Eating and drinking wine are my 2 favorite activities.
Well, the 2 that are most appropriate to blog about.
I took a whirlwind trip to France during my travels last week. The purpose was (obviously) wine. Burgundy is one of France’s most notable wine districts. It’s home to red and white Burgundy wines – better known to many as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Specifically, I was in Côte d’Or.
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The hangover is one downside to travel.
Besides the bathrooms on trains.
Coming home is my least favorite part about any vacation. The harsh reality of a travel hangover: waking up without a mountain view, fighting jet lag, and realizing you can no longer subside on bread, cheese, chocolate, and wine. Or can I…?
With a sad heart I left Lucie in Zurich on Saturday morning. I had one last espresso (with the little chocolates they always serve them with) and bought a pretzel for the plane ride. I became addicted to “bretzels” on this trip.
Even the creamer is prettier in Switzerland
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When in Rome…
Or Basel. Whatever.
On my first full day in Basel, Lucie took me on adventures fit for a blogger! But first we began in a predictable way… taking pictures of yogurt bowls before breakfast!
My bowl was goat’s milk yogurt (which Lucie bought special for me!) with cinnamon, Growing Naturals Vanilla Rice Protein, oats, strawberries, cacao nibs, and more of Lucie’s bread. We took our beautiful bowls outside of a photo shoot in natural light. Priorities!
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It may seem strange to travel to another country and stay with someone you don’t know.
I didn’t hesitate.
Lucie was so kind to open up her home to me for the first leg of my travels. It was funny – I didn’t really occur to me that I didn’t know her in real life until someone commented that it was brave on both our parts to plan to spend this time together. Thankfully it went off without a problem! (I think… Lucie will have to tell her side of the story. ;))
Fresh off the boat… I mean train…
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Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
Anyone remember that song?
This weekend my family celebrated endings and beginnings. My baby sister, Madison, graduated from college! She’s the youngest, and the last to finish school. Mom is celebrate not having that tuition bill – hahaha!
My cousin came along, and my other sister flew in from Portland to surprise Madi. We loaded up the family and drove to Auburn, AL to celebrate the end of Madi’s college career. Naturally, this started with a toast. Or 20.
We dined in style at Auburn’s nicest restaurant, Acre. I have been wanting to try it ever since sampling a collard wrapped sweet potato tamale the chef made at Atlanta’s Food & Wine Festival 2 years ago! Seriously – here’s the post.
We ordered all the foods. This is just a fraction of it! The butter bean gnocchi was the coolest thing… but the dessert won the night. We ordered the dessert board (bottom right below) with a sampling of everything… followed by seconds of the sweet potato bread pudding and the goat’s cheese-filled doughnut holes. I get my love of food and wine honestly!
Let’s not talk about how we *almost* missed the graduation ceremony the next morning…
Once we safely made it to the ceremony, we toured the arena patiently waiting for Madi get her diploma. Turns out the Tigers like to hate on my Yellow Jackets!
Hooray!
Back in Atlanta Saturday afternoon, I squeezed in a beautiful 5K run by the Chattahoochee River before heading to my mom’s for a grill out. Those delicious eats must have done some good because it was my fastest in recent memory. It could have also been the fear of what mom was going to say when she found out I went running instead of coming straight home for dinner as instructed.. 😉
The warm sunshine and home cooked food were the perfect way to celebrate a new chapter for everyone. Change is in the air! It’s an exciting time… the unknown can be a bit nerve-wracking, but life goes on and the future will be marvelous!
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I’m spending the day wrapping up things here so I can board the place to go visit Lucie in Switzerland tomorrow!!!
Do endings/new beginnings ever rattle you a little?
What did you do to celebrate your graduation? I ate really good food. Obv.
House guests are my favorite.
Well, some guests…
This weekend I had the best guests possible – two of my favorite blogger friends! Heather and Sarah started out as internet friends, but we become fast “real” friends after meeting in person at food-related conferences (yet another reason you should attend the Blend Retreat!).
I was so excited to spend the weekend showing them more things I love about my city! Our first stop was to Atlanta’s “ethnic” food strip: Buford Highway. We dined on Vietnamese food at Chateau deSaigon. We have some sort of shrimp patty wrapped around sugar cane sticks, a sweet and sour tamarind soup, shaken beef, and burnt rice. The rice was my favorite, but the other tow said it reminded them of burnt popcorn. Probably why I liked it…
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I like to move.
Some call it ADD, some call it energy.
I’ve been known to make my own standing desk out of empty boxes, but I’ve always wanted a treadmill desk. My company isn’t likely to spring for that anytime soon, so I took matters into my own hands.
This was in my condo gym on a work-from-home day. I stacked one of the step up things on top of the treadmill bars and off I went!
I kept the speed super slow and was able to read, talk, and type with no problem. It actually helped me be more focused! If only we had a treadmill at the office!!!
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Speaking of moving… this WIAW I am in LA. (California, not Lower Alabama.) I didn’t do an epic food prep like I have in the past since it’s a building year… and I’m in Cali. The food here rocks! I brought some basics and winged the rest. It was delish!
Is “luck” real?
If we create our own fate, then nothing is really sheer luck…
Whatever the case may be, I felt pretty lucky this weekend. To start it out right, I was lucky to be invited to a preview lunch for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. It is far and away my favorite food event of the year.
From the delicious food they served to the sneak preview of the class schedule, the organizers, Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter, are going to put on the best one yet! If you haven’t been before, this is the year to try it out! One of my favorite things about this festival is that in addition to the amazing tasting tents, there are a ton of courses you can attend. I always learn something and meet new friends.
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