#saying gluten friendly is just silly

[mainlysarcastic]

It’s funny when a menu item says “gluten friendly”

cause like.. my body is anything but gluten friendly

in fact my body reacts very poorly to gluten

it goes into self destruct mode

I have celiac so being friendly to gluten is the opposite of what we’re going for here

we’re very anti-gluten

gluten hostile if you will

[adorablebanite]

I accidentally got drunk last night because Finlandia vodka is a sneaky lil bitch - I didn't feel drunk for the first [redacted] drinks - just silly and friendly. When my husband came home he teased me about it, but also made me eat a cookie for sustenance, which was gluten free and too dry, and then teased me again because I just kept chewing it for way too long as he watched me.

I tried to say "It's like getting a kettle to boil, it won't happen if you watch me," but what came out was "I'm like a kettle," with my dry cookie mouth. He just laughed and went "oh yeah?" 😅

Then he made potato wedges (it was midnight but that's like his lunch time for him because he's nocturnal), and I drank a bunch of water and said "I'm going to bed, but if I'm still alive in there when the potatoes are done, come feed me one," and he DID and it was dipped in a siracha mayo, and the best thing I've ever tasted.

[the-boyo1]

Say Goodbye to Junk Food with BoYo Healthy Snacks

Struggling for a better lifestyle? Well, aren’t we all! Choosing the best healthy lifestyle, is t as easy as it sounds to be. Of course, it’s motivating, but to step in and start it, is a task in itself. We all are guilty of snacking unnecessarily on the all-time constant junk and fast foods, that are all readily available to us, at every point. There’s no fuss, and there’s no second thought. But is it just that? Does that stop there? Of course not!

Understanding the Impact of Junk Food

Our health is significantly impacted by junk food. It has an abundance of sugar, bad fats, and empty calories, all of which pose health dangers. Junk food eating regularly has been related to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Furthermore, the addictive qualities of these snacks might make it difficult to control desires and keep a healthy diet.

The thing begins when this very ignorance and casual attitude takes a heavy toll on our health. Diabetes, obesity, weak immunity, lethargic moods, indigestion, and many more serious concerns like cardiovascular risks, etc. come back to us, as a result of our silly choices, and lack of awareness. So it’s better to be careful rather than be left with regret. Snacking can’t be and shouldn’t be avoided, but what’s essential is that we choose the right snacking alternatives. Something delicious, but also healthy and nutritionally rich, that makes them worth enjoying.

The Rise of Healthy Snacking

There has been a discernible trend toward healthier snack alternatives in recent years. People are actively looking for alternatives to satiate their needs and are becoming more aware of their nutritional choices. Snacking healthfully has several advantages, including supplying vital nutrients, assisting with weight control, and enhancing general well-being.

Introducing BoYo Healthy Snacks

A company called BoYo Healthy Snacks is committed to providing tasty and nourishing snacks for those who are concerned about their health. Their goal is to offer a satisfying snacking experience without sacrificing flavor or quality. BoYo provides a variety of snacks so that everyone may find something they like.

BoYo your healthy snacks partner

BoYo’s snacking ranges, are all here to leave you astounded. Healthy sprout mixes, delectable trail mixes, juicy berries, fresh nuts, crunchy strips, yummy jaggery-coated Makhanas, and much more, will not only leave you satiated and happy but will also be your new chai time partners. It’s high time you ditch those roadside junk and try the most craved and best of all.

Any occasion or celebration will now be incomplete without some BoYo’s snacks. So be party-ready, or munch after a tiring day. Be it your favorite movie, or that last over of cricket. Give yourselves a treat with BoYo’s delightfully delicious and yummy yet healthiest snacking ranges, that make you snack guilt free! Snack freely, and step towards your healthy life goals of yours, now.

Key Features of BoYo Healthy Snacks

BoYo snacks are distinctive for the following reasons:

Natural and organic ingredients: BoYo snacks are manufactured with premium natural and organic ingredients, making them a healthier alternative to other types of snacks.

Low in sugar and bad fats: BoYo snacks are deliberately developed to be low in sugar and unhealthy fats, making them a guilt-free option. This contrasts with regular junk food.

Gluten-free and allergen-friendly alternatives: BoYo provides gluten-free and allergen-friendly snack options because it recognizes the value of accommodating dietary requirements.

High in fiber and key nutrients: BoYo snacks are a great source of fiber and nutrients that are important for general health.

Distinctive tastes and taste profiles: BoYo provides a wide range of distinctive flavors and taste profiles, making for an engaging snacking experience.

How BoYo Healthy Snacks Promote a Healthy Lifestyle

BoYo Healthy Snacks do more than merely sate your appetite. They are essential in fostering a healthy lifestyle since they:

Promoting portion control and weight management: BoYo snacks are carefully portioned to promote portion control and weight management.

Providing steady energy and avoiding collisions: BoYo snacks prevent the energy crashes sometimes associated with junk food by delivering continuous energy levels thanks to their carefully chosen components.

Improving general well-being and lowering health risks: By including BoYo snacks in your diet, you can lower your risk of developing chronic diseases and enhance your general well-being.

Incorporating BoYo Healthy Snacks into Your Daily Routine

The following are some ways that BoYo snacks can be included in your everyday routine:

Suggestions for snacks for various occasions: BoYo snacks are practical and simple to get hold of whether you're at work, school, or on the go.

Ideas for BoYo snacks at meals: Start your day with a healthful BoYo snack for breakfast, indulge in a filling alternative for lunch, or incorporate it into your supper menu.

Fueling up with BoYo snacks before and after exercise: The energy-boosting qualities of BoYo snacks will fuel your exercises and provide you the nutrition you need for a successful exercise session.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1] What distinguishes BoYo Healthy Snacks from other brands?

BoYo Healthy Snacks stands apart because it is dedicated to excellence. They meticulously choose natural and organic ingredients to provide a healthy snacking option without sacrificing flavor.

2] Can people with dietary limitations eat BoYo snacks?

Absolutely! BoYo provides a variety of gluten-free and allergen-friendly snack alternatives because it recognizes the value of accommodating dietary constraints.

3] Can BoYo treats aid in weight loss?

Snacks like BoYo may be a great help when trying to lose weight. They encourage portion management and assist you in controlling your calorie consumption because they are correctly portioned.

4] Are BoYo snacks OK for children?

Yes, BoYo snacks are appropriate for kids. They provide a healthier substitute for conventional snacks, guaranteeing that your kids may indulge in sweets without endangering their well-being.

5] What stores sell BoYo Healthy Snacks?

Users can buy BoYo products from Amazon, Flipkart, and from the official website of BoYo https://theboyo.com/shop.

Conclusion

Deciding to purchase BoYo Healthy Snacks is a step toward giving up junk food and adopting a healthy way of life. Bo offers a variety of delectable and wholesome meals.

BoYo makes it simple to enjoy munching guilt-free. You may benefit from better well-being, weight control, and lowered health risks by including BoYo snacks in your regular schedule. BoYo Healthy Snacks are here to replace unhealthy snacks.

[invisibleinkpen]

The Gift of Nothing. Fun Xmas Prank for Friends.

Take "Less is more." to the max with the hilarious Gift of Nothing!

Some people think something is better than nothing, well think again! Introducing the fabulous Gift of Nothing. It's the best gift for the dad who has everything, the mom who always says "You don't need to get me anything, sweetie." or the girlfriend who is definitely testing you when says she doesn't want anything for her birthday.

Make it the gift that keeps on giving!

Your husband may have bought it for you on Valentine's Day, but watch out because Xmas is right around the corner and he's next! Pass this hilarious gift idea around the family and see who gets nothing next. Men and women alike will get a kick out of this extra special gift - even grandpa could get in on this action! Other presents can't compete with this ultimate unforgettable silly gift.

Family friendly gift everyone can enjoy.

Enjoy some good old fashioned family fun with the funniest fake gift! Appropriate for kids, teenagers, and adults of all ages! Whether it's for a bday, Father's Day, Mother's Day, or Xmas, nothing could be better than this. This anti-gift contains no nuts, no meat, or anything at all so even vegans and people with peanut allergies can enjoy!

Office making you participate in Secret Santa?

Just bring nothing! The Gift of Nothing, that is. Share laughs with coworkers when you break this out at the office White Elephant Christmas party. This weird (and definitely not stupid or useless) toy will be a smash hit this holiday season.

What’s in the box?

You will receive one (1) "Gift of Nothing" novelty package with nothing inside.

Lifetime 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee!

If you aren’t completely satisfied with your order, simply email us, and we will respond within 24 hours to make it right even on the weekends. We absolutely guarantee your satisfaction or your money back!

Some customers review:

          Ray Rauch

Great white elephant gift or the gift for someone who said they wanted "Nothing" for the holidays. This fits the bill super nicely. I think they are going to love that I was thoughtful enough to get them nothing and that's all for this Christmas season. It's really what they deserved after all.

          Jess

I love this gag gift and laughed at all the clever labels describing what's in it/what it's for (nothing of course) etc.. What's better than to make someone laugh and put a smile on their face? It's peanut free, sugar free and emotion free! I love it. I would recommend this.

Heidi Anne Heiner

Okay, this is hilarious and we giggled over it all weekend. I got it to give to my dad for Christmas and have already teased him that it is something that he's always wanted. It's true since he is not big on getting stuff and doesn't care about receiving gifts. So I finally found his perfect gift. This will make the entire family laugh when he opens it up. I like that I can keep teasing that it is sugar free, gluten free, etc. in the meantime.

If you care about this product. Click here: https://gift-of-nothing.com/

[spiderling-space]

Hello! Hope you’re enjoying the fandom so far :> May I please request Azul with a fem! MC who has a huge crush on him and it’s pretty obvious to everyone.... except him (the tweels are absolutely baffled at this) Thank you so much!!

I feel like I need to say… I’ve been in the fandom since the beginning of July. I recently decided to go to the producing content side. I’m also writing multi chaptered fanfic and thought a writing blog such as this would make my brain jog.

I was going to post it with a different format but since it is a ficlet, I couldn’t send a lot of screenshots of what I had written

This is written from Azul The Oblivious’ POV.

Italics indicate thoughts.

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

Azul Ashengrotto

It all started when (Y/N) asked to work part-time in Mostro Lounge. He observed that (Y/N) was diligent and reliable based on how she had dealt with overblot incidents, his included. Hence he accepted her application. Plus, since she wasn’t from Twisted Wonderland, he didn’t have to get her insurance! Azul would get a new trusted worker and the cost would be lower! Azul could hear a ka-ching sound in his mind.

And that was how everything started to become weird with her. Every day when she came to work, she would bring him a drink, let it be a cup of coffee or some type of herbal tea. Is she trying to get a raise? Well, she better not! And she’s always had that smile whenever Azul wanted to talk with her. Is she touched in the head? We are talking about inventory. What is there to smile about? Azul really thought there was something wrong with her. Maybe the lack of magic and being from another world made her strange.

“Azul! I made you gluten-free cookies!” There stood (Y/N) with a tray full of cookies in octopus shape. Is she making fun of me? (Y/N) extended the tray to showcase her work. “I hope you’ll like it.”

“(Y/N), your work doesn’t involve bringing me food and drink.” Azul pushed his glasses back.

“I know but I wanted to do so.” She smiled even her teeth showing. “It took my whole day. Please try them for me…” (Y/N) was looking directly to his eyes now, a pleading look for him to obey her whim.

Azul took one cookie and brought it to his mouth, savoring the taste. His eyes widened, not expecting the outcome. He had to admit that it tasted delicious. Humming in response, “We can add this to Mostro Lounge’s menu but we need to change the shape.”

Azul noticed her smile faltering. “But I made these especially for you. Look at their shape, ain’t that cute?”

“Did you put something in those?” Azul inquired, not wanting to fall into a prank though he doubted (Y/N) was the type to do it.

“My love…” What is that supposed to mean? If she doesn’t want to give up the recipe, she could have just said it.

Before Azul could voice his opinion, the twins walked in. “Shrimpy! What did you bring us?”

Jade put his hand on his chin. “I believe those are for Azul only.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would (Y/N) do that?” Azul was so focused on the twins’ laughter that he failed to notice a blush covering (Y/N)’s cheeks. “You can eat the rest. I need to keep my daily calories in check.”

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

“You look tired, Azul. Do you want me to massage your shoulders? I guarantee instant relief!” There she goes to make weird comments! What is her endgame?

“This is not how you will get a promotion, (Y/N).” Azul stated.

“I don’t care about promotion. I just wanted to do something for a friend.” Her voice grew quieter when she said friend as if not wanting to say the word. It is not like I force her to be my friend. Why is she acting odd?

“Fine but you have to tell me what you want in return.” Life is all about giving and taking. Azul knew it very well.

“Alright then…” (Y/N) took a deep breath. “I want your day. I mean a whole day to spend with you.” What a stupid request! Even though he didn’t understand the reason behind it, he decided to humor her and accepted her deal.

“It’s a deal!”

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

“For the last time, I’m telling you. It is not a date!” Azul was frustrated with Jade and Floyd’s impertinent teasing.

“Aww, Azul is going on a date with Shrimpy! ~~” Floyd laughed.

“It seems little octopus has grown up too fast.” Jade added instead of stooping Floyd.

“(Y/N) sees me as her friend. This is a friendly outing.” If Azul didn’t promise (Y/N) that they would be alone together, he would have invited the twins so they would shut up with their pestering.

Luckily, (Y/N) walked in that moment. Azul needed to take a second look at her, looking up and down to her attire. She was wearing a knee-length, sweetheart strappy purple dress which light grey ending. She had a seashell-shaped. She looked astonishing, Azul had to admit. But that dress wasn’t fit for the weather, she would get cold. “It is 20 degrees outside, (Y/N). You’ll freeze and I won’t be the one responsible for it.”

(Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows, she opened her mouth to say something then changed her mind. “Let’s just go.” She neared him, taking his hand and pulling him with her.

When Azul and (Y/N) disappeared from eyesight, Jade and Floyd exchanged looks. “Fufufu, I wonder when he will realize.”

“I want to watch them. Azul will be entertaining to watch.” Floyd said. Jade agreed with him and both started following Azul and (Y/N) to their date.

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

“I told you that you would feel cold, (Y/N).” Azul took off his jacket and wrapped around (Y/N). She put her arms through the sleeves, wearing the jacket. For a moment he thought she looked cute in his coat and he didn’t notice how close they were standing. Azul saw (Y/N) close her eyes and leaned toward his face. “What are you doing?”

“Oh ah… I-I was…” She stammered, trying to find correct words. “You know what? Never mind! I am going to tell you bluntly!”

“Why are you acting silly?” Azul questioned.

“Silly? You dum-dum, I like you! I’ve been flirting with you whole time and you kept friend-zoning me! Look, if you don’t like me as a boyfriend likes girlfriend, then I understand but please tell me.” She sounded defeated.

“Flirting?” Azul said softly as if talking to himself. He then remembered their every interaction after his overblot incident. How did I miss this? He read how two people flirt and date thoroughly so he knew everything there was to know about.

“I am asking this as open as possible. Will you be my boyfriend?”

Azul lost his composure, his glass sliding on his nose, his cheeks flaring up. He quickly fixed his state, adjusting his glasses. He tried to find words and just when he got enough courage to speak, that went down the drain when he heard familiar laughter.

“Azul and Shrimpy are funny to watch!~~”

“Indeed they are, Floyd.” Jade was wearing his signature smile.

“You haven’t answered my question yet, Azul.” Azul didn’t know if he could be any more flustered. On one side the twins were teasing him and on the other hand, (Y/N) was waiting for an answer. He could deal with Jade and Floyd later but he knew he needed to give an answer to her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find words for it so he only nodded. “Does that mean yes?” She asked and he nodded in approval. “That’s great!” (Y/N) wrapped her arms around Azul’s neck, pulling him closer and planted a peck on his cheek.

In that moment, Azul knew he lost his poise then and he knew that neither Jade nor Floyd would let this go.

[the-crow-dawns-at-midnight]

for the spoopy times!

Just a notice here. Bc October is inching closer there are a few things I wanna go over...

But before I get into it, please feel free to reblog with additional stuff(or just feel free to reblog) bc I feel this is important stuff but I may not cover it all.

[warnings: there are bold, cap, and italic things. also talks about food, and triggers(i dont go into detail) but lemme know if I need to tag it for you I dont mind going back and doing that for you!]

1. Be considerate.

- Not everyone celebrates Halloween, and that’s ok. 

- not everyone likes Halloween, that’s ok as well!

  if you ask why and they don’t wanna tell you, leave it at that. In fact, when/if you decide to ask. Instead of saying “you don’t celebrate it!! Why not?!” Or “why would you not like it? What’s not to like?”

Try saying “do you mind if I ask why not?” 

2. not everyone likes scary 

- this covers all scary things: books, film, art, outfits, events ect.

 also someone could enjoy a scary movie, but not scary costumes. someone could enjoy dressing up scary, watching scary movies, but maybe they don’t like going to a hunted house.

- its totally ok to enjoy Halloween, but not wanna be scared. there is plenty to do during Halloween that doesn't include getting scared. eg I dont like dressing scray, or going to scary events, but I do like to watch a scary show every now and then[if with a lot of people lol]. my sister however, loves everything scary.

2.2. some people really like scary

- and that is totally ok! you can enjoy watching horror films, dressing up spooky. reading, drawing AND going to scary events!   

if someone dose like that, dont be like ”why would you like to get scared?!” some people like that and its totally ok.

3. If possible try and get some allergy friendly/alternative options for trick or treaters

- some kids/people cant have normal candy. be it an allergy, or something else.[i am not sure what all this could be so please feel free to add to this part/let me know!] braces are a thing that prevents kids from some candy! idk what else tho but I know there are a lot of things. 

-so im gonna make a list here of things I know would be good alternitives: 

cheep: dollor store toys [or stores like that] just silly fun stupid toys that will last like 2 hours. and cost you 50 cents.   its way more fun to get those sticky hands, than it is to get a pencil. 

pricey: allergy friendly food brands tend to have some good candy. although they are a little more pricey:

Enjoy life. free form 14 top allergies. they have really good chocolate [that is also dairy free.] and for halloween they do some bundles I think. for people with allergies: its all made in a dedicated gluten and peanut[and more I think youd have to check for your specific allergy] free building.

Wholesome. GUMMYS! p good. [its also free from a lot of stuff. check their page to see if its good for you]

Black Forest. also for gummys! [better than wholesome, but more expencive]

those brands are certified - meaning people with allergies don’t have to worry about it. let me know if the links dont work. 

there are many brands that are safe from things, but aren’t certified. just look up allergy free candy. I highly recommend looking up Celiac free candy, bc if it Celiac free its also most likely free from dairy and peanuts as well. 

4. Triggers!!

- be mindful of triggers. If you aren’t sure if your post is triggering, go ahead and tag it. In fact

- always tag what’s in your post! Especially art! Bc tumblr is great, but it can’t filter and image unless you put in the tags (or post) some words about what it is.

- some tags you can put are “scary tw” “tw halloween” if you do art of like monsters and aren’t really sure what tag to use just put “monsters” or “tw monsters”/“monsters tw” it’s seriously that easy.

if someone asks you to tag it, be chill and just tag it. even if you dont understand why, you dont have to understand it to know that someone just asked you v nicly to tag it...

- some people have triggers that are v v prominent during Halloween. I myself  have quite a few triggers of things that are v popular during Halloween. So I personally am not really looking forward to Halloween. [i do love halloween i am just not looking forward to people forgetting to tag things]

ok thats all I’ve got! if you have any questions feel free to ask! my dms/asks are always open! 

if you have something to add, please go for it! [just dont start arguments or anything]. 

if I got something wrong/left something out and you dont wanna reblog this and add it, just lemme know and I will do it for you[anxiety can be rough sometimes I get it]!

final thing: stay safe, healthy, happy, and help others stay that way as well!

[ahqueenoh]

A Very (Unhealthy) Vegan Affair,

We all know the damage we have caused to planet earth, and I mean it when I say that the easiest thing we can all do is reduce our meat and dairy consumption, something I started doing late last year and intend to maintain.

Where I can (and whenever I can) I eat vegetarian and vegan meals, at home my kitchen does not carry any animal based products and I was surprised at how easy it was to swap my favourites (here’s to you yogurt!) for vegan alternatives.

Sometimes it’s not about being perfect, as a society we do not need four people leading a perfect zero waste Vegan lifestyle. We need everyone doing their best to make better decisions and we live in an age where it is so much easier to make plant based choices.

If you’re a vegan, vegetarian or just plan curious, here are some of my favourite places to eat as the world’s worst vegan:

Kalifornia Kitchen

Another Instagram find, hidden in a side street just off of Tottenham Court Road this pink gem is home to the best vegan burgers I have had the pleasure to consume.

The staff are unbelievably friendly and the Panko Chikken Burger was the closest I have come to tasting real chicken in months, the burger was moist the bun maintained its structural integrity throughout (which seems inconsequential, but there’s nothing worse then being on a date and taking a bite of your burger and everything falls apart).

Now the chips (fries)! These could have a blog post of their own, think Five Guys spicy chips without the burning sensation, these chips had exactly the right level of spice, crispness and mouth watering moisture. I savoured every bite and tried to pinch my dinner guests, who valiantly defended their right to their own chips and only let me pilfer one.

Overall a delightful evening with wonderful company (and my instagram looks better for it!) but I would skip desert if I was you, Kalifornia Kitchen is all about healthy plant based food so their deserts leave much to be desired for my sweet tooth.

Address

19 Percy Street, Bloomsbury, London, W1T 1DY

Temple of Seitan

As an East London resident I have the joy of having a Temple of Seitan in Hackney (yes you’re reading that correctly). Designed in the style of the classic English chip shop there is something quite devilish about treating yourself to fried Chick’n. My guest and I went after we had both had an extremely long day at work, we ordered enough food to feed the five thousand and sat in a corner and stuffed ourselves silly. There is something so comforting and welcoming about the classic British chip shop, a rare moment in society where the class divide means nothing and both barrister and barman queue together for their daily dose of grease, something that The Temple of Seitan gets so spot on that you don’t have to feel sad about giving anything up in your quest to be more ethical.

Plus the food feels less heavy and fatty then an actual British chip shop, which leaves you wanting more, exactly as the devil intended I’m sure.

*For those of you not in the know, Seitan is wheat gluten which is often used as a meat substitute because of its excellent ability to absorbed flavour and maintain a “meat” texture, however is not celiac friendly.

Address

Temple of Hackney

5 Morning Lane, Hackney, London, E9 6NA

Temple of Camden

43 Parkway, Camden, London, NW1 7PN

Dirty Vegan

During my Vegan initiation I think I missed the class on Vegan related puns, nonetheless if you really are in need of a McDonald’s or Burger King style junk food meal, look no further then Dirty Vegan.

I personally enjoyed a Bare Back Three Way, yes that is genuinely the name of the bonkers burger I ate.

But the real star of the show were the sides. Two things I find myself missing is bacon and fried chicken. Dirty Vegan offered fried BBQ Jackfruit (an excellent substitute for chicken and pulled pork) and bacon cheese fries, both sides I gobbled with a child like grin on my face, for the first time on my (worlds worst) Vegan journey I found I couldn’t tell if I was eating meat or not.

The BBQ Jackfruit felt rich and fatty like meat and fell apart in my mouth, the BBQ sauce was perfection, tangy and sweet and made my taste buds dance! A bit of Jackfruit followed by the Bacon Cheese Fries made my heart sing (and my doctor cry) as the rich “cheese”, crisp “bacon” (I am genuinely curious what it was substituted for!) and gorgeous fries filled my belly with love and happiness.

My guest and I ordered this meal to be delivered on New Years Eve and I can’t think of a better way to kick off the new decade then fine food and fabulous company!

At the time of ordering (and eating) Dirty Vegan had a pop-up in Shoreditch, I don’t think that is there anymore however their main base is:

The Balcony, Westfield (Whitecity), Shepard’s Bush, London, W12 7GE

Fortnum and Mason

Every so often a family member (or two) fancy going for a lavish afternoon tea for their birthday. This year it was to F&M, I went with the intention to avoid meat but I was pleasantly surprised, when I asked for a milk alternative, that I was also brought a vegan menu.

I was even more surprised, when I ordered the Vegan Afternoon Tea, that it was so delicious and heavenly, I ordered more sandwiches. The sandwiches, cakes and even the tea where extremely decadent and rich (far from healthy) but oh so gorgeous!

F&M has an expensive tea room, but one way that they go above and beyond (and many other tea rooms could learn from them) is they offer free plate refills. This afternoon tea experience was by far the best I have had in London and was certainly the only place that I have felt the price matched the experience. Definitely a must do if you’re in London and fancy a spot of tea.

Address

Fortnum and Mason, 181 Piccadilly, St Jame’s, London W1A 1ER

National Theatre Terrace Restaurant and Bar

Next time you’re seeing a show at London’s iconic theatre, look no further then the Terrace Restaurant. A Spanish tapas style of food, it is recommended that you order three to four plates to equal a standard main, their menu is more vegetarian heavy then vegan however there was enough options for me to order the recommended amount.

The plates were absolute works of art and the food… interesting, I did enjoy my meal however I found many of the dishes dominated by one or two flavours which became boring and bland the more I munched. One such example was the aubergine mousse, deep charcoal in colour, whipped to perfection yet boring in comparison to the artichoke and cashew stuffed mushrooms. However, where the Terrance restaurant triumphed was its dessert. I treated myself to an old favourite of mine, rice pudding. The terrace put quite the modern spin on the stodgy British classic (and at the time I wasn’t sure how I felt about it) by creating rice pudding balls in a passion fruit syrup, and despite my original reservations, it was gorgeous!

Address

National Theatre, South Bank, Bishop’s, London SE1 9PX

Nopi

Last, but most certainly not least, Nopi is part of a small chain of restaurants in London. Their menu has very few vegan options, but enough to make the meal enjoyable.

I have been to Nopi before and it is certainly pricey, but the friendly staff and fiendishly good Gnocci justifies the price.

They also make the most fabulous vegan chocolate chip cookies with Almond Milk, the milk is made in house and is creamier then any shop bought nut milk. The cookies ooze with rich chocolate, while still maintaining the crunch and doughy texture one desires in ones biscuit.

If I ever feel the need for a childhood comfort that equals its (non-Vegan) original, I am on the first tube to Oxford Circus.

Address

21-22 Warwick Street, Soho, London, W1B 5NE

[asouthernsamwell]

Through the Stomach to the Heart

A big thank you to @dumouwin for being a wonderful beta, and also super supportive about me posting my first ever fic! I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Eric Richard Bittle is convinced that his new captain hates him, and his baking, since Jack Zimmermann won't touch a single thing that Bitty bakes. Jack, on the other hand, discovers that he has a problem even more vexing than not being able to eat gluten.

Eric Richard Bittle knew two things. One, introducing oneself with food was a sure way to make friends; and two, that rule went double for student athletes (even if they couldn't be counted on to still be friendly in three week's time, it never hurt to get off to a good start). Besides, things were supposed to be different at Samwell, and Eric was optimistic.

The two pies he brought to practice on the first day were mauled, and everyone seemed friendly, so he considered his first day a success. The captain of the team, Jack Zimmermann, seemed indifferent to the pies, but Eric figured he didn't want to show favoritism, or was just really strict about his personal diet plan.

However, after a few months of Jack not even sampling his baking once, Bitty (as he had been christened by his new teammates) finally worked up the nerve to ask about it.

“Does he hate me?” Bitty whispered, as Jack once again bypassed a pie fresh from the oven in favor of a protein shake.

“Who, Jack?” Ransom asked around a mouthful of pie.

“Nah bro, don't worry about Jack, he's just like that,” Holster responded, before practically unhinging his jaw to shovel more pie into his mouth.

“But I've never met anyone who wouldn't even taste my pies! Even stuck up Eliza Mae tried my county fair blue ribbon pie! I get that he takes hockey seriously, and adores his diet plan, but would it kill him to try just one bite of something someone else made? I mean, y'all devour my pies, and he won't even come near them! Oh gosh, what if he hates me for feeding his entire team pie? I can't just not bake for people!”

“Brah, chill. Take a breath, it's okay. Jack just does his own thing, I'm sure he doesn't hate you.” Ransom served himself another piece of pie, “After all, he'd have a mutiny on his hands if he tried to keep you from baking!”

“Dude! C'mon!”

“Serves you right. Get your own seconds, stop trying to steal mine!”

Holster pouted and rubbed his hand where Ransom had slapped him.

“Ransom is right though, Jack almost certainly doesn't hate you. He's just a pretty tightly-wound dude.”

“Almost certainly doesn't hate me. Thanks Holster, that's so reassuring.” Bitty let his head fall forward to the table and mumbled into his arms, “He probably just thinks my baking is a waste of time that distracts from hockey and he probably wants me off the team. That's all.”

“No way dude-”

“C'mon Bits, you know that's-”

“I'm gonna make him a pie.”

It was a fool-proof plan. Bitty would make Jack a pie (“What type of pie do you think he likes?” “I don't know, but he's Canadian, so maybe something with maple syrup in it? Do pies like that exist?” “Holster, you do know that not all Canadians have a maple syrup IV connected to them at all time, right? Bitty, maybe a healthy-ish fruit pie? Like apple?”), and Jack would simultaneously realize that Bitty wasn't a horrible person, they could actually get along, and he wasn't going to keel over if he ate a few grams of sugar.

When Bitty was sure that his new creation (an apple pie with maple sugar in the crust) was perfect, he brought it to the Haus and warmed it in the oven for a minute before cutting it up, plating it, and bringing it out for the boys studying in the living room.

“Hey y'all, I tried out a new recipe today, who wants to test it for me?”

Ransom, Holster, and Shitty all immediately grabbed for the plates in his hands, but Jack just gave him a quick glance before going back to the essay he was typing.

“Jack, do you want some? It's maple apple, and I thought you might like it because I tried to make it healthier while also kind of thinking about Canada? I mean, sorry, that sounds weird, I just thought that you and Ransom might appreciate something more home-y by this point in the semester, ya know? Erm...”

Jack interrupted his rambling with a short, “No thank you, Bittle,” before turning back to his essay and typing as if he had never been interrupted.

The plates clanked on the coffee table as Bitty set them down with a little too much force before stalking about of the room. Jack hated him, fine. Just fine.

  For the next few months, Bitty kept up a war of attrition. He baked pies, brought them to the Haus, and always took care to offer Jack a piece when he was around. And every time his offers were turned down, he would just smile sweetly and say, “Alright!” If Jack was going to hate him, Bitty was going to make sure that it was the most unfounded, ridiculous decision Jack Zimmermann would ever hold himself to.

Finally, one morning after Jack had started up their checking clinics again following summer break, Bitty snapped. It came after months of Pinterest suggestions, every type of fruity and healthy pie imaginable, and nightly stomach aches worrying over how much the captain of his team hated him. He'd had an entire summer to try and win Jack's favor in some small way, and he was done.

Bitty came down to the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, just in time to see Jack wrapping a brownie in a napkin. Bitty's confusion was quickly replaced by anger when Jack Zimmermann proceeded to eat said brownie on the way to Faber.

“Wow, so the illustrious Jack Zimmermann actually does have a sweet tooth. Someone should alert The Swallow.”

Jack seemed taken aback. “Um... Shitty made them for me?” He clearly didn't understand that he had just capped off an entire year of rudeness with the worst snub possible. Bitty didn't even dignify his statement with a response.

The entire time they laced up their skates and got ready, Jack's waves of confusion were only met with further stony silence from Bitty. Maybe he should have been impressed that Jack was reading the situation as well as he was, given his oblivious rudeness over the last year, but Eric was far too furious to be that gracious.

Once on the ice, Bitty took his place by the boards, and as Jack started skating towards him he finally lost it. Right as Jack skated into him, Bitty pushed back, catching Jack off-guard, and actually succeeded in checking Jack, sending him a few feet across the ice in his shock.

“Bittle, you just, you checked me. That's great!”

“Why do you hate me?!” Bitty wasn't even aware that he had flung his gloves to the ice until Jack glanced down at them warily.

“What? I don't hate you. I don't hate you – why would you think that?”

“Yes you do! You won't eat anything I make, even when I make things especially for you, and I know that you hate that I bake, but I don't think it distracts me from hockey! I'm a good player, and I was doing well on the team! I don't know why my baking upsets you so much or why you hate me, but I'm not going to stop making pies!”

“Bittle-”

“And don't think that you can tell me that I'm not keeping diet, because I pretty much am, and it's not affecting me!”

“Bittle, I-”

“And you know that you can't control what the team does all the time, because you never seem to get mad at them for eating pie or cookies or anything, but you still hate me and I don't understand why and it's just not fair! I'm just as much a member of this team as anyone else and if you don't agree with that then you're just going to have to-”

“Bittle! I'm celiac.”

“That's no- wait, what?”

“I'm celiac. I can't eat gluten. I'm allergic to pretty much everything you've made for the past year.”

“Why didn't you say anything??”

“I didn't know I needed to.”

“But, I, it's just – ugh! Jack! Here I've been thinking that you didn't like me for the better part of a year, when really I should have just been baking things that you can eat!”

“Why did you think I didn't like you?”

“You completely ignored my baking!”

Jack started to laugh. “Bittle, I just didn't want you to have to try and make gluten free things, I had no idea you would be so offended over me ignoring your baking. Besides, is helping you get over your mental block surrounding checking really the actions of someone who hates you?”

“I mean... this has definitely seemed sadistic at some points so...” Jack gave him a gentle hip check in response to his quip. “I just thought that since you didn't even want to try to like my pies that you didn't like me.” He cut Jack off before he could protest. “I'm silly, I know. Now, what type of pie would you like?”

“Bittle, you don't have to do that.”

“Nonsene. I'm not backing down from a new baking challenge! Besides, how long has it been since you last ate a piece of pie?”

“I don't really eat sweets, it's fine, you don't have to...”

“Mr. Zimmermann. I am from Georgia, and in the South, we express our emotions through food and feeding others. So please, let me make you a pie that you can eat and one that won't make you sick!”

“Thank you. But euh, Bittle, have you ever tried a gluten free dessert? They're not very good.”

“What about that brownie you were eating an hour ago? Are you trying to say it was bad? Because you sure seemed happy to be eating it, and as much as I love Shitty, I find it hard to believe that he could out-bake me, especially for a palate such as yours, Mr. Chicken-Strips-and-Protein-Shakes.”

The corner of Jack's mouth started to turn up in a grin. “Chirp, chirp, chirp Bittle, you're pretty bold this morning. Checking me, dropping your gloves, and now these chirps – are you going to ejected from our next game for fighting?”

“One Gordie Howe hat trick coming up, just you wait an' see!”

They were still laughing as they left Faber, Bitty trying to catch Jack by surprise with periodic hip checks the whole way back to the Haus.

  The knock on his door startled Jack out of his senior thesis brain-fog.

“Come in?”

Bitty was holding his wallet and reading something off of his phone as he opened the door. “Do you want to come to the store with me? I was gonna go to Murder Stop-And-Shop for some stuff.”

Jack glanced at his computer screen where his thesis sat, no longer holding his interest like it had a few moments before. “Sure, just let me save this.”

The whole way there Eric babbled on about a new baking blog he had found, praising the author's interesting ingredient combinations, as well as her passion for locally-sourced foods. “...and the best part is, she sets up her recipes for other variations, and even makes suggestions for how other people could modify them based on their personal preferences, which is so cool. I should really make a conscious effort to do that more on my vlog, now that I think of it...”

What Jack didn't learn until they reached the baking aisle of the store was that the blog Bittle had suddenly become so enthused about was one he had sought out specifically following their conversation that morning. Bitty made a beeline past his normal baking staples, instead stopping in front of the rather meager section labeled “gluten free”. A few bags of pretzels, two types of macaroni and cheese, a pancake mix, two box cake mixes, and three types of flour blends looked back at Jack as he quickly caught on to Bittle's plan.

“Bittle, you really don't have to make me anything special, it's fine, I promise.”

“You hush Mister Zimmermann, you're going to try at least one of my pies before you graduate, just you wait.”

“Alright, alright, fine! I suppose I can try some of your pie, but if this turns into an addiction the way it seems to have for the rest of the team I'll be sending my future dietician to you!” Jack's small smirk seemed to be what Bitty was really searching for, so he continued, “So, what are we looking for?”

“Well, we need the same basic ingredients as any normal pie, just ones that won't kill you. I think the only problem is flour, at least it was the only thing the blog specified as being gluten-free, so I thought that we would start there, and then try what will essentially be a mash-up of my Moomaw's famous apple pie and this special crust. Although,” he cast a disappointed glance at the shelves in front of them, “we really don't have much to work with here. The blog talked about making your own flour blend, with different flours and starches and binding agents, but I guess I never realized how few options there would be. No wonder you eat like you do! Uhh, let's try this one.”

He held up a bag proclaiming its ability to be substituted one-for-one in any recipe with normal flour for Jack's approval. Receiving a quick shrug and an “I trust your judgment,” Bittle put the flour in the cart.

  When they got back to the Haus, Eric made Jack read the labels on every ingredient they already owned with him, so that he could be sure he wouldn't put anything containing gluten in the pie, and then scrubbed down every inch of the kitchen, including washing the dishes and utensils he intended to use.

“I was reading about cooking for people with Celiac Disease, and I don't know how we haven't all managed to kill you by accident yet! My goodness Jack, do you get -” a pause of indecision, “-sick? poisoned? Gluten-ed? often because of us?” Bitty's worry was clearly expressing itself via frantic scrubbing with the new sponges he had just bought.

“Haha, no, it's okay. I mean, I do get sick sometimes, but it's not your fault. I just have to take extra care to wipe the counters and stuff before I prepare my own food. Besides, I shouldn't make the rest of you adapt to my weird eating habits. And the response is proportional to how much gluten I consume, so usually I just have a little pain and some, er, unpleasantness I guess.” Jack shrugged, indifferent, but Bitty was horrified.

“Oh my gosh, Jack, that's not okay! That sounds so horrible! And you could get sick – really sick! I read that you can get cancer, or not be able to absorb nutrients any more, and that must really hurt, and-”

“It's okay Bittle, I promise. That's why I'm careful, and it hardly ever happens. Besides, the dining hall has done far more to poison me than anyone in this Haus ever could.”

“Does the school know about that??” Jack was dismayed that his attempt at calming Bittle down had failed, but something in the back of his mind warmed to the fact that Bittle was scrubbing the kitchen, making special food, and now ready to fight the administration all on his behalf.

“They have a special section for student with allergies, but they tell everyone who eats there that they can't guarantee anything will be 100% safe. There's too much risk of cross-contamination in a kitchen that big to make that sort of promise.”

Bitty's face twisted into a small scowl, his mouth scrunched up and his eyes indicating that he was clearly trying to think of a way to solve all of Jack's dietary problems instantaneously.

“That's not fair! You should get to have meals you can enjoy fully too! It shouldn't be dangerous for you to eat dinner! Why are you smiling?”

“I think you're more upset about this than I am. It's kind of nice.”

“Well of course I'm upset! For gosh sakes Jack, it's food! They're not feeding you properly! That's a- that's just- I mean, it's- it's not right! I'm from the South, that's practically a crime! No, wait, there are actual cases where that is a very real crime. How can they just do this to you??”

As Bitty spluttered indignantly, he reminded Jack of a little kitten – specifically, the small orange cat from the Aristocats – puffing himself up and ready to take on the world, regardless of what the outcome would be. It wasn't that Jack didn't have people on his side who were willing to fight for him, he saw time and time again after his overdose that his support network was bigger than he could have imagined, but still... this was Bittle, someone who had apparently thought that Jack hated him as of twelve hours ago, and now he was whipped up into a frenzy doing his best to improve Jack's life. It was really nice.

Bittle's first pie came out of the oven to mixed reviews. It was a buttermilk pie in a homemade crust, and Jack thought it was incredible, tangy and sweet at the same time, with a buttery crust that barely crumbled apart at all, and a texture that wasn't grainy in the least. Everyone who sampled it agreed with Jack – it was good, if a little bit different than what they were used to, but still incredible. Bitty, however, was the lone voice of dissent.

“Jack, honey, how on earth can you call that good? I am so sorry, the next one will be much better, I promise! I was looking up some customizable flour blends, so hopefully the crust will cooperate a little bit more, and I can probably get it even thinner without it breaking. And if I add a little bit of xanthan gum to the filling it'll hopefully come out firm the whole way through, although that might have just been Betsy having a bad day, or maybe-”

“Bittle. I liked it. Truly.” Bitty was still casting half worried, half murderous glances at the almost empty pie plate. “It was the best thing I've eaten in a long time, I forgot that gluten free food could taste like that. It was perfect.”

After a heavy sign and a long moment of consideration, Bittle looked up at him.

“Alright, I'll believe you, but I'm still going to mess with the recipes and the flour blend until I'm satisfied. Will you be my taste-tester? You have a whole year's worth of pie eating to make up for!”

Jack just laughed. “All right Bittle, but save some time for studying too, okay? And remember, if you feed me too much pie I'll need to burn it off, so I hope you're also willing to sign yourself up as my early morning running partner.”

Jack hip checked him as Bitty screeched, “Mister Zimmermann, you wouldn't dare!” and he sauntered out of the kitchen.

  The next few months flew by in a flurry of pies and other assorted baked goods. Jack watched as Bittle tried out every flavor of pie at least once, and he also expanded his gluten free experimentation into pancakes, crepes, brownies, cake, cinnamon rolls, waffles, pizza, and some very memorable soft pretzels. Eric seemed to be getting closer to being content with his creations, although he still wouldn't totally believe Jack when he spouted praise for the confections.

One day, Jack's focus was ripped sharply away from his thesis as Shitty bounced into his room.

“Jackabelle! My favorite Quebec beaut!”

“You're still wearing clothes, Shits. Are you alright?”

As if just noticing that for once he had made it past the front door fully clothed, Shitty glanced down at himself before kicking off his shoes and sprawling on Jack's bed. “It's too beautiful of a day to worry about overturning societal expectations! Well, no, actually, there's never an excuse for complacency in a society that dictates how we should express ourselves and that censors nature, but today I'm just too distracted and light of heart to actively participate in protest.”

Jack just raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Jacques, I'm in love!”

With a small smile, Jack simply responded, “I know Shits. Have you finally talked to Lardo about it?”

“No, Jack, I just realized! I mean, I've liked her for ages, who wouldn't? She's one of the coolest people ever, and she can do almost anything, but I just realized that I love her. And I never said anything to her before, because I didn't want her to feel manipulated by me in any way because of the traditional archetype of men – and fuck gender stereotypes, by the way – and I know that she's more than capable of fending for herself, but I also didn't want to ruin our friendship or make her feel awkward if she doesn't feel the same way, ya know?”

“Shits, I think anyone who knows Lardo and has seen you two interact can tell you that you have nothing to worry about. At all. And even if she suddenly decided she doesn't feel the same way, it's Lardo. She's cool, and she's one of your best friends, and that's not going to change. Go talk to her, okay?”

Shitty ran his thumb over a small sharpie-d triangle on the side of his wrist and smiled as shyly as Jack had ever seen him. “Yeah, okay.” He got up to walk out, then paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You know, I feel so stupid. There she is, absolutely freaking incredible, and I talk to her every day and I never even realized. But then, today, we're just sitting there studying, not saying anything, and she just draws this freaking shape on my arm. And then I spent twenty minutes sitting there thinking about how I would get this stupid little triangle tattooed on my wrist, just because it was something she drew, but I'd much rather just have her there to draw it on me every day, and it just hit me then.” He shook his head, looking a little dazed. “I love her, man!”

At that moment, as Shitty rubbed his thumb reverently across the small black triangle on his wrist, Jack's eye caught on the plate sitting on his desk. Bittle had brought him a piece of pie and hour ago, asking for Jack's feedback on his newest gluten-free crust, and even after finishing the pie Jack had been idly tracing the edge of the plate with a small smile on his face, still amazed that someone like Bittle, who was pretty much a ray of sunshine come to life, would take the time to bake special pies for him, and would chirp him relentlessly, and could somehow still be his friend after how Jack had treated him last year, and how Jack didn't know what he was going to do without him next year except for probably signing with Providence just to stay close to Bitty and... when had Bittle become Bitty? Oh. Oh.

“Oh.” Jack abruptly looked up and interrupted Shitty. “Go talk to Lardo.” He all but shoved him out of the door before dashing into the bathroom to make sure his hair wasn't too disorderly. He ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, before sliding a little into the kitchen in his socked feet.

“Bitty. I- what are you eating?”

Bitty looked up, startled, from where he was licking a spatula over the sink.

“Jack! Are you okay? What's wrong?”

“What are you eating?” Please don't be gluten, please don't be gluten, please don't be gluten[, I can't kiss you if it's gluten]...

“I just made brownies, Chowder had said that he wanted some and... are you alright?”

Jack visibly deflated. He almost blurted out, “I just realized that I like you and now I can't kiss you,” but he caught himself just in time.

“I'm fine. Did you want to get dinner tonight? I, uh, need a break from my homework.”

Bitty blinked at him slowly, head cocked slightly to the side as if trying to ascertain Jack's level of mental stability. (It was low, he hoped Bitty couldn't tell.) “Sure, these brownies'll be out of the oven in 15 minutes, so we can go then.”

Jack nodded fervently, then wondered if maybe that was too much before saying, “Great, I'll see you in a bit,” and leaving a confused Bittle standing in the kitchen behind him. He ran up to his room, threw himself on his bed, and cursed his gluten allergy.

Fifteen minutes later, Bitty kept up the conversation on the way to dinner, occasionally casting worried glances at Jack, who just gave him a small smile in return. I like you and I may even love you, and while I'm sometimes a masochistic moron, I don't hate myself enough to tell you that I like you when there's a chance that you like me too and I can't kiss you right away. I can be patient.

When Jack was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, he spent a very long month being cranky about all the foods he could no longer eat, and looking on longingly every time someone else ate a food he used to love. But then, he got used to his new diet, lost all of his baby fat, and became a better, healthier hockey player who no longer missed gluten. Now, however, all he could notice was how many things Bitty ate that contained gluten. A dinner roll, croutons on his salad, fried chicken, cream of mushroom soup that he discarded after two spoonfuls, oreos on his ice cream, and even the school's mashed potatoes which also had flour added to them for some ungodly reason. Jack had spent eleven years indifferent to his special diet, and now he wanted to cry in frustration.

He had quickly resolved not to tell Bitty how he felt until a time when Bitty hadn't recently been eating gluten, but now that seemed like a long shot. Jack reasoned that if Bitty did return his feelings, there was no reason to wait before kissing him (Jack always had been 110% about everything), and if Bitty had recently eaten something that would make Jack sick he didn't want Bitty to feel bad. But now it seemed like the only opportunity Jack would get was first thing in the morning, before they went to team breakfast, which was less than ideal, seeing as they were usually surrounded by the other members of the team in the Haus.

In the dining hall, as Bitty loaded his plate with food that would have Jack curling into a ball of pain in an instant, Jack kept up the stream of silent curses against allergens. When Bitty smiled at him in the middle of a monologue on Beyonce's next tour, Jack felt his heart beat harder in his chest. And when Bitty got up to grab dessert for himself and came back with some prewrapped bread and rolls he had swiped from the gluten free station, Jack realized he was in much deeper than he thought.

  As the week went on, Jack decided that he would have the most luck talking to, and then hopefully kissing, Bitty first thing in the morning or right before bed. If he had just brushed his teeth, it would probably be pretty safe. So, Jack carefully kept track of Bitty's food consumption and oral hygiene.

On Wednesday night, Lardo followed Shitty upstairs at ten o'clock, and Jack and Bitty both resigned themselves to staying on the first floor for at least another half an hour, just to be safe. Bitty seemed to be studying, but by eleven he declared that he had at least three hours' worth of work left to do, and so Jack eventually had to leave Bitty sitting at the kitchen table with a half-finished piece of (gluten) pie in front of him.

The next morning, Jack was woken up by mysterious noises coming from Shitty's room, and so he listened for any sounds indicating that Bitty had begun his morning routine, but by the time Jack left for class Bitty still hadn't stirred. Thursday night also proved to be a bit of a late night for Bitty, and so on Friday morning Jack saw him stumble out of his room just as Jack was walking out the door for his 8 AM class. By the time he saw Bitty in their 9 AM, Bitty was happily munching on a bagel from the campus coffeeshop closest to their academic building.

As unfortunate as Jack's luck had been thus far, he was a little bit heartened when Professor Atley announced the final project at the end of class.

“You'll choose a partner or work alone, whichever you prefer, and you will prepare a recipe from one of the major areas that we covered in class. You will be turning in your final project, although a majority of your grade will not come from taste, but rather from the essay you will write on both the preparation and the history of the recipe you choose. You and your partner will submit separate essays, but I am expecting a certain amount of overlap in the themes covered – plagiarism is prohibited, but it shouldn't shock me to see evidence of your collaboration. Have fun!”

Bitty beamed, and Jack could see the confidence in his face. This was a final he was ready for. “Hey Bittle, need a partner?” Jack's small smile was reflected back at him with ten times the intensity, and the response of, “Sure, if you'll let us do a gluten free project,” forced a full smile out of Jack without a second thought.

“That sounds good.”

  It turned out that food allergens and diet trends, while not a new phenomena by any means, had not focused much on gluten during any of the eras they could base their project in. Jack was ready to make a normal, full-gluten project, but Bitty insisted that Jack should be able to have at least one thing he could sample on final project day. Finally, on Sunday night, as Jack was leaning against the counter waiting for his chicken strips to heat up in the microwave, he heard footsteps come thundering down the steps, and then saw Bitty's blond head appear in the kitchen door.

“Jack! I had an idea!”

“Yeah?” Jack prompted, “What's up?”

Bitty was beaming. “Did you know that gluten only started appearing in problematic quantities in the last hundred years? I mean, there's always been a type of gluten somewhere in wheat and stuff, at least, I think there was, there was a lot of science stuff that I skimmed over, but! I found out that if you went back in time a few hundred years you could probably eat whatever you wanted without fear of getting gluten-ed!” After a brief pause, Bitty added with a smirk, “You history nerd, of course you would be able to eat better in the past.”

“That's awesome! It's too bad we can't get any of those grains any more. Do you want to do a really old recipe with modern flour and talk about the changes in the plants in our essays?” Jack was impressed with the amount of research that Bitty had apparently been doing. There was a part of him that even rejoiced over how Bitty clearly prioritized Jack over anything even remotely academic, but the logical side of his brain chastised him with a reminder that Bitty loved procrastinating, and he shouldn't look for opportunities to derail studying when it did happen. Better to just encourage it, especially when the subject of Bitty's research made something simultaneously hot and cold flutter in Jack's ribcage.

“No, that's the really cool thing! I looked it up, and you can still get those grains! I mean, maybe not all of them, but it's possible to get wheat flour that's been mostly removed from the genetic variations that modern wheat has! It's called heirloom flour, or grains, or whatever, but I started looking around at different forums and stuff, and it seems like people with gluten allergies can eat it just fine! I mean, it's pretty expensive, and has to be ordered specially, because you have to grow it in special places where it can't accidentally mix with modern stuff and produce gluten-y offspring, so it's not a viable option for every day, but we could definitely get some for the project!”

Jack had thought that Bittle was beaming before, but now he was glowing and practically vibrating.

“That sounds great! Wow, looks like you're pretty good at this studying thing when you want to be, eh?” Jack couldn't resist the chirp. But then, to soften it a bit, and because he was ridiculously head-over-heels for Bittle at this point and was only a nanosecond away from throwing caution to the wind and taking his chances with the soy sauce Bitty had put on his dinner earlier, Jack hip checked him and then leaned in to ruffle his hair, saying, “Thanks Bittle. But let me pay, okay? One of us will be pulling in a six-digit salary this time next year, and it only seems right for you to save your money for more baking procrastination.”

“You're an absolute menace, Mister Zimmermann! But alright, I'll send you some links.”

Bitty wandered out of the kitchen with slightly flushed cheeks, and Jack watched him go, content to lean against the counter wearing a small smile until the beep of the microwave startled him back to awareness of the world around him.

After a week filled with studying for upcoming finals, research for their shared history class, and (on Jack's part) unsuccessful attempts to encounter Bitty alone when he hadn't recently eaten gluten, Jack's luck finally started to change.

Bitty knocked on his door on a Thursday night, and when Jack told him to come in, Bitty poked his head around the doorframe, biting his lip.

“What's up, Bittle?”

Bittle gestured with his phone as he talked. “I just got a message from my group for my math project, and they want to move our meeting time to Friday afternoon. Would you be okay with baking the pie for class on Sunday morning instead?”

“Sure,” Jack responded easily. “That'll probably work even better actually, since we'll be out of Rans' and Holster's way as they set up for the kegster, and then we can bake while everyone is still asleep on Sunday morning and avoid any interruptions there.”

As he always did when he was pleased, Bitty immediately seemed to straighten up, adding at least an inch to his own height, and showed off a radiant smile.

“Thanks Jack! Now if only I could enjoy my math project as much as I'll enjoy making this pie...”

  For all of his planning and brainstorming, Jack made it to Sunday morning without realizing the perfect scenario he was walking in to. The kegster the night before had been almost enjoyable for Jack, even though he had gone to bed by eleven. Until then, however, he had entertained Bitty with tales of chasing off interlopers with a fire extinguisher, trying to subtly brag about his heroism. Bitty had listened with wide eyes, taking periodic sips from his red solo cup. He was far from being wasted, but certainly had enough alcohol in him to be a little more emotional than usual; he'd offered Jack a sip of his tub juice, and then snatched the cup away at the last moment, a look of horror on his face.

“Oh my gosh, no! I ate gluten today, I don't want to poison you! I am so, so, so, so, so sorry Jack!” Bittle had covered the mouth of the cup, as if the idea of a gluten particle in his drink could float out and attack Jack.

Jack, who was experiencing a swell of warmth throughout his body because of the concern Bittle had for him.

Jack, who was trying very hard not to grin like a lunatic, or even worse, to kiss Bittle on the spot for being so considerate.

Jack, who had simply settled for reaching out and patting Bittle on the shoulder in what he hoped was a bro-y gesture of affection and thanks.

“It's fine Bits, don't worry about it. I'm good with my soft drink.” He'd made a mock-cheers gesture with his own red solo cup before taking another sip. “Besides, I want to be ready for tomorrow's baking extravaganza.”

Bitty had just rolled his eyes.

  As he brushed his teeth on Sunday morning, Jack could hear Bitty's alarm going off, playing a song he could now confidently identify as one of Beyonce's. He could hear the sound of Bitty smacking his nightstand before locating his phone to silence the alarm, and then the sound of feet hitting the floor and scuffy tired walking sounds from across the hall. The rest of the Haus still seemed to be passed out from the previous night's kegster, and so all of the little sounds that came with each of their morning routines seemed amplified in the calm silence.

Jack made it downstairs to the kitchen first, and switched on the coffee maker to help Bittle wake up – Jack wasn't much of a morning person, but Bitty really wasn't a morning person. He also wiped down the counters and the table; the boys had done a pretty good job keeping the kitchen clean last night, but there were still a few sticky spots of the counter that needed to be taken care of.

When Bitty entered the kitchen ten minutes later, hair damp and tousled from his shower and yawning out a 'good morning', he headed straight for the mug of coffee Jack had just finished pouring him, and proceeded to dump in a truly terrifying amount of sugar. He fished around in the fridge for the creamer, and after ensuring that his coffee was closer to flavored milk than coffee he took a sip and straightened up.

“All ready to begin your new career as a baker, Mister Zimmermann?”

Jack smirked a little, and answered indulgently, “Sure Bittle, whatever you say.”

  The actual process of preparing the pie wasn't difficult – they had already found a recipe and translated the instructions and measurements into a more modern form, so it was simply a matter of measuring things and doing what Bitty said. The hardest part should have been working with the crust, but thanks to Bitty's semester of gluten-free experimentation they were left with an extremely malleable crust, and Bitty took pity on Jack and didn't make him transfer the lattice to the finished pie on his own. Instead, the hardest part of the morning for Jack was staying focused on the task at hand after his early morning realization – Bitty hadn't eaten anything with gluten in it yet! Jack had been on the verge of kissing him the moment he realized that, but then his anxiety reminded him of the million ways that plan could go wrong. Most of them were easy to discredit, but Jack reasoned that if Bitty didn't return his affections then things might be awkward for a few days, and it would be better for that period of awkwardness to start after they had put the pie in the oven and could go to their separate rooms if need be.

So, Jack waited until he was almost done with the dishes, the smell of pie baking filling the air, before he tried to start the conversation he had been preparing for the last few weeks. Bitty had just paused in his evaluation of the food-based classes offered at Samwell, when Jack interjected, “What have you had to eat today?”

He almost immediately cringed. That... wasn't the smoothest way to start.

“Just the coffee and the bit of the filling that we sampled. Did you want to go get breakfast once the pie's done?” Thank goodness Bitty was accustomed to his occasional brashness and could pick up the threads of conversation when Jack couldn't.

“Yeah, euh, that would be great. But, euh,” Jack took a deep breath, and stared straight out the window in front of him, not focusing on anything other than avoiding Bitty's gaze in case it turned dismissive or, even worse, pitying. “I kind of had something else I wanted to ask? Er, to tell you?”

“Okay, what is it?” Bitty sounded a little tentative, but Jack could only drop his gaze to his hands before staring out the window again.

“I think, euh, no, I know,” Jack finally turned a little to find big brown eyes staring directly into his, a slight wrinkle of worry creasing Bitty's brow. “I realized a few weeks ago that I really like you, and I know that this is really sudden but if there's a chance you might like me too I was hoping that we could...”

Jack's trailing off into panic was cut off by Bitty's exhale.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh thank goodness! Jack, I like you a lot too, but I didn't really think that you'd ever like me back in the same way, so I just didn't say anything, but yes I like you, and I would love to go out with you!” At some point during his response, Bitty's excited hands had found Jack's nervously wringing ones, and the soft touch along with the reassuring words made Jack's face break out into a smile.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes, please.”

Jack smirked just slightly at Bitty's eager response, before moving one of his hands to cradle Bitty's face and gently pressing their lips together. Bitty tasted just a little bit sweet, like the sugar he had dumped into his coffee, and after pulling back for just a moment Jack leaned down again.

When they finally separated, Bitty smiled slowly and opened his eyes. Then, cocking his head to the side a little, he asked, “If you've known for a few weeks that you liked me, why didn't you say anything sooner?”

“I, um,” Jack could feel his face reddening,”I wanted to kiss you right away if that was an option, and, um, well, you eat a lot of gluten.”

Bitty looked shocked for a moment, before smiling again and shaking his head. “You silly man, I would have run upstairs and brushed my teeth, gargled with mouthwash, whatever you needed me to do if you had told me you wanted to kiss me! And trust me, I will definitely be eating a lot less gluten in the future!”

Jack figured that the last fifteen seconds had been long enough to wait, and so he ducked down to kiss Bitty again, only pulling back to say, “I really like you,” a few more times. They took a brief break to extract the pie from the oven and write a note warning the other Haus residents not to touch it, but it wasn't until they heard the sounds of Ransom and Holster thundering down the attic stairs that Jack stepped back, ran a hand through his hair, and said, “So, about that breakfast... How does Annie's sound?”

“Perfect! I think I'll have to try one of those gluten-free pumpkin muffins they're serving...” Also on ao3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/15632469

[calorieworkouts]

Make Eating Whatever You Want Work Towards Your Advantage | Part 1 of 3

Last Saturday, my relative Andrew and also I mosted likely to Wendy's. I had a three-way Baconator with french fries. Then I went home as well as saw Video game of Thrones, while devouring 2 bags of Hershey's Cookies 'N' Cream bite size delicious chocolate thingys. I would tell you what Andrew had however I was too busy sliding right into a food coma to bear in mind. That was my cheat meal and also I made it because I consumed like a neanderthal all week ...

I am mosting likely to think that you are possibly reviewing this write-up with the objectives of cranking back some undesirable tasty foods over the holidays! If you resemble me then you obviously wish to prevent having "even more to love" by the time January hits as well as you're compelled to strike the gym harder than that Baconator hit my pancreas.

If your mosting likely to understand why these tips work then you require to comprehend exactly how cheat meals can make us fat. I understand, monotonous but just shush as well as maintain reading.

When carbohydrates get digested they need to be damaged down right into sugars before they can go into the blood stream. Facility carbs represent lengthy chains of sugars bound with each other, while easy carbohydrates stand for smaller sized chains. Long and also short chains of sugars have to be damaged down right into specific sugar molecules to be taken in. Picture different teams of jail inmates (sugars), holding hands going through a jail (your intestines). Then correctional police officers (enzymes), are all like, "hey quit holding hands, that's weird, you're in jail." The correctional police officers ultimately break the bonds between the prisoners and also send them to their cells, word play here planned (Boom).

Once our sugar bonds are broken up in our intestinal tracts they get in the blood stream, and our pancreas is notified of the boost in blood glucose. Subsequently, insulin is released to fight this. Then a bunch of insulin goes and snatches up the sugar molecules as well as moves them into their marked cells (could be liver, muscle mass, fat or numerous other cells). In the majority of circumstances insulin will certainly look to drop off those sugars in your liver, however, as soon as your liver is complete they will have no selection but to juicify your love manages (in short article second I will touch on how we can get insulin to send sugar into our muscles). Currently, our bodies have many mechanisms for making us fat, however in my point of view high carb usage is the number one reason for obesity.

Tip #1 - The Obvious Tip…

Try to prevent refined food. A heck of a procedure goes into making bread, so try to prevent it. Brownish rice, quinoa, basmati rice, as well as Cous do not take much to obtain them ready to eat, so they are okay. If you're obese, cut complicated carbohydrates entirely and see the pounds fly away. If you're not obese as well as you're naturally skinny/lean (also known as my silly cousin Andrew), you can have some complex carbs. My individual opinion is that an EXTREMELY percentage of people would ever require even more than 100 grams of intricate carbohydrates in a day.

Tip # 2 - Insulin level of sensitivity enhances with each sugar cost-free meal

One thing I didn't mention regarding our buddy insulin is that if you have way too much sugar flowing in your blood stream (particularly over a long term amount of time i.e. days/months/years) then you can become insulin immune. It's kind of like when I attempt and terrify my parents. Sometimes I can terrify them so great that they will accidentally vouch, it's honestly hilarious. If I tried frightening them 10 times a day they would end up being immune to my immaturity and I would not get to enjoy their swears. In all severity, if this is what's occurring- you're becoming insulin resistant- then you're likely on track to coming to be diabetic.

I like to believe of our partnership with insulin as a really big teeter-totter. On one side sits insulin resistance, and also beyond rests insulin sensitivity. The more sweet food we eat the further we move towards insulin resistance, and also at some point if we eat so poor, we can stroll right past insulin resistance as well as jump off the teeter-totter causing diabetes mellitus. Yet, with every excellent dish we eat we can stroll towards insulin sensitivity, and at some point get a super power or something.

When you are "low sugar" for long enough your liver obtains an opportunity to include some new sugars therefore blitzing on your own with a cheat dish, in some instances can in fact make you leaner. When you consume "low carbohydrate" for long sufficient your Leptin levels reduce, and among Leptin's roles is to metabolize fat. Guess what gives Leptin a boost ... cheat dishes! This does not imply pizza is now a healthy option, it indicates it "can be" if your diet regimen gets on factor. Previously this year I went two weeks without a gram of sugar and I made a decision to have a gluten cost-free pizza, which is amazing incidentally so shut your mouth if you're a gluten complimentary hater, as well as I in fact shed 2lbs the following day.

Moral of the story, with every carbohydrate complimentary day that passes you will increase your performance when you ultimately made a decision to crank back some deliciousness. I'm quite sure superman came to be superman from going carbohydrate cost-free for a year and after that having a Baconator, just saying.

Tip # 3 - Fit Cocoa, Eco-friendly Tea, as well as Cinnamon right into your diet plan any place you can

In a nutshell research states that these three individuals can increase your insulin level of sensitivity. I have actually located moderate to high intake of these young puppies on my rip off days to be specifically useful. If you desire much more information examine the sources:-RRB-.

Green Tea (1,2)

Cocoa (1,3)

Cinnamon(4)

( 1) http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/3/611.short

- favanols= high antioxidant/High Nitric Oxide( arginine-alpha-keto-glutarate (AAKG). ) bioavailability ... Nitric Oxide bioavailability=" boosted sugar uptake"

( 2) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf030365d

( 3) http://advances.nutrition.org/content/3/2/217.full

( 4 )http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1681080

[nomorelonelydays]

extremely shy Sid who works at the rink where Geno is the Pens Captain and Geno seems to be around every corner as Sidney works and he's always ducking behind the brim of his hat, cheeks flushed. Geno feels really bad that he's always making this very sweet man uncomfortable (Geno realizes Sid's got all their schedules down pat and he's responsible for some very kind anonymous gestures) so he keeps trying to be nice but it makes Sid even more flustered because he doesn't trust people to be nice

[BGM] Oh!! And when Geno brings Sidney a cupcake or something for Valentine’s Day saying “So you not lonely today, at least have little gift” Sidney doesn’t know how to react. He’s so conflicted on whether Geno is making fun of him for being single or if it’s a real thing, and wanting to be a real thing so bad but scared because he’s been pranked before by a boy he really crushed on and it really hurt, that he just kind of….short-circuits. Geno’s never at a loss for potential partners, all of them beautiful and charming and the opposite of Sidney. He probably has a girlfriend waiting for him at home, an expensive candlelit dinner with champagne, but he had to stop Sidney before he left for a chirp of a gift. Because that’s what they do. Chirp. 

Sidney should laugh. It’s a joke. Geno’s looking at him expectantly, like he’s expecting Sidney to say, “Get outta here, asshole” as he waves him off. 

But he doesn’t laugh. And instead, he just…starts crying. Like those silent tears with no sniffling that kind of come out without really meaning to. 

“Sid!” Geno exclaims. “Sid! What happen? What’s wrong? What I’m do? I throw cupcake away, I’m sorry!” Geno’s clutching Sidney’s shoulders now. “I’m sorry! Tell me how to fix! Please!”

Sidney can’t tell him. It sounds silly when he says it out loud. That people think he’s strange and awkward, that he’s got a one-track mind on loving hockey despite not being able to play because he’d been bullied out of it in elementary school, and the trauma never quite left, that he’s been so, so lonely for so, so long and just when he’s about to give up hope, he meets Geno. He wishes Geno could love him like in his daydreams and say, “Hi, Sid,” to him every morning when Sidney opens his eyes. He’s dreamed indulgently about Geno stopping him to give a Valentine’s gift and ask him out, but always then very quickly acknowledged that if that ever happened in reality, it’d be because Geno is fucking with him in a buddy kind of way. 

And it sucks. He doesn’t want to take the cupcake home. He knows Geno meant to be friendly, but all he sees is a consolation prize to remind him of what could never be. But he doesn’t want to offend Geno. The box looks expensive, one of those boutique cupcake stores with decorative stickers that probably cost an extra $5. 

He uses his palms to rub at his eyes. “I’m sorry. Shit, I’m sorry–”

“Why you sorry? I’m not the one crying,” Geno says, then pulls Sidney in to a hug. He’s saying something soothing in Russian.”So sorry, Sid. Not know you hate so much. Next time I’m not bring.”

“I’m sorry,” Sidney says again, then steels his resolve. He pushes Geno away. He can’t meet Geno’s eyes, but he imagines Geno is giving that mournful face that shouldn’t be as handsome as it is. “Thank you so much–so much for the gift. I know it probably cost a lot. God, I’m so sorry. But I can’t.”

“Why not? You allergic?” Geno asks. “Flower says you say you love cupcake from this store? Wait, you not eat gluten?” He mutters to himself, “Fuck, why Jake not say?”

“No, I just–I do eat gluten? That’s not the point. I–” Shit, he has to say it now. “It hurts. Okay?”

“Not understand, Sid–”

“I don’t want pity cupcakes, okay? Fuck, Geno. I want it to–to be a real thing.” Geno’s staring at him, mouth open. Sidney could feel the tears welling back up again, but he pushes forward. “I know it’s weird, it’s okay if you’re uncomfortable. You don’t have to talk to me again, I’m sorry, fuck.” Sidney has to get out. He wants to go home and sleep and never wake up. “I have to go–”

Geno grabs his arm. “Sidney,” he says firmly. “Sidney, open the box.”

“I don’t want them–”“Sid,” Geno insists. Sidney hears shuffling noises as Geno rips the sticker and opens the box. “Sid, look.”

Maybe if he looks, Geno will let him go. Sidney turns, biting his lips. The cupcakes are decorated artfully, a dozen total. The letters on the cakes spell “BE MINE.” 

Sidney can’t breathe.

“Not pity cupcakes,” Geno says quietly. “They real. Was going to ask you out for dinner, had rookie ask around for your schedule.”

“Oh,” Sidney whispers. “Oh, Geno–”

“Can I kiss you?” Geno says, and Sidney must have dreamed this sequence, a thousand times.

Sidney thinks he nods. He’s not too sure. Geno kisses his cheeks, kisses the tears away gently, then presses his lips on the Sidney’s. And it’s so much better than anything he’s ever imagined.

[ellenfinds]

Kind Cafe

Kind Café

I have to share a blog post about Vancouver’s new eco-friendly vegan café Kind Cafe. The moment I walked in I already knew I will be coming back. It’s so modern, bright, cute and most importantly entirely vegan and mostly nut-free too. I wanted to have everything from the menu, it made me drool just reading it.

I had: Carrot Lox Bagel – I couldn’t believe it was VEGAN! I love smoked salmon and this was a real surprise for me. I enjoyed it so much I am now constantly craving for more! Ow and I had it on the gluten free bagel too.

Mediterranean Bowl – perfect combination of falafel, quinoa, broccoli, cabbage, house feta, maple tahini, sprouts, cucumber, tomato and eggplant dip. Nom nom!

Let me tell you a little more about their signature lattes – they are simply to die for, and they’re made with in house made coconut-oat milk!

I had two:

Blue Lavender Latte – which is now my favorite hot drink forever and ever. It’s made with Blue-green algae, maca, cinnamon, mct oil, lavender.

Golden Sunshine – Looooved it ! Turmeric, lucuma, house spice blend, tahini.

The servers are always very friendly to greet you. Definitely a great place to relax and enjoy a great atmosphere. And signature lattes!! Blue Lavender one! haha, I’m not forcing anyone.. I am just saying it’s so good it would be silly not to try it !

I just can’t wait to come back and try everything else on the menu!

A Message from Kind Café that makes me say : YES PLEASE!

To be KIND to our bodies through nutrition and healthy choices. To be KIND to animals by eliminating meat and by-products. To be KIND to the planet through a sustainable and eco-friendly approach. To be KIND to the community by sourcing and supporting local.

[altitude-times]

Les Chèvres de Montagne

Yo Kelsey! Merci d’avoir accepté de participer à cette interview. I’ve been following Les Chèvres de Montagne for quite some time on Instagram and honestly, I love seeing girls encouraging girls to get out there and beyond their comfort zone. It’s super inspiring. Since when are you part of the group? How did you come to know the group? You mentioned you have a friend who’s a founder?

Hey Noémie, thanks for the interest in Les Chèvres de Montagne! I am thrilled to get to answer some questions for you and hopefully inspire you or other ladies to get out and be a part of the community. I've been a part of Les Chevres de Montagne for the last few summers with this summer being my third year coaching the mountain bike program in Les Estries. I was very fortunate when I first arrived in Quebec because the majority of the ladies I knew were also lovers of the outdoors. Coming from BC, this was heaven-sent! Pascale was a good friend of mine and one of the founders of the group so as the things expanded, we all did our part to be involved. There is a core group of ladies in Les Estries, and a lot of them are a part of Les Chevres in some way whether it be as a coach, nutritionist, chiropractor, event coordinator and more! The gist of the group was to create a community for women who loved the outdoors and wanted to participate in activities with other ladies. Whether you're a veteran at the sport you love or you simply want to try something new, the events are catered to be enjoyed by ladies of all skill levels, and that's what's so amazing about it. Plus! You meet so many new friends that you're never alone for your weekend adventures. I was stoked when I was first asked to help with the coaching. There's nothing more rewarding than watching the progression of the ladies over the few weeks you have with them.

According to you, how does going out between girls change the dynamics? Personally, I'm delighted to see girls playing in the mud instead of making Youtube videos about contouring. Sludge is a different kind of skin foundation. (ahah!)

The vibe is really special at all of the events. All the girls are encouraging each other and if they haven't signed up with a friend or two, they certainly leave with two or more new friends. Since I started with Les Chevres de Montagne, the number of ladies in my lady crew I can reach out to for weekend adventures has quadrupled, and that's something really cool. Everyone shares a common passion for the outdoors, and I agree, seeing this many ladies stoked on having fun outside rain or shine is pretty damn cool if you ask me.

What sports do you personally prefer? I guess it’s probably cycling, am I right?

Hahah you are correct! I come from a mountain bike background having raced downhill for six years before retiring at 18 due to too many head injuries. Since then, I spent three years coaching in Whistler Bike Park and a month in the Yukon coaching Army Cadets for the Federal Government. It's been a wild ride, but I couldn't see my life without mountain biking in it, so I love riding for fun nowadays and coaching on the side. Aside from that, I grew up skiing but recently switched over to snowboarding, I enjoy hiking and camping (if you can call it a sport) and try my best at fishing on the weekends.

Can you tell us a bit about an anecdote, something funny that happened or something truly memorable?

Because the majority of the girls participating are French, it's always a bit of a joke that I coach in English because they get an English lesson at the same time. For their entertainment, I'll throw in some phrases in French or attempt to explain my teaching anecdotes in French which always creates a few laughs. As for anecdotes, the cowboy gorilla stance which I learned from one of my coaches still gets people giggling. It sounds silly, but it really works! I've been using it with the kids I have coached as well as adults. That, and the chicken-wing, Superman. Another golden one I took from my time learning with the fantastic instructors at Endless Biking in North Vancouver.

What’s the longest trip you’ve experienced with them? A weekend? A few days? What was the biggest challenge?

For the past two summers that I have coached with Les Chevres de Montagne, we do a weekend at Vallees Bras du Nord, so I generally will arrive the Friday night and stay until Sunday. There are some epic multi-day adventures such as a survival camp over the winter and multi-day hikes, but so far that's the longest event I've done with the group. The biggest challenge, hmm that's tough. I think the biggest challenge for a weekend of coaching like that is just reserving enough energy to get through the weekend. After a long week at work, the drive there, a weekend of coaching and then the trip back, it can be a lot, but hey, it's hard to turn down an epic weekend of riding with such a fun group of women. Last year, we got to choose one of the two days to coach and had a free day to ride. This was fantastic because how often do you get your full lady crew out together to shred some new trail?!  Another tough challenge is having to head home after having so much fun of course!

