[Leigh-Ann at the wheel. The flattest drive of my life!]
and two three hour flights (plus time waiting in the airport):
I arrived in San Francisco where the love of my whole life was waiting for me.
That was the longest day of travel in my whole life. Wheeling from one side of an airport to the other with a huge carry-on bag (on the back of my chair), a pair of crutches, a purse and a beluga whale sized laptop is not super easy, but I'm stubborn and determined to do things by myself.
When I boarded my second (and last) plane, I had a total meltdown. I was hungry and tired and they put me in row 42 of 42. Way in the back. Crutching the length of the plane pissed me off and then my carry-on bag wouldn't fit under my seat and the male stewardess (steward?) told me I had to move it to an overhead bin and I had to, through tears, explain to him that I couldn't move the bag up to the front myself because I have one leg and can't just walk and hold things. I totally snapped at him and bawled for a good five minutes while my seat neighbors sat there awkwardly.
My seat neighbors actually turned out to be so, so nice. I had (sadly) judged them before we boarded the plane and though to myself, " Wow, that man is SO nerdy. Like, Urkle status." When him and (whom I later found out was) his fiance sat next to me, I sighed and wished it had been someone a bit less nerdy (hey I was tired! My mind had obviously turned to mush!). In the end, I was lucky to have been put in the back with those two nerds <3. They offered me tissue and almonds and the man cracked the funniest jokes. Half way through my flight, I was smiling and (with the help of a $7 "snack pack") was fed. I apologized to the steward(ess?) for my behaviour and he was SUPER nice to me the rest of the flight home.
After we landed, I loaded up my wheelchair once again and found my way down to the luggage claim where my hunky husband was waiting. I jumped into his arms like a baby koala and I french kissed that boy in public and didn't even care. It wasn't a sloppy french kiss, though.. it was more like... "church tongue."
We rode BART (the Bay Area's metro system) home and then went out to Berkeley and had food at our favorite Mexican place. I laughed at the prices of the food, since meals in Canada are WAY more expensive than they are here at home.
Dustin drove us home. I was beyond tired by that time, so he carried me from the car, threw me in the shower and soaped me up (yeah, baby!) . Nothing like having someone else wash your hair and dry you off.
Home for me is where ever that boy is, so I spent the night in the arms of my home. Couldn't have asked for anything more.
Today, I had a flashback and realized that I didn't post anything yesterday. Oh dear!
Our wonderful friends, Natalie and Matt, are over and we've spent most of the morning with them and will spend many-a hours into the night role-playing.
And no, not THAT kind of role playing. We plan on keeping our clothes on. ;) We're actually doing something Dungeons and Dragons-y and I can't wait to share the few project I've made to go with what we're doing. They include a faux-leather journal and a real leather dice bag made from a recycled jacket, to start with. Eppp!
So, no Flashback for you! You just get to stare at my pretty little mug.
I have visions of this business that I want to build. I'll make hand made bard of soap, using as many organic ingredients as possible and without any crappy additives or chemicals. I'll make silky smooth lip balms and hand salves and lotion bars and sugar scrubs -- all with out the crap. Without the parabens and preservatives and the stuff that frightens people. I'll blend my own fragrances using essential oils and have cute little packages and business cards and a pretty logo. I want to have an etsy store and sell stuff at the Red Velvet storefront and locally here around Northern California.
I have most of the recipes I want to use all bookmarked and ready for experimentation. I have a wonderful friend, Lori Nova, who is the owner of The Nova Studio, a place that teaches the art of bath and body products. She resides about 10 minutes from my home. She's always just a phone call away. I've met countless other bath and body product enthusiasts through her studio. I have a butt-load of books, brimming with recipes and tips.I have Leigh-Ann and Lacy and Effie (my Sis) and Natalie and especially Bubby, who are the very threads that make the fabric of my support system. I have websites saved and bookmarked. I dream of scent combination while in the shower. I see packaging inspiration in everyday items. I know what I DON'T want my products to be and contain. I know what I stand for. What my company means (I said "my company"... eeep!) to me and what I hope it will become.
So, why, you might ask, have I not started? Not made one thing?
Well, mainly because I'm scared. I'm scared to fail. Scared to make products that suck. Scared that people will hate my stuff. Scared that I don't have it in me. Scared that I'm going to be successful and happy and then get sick again and have to say goodbye to my dream and the life that I want so badly....
I'm very into the power of food and cooking and how it's all connected to our health and well being. Since I cook so often, and sometimes take pictures of the pretty dishes that I whip up, I've been wanting to share my happiness with you.
I've been toying with the idea of making a separate food blog, but after much talk with friends and family, especially Miss Lacy, I've decided to share my culinary adventures here and have it be a feature on The Quiet Life of Violet!
Without further adieu:
For my first post, I thought I'd share with you little bit of one of my favorite things:
Food Porn
[Purple carrots. I get these little beauties at our Farmer's Market. They're slightly sweet and deeper in flavor than regular carrots. PLUS, the little stand that sells them takes the leafy carrot tops (if you don't want them, of course) and feeds them to their bunnies. It doesn't get any cuter than bunnies munching on your carrot's tops. ]
[Quinoa- Corn pasta purple cauliflower, sweet potato, asparagus, basil, chopped garlic, olive oil and my favorite.. salt! This is a variation of my favorite go-to lunches.]
[Sauteed chard, asparagus and zucchini. I really, really like veggies... Except for radishes.. they're really foul.]
