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supes9 · 7 years

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I was tagged by @ravenwald roughly, oh, I think it was about five years ago (I’m moving so very slowly over here, haha!) and then by @nygmobbleblog as well! Thank you Raven and Monty! : )

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

- My keys which include an Eiffel Tower keychain my best friend got for me during her trip to Paris back in the day, and a cute little Cyclops from X-Men keychain : )

- My Supergirl wallet

- Some chapsticks and lip glosses

- A bunch of flashdrives that are constantly being dragged back and forth to work and home

- Some rings and necklace chains and charms that I’ve apparently decided should stay in my purse instead of my jewelry box. ; ) Every now and then I’ll put some jewelry on at work, but most of the time it’s all just stashed away in there.

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom:

- Well, let’s start with the piece that really ties the whole room together... my big sitting chair complete with many of my clothes sprawled all over it. No matter how many times I clear everything off of it, it’s only a matter of days until I’m just back in the same predicament, so... whatever. ; )

- Some various Superman wall art and one of my superhero paintings I had done as a high school senior project with my best friend. My two canvases have superheroes, hers have the villains!

- My desk that’s rarely ever used (thought I’d do editing there for whenever I’m working at home, but I prefer to stay in the living room or kitchen around the rest of the family), but it also has some shelving that holds many of my superhero related books and comics, including my DC and Marvel encyclopedias. : )

- A set of drawer compartments that store art and craft items, like fabrics and threads for sewing (although it’s been forever since I’ve done any sewing), and old sketchbooks, colored pencils, markers, materials for my Silhouette cutting machine, things of this nature...

- I have a chai latte candle that I feel needs to be mentioned because it smells so good. It’s so nice when I have more time to just chill in my room and have that burning, very comforting. : )

5 things that make me happy:

- Spending time with family and friends. Always the best! : )

- Branching off from the first one, I’m happy when I get to talk with either of my two closest friends on the phone. The one lives on the other side of the country now, but we usually get to chat with each other once every week or two. My other best friend is in New York, which isn’t very far from me, but we haven’t seen each other for a few years now. We don’t get to talk on the phone as frequently, but a few weeks back I called her and we talked for (we’re pretty sure a record-breaking) five hours, catching up and laughing about all kinds of random stuff!

- My sister’s cats always bring me great joy! She got a little crazy and has five of them, but they are all super cute and very sweet! I love snuggling with them when I visit. : )

- When I have the time, I like baking, especially cupcakes! I like to make ones that have a filling inside for extra yumminess, lol! One of my favorites that I made a few years back are the strawberry lemonade cupcakes that have strawberry icing and a lemonade filling!

- I have fun creating gifsets to contribute to the Gotham/Nygmobblepot fandom, as well as editing together fanvids, but I haven’t had a lot of free time for that. There are several Nygmobblepot videos that I’ve started and have yet to finish... whenever I want to continue editing any of them before bed on a weeknight, it ends up being too late and I’m just ready to fall asleep at that point... lol

5 things I’m currently into:

- Well, Gotham and Nygmobblepot of course. ; )

- As far as other shows go, I still watch The Flash, and I love The Gifted (a shoutout to Farah for recommending that one to me - thank you, darling!) and The Good Doctor, which just, leaves you an emotional wreck after each episode (Lee knows what I’m talking about!) but it’s a really good show.

- Also watched Stranger Things with my brother a couple of months ago, and I’ve really enjoyed that as well. We binge-watched its two seasons within like three days, and now I’m just waiting for the third season...

- I’m still into watching classic movies and finding new ones through TCM. I especially like ones that include any of my main men, like Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Ford and Robert Montgomery. Love ‘em. ; )

- Since our football team (Philadelphia Eagles) have somehow been continuing to stay alive this season, I’m all for watching the games every weekend with the family. I mean, we do that anyway, but now we’re in the championship game that will lead us to the Super Bowl if they win tonight, which would be pretty exciting! Not sure if they can pull it off, but we shall see! The main thing is that the games are just always fun to watch with the family. : )

I think just about everyone has been tagged for this and already done it, but, I’ll tag some of you lovelies anyway, lol! @mymycorrhizae, @ponchik-mops-superpes, @riddlerbird, and @thenerdiestmanalive

#done and done #and in record time too ; )#see Raven i told you i'd do this lol #and Monty as you can see i ramble on too haha!#thank you both again for tagging me : )

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leisurefarmers · 7 years

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The No Sugar Challenge That Almost Broke Me

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Who else LOVES sugar! I used to drink a Coke almost everyday. Every morning I would have a chai latte from Starbucks, and every night I would eat a bowl of my favorite sugary cereal before bed. Sugar was a major part of my life!

The reason I started this 14 Day No Sugar Challenge had nothing to do with fitness but was actually because I am obsessed with skincare, skincare products, how to improve your skin, anything and everything, I just love to learn and read about it. I had been reading all these articles about how sugar and processed foods affect so many aspects of your body, one of the main ones being wrinkles and aging your face. It was early December when I came across the article, but I knew there was NO WAY I would make it through the holidays without sugar so I pushed it aside and decided to wait until the new year. January 1st hit and I decided to go 14 days with NO SUGAR! I posted it on my Instagram so I had extra accountability to do it and so many of you guys chimed in with ideas and your favorite snacks to make it happen.

Let me put one disclaimer out there. I did no major artificial sugars, so I still had honey, fruit, yogurt – I was staying away from the major things like pop, candy, cookies, sugary cereals, sugary lattes, processed junk food (I know it’s not sugar but just junk food in general – basically stuff I knew was bad for you). Below is my no sugar diary – if you want to skip past my blabbering I give some tips and and ideas at the bottom and what my overall outcome was.

DAY 1 & 2:

The first two days weren’t that big a deal. I definitely thought about it but had that beginning motivation of “I got this!” which made it easy to fight through the little headaches and tired spells.

DAY 3-7:

The next couple days were when it started to get rough! I got bad headaches, felt agitated, super tired, felt like an addict noticing sugar EVERYWHERE we went. You know when you’re not supposed to have something so all you do is think about it. Ya, that was happening! I was really craving a fizzy soda and posted about it on my stories and a bunch of you recommended Le Croix. Mara picked out the flavors it was strawberry something and you know the burning feeling from the bubbles when you drink pop it kind of gave that effect so it filled my void for the need for pop.

DAY 7 CONFESSION:

Cody and I were driving to Spaghetti Factory, chatting away listening to music, and he’s eating a bag of cinnamon bears totally not thinking I reach my hand in the bang, grab one and take a bite. I’m like dannnng this tastes SO GOOD WHY?! And then mid chew it hit me- I was like crap it’s sugar!! Ahhh!!! I started yelling ” HURRY babe roll down the window I gotta spit this out!!!” I didn’t swallow it and it was 100% an accident so I feel like it’s not a true cheat lol

DAY 8:

Headed on a flight to Miami and it was super weird because I ALWAYS get Twizzler nibs for the flight. We fly quite a bit so it was so weird my body like wanted to go through the motions at the airport and get my snack foods, but mentally I had stop myself a couple times. Habitually I ordered Ginger Ale, because I have that or Coke on every flight but then the second she handed it to me it was like oh ya I’m not drinking pop so I handed it back to her and switched out for water.

DAY 9 – 11:

Was in Miami and luckily my friends with me are pretty healthy eaters, I found this place that had all organic fruit pops that were like popsicles but just with fresh fruit! They were super yummy and I got a kiwi strawberry one.

DAY 12-14: HOME STRETCH!

I got home from Miami and my best friend flew into town. We stalked up on a bunch of snacks for the kids and Beckam picked one of my all time favorite POWDERED DONUTS! – yes im realizing this is basically turning into a diary of all the sugary things I missed. I opened the bag to give one to B and they smelt SO GOOD. It literally took everything in me not to take one. My friend was like just do it your a day away you seriously did so good already and I was like I can’t, I’ve come this far I have to do ONE MORE DAY! And I know it sounds so dumb but when I finally finished knowing I really really made it and set my mind to something and actually did it felt SO GOOD!

I DID IT!

It was literally a celebration when Day 14 came! I was so excited to have some sort of treat! Yes it was powdered donuts lol, and of course a Coke. But what was weird is usually I can drink a full Coke no big deal I only had a couple sips and was kind of over it. I wasn’t as into as I used to be, and I didn’t even crave my chai lattes anymore! But let’s be honest the donuts tasted like heaven

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So I wanted to share some tips and pointers from what I learned:

SUBSTITUTES:

Milk: I made the switch from regular milk to almond milk, and surprisingly didn’t even miss normal milk that much. On average one cup of milk has about 10-12 grams of sugar, whereas most almond milks contain no sugar at all.

Soda: On a couple occasions I had really bad cravings for soda, so I turned to drinking zero sugar drinks like La Croix instead. They’re not necessarily my favorite drinks ever, but the carbonation helped to curb the cravings.

When it came to snacks, I loved almonds, apple slices, protein shakes, etc. I also probably ate eggs way more than ever. Scrambled egg whites, egg sandwiches, avocado toast with eggs, really egg anything I like.

EATING OUT:

If you’re going to attempt any sort of lifestyle or diet change it’s probably unrealistic to say that you’ll never eat at your favorite restaurants, drinks or desserts. Something that helped me a lot was one of my friends told me you could look up restaurants menus and nutrition facts online. Nowadays most restaurants include dietary information on their websites which is extremely helpful and insightful. For example a lot of times I thought a salad off the menu would have the least amount of sugar compared to everything else, but most the time was completely wrong! What I would do is look up those facts online for wherever we were planning on eating so that I would know ahead of time what I would be ordering so that I could still stick to my plan.

For example, you can plan your no-sugar Starbucks run in advance with their nutrition information here. It definitely takes a little more planning, but so worth it!

WHAT I LEARNED:

Since the two weeks have been over I’ve been much more aware of sugar and how prevalent it is in the foods we eat. Since the challenge, I still have my occasional chai lattes and cold Coke, but I’ve cut my overall sugar down SO much. I’m trying to limit myself to two days a week of having a cheat item, and honestly the weeks I don’t limit myself and just eat whatever (it’s been almost 2 months since I finished), I notice a huge change in my energy and overall feelings.

I noticed more changes (for the good) in my body those two weeks of no sugar than ever before! Not to say that working out isn’t important because I started going to the gym a lot more during this too, but sometimes I forget that what we’re eating is what plays the biggest role in how our bodies react and change.

My reason for starting this was out of the intention to be a little healthier and feel better overall, but in the end I realized this was WAY more of a mental challenge than a physical one. If you read my daily diary above you know day thirteen when I was opening a bag of powdered donuts for B it literally took everything in me to resist. At that point I knew one donut wouldn’t ruin everything, but I wanted to push myself and prove to myself that I could stick to my guns. So many times during these two weeks I was pushed to the breaking point of giving in. Once it was over I was so proud of myself for pushing through and it was a good reminder that I really can do anything I set my mind too, and that we’re all stronger than we think. I know this sounds cheesy but I feel like it’s helped me have a stronger mental focus in other areas of my life as well. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? I feel like it’s so hard to really explain.

Also I had originally set out to do this for skin improvements and one of the girls who does my makeup a lot came over for a shoot and she was like your skin seems tighter under your eyes have you been doing something different? And I was so excited she saw a difference! She had no idea I was on the sugar challenge and she’s someone who is constantly looking at my skin so I was excited to see it actually worked!

Have you guys ever tried to go without sugar? What was your experience like and would you do it again? Or how long did you last without sugar – so curious!

XX, Christine

The post The No Sugar Challenge That Almost Broke Me appeared first on Hello Fashion.

The No Sugar Challenge That Almost Broke Me published first on https://costumecornersite.tumblr.com/

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michaelfallcon · 5 years

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You Could Use A Nice Cup Of Tea

Headlines are lessons that ring with truth: you could probably use a nice cup of tea right now. Fortunately for you this very website called Sprudge—the world’s most popular coffee publication, hi, thanks for reading—is also the coffee industry’s leading tea publication, home to a deep and growing bank of thoughtful tea content. We do it because we love drinking tea, sharing tea, and telling stories about tea. Tea is good! But also because we believe tea has an important role to play in the life of the modern coffee lover, especially as part of a well-rounded home beverage situation. It can also be an additional way to support the companies you love in these strange times.

To that end, we’ve put together this here quick recommendation guide to get you steeping and re-steeping from the comfort of your own home. This is but one wee list of tea recommendations; for a more sprawling read, check out our previous mega-guide to buying tea online, plus this feature on the wonders of tea ceramics and this one on why tisanes are also good.

For your general well-being, for your mental health, and to support good businesses and artisan makers around the world, let’s drink some tea!

Rishi Tea

Our friends and partners at Rishi Tea set the gold standard for tea collaboration in a coffee context, and you’ll find their teas served in tandem with some of the finest coffees in the world. Shopping online with Rishi means entering into a universe of choice, from teawares to Sparkling Botanicals to matcha to a beautiful range of herbal tisanes helpfully organized by function. But I’m most especially here for Rishi’s extraordinary Garden Direct range of fine and rare teas, many sourced from individual artisan tea producers across Asia. If you’ve never had really good Phoenix Dancong before, start there—it’s a kind of complex, utterly delicious roasted oolong from southeast China that tastes sweet, floral, and wonderfully caramelized all at the same time, not unlike a really good Gesha. I also love that piquant, bittersweet range of flavors—mushroom, ocean breeze, nori—you get from high quality Gyokuru from Japan, and Rishi Garden Direct has the good stuff.

But again, it’s a choose your own adventure here at Rishi’s website and through their partnerships with a range of fine coffee brands. If you want to shop around support coffee companies amidst your tea habit, check out the yummy Elderberry Healer blend (via Olympia Coffee Roasting Company) and pick up Rishi’s easy to use “Simple Brew” loose leaf tea pot (available here via Verve) with which to brew it.

Really this is just scratching the surface! Go explore the Rishi website. They’re shipping free right now within the United States for orders starting at $30.

Kilogram Tea

Kilogram Tea of Chicago is an American tea company born out of many years of experience sourcing tea in collaboration with Intelligentsia Coffee. Today the brand is distinct in style and intention, but continues to compliment the coffee offerings at Intelligentsia coffee bars nationwide. Like its coffee sibling, Kilogram’s offerings are built on seasonality, which means the New, Seasonal section of their website is where you should start. Here right now you’ll find a lovely medium steamed Sencha, as well as a lightly steamed offering, both from impeccable producers.

From there you can check out a range of additional offerings, from a benchmark organic Tieguanyin to really yummy Early Spring Snow Sprout to a concise, thoughtful selection of teawares for wherever you’re at in your tea journey. Subscribers receive 15% off their first order and orders within the Continental US ship free after $35.

Equator Coffees’ “Leaf & Water”

Tea is a longtime part of the story for Equator Coffees, which means you can shop for your tea habit while supporting a great specialty company (that’s also a B Corp). Check out classic, crowd-pleasing profiles like Yunnan Black, White Peony, or Dragon Well, plus a host of herbal blends. Combine with a coffee order while you’re at it, and enjoy free shipping on all orders right now from Equator.

Dogwood Coffee’s Cascara

Okay, cascara isn’t technically tea—actually, it’s a tisane—but Dogwood Coffee of Minneapolis has that good cascara right now, perfect for cold brewin’, baking, or plain old steeping it up hot with a splash of good honey.

Kettl Tea

Kettl Tea of Brooklyn continue to make a name for themselves as perhaps the United States’ finest purveyors of fine Japanese tea. If you’re a matcha at home person this is what you’ve been searching for, from top of the line single cultivar sets to solid entry level options. I’m consistently floored by how good the Gyokuro teas—perfect for spring!—are from Kettl, as well as their low-caffeine, high flavor mildly roasted Hojicha offerings. From the incredibly wonderful matcha chocolate to kiddo friendly soba cha, this is stuff you’ll want to share with your friends and family. Sign up for their newsletter and get 10% off your order, and enjoy free shipping within the United States right now.

Floating Mountain

It’s hard to substitute for the meditative calm of drinking tea in Floating Mountain’s stunning Upper West Side gallery space in Manhattan. But in the era of social distancing, Floating Mountain’s webshop will suffice. Shop here for impeccably sourced “rock teas” (Yancha)—something about a Purple Robe or a Big Red Robe feels perfect for our current Work From Home moment. Really stunning teas.

Spirit Tea

Spirit Tea have established themselves as the tea purveyor at several fine coffee bars around the United States—you can find one near you using the brand’s shop locator. On the retail side Spirit offer a range of teas from around the world, including helpful bundles like this matcha starter set, or the oolong tea sampler. All orders ship free, no minimum buy required.

Stand.still Tea

Up-and-coming Los Angeles tea purveyors fusing the ancient art of tea brewing with influences from hip hop and cannabis cultures. Check out “The Come Up,” Stand.still’s all-in-one sampler box that includes four different kinds of teas, a reusable tea filter and bamboo spoon.

Mizuba Matcha

Yummy Portland, Oregon based purveyors of matcha teas. Go with the matcha set and be sure to peruse their cool selection of teawares.

Tanglewood Chai

Chai is synonymous with the coffee bar experience, but draws on a centuries-old tradition of tea and spice blending from India. Tanglewood Chai of Portland, Oregon are writing a new script for what chai means here in America, selling a small range of wonderfully spiced concentrates ready for home use in a variety of ways. Whether combined with steamed milk a la your favorite coffee shop or purposed towards home baking, craft cocktails and sodas, this is honestly some of the best chai we’ve ever tasted.

Get a cool tea subscription + keep reading

Beloved tea nerd brands like White2Tea, The Tea PL, and many more offer cool home tea subscriptions, which is a wonderful way to discover more about what you do and don’t like from the wonderful world of tea. Not to keep outlinking to the same page but we’re really proud of the tea writing we’ve published over the last few years on Sprudge so check it out, drink tea with us, and keep diving here for many, many more online tea seller suggestions and write-ups.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network.

Photos in this feature by Zachary Carlsen and Anthony Jordan III for Sprudge Media Network.

Much more content at Sprudge.com/tea

You Could Use A Nice Cup Of Tea published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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shebreathesslowly · 5 years

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You Could Use A Nice Cup Of Tea

For your general well-being, for your mental health, and to support good businesses and artisan makers around the world, let’s drink some tea!

Rishi Tea

Really this is just scratching the surface! Go explore the Rishi website. They’re shipping free right now within the United States for orders starting at $30.

Kilogram Tea

Equator Coffees’ “Leaf & Water”

Dogwood Coffee’s Cascara

Kettl Tea

Floating Mountain

Spirit Tea

Stand.still Tea

Mizuba Matcha

Yummy Portland, Oregon based purveyors of matcha teas. Go with the matcha set and be sure to peruse their cool selection of teawares.

Tanglewood Chai

Get a cool tea subscription + keep reading

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network.

Photos in this feature by Zachary Carlasen and Anthony Jordan III for Sprudge Media Network.

Much more content at Sprudge.com/tea

from Sprudge https://ift.tt/2UlQWJ2

#Sprudge

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eat-travel-live-repeat · 5 years

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A Memorable Weekend in Panna National Park and my First Wildlife Encounter

The day was 14 December 2019, and the time was 0735 in the morning, and the location – Panna National Park, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India – This day shall forever be remembered!

The reason?

After going for multiple wildlife safaris, it was on this date that I had my first sighting, of a graceful and powerful big cat!

A female Leopard, in the wilderness!

But, before going forward, let me recap things a bit!

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About two months back, in the month of September, I got a message from my friend that she is getting married in the town of Orchha, near Jhansi in India. A quick google survey later, I found myself to be more excited as I realized that Jhansi was just a couple of hours away by train, from the town of Khajuraho – The gateway to Panna National Park.

In a matter of a week, my tickets were booked, and my search for some rustic lodges in the wilderness of Panna National Park, concluded in me finalizing Ken River Lodge.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Ken River Lodge – fondly known as the Tree House by locals, owing to the lovely Machaan restaurant, overlooking the Ken River; is a luxurious wildlife lodge spread in a sprawling 50 acre of jungle along the Ken River.

The rustic Machaan restaurant at Ken River Lodge

Ken River Lodge, operated by Pugdundee Safaris was established in 1986, and was one of the pioneers of wildlife tourism in India, and has been built with natural materials sourced mostly from neighbouring villages and surrounding areas.

The famous picture of the Machaan restaurant, overlooking the Ken River (Google it), convinced me in the first go itself, that this is where I’ll be staying.

The Village Huts – Premium accommodation at Ken River Lodge

Fast-forward to 13 December 2019.