You mentioned that you were involved as a mountain bike teacher. Can you tell us more about that?

You betcha! So the first year I coached, I was the head coach and the one I organizing the lesson plan for the beginner group, the intermediate group as well as my group of advanced riders. My second year, last summer, I coached the beginners. Both seasons were a blast, but personally, I kind of enjoyed the beginners a bit more because you got to watch the ladies confidence absolutely flourish over the six weeks. That's not to say the advanced riders didn't as well, but it was just such an enlightening feeling to watch the new riders' faces light up when they tackled a new trail they were so fearful of before. This is probably the best part of coaching, watching someone realize their potential and then turn into an absolute shredder. Everyone starts somewhere, and it's so refreshing to get to be a part of that process.

During my years of racing, I worked with numerous different coaches who all had their different ways of coaching. Everyone learns a bit differently so having those different techniques to work with is always great.

How do you plan your food for these occasions? Any delicious recipe you’d like to share?

We have our lovely Emilie who is the nutritionist for Les Chèvres de Montagne and plans the meals. Everything is taken care of for the participants for all meals from morning to after dinner snack (we make some mean s' mores cones!). We generally go for simple, hands-on meals where everyone can more or less serve themselves family style. This also depends on the size of the group but last year, we had amazing tacos that of course had the group stoke leve very high! Emilie is great at creating vegetarian-friendly menus with gluten-free options as well. As for the best recipe, I would say the energy balls. These are great and super easy to make even at home. At the beginning of the mountain bike days for the Vallées-Bras-du-Nord camp, there is a spread of jars with everything from dried apricots and cranberries to almond slices and honey and oats and pumpkin seeds and more. You simply mix your preferred ingredients in a bowl, add some honey and apple sauce for texture and stick and voila! You've got an energy ball to snack on later in the day. A lot of recipes can actually be found on the Les Chèvres de blog here → Yummy recipes!

What are your personal favorites gear-wise? It can be accessories, boots, jackets, backpacks, hydration systems, whatever.

I am currently in LOVE with my new Giro Cartelle MIPS helmet! I had a hard time finding a new helmet because I was just in between the small and medium for POC but this Giro fits like a glove. It's comfortable for long rides (my last helmet had an awkward pressure point in the middle of my forehead) and looks great. The best part is that it is equipped with MIPS® which reduces rotational forces. This is important for me with my past head injuries so I am happy to have a helmet that I feel safe wearing. Ooft, there is so much great gear on the market these days! I try to look away so that I can keep my credit card from screaming at me but hydration-wise, the hip packs are becoming incredibly popular! Not everyone is keen on wearing a hydration pack (although they can double as back protection as some brands will integrate spinal protection in the design) so the hip pack is the next best thing. I'll be wearing a CamelBak RePack™ LR 4 this season which I am excited to try out and I know that Osprey's Seral Lumbar Pack has been receiving raving reviews. For all the latest in mountain bike gear, stories and utter radness, check out Pinkbike.com. This is the epicentre of the Mountain bike world and a great source of knowledge, entertainment and of course, used bike goodies to purchase.

What did you learn from the group? What are your challenges for the year?

One of the biggest things I have learned from Les Chèvres de Montagne is that there are A LOT of badass ladies here in Quebec who absolutely slay on the trails, the slopes, and the crags! When I first started mountain biking, it was very much a men's sport although the times are changing (a lot) and it's amazing. The number of ladies that turn up for the mountain bike events and other events for that matter is impressive and inspiring. I'm proud and feel honored to be a part of such an amazing community of fierce women who are turning the tables in the outdoor world and also showing how accessible these adventures can be.

Anything else you’d like to share?

For all the ladies (sorry fellas, Les Chèvres de Montagne is for ladies only). Don't be shy! If there's an activity you're interested in but don't have a car or are not sure if you will be good, just do it! There are often many girls travelling from Montreal for events so finding someone to carpool with isn't a problem AND I can guarantee you're going to have a wicked time if you go.

[hellosillychilly-blog]

                                  Serrano & Chipotle Pepper Smoky

Let’s turn up the heat a little bit. The Serrano and chipotle combination, also known as the Kim and Kanye (or shall we say Ye now) combo, adds bright and smoky flavors to your dishes - and of course, that kick.

Why is it so amazing?

Each ingredient is locally grown and produced in New Jersey Zero chemical preservatives Naturally preserved using a blend of Himalayan salt, onions, garlic, and apple cider vinegar Food pairings to try

Goes well with everything really, but these heavenly pairings might just blow your mind: Steak, Veggies, Tofu, Vegan dishes, Burger

Also very important Free from gluten, added sugar, nuts, and dairy, friendly for both vegans and non-vegans. Yes that’s a pup in our logo, we’re silly, and spicy. Spice Level: Hot READ MORE-Silly Chilly Hot Sauce | Habanero | Serano | Gluten-Free | Vegan |

[myjournyl]

Why Carbs are Good for Business.

(Belated post).

It’s Saturday, it’s 9pm, and whilst hundreds of people in Melbourne are probably finishing the last sip of their pre-game before the Uber arrives, I’m exhausted from hours of making Monday’s lunch. For all of my workmates.

 Why? After a silly, friendly, competitive conversation between two colleagues about who makes the best lasagne, a beast was born. A beast we like to call ‘The Lasagne Games’.

 Over the past 10 weeks, we have had an array of beautiful dishes provided to us every Monday. Some have even gone so far as to provide alternatives for the vegetarians, the lactose-free (thankfully we are a gluten-friendly lot, to minimize the pasta pain!). In hindsight, I’m regretful of my choice to procrastinate and choose the last week to deliver – I feel like by this stage of the competition I am required to have Cirque du Soleil descend my offering via silk rope trapeze – however I’m so excited to share my attempt with the team on Monday.

 Whilst finishing up my tray this evening, a girlfriend of mine called to check in on my Saturday night, and after delivering the above tale she said ‘do you work in HEAVEN?!’ – and whilst I laughed, she’s kinda right. I’m really lucky.

 I work with people who have fun, who are competitive, and who share. Who take time out of their weekends to make pasta from scratch (I did not, for the record), to hand-grind fennel seeds (that was all me), just to contribute to a game that sees us all sitting around chatting, laughing, and comparing cheese sauces on a Monday afternoon. Sure, it’s just a lunch. But to work with a team that fosters a culture of collaboration for pasta, says a lot about how we work together doing ‘the real stuff’.

 I’ve worked in many different offices, with many different people. And we’ve all baked cookies, or organized after-work drinks, and it’s been fun. But the team that this company has built, is one of the most inspiring, genuine, hardworking and kind group of people with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of working. Nothing is ever too much trouble, if it benefits the greater good. We want to work harder, work smarter, and work together. We want to bake, and grind fennel, and dabble in the lactose free world for one another. It’s a wonderful place to work, because it’s a wonderful team with which to spend the majority of our week. And as I always say – teamwork makes the dream work! (Picked that one up from Reality Stars Marriage Boot Camp, don’t judge me).  

 So my takings from all this? Build a team you love. Build a team who believe in what you do, and believe in one another. Build a team who are excited to collaborate, and spend time together – whether that be in a brainstorming session, your weekly team meeting, or making the Monday side-salad. Love what you do, and who you do it with, and you’ll never ‘work’ a day in your life. Or so they say.

 Now to the real talk. Guys, I sautéed the mushrooms in a stick of butter for like an hour. Please be kind on the scorecards. And thanks for playing!

UPDATE: Scored a massive 12.57 out of a possible 15 - placing me 3rd on the ladder! 

[emetoandotherthings]

for whichever ocs you want to answer these for, because i know you have a ton at this point and it would be cruel to ask you to answer for all of them: what are each of your ocs top 3 goals? fears? insecurities? pet peeves? (if you've been asked these before just ignore me XD)

So, this ask has been in my inbox for a couple of days, but that’s cause it’s taken me a while to go through all this! I am going to answer these questions for all of my ocs so this is a warning that is definitely IS going to get hella long! 😜 I really loved these questions so thank you so much Casper! 💜

Top 3 Goals for each OC:

Jude:1) To qualify as a teacher.2) To travel around Australia. 3) To have a family. 

Eden:1) To be happy.2) To do something worthwhile with his life (but he doesn’t know what yet) 3) To have a family. 

Leyton:1) To become a lawyer.2) To provide for his family.3) To own a Porsche by age 25. 

Alba: 1) To travel the world. 2) To live and teach abroad. 3) To learn four different languages.

Eppie: 1) To get her surgery. 2) To do a PhD and work with hormones. 3) To be comfortable with herself. 

Jack: Fuck three things - Jack just wants to feel loved and like he belongs. 

Aiden:1) To be a nurse and help people.2) To sing on the stage of the Carnegie Hall in America (He’s already sung on the original one!)3) To be part of a “proper” family. 

Blake: 1) To make it as a full time musician. 2) He’d love to release his own acoustic EP. 3) To be happy. 

Lindsey: 1) To get to the olympics as a weightlifter. 2) To climb Mount Everest.3) To ascend the Machu Picchu temple. 

Damian: 1) To qualify as a doctor. 2) To train as a surgeon. 3) To be a Consultant at age 30. 

Cain: 1) To design eco friendly and affordable houses for those who are homeless.2) To be happy. 3) to always be close with his family no matter what.

Jenna:1) To design costumes for Broadway2) To be involved with London Fashion week. 3) To design her own wedding dress and stitch it herself!

Jesse: 1) To publish some of his poetry.2) To skate in the top 10 skate parks around the world.3) To be happy.

Zara:1) To join the army.2) To equal her father’s rank within 5 years.3) For her father to finally recognise that she’s as worthy as a son would have been. 

Aleksander:1) To qualify as a doctor. 2) To be able to provide for his family. 3) To get married. 

Murray:1) To open his own dance studio.2) To be involved/set up a scheme abroad to teach dance and literacy to underprivileged children. 3) To live his life to the absolute full!

What are the OCs fears? (I’m going to go with biggest fears for this, so I hope that’s okay!) 

Jude: Jude doesn’t really like being in the dark on his own... he also is freaked out by worms!Eden: Eden hates feeling like he’s let someone/anyonedown, it’s partly why he gets so anxious over silly little things.Leyton: ahahahahahahahahaha vomiting!Alba: Her deepest fear is dying before she gets to do everything she wants to...Eppie: Flying!Jack: Ending up alone, or dying alone. He’s also got a thing about mirrors in the dark. Aiden:  Apart from heights, itwould be rejection. Blake: Making a fool of himself inpublic (which seems ironic as he’s a musician, but it’s kind of a paradoxicalthing). Lindsey: Being irreparably injured to the point of not being able to train or compete. Damian:  He really wants to succeed with everything he does, his biggest fear is probably being a disappointment to those he cares about. Cain:  Cain is absolutely petrified of needles! He can’t even think about them without going cold and wobbly all over!Jenna: She is really really really really really scared of snakes.Jesse:  He used to really fear rejection - and the future. It’s mostly like the unknown and uncertainty that freaks Jesse out. Zara: She really hates displaying weakness. There’ssomething about it which intrinsically makes her blood run cold, especially thethought of being weak in front of people she doesn’t know. Aleksander: Death, or very unexpectedly losingsomeone. Murray: He has an intense fear of water, particularlylarge open stretches of water after a traumatic incident when he wasyounger. 

What are the OCs insecurities? (This is also on a very broad sense for all of them, if you want to know any more just ask!) 

Jude: Being viewed as less than adequate - or not coming up to expectations! (Also his height!) Eden: Not feeling worthy or deserving. Leyton: He doesn’t have many insecurities, he’s quite self assured...Alba: Being viewed as a drifter... or conversely, only where she is because of her dad’s money. Eppie: This will sound ridiculous, but her hands. She feels like she’s got man hands and they make her very uncomfortable. Jack: Of being himself! Of being real around people that he cares about and being rejected.Aiden: That he doesn’t fit anywhere, with anyone. Blake: Of being viewed as ruthless for doing what he needs to make it in the music industry. Lindsey: Her dyslexia. Damian: Being able to maintain good relationships with people. Cain: Letting people down. Jenna: Her height and her weight - her appearance in general really. Jesse: That he’ll be viewed as dumb because he didn’t go to high school. Zara: That she’s not a boy. Aleksander: Of constantly falling behind because of his CVS. Murray: Of not living up to his dad’s expectations. 

What are your OCs pet peeves?

