Valentines Day MTB Road Trip

> Thor had a last minute work trip to Bellingham scheduled for Friday, and I had a flex day - so we decided to load our bikes in the car and make an impromptu road trip out of it. yay!
>
> I picked Thor up right after work so we could roll out of town, and he surprised me with some beautiful roses. Lucky girl! Mom swung by the house with some delicious red velvet cupcakes - so were both pretty excited to have a treat for the road - as neither of us has really had any dessert for over a month. yum!
>
> Friday morning we went out to breakfast at a pretty good little cafe (prospect?!) - they had gluten free hot cakes so I gave them a try just to have something different. They were tasty, but I still prefer eggs! We rode Friday afternoon and all day Saturday at Galbraith - we have some pictures of the riding there that I can upload once we're home.
>
> Lastly - we went to dinner at a place called Brandywine Kitchen and they had great gluten-free food. And the Bellingham Food Co-op is amazing - wish we had a grocery store like that close to our house!
>

Valentines Day MTB Road Trip Weekend Pics

Pics from our trip to Bellingham/North Shore in mid-February.

First Toast!

Mmmm. I love toast! I'm into the gluten testing days of my reintroduction. I had a brioche hamburger bun yesterday, and a slice of toast this morning. So far no trouble. yay!

I am working on a longer post about 'lessons learned' and my dairy reintroduction (not problem free). will hopefully get it posted soon!

Now It's Really Official! Whole 30 Complete! And some commentary

It's official now - I actually wrapped up my Whole 30 this past Tuesday on 2/5. By the end the days were ticking by pretty quickly, and it didn't end up feeling all that long.  Thor and I both really enjoyed eating that way and are planning on trying to keep eating much of that same way when we're at home.  Although I did not knowingly 'cheat' once during the 30 days - there were a few slips I had that I will note here - mostly to remind myself in the future if I ever decide to do a second one of these:

1. I have been really good about reading labels all throughout the Whole 30 - and have been really surprised by how many 'healthy' things contain added sugar, soy, and other weird unpronounceable ingredients. Mid-way through my Whole 30 I was making tea in the kitchen at my office and while waiting for the water to heat up I casually picked up the box of tea to reread the ingredients.  I had previously read what was written on tea bag wrapper.  Turns out the box was more detailed! The very last ingredient in this lemon-ginger 'herbal, caffeine-free tea' was soy. Hmph.  Lesson drilled home that you can't be complacent, or make assumptions about what any food product might contain.
2. Out on a MTB ride with William, Adele & Thor - William pulled out a Pro Bar and while he was eating it Adele commented on how much she liked it.  I asked to try a bite and at this point I can honestly say I completely forgot about the Whole 30 - which is hilarious because I had totally packed Whole 30 compliant ride snacks for myself.   William handed the bar over and I took a bite and said 'ooh yum - it has chocolate in i....CHOCOLATE?!?!?? ' spit, spit, spit - out when my bite of Pro Bar all over the trail as I realized that I had something in my mouth totally off plan.  It was pretty funny, actually. Probably every ingredient in that bar is off plan - and I didn't even hesitate asking for a bite! I have no idea what sort of brain fog came over me temporarily.  A good indicator of how mountain biking is so fun/relaxing - it can take my mind off of pretty much anything!
3. At a social gathering I was scouting the table for something to eat that was Whole 30 compliant and spotted a mason jar labeled 'sprouted almonds' - yes! I was talking with someone so I popped the top of the jar, dumped one out into my hand without really looking at it, and popped it in my mouth. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Nope - a corn nut! At that point in mid-conversation listening to someone I couldn't think of a graceful way to spit out a fully chewed corn nut into my hand - so down the hatch it went. Another reminder to really be mindful whenever eating food at someone else's house.
4. The last weekend of the Whole 30 we went out to eat with some friends and I ordered grilled fish and vegetables - checking to make sure they were not cooked in butter. 'Yes' the waitress assured me. My first bite seemed really rich so I was suspicious, but it didn't taste buttery.  I had Thor try it and he also didn't think it was buttery in flavor - so I ate it.  After the meal I was pretty burpy - which I haven't been all month. So I'm suspicious they were grilled in an olive-oil/butter combo and the waitress just didn't know, or check. Sigh. 

This brings me to talking about food reintroduction - which is how I am pretty sure I have confirmed that #4 above was, in fact, butter.   Foods get phased in four groups: dairy, gluten, gluten-free grains, and legumes/soy.    I started dairy on Wednesday and my system hasn't been super thrilled - here's some detail:

1. Wednesday:
• A.M. ate whole 30 approved breakfast
• Lunch - introduced dairy with some goat cheese on top of grilled salmon
• mid-afternoon - an 8 oz latte. started feeling burpy
• PM - ate the cheese topping off of a slice of pizza and had a caesar salad for dinner. It was on! I sounded like Homer Simpson by the time we got home from dinner with our friends.
2. Thursday - took the day off from dairy entirely
3. Friday 
• had another 8oz latte.  Slept TERRIBLY on Friday night. All my old bad sleep symptoms were back: sleeping 2-3 hours then waking up and tossing fitfully for the rest of the night. Only to finally 'wake' up around 6:30-7am and feel totally restless in bed. Ugh. Yuck. No thank you!

Next up - gluten!

An Aran Sweater for Madeleine

A couple of weeks ago I finished this Aran baby sweater for my friends Cait & Vince. They didn't know if they were going to have a boy or a girl-so I found a great cornflower blue to knit the sweater in. Here are the details:

Pattern: Aran Pullover from the book 'Knitting For Baby'
Size: 6 months
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy Superwash Merino
Color #12 - Malibu Sail

It's the Last Day of my Whole 30!

I've made it! Today is the last day of my 30-day stretch of no sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, soy, corn, and dairy.

Tomorrow I'll start reading about reintroducing foods - that process will probably take about 10 days.

Thor and I have really been enjoying eating these simple, veggie-heavy meals, so we'll probably keep eating this way even after I've introduced the other food groups back in to see if I have an acute reaction of any sort.

Clear the Dance Floor!

Tonight was Thor & I's first dance class! Doesn't Thor look excited? We're taking Partner 101 at Viscount Dance Studio - and so far so good. Tonight we learned about dancing frames, and the basics of leading and following. I think Thor has the makings of a good lead!!

Chunky Mobius Cowl

Not the worlds best picture - but I just finished up this cowl that I knit as a trade with a friend who is sewing a longer canvas strap for a bag I own.

yarn: Cascade Magnum, color# 8012
needles: size 15
pattern: easy mistake stitch - CO 15. *K2, P2, K2* to end, P1. Repeat every row.

I found this as a scarf pattern, but twisted it once and sewed ends together to make a mobius cowl.