After a four-hour train journey from Jhansi, I found myself at Khajuraho Railway Station at 7 AM in the morning of 13th December 2019, and in a matter of another 30 odd minutes, at Ken River Lodge in Panna National Park. (Ken River Lodge is 12 KM from Khajuraho Railway Station)

We were welcomed by Mr Rabindra Nayak the lodge manager at Ken River Lodge, who first gave us an introduction about the property and Panna National Park, followed by a property tour, and intimated us about the things in store for us, and then later dropped us to our home for the next 2 days – Hut Number 5.

Our Abode – Hut Number 5

As we got chatting with Mr Rabindra, we got to know that Ken River Lodge has 8 village styled air conditioned huts, and 5 family cottages (2 bedrooms each), equipped with all modern amenities, spread over 50 acres.

According to him, the main highlights of our trip would be

The Sunset Boat Ride on the Ken River.

The Morning Jungle Safari.

Appreciating the beauty of nature.

The Digital Detox.

And trust me, when we checked out, we realized that he was actually right, as majority of the day, we were off social media (No network in the rooms and in the jungle), and appreciated the sounds of nature with the birds chirping, where ever we went.

So, at around 4:15 in the evening on 13th December, we headed out on the Sunset Boat Ride, in the Ken River, alongside which Ken River Lodge is located; which ended up, with us enjoying the sunset, with a hot cup of chai, from the top of a small rocky island.

Chasing Sunsets

By the time we were back, it became pitch black, even though it was just 6 PM, so we enjoyed a sumptuous spread of food and called it an early night.

Sunsets, Chai and the Wilderness 😍

14th December 2019

The day started at 6 AM when we were greeted by Mr Parikshit our Naturalist guide from the team of Ken River Lodge. After an informal ice breaking tea session, we made our way to the entry gate, where our guide from the Panna Tiger Reserve joined our gypsy.

And off we went! Into the wilderness of Panna National Park!

As we started on our Adventure, we got to know that Panna National Park is spread over 543 sq km, and was carved out of the hunting reserves of the erstwhile Panna, Chattarpur and Bijawar states. Panna was accorded sanctuary status in 1975 and upgraded to a national park in 1981, and in 1994, it became India’s 22nd Tiger Reserve.

Panna has been home to a highly successful Tiger relocation project. Tigers from different national parks of India, were relocated and introduced in the jungles of Panna National Park, between 2000 – 2010, and in a matter of few years, the tiger population has thrived and grown to a good 50 odd tigers in the entire reserve.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Unlike Corbett National Park, Panna doesn’t have any zones as such. Out of the total area, only 20% is accessible to tourists, via the Madla gate and the Hinauta gates. It is always better to book entry ticket in advance through (www.mponline.gov.in), as the maximum number of vehicles allowed to enter the park per-day is limited.

Safari Time – Panna National Park

According to Mr Parikshit, the priority of our jungle safari was searching for Tigers for the first couple of hours, followed by a packed breakfast, at some good spot, and then looking for other fauna.

Before we started the safari, the officials had conveyed to our guides, about the last known location of the tigers, and the first hour we did just that – rushing to the spots, where the tiger could have been.

An hour into the safari, at around 0730, we saw a movement on the road ahead, and within seconds our guides confirmed that it was a leopard.

And there she was, a beautiful female leopard, who slowly started walking towards our gypsy, giving us a nice show, before heading to the bushes.

The Show Stopper

At this point, our experienced guides, reversed the gypsy, and went around the road. While I was still trying to gather myself, with all the adrenaline pumping and my excitement levels being at an all-time high, in a matter of 2 minutes, she appeared from the bushes, and started strolling ahead.

And now, instead of walking into the bushes, she decided to stay on the muddy road, and leap onto a tree, and stay there for quite a bit. The tree, was just next to the muddy road, and hardly a meter and a half from our gypsy, and there we were, enjoying a nice private sighting of the leopard.

The next 5 minutes, we stared at the leopard, and observed her make her way around the tree, as she give us a nice photoshoot opportunity.

While on one side, we all stood on our gypsy, with our cameras, locked on the leopard, the leopard on the other side, sat there, giving us the stare, looking straight into my zoomed camera lens.

Just look at her eyes

We both sat there, staring at each other, maintaining eye contact with each other, before she suddenly decided to get going. The sudden action of her, getting up, and running down the tree, into the bushes, appeared to me for a fraction of a second, as if she was going to pounce on me, which scared the shit out of me for a second, and I could feel a sudden rush of adrenaline running in my body.

And that my friend, was my first wildlife sighting experience in the wilderness. Those 15 minutes, from the time I first saw the leopard, till the time, she decided to go and get on with her stuff, will remain forever etched in my memory.

However, that’s not all!

While we were still hoping for a tiger spotting, we ended up spotting plenty of Sambar Deers, Neelgais, The Chitala Deers, Peacocks, really up close and personal, which made the experience of the Jungle Safari in Panna National Park with Ken River Lodge and Pugdundee Safaris, the one to remember for times to come.

The rest of the day, we practically did nothing, but just eat the yummy food cooked by the awesome chefs at Ken River Lodge, and share about our leopard sightings with others.

Pin It for future Travel Inspiration !

15th December 2019

The time had come for us to check out of Ken River Lodge, after a leisure breakfast and lunch, and biding adieu to the entire team of Ken River Lodge, specially to Mr Rabindra and Mr Parikshit, for making sure that we have the best of the experiences during our stay with them.

Looking back, to what Mr Rabindra, had told us when we were checking in, we found ourselves to be very lucky and to be at the right place at the right time. We were lucky that we got to enjoy a good sunset on the 13th evening, as on 14th, it was cloudy all-day long. And even though it was foggy for major part of our safari, we had an excellent sighting, as according to our guides, the cats prefer walking on the muddy roads, instead of the grass where there are dew – drops.

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One of the perks of being a #TravelBlogger and living the #DigitalNomadLifestyle is that every now and then you find a workspace with some really awesome vibes, that get your productive juices flowing 😊 . . Such were the scenes only a couple of days back when I found an amazing spot in the Machaan restaurant at #KenRiverLodge overlooking the Ken River when I was Hosted by @pugdundeesafaris at one of the most rustic Wildlife lodges in India. . . PC – @sahajmathur . . . . . . . . #EatTravelLiveRepeat #luxurylifestyle #ETLRWithArnav #luxurytravel #digitalnomad #indiantravelsquad #indiantravelblogger #lifeofluxury #luxuriouslifestyle #mptourism #tripotocommunity #tripgram #traveldestinations_ig #snapseededit #discoverindiamagazine #destinationunlocked #googlelocalguide #lonelyplanetindia #photographers_of_india #outlooktraveller #TravelBloggerLife

A post shared by Arnav Mathur | Travel | INDIA (@theetlrblog) on Dec 20, 2019 at 5:32am PST

All in all, a weekend well spent in the jungles of Panna National Park and a safari experience, that shall forever hold a special place in my heart.

The brothers along with Mr Parikshit – The Naturalist (one with the hat), and our guide from Panna Tiger Reserve

Major Highlights during our stay at Ken River Lodge, Panna National Park

The spacious huts, equipped with all modern amenities, yet having an old rustic charm.

The mesmerizing view from Machaan, during the meals. The sumptuous, yet simple home cooked food at Ken River Lodge.

The Sunset Boat Ride, and having chai on the rocky island.

Navigating around Panna National Park, on a foggy morning, breathing clean pure air.

The Leopard Sighting.

The packed breakfast, outside a temporary closed forest guesthouse, in the middle of the wilderness.

A Weekend Itinerary for Panna National Park – Summarized

Day 1 – Arrival in Khajuraho | Transfer to Resort | Day at Leisure and sunset boat ride / nature walk

Day 2 – Morning Jungle Jeep Safari (Sunrise to 11 AM) | Day at leisure | Optional – Afternoon Safari (3/4 PM to Sunset)

Day 3 – Post Lunch Checkout | Optional Khajuraho sightseeing trip | Departure from Khajuraho

Alternatively, you can do the Morning Jungle Jeep Safari in Panna National Park on Day 2 from Sunrise until 11 AM, and then take the train back from Khajuraho in the evening.

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How to Reach Panna National Park?

By Train – The most convenient option is boarding the UP Sampark Kranti (12448), in the evening from H.Nizammudin in New Delhi at 8 PM, and reaching Khajuraho in the morning between 0645- 0800 (Considering delays).

There are plenty of train options via Jhansi, which is well connected to both Delhi and Mumbai.

By Air – The nearest Airport is the Khajuraho Airport

By Road – While there are plenty of autos, waiting to ferry you at Khajuraho railway station, note that, most of the resorts are 10 + KM from the Railway Station, and the Autos will charge a premium for the same. The safest bet is to get your pick up and drop arranged by the resort, you are staying in. Average rates start from INR 1000 / vehicle one way.

Ken River Lodge, is 12 KM from Khajuraho Railway Station, and 25 KM from Khajuraho. The complete address is as follows:

Village Madla, 1/2 Km from Madla Police Station, Panna, Madhya Pradesh 488001

Disclaimer : No compensation was received for this article, however Ken River Lodge offered my stay complimentary. As always, the opinions on theETLRblog.com are (and always will be) my own!

My First Wildlife Encounter in Panna National Park (MP, India) | Weekend Itinerary A Memorable Weekend in Panna National Park and my First Wildlife Encounter The day was 14 December 2019…

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tyleroakley-obsessed · 6 years

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It’s a bit hard to believe, but we are only a few weeks away from Christmas! Parades, trips to meet Santa and Holiday Markets are in full effect, but just in case you need a little help finalizing your gifting list (who’s been naughty and who’s been nice?!) here’s a round up of some of the coolest local businesses to shop with this Holiday Season. Shopping small during this time of year is not only an amazing way to help support local businesses and give back to your community, but it also ensures that you’ll be able to find some really unique gifts. 17 Berkshire 2094 Trimble Place Memphis TN 38104 Photo Credit Link Sweet treats like rose-flavored macarons and mouth-watering gingerbread cupcakes are this Overton Square shop’s specialty, but you can also find cute calendars, teas, stationary and books here. Just try not to keep them all for yourself. Ha! Cotton Tails Memphis 389 Perkins Ext, Memphis, TN 38117 Photo Link Shopping for your littles and want to find unique clothing and accessories with a hint of nostalgia? Cotton Tails has you covered. Downtown Candle Company 107 G.E. Patterson Ave, Memphis TN 38103 Photo Link Everyone loves candles, and Downtown Candle Company make some of the best around. Natural and soy-based, they have a wide variety of scents to choose from. Grab a few to use as stocking stuffers or for Secret Santa at work! They usually have lumberjack-inspired mandles (manly-smelling candles). Eclectic Eye 242 South Cooper Street, Memphis TN 38104 Photo Link Eclectic Eye is the go to place in Memphis when you’re ready to step outside the box and try something a little more fashion forward with your frames. Whether you’re shopping for new every day glasses or sunnies, every frame you find here is unique. They also have wonderful local art on display – most of their gallery openings are listed on the blog calendar, great holiday decorations, and a cool mural on the side of the business! Falling Into Place 2613 Broad Avenue, Memphis TN 3112 Photo Link The cutest little gift shop on Broad Avenue, Falling Into Place is a great source for smaller, independent jewelry brands, art work, and wellness products (think bath bombs + scrubs). If you’re looking for Memphis-themed gifts or candles made for each zodiac sign (mine smells like a sweet apple cider!) this adorable spot is a great option. Five In One Social Club 2535 Broad Avenue Memphis, TN 38112 Photo Link The weird little place your friends told you about. You can find board games, adult coloring books and other cool, but off-kilter gifts here. Five In One also offers a ton of the most unique Memphis-themed gifts as well (if you ask me where to get Memphis “stuff” as a gift, I will send you here). They also have gift certificates for arts-n-crafts classes that are – speaking from experience – a super fun friend-date or date-date night idea. Green Goddess Popcorn & Tea 3078 Summer Ave, Memphis, TN 38112 Photo Link When you need a gift that anyone would love (but also isn’t overly personal), specialty flavored popcorn, pastries and teas are pretty legit. Green Goddess’ products are 100% plant-based, so they make for a healthy but still yummy alternative to your normal holiday goodies. Maggie’s Pharm 13 N. Florence Street, Memphis TN 38104 Photo Link For the friends that loves herbs, oils and other mystical things, Maggie’s Pharm the best place to find gifts for those friends who are all about living a more holistic life. They also have my favorite smelling candle on earth: Tomato Plant. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it’s magnificent. I also appreciate their all-natural lotions, soaps, and shampoos that are created onsite. Mbabazi 2553 Broad Ave, Memphis TN 38112 Photo link Mbabazi House of Style is a Ugandan Fair Trade business that hand-makes unique and beautiful clothes, accessories, and jewelry out of traditional African material. Shop here for the fashionista friend that is bold and loves to experiment with her personal style. Mrs. Post Stationery 3092 Poplar Ave #10, Memphis, TN 38111 Photo Link Add this to your list if you’re shopping for any paper lover (of any age!) that is obsessed with cute stationary, style coffee table books and other little keepsakes. My Cup Of Tea 3028 Carnes Memphis, 38111 Photo Link Created to help promote the enjoyment of tea and the practice of hospitality, a gift basket from My Cup of Tea would be perfect for that “Zen” friend that understands the importance of slowing down and showing gratitude. Herbal teas, black teas, white teas, caffeinated and decaf – you can find My Cup of Tea at their online shop, in-person retail shop, or at one of these local retailers. They have holiday flavors plus fun Memphis flavors like “Bluff City Chai”, “Orange Mound Porch Peach”, and “Memphis Afternoon Chocolate Mint”. Novel Memphis 387 Perkins Ext. Memphis, TN 38117 Photo Link Have a friend that loves to read? Novel is the place to go for new book releases. They also carry a few small gift options (think candles, notebooks and planners) so you can create your own little gift baskets when you shop. There’s also a Memphis section for books about the city and written by Memphians! Oak Hall 6150 Poplar Ave, Suite 146, Memphis TN, 38119 Photo Link Shopping for someone that loves a little bit of luxury? Oak Hall curates a wide range of designer brands like Rag & Bone, Alice & Olivia, and All Saints, so you can easily scratch your label loving bestie off of your list. Pedaltown Bicycle Company 2547 Broad Ave, Memphis TN 38112 Photo Link You can’t celebrate Christmas without SOMEONE getting a bike, and Pedaltown has some pretty nice options for both the kiddos and adults. Southern Muse 2140 West Poplar Avenue, Suite 104, Collierville, TN 38017 Photo Link The largest women’s boutique in Collierville, Southern Muse offers stylish pieces with a touch of edge. In addition to apparel, they have a wide variety of accessories, home goods, and other fun little gifts to nab for your girls. Stock & Belle 387 S. Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103 Photo Link This downtown based general store is a great place to shop when you need to cover a lot of bases. You can find clothing + accessories for both men and women, artwork, furniture and other little curiosities. The Ivory Closet 2095 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104 Photo Link High style at affordable pricing is what The Ivory Closet is known for, so this cute little boutique is perfect for finding gifts for the friend that wants a wardrobe update. They also carry makeup, candles and other wellness products, so don’t feel bad if you decide to #treatyself while shopping for someone else. plus a few more ideas… Doc’s Wine, Spirits, & More 6645 Poplar Avenue Suite 101, Germantown TN 38138 Photo Link View this post on Instagram A post shared by Doc’s Wine, Spirits & More (@docsmemphis) on Nov 17, 2018 at 8:07am PST Doc’s is more than just a liquor store – they offer a great selection of local foodie products, from cheese straws to baked goods to candy and other treats. Plus, if you are shopping for someone who likes to drink local, Doc’s has their own line of locally-owned wines and spirits. I recommend chatting with one of the knowledgable staffers and perhaps choosing something from their Doc 52 whiskey line, which is selling like hotcakes. Hot whiskey cakes, maybe. The Peanut Shoppe 24 S. Main, Memphis TN 38103 Photo link View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Peanut Shoppe, 24 S. Main (@thepeanutshoppememphis) on Dec 5, 2018 at 3:15pm PST If you need some sweet or savory treats for stocking stuffers, coworker gifts, Dirty Santa parties, or just to eat in your car by yourself while you sit in holiday traffic…go see the friendly folks at The Peanut Shoppe on Main Street downtown. Personal service, a super cool space, and delicious variety of all kinds of candied, chocolate-covered, and savory nuts. Hollywood Feed Various Locations (see the list!) Photo Link View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hollywood Feed Fresh Bakery (@hollywoodfeedfreshbakery) on Feb 11, 2017 at 12:03pm PST I know some of y’all are shopping for your pets this holiday season just like they’re people. I fully support this, so fill up their stockings with locally-made, all-natural treats and toys from Hollywood Feed. Yes, Hollyweed Feed is a chain, but they’re Memphis based and many of their goodies for cats or dogs are made right here in the MidSouth, i.e., bakery treats, jerky, catnip-infused cat toys, and Mississippi Made Dog beds. See a lot more here. For someone who already has enough “things” there are plenty of Memphis experiences you can gift them this holiday season… Memphis Express AAF Tickets Photo link View this post on Instagram A post shared by Memphis Express (@aafexpress) on Nov 29, 2018 at 10:31am PST If your gift-recipient is a sportsperson or just a die-hard Memphis homer, go for a ticket package for the brand new Alliance of American Football team, which will play five home games at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. These folks are passionate about Memphis and are passionate about creating an experience that’s convenient, personalize, and exciting. Season tickets start at $75 for the Family Section and $150 for “The Hub” aka the section for loud and appropriately rowdy fans. 2019 World Golf Championship (July 22-28, 2019) TPC Southwind, Memphis TN Photo link View this post on Instagram A post shared by TPC Southwind (@tpcsouthwind) on Jun 10, 2018 at 6:18am PDT It’s no small deal that PGA World Golf Championship is moving to Memphis next summer. Yes, Tiger Woods is slated to be here for this, the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Though it may be a while before your gift recipient can use this gift – they’ll be looking forward to it (and thinking about your generosity) until July. They’re offering three holiday ticket packages from $99 – $175, plus fees. Get all the details here, and order by Dec. 19 to receive by Christmas. ALSO! If you want to try to win some tickets, I Love Memphis is doing some giveaways. Just be sure you subscribe to blog posts here, and follow ILM on Instagram here (and sign up for notifications so the algorithm doesn’t steal your free ticket chances away). Playhouse on the Square Holiday Packages 66 S. Cooper Street Memphis TN 38104 Photo link. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Playhouse on the Square (@playhouseonthesquare) on Nov 25, 2018 at 6:51am PST Celebrate the holidays and the 50th (wow!) season of Playhouse on the Square this year by gifting a ticket package. The packages start with half-subscriptions for four tickets starting at $95, and go all the way up to 8-pack, 12-pack, and 16-pack subscriptions for shows like Tuck Everlasting, Cabaret, and Matilda. Memphis 901 FC Season Tickets AutoZone Park Photo link. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Memphis 901 FC (@memphis901fc) on Nov 22, 2018 at 6:34am PST Welcome our new United Soccer League football club to the Bluff City with season tickets for you and a pal. Y’all can enjoy your gifts all spring; there are 17 regular season games that start in March. Supporters Section season tickets start at $170 for the whole season, or spring for $300 for sidelines tickets. If the matches are anything like the 901 Day exhibition game this year, we’re in for an exciting inaugural year of pro soccer in Memphis. City Tasting Tour Photo link. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cultural Food Tasting Tours (@citytastingtours) on Nov 25, 2018 at 6:41am PST The perfect gift for a foodie friend: a gift certificate for a City Tasting Tour. You’ll get personal, guided tour of downtown restaurants and bars. There are a variety of tours available, including brunch and cocktail tours, and a customized version. — This roundup is just a tip of the small business iceberg here in Memphis. Before you head out to a mall, be sure to look around to see how you can shop small! Where are your favorite places to shop for gifts in Memphis? Let us know in the comments. About The Author/Photographer Kim Thomas is a lifestyle blogger + photographer based in Memphis, TN. Launched in September 2010, her blog KP Fusion provides of-the-moment fashion, style and beauty tips + trends with a little Memphis, TN flavor thrown in. Whether it’s high, low, fast fashion, vintage, or something new, like a well-edited wardrobe, there’s a place for it on the blog. Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout https://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2018/12/shop-small-for-the-holidays-the-memphis-gift-guide/

#I Love Memphis

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thechocolategarage · 6 years

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NEW Sibu: Coffee&Cardamom, Coffee Toffee, Chai, Ginger....

April 13, 2018

CLOSING MAY 26th, 2018. Till then, Open Saturdays only from 9 am - 1pm. Or book us anytime for a private team building or tasting event!

Hello everyone!

Doesn't seem that long ago, that I was clinking glasses with my then new found friend Zuzia, who was the one who did all the magic implementing the floor pictured here. She is an incredibly talented artist, I have one of her abstract paintings right above my bed in my bedroom. Zuzia and I met because her frame shop made a custom frame for our Taste Tubes. You know, the super clever way to store all the samples we generously give to folks, and the throw back to my geeky science test tube days... yes, that gorgeous frame is what brought us together, when we remodeled The Chocolate Garage. Five days and nights painting this floor, and chatting about all things, and just being quiet too.

I feel like I can say "super clever" way to store the samples, because another dear friend, Hege, was the one who designed the floor, the taste tubes, all of it. She did an amazing job, and working together brought us closer. Back to Zuzia, if any of you are abstract art lovers, and looking to furnish a room or two in your home, with a local artist who is a great painter, you can check our her Instagram page, where she will soon link to a website specifically for her art. If you are like me, and love her paintings, then go ahead and support a small local and very talented and gorgeous human being of an artist. Below are a couple of my favorites paintings by her.

Where was I? I guess the sentiment is that it takes a village, or maybe we are the village. The community that has formed around The Chocolate Garage these past 8 years has been inspiring. I never could have done it with out all of you, and it also seems true that I can't do it even with all of you! Hah! I suppose this is a paradox, much like most of life.

In any case, I wanted to invite you to take what you have learned via our community, and through the model we built to support small craft makers, funding their bars directly, sourcing the best chocolate available, often exclusively for you, my hope is that you take away the experience of the power behind being connected. Building trust, thinking beyond ourselves, towards the larger world. Realizing how significant each of your actions are, and how being cynical and just serving ourselves (which we all can easily slip into), succumbing to what the system incentivizes, is what destroys your own hope and brings about the world we say we don't want.

Each of us using our money to buy direct from Full Belly Farm, instead of Amazon/Whole Foods, who is already tightening their grip on their largest vendors. Each of our choices matter. Don't buy into the lie that you don't have time, and it's more convenient. You have all the time in the world. Take a deep breath, connect with what you believe in, adapt your priorities, notice the beauty of slowing down and reducing the external chaos in your life.

Choose to source direct from the maker, or support local small brick and mortar shops who bring you variety, who take on the risk and create a beautiful space for you to learn, connect and savor. Think of all the beautiful memories that have been made in The Chocolate Garage, and connections to others and to yourself that have happened while tasting Happy Chocolate, and if that is meaningful to you, and has brought some delicious joy into your life, find other ways to weave things like that into your life.

It could be having some folks over for dinner, or deciding to go to Vino Locale with some friends for dinner and wine. Or carve out time to go to Foothills, Shoreline or Huddart park maybe once a week, and just wander, see the trees, and sunlight. A few years ago, I finally realized that I was working all the time, and thought: "if I can't get out to the redwoods 1-2 times a week, for a restful, meditative run, why the !@%! am I running my own business?!? It's a total failure if I don't have the flexibility to do something beautiful occasionally." Something like that, and yes, I do curse quite a bit to myself, and to close friends, but almost never in front of my kids. Only when I get really angry. :) And that's when I know it's time to go ponder the redwoods.

There it is. An invitation to stop making excuses and just schedule something you love to do once or twice a week. I believe the whole point of being here is to be aware of your heart singing. So leaning into what makes your heart sing and making it happen each week, it is super yummy, so do more of it!

That is my plan. :) More yummy. As I have mentioned before, once I close The Chocolate Garage, I plan to send out monthly newsletters. To keep you posted and let you know where you can find Happy Chocolate goodies, new things I discover, and pointers to the most Happy Businesses that can send you stuff that you won't be able to get at The Chocolate Garage anymore. I will also announce any trips I am going to lead, and post our new documentaries, ok, Sunita, I think they get the point. I will stay in touch about all choco and other things in life.

On that note, I would encourage you all to keep coming in until we close, and to please keep sourcing your Happy Chocolate through us, we need your support until we close, because we are committed to giving everyone plenty of notice to come in and spend their Future Chocolate, before we close our doors. So, we need you all to stick with us, because we are trying to walk the fine line of ordering just enough, but not too much, so we can serve you, but not sit on inventory. So, please keep coming in each Saturday until the last Saturday of May (26th). Stay tuned for a closing hurrah, a party at The Chocolate Garage to celebrate all the wonderful things that have unfolded around us over the years.

Here are the tasty reasons to come in tomorrow:

Original Beans Piura Malinga 75%

Grenada Chocolate Company 71%

Sibu Cardamom & Coffee

Sibu Coffee Toffee

So, you are already familiar with Original Beans, here they are having Felchlin make a delicious 75% with beans from this region of Peru. Felchlin is a delightful, unique and inspiring company out of Ibach, Switzerland, who we will go into greater detail about in our next Chocumentary. That means documentary all about (Happy) chocolate. Didn't know we are making films? Well, you can check out the first three, and know that Switzerland will release soon, once I manage to remove a few items from my Great Juggling Act right now... and then after Switzerland, we are piecing together our footage and audio from India, and can't wait to get to editing that one into being. Grenada Chocolate Company you know, one of my main inspirations to start this whole Happy Chocolate® thing in the first place. Here is the classic 71%, but after Mott Green died, the vanilla has been removed, and funnily, I think I liked it better with the vanilla, it rounded things out a bit, and it was so subtle... you can come taste and see for yourself. The last two, are both inclusions and are from a maker called Sibu in Costa Rica who has been making bean to bar in CR for many years, I tasted some of their early bars years ago, and just got some more samples recently, that delighted me. I am excited to taste the coffee and cardamom tomorrow, and also the coffee toffee, ginger and chai... I am generally heartened to see so many new bean to bar at origin makers. Who are turning out more and more solidly delicious bars.

SOMA, CHARM SCHOOL AND MOMOTOMBO:

We are getting in more SOMA, Charm School and Momotombo. Charm School will come in next week, and SOMA and Momotombo are just a few miles away, but not here for us to share with you tomorrow. We were so close, but then there is a stall in Memphis, so SOMA sits. And as for Momotombo, it is going through customs right now, and should be with us VERY soon. Next Saturday for sure... I always take pause when I say something is sure. Who knows. But we will all be fine either way. :)

Any other last requests of things for us to bring in for you? We may or may not be able to accommodate, but please let us know if you want any favorites and we will do our best!

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow! I will be there in the morning, then zip off to coach my daughters softball game, and be back to help close. Katie and Claire will be there too! Depending on how the afternoon and evening unfold tonight, we may even have some "cold chocolate" to serve up, if I can work out the right recipe for Dick Taylor's peppermint hot chocolate, turned cold. That will be a surprise!

Lovely to be back, this newsletter was fun to write. See you tomorrow!

Sunita

p.s. Please ping me if you or someone you know, would like to acquire The Chocolate Garage either for online or brick and mortar experience creation. We have built a large reputation (and demand) in Silicon Valley for team buildings and tastings, and an educated, wonderful community of folks who value top quality chocolate and clean supply chains.

Untitled 2018. Resin, golden acrylics.

Buddha 2016. Mixed Medium.

#happychocolate #happy chocolate experiences #Unwrapped podcast #cacao origin trips #Original Beans Piura Malinga 75%#Grenada Chocolate Company 71%#Sibu Cardamom & Coffee #Sibu Coffee Toffee

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dietsauthority · 7 years

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22 Homemade Granola Recipes That Are Actually Healthy

For many healthy and balanced eaters, granola is considered as the best breakfast food. It tastes excellent soaked in almond milk or sprayed on top of some yogurt. Of training course, there are those ooey-gooey granola bars that many individuals stuff in their handbag or brief-case for a 'healthy and balanced' grab-and-go snack. While there's no refuting granola is delicious and practical, there is one trouble. The majority of the shop got things isn't really as healthy and balanced as you think. Actually, granola is on our checklist of foods people believe are healthy and balanced, but actually typically aren't. The truth is, store-bought granola is loaded with sugar, harmful fats, and also oils.

Okay, that suffices with the bad information. Currently, for some great information. Granola bits as well as bars do not have to be filled with calories and also harmful fats. Instead, you can make your very own granola in your home and check every ingredient. Check out the following 22 simple-to-make, homemade granola recipes. They're gluten-free and also made with beneficial components your body requirements.

1. Banana Granola - While this recipe doesn't require any sugarcoated or oil, it's still loaded with taste. The ace in the hole in this homemade granola recipe is a ripe banana and tasty seasonings like cinnamon as well as nutmeg. And also, a bit of shredded coconut offers it an additional kick (both in taste and also nutrition). As far as the structure goes, this granola is a little chewier than a lot of so it might remind you of a banana oatmeal cookie. Sounds great, best?! In addition to the mouthwatering flavor and wonderful texture, an offering of this granola will provide you with helpful healthy protein, fiber, and vitamins.

2. Vanilla Almond Granola - Sweet, sticky, and crispy - those are the most effective words to define this homemade granola dish! You only need seven active ingredients, none which are refined sugar. All the sweet taste comes from a little pure maple syrup. The crunch comes from some melted coconut oil. And also, blasts of taste comes from a combination of vanilla as well as almond removes. There isn't really one harmful component included in this dish.

3. Peanut Butter Granola - With just four components and also about 10 minutes of prep time, it does not get any type of less complex than this recipe. Many thanks to the peanut butter, this granola is packed with filling healthy protein. If you enjoy a bowl of this peanut butter granola for breakfast, you should be complete up until lunch time. No need to grab for a mid-morning snack. And also, it's gluten-free, sugar-free, and also chemical-free.

4. Slow Cooker Salted Sugar Almond Granola - This granola tastes sinfully scrumptious, yet is totally guilt-free! In addition to healthy and balanced and delicious active ingredients, what sets this dish besides others is just how it's prepared. Simply throw the ingredients into a slow-moving stove for concerning two hours, remove, and let great. Before you dig in and delight in a dish of this yummy granola, don't fail to remember to add some dark chocolate chips. It might not seem healthy and balanced to chew on delicious chocolate chips with your morning meal, but did you recognize dark delicious chocolate actually has unbelievable wellness benefits? The advantages consist of:

Improves blood flow

Fights stress

Fights fatigue

Helps prevent diabetes

Improves gastrointestinal flora

5. Chai Spiced Granola - If you like chai tea after that you'll love this chai-spiced granola recipe. The chai seasonings most definitely kick the taste up a notch from your common plain granola without adding any kind of additional calories. And also, there's no processed sugar in this dish. All of the sweet taste comes from raw honey and added virgin coconut oil. If you select to add honey as your all-natural sugar, see to it to select a raw, natural honey. A number of the honey containers that line the shelves of your local supermarket are highly refined. If possible, acquire your honey at your regional farmers market.

