Did anyone else read Highlights Magazine growing up?
(source)
I loved the mazes. 🙂
I’m going to share some highlights that you missed on Monday while I did anything but blog. I can promise fun, but not necessarily a purpose.
I waited out the snow and our car to defrost with some apple/egg white oatmeal with a lovely melty tablespoon of peanut butter. I completely forgot how an egg white mixed into my oatmeal makes it so voluminous. Love it!
Before we left Currituck, Rascal continued to taunt Squeaky bid Squeaky adieu.
This was Brad’s parents’ road. What road, you ask? My point exactly.
At least we didn’t drive off the hidden road into a hidden ditch.
Other photos of our snowy drive…
This snack held me over since we weren’t going to reach civilization Raleigh Whole Foods until waaaay past my regularly scheduled lunch time.
It took us forever to get to the interstate.
We were literally driving 15 mph behind these cars for quite a long time.
Around 2:30 pm, we finally arrived safely at my old Whole Foods that I scraped my pennies together to visit shopped at when I lived in Raleigh.
I feasted on the salad bar, plus some tofu from the hot bar.
We also stopped in Chapel Hill to take a quick trip to the Carolina Inn. The Carolina Inn is a beautiful historic hotel, right on the edge of campus. I have never stayed there, but did have a scholarship dinner there when I was a senior. Brad recently stayed in the newly renovated rooms on the third floor while he was recruiting for his company at UNC (where we both went to college).
He called me one night while he was staying there to say that we should stay there one night so I could get inspiration for the new/old house. We decided to save the money we would have spent staying there and simply ask the concierge if we could take a quick peak at the rooms. They graciously granted our wish and let us poke around with my camera.
Here are just a few of my inspirational photos…
I loved the subway tile on the walls and the marbled tile on the floors that looked like basket weave. I also loved the contrast of dark wood with all of the light colors in the rest of the bathroom.
I LOVE black and white tile floors. They’re so classic. 🙂
One of ten little sitting areas I fell in love with. This orange creamsicle one was my favorite. See the paisley pattern on the chairs? Lovely. 🙂
Since we were within a five mile radius of Caribou coffee, we swung by to get two lattes. C stands for caramel syrup. The guy at the register said he would put in half a squirt when I asked for just a bit and it was juuuust right.
The ride home took for-EVAH! We hit traffic jams twice and found ourselves home waaaay after dark. I was so antsy after being in the car for an excruciating amount of time. Brad and I spent the rest of the evening watching Food Inc. on Netflix and being perpetually lazy.
I really liked Food Inc. but feel like I already knew much of the information presented after reading several Michael Pollen books. However, I did really like how it summed up everything nicely. I’ve tried to explain all of the hard-hitting points of Pollen’s books to Brad, but the video did it so much better than I could have ever explained.
I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to know why the American diet is really all that bad. Or, if you already know the issues with corn, factory farming, and the effect of over-processed foods on Americans, but you’re having trouble explaining it to someone you care about. The visual images are way more effective than anything that I could ever say, although the images are actually less graphic than many other videos I’ve seen on the internet exposing factory farms. It’s a must-see for anyone who cares about their health and the quality of their food.
Since I’ve been away so long, I need some comment love. 🙂
Did the snow storm hinder your holiday traveling plans? I feel so bad for the people who are still stuck at the airport because of the mess with the airlines caused by the winter storm. I am so lucky to not be in their shoes and hope they all make it home very soon.
Have you seen Food Inc.? What did you think about it? I’m going to encourage my family to watch it. It really gives a great summary of the things I already know, believe, and try to think about in my everyday eating and food purchasing. I’m not perfect and sometimes I take convenience over 100% organic/grass-fed/free-range, but I really think I do the best I can without completely altering my lifestyle. I can always do better and hopefully will be able to continue to make small changes, especially when I have a yard this summer (for gardening) and a basement suitable for housing a large freezer (for bulk meat).