October update

I went to Series 7 class and passed that test like BAM. Let's not do that again though, mmm-kay?

My best friend's son had his wedding in Flagstaff. My friend B was feeling good for it and we had a fantastic time.

Yes, that is a Yoda fountain in SF.

M and I went to San Francisco with my cousin! We had a blast. My sister came with her husband for a day. My favorite was probably our drizzly walk in the forest. And I was reading A Sudden Light by Garth Stein on this trip without realizing the background. You should read it.

I had a lot of trouble finding food I could safely eat in this foodie city. I was hangry. I was treated shabbily. For real, had a waiter at an expensive restaurant tell me I shouldn't be trying to eat out on a Saturday night. We're only staying in places with kitchens from now on.

I did not leave my heart in SF.

I saw Garbage with my boys, M and B at the state fair. I love that Shirley!

At our hotel in SF :)

We went to an 80s party for Halloween with my cuz and my friend S and the guys. Fun times were had by all!

September update

Oh, the things that happened this month:

• birthday party for my niece's daughter
• Labor Day swimming at my cousin's
• (always) Dr. Q
• webinar on natural treatments--mostly talking about mushrooms (I don't have time for more crazy #justsaying)
• endocrinologist appointment--she was not impressed with how quickly my primary doctor reduced my thyroid meds so she asked me to come back next month for new labs; I am currently taking 100 mcg of Levothyroxine (Synthroid)
• work dinner Olive and Ivy--pretty good, and accommodating
• went to Becketts Table and it wasn't as good as I remember, kind of weird actually; a small, tasty piece of salmon on a plate of carrots and a side of green beans after I was done eating.
• went to my niece's daughter's and son's birthday party at a park

cat in a bag - tongue out Tinker

sandwich on Bread SRSLY (a gift!) #giddy

sandwich on a Bread SRSLY roll #happiness

Sleeping Cassi--but I missed the photo contest deadline

Mmm, bacon--the low sodium has a shorter ingredient list.

Fruit!

Bacon, and bacon wrapped apricots #yum

No weird ingredients--a Costco find!

The tri-tip after cooking #nomnom

roasted asparagus

My major malfunction has been the eye doctor/glasses shopping. This seems like a short, simple process for most people. However, I:

• went to the eye doctor, got a glasses prescription, 
• went to Costco and found frames, had glasses and sunglasses made, 
• picked up new glasses and sunglasses, couldn't see but they said it was the prescription,
• went back to adjust (the ear piece was painful),
• went back to the eye doctor but they just had me see one of the technicians in the front and said it was probably the coating on the lenses (#WTF), 
• went back to Costco where they checked the prescription and sent the glasses back to be remade, but not the sunglasses, 
• picked those up and still couldn't see, 
• made and had an appointment with my friend's eye doctor at another Costco, got a new prescription, 
• got my glasses and sunglasses remade, picked up the glasses first,
• picked up the sunglasses and had the glasses in for an adjustment.

I got this style of sunglasses

I still need to take the sunglasses in for adjustment as one of the arms is too loose, but seriously, who else goes through this kind of crazy to cross ONE ITEM OFF MY LIST? I cope but I hate that this is my normal. An item on my to-do list took me two months to accomplish. I can't wait to do it again next year! #Ispeaksarcasm

August update

My friend S asked me if I wanted to go to see the Piano Guys. We had a small group and it was so fun; they are great to see live. If you have a chance, you should go!

I took and passed my Insurance licensing test. Whew.

M and I went to see the Gipsy Kings. They are amazing. The venue was not amazing. The seats are smaller than airplane seats. There was NO leg room.

My friend from high school and my ex-SIL B had a birthday dinner for me. My cousin got me some pretty flowers, and I also got tequila because you know, tequila.

My sister came to visit for my Grandma's birthday. Grandma is in her 90s, so it's a big deal. She's also been in bad health for a while, but she's hanging out and doing the best she can. My grandpa takes care of her for the most part. My sister and I had a good time with a couple of our cousins.

I had a doctor's appointment so I got a prize, I mean treat!

Nami donut (and dirty chai)

Culinary Dropout

My company decided to do an annual birthday celebration so they could do something bigger and better without costing the firm more. The receptionist wanted to get everyone's orders ahead of time but I was still messaging with someone from the restaurant on FB by the time we went. She also had asked for cupcake orders so I went to Gluten Free Creations Bakery yesterday to get cupcakes.

Pumpkin Spice cupcakes

We went to Culinary Dropout, which is a Fox Concepts Restaurant. I generally have good luck at their restaurants so the chef talked with me and we decided I could have a burger and sauteed veggies (in olive oil.) They don't use any soybean oil. I used the mushrooms and onions on top of the burger so I didn't even need anything else like ketchup.

Looks simple, tastes good.

Culinary Dropout is one of the restaurants around The Yard so we went out there to play some games. There was cornhole, ping pong, and Foosball. I played a couple rounds of Foosball. I'm not good but it was fun! I didn't play any more after that because I was already sweating and was concerned I would be stinky. My over-sweatiness is a problem without end.

J drove back to the office so we stopped by her place to let her dogs out and I got to check out her digs. Cute place. She's making progress on her renovations.

*****

I've been going to a free weekly yoga class (it's only 8 weeks so I'm really trying to take advantage of it while it lasts.) Last week, the instructor told us it's not "zombie yoga" when she was reminding us to breathe.

Free yoga tonight included Halloween themed music. Very weird. I had a lot of trouble with my left hip popping and spasticity in my lower left leg so I wasn't able to really do some things on both sides. So annoying.

Octoberfest 2014

We had a larger group for Octoberfest this year, so in addition to my FIL driving us, dropping us off, and picking us up, we had a second driver, our friend M who lives near us and doesn't drink. And apparently is SO nice--who doesn't drink and then spends his Saturday driving drunks?

This coaster gets a big glass mug!

Someone backed out last minute so my cousin came with us. Mick wanted to be there early so it was a little bit of a slow start but we had a blast.

R bought shots. Of course.

There were lots of "saved" seats and a lot of them never filled up. We liked the signs.

I go both ways. Or do I?

I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything or drink the beer so I brought chili, cornbread, Tito's and lemonade.

Suns Cheerleaders

Most of the group spent the night. R made breakfast. The person who had backed out of going was also supposed to go to the Cardinals game with R and his girl, so Mick was able to go instead. And I was able to spend the day relaxing.

Saddle Mountain Brewery

Last night, we went to our neighbor's grand opening. As I understand it, this is the first brewery to open in Goodyear. The service was terrible but it looks promising and hopefully they will work it all out. Mick invited our friend M, which surprised me since he doesn't drink (and some other reasons outside the scope of this blog), but it is a restaurant too. My SIL called and said Dr. Q told her to go out with me this weekend so I invited her too since Mick had already invited M. YES, my doctor told my SIL, who I sent to him, to go out with me.

I had sweet tea and a bunless burger with a "bare" side salad. My dinner came much later than everyone else's (pretty sure they messed it up and had to remake it) so I forgot to take a photo. The salad actually came first but since it had no dressing, I thought I'd wait. It was spring mix and spinach with cranberries and tomatoes. I finally decided I couldn't wait and ate most of by the time my burger arrived. The salad and burger were good. I think Mick and M really liked their pizzas and my SIL liked her sandwich. M and my SIL got a flight of beers and found one they both liked.

Even with the service hiccups, we had fun. They came back to our house to hang out a little before heading home.

Yep!

Today, I got my hair color done--wash those grays away! I mentioned to a couple people, including Mick, that I was thinking of going a little redder. Since I have some red undertones anyway, my hairdresser said she wanted to mix my old brown color in with the redder color this time, see how it takes, and then go all with the new color next time. It turned out fantastic.

When I came home, he told me he doesn't like the color. WTH. Can a wife get a muther-effin compliment in here? (The answer to that is NO, in case you don't know.)

Update: I have a photo on tomorrow's post if you want to see the color. No compliments necessary. I got them from M (who knew I was having it done) and my coworker/friend J (who did not know I was getting it done.)

Update 2: I sent Mick the free head shot I got at my recent conference and he replied with a comment about "hottie" so apparently I CAN get a muther-effin compliment! A little more often would be nice but I guess that's what I have friends for.

Sprinkles

Our office admin sent a cute email today about our upcoming birthday celebration. It even had a photo of a Minion. We're ordering cupcakes from Sprinkles.

Well, that's a bummer. I mean, I never get to take part in the food stuff anyway, but the admin actually came into my office and get my order. She was pretty sure I could have something. So I looked it up and they don't list ingredients but they do have a gluten-free cupcake and a vegan cupcake. She thought vegan meant also gluten-free, so just an FYI, y'all, um, vegans don't eat animal products but they can have wheat, um-kay. Somewhere between a combination of those two, I might be able to have a cupcake, but alas, never shall the two be combined.

I guess I'll make a trip to Gluten Free Creations Bakery to pick up my own cupcakes so I don't feel totally left out. FML. It never fucking stops. It will never fucking stop. This is my life, for the rest of my life. Will I ever get over the sadness of it all?

North Italia

My drive to work was terrible. Like the I-10 was closed kind of terrible. But I made it in and our lunchtime meeting was canceled so someone was planning a lunch out of the office. They choose North Italia, thinking I'd be able to eat there.

I wasn't so sure. I'm sure I've been there before and had an okay salad. But today. Today, they did me right.

They have a corn based gluten free pasta that does not contain amaranth. (I'm guessing Schar brand.) Most of their pasta sauces contain dairy but the waitress recommended the spicy shrimp.

It was fantastic. Garlicky and yummy. A coworker tried some of nearly everyone's lunch and proclaimed my lunch the second best, after her gnocchi. Winner!

Sick days

Yeah, I caught something at the office. When I went home sick on Thursday, I stopped at True Food to pick up some curry for lunch (because who wants to cook when they're sick, and it's even harder for me) and some juice.

Beets and carrots

I've been out for a couple days plus the weekend so I went to the doctor. I got into a room pretty quick and then had to wait forever for the doctor. She told me to stay home another day and gave me some antibiotics.

I bought some cough drops for the night, when it's the worst. These are gluten-free. And weird. Not good. Not effective for how I use them at night--they aren't hard, but more gummy although you aren't supposed to chew them either. I guess I'll stick with the Ricola drops although I think they might not really agree with me.

Drops

I have slept so much; I'm going to have trouble going back to work.

Tamari is soy

Since I've just returned from a week long trip, I had nothing to take for lunch.

I went to Flower Child and ordered a plate I've had several times. I gave my allergy alert.

While I was waiting for my order, someone came to tell me the sweet potatoes have tamari in the glaze.

O_O

W. T. F.

That explains some things.

And this is why I would rather cook all my own food and eat at home. It sucks terribly to have to shop, prep, cook and clean up for all of my meals (you try it some time) but the alternative is...not desirable.

So they made some steamed sweet potatoes without the glaze. They were okay. I wouldn't pay this much money for them--they aren't at all special, just something I would make at home.

sub plain sweet potatoes

I'll have to try some other sides. Or stop eating there.

Weekend wrapup

My stepbrother got divorced and I was able to keep my SIL instead of him. I've always liked her so we're friends now. She had some stuff going on that we talked about last weekend when she came to our party. She asked if she could come spend the weekend which turned into just Friday night. We invited M for dinner too. 

The "grandparents" took Teka for the night so that she wouldn't have to deal with my SIL's dogs. I got this photo asking if she always sleeps with her toys--in her mouth. Um, no.

LOVES her new toy

I made proscuitto wrapped rosemary chicken with sweet potatoes and citrus green beans. It seemed that everyone enjoyed dinner. We hung out for while. M left and my SIL and I stayed up a couple more hours talking.

Dinner

In the morning, we got a late start but eventually took the dogs for a walk (it was too hot and she didn't understand how far "around the block" is in our neighborhood so I ended up carrying her little dog the last half.) She headed home and we headed out to our errands.

We got haircuts, went to Cabela's, stopped at Sprouts for some chips so we could go to Arriba's. At Arriba's, I found out that all the meat except the fish and shrimp are marinated in soy so I can't have the chicken which I KNOW I've had in the past. I had modified shrimp fajitas with corn tortillas, black beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, and salsa.

Linner

I also enjoyed a skinny margarita.

Tasty beverage

We have a free HBO/Cinemax weekend so I'm doing a lot less than I should be but probably just as much as if we didn't have the freebies. I'm guessing.

Thai Lhana

Today was Shel's memorial. I cried so much. She was such an amazing person and it really seems unfair when so many people are NOT amazing.

I met my friend B for dinner. I used to go to this Thai place near my office, but I haven't been there in years for some reason. I think I don't lunch with the people who used to go there and others don't go there anymore either.

Anyway, I am usually able to do curries at Thai places but this one uses cream instead of some of the coconut milk. Huh. That sucks.

The waitress had recently had someone with similar food allergies so she said there was one soup I could have and one chicken dish that comes with rice. I had the barbecue chicken and white rice. It was very good. It came with sweet chili sauce which some of it needed as parts were dry. But it was tasty. If I hadn't skipped lunch, this would be enough for 2 meals.

Chicken

Black and white

I went to Flower Child for lunch today and had some yummy veggie soup that had chilies in it.

steaming

I'm not totally sure about this as a work outfit; it seems a little short, but I get compliments about how cute it is so I'll go with it on a Friday.