[Big chunks of pastured eggs in a super yummy bowl of potato salad. organic potatoes, mayo, black olives, sliced green onions and chunks of white onion, salt, pepper and dill. I was out of my beloved (pickles), so after I took this photo, I mixed in some of my FAVORITE sauerkraut. I buy the raw, organic kraut from a super-rad local vendor, Cultured. My favorite flavor is Lemon Garlic Dill. So crunchy. So saur (sour). So GOOD.]
My dearest Nic, I hope you've had the happiest 21st birthday!
[photo from weheartit.com]
Yesterday, Nic, Dallas, Bubby and I hung out in Berkeley all day and into the night! My sweet, sweet girl has just been diagnosed with Celiac (she's allergic to wheat and gluten - a protein found in wheat, barley and rye mainly), so I researched and planned a whole day us around avoiding the little bugger.
We met up around noon and had a super AWESOME gluten-free, dairy free pizza from a place called Bobby G's! They use locally made, gluten-free pizza crusts from a gluten free bakery called Mariposa Baking Co. OMG. The pizza was divine. It had a house-made tofu cheese (I'm guessing it was soft tofu, olive oil, spices and salt and pepper, all blended and drizzled on top), mushrooms, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers,
onions, assorted olives, garlic and fresh herbs.
After lunch, we walked to the shops on Telegraph Avenue and browsed the racks at Rasputin's, a local, used music store. We spent a good hour there looking for hidden jems in the $2.95 bin and talking and wandering around. We got a few albums and then Nic wanted to head over to Buffalo Exchange (used clothes!) and Sway (a local girly store similar to Forever21).
On the way, we stopped at Pete's Coffee to use the loo and get a sip. We shared a kid's sized hot chocolate with espresso, soy milk and raspberry syrup. YUM! Gluten free, too!
We all headed over to the clothes stores and the boys hung out outside (and had a lengthy conversation with a cigarette smoking, slightly mental, ex-Navy street bum, while we shopped). I got a SUPER CUTE dress (Peter Pan collar for the win!) from Sway and a jacket and a crocheted cardigan thing from Buffalo. I love shopping!
By this time, it was about 6:30 and we were all super hungry, so we moseyed on over to Herbivore, a vegan, organic restaurant with a KILLER menu. Now, I had been wanting to try this place for a LONG time and Nic's birthday was the perfect occasion. I was super pumped and called ahead the day before to get us reservations and make sure that they had gluten free selections. I was told that I didn't need the reservations, that they wouldn't be busy and that they didn't even do them for a parties of four. LIES! When we got there, they were packed. Packed, I tell you! We had to wait about 30 minutes and Nic's blood sugar was drastically crashing, so I wheeled on up to the hostess and made a stink and we were seated soon afterward. When the waitress came over, we asked to see the gluten free menu and she was visably annoyed and said that they didn't have one. UMM. We had the head waitress come over and we were able to get the ingredient list and then made our choices. We ordered chili-lime almonds, Vietnamese spring rolls and fire roasted corn on the cob to start. Yum! We all got yummy salads with house made Dijon dressing. Droooool. Nic and I ordered the same thing, rice noodles with lemon "creme" sauce with portabella mushrooms, spinach & capers. Dustin got the Pad Thai and Dallas got a red curry dish. I liked the noodles a lot, Nic wasn't a huge fan and Dallas and Dustin were iffy on their meals. Hmmm... terrible service and decent food. They got our money this time, but next time? I don't know. Have any of you ever been to this place?
Ha! During dinner, we got on the subject of a little game called Chubby Bunny and how Miss Nic annihilated Dustin and his friends the last time they played. The object of the game is to be the last person to say "Chubby Bunny".. the catch? Each round, you put another marshmallow in your mouth. Last night, Dallas, Dustin and Nic decided to play a little game and I decided to record it... you know, for demonstration purposes. ;) Disregard Dallas' comment at the end... gross!
After rinsing their sticky, marshmallow-spit covered hands, we headed to a used book store, looked for a few minutes and then Nic and Dallas decided that it was time to head home.
Pretty much a perfect day!
Oh! "Who is this Dallas," you might asking? Well.. Dallas and Dustin have been friends since middle school. Dustin and I used to work at Dallas' Dads store (Amish Furniture, baby!) and we've been close to his family for many-a-years. Nic and I have been friends for the past three years (IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS, MAMA!) and Dallas and Nic met each other through my Facebook page. After some deep talks and a visit and more talks and phone calls... they are in love! I had never seen them together before yesterday and OMG, it blew me away! Their love is AMAZING. I mean, it's the crazy kind of deep love that you see in movies. The cheezy Lifetime love movies where you walk away saying, "Nobody has a relationship like that!" Well, yes. Yes they do! And those people are Nic and Dallas.
We were sitting there at dinner last night and it hit me. It hit me hard... my best friend was kissing and cuddling with a guy that I call my Big Brother. WHOA. I mean, I LOVE these two people and somehow, the stars aligned and they met and it clicked and they now love each other so much. Nic now has what I have -- an amazing man who loves her! These two loves of mine are happy and being cared for and have found the most amazing thing... each other!
My heart has been on cloud nine since. I feel like a floaty little bluebird perched on Snow White's cottage window with sunshine and butterflies and puffy, gluten-free baked goods.
*swoon*
I love you so much, Nic (Mama Llama, Pita pocket, Nickle, Schmickey Mouse, Pretty Face) and I hope that your 21st year is the better than any you've ever had!
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