated lithium-battery on the latest e-Golf has a capacity of 35.8 kWh with an EPA-estimated range of 125 miles—a significant improvement from its previous 83-mile range.

Fellow associate and Volkswagen aficionado Billy Rehbock recommended that I drive the e-Golf just like a regular Golf and definitely in B mode of its regenerative braking system. (The ins and outs of regenerative braking were unfamiliar to me and this video tutorial helped me understand how it works.)

When B mode of regenerative braking is engaged, minimal use of the brake pedal is required to bring the e-Golf to a complete stop. The benefit of using B mode is that the motor generates energy and in return increases the range—given that the battery is not fully charged. My beginner level of driving an EV prompted me to use intuition and some common sense to conserve as much energy as possible. This led to driving in Eco Mode with the highest level of regenerative braking (B mode) and frugal use of the A/C.

My commute is approximately 17.5 miles, with 12 of those are on the freeway. On surface streets, the range stretched the miles, convincing me that owning an EV could be a viable choice. Unfortunately, that was not the case on the freeway where the range depleted at a greater rate. Since I live in an apartment with street parking only, charging the e-Golf at home was not an option. I also factored in that there were no ChargePoint stations within walking distance from my apartment in San Pedro, which put me into panic mode.

The real experience of living with an EV began when I did errands, made a coffee run, and visited family in Orange County. One way to my aunt’s house in Orange County is approximately 30 miles from my apartment. In an effort to be efficient with the range, I made some calculated moves to get there. I avoided the 405 Freeway and instead took the Pacific Coast Highway route, drove in ECO Mode, turned off the A/C, and rolled all the windows down a notch. When I arrived to my aunt’s house, the range was slightly below 60 miles.

Though it likely did not require an immediate charge, I made a detour to a nearby ChargePoint station on my way home. Sitting in the driver seat while an EV is charging has to be one of the most boring experiences ever. I am certainly not addicted to my smartphone and I made the mistake of not bringing a book along for the ride. After sitting in the car and going for a brief walk around the parking garage the station was located in, I could no longer contain myself. My patience lasted 1.53 hours, giving me a 39-mile charge from the 28 kWh of electricity that cost $2.79.

By mid-day Sunday, the e-Golf was down to 35 miles of range and it was one of the hottest weekends in Los Angeles. The only ChargePoint stations showing up on the map in Torrance were either at a Walgreens or in some remote location. How could I possibly sit inside the car for any amount of time with the sun’s wrath intensifying? Browse the aisles inside Walgreens? Go for a three hour walk in L.A.? Yeah right.

The desperate search for a ChargePoint station that was not located at a Walgreens took me to a station at a park within walking distance of a Starbucks. In preparation to sit at a Starbucks for three hours while the e-Golf charged I stopped at Subway for a to-go sandwich. As I approached the register to pay, another customer intervened and offered to pay for my Spicy Italian sub. He may have noticed the mental strain hiding underneath my sunglasses or maybe he was impressed with my order.

The screen grab on the left shows the available ChargePoint stations near San Pedro. On the right is the cost of charging the Volkswagen e-Golf over the weekend.

Sitting inside the air-conditioned Starbucks for three hours was not bad at all. I was able to enjoy my delicious peppermint flavored iced coffee and this time I brought a laptop to edit photos. It was a win-win situation but after a 71-mile charge, I surrendered and went straight home.

When I returned to the office on Monday morning I had clocked in a total of 161.5 miles on the e-Golf and I could not be happier to turn the key in and never look back.

Over the course of a weekend I spent $14 for 52 kWh of battery life equating to 175 miles. This clearly proved that charging an electric vehicle is way cheaper than paying for fuel. Nonetheless, driving the e-Golf showed me that what an EV can save you at the gas pump is not worth the hassle of charging it. I rather pay the extra costs for fuel any day and steer clear of losing time to a charging station. Even if I could charge the e-Golf at home I would never want to own an EV—especially one with a limited range.

For what its worth, the 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf offers a reasonable range and it is definitely one of the best looking EVs on the market. Still, I cannot imagine going through all the hurdles of driving an EV for a destination beyond 150 miles. Like a New Yorker would say: fuhgeddaboudit!

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf Specifications

ON SALE Now PRICE $39,240 (as tested) MOTOR Permanent-magnet synchronous A/C electric motor/134 hp, 214 lb-ft TRANSMISSION 1-speed direct drive automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-motor, hatchback EPA MILEAGE 126/111 mpge (city/hwy) L x W x H 168.1 x 70.8 x 57.2 in WHEELBASE 103.5 in WEIGHT 3,455 lb 0-60 MPH 9.6 sec TOP SPEED 85 mph

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4

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jesusvasser · 6 years

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Quick Take: 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf SEL Premium

Prior to departing our office in El Segundo, I plugged the e-Golf to a 240-volt level 2 charger at a nearby ChargePoint station to prepare for the voyage ahead.

The screen grab on the left shows the available ChargePoint stations near San Pedro. On the right is the cost of charging the Volkswagen e-Golf over the weekend.

When I returned to the office on Monday morning I had clocked in a total of 161.5 miles on the e-Golf and I could not be happier to turn the key in and never look back.

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf Specifications

#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

0 notes

fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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Cost of Living in Malta: A Guide For Digital Nomads

Due to Malta’s proximity to Italy and its location on the stunning Mediterranean Sea, you probably assume that Malta would be an expensive country to live in, but surprisingly, it’s not! Based on our firsthand experience living in Malta for two months, we can say that the cost of living in Malta can be as expensive, or inexpensive as you like.

Sure, Malta isn’t as affordable as Mexico or Thailand, but it offers excellent value for money.

After spending two months living as Digital Nomads in the city of Sliema, we now have some useful information to share with you. In this guide I’ll break down the cost of living in Malta, including transportation, accommodation, groceries, restaurants, entertainment, and more.

The beautiful capital city of Valletta

Choosing Your Neighbourhood

When deciding which part of the island you want to live in, you should consider your interests.

The areas of Sliema, St. Julian’s, Swieqi and Paceville are the most popular hubs for expats and Digital Nomads in Malta. These areas are a mix of residential and commercial buildings, with schools, clinics, numerous bars, grocery stores, shopping malls and more. This central / eastern area is where you’ll want to be if you’re looking to meet other expats, while enjoying the nightlife.

The second most popular cities on the island for those wanting to live in Malta are St. Paul’s Bay, Qawra, Buġibba & Mellieha. These cities are located on the northern end of the island and have lovely beaches on offer. It’s a bustling area in the summer, and very quiet in the winter.

A bonus of living in this area is that you will be closer to the ferry terminal to take you to neighbouring Gozo Island. Although amenities are available, this is a quieter part of the island, popular with retirees rather than younger Digital Nomads and expats.

In the southwest, you’ll find Msida, Birkirkara and Ħamrun. Msida is home to the University of Malta, meaning there is a large student population here.

Mgarr, Mosta, Mdina and Rabat are beautiful areas, but don’t have as many amenities that foreigners may be looking for. They are, however, most definitely worth a visit!

The Cost of Accommodation in Malta

First of all, the cost of an apartment in Malta will depend entirely on which part of the island you choose to live in. The historic capital city of Valletta, and the surrounding areas of Floriana, Sliema, St. Julian’s and Paceville are the most expensive, followed by the university area, and the northern towns.

Although Sliema is busy and populated, it’s well located, has lots of amenities both in and around the city, is well-connected to Valletta and has numerous options for apartments. We chose to base ourselves in this part of Malta for those reasons.

Sliema by drone – built up and busy, but has lots to offer, especially to the left of those highrises

The best way to find an apartment for rent is to look online, or if you have time and would prefer to find a place once you’re in-country, you can hire an agent to show you around. But, be warned that you’ll need to pay a hefty fee to the agent – 50% of one months rent!

If you’re renting long-term, this may be worth it, but for a shorter 3 month stay or less (which is the duration most Digital Nomads stay due to the Schengen Zone laws), it’s probably not worth the extra fee. You can also rent directly from the landlord if you see a “for rent” sign, and will avoid the agent fees by doing so.

The most popular booking site is Airbnb.com, and while there are numerous accommodation options on there, there is also a high “service fee” and often cleaning fees added on as well.

Having said that, we still recommend looking at Airbnb as you may find a place on that booking platform that isn’t listed anywhere else. As a tip, what we’ve done in the past is to find an apartment that we like on Airbnb, then try to find that host outside of the booking platform. This way, you can bargain down the price and lose the service charges as well.

We ended up booking our apartment in Sliema with ShortLetsMalta.com, which had numerous options available on their website. Another option besides ShortLetsMalta.com is to check out local Facebook Groups, such as Malta: Share/Rent/Rooms/Flats or For Rent in Malta.

Our apartment was located on a side street lined with traditional balconies, and was literally a 2 minute walk to the seaside promenade which had spectacular views across the bay to Valletta. Turning left out of our front door was a nice residential walk that eventually brought us to some stunning rock-cut pools. Another nearby walk brought us to the Manoel Marina where we’d stroll around and gawk at luxurious yachts!

The huge Tower Supermarket was a 10 minute walk away, as was the fresh fish monger. Numerous restaurants, cafes, bars and shops were surrounding us as well. Although Sliema is a busy city, we found places that were quieter, and enjoyed having so many amenities around.

Man made “pools”! The perfect swimming holes and a nice walk from Sliema

The Cost Of Our Apartment in Sliema, Malta

Our Apartment: €980 / month ($1,125 USD), including all bills except electricity. Booked on ShortLetsMalta.com, longer rentals = cheaper monthly costs.

Example Prices of Apartments in Other Areas of Malta

In Swieqi, which borders Paceville and St. Julian’s: 2 bedroom apartment €1,000 + €100 for utilities (longterm, 1 year rental)

In Msida, €850, 2 bedroom apartment

In Buggiba, €750, 3 bedroom apartment, booked direct from landlord

In Naxxar, 3 bedroom house with pool, €1,200, booked direct from landlord

The Cost of Groceries in Malta

In the grocery stores, you’ll find everything you want and need. But, still keep your eyes peeled for local vendors selling fruits and vegetables, and visit the fish mongers as well for the fresh catch of the day. These figures below are from Numeo’s website, but we’ve cross-referenced them with our own findings as well.

Buying groceries, rather than eating out at restaurants, will definitely help to lower your cost of living in Malta.

Note: It’s not advisable to drink the tap water in Malta due to high levels of chlorine and minerals. It is, however, perfectly safe to use for washing vegetables, brushing your teeth and boiling pasta.

Description Average Range Milk (regular), (1 liter) 0.87 € 0.81–1.00 Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 0.91 € 0.75–1.00 Rice (white), (1kg) 1.68 € 1.29–2.00 Eggs (12) 1.92 € 1.50–2.30 Local Cheese (1kg) 7.59 € 6.00–10.00 Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) 6.32 € 5.40–7.00 Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 11.01 € 7.58–15.00 Apples (1kg) 2.11 € 1.50–2.50 Banana (1kg) 1.51 € 1.25–2.00 Oranges (1kg) 1.99 € 1.40–2.80 Tomato (1kg) 2.00 € 1.50–2.50 Potato (1kg) 1.05 € 0.80–1.50 Onion (1kg) 1.30 € 0.99–2.00 Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.68 € 0.48–1.00 Water (5 liter bottle) 1.68 € 1.48-2.30 Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 5.00 € 2.50–7.60 Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 1.22 € 1.00–1.75 Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 1.44 € 1.00–2.00

The Tower Market in Sliema is your best bet for buying groceries. It’s a 3 level store with canned goods, breads, deli and dairy on the main level, household goods and toiletries on the middle floor, and frozen foods and produce on the bottom level.

Cost of Eating at Restaurants in Malta

No matter the type of food you’re craving, you’ll be able to find it in Malta – which is another bonus of living here! Not only is the cuisine varied, but so are the prices. From cheap street eats to high-end restaurants, there’s a place for every budget.

Insider Tip: If you purchase the Malta Discount Card, you will receive 50% off of food at many restaurants around Malta and Gozo. The discount card can be used more than once at the same vendor. A one year pass is only €35.

Typical Costs in Restaurants:

Description Average Range Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 12.00 € 10.00–15.00 Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant 40.00 € 35.00–64.00 Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) 2.50 € 2.00–3.00 Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 2.50 € 1.50–3.00 Cappuccino (regular) 1.72 € 1.50–2.00 Pastizzi or similar cheap local pastry) 0.28 € 0.20-0.60 Water (0.33 liter bottle) 1.01 € 0.65–1.50

Here are a few of our recommended restaurants around the Sliema area, and the general costs:

hiM Mozzarella Store (Gzira)

This restaurant / deli makes handmade buffalo mozzarella every day. The pizzas here are delicious, and they also have pastas, sandwiches and salads on offer. A margarita pizza will cost you €7.50, while bruschetta goes for €2.

Click here for directions.

Mint Cafe (Sliema)

This cafe serves wholesome, healthy, organic food at a good price. The restaurant isn’t strictly vegetarian, but the menu offers many vegetarian and vegan meals. Sandwiches are from around €6, while a plate of food will cost you €9. Fresh fruit smoothies are €3.50 and lattes cost €1.50.

Click here for directions.

Pastizzi Shops (Island wide)

Pastizzi is a traditional pastry stuffed with either mushed peas, or ricotta cheese. These are commonly eaten for breakfast, lunch or as a snack and can be found all over the island at pastizzerias. Arguably the best pastizzi is found in Rabat at Crystal Palace. These little pastries will set you back €0.30 a pop.

Soul Food (Valletta)

This restaurant serves up healthy, wholesome food made with love. Tables at this little restaurant fill up quick, with many of them spilling out onto the streets of Valletta. Main courses here are around €12 and flatbreads are €6.

Click here for directions.

The Compass Lounge (Sliema)

A casual restaurant located on a waterfront promenade, serving up good food and great drinks (check out the happy hour) in a nice setting. This restaurant is always busy with locals and tourists. We recommend the focaccia bread with parma ham, rocket and parmesan. It’s a big portion and only costs €5.50.

Tip: You can use the Malta Discount Card here to receive 50% off of food, not drinks.

Click here for directions.

Other restaurants we recommend around Malta include: Tal-Ingliz Restaurant (Mgarr), Vinum Wine Bar at Fontanella (Mdina), Michael’s (Valletta), Fra Giuseppe (Balzan), and Country Terrace (Located on Gozo Island). You can use the Malta Discount card at Country Terrace as well to receive 50% off of food.

READ MORE: A Guide to The Best Restaurants in Malta

Transportation Costs in Malta

During our two month stay in Malta, we didn’t have a rental car. It would have made getting around to the lesser-known spots much easier, but there is a great public transport system in Malta and many of the places we went were easy to get to on foot.

If you plan on travelling around the islands (Malta and Gozo) a lot, you may want to consider getting a Tallinja Transportation Card. This is a personalized card that you can add credit to. You’ll receive discounted bus rates (€0.75 / journey rather than €1.50 – €2), and the amount is capped at €26 / month.

To get to Valletta from Sliema, your best bet is to take the 10 minute ferry-boat, which runs from 7:00am – 7:00pm in the winter, and 7:00am – 12:45am in the summer. Click here for the Valletta Ferry Services schedule and rates.

Cost of Data Plans in Malta

If you plan on living in Malta as a Digital Nomad, you obviously want to know about the wi-fi and data plans. First of all, the wi-fi is incredibly fast and stable in Malta. At our apartment in Sliema, we ran a speed test on the wi-fi and it came up as 30mbps, and we could download torrents at 3.5 – 4mbps! Uploading wasn’t as fast, but we had no issues uploading our videos to YouTube, or streaming shows.

If you’re from a country in the European Union, you can keep your local SIM card and won’t pay any roaming charges when travelling to other EU countries. Click here to learn more about that.

For those of us who aren’t from the EU, purchasing a SIM card in Malta will get you the best rate. To purchase a SIM card, head to one of the local phone companies. We went with Vodofone as it’s regarded as one of the best and most reliable on the island. Also, it had 4G prepaid plans. Keep in mind that some of the companies only have 3G, and make sure to check that before you buy.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo above, the packages aren’t great for Digital Nomads who want to be connected all of the time. 500MB isn’t a lot of data. We went with the Pop Smart Plan, but needed to add-on an additional 3GB of data, for a total cost of €30 / month. This definitely wasn’t the cheapest plan we’ve had around the world, but at least it was 4G, and thankfully the wi-fi at our apartment worked very well.

Although we find this to be an expensive option, many Digital Nomads choose to work at a co-working space. In Sliema, you’ll find Prints of Wales. The rates are as pictured below. For more information, click here to check out their website.

Hospital Visits in Malta

Hopefully you don’t need an emergency visit to the hospital in Malta, but if you do, in my experience the quality of care is excellent. If you’re due for a medical check-up, perhaps consider having it done in Malta. I personally saw a doctor at the St. James Hospital, which is the longest running private hospital on the island, and my yearly check-up only set me back about $50.

Click here to learn more about visiting the hospital in Malta, and click here for a free travel insurance quote with World Nomads.

Cost of Entertainment in Malta

The great thing about living in Malta is that there are numerous things to keep you busy, many of which are free. Check out our list below, and if you want more, have a look at this guide to Malta.

Hiking: The Walks Of Malta are a network of trails that have been marked out around the islands of Gozo and Malta. Even though the main cities are quite developed, there’s actually a lot of undeveloped countryside, plus numerous historical sites and beautiful seaside scenery. Download a route map, pick a hike you want to go on, and follow the coloured markers. It’s easy, and free. The seafront stroll from Sliema to St. Julian’s is a great spot as well.

Visit The Theatre: Teatru Manoel is located in Valletta and is one of the oldest running theatres in all of Europe. Check out the symphony here if you have a chance.

Nightlife: The nightlife options in Malta are endless! Around St. Julian’s area, just pick a bar or a pub that you like. If you’re in Valletta, Strait Street is always a good time, check out Loop Bar there, or the gin and whiskey bars! Isle of MTV is a massive concert in Valletta, which happens in June. There are some big bands at this event. For more on events around Malta, check out the Expat Malta Facebook Group.

Fireworks: Depending on which time of the year you’re living in Malta, you may be able to see the International Fireworks Festival, which happens in April. The beautiful displays can be seen in Xaghra, Marsaxlokk and Valletta.

Sea Adventures: Malta is an island, and it’s no surprise that many of the activities you can enjoy involve being out on the water. Sailing, scuba diving, snorkelling, swimming and kayaking are just some of the many things to do on the water! Gozo and Comino Islands are excellent spots for diving and kayaking.

Walking Tour: To learn about the history of Malta (which is long, interesting and somewhat confusing!), definitely consider going on a walking tour in Valletta, which is free. Click here to register and learn more.

Visit a Winery: Due to its location and climate, Malta produces some excellent wine! It may not be as popular or well-known as its boot-shaped neighbour to the north, but the wines in Malta are great. Check out Marsovin Winery.

Fish Market in Marxaxlokk: Every Sunday, this city holds a fish market and although touristy, ti’s still a nice way to spend the morning. Take bus #81 or #82 in Valletta and be warned that many people will be lined up waiting for the bus. Get there as early as possible.

Experience The History: Malta’s history is incredibly rich and dates back 5,000 years. The Hypogeum is a must-visit, underground burial site. Only 80 people / day can visit the Hypogeum, so make sure to book your tickets well in advance (at least a month). Click here to book.

Watch Sunset: In Sliema, near the mall, there are some steps leading down to rocks along the water (below the promenade). This is an excellent spot for swimming, and watching the sunset. The colours of the buildings in Valletta across the bay turn a beautiful golden hue. Bring a bottle of wine and enjoy.

These are just a few of the many things to see and do during your stay in Malta. You’ll never be bored when you’re living here!

READ MORE: The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Malta

Total Cost of Living in Malta

Malta is an excellent country for Digital Nomads. On top of having speedy wi-fi and numerous accommodation options available, it’s also and very affordable destination that offers great value for money.

Here is a rough breakdown of the monthly cost to live in Malta:

Rent: €1,000

Groceries: €300

Restaurants: €60 (1 restaurant / week)

Entertainment: Free – €65 (kayaking trip)

SIM & Data: €30

Public Transportation: €26 (at the very most)

Total Monthly Cost: €1,481

Now, of course this is just an estimate. Maybe you find a place for rent that is €750 and there are two of you sharing the cost. Maybe you eat more basic groceries (pasta, rice, etc.) and only spend €200 each month, or maybe you walk everywhere and only take 2 boat journeys in a month for around €4.

The cost of living in Malta varies, but will be around €1,500 / month for 1 person at the midrange level.

The next time you’re thinking about where to put down some temporary roots, consider Malta. This Mediterranean Island has welcoming people, good prices and endless options for things to see and do!

Want More Malta Posts?

A Digital Nomad Guide To Living in Malta

The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Malta

Living in Malta: An Introduction to Our Temporary Home

Visiting Gozo Island – Our Weekend Getaway From Malta

Exploring Gozo: Our Sea and Land Adventures in the Maltese Archipelago

A Guide To The Best Restaurants in Malta

21 Photos That Will Inspire You To Travel to Malta

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msalishagayle-blog · 7 years

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Everyone has been asking me how I survive the Paleo diet. I have made promises that I would share my secrets, but life has been absolutely crazy and I truly apologize.

So, here it goes.

I cannot have sugar, soy, dairy, gluten, anything starchy, and it has to be all organic or at least all natural with no added hormones and antibiotic free. I am going to post pictures of items that I use in place of common snacks/foods that people eat that I can no longer have.

Let’s start with sugar. Natural sugar from organic fruits are okay, but I cannot eat fruit in the evening because it will raise my fasting blood sugar in the morning. Instead of regular sugar, I use Stevia. It is made from a plant which makes it much more healthier than Splenda or Sweet n’ Low.

They also have stevia drops for sweetening. For example, I have a paleo chocolate chip recipe that I use vanilla stevia drops in place of vanilla extract. Still tastes just as good. My mom uses a lot of the different flavors during holidays for a lot of our paleo dessert dishes.

Another way to sweeten foods is by using raw, organic honey. There are many different brands you can find at Kroger, Whole Foods, Meijer, Lucky’s Market, etc.

I have never really been a fan of soy sauce to begin with, but you would be surprised how many foods have soy in them. Soy is definitely not good for people who suffer from thyroid issues. In place of sauces, I use coconut aminos. It is absolutely delicious. You can use it for sautéing vegetables and pouring over any lean meats. Your best bet at finding this item is at Whole Foods, Lucky’s Market, or ordering off of Thrive or Amazon.

When I tell people that I am non-dairy, they give me crazy looks like, how??? Honestly, I’ve never been much of a milk drinker to begin with. So cutting out dairy wasn’t completely difficult. You can drink Almond or Coconut milk in place of regular milk. I’m not a huge coconut milk fan, but I love Almond milk. Also, I use Daiya non-dairy cheese. You can find Almond and Coconut milk at Meijer, Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Lucky’s Market, etc. Mostly the same for the cheese.

Also, I have to use a non-dairy mayonnaise. The best brand that tastes good? “Just Mayo”. Flavor is Hampton Creek. You can find this at Kroger and any Whole Foods store, but I would advise you to get it at Meijer because you get a bigger container for a much more reasonable price.

I mentioned earlier that Paleo sweets do in fact exist. Yes, people. There are ways to make delicious sweets. How? The first example is by using things such as raw honey or stevia as natural sweeteners instead of using pure granulated sugar. Also, we use coconut flour, almond flour, or both instead of white flour. Of course if you have a nut allergy or coconut allergy, you would have to research alternatives, but if you do not have these allergies, then they are perfectly fine to use to make sweets and all kinds of different breads.

How do I cook my meats or sauté my vegetables? I am not allowed to use vegetable oil and they advise you to only use olive oil at cool temps. So, I don’t use any oils at all. I use a specific butter called Earth Balance that is soy free. This can be found at any grocery store. Be careful when using for baking in the oven, it does tend to have a smoking point.

I cannot have regular salt, it must be sea salt.

I cannot have rice, corn, or white potatoes, but I can have organic sweet potatoes.

Water must be my best friend, but if I have a craving for something else, my favorite pop to drink is Zevia. There is no caffeine and Stevia is the sweetener that is used. You can find this at Kroger, Meijer, and any Whole Foods Stores. My favorite flavors is Ginger ale, Orange, and Grape!

My guilty please is Enjoy dark chocolate chips. You should still limit yourself on how much you eat of them because if you aren’t careful, it can still elevate your sugar. I also use these in my Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I obtained through Pinterest. I would advise purchasing these at your local Kroger because they are $2 cheaper than if you were to go to a Whole Foods store.

For snacks, I eat Plantain or Sweet Potatoe chips instead of regular chips. For popcorn, I get Skinny Pop. These can be found at any grocery store except for Plantain chips. You can only find these at Lucky’s Market or select Big Lots. (Big Lots is much cheaper of course.)

I also love unsweetened coconut chips. I get the Simple Truth brand at Kroger.

The best snack to have are sea salted almonds or pecans. Always keep these on hand for in between meals. These are much more healthier for you than the other snacks I mentioned.

You would think peanuts are good for you, right? They actually aren’t. Peanuts are Legumes which contain lectins. These are the kind of proteins that cause damage to the stomach lining and causes issues with your digestive tract. So, say no to the peanut. Instead of peanut butter, try almond butter. It is a great and tasty alternative. Barney is my favorite brand in which I would advise to get at Kroger.

All meats must either be organic or all natural, free of added growth hormones or antibiotics, the same for vegetables and fruits (free of pesticides or chemicals). The best places to go for these meats for reasonable prices are Whole Foods stores or small grocery stores such as Lucky’s Market. When picking out salad dressings, your best bets are any kind of vinaigrettes’. Especially balsamic. Try to avoid eating fast food at all costs. NOTHING processed. When getting meats in cans such as Tuna, they must be BPA free, your cooking ware and containers as well. Pyrex are my favorite containers for baking and storing. One of the most important things about Paleo is staying hydrated with plenty of water in which I have to work on that daily (like everyone else in this world).

Also, who doesn’t love Pizza? I mean, come on! Having to be dairy free and gluten free can be frustrating at times, but, Pie Five has been a life savor for when I am having a craving for pizza. I have the option of gluten free crust and vegan cheese and whatever else I want to add to my pizza. We have two Pie Five stores in Lexington, KY currently. Not only do you have the option of pizza, but you can also add a garden side salad to it. There is one located at the Fayette Mall and one off of South Broadway beside Cookout.

I am going to try and keep my promise from here on out and post a few recipes that I personally use for family meals from time to time. My parents started this diet before me and have truly helped me become prepared for when I started. I have them and Dr. Miller to thank at True Health Solutions. This lifestyle change has been awesome for me! I have never felt better! I do understand that everyone is different and everyone has different issues, but for us, this has truly helped change our lives for the better!

Dad was a Type 2 Diabetic for 14 years and took 3 insulin shots a day, plus he had hypertension, high cholesterol, and many other problems. He was a walking time bomb for a stroke or heart attack. This lifestyle change has added years onto his life. It has also helped my Mother with her Thyroid Disease.

Not only has it helped change his and Mom’s way of life, it has helped me tremendously. I was born without a thyroid gland and developed Type 2 diabetes after giving birth to my daughter. The medications led to severe liver problems and I was severely ill. Now, I am no longer considered a diabetic and I am off all medications except for my levothyroxine for my missing thyroid gland. I have never felt better. I am more upbeat. I no longer drag or have fatigue and I actually have the energy to play with my daughter.

May 2017

225 lbs. A1C: 5.9

If you have any questions, feel free to add me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/alishagayle1991 or instagram by the name of alishagaylepowers.

Life couldn’t be better now that I have gotten my health back in order. If it wasn’t for the support of my husband and for me having my daughter as an ultimate drive, I couldn’t have made it this far. I still have a little ways to go and a lot more weight that I would love to lose, but it will happened. For once, I have faith!

My Paleo Life Hacks Everyone has been asking me how I survive the Paleo diet. I have made promises that I would share my secrets, but life has been absolutely crazy and I truly apologize.

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caredogstips · 7 years

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Ann Patchett:’ If writers are to survive we must take responsibility for ourselves and our manufacture’

The author explores buying her own bookstore, the bequest of divorce and referring to herself in the third person

In the windowpane above Ann Patchetts desk is a small steel and enamel sign that reads: What good shall I do this day? This simple dictum is the engine of Patchetts world, both on the sheet and off. In the Orange prizewinning Bel Canto , comradeship, ardour and productivity bloom among terrorists and captives; in 2011 s artful State of Wonder , a sensible research scientist faces not just the serpents and other frights of the Amazonian jungle, but the dragon of her former medical lecturer.

I have been shown so much kindness in “peoples lives”, so for me to write volumes about good, species parties seems totally natural, Patchett tells. When “theyre saying”, Oh its too nice, its naive, I just think: who killed your mother?

It infringes a literary inhibition to write fiction that hints parties might be fundamentally good. For the 52 -year-old Patchett, however, the real taboo was writing about their own families. Commonwealth , her seventh romance, publicized this week, encompasses 50 years and two pedigrees, the Cousinses and the Keatings, whose common fate is set in motion at a gin-soaked christening defendant where Albert Cousins caresses Beverley Keating.

Today, the very best that Patchett will do involves picking up a columnist from Nashvilles airport and devoting her whole daytime to zipping around township in her little silver Prius, testifying mentioned journalist her world-wide. Even if she hadnt published an paper, The Mercies, about her schooling with the Sisters of Mercy, you might guess that Patchett had been raised by nuns. She excretes that sleeves-rolled, get-on-with it ability, paired with the clarity and occasional brutality of true-blue righteousness. To watch her in action is to hear the Mother Abbess from The Sound of Music sing, Climb Evry Mountain. Patchett climbs every mountain, but she will also croak an occasional, and deliciously un-nun-like, fuck!

What do you do when the bookstores in your hometown all shut down? If youre Patchett, you open one yourself. In 2011, she founded Parnassus Books, an idyll in a shopping plaza, with her business marriage, Karen Hayes. She has since become a rallying spokesperson for independent bookstores.

I feel that writers are treated like orchids: they keep us in the hothouse, they cloud the americans and attend to our every motivation, but if this system is going to work, if we are going to survive, we need to come out of the hothouse and take responsibility for ourselves and for the health of the industry.

She takes a firm line. When customers visit the bookstore and keep telling her Amazon is cheaper: Im like, You cannot come in, soak up what we have, talk to the staff, get recommendations, then go home and buy the book on Amazon. If you do, I will hunt you down and smack-dab you guys later. Somehow, she lends with a smiling, Ann Patchett can say that in a way that your regular bookstore owned cant.

She leads the way to the offices at the back, where young women work with puppies at their hoofs and on their laps. One of the salesclerks pokes her president around the door and tells Patchett that theres an Australian fan here who would really like to meet her.

All right, here “theres going”, and Patchett psyches out to the storey to signal four replicas for her love. Later, she tells me that when people tell her how much they cherish her notebooks, Im smiling, and Im grateful, but I almost dont know what theyre speak about. Its so far away, and what I am thinking at that moment, is: I hope I am cooking my face in a way that I seem hired and grateful.

She and her husband, the surgeon Karl Vandevender, talking here Ann Patchett in the third largest being, as do her friends and peers at the bookstore. Theyll reply: Oh, we need Ann Patchett for something, and Ill run: Ill see if I can conjure her up. Ann Patchett, she reads definitively, is the label. Ive got to employed that away at the end of the day.

All of her tales, she explains, are the same floor: a group of parties are thrown together and must forge connections to survive. Ive been writing the same journal my whole life that youre in one family, and all of a sudden, youre in another family and its not your option and you cant get off. Eventually, she expected herself: I wonder if I wrote the storey that Im so carefully not writing, if I might be free of it?

As soon as she began working on Commonwealth , the story of her own parents divorce and her precede life with stepsiblings, she announced her intentions to her family. Thats brave, I say.

Yeah, it is. It was also really smart. She told them: I dont want to cut off a part of my life any more. I dont wishes to not have access to my own experience because I dont want to set anybody out. I want to be able to grow. And, I find, until I get this done, Im not going to grow. And everybody supposed: You lead, girl!

Patchett concedes that, until this stage, shed been very self-congratulatory over not having written a volume about their own families, which seemed like the strong, easy thing to do. Then she read an paper by Jonathan Franzen in which he insisted that the novelist has to do what intimidates him “the worlds largest” and, for him, that had been writing about his family. When I speak that, I thoughts: oh , good-for-nothing would scare me more. I would happily razz down the Amazon in a canoe and is being dealt with serpents[ as she did to study State of Wonder ] rather than face my family.

In the entitle paper of her 2013 non-fiction collect, This Is the Story of a Joyous Wedding , she details the lineage of divorce in her own family, including her own at the age of 25, and her eventual matrimony to Vandevender. There is a sense in that paper, which moves in steady, clear-eyed increments, of a columnist willing herself into facing and articulating hard truths, of which this is paramount: Divorce is the history lesson, that circumstance that must be remembered in order not to be repeated. Divorce is the rock upon which this faith is built.

She remembers sweat swarming down her appearance as she wrote it, while she experienced the distinct sensation that she was sitting in the middle of the road in the dark, with a legal pad, contemplation: Im going to get squashed by a truck.

She writes candidly, for example, that she, her sister and their stepsiblings werent the products of our mothers joyous wedlocks: “were in” the flotsam of their divorces. In Commonwealth , that flotsam is the intense little tribe of the six Cousins and Keating babes, each of whom corresponds to her own stepsiblings.

Its like chess fragments, she tells, as she explains that each persona stood in for a real family member. In this mode, it was very easy for me to keep track of everyone over 50 years. And genuinely, I committed everybody a high quality of life, by a very large margin. The parties in the book somehow represented my dearest desires for all the people.

Its dedicated to Mike Glasscock, her half-brother, reimagined here as Albie, a very young, whom the others find so annoying that they narcotic him with Benadryl to induce him sleep for hours. Years afterwards, as a bicycle messenger and recovering heroin user, Albie chances upon a romance called Commonwealth by a writer announced Leo Posen. He realises it is about two pedigrees, his own, about the inestimable burden of their lives: the occupation, the houses, the friendships, the marriages, the children, as if all the things theyd craved and worked for had cemented the impossibility of any kind of merriment. He wonders: Isnt that what everyone wants, just for a moment to be unencumbered?

Its surely my greedy lust, Patchett laughs. Franny, whom the nun had led to believe that God granted preference to people who did things the hard way, is a cocktail waitress when she first fulfils the famous novelist Posen.( Who wants to have a novel about a novelist? Patchett groan. But thats the way it turned out .) He becomes so drunk that she must help him up to his hotel chamber, where he has only enough time left to ask for one more advantage, which Franny thought was the deepest difference between women and men. Eventually, that dynamic is enlarged in incidents established in the Hamptons, Long Island, where Franny spots herself expected to single-handedly acquire dinner and liquors for changing hordes of Posens clients. Theyre some of the funniest of the book.

You wanna talk about which part of this volume is autobiographical? Patchett reads. That fraction. How exhausting it is, as the status of women, to always be the one who has to do the meat and change the bunks. No topic how enlightened, how much of a feminist I am, I am still doing all of it.[ With] every journal I conceive: well, if this ones actually successful, maybe I wont “re going to have to” acquire dinner any more, she laughs. Perhaps Ill finally is how to not do this any more, because its my fault. Its is not simply gender, but the 12 years of Catholic school and being trained to be a good servant. I believe in this, I truly believe that the greatest event you can do is to serve.

Oh, if I could free-spoken myself from the autocracy of good deeds, she mocklaments. Oh, there used to be no stopping me. I could be Tolstoy without good deeds. I has actually be something.

Over lunch she tells me that she read a Charles Bukowski poem that morning that aims those who/ replace/ know/ this secret :/ there isnt/ one. Its abide with her, perhaps because writing, more than any other art formation, is susceptible to regulations, premier among other issues being to write every day.

Dont you think guys are the ones that always say that? she adds. Im not sure Ive heard a woman say you have to write every day. Theyre too busy obligating dinner. I go through extended periods of time when I dont write, and Im fine. Writing is an amazing situate to hide, to go into the rabbit defect and pull the trap door down over your premier. I want to have time in my life when I dont have that cover.

She also insists that there are things that are a lot more important than me writing a novel. For illustration: If person told, OK, you can either write five more great novels, or you are able to made to ensure that the people who work in bookstores have health insurance and have some home to depart if they need assistance because theyre transgressed. At this stage I might certainly go for the very best. Nothing fuels the good of “the worlds” like gaiety, and the thing that sees me feel really alive is figuring out how I can startle other beings into doing good.

To ordering Commonwealth for 15.57( Bloomsbury, RRP 18.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or announce 0330 333 6846. Free UK p& p over 10, online orders merely. Phone orders min p& p of 1.99.

Read more: www.theguardian.com

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3one3 · 7 years

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The Sequel - 810

How Long

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“What’s that delicious smell?”

“A whole salmon with honey, lemon, and garlic. I hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m hungry, but I don’t know if I’m eat-a-whole-salmon hungry. How much salmon are we talking about?”

“Like...this much...maybe?”

André smiled at Christina’s “diligent face” while she tried to demonstrate the dimensions of the large piece of fish she found in the fresh market. Stefanie and Kyle were trying to work on their cooking skills, so after everyone did their riding on Saturday morning they convinced their coach to go shopping with them for ingredients to make “something good that we can eat for a few days”. They spent a lot of cash on dressing up their apartment and were spending quite a bit on eating out too. They wanted to eat healthier and cheaper, and not have to drive so much. Their place was not close to the barn at all. Extra driving on top of the commute was not appreciated. Stefanie was used to oatmeal, salads, and really basic dinners. Kyle was used to buying out the ready-made section at the grocery store, being taken out by his parents, and having their in-house cook prepare things for him to take home from family dinner. Christina detected some collaborative motivation going on, as if the two young riders were inspired to do better in the kitchen because it could be a team effort and maybe that was better than judging each other for their regular eating and cooking habits.

Their motivation worked out to her benefit, because they found out about a great fresh foods market in the city. They bought three nice looking Pink salmon, which were “whole” but not “wholly intact”, meaning they were ready to cook, no trimming necessary, a 6lb chuck roast, and tons of produce. Their riding trainer walked Stefanie and Kyle through two meals right in her own kitchen while everyone watched Dortmund lose by two goals to one at Hertha Berlin. She showed them how to make a hearty beef stew with onions, carrots, potatoes, turnips, and green beans, and graciously allowed them to take it home in one of her Dutch oven pots, then they made two of the fish, the same way the third one was cooking when André got home from the airport. It was baked in foil first with a liberal helping of the sauce made from coconut oil, raw honey, lemon juice, and garlic, and then caramelized quickly under the broiler. The explanation he got for the quantity of fish was the same as they got.

“You eat it hot tonight and then you can have it cold in a salad tomorrow, or even in an omelette, and Lukas loves it cold with anything. I can even mix it with some plain yogurt and onion and celery and give it to him like tuna salad for a sandwich,” Christina told him. As Stefanie and Kyle came to understand, there are tons of ways to eat leftover salmon for a few days. Christina had no intention of eating any of it, but she also got a bunch of other food at the colorful, bountiful, and reasonably priced market, so she had plenty to eat before she even got started on the footballer’s fish.

“Okay,” he laughed. It was quite novel for him to see his girl back in “I want to do nice things for you” mode. He liked it when she tried to be the perfect housewife, not because he valued housewife behavior but because she was always cute about it, and she wanted to take care of her people for her own satisfaction rather than some obligation. He was also just glad that she wasn’t bursting at the seams to deliver a lecture about his team’s performance, which was lethargic, inefficient, and careless. Tuchel committed the same crime as many others before him. He tried to rotate, but instead of changing one or two players and still preserving the balance, system, and shape of his team, he made three changes and changed everything. The system they started with was dysfunctional and made no use of anyone’s talents or strengths, Matze Ginter made a typical Matze Ginter mistake and gave up a goal, they got their act together with a major tactical overhaul at half time, Auba got an equalizer, things were finally coming good, Tuchel used substitutions to overload in attack, his defenders were exposed on the break and gave up many free kicks, and Hertha scored a winner from one of them. André missed a chance in the first two minutes because he was overeager and desperate to prove himself. Auba missed a clear chance set up from some great team play. Other opportunities were not capitalized on. André wasn’t happy with himself, with the teammates who missed his better runs or couldn’t make something of the chances he created for them, and the manager, for not figuring out sooner than the way he set his team out was useless and duly changing the system to get his two forwards more involved. He knew Christina must have wanted to break the TV throughout that game, and he was mostly right. She paid as much attention as she could while tutoring her riders in the basics of stews.

“Go change if you want. It’s done in two minutes,” she advised in the spacious foyer. It had its own wood-burning fireplace.

“Mausi isn’t still up, is he?” The BVB man leaned to the left for a more complete view of the living room behind her.

“He had the last of the pot pies and pot-pie-passed out. In the highchair. With his cup in his hand.” His wife imitated their son’s posture when he couldn’t wait for her to finish making the sauce for the fish on the stove, and just got a head start on bedtime. She then shoved him by the waist toward the stairs and told him to hurry up. He took two steps and then paused to watch her literally prance through the living room in her furry slippers. Christina was just in a hurry to get to the broiler and make sure she didn’t overcook her fish, but André read it as excitement. He thought she was that happy to have him home again.

He’d been involved in a repair campaign since she made it clear to him on Thursday that she was lonely and bored because he was hardly home, and not just because she missed London, had no close friends around to do things with, and had little on her work schedule beyond regular riding and teaching. They went out for dinner that night, and he talked her into saving her riding for the afternoon on Friday so that they could hang out with Lukas at home until he had to go to Brackel and the team hotel. Some small courtesies were part of his effort to make his wife feel more at home. For example, he programmed an easy to navigate to set of favorites on the TV with all the pertinent UK-originated channels so that she could find all her regular shows without having to browse through all the domestic channels. He texted more too while he was away. Significant football match or no significant football match, he wanted to make Christina want to be home more than she wanted to go back to London. There was still no sex, but she was at least a little warmer to him while he was there. Her eyes weren’t so empty or sad.

There was a plate on the counter for him with a big section of the delicate but meaty pink fish, dark orange and almost crisp on top, moist and tender inside. It was garnished with the remnants of two lemon slices from the packet it cooked in, fresh parsley, and coarse ground pepper. There was also brown rice and a pile of greens dressed in the sweet and lightly acidic honey, lemon, and garlic sauce. It smelled even better than when it was in the broiler, and much to André’s delight, there were two glasses of white wine at the tall stools.

“You ate already, Prinzessin?”

“I had the same with but with broiled chicken breast. Sit. Eat,” Christina ordered. She was refilling the dogs’ water bowl.

“Sit with me.”

“I’m going to.”

“This looks very nice. Did you try it? Salmon is a fish you pretend to tolerate when other people feed it to you.”

“No, but I made it earlier with Kyle and Stef too and they had it for dinner and loved it. I don’t know how hungry you are, but there’s more rice and more salad.”

“I just ate after the match a few hours ago, so this is plenty. Cheers, pretty girl.” André clinked his glass of chilled Viognier with hers when she climbed into the tall wooden stool beside his. The new ones had backs to them, and were more comfortable than the more humble and basic round ones of their old place. They were also a greater ask to sit in since the eating part of the vast island was raised a few inches above the work surface part and they were tall to compensate. She took a big gulp of her favorite wine and then watched on with anticipation as the player sampled the salmon.

His attempts to improve the current state of their relationship were not unnoticed. Christina appreciated them even though they didn’t do much for her core problems. Missing Juan was still difficult. Believing things would get markedly better with her partner was still difficult. Accepting that different isn’t automatically worse was still difficult. And it still felt like the life she wanted to live was the one that happened when she was with the Spaniard, no matter which country that happened in. Those times were “good” life, and all the travel and back and forth with André was the “bad” life. Settled in Dortmund wasn’t as good as the “good” yet. It was closer to the “bad”. The Londoner was trying to open herself up to feeling good about those things- to remain ready to receive a positive feeling instead of constantly expecting only negative. And it was killing her that André was hurting because of her. He wasn’t just annoyed, or frustrated, or hurrying past that which he didn’t want to acknowledge in favor of getting closer to that which he did. He was actively upset about the state of their relationship too. It was painful for him too despite his questions about it surely being different from Christina’s.

And then there was football. Whether he was or wasn’t putting enough person pressure on himself, she saw him unhappy about his performances and contributions much more often than he was happy. Making dinner for him was supposed to provide an avenue to celebrate a great appearance. The ginger bearded forward was supposed to justify his inclusion and shut up all the doubters. Instead he blew that early chance and set the wrong tone for the whole match. The commentators said he should have done better. His wife thought they didn’t look that closely. He had to rush the shot. A defender almost got a toe on it. He didn’t have all day. It was probably his second touch of the match, after the first one to take it into space to get the shot off. They harped on it through the whole game. At one point he was in a good spot in the box and literally slipped and fell down while trying to get on the end of a cross. It was unlikely he’d get to it anyway, but it still looked bad and no doubt had critics facepalming. Blaming André for club problems was becoming quite popular among a subset of the fans and many of the established bloggers. He did the post-match interviews and said they lost due to small details, and that he wasn’t blaming anyone. He said it was a frustrating afternoon. His wife didn’t see or hear frustration coming from him. All she saw was sadness and disappointment. During the game, that frustration was real. It bubbled over into a late challenge at one point. During the brief periods when everyone had some rhythm going, and interplay was quick and purposeful, André looked pretty strong and capable. Christina was sure he thought he was going to get a chance to make up for the early miss. He even had a good shot just before being subbed late on, missing only by inches. His girl knew that sadness and dejection and disappointment. Her fancy salmon became a consolation dinner.

“I know I say this every time you make something new, but you are the best wife,” the target of her culinary therapy nodded while he chewed. “This is fantastic. I’m gonna want this all the time now.” I have like half of the wife perks back now, he added to himself. Tonight, I want the sex part back. She is so ugh, nom when she prances around in the boyshorts and her slippers. I’ve hardly seen her legs since she moved in.