Jude: People who have obnoxiously loud conversations on their phones while in public places - particularly on public transport and especially first thing in the morning. Eden: People who find out about his anxiety and make comments like “Oh me too! I get really nervous before exams!”, etc...Leyton: People who don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet. Alba: When someone hovers behind her when she’s trying to work. Eppie: People who start with comments with ‘no offence’ or ‘I don’t mean to be rude’ - like that excuses their next comment. Jack: People (aka Lindsey) whotake food from his plate without asking if they can have any (he has been knownto stab people with his fork if they try!)Aiden: Those who scuff their feetwhile walking - this is a particular issue in the hospital with patients inhospital issue slippers…Blake: When he’s walking along and the person in frontstops abruptly so he either ends up banging into them or having to do a suddenswerve! Move to the side rather than stop in the middle of the street!Lindsey: Public displays ofaffection - they really kind of creep her out. She can’t tell you why, but justdon’t start kissing in front of her. Damian: People whoare “voluntarily” gluten free without any medical reasons, cause Damianwould kill to be able to eat bread or pasta, or pretty much anything withouthaving to think about it. Cain: People who get up from wherethey’ve been working/eating, but just leave all their litter around them likesomeone else should clear up after them. Jenna: People who say thingslike “oh you’re just studying costume design?” as though it’s easyand that absolutely anyone could do it!Jesse: People who don’t respectpersonal space, or who ask impertinent questions about his gender. Zara:  People who are chronicallylate (she once bought Cain a watch as a “gift” because he was late sooften!)Aleksander: People who spell his namewrong, particularly in emails - like his name is part of his email address,don’t write Aleksander in the email and then Alexander as the title!Murray: People who interrupt, ortalk over him when he’s clearly notfinished talking!

[stripedigital]

Fresh Ideas For Instagram You Can Use to Market Your Business

Why Having Fresh Ideas for Instagram Matters

Instagram is one of the top social media platforms today. As of 2019, there were 1 billion monthly active users and over 500 million daily active users – and it’s only growing further every day!

That’s at least 500 million daily active users who could be interacting with your business!

This rapidly growing platform was originally founded in 2010, and it has experienced a lot of changes since then.

In addition to some of the “behind the scene” changes (such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram in 2012), the app itself has undergone plenty of changes that users have experienced firsthand.

A few of these changes include the layout of the app, the capabilities offered within posts (such as image sizes, filters, videos etc.), Instagram Stories, IGTV and more.

So, how does a small business keep up with all of the changes?

Or maybe a better question is how does a small business stand out with all of these changes?

Before we dive into the answer here, let’s talk a little more about why we’re asking the question.

With over 1 billion monthly active users, you’re bound to see trends among posts. By that, we mean you’re bound to see commonalities in the type of filters people use, the hashtags they use, what they’re posting about etc. The downside to this is that trends can quickly turn into repeated patterns that bore instead of inspire.

For instance, when Instagram first launched, one of its big selling features was the fact that it came with photo filters built-in. You could take a photo, edit it and publish it all within the same app. Nowadays, who actually uses Instagram filters?

Using an Instagram filter on a photo immediately dates it (think of when you go to a website that was clearly html-coded in the 90’s and hasn’t been touched since. Same impression). What used to be an insanely popular trend, grew old quickly.

Using the same example, what that trend has evolved into is using other editing apps such as Lightroom, VSCO, Afterlight and others to edit photos to what today’s Instagram trend standards are.

But here’s the tricky part: how do you balance staying on trend with creating original content? Where’s the line of embracing all of the new capabilities and trends on Instagram and just reproducing all of the same content others are sharing with your logo slapped on it?

This is where fresh ideas for Instagram becomes a key part of your Instagram strategy. They have to be on trend enough to gain traction for your brand while still being fresh and original enough to be interesting (and not something your audience has already seen a hundred times).

Before we move further, we have to say that we know this can be tricky. That’s why we offer Instagram marketing services to take all of this off your plate.

But we have also put together the top list of fresh ideas for Instagram of 2019 to help get you started.

The More Authentic, The Better

The very first point we have is to make your Instagram has authentic as possible.

The whole point of Instagram (and social media in general) is to give a very intimate, transparent look into people’s lives (or in this case, businesses).

Specifically within the blogger & influencer community, there has been a growing conversation around authenticity and how Instagram solely portrays the good parts about people’s lives. There’s even a trending caption and hashtag called “Instagram vs. Reality”- confirming there’s a difference between the two.

The reason we bring this up is because it’s clear that people want reality. In a digital world saturated by ads, people just want to see pure, transparent posts on Instagram.

Keep this mind as you think of ideas for Instagram and create content for your business. Consumers who feel like they really know a brand well are the same consumers that feel like they can trust that brand (and purchase from it!).

Think of how important eco-friendly, gluten-free and cruelty-free stamps have become on products in the last few years for example. People want transparency! They want to know exactly how their products are made, what is in them, and how it affects them.

Whether you market a product or a service, think of how you can make your interaction with consumers as honest as possible.

The famous band Mumford & Sons just recently used their Instagram to warn fans of fake ticket sellers (see below).

This is just one example of many of how you can give your consumers a direct line of communication, transparency and trust with your Instagram.

Now, let’s get into what some of those other examples could look like.

Photo Ideas For Instagram For Businesses

1. The Story Behind Your Business

Following in the footsteps of transparency, share the story of how your company got started. The small business movement is no small movement. People love hearing about the passions of one entrepreneur that fueled the start of the company they know today.

That’s why behind-the-scenes posts are great for showing the “real” you. It humanizes your brand. And when people see your brand as a transparent business, it gives them more reason to trust you. Add that to the fact that behind-the-scenes post will break the stream of product images in your feed.

The #smallbusiness hashtag has over 15 million uses on Instagram to prove it!

Celebrating your small business will put you on the map (as it’s one of the trending topics on Instagram), but putting your special spin and story on it to showcase what makes it your business is what will make it fresh and different!

2. Behind The Scenes

Behind the scenes (or #bts) shots are a great way to show off your product or service from a different angle.

People have seen the perfect, professional product shots tenfold. Give them something different! Show them how you make the product or how you do what you do best.

Typically when people first hear “behind the scenes” they think of a movie production or broadway show, but you can shoot behind the scenes photo is pretty much any industry.

Own a restaurant or bakery? Snap some photos or videos of you making the food from scratch. Work in an office setting? Put together a video collage of you hard at work over your desk of papers or discussing interesting points with your coworkers in a meeting.

Whatever you feel is valuable about your work, show the customer how you do it.

3. Products Or Services In Action

This photo idea is similar to the last, but we’ve included it in our list of fresh ideas for Instagram because of how effective it can be!

If you sell a tangible product, shooting videos or photos that show the product in action can be the tipping point that turns your target customer into a sale.

Let’s take a look at a screenshot from a video from Freedom Flask. The Freedom Flask is a covert flask for your booze that you can hide underneath your clothing to sneak into venues.

It reached over 3 million people and had over 1.7 million views!

Yes, we understand that part of the reason the video went viral is because of how obnoxious and funny the video is, demonstrating how to hide a flask in your pants- but it is also went viral because it shows just how effective this product can be.

When you position your post as more of a “how-to” as opposed to a salesy “buy-this,” you’d be amazed at how much more engagement (and eventually revenue) you see from it as a result.

Let’s look at another example- Tasty from Buzzfeed. These short little videos show you everything you need to know to cook an entire meal in under 1 minute.

Above is a screenshot from one of their videos. The Buzzfeed Tasty account on Instagram has over 23.5 million followers, and for good reason! They’ve capitalized on the idea that people like posts that teach them how to do things over posts that sell sell sell.

Now if you sell a service, you may be wondering how you can produce a “product in action” shot. The answer is the same way.

Whether you paint houses, perform legal work or anything in between, there’s always a way to capture the magic of you doing what you love, and that’s what people care about seeing.

4. Signage

If your business is an actual brick and mortar where customers come to visit you, you have an opportunity to take photos of creative signs in your workplace.

Now on paper, this idea may sound rather boring, but let us change your mind with a few examples.

Do you find these signs & photos aesthetically pleasing? Guess what, so will your customers!

Don’t forget that first and foremost, Instagram is a visual place. The whole app is based around photos, so give your customers something visually pleasing to engage with.

Plus, if your store has the perfect place for consumers to get a shot “for the ‘gram,” it will encourage customer to tag your company in their photos which is a win-win!

This same concept can also apply to your venue in general, even if you don’t have pretty signage. An aesthetically pleasing store or venue overall will still do the trick to encourage customer photos, and in turn brand awareness and revenue.

5. Employee Photos

Employee photos are one of the more underrated top ideas for Instagram!

Unlike what you’re probably envisioning, these photos don’t have to be stuffy headshots either. They can be fun, silly, interactive shots.

Whatever is going to capture the essence of your brand while simultaneously instilling trust between the consumer and your employees, that’s what you want to aim for.

Your customers like putting a face to name, and they like knowing who is making their product or delivering their service. The ultimate goal with employee photos is make the business transaction more personable, and friendly (and they’re great for engagement rates too!).

6. Your Customers

We started to touch on this earlier, but one of the bigger ideas for Instagram photos is to include your customers in your content calendar.

This could include reposting their images where they tagged your business onto your page, or it could mean taking your own photos of happy customers during their experience with your business.

Your existing customers are more than likely going to be excited to see their smiling face on your page, and new customers are going to relate very quickly customer-to-customer and gain faith in your business.

Showing the customers and customer experience first-hand is a great way to build trust with your potential customers (which eventually turns into sales!).

7. Flatlays

The last item we have on our list of photo ideas for Instagram is a big one: flatlays. A flatlay is an aerial view photo of items placed in an aesthetically pleasing order. Here are a few examples.

These are GREAT for businesses with ecommerce. For instance, let’s look at that last photo. 

HelloProducts seamlessly blended in their product with the rest of the photo; the customer can immediately see this product being apart of their everyday routine. Lifestyle photos are going to outperform stale product images almost every time, and flatlay are an effective, creative way to do it!

Instagram Stories & IGTV

All of the same photo ideas for Instagram we just listed can be used for your feed of posts, but it can also be used for your Instagram Stories.

Instagram Stories are similar to Snapchat in that they are a photo or video that last 24 hours on your Instagram profile unless you add them to your Highlights.

Highlights are a permanent section underneath your profile photo and bio that highlight different topics from your Instagram Stories. You choose which Stories remain highlighted and which do not. See below for an example.

Instagram TV (or IGTV) is similar in that it also remains underneath your profile photo and bio and plays videos in the vertical upright format.

Unlike Instagram Stories, which last about 15 seconds each, or Instagram post videos (which can last up to 1 minute), IGTV videos can last up to an hour.

Both Instagram Stories and IGTV often are viewed more than the actual content on your page, so utilize them! Take all of the same fresh ideas for Instagram and apply them to your stories and IGTV for extra reach within your target audience.

The last thing we’ll say about Instagram Stories is that it has a specific feature where you can repost other people’s Stories onto yours.

One of our clients was recently featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live, so when Jimmy Kimmel posted on his Instagram Story about our client, we reposted his Story onto our client’s (see below).

We understand that not every small business is going to have a famous night time TV host post about their business, but you can still repost customer Stories. It has the same effect of reposting customer posts to your feed that we talked about earlier.

Check Your Hashtag Game

This is the last tip we have for you small businesses in your search for fresh ideas for Instagram: check your hashtags regularly.

For those who haven’t used them yet (you need to start!!), hashtags are words that are made clickable but adding the # hashtag sign at the beginning of the word.

Spaces and punctuation are not included in hashtags, so don’t make the cringe-worthy mistake of trying to hashtag something like “#Marco’sPizza” because only #Marco will be hashtagged in that example. In that instance you would need to word it like #MarcosPizza to use that hashtag.

The reason hashtags are important is because they make your post searchable by that hashtag. So for instance, if someone is searching #dinnerrecipes and you have that hashtag in your post, they can find your post that way.

You are limited to 30 hashtags per post, so make them count! Make them relevant. While #love may be one of the largest hashtags ever used, it may not necessarily be applicable to your business or garner the right traffic.

Having said that, you also want to use hashtags that are trending. You could use the hashtag #thebestpizzainHollySpringsGeorgia which could be relevant, but it’s not useful if nobody is searching that hashtag.

If you’ve had your 30 hashtags pretty much figured out for a while and are looking for something new, keep your eye open for newly trending hashtags. What once was the ever popular #SundayFunday hashtag (used in photos of Sunday brunch, sunday-best outfits, mimosas etc.) has slowly started being replaced by the #SundayScaries (used in photos to express the pre-work week anxiety people get).

Overall, you want to use trending hashtags to capitalize on the extra reach and traffic you can get from them while still using hashtags that are fresh, new and creative enough to attract engagement!

Conclusion

Those are our top, fresh ideas for Instagram of 2019! We understand that it can be a lot to take on and navigate daily, so feel free to contact us about handling your Instagram account.

The post Fresh Ideas For Instagram You Can Use to Market Your Business appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog.

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