6. Skinny Dark Delicious chocolate Chia Granola - If you are a chocoholic after that this is the ideal recipe for you. With just a few components that you probably have in your kitchen today, you can change routine oats into a delicious chocolate delight! The rich delicious chocolate preference comes from both chocolate powder and also some dark chocolate chips. Plus, this dish also requires little yet magnificent chia seeds. Did you understand that simply one tablespoon of chia seeds contains 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of healthy protein, and 4 grams of healthy and balanced fats ?!

7. Delicious chocolate Granola With Tahini and Honey - This delicious chocolate granola is much various than the last one I included on the list. The cacao powder and honey utilized in this granola is coupled with somewhat bitter tahini (sesame paste). The tahini makes this granola a Center Eastern-inspired food. It loads 7 grams of fiber, making it wonderful for digestion wellness.

8. Carrot Cake Granola - Do not let words 'cake' fool you, this dish is packed with healthy components. Ingredients such as shredded carrots, walnuts, and also pecans offer impressive nutrients. Plus, cinnamon, ginger, as well as nutmeg provide this dish a powerful taste (in a great way)! This recipe is sweetened with syrup. Doesn't indicate routine Aunt Jemima. Instead, use a raw maple syrup that hasn't already been refined with polished sugar or thickeners. Just like honey, much of the maple syrup containers stocked on the shelves of your supermarket are packed with dangerous food additives such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial tastes, and much more.

9. Toasted Coconut as well as Berry Grain Free Granola - This granola could increase for trail mix. It's filled with mixed nuts, seeds, and also dried out berries. So if you're searching for a tasty gluten-free snack after that this is most definitely a wonderful alternative.

10. Pumpkin Granola - Delight in the taste of fall all year long with this scrumptious and healthy pumpkin granola. The recipe requires pumpkin puree, pumpkin seeds, as well as pumpkin pie seasoning. Wow ... that's a great deal of pumpkin! In instance you didn't recognize, pumpkin is abundant in vital minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and also phosphorus. The seeds are also an outstanding resource of fiber. In total, this recipe has 5.2 grams of fiber, making it excellent for digestion wellness. The health benefits do not end there. It additionally calls for quinoa, implying it's loaded with belly-filling healthy protein (8.1 grams to be exact).

11. Cranberry Coconut Granola - Almonds, coconut flakes, as well as dried cranberries. It doesn't obtain a lot more delicious and nutritious compared to this homemade granola. While this recipe calls for good-for-you active ingredients, it does offer you the option to select in between coconut oil or veggie oil. While veggie oil might sound healthy and balanced (because it has the word 'vegetable' in it), the truth is, it's far from it. Select extra-virgin coconut oil instead. Did you understand that coconut oil has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal buildings?

12. Cinnamon Maple Granola - Feed your pleasant tooth with this cinnamon maple granola. In addition to raw syrup, this dish calls for coconut sugar. Unlike refined granulated sugar, coconut sugar is in fact thought about a safe all-natural sweetener. Coconut sugar is made by drawing out sap from the flowers of a coconut then heating it. With the evaporation process, you obtain coconut sugar. It's loaded with minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, potassium and also anti-oxidants that work wonders for health.

13. Orange Chia Granola - Including a touch of orange enthusiasm makes this granola dish really one-of-a-kind, scrumptious, and also abundant in D-limonene. Numerous researches have discovered D-limonene to have cancer-fighting residential or commercial properties. While many of the components in this recipe are very healthy and balanced, there is something you can alter to bump up the nutritional worth. As you review the dish, you'll observe it claims to integrate the orange passion with one tablespoon of granulated sugar. Instead, swap out the refined sugar for coconut sugar.

14. Pear Granola - Made with a mashed pear, puffed rice, and chia seeds this homemade granola is extremely nourishing. It's gluten-free, low-fat, chock loaded with protein, as well as loaded with heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids. Plus, did I discuss how delicious it is? It's sweetened with Stevia, an all-natural sugar that's extracted from the leaves of a South American plant called Stevia rebaudiana. Stevia has absolutely no calories, absolutely no carbohydrates, as well as none of the negative side effects that sweetening agents have. While this recipe calls for one-half pack of Stevia per serving, you might intend to begin with also less. It's important to note that Stevia is 200 times sweeter than sugar. A little goes a long way. Keep in mind - you can constantly add a lot more, but you cannot take away.

15. Blueberry Granola - Made with almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, and also almond butter, this homemade granola recipe is incredibly filling up. Nutrient-dense honey adds the best quantity of sweetness. And also, the blueberries are loaded with immune-boosting anti-oxidants and heart-protecting flavonoids.

16. Apple Pie Granola - Again, don't think this dish isn't healthy and balanced even if of its name (and also the fact that it's remarkably tasty). The designer calls it 'Apple Pie Granola' as a result of the spices. When you mix oats, unsweetened apple sauce, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and also ground ginger entirely, your granola will taste similar to apple pie. Each of the flavors consisted of in this dish have their own incredible wellness benefits and do not load on any kind of added calories. The oats are rich in fiber. And also, the natural applesauce is equally as excellent as eating a whole apple. You understand what they state - an apple a day maintains the physician away!

17. Crunchy Quinoa Granola with Goji Berries - Oats are loaded with fiber. Quinoa is abundant in protein. Goji berries are amongst the healthiest as well as most nutrient-dense berry on earth. Mix the three of them together and you have one heck of a healthy and balanced breakfast.

18. High Healthy protein Granola - On this list, I have actually included several homemade granola recipes that are high in protein. None of them call for protein powder (well, except for this one). Coupling fiber-filled oats with healthy protein powder develops a filling meal that will hold you over up until lunch time.

19. Chia Egg Coconut Granola - Despite the name, this recipe is really egg-free. If you're confused, it's called 'chia egg' due to the fact that soaked chia seeds are really an egg alternative. In this recipe, chia seeds are soaked in newly squeezed apple juice and made use of as a binder. They're blended with oats, quinoa, as well as other savory components to develop a filling as well as digestion-friendly granola.

20. No Bake Granola - While granola is currently pretty simple to work up, this no-bake recipe makes it even easier. Just pour some peanut butter and also honey over oats, seeds, and also nuts. After that, blend all of it with each other. After adding a couple of flavors to bump the taste up a notch, simply placed it in the refrigerator. Once it's set, it's excellent to consume! Together with being basic making, it's high in protein and also healthy and balanced fats.

21. Chewy Raspberry Apple Granola Bars - Mix with each other coconut oil, honey, unsweetened applesauce, oats, as well as fruit to produce this 100-calorie granola bar. Thanks to the raspberries and apples, this grab-and-go breakfast, snack, or treat is full of cancer-fighting antioxidants, immune-boosting vitamins, and vital minerals. While this dish requires a 3rd cup of skim milk, if you live a dairy-free life you can conveniently utilize almond milk instead.

22. No-Bake Homemade Granola Bars - Made with only 5 active ingredients, these homemade granola bars are straightforward making and simple to tailor. Almond butter and honey collaborate to bind the oats, chopped almonds, as well as delicious chocolate chips. There's no should cook the granola mixture. Just pop it in the fridge freezer for about an hour. When it's company, reduced the granola sheet right into bars and appreciate!

Are Oats Gluten-Free?

Throughout this post, you have actually heard me claim these homemade granola dishes are gluten-free. An inquiry lots of people ask is: 'Do I need to purchase gluten-free oats, or are routine oats gluten-free?' While oats remain in fact gluten-free, many times they're grown in the exact same fields as foods that contain gluten. That indicates, there could be cross-contamination. Because of that, despite the fact that oats are gluten-free, people that are gluten-intolerant or struggle with Gastric disease are still urged to get oats that are classified gluten-free. When it involves your health and wellness, it's far better to be risk-free than sorry!

#7 day diet #diet #diets that work #health and wellness #lemonade diet #low glycemic diet #nutrition #pregnancy diet #scarsdale diet #soup diet #three day diet #wellness

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rahulrevne · 7 years

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What are the top 10 most profitable businesses in India?

Despite being a huge economy that ranks at number 3 in the GDP (PPP) league globally, India is a nation where the agriculture and unorganized sectors dominate employment generation. Contrary to what a lot of people may believe, we do not have a majority of our workforce employed by the organized sector.The Indian workforce can be categorized by a simple and approximate formula – 65-35-15-85. Of the entire workforce, around 65% are engaged directly or indirectly in Agriculture, a massive number. This number will include farmers, farm labourers, transport workers, mandi workers, marketing people, rural business persons of all types etc. That leaves around 35% of Indian workforce, which we can call non-farm workforce. Of this 35%, not more than 15% are employed by the organized sector. They are paid salaries on fixed dates (almost), enjoy statutory benefits and can associate their work with some brandname of some credible size. The remaining 85%(of this 35%) are engaged in unorganized sector, that does not enjoy any of these characteristics. Are these not shocking statistics, for India, after nearly seven decades of economic independence? By the way, I have not counted homemakers and housewives, whose contribution anyway does not get counted in the GDP calculations.We are a nation of 1.3 billion people (that’s 130,00,00,000 people). So it is clear there is abundance of labour available in India, that is untrained, unskilled (or at best partially skilled) and has a poor chance of making it in the formal organized sector. What do these people do? Well, they create small businesses of their own, and get on with their lives quietly. Mainstream academia and media often speak disparagingly of these millions as “Mom-and-Pop” shops, because the comparison yardstick is the West, where most of retail is organized. But if these millions were to give up their businesses, and start pestering the governments of India (central and state) for Sarkari jobs, the whole system will crumble and break down in no time. We should be very thankful to these entrepreneurs who quietly create opportunities for themselves, and even employ many more.I assume by small, the question means really small, even micro. And “top 10” must be the range and spread. The ones I am listing below, are usually proprietorships of the most unstructured format. I am intentionally not counting the Small-scale enterprises in the manufacturing sector. I am also leaving out individual contractors that use the internet economy to work from home, on projects anywhere in the world (these are educated and very capable people). In my opinion, ten of the smallest of businesses (not counting agriculture related work) that are widespread across India, totally taken for granted, and where literally crores of Indians (1 crore = 10 million) are self-employed, can be listed as:

Small retail shops – Millions of them spread across the length and breadth of India. They are usually owned by a single family, and entire work is done by two or three members of the same family. They do not formally book every transaction, and issue no receipts. Hence, they generally pay no taxes at all. In fact, if they are forcibly dragged in the tax net, many of them will simply become unviable! So what will happen? Right now we have around 1 million young people entering the workforce each month. Or 1.2 crore each year. We will substantially increase the number if these shops collapse.