“Well it’s very easy to make and it takes 20 minutes total so you can have it whenever you like. I got tons of berries and fruit today too.”

“So you had a good day, yeah? You said the horses were all happy to work outside?”

“Mhm. How about you, boyfriend?” Christina took a smaller sip from her glass and then turned her lip over in a sympathetic pout. “Do you want to talk about the game?”

“Not really. I could have been better, everyone else could have been better, and Tuchel could have been better. I bet you already know how I feel about it,” André shrugged, eyes on his food. Getting the rice, the fish, and the bitter leaves all together made for a really nice bite. I would rather discuss the food. When I say I know she knows how I feel already what I really mean is I hope she does, because she used to be good at that, and because I don’t want to have to spell it out. I can tell she’s not in the mood to do “I told you so”, or she just knows I don’t want to hear it, he thought as he felt a small hand arrive near the middle of his back. So maybe she knows what’s up with me better than I know what’s up with her lately.

“I don’t understand why he chooses to play Matze when Papa is out. Like, don’t take out the best defender you have and put in the worst. If you need to give Matze playing time, put him next to Julian, or if it has to be at center back then do it when Papa is playing and he’s protected.”

“I don’t know. Where you going?” the player asked unhappily when he realized the comforting hand lifted from his back and its owner was sliding off her seat.

“To put the rest of the fish away. I need to get in the shower so my hair has time to dry before bed. Excessive vegetable peeling, chopping, and juicing makes my arms tired. I can’t hold a dryer.” Christina shot her “poor me” face over her shoulder at him at the same time as her phone vibrated where she left it on the counter.

“What about your wine?” What about sitting with me while I eat, André complained in silence, reaching for the device.

“Cute picture. Didn’t you say you slept all the time as a baby and your mum couldn’t wake you up to eat?” he read from the message preview while she assured him she’d finish her drink later. Did she take a picture of Mausi passed out in his chair and send it to him and not me? That’s not nice. He tapped in her passcode so that he could look at the context in which the message was sent, and sure enough his wife had sent his old teammate a photo of their little boy looking a bit like a drunk, hugging his drink to his chest but completely out. There was a picture before that of two big pieces of fish just like the one the German was eating. He glanced guiltily up at Christina’s back, checking to see how close she was to being done trying to cut the salmon into pieces she could stack in a large plastic container. Spying on her text conversations always felt a little intrusive to him, whether there was anything to hide in them or not. It made him feel like an overly protective parent checking up on a child, firstly, which was disrespectful to his grown up wife, and then he felt like a controlling husband, which made him ask himself if he had doubts about her truthfulness. He didn’t. He trusted her. He had to. So checking up on that trust didn’t feel right. He closed the messaging app and opened her photos instead, because he could justify that in a less distrusting way. He could argue, to himself mostly, that he just wanted to see what else he’d missed the photo-documentation of that perhaps the Spaniard hadn’t.

What he saw created a shuddering pain in his chest. There were tons of recent photos she never shared with him. Some weren’t meaningful to him anyway, like shots of her horses in their new home, Spencer and Lucky sleeping together in one of their cubby beds in the tack room, and disorganized mountains of moving boxes. Then there were pictures that did matter- tons of landscape shots of Mallorcan scenery, sleepy selfies his girl took while leaning on a chest that wasn’t his, “outfit of the day” type shots he knew she never posted on social media or anything, cute Lukas things like him sitting in a saddle on a saddle rack or leading one of the horses in the barn, and most concerning, selfies with more than just Juan’s headless torso. There were a handful of photos of them making silly faces together, or Christina kissing him. There were photos of just the other player by himself. None of it was limited to just one trip to see him or anything like that, and they weren’t even all photos she took herself. She’d collected photos from Sweden from the professional photographers, including her champagne spraying but also her hugging Juan outside the ring, and Juan in some kind of standoff with Dirk. The Spanish midfielder was wearing her horse show backpack and holding her show coat over one arm with a plastic cup of something in his hand, and Dirk clearly wanted whatever was in the cup. He had his bridle and ear net on, and his ears were back. He didn’t get as far as the mirror picture of Juan holding and kissing his naked wife. He didn’t need to. Everything after that was bad enough. The hurt in his heart mixed with sickness and he didn’t want to eat anymore.

“Can you put the lids on these containers when you’re done eating?” she asked without turning around. “I don’t want to cover them while the fish is still warm. I used two separate containers so that they would finish cooling faster.”

“How long have you been in love with Juan again?” André asked back plainly. He heard something fall in the sink next to her. She takes selfies when she feels good about herself, or her thinks her makeup is really good. She only saves horse show pictures when the show meant something to her. She used to send me tons of Mausi photos- even uninteresting ones of him doing nothing- and I’ve never seen any of these. Who is she taking pictures of herself in the mirror for if not me and if not to post for her sponsors or whatever? They’re for him, he concluded for the second time since browsing her album. The rider briefly panicked, and dropped the pie server she’d been using to pick up the fish, assuming the noise made by her phone was Juan texting her something that wasn’t meant for André’s eyes. Her heart beat loud enough to hear it in her ears for a few seconds, and then the sound and the sensation quickly evaporated, replaced by something like relief.

“I’m not really sure,” she admitted, her back still to her partner. She was sure being rid of a sort of secret made her feel lighter on her feet. Each time she tried to talk to André about the core problems she believed had taken root in their relationship, she left out the fact that there was an outside influence at play too. She never framed any of her complaints or explanations in the context of the alternative she had going on- in context of the relationship that was highlighting all the ways her marriage was damaged and unsatisfying in that moment. The rider never really felt guilty about not giving André 100% of the details of the time she spent with Juan. She never felt guilty for not saying “You’re doing this, that, and the other thing all wrong and he does it right”, because she didn’t want it to be a contest. But she did feel like she was keeping something from everybody, and her partner had just nailed it. At some point, she went from loving her best friend to being in love with him again, despite her constant reassurances to herself that she wasn’t doing that, and wasn’t crossing a line, or giving to the Spaniard that which was supposed to be reserved for the other one- that thing that was supposed to demarcate the difference between her relationships with the two. She promised André that Juan wouldn’t become her partner. He wanted something reserved for him. Her hold on that gave out at some point.

“You told me a long time ago that you were trying to keep yourself away from him when things got too intense because you want to be with me, and didn’t want to put yourself in a situation that could lead to hurting us. So if you’re not doing that anymore, and you’re going on trips with him and having him at your horse shows, and being with him enough that you fall for him again, should I take that to mean you don’t want us to be together anymore?” he asked, tone still plain and steady. Christina squeezed her eyes shut for a second and then blinked a bunch of times, preparing herself to be completely honest. She was too chicken to personally shoot out the thread she believed her marriage was hanging on, but she wasn’t too chicken to load the gun and hand it to André. She’d tell him the truth and if it upset him enough, then it was he who would put an end to everything and not her.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I want us to be together no matter what anymore because I don’t know if either of us even likes being together anymore. I know that it’s so hard with you right now and it shouldn’t be. We’re finally in one place and everything should be great, and it’s not. It’s so easy with him. I feel good when I’m with him, and...I miss him when I’m not. I’m happy with him. You and I haven’t been happy together for more than a week at a time since last June, and even that was kind of an anomaly. Honestly, it’s not even a comparison situation anymore. It’s not like “which one is better?” It’s more like...I feel so good with him that it’s hard to ignore it. I used to just hang out with him all the time because I needed to get away from us fighting all the time. Now I want to be around him because...it’s just nice. Even when you and I aren’t actively involved in a war. It has nothing to do with you and me anymore. I go to him for him now, instead of going there for not-you, if you get what I mean. I don’t know. I can’t stop talking and I know it’s hurting you so can you say something so I can shut up? I don’t know. I guess the actual answer to your question is that I do still want us to be together, because I am here, and I am trying to give us a chance still, the way you asked me to.”

“But you’re not committed enough to giving it a chance that you keep yourself away from something that hurts that chance. Can you turn around? You can’t say these things to my face?” The BVB man put her phone down and took a sip of his wine and his girl did an about-face across the counter with a towel in her hands and a sorry, sad look on her face.

“I was hating it here when he asked me to go back for the match,” she explained, steady rather than protesting, or defensive. “It was before we talked the other day. I wanted to go back and be somewhere I’m happy for a day so that I wouldn’t just keep getting more frustrated and bored and lonely here. I had no plans to go anywhere until Omaha, because I know just leaving isn’t giving us a chance.”

“I don’t know why you can’t just tell me that something is wrong and give me a chance to help improve it. I don’t know why you have to just keep it to yourself and wait for me to figure it out while you run off and hide from it.”

“I did tell you. I told you on Thursday, and you have made it better. He asked me to come to the game an hour before we talked.”

“Yes, because you decided to tell him about it first. You called him when you were unhappy instead of me.”

“You were at training.”

“There was a time when you would have decided to wait and speak to me first, is all I’m saying. Protecting us used to be your priority.”

“And all that got me was 7 months of unhappiness and terrible riding. Sometimes I have to protect myself first, babe. Once in a while I have to put myself first instead of us, otherwise it actually gets harder for us.”

“Fine.” André picked up his fork and went back to his dinner. If the temperature of his fish were any indication, he wouldn’t have to wait very long to cover the leftovers. Christina even heated his plate first before putting the food on it, so the stuff in the containers was probably even colder. He had things to consider, and he didn’t want to hear any additional input from her. He wasn’t going to conclude that it was his fault that his girl was falling for someone else, but he wasn’t going to blame her for it either. For one thing, he gave her his blessing to have almost any kind of relationship with Juan that she wanted. For another, it wasn’t like things between them were great and she was still looking for something else. Christina was trying to tell him that it almost was like that, actually, because she really did believe she just loved being with the Spaniard and it had nothing to do with her husband, but he refused to believe that. Things were not good for them, and she was like pressure. She always sought to equalize herself. She’d always reach out for something good to counteract that which made her feel bad. Her husband knew his decisions and behavior over the previous year were responsible for the bad. Even before they decided to leave London, he stopped really engaging with her career and her passion, and that started the fights that existed in the background when it was time to start figuring out their future and the future of his career. He saw that when they began their horse show holiday. And he wasn’t like Juan. He didn’t believe that the strength of a relationship should lie in how it adapts to tough times. He believed it wasn’t fair to judge anything when their lives were so abnormal. For 7 months he’d been telling himself and his wife that they would be fine once they were together, and he needed that to happen for more than a week before he was willing to accept that their relationship couldn’t work anymore. Christina’s growing closer to his old friend did hurt him, a lot. He hated hearing everything she said. He’d fought through worse to hang onto her though, and he still wanted to hang on.

“Fine?”

“Chris, you haven’t been in love with me the way your phone pictures show you’re in love with him for like a year. Maybe until recently you just weren’t in love with anybody that way, and now it’s him. Or last spring you were in love with your career, and then no one, and now him. Whatever. I can’t really expect anything else when we haven’t been together enough in that time to be in love like we used to be. You have to do things together to be in love, and we don’t. Maybe I haven’t been in love with you for a long time either. I’ve always had to share you with the horses and with him. It’s fine. We start a new chapter now and as long as we treat each other like we want to be in love again, and we make decisions that go with that, then we’ll be good together again. That’s what I want. Like we said last week. The alternative is to separate, and then I don’t get what I want. So even though it’s hard, there is only one choice to take to possibly get what I want,” he finished up levelly, almost detached.

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princesfitness · 7 years

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New Post has been published on My Fitness and Nutrition Store

New Post has been published on http://myfitnessnutrition.princefamily33.com/2017/04/04/eating-well-helpful-nutritional-tips-and-tricks/

Eating Well: Helpful Nutritional Tips And Tricks

TIP! Fiber is essential to anyone’s diet. Fiber allows you to manage your weight because you won’t be too hungry.

In exercise, in diet, and in other areas of your life, practice moderation. Balanced eating is essential to good nutrition, though it can seem like a challenge. In truth, good dieting is easy with dedication. The following article has ideas on how you can improve your overall health.

TIP! When you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should stay healthy. Protein is highly necessary for pregnant women, though it can be difficult to supply when the mother-to-be may not feel the desire to eat.

You should always make sure you include fresh fruits and veggies in your diet. According to the USDA you should eat about 9-13 servings of fruits or veggies every single day. That probably sounds like more than it actually is. For example, add orange juice to your daily breakfast routine and use a tomato-based sauce when preparing pasta.

TIP! Good nutrition is essential for a healthy body. Taking a multivitamin can ensure that your body is getting the right amount of vitamins.

You should bring your own food to work or to school if you want to lose weight. If you bring your own food, you will not subject yourself to the unhealthy choices outside. If you plan ahead, you can put together several meals at the same time in just ten minutes.

TIP! One great tip is eating something prior to going to your Thanksgiving dinner. If you go to a Thanksgiving dinner on an empty stomach, you’re more likely to overindulge.

When working to craft a nutritious diet plan, make sure you limit your intake of packaged foods. These meals generally have a lot of sugar and a lot of “bad” fats. For best results, prepare your own lean meats and veggies to ensure that you get everything you need and nothing you don’t.

TIP! Give your children the chance to help you make choices when grocery shopping. Let them choose which fruits and vegetables they want to eat.

Eat your food slowly. In today’s fast-paced society, peoople eat too quickly. Rather than eating your meals really fast, take some time to savor your food. Take your time and enjoy each bite. This is going to get you feeling full earlier than before. You will also be less likely to eat past the point of fullness.

TIP! Inulin is a very beneficial ingredient to add to your diet. You can find this in leeks, artichokes and garlic.

People need to realize that highly milled grains are not as nutritious as their natural counterparts. By processing the grains, it removes the hull or husk and this takes away the nutrients. Valuable nutrients are removed; then, fiber and other nutritional additives are used to compensate for the natural sources that were removed. Certainly not.

TIP! Do not focus on the next sweet treat. Do not offer dessert every night, and offer tasty fruit as a dessert as often as cake or ice cream.

If given the choice between different kinds of nuts to cook with, use almonds. They are highly nutritious and help you reduce your cholesterol levels. They also keep your protein levels up. They are also cheaper than other nut varieties.

TIP! In order to lower depression risk naturally, consume foods that have Vitamin B6. One major cause of depression is serotonin imbalance.

Eat lots of broccoli! A mere medium-sized broccoli stalk gives you more than a single day’s worth of vitamin K. It also has Vitamin C levels that are around two days’ allotment. These vitamins are essential in keeping your bones strong. They may also help prevent cancer. To get all the nutrients, try steaming broccoli instead of microwaving or boiling it.

TIP! Diabetics have lots of challenging nutrition needs. It is possible to tackle them by eating with regularity in order to maintain proper blood sugar levels.

Puree some pears, berries or peaches for a quick and delicious healthy snack. Try using the resulting sweet spread on healthy crackers or pita chips, or use it as a tasty dip. Mix and match your fruit choices so that you don’t get bored of the same fruits over and over again.

TIP! If you choose the right kinds, nuts can be quite nutritious. A handful of almonds adds fiber to your diet for a crunchy and salty snack.

If you are prone to motion sickness when you travel, try using a bit of ginger. You can even find ginger in an easy to take capsule form. Taking 1,000mg of ginger an hour before leaving and for every three hours after that is ideal. Ginger is great for preventing the stomach aches and nausea often related with traveling. Ginger teas and candies can also be very useful.

TIP! Don’t eat foods that are high in saturated fat. Avoid foods with vegetable oil and red meats.

If you use the tips above, it is possible to achieve a balanced dietary plan and be as healthy as you possibly can be. After you reach a good level of health, you are sure to feel great, look beautiful and remain committed to eating in a nutritionally-sound manner.

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ourhealthyfoodblog-blog · 8 years

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New Post has been published on Healthy Food and Remedies

New Post has been published on http://healthyfoodandremedies.com/2017/02/13/cheapest-superfoods-can-buy-use/

Here are the Cheapest Superfoods You Can Buy (and How to Use Them!)

Superfoods are notoriously expensive and hard to find, but there are some diamonds in the rough. Cheap superfoods are available – you just have to know what to look for and where. Below, we have accumulated a list of some of the cheapest superfoods out there and accompanied them with some darn good recipes and ideas for you to try today! Read on and find out how to include more superfoods into your daily routine.

1. Spinach

Spinach is a relatively simple green, but it is definitely a superfood. This superfood, which is rich in calcium, folic acid, vitamin K, fiber, vitamin C, carotenoids, and iron, is not just nutritionally amazing; it’s also tasty and cheaper than kale!

At Costco, a wholesale store, a pound of baby spinach is just $3.79. At Winco Foods, five ounces of the same green is a mere $2.78. Sure, regular, non-organic baby spinach is less expensive, but it’s also twice as dirty as far as pesticides are concerned. Try this spectacular green in this amazing salad, these stuffed mushrooms, or this spinach dip!

2. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil seems to be all the rage these days, replacing the extra virgin olive oil phase. This oil is jam-packed with immunity, brain, and skin revitalizing nutrients, so you can’t go wrong with saying it is indeed a superfood. You can purchase this oil for relatively cheap if you scope out your options: at a wholesale store, you can buy a whopping 78 ounces of the organic stuff for $22.99 or around $4.716 per pound. Once you’ve gotten your hands on some, whip up a decadent raw strawberry chocolate coconut pie, some homemade vegan butter, or use it for oil pulling.

3. Strawberries

The Anishinabe Indians of the upper Midwest of America depended on strawberries as a key part of their diet, especially in the month of June when the berries were particularly ripe. Because strawberries, or “heart berries” according to the American Indians, are indigenous to North and South America, these berries are sacred which explains why they are now considered a superfood.

These tiny little red berries are chock full of phenols like anthocyanins and ellagitannin, both of which are potent antioxidants that protect the organs by defending autosomal cell membranes. Other benefits of this simple fruit include: anti-inflammatory compounds, cancer protection, and heart boosters. If you purchase organic berries, they might be more expensive, but they are still reasonable as far as superfoods are concerned. At Trader Joe’s you can buy 16 ounces for $3.49 in their West Coast and Texas stores and $3.79 in their East Coast, Midwest and Southeast stores. To use up your strawberries and reap their benefits, check out this comprehensive list of 25 strawberry-centric recipes or just make a good old strawberry smoothie and some raw strawberry creme chocolate truffles while you’re at it!