Milking my birthday (non-dairy of course)

I got a coupon from Fox restaurants for a free dessert. Since I'm an avid fan of True Food and Flower Child, and I know that TF has dairy free sorbet, I was excited about going to lunch with someone. I hadn't actually made plans with anyone though and then realized the coupon expires Monday. I have a business lunch tomorrow and a lunchtime meeting Friday, so today was it. And that meant I went alone.

I'm not sad. I mean, it would be nice to go with someone but I go alone often enough. The guy and gal who usually work the bar weren't there, so I was a little sad that I didn't know anyone. Okay, not so much...

So I had the usual: Panang curry with chicken. The waitress told me the soup was gazpacho today. I love gazpacho so I thought of getting some to-go but after sh told me it was gluten free, she came back and said it had Worcestershire sauce so it was not safe for me. I generally don't question further when I'm told it's not safe but for your info, I can have Lea and Perkins brand. Other brands may have wheat and/or soy.

For my freebie, I had pistachio sorbet. You could tell by the texture it has coconut milk. It was good. I want cake. But that will happen this weekend. And next!

Weddings, the Wigwam, and the weekend

We were invited to the wedding of Mick's coworker. We thought it was at the Wigwam and then realized they just had group rates there because they were staying there. We checked rates and decided to go check it out since everyone keeps telling us how great and modern it is for a historic location.

Obligatory feet in front of pool photo

We went early to relax, unpack, and go swimming before getting ready for the wedding.

Somehow, I managed to have no photos of me and Mick at the wedding. Bummer cause he looked great.

I expected I wouldn't be able to eat at the reception but after talking with the waitress, found I could have the grilled veggies, smoked salmon, ceviche with avocado puree, and prime rib with pepper relish.

tiny dinner--first trip

My friend K totally embarrassed me out of her love for me. She knew the bride was having a gluten-free, dairy-free cake so she insisted on asking the bride if it had eggs and soy. They decided I could have a piece. I. Had. Cake. In public. It was pretty good. Okay, if you don't have to eat that, you'd probably think it was a little off, but it wasn't dry or anything...expected.

wedding cake

It wasn't a very late party but we slept in anyway. We walked around and saw the main pool that we were no where near. Then we headed to breakfast at Red's. The waitress had me a little nervous but then she took my card to the chef and confirmed my order.

potatoes, no seasoning, bacon, guacamole and salsa

Mick had the most gluten-y thing on the menu. It looked fantastic.

pancakes and sausage

Our impression of the Wigwam? Well, we must have been in the part that hasn't been remodeled yet or something. I wouldn't call it contemporary or modern. And our friends who were also staying in this section pointed out the extremely sparse artwork that just looked odd. And the parking was kind of terrible. But it was a clean, large room and we had a good time.

Sunday, we went to the movies with a friend and saw Guardians of the Galaxy. Cute. Too much unnecessary  cursing. I want a Groot in a pot. I hope that's a thing. We didn't go out for lunch or anything, just called it a day. But I got some good hugs from the friend. And hugs are good for our health so I got my medicine this weekend.

I love getting hugs from him because they are the BEST hugs. I think I've figured it out. He doesn't give me the wimpy hug that people give me when they know I'm "broken" or "fragile" because, I'm guessing, he doesn't know. And since he doesn't know, he doesn't overcompensate and squeeze me to death either. He also isn't afraid to hold on until we're done with our hug. I'm used to the "quickie" hug, so it's so different to have someone hold on for a minute. I don't know how he doesn't have a girlfriend and/or stalker.

via thebloggess on Pinterest

For dinner, Mick and I decided to try my new fryer. He actually fell asleep as soon as I started. Unfortunately, we had not stopped at Costco for more oil on our way home from the movies, so I had to go get some more. I wanted to cry--how sucky is it to have to take an hour delay because there isn't enough oil for dinner. Sigh. Well, I got back and he was up.

I made a basic batter for the cod. He thought it didn't have enough seasoning, which I can easily fix, but that the batter wasn't quite right anyway, maybe gummy or hard or something I didn't get. I, on the other hand, haven't had fried fish in several years so I was just amazed at how well my first EVER attempt at fried fish came out.

I also spiralized some sweet potatoes to make fries. They aren't thick enough so I think we'll have to stick to normal fry shaped fries. We did the first batch without batter and the last batch with batter. I like the battered ones better but, again, Mick doesn't like the batter itself.

fish fry

I also made tartar sauce from Well Fed 2 but using Earth Balance soy-free mayo which is not really Paleo but I can have it so there. I thought it was good, though not quite perfect--I'll keep working on it. It's definitely not as thick as "normal" tartar sauce. Mick wants the stuff his parents use from the jar. (I used to buy it, so I think it's actually a squeeze bottle but what does he know...)