Paan ki dukaan – Indians love their paan, supari, cigarettes, tobacco, and gutkha! And this gives birth to the legion of Paan Shops we see everywhere. They form a key part of the marketing plans of consumer goods giants like Unilever etc. As they say, the Ps of marketing are Product-Price-Promotion-Place-and-Paan shops.

Readymade Garment shops – Thousands of these small shops cater to the needs of the local communities they serve. While all conceivable brands are available in big malls, the small shops cater at an atomic level to their customers’ needs. And they are busy all year round. One can be often surprised at the economical rates these offer.

Tea stalls – Popularly called chai-ki-tapri, these are hangout places (for a few minutes) for the local small office-goers, daily wage labourers, and anybody passing by. Usually run by a single entrepreneur, they employ chhotus, young boys barely 8 or 10 years of age. It can be seen everywhere in India. They serve tea (of coffee), some basic snacks like pakoras, etc. Wholesomely unhealthy if taken on a daily basis.

Auto Repair shops – If you do not wish to spend a lot of money to get your vehicle (2 wheeler or 4 wheeler) repaired at the branded sales outlet or service centre, then the roadside repair shop is always at your disposal. Business is always brisk, and the technicians working can be amazingly skilled.

Mobile repair / accessories shops – The past few years have seen employment generation through this route. Tiny shops that are run by just one or two people can cater to a vast range of your repair / recharging needs. Found almost everywhere.

Grocery & Daily need shops – A type of the small retail shops. Some of them are organizedkirana stores, others much smaller but equally useful. They develop customer relationships through home delivery, some credit, and informal support for a range of needs. Usually have dedicated and loyal clienteles. The arrival of organized retail has, so far, not affected them much.

Small restaurants / coffee shops – Lots of them dot the highways as dhabas, or all commercial roads in cities of all sizes. They are usually much cheaper compared to branded cafes. I remember enjoying a hearty meal (for a family of four) for Rs 36 when we hungrily went to a very small “south Indian” restaurant on a mountain side in Munnar, Kerala. What a meal it was! And what a rush the restaurant was handling. Such experiences make you want to become a food entrepreneur (the yummy margins!).

Seasonal shops – Every festival in India brings unique buying needs, and that leads to sprouting of such shops in specific areas of all towns and cities. So, during the Ganesh Chaturthi festivals, shops spring up overnight selling pooja samagri (material for religious prayers) and idols. Similarly, Deepawalisees fire-cracker shops and Holibrings with it gorgeously colourful temporary shops. All dealings are naturally in pure cash!

Hawkers of all types – Not to be outdone by the above, we have a whole range of hawkers who shout themselves hoarse strutting their stuff door-to-door, all day long. They do this on bicycles, or thelas, and it must be very exhausting work.

I personally feel that society ought to respect these individuals much more that it currently does. They are the most basic building blocks of our goods and services markets. The entrepreneurial streak of these unsung heroes can be very motivating if we see the sheer struggle their daily lives entail.As India moves forward, while our economy will get more structured, the simultaneous growth of our population is going to make formal employment generation a huge challenge. Interesting times ahead! source:http://ift.tt/2uJSReQ

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2vLnmxB

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cwebberphotography · 7 years

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I got used to living in Japan. The bakery up the street. The shrines and temples all around. The friends dropping by. The insane things on TV. The bikes. The beers. The night life. The sushi and 7/11. The laundry mat downstairs.

The trains the crowds, sleeping on the floor, the morning coffee, reading in the kitchen, days spent alone while everyone else worked. I got used to walking on the sidewalks and having a vending machine every 20 feet in case I get thirsty or hungry. I got used to the Japanese sounds and being lost in translation.

The weather, always able to wear pants and a t-shirt, keep a sweater for night-time. Being able to walk down the street and keep my shoes clean. People being over the top respectful. No garbage on the street, nothing to trip over, and all the lights. Tokyo loves lights. Tokyo loves smoking in restaurants but not on sidewalks. Tokyo loves public transport and not private vehicles.

It was only two weeks. The culture shock from Kathmandu to Tokyo was not that much. The real eye opener, even though I’ve already been here, is coming from the land of the future back to India. Landing in Delhi it’s 4:30 a.m in Tokyo and I’ve just been flying for the last nine hours, watching three movies in a row, including Lion, which was a tear jerker.

I leave the airport in my sweater and pants and immediately feel the humidity and heat and the smell of burning in the air. 100’s of people stand with signs and rush you asking if you need a cab. I take one offer and ask to be driven to a medium range hotel.

The guys working the midnight shift don’t speak much English, and I’m so close to the airport that planes landing and taking off shake my window. They show me to my room and I lock the door and take a shower. The nozzle comes off in my hand, the toilet seat is just placed there for looks, unhinged. It’s a standard Indian hotel room with two small beds a T.V. and wi-fi. good enough for a nights sleep.

I wake with the sun and pack and dial 9 to make a bus reservation but they don’t understand. I go downstairs and ask for breakfast, and where I can find an ATM. Breakfast will be ready in 20 minutes, I point to something on the menu that I can’t read. Then walk out the door into a blast of heat and honking. Cows wander past me, motor bikes, people selling fruit, shit and garbage all over the ‘road’. The first ATM isn’t open yet. I walk a little further, the morning rush is starting, everyone’s going somewhere in a hurry, no one obeys traffic laws and no sidewalks so dodging puddles of black water and cow shit can be risky. Next ATM has no money, next one is off, next one doesn’t accept overseas cards. I make it to a dead-end and I’m face to face with a bull. so I turn around and go back for mystery breakfast.

Luckily the hotel has a taxi service so I can pay them for that and the room with my credit card. And wait. Someone comes with a small van and I get in, he does a 6 point turn on the narrow road under the overpass by the airport and we’re off. Once we clear that area the air starts to smell of roses. The streets clean up, all the intersections are roundabouts with beautiful gardens in the middle. Massive trees line the empty roads. The sun is still low, and people sweep the sidewalks making sun beams in the dust clouds.

Everything is green. Compared to being here in January when most of the trees are leafless. This is when we start to pass embassies, one after another, Canada, Japan, USA, Kuwait, all of them, no wonder it’s so well manicured. After a few miles of jaw dropping beauty we get closer to the city centre and its jaw dropping poverty again. People sleeping on the mediums between the highways, children begging and fighting each other for space at stop lights, homes made of garbage all around.

The driver takes me to the bus stop and says good luck. I get out, go through a metal detector and ask the information for where to find a bus to Rishikesh. She asks if I want a nice bus or normal. I say nice and she points me to counter number 14. I still don’t have any cash, my bags are heavy and I’m sweating. The guy says there is a bus leaving in 30 minutes and its 640 rupees. And the ATM is out the exit and to the right. I try that one several times to no avail. Someone says there are more ‘behind the metro’ so I venture out onto the road and 10 minutes later find a row of them, the first two don’t work but I hit the jackpot on the third and make it back with minutes to spare.

I’m directed to bay number 11 and start asking about a seat, along with 10 other people who didn’t plan enough to have a ticket. Two minutes before leaving they assign me seat number 40 and I find it at the very back of the packed bus, I get the row to myself, and all the leg room in the world. Now for the eight hours of podcasts and much-needed napping.

We get one stop for lunch and washroom half way and then pull in to Rishikesh around 5 p.m. I immediately get a rickshaw to the area around a certain ashram and near a bank, luckily the driver knows his way around. I have no way to contact my air bnb place but find it, and the shop keeper out front lets me in. I put my stuff down, wash my face, go into the courtyard I share with another room and knock. Alex from Portland Oregon answers, then Jewels from NYC comes out and I’m invited in, meet Judith from Spain and we hit it off right away and make a plan to swim in the Ganges and get dinner after.

The water was refreshing and somewhat clean. The current where we went in was extremely strong and hard to stand up in. Today I’ll try it a little further upstream where it’s calmer. We swam until sun set and went back to change and decide where to eat. There are few restaurants we could find that had english menus, but we found one a kilometre away across a suspension bridge and it was yummy. On the way back we sat on the banks of the river and made friends with a dog who followed us almost all the way home. In the morning I walked back to the same restaurant for breakfast, 150 rupees for corn flakes, toast, two fried eggs, and a coffee. Then I walked the opposite side of the river and had a chai and bought coffee grinds so I can make my own at home on my stove. Today I cleaned my new apartment, did my laundry and later we’ll visit the Beatles Ashram.

Swimming in the Ganges I got used to living in Japan. The bakery up the street. The shrines and temples all around.

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oneflightoomany · 7 years

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Week 2 (and the remainder of week 1)

I had a lovely Sunday to round out week 1. My friend/coworker, Saul, lives in an area called Kalk Bay, which is a really lovely and quaint beach community.

We hung out on the water while is kids swam. I put my toes in but...BOY is the water cold here. I thought the pacific was bad, but this is probably equally as chilly :)

I went to a kids school picnic with them (mom, one of their kids goes to a Waldorf school!), then ubered back to the city to hit up the health food store before they closed. I stopped to get my self some delicious vegan ice cream to stay cool on the walk back to my flat.

I then decided there was just too much daylight left so I ubered back over to take the cable car up Table mountain. Now, I want to hike this thing, but I can’t do that alone, so I figured this would be an OK way to see the top. Man was I wrong. The view up here is AMAZING. And even though I paid my way up with other tourists, the views were so stunning it didn’t matter. I had a hard time picking favorites, but here are a (more than) few:

I opted to head down before sunset so that when Stephen is here in a few weeks we can do sundowner together and see the beauty!

The work week was extremely busy with an unfortunate bout of food poisoning in the middle. Even worse, this kicked in on a 6:30 am hike up lion’s head. I did managed to catch a great sunrise before we took off and I felt like I was going to die. Somewhow I made it to the top, and home just in time to pray to the porcelain god.

I have also started to really enjoy the coffee here. Many places have almond milk, or at least a good americano. Here’s a fancy place near the office that Saul and I have been frequenting.

For the weekend, I kept up my normal tourist pace!

Saturday I took myself on a delicious treats crawl. I started the morning at oranjezicht, this time prepped and ready to stalk up on food for the week

and boy did I! Not all organic, but some was, and better yet, it’s actually fresh and not wrapped in plastic!

I hit up a vegan stand for some real food,

but kept the portions small so that I could have dessert for breakfast, raw berry cheesecake. yummy!

then wandered through Nobel Square on my way to drop my goods off

before hitting the company gardens and the areas I hadn’t been to yet

I enjoyed some vegan gelato for lunch (because it was my kind of day)

and kept wandering home, taking some photos I had been wanting to grab

Saul was nice enough to invite me to a braai (BBQ) at a friend of theirs. The town (noordhoek) was really cool and quaint

although I can’t begin to describe how interesting the couple was who hosted. They were dutch, but had been raised in West Africa, spent some time living in Sudan, most recently spent 10 years in Cairo, except for a 9 month stint living in the Congo to adopt their daughter. The lives they have led make mine feel like a silly hollywood movie. Note to self, live more!

Not pictured: my REALLY delicious dinner from the raw food place around the corner. I got it for lunch but still wasn’t feeling 100%. I ate it so quickly I forgot to take a picture!

On Sunday, a coworker invited to a place called Spice Route which is out in wine country. They had wine tasting, chocolate tasting, pizza, beer, glass blowing, etc. I figured, I’m here to live it up, so I went! It was cool to see another area, although not as nice as the small ocean side towns I have been going to, but the mountains in the distance sure were cool. Not to mention one of her friends had a really cute puppy.

Stephen and I then spent some time catching up on the bathroom renovation and discussing our easter weekend plans. I cooked a “real” dinner (note I still have no spices so there’s only so much you can do”), and enjoyed quinoa and veggies, as well as felt good prepping for the week ahead. I opted to stay in for the whole evening to do some reading on the garden route, clean my flat a bit, and mentally prep for another 60 our week.

Overall I’m feeling more settled in. Certainly lonely, but I feel like I know where I’m going at this point. I also will move next weekend to an area I’m *much* more excited to live in. I should be able to get out at night there, and I will have a roommate so we’ll qualify as safety in numbers!

Here are this week’s observations:

I have had the worst chai latte’s of my life here. I realize that is petty, but they are so gross.

While people here are happy to answer questions, they know very little about the things near them: “do you know where near here has wifi?” nope. “where could I buy a hat?” sorry, I don’t know. It’s very strange.

My laundry situation is rough and needs an adjustment, I’m still not sure what that will be.

I drink 1.5 liters of water a day. I’ve never had to buy water before, and now I know. Is that enough?

I found out why people here don’t eat vegetables: all of the produce here (even the amazing organic stuff) is worth more exported to Europe even though it’s not as fresh by the time it gets there, so off it goes. I wish they got to keep more of it

It was a crazy week for the government here.

I have found hair in almost everything I’ve eaten here.

It rained!

I am finally learning temperatures in celsius, this is the first step to joining the rest of the world.

People here love to honk. They honk all the time, for everything. I wish they wouldn’t.

No one tried to touch me, scam me, or take money from me this week. I must look like less of a tourist.

I have 4 weeks left, my how time flies.

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lauracori-blog · 8 years

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One Day in the Big Apple

Hello my friends!

Today I want to tell you about my day in the big, the daunting, and the delicious New York City. In every place I’ve traveled up until now, people talk about NYC. When I make new cultural connections and friends, and talk about hypothetical meet ups in the far future when we’ve all gone our separate ways. When we speak of places we wish to go, things we need to do. When I walked through small bodegas and souvenir stores in Paris and always found a t-shirt or mug that says “I <3 New York”. When I asked when I could meet up again with my Spanish friend, and she said she would be traveling to NYC probably at some point. Whenever I told my new friends in China I was from America, they always spoke about New York with wide excited eyes and how that is where they have always wanted to go. New York is global! So I had to see it for myself, living just 5 hours by (cramped) bus away, I felt like it was high time that I saw what so many movies, songs, and people I’ve met talk about.

This past weekend I visited my older sister in her 300 square foot apartment she shares with her boyfriend on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I say it was “one day” because I arrived late Friday night and left Sunday morning after a lovely croissant, but that’s beside the point. On the ride in, the sun was setting but I could still see the neighborhoods we passed through, slowly, stoplight by stoplight. The grid slowly rolled by as we moved from Harlem to Midtown, passing the Lincoln Center, the Empire State Building, and arriving on an indistinguishable street corner. It was so great to see my sister and have some guides in the city that seems so large and overwhelming compared to walkable Boston where I call home. We dropped our stuff at their classic NYC loft apartment with exposed brick and soft lighting, and walked down the street to find some food. I was already lost. You would think a grid would make it easy to know where you are but each street, each corner, has a number, and after walking around a block I wasn’t sure if we were East, West, 37th, 82nd streets; I was clueless. Dinner was delicious, as was the ice cream <3 We then headed back to the apartment for a late night game of Settlers of Katan and wine, because what else would I choose to do on a Friday night!! :)

The next morning we left around 11:30 for a day FILLED with good food, walking, sightseeing, and more walking. My tendonitis is thanking me for sure. It was absolutely, positively worth it. My sister lives in the most charming neighborhood, steps away from the Upper West Side of Central Park! Before making our way to the park we got coffee (chai latte in my case) from Joe’s and I got a bagel and lox from a very well known place called H & H. Maybe it was the excitement of the day, or the warmth of the sun peeking out of the hazy clouds as we sat on a table bench in the park, but that was the best latte and bagel I’ve ever had. The rest of the day went something like this;

- Walk 3/4 the length of central park

- Stop to take endless photos of the beautiful skyline and it’s reflection on the reservoir

- Geek out at seeing spots I definitely remembered from Gossip Girl and movies I’ve seen

- Getting on the subway, swiping my first time, and riding to the south street Seaport

-Instead, getting off at Wall Street and walking down the seaport, and finding a wonderful restaurant called The Fish Market right on the pier near the Brooklyn Bridge, getting loads of chicken and wonderful food

- Quick photo shoot under the fog at the bridge

- Subway to the West Village and shopping and walking around the charming streets

- Shaved Ice and Nepalese store wandering

- Quick stop at the “Tavern on Jane Street” for a glass of wine before heading to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in Chelsea for a late night comedy show

- Subway back to the apartment and SLEEP

Does that sound like it could fill a day? Because it definitely did :D Overall, my impression of NYC was everything I thought it would be: grand, expansive, overwhelming yet surprisingly easy, yummy (food), fun, and larger than life. I mean, it’s New York! And I finally got to take my adult self there and explore.

If anyone is looking to spend some time in NYC, I highly recommend eating as much food as possible, and walking. While it is a big city, each area has so much to offer and is worth exploring street by street. I believe I probably saw 10% of the city, and even that is a reach. But nothing can beat the vibe and feeling of it; which makes me feel like no matter how much ground I covered, I was truly there.

<3 Laura

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tyleroakley-obsessed · 7 years

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It’s National Coffee Day! Let’s talk about what’s going on at some Memphis coffee shops today and in general. Not a lot of discounts per se, but some yummy stuff for sure. If you don’t know what this is, go here. Bluff City has this pretty caramel apple dirty chai. Also, they’re opening their midtown location very soon. Happy National Coffee Day! Celebrate the day with something a little different: The Haley’s Comet, a caramel apple dirty chai. http://pic.twitter.com/od7twlgsMI — Bluff City Coffee (@BluffCityCoffee) September 29, 2017 Muddy’s in midtown has this Cafe Con Miel. I won’t tell if you get a Prozac, too. Happy National Coffee Day!! We’re celebrating with a Cafe Con Miel: ristretto, steamed milk, cinnamon & honey. #choose901 http://pic.twitter.com/nFADiKDY6Q — Muddy’s Bake Shop (@muddysbakeshop) September 29, 2017 City & State has a special for $3 Popffocatos! It’s #nationalcoffeeday !!! To celebrate this wonderful day, our delicious Popffocato’s will be only $3! Come celebrate with is! http://pic.twitter.com/DYjFrampNG — City & State (@CityandStateUS) September 29, 2017 Levee Creamery in Collierville. They’re offering a free small drip coffee today. Perk up, it’s #NationalCoffeeDay Celebrate with a free small drip coffee all day at #LeveeCreamery #Choose901 http://pic.twitter.com/CsppoM9Skl — Levee Creamery (@LeveeCreamery) September 29, 2017 Try something different with Cafe Eclectic’s matcha latte. A post shared by Cafe Eclectic (@cafeeclectic) on Sep 17, 2017 at 6:26pm PDT French Truck Coffee opened their second Memphis location in the Crosstown Concourse a while ago, and now they have food, too. A post shared by French Truck Memphis (@frenchtruckmemphis) on Sep 22, 2017 at 7:35am PDT The Avenue Coffee shop by the University is offering BOGO 1/2 off on black coffee today. HAPPY NATIONAL COFFEE DAY! Thank you all so much for making it possible for us to do what we love. And thank you to @reverbcoffee for being the BEST roasters! Stop by for BOGO 1/2 off black coffee to celebrate A post shared by Avenue Coffee (@avenuecoffeememphis) on Sep 29, 2017 at 8:04am PDT The Hub, which is a coffee shop inside of High Point Church, has its grand opening on Saturday. A post shared by The Hub (@the.hub.coffee) on Sep 17, 2017 at 9:36am PDT Sunrise Memphis, the new breakfast food place on Jefferson which I presume is going to have plenty of coffee, is now calling for applications so that’s one step closer to opening. A post shared by Sunrise Memphis (@sunrisememphis) on Sep 28, 2017 at 8:46am PDT Myself? I popped into Otherlands this morning for my blogging fuel. Where are you celebrating this important holiday? #NationalCoffeeDay http://pic.twitter.com/7YD2uqWKUr — Holly Whitfield (@ilovememphis) September 29, 2017 Where did you celebrate? Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout http://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2017/09/memphis-coffee-talk-for-national-coffee-day/

#I Love Memphis

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