4. Quinoa

Quinoa is full of protein – there’s 8 grams of complete protein and 5 grams of fiber per cup of this pseudo-grain! It has quite the reputation as being a superfood, and rightfully so because of its dense nutritional profile. There’s a larger demand for quinoa nowadays, so the price of it has steadily declined. You can now purchase a pound of organic quinoa for around $4.99, which cooked yields four and a half cups. Make some quinoa and sweet potato bolognese, some quinoa oat muffin clusters, or some quinoa and white bean burgers.

5. Himalayan Pink Sea Salt (Himalayan crystal salt)

Not all sea salt is created equally! Himalayan pink sea salt contains a high dose of calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, and iron, all of which aid the body in processing sodium chloride and maintaining an optimum electrolyte balance. Purchase some of this special salt for $3.99/13 oz. or $4.911/lb, a small price to pay for a mighty superfood. Add this super salt to a DIY wellness drink, a batch of no bake raw vegan treats, or a superfood packed shake!

6. Bananas

This smiling, yellow fruit often gets a bad rap as being overly carbohydrate-dense, but they are the perfect, potassium rich, superfood. Look at those lovely shining fruits just sitting on your counter looking sad. They are a superfood! Make some banana bread, or slice up those fruits for a scrumptious oatmeal topper. Do you have overripe bananas? Don’t throw them away! Take a stab at some of these delightful recipes. Whatever you do, you should know that organic bananas are the best, and they are super cheap, coming in at around $1.99 per three pounds or $0.663 for a single pound.

7. Sweet Potatoes

These orange tubers are brimming with beta-carotene, which raises vitamin A levels in the blood. Because of this and their other remarkably dense nutritional profile, sweet potatoes can be considered a superfood. Organic sweet potatoes can be purchased for around $1.20 a pound or $6.99 for 6.5 pounds – a little bit more than white potatoes, but better tasting and richer in vitamin A. You can do many things with sweet potatoes, including: sweet potato waffles, barley-lentil soup with potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, or spicy sweet potato salad!

All of these superfoods are worth the buy. Not only are they relatively inexpensive compared to other superfoods, but they’re also more easy to find. With all of these superfoods, you can make a wide variety of recipes, and you’ll get more nutrients by consuming these foods.

BONUS Recommendation: Download the Food Monster App

If you enjoy articles and recipes like these and want more, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App. For those that don’t have it, it’s a brilliant food app available for both Android and iPhone. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to cut out or reduce allergens like meat, dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, grains, and more find awesome recipes, cooking tips, articles, product recommendations and how-tos. The app shows you how having diet/health/food preferences can be full of delicious abundance rather than restrictions.

The Food Monster app has over 8k recipes and 500 are free. To access the rest, you have to pay a subscription fee but it’s totally worth it because not only do you get instant access to 8k+ recipes, you get 10 NEW recipes every day! You can also make meal plans, add bookmarks, read feature stories, and browse recipes across hundreds of categories like diet, cuisine, meal type, occasion, ingredient, popular, seasonal, and so much more!

#Superfoods

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massthetics-blog · 8 years

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New Post has been published on MASSthetics

New Post has been published on http://massthetics.net/golden-nutritional-rules/

8 Golden Rules Of The MASSthetics Kitchen

There are many different parallels intricately woven throughout life and lifting.

Sometimes mysteriously, sometimes not so much.

Granted, a large part of this may be thanks to our brain’s ability to rationalize, well, practically anything. Truthfully, I’m sure you could draw parallels and similarities between even the most obscure (such as peeling a basket of oranges and making a burrito).

But that doesn’t change the fact that there are marked similarities between much of the “things and stuff” in our world.

One thing that’s been hammered into my mind from studying business and marketing, is that “principles” are much more effective in the long run than “tactics” are.

For example: Since MASSthetics launched into the wild foray of the internet last year, I made it a principle to consistency produce excellent content twice per week for the blog (with the goal being to become a go-to resource, encourage regular readers, and help people get jacked, shredded, and tanned). Slow and steady, it’s working (just as principles do).

On the other hand, had I decided to focus on tactics (optimizing every article for Google, posting on every single social media platform, or resorting to eyebrow-raising titles to get people to read), I don’t believe that the growth of the site would have been as steady and upward-trending as it’s been.

And so it is with your nutrition.

Ketogenic diets, IIFYM, paleo, unicorn blood, carb cycling, intermittent fasting…these are bright and shiny tactics that while they certainly have their place, will have you hopping from one shiny object to the next without making any lasting progress.

This is where learning and developing principles around your nutrition will serve you for years and years, and will certainly never let you down.

Below are the 8 Golden Rules Of The MASSthetics Kitchen, and the very principles that I follow, and teach to my clients.

Once these principles become a part of your daily habits around food, not only will your results reflect it, but you’ll eliminate a ton of stress that often comes with trying to learn and fine-tune your nutrition.

#1. Use healthy, high quality fats for cooking (not cheap oils). Cook your food in olive oil/coconut oil/ghee/grass-fed butter.

Cooking with fat not only makes for an easier pan to clean and a tastier meal, but it’s also a simple way to integrate healthy fats into your nutrition on a consistent basis.

You can cook your eggs in coconut oil, veggies in ghee or fry up some potatoes in butter. Truly, the options are endless (and delicious).

I love Ghee. Ghee, ghee, ghee. Here it goes down, down into my belly. #ImRonBurgundy? #thethickening #fats

A photo posted by MASSthetics (@alexmullan13) on Jan 28, 2017 at 7:26pm PST

#2. Aim to buy the highest quality meat and produce you can (farmers markets).

Truth be told, it’s often cheaper to buy food that’s higher quality than what the grocery store offers. The being you have to know where to go, and buy in bulk when the opportunity presents itself.

Farmers Markets are a tremendous way to save money on veggies. If I bought all my veggies for the week at the grocery store I get dry goods from, it would probably run me around $50-60/week. Which is utterly ridiculous seeing as I can get the same amount of higher quality and much fresher veggies from a local market for about half the price.

The only downside with Farmers Markets is that they tend to disappear in the cooler months, and only happen once or twice a week (this is why you stock up each time).

#3. Eat primarily “clean foods.”

*cue joke about washing your food with dish soap before eating*

Sorry IIFYM’ers, but binging on pop tarts just because you can isn’t a strategy for long-term success. I’m not against having treats, processed food or straying from your otherwise sound nutritional principles on occasion. Honestly, chocolate covered gummy bears and espresso beans are two of my favourite things, and I would happily eat them every day.

But if were to do so, not only would I shortchange myself on micronutrients (yes, they are important), but I’d be starving all the time. Foods that taste like incredible like pop tarts (debatable) and chocolate covered candies will take a large chunk out of your food for the day, while leaving you far from satiated.

Leaning towards eating “clean, whole foods” will keep you much more satisfied, less prone to cravings, and moving the needle in the right direction.

#4. When you have a free meal or “cheat,” go out to eat.

Prep aside, once or twice a week I’ll have a meal where I eat whatever I may be feeling like. Usually it’s sushi, but it could also be a burger, fries and a shake, or a burrito and frozen yogurt (a surprisingly great combo).

The point of going out to eat (aside from experience and having something I may not usually make) is that I don’t have to buy a bunch of food that I probably wouldn’t use for a week. Which means no wasted food, or temptations from leftovers.

#5. Eat whole eggs.

All of the reasons you should be eating whole eggs:

Antioxidants

B vitamins

Vitamin A

Iron

Selenium

Biotin

Phosphorus

Choline

A million trace minerals

Cholesterol (which you need for building and repairing cells, among other things)

#yolkporn

They’re fucking delicious.

Eat whole eggs.

Grade AAA #yolkporn.

#6. If it upsets your stomach, don’t eat it.

Ah, one of my favourite principles.

If something upsets your stomach, don’t keep eating it (this is the only instance I’ll suggest eliminating a food from your diet). No matter how much you enjoy something, it’s not worth the hasty trips to the bathroom, bloating, general discomfort or knowledge of putting yourself into such discomfort.

Practice paying attention to how you feel after certain foods, understand your reaction, then adjust accordingly.

#7. Include veggies with each meal (lots of them).

The only caveat to this is that eating a ton of veggies prior to training may not be in your best interest (‘sup, fibre?).

Micronutrients and fibre aside, veggies will also help keep you feeling full in periods when you’re restricting calories, or are insatiably hungry.

#8. Use supplements to fill holes as needed.

For the purposes of general health and support your training sessions, I love supplements.

No, I’m not talking about fat burners, cheap protein or laced pre-workout (ah, those were the days).

I’m talking everything I detailed in this article on supplements for muscle building and general health.

The final reps.

In my humble (but accurate) opinion, its the pushing of all these nutritional tactics over the teaching of principles that creates much of the confusion for people surrounding their nutrition.

And that just ain’t right.

Yes, nutritional tactics are more “shiny,” attractive to most, and promise the world…but rarely do they deliver (especially over the long haul).

The key to long term success with your physique and your nutrition within learning and integrating nutritional principles into your life. Principles that you don’t stray from, no matter what shiny and bright tactic catches your eye.

PS. 4 out of 5 lifters will let their rationalization hamster run wild. Building no muscle, burning no fat. The 5th lifter joined the MASSthetics Clan and put the information within the (free) Hypertrophy Handbook to good use. Problem solved. Click here to become the 5th lifter, and let me know where to send the prestigious Hypertrophy Handbook.

#MASSthetics Quad Shot #Nutrition #Training Tips

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