Adventures in Seattle: Foodie

Sometimes I can’t help but photograph the things I eat.

Adventures in Portland: Foodie part 2

Here are the last few food pictures from my Portland adventure. ❤

Adventures in Portland: Foodie

Here’s a glimpse into what I’ve been eating the past couple days during my trip. It’s refreshing to try new foods and combinations, and eat at new restaurants.

What I Packed

Im flying to Portland tomorrow then taking a train on Wednesday to Seattle. I tried really hard to get away with packing all this in my carryon suitcase because I get nervous about losing luggage during short layovers, and it almost all fit but the zipper broke and I think I’m just upgrading to my larger bag. I have to take my cpap as my personal item so I tend to pack a purse and rearrange after I get on the other side of security. I don’t really mind not lugging that bag through the airport though. This is basically all I’ve packed, plus three pairs of pants and a sweatshirt unseen.

Wanderlust Italy 1

This is the first of many posts where I share pictures from my trip to Italy five years ago. I can’t believe it’s been five year. Italy was a country I was homesick for before I’d ever been and I dream about going back there every day. It was eating gelato multiple times a day, living in a walled city, discovering how to communicate all over again, the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten, hurry up and wait, so much sunshine, postcard days, comfort in something foreign, trying limoncello, pizza with whole olives rolling off the slices, daily markets, siesta every afternoon, magic unfolding everywhere.

 

* I recently discovered picmonkey and I’ve been addicted to making pictures look awesome. So that’s where these were all edited.

Goals for Twenty-Six

(credit)

I feel like I spend every year vowing to straighten myself out. And I guess I’m going to spend this year doing the same. I want twenty-six to be filled with doing things that are going to get me somewhere.

♥ Go somewhere during vacation time. Whether it’s New Mexico, California, Italy or South Korea, GO SOMEWHERE. (And maybe just stay there. I can come back some other time…)

♥ Make a huge dent in the money situation. I don’t feel like I need to further explain that on here.

♥ Lose weight. Set amount is not important to this blog at this moment of time.

♥ Complete a novel. (My NaNo story?) And at least three short stories. Submit them places.

♥ Develop a weekly yoga habit and stick to it. I really did feel better while I was practicing.

♥ Take steps toward finding a career, whether it be getting a certificate to teach English as a Second Language, applying for grad school or something else.

<3.Melanie.Kristy

Late(ish for my work hours) Night Hours.

Anything and everything that is on my mind right at this moment. Because I know I’m less likely to bother free writing if I don’t have an audience.

It’s 11:39pm on a night where I spent the entire day waiting for bed time. If anyone was curious at all, I know you aren’t, it’s 4:39am in Portugal though it’s likely he is still up, he is not online. Last night at this time we were talking. I’m drinking peppermint tea. I’ve often heard how wonderful it can be for cramps and bloating and those sorts of things, and for some reason I’ve been somewhat intimidated by the idea of peppermint in my tea, for I wonder how strong it would be and if I would like it. In the midst of my week long stomach sickness (which now seems to be cured, except my symptoms seem to be urging in the opposite direction. Hence the cramps. Ow.) I decided to buy a package. I am infamous (at least, to myself and my mom) for buying different boxes of tea and hardly ever drinking them. It isn’t that I don’t like tea, because I do love it. It’s that hot drinks burn my tongue so easily and the thought becomes too much of a burden to actually follow through with. Regardless I must say; this peppermint tea, sweetened with two packets of TruVIA (or however they like to capitalize on that) is very sweet and pepperminty. It’s the most effective when it’s (surprise surprise!) inside my mouth and I can feel the hot liquid sliding down my throat. And then my belly feels warm and my tongue feels cool and peppermint-y. My dog is barking at me. He knows I’m in my room so he stands at the very edge of the kitchen and barks down the hallway. When I went into the kitchen he sat and looked up at me and let me pet him and lay down and wanted me to pet him some more. I reached down and leg my shoulders drop, my back made some cracking noises, my muscles were stretched momentarily. I was reminded that I need to go back to yoga. I am going to go tomorrow. Back in my room I turn my light off and close the door. I tell Kate that I want to quit my job and spend all day writing. I wonder; why isn’t my life set up like this by now? Isn’t it what I always wanted? I feel like I’m a bit of a masochist sometimes. Especially when it’s not intentional. She tells me to start right now. Either way it feels so far away. But she’s right. If I don’t, it’ll only take longer to happen in the long run. There are four things that I need to happen in my life, four things that I need to focus on; health, writing, traveling and paying off everything. I need to start with all these little steps and that’s when I get overwhelmed. I’m so good at making plans, and terrible at following through. It’s been three years since I graduated college and I feel like I’m even further away from my dreams than I was three years ago. Yes, I am definitely further away, but wiser just the same.

Italia.

I achieved Italy through student loans and a summer art history class. It had to be done and I needed to get there the fast way. We rode bikes around the city, took the train to Rome where we got lost inside ourselves, and we wandered around speaking broken Italian to interested and disinterested natives alike. I ate the best food I’ve ever had in my entire life and gelato was a daily treat. It’s been three years and I ache tonight just as much as I ached three years ago while we walked away from the city we temporarily called home.

it's no secret that pizza is my favourite food

the mediterranean

oh yes, it is love, Tuscan countryside

some espresso

St. Peter's Basilica

I left part of my heart there in the toes of those sneakers.

<3. Melanie.Kristy