It was a LOT of work for a mediocre meal. I think he may have given up on the fish fry idea for his friends now that he realizes how much work it will be while everyone is visiting. We'll see.

Half Moon

I had a work lunch at Half Moon. I gave the waitress my allergy card and after some discussion, she came back and confirmed they would make grilled veggies and a bacon burger with no seasoning. They actually made me a new patty since they season all their burgers at once. It was fine. It tasted like it had no seasoning. I salted and peppered everything. Maybe my taste buds are just tired of the same stuff every restaurant gives me: protein with no seasoning or sauce and veggies with no seasoning (and usually overcooked.) So effin exciting.

In a basket--convenient

My coworker sitting closest to me got a little pizza. So for dinner, when I hadn't really planned appropriately, I made a frozen pizza for Mick and I made a little pizza for me. For this one, I used Applegate turkey pepperoni, roasted red peppers, artichokes and olives over pizza sauce and homemade "ricotta" cheese on a crust from Gluten Free Creations Bakery.

Of course I ate all 4 pieces!

Five Guys AND a shake

I had to take my car back into Toyota to get a new radio installed. It had started acting up a few months ago but when I told them about it, they weren't able to duplicate it so they told me to "stop by when it's actually happening." I was able to do that last week when the display faded and the CD spat out when I changed radio stations. So I got a new radio under warranty.

top display is unreadable!

I told Mick that if he wasn't busy, he could pick me up for lunch so he let me know he was coming and then he showed up with a couple of guys from work who I know. We went to Five Guys. They were done eating so fast so I wrapped up my fries to take with me so I didn't hold them up. Plus, my car was ready faster than expected.

I made a smoothie that was supposed to be similar to a Frosty. I have to substitute out the banana so I don't know how much that affects it but it was similar-ish. I think it needs some work though it is good.

Frosty-ish

Southern Rail

My friend B and I go to dinner every few weeks or so and one of the places we really like and almost always have good luck for me is Beckett's Table. The owners have opened a new restaurant so we decided to go check it out. It's in an area off the light rail that is being "revitalized," with a new location of Changing Hands bookstore and a bar recently opened and a Southwest Gardener shop soon to open.

Southern Rail has a similar menu vibe to Beckett's--local, fresh, organic--but a dissimilar menu. This new menu is southern inspired. I wouldn't say southern, which seems to be a sticking point for a lot of online reviewers who criticized the authenticity, but definitely influenced.

B has tomato and melon allergies so I let her ask her questions first. She ended up getting cornbread muffins to start; the butter is the star. For dinner she had the cider brined pork loin and took half the pork home for later. The sides stole the show for her. She loved the sweet potatoes and said she would come back just for that!

Although her meal happened to be gluten-free, it wasn't something I could eat. I gave the waiter my allergy card and a few items that sounded promising; he consulted with the chef. I started with the watermelon salad. It was very good but, as most of the menu, it seemed like a lot of money for what I got.

For my entrée, I had the duck with dirty rice and collards. The chef made some minor adjustments in the finishing touches it sounds like but nothing that I could tell would make it any different. It was amazeballs.

We didn't have dessert since there were no options for me. I had sweet tea to drink so I already had my sugar anyway. Yes, the sweet tea was totally yummy. I love sweet tea but I don't make it at home because, well, it's sweet tea--it should be a treat I think.

Based on the prices here, I think this won't be an all-the-time place but it's definitely worth it. And it's open on Monday nights, when Beckett's is closed.

As we were leaving, a couple of older guys were walking up from their truck and their dog was barking. B and I stood there a moment trying to decide if it was possible they were getting dinner to-go. At 8 o'clock at night, it's still 100 degrees out so it's unsafe and totally illegal to leave your dog in the car. I went back in and told the manager who came out to confirm and take care of it. I left without waiting but I hope he really did.

Here's what pisses me off about it--those effin guys live in Arizona (AZ plates) so they should effin know better. They are going into a very nice restaurant to have dinner while their dog is in a hot, unventilated vehicle. Do they live under a rock (uninformed) or do they think SCIENCE doesn't apply to them and their dog? Have you ever shut your car off and just sat there in the 100 degree weather? Even after dark, with the windows cracked, you are going to be uncomfortable very quickly.