I'm *that* bitch. The bitch that brings wine.

I took four extra large boxes of clothes, sizes 14, 16, and XL, to Poor Little Rich Girl, a consignment shop near my office.  The very lovely lady told me that they take mostly designer labels, and seasonal clothing, so she wasn't able to take very much from me.  She found 9 items that she thought could work there, including my Lucky jeans, an Anne Taylor skirt (out of season but so awesome she took it anyway), 3 Banana Republic skirts, and a few other things.  She suggested I try Smarty Pants to take some more pieces, although they also take clothes seasonally and a lot of my professional clothes are more "wintery".  Unfortunately, they don't take consignment on Mondays, so I'll have to try another day.

Since that created a 2 hour lunch, I stayed at work late trying to get my must-do list done (FAIL) before heading to the grocery store.  I left at 7 and stopped at Sprouts for a "quick" shopping trip.  I got a little distracted with face moisturizers--I want to find a new one, and I'm starting to look for wheat and soy products. Yes, I'm becoming paranoid (video), what of it?  I got a bag of apples, a whole chicken, chicken breasts, and 2 packages of hot chicken sausage before heading to the wine sale, where I bought nine bottles.  Because they make nice gifts.  For me.  Okay, for others, too.  Because no one ever says, that bitch always brings me wine, but almost everyone will say, that bitch never brings me wine.  So I'm bringing wine.

Eating well

I started a bottle of white wine chilling while I made dinner.  I started a pot of water for some rice pasta while I cooked a package of spicy chicken sausage.  I usually add some veggies at this point, but I had roasted veggies from last night, so I just added the marinara after the sausage was cooked, then the veggies, then the almost cooked pasta.  Perfecto!  Mmmm, wine.  Mick made his first steak on the green egg and it. was. awesome.  I'm not even a steak eater, but the bite he gave me was like butta.

After watching hockey highlights--my favorite way to watch hockey, although I love to watch a Coyotes game--I decided to catch up with some online friends.

I felt a little dissed by a lot of this broadcast (audio, initially very loud) about celebrities going gluten-free, especially early on.  Yeah, that's right, I'm not diagnosed with Celiac disease.  That doesn't make my food issues less of a medical issue, IMO, but maybe it does.  As Jules points out, *why* would someone who has cut gluten and feels better want to eat gluten for a Celiac test?  Why?  Because the doctors, who don't have a fucking clue what we're going through, think it's either Celiac or it's in your head.  Wait.  I thought that MS was in my head--can everything be in my head?!  Oooh, maybe--I am a stupid girl (video).

As the broadcast progresses, I felt that the conversation was more balanced and focused more on the bigger issues of eating real food and the issues of feeling left out of the normalcy of eating food.  Until you have to watch what you're eating for the sake of how you feel, you don't realize how much of our lives are spent in settings where everyone is eating and sharing food.

I guess I'm "fortunate" that I can't eat most gluten-free products, so I really do eat and feel better.  So many people run out and buy all the g/f products they can find, and of course, are disappointed with so many of them, feeling they wasted their money.  But I've had to be so much more strict and selective, so I haven't wasted nearly as much money and resources, but I feel like I waste so much more time figuring things out.

I am so fortunate also that I have people, old friends and new, who are looking out for me, looking for solutions and passing on ideas.  Just today, my neighbor, M, passed me a link to a soy substitute (coconut aminos) which I actually have recently purchased; I thought that was so awesome that she saw that and thought of me.  Then, my friend's friend (my new friend) posted on FB a photo of chocolate dipped g/f macaroons she made.  As soon as I saw eggs, I thought, of course, but when I said that, IMO, giving up eggs is harder than wheat, she found a recipe for egg-free, g/f macaroons.  Sweet!  I'm totally going to make these.