Milk and Dairy Products on the East Coast

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Random blog post much?!?!

Yes, probably my most random to-date, but I've got to get this out there. To add to my list of things the lEast Coast falls short on....is dairy products. I don't know what it is, but milk, yogurt, butter, etc. all taste....off. 

I used to be an avid milk drinker. Loved it growing up. Loved it in college, continued my milk drinking into my first year of living here and then came to a sudden screeching halt. I have more often than not, thrown out over half a container of milk because it gets that "kind of bandaid-y" taste. What the heck?!? It just tastes off. I rarely enjoy a cup of milk anymore. Now if you are thinking my taste buds have changed and adapted with age...you are wrong! When I was home recently, I poured a big glass of milk and was overjoyed with satisfaction. No foul taste or off-ness. Just plain, good dairy. 

Now I've started noticing that yogurt never really tastes right to me either here. I have been trying to eat a lot of plain yogurt lately, and this morning, I just had to put my spoon down and stop. Totally gross. I can't drink enough water to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Now the yogurt is totally fine. Bought it like two days ago with more than enough time before it expires. It smells fine, but man, on the palate, it is off. 

Alas, another thing to look forward to when I get to be back West. Good, un-gross dairy products.

Anyone else encounter this? Things don't taste as good when you are somewhere else?

Now you know....I truly am strange!

The Weekend After

This is my first full week back in the office since about three weeks ago. It is also my last full week in this office. Then I have a whole new work existence, and that is a bit exciting and nerve wracking at the same time! Mostly exciting though.

Back to being gone. The BF and I were first in California, gallivanting to LA and then down to San Diego for Kendal's awesome wedding. Then I jetted to Idaho for a fast few days in my beloved state. Followed by meeting up with the BF again in Kansas City for a wedding and two baseball games!

I'll backtrack later hopefully to talk more about California and Missouri but for now I'll show you a bit of my trip to Idaho.

My parents greeted me at the airport, and they came with the most beautiful bouquet of roses.

My mom said she always loves seeing people with flowers at the airport because it shows how special someone is to another person, and my mom wanted that for me! The sweetest!

I had time to do a lot of the things I love most about Boise. As well as things from my childhood. Like taking a quick walk up Camels Back to catch a view of the city.

Strolling downtown and checking out some new boutiques that have some great items!

If you are in Boise you must check out Indie Made (and buy me that onsie for my firstborn!), and stroll into Mixed Greens just a few blocks over. I had to buy something at each store because they were just filled with adorable gifts, amazing lotions and soaps, and an amazing bag (if anyone wants to get me a gift ;)) that was perfection.

I flipped through old family photos. Shed a few tears over how empty the house felt without the presense of "The Poodle".

Being a gentleman and stealing Christmas decorations to woo the girls with.

Sitting on the chair lift with dad.

Yup, We made him wear a skunk costume. He was NOT happy.

There were also some gems like these that had me rolling on the floor laughing.

There was lunch with friends. At Fork and BleuBird Cafe, which if you are in Boise...you must visit. It was delightful. Cheery. Great food. Hand crafted drinks. A must. I can't rave enough.

I saw the new Boise Tower....which if you had any idea of how long this has been in the making, you'd be amazed too!

Dessert, (chocolate dipped cone) post lunch with a childhood friend at this classic establishment.

Treated to dinner at the new-to-me,10 Barrel Brewery, that seems to be the perfect addition to the Boise downtown scene. The three of us did a beer tasting, and has so much fun figuring out which was each of our favorites and then ordering an additional beer of our favorites!

I even got to see my favorite littles and my sister!

I can't believe how big they both are. Wyatt is almost taller than me (ok, not really but it seems like it!) and is such a neat little kid. I love that he remembers me and things about my life. He knows I live far away (sad), but totally gets that I fly on planes and that I love to just sit abd play with him. Oh, and that Ava. She is all girl. She loves clothes and shoes. She lets you know she is there, and man she holds her own. I could not be any more in love with those two!

My final day. I squeezed in a run alongside the beautiful Boise River.

Got to visit with my aunt and uncle and then even made a very quick stop at the new location of the Rosiemade store where I also saw (unforunately had to run so didn't get to talk to) Aunie from Aunie Sauce.

The next morning I was up bright and early to head to Missouri for round two of the wedding trip. Leaving Boise was hard. It always it. And it just seems to get harder with each trip.

This past weekend I was in a funk. Sleeping every chance I could get (granted I've been fighting a cold and we pulled an all nighter coming back to DC), and just feeling mopey. It took me awhile to realize it was the DC Blechs settling in. Luckily, the weekend is always greeted with Monday, and with my transition to the new job in full swing, work is busy and distracting, so not much time to mope or think about where else I would like to be.

Boise, you have my heart and in so many ways.

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Shifts of Change

Window in Del Mar from our recent CA adventure

Change. Sometimes the drastic changes force and create the small changes. The ones you won't notice right away, but the ones that all put together in a string of subtelness, create a larger, more noticeable affect.

Today. Right now. Something feels different. A noticeable shift in my universe. It started around 4:30 today (yes I can even pinpoint a time when this started to shake out). Just barely there, a whisper of change. Perhaps the crisper fall air, or the quickening of the evenings. Quiet. A scent of something new, mixed with with the past of something familiar.

The world has been flushed with good. Honest. Real inspiration. Be it people, news or nature. It is shimmering with something refreshed. The bad is there. The negatives are there. But around 4:30 today, I was blind to that. Immune to the anxiety that has been sitting in the pit of my stomach. I only saw sunshine, relished in the fall weather, and felt my heart beat just a little more in rythem with my head for the first time in what feels like years.

I've been begging for change. Pleading with God. To the point of bargaining, which is so silly, but so human. I wanted to see something move, to budge, to shift.

Now, it is in motion. Turning, moving, changing. I feel it and I SEE it.

My invitation is there. Beckoning to take this change and to run with it. To pull it is fast and far as I possibly can, and not wait for anything or anybody to tell me if it is ok, or right. Just to do. To act. To create what I've been wanting to create.

All these little shifts I have felt are all little splinters fragmenting off from the bigger change. The one that I thing is glowing with change- I took a new job.

Perhaps a bit more about that new job later, but I've wanted to get that out there for awhile, since I am thrilled about this change and the specific opporunity. Tonight. Tonight, I am taking this evening to sit, quietly, and listen to my head and heart and just feel those little shifts. Enjoy them. Savor them. Knowing that this is all taking me somewhere. Physically, emotionally. I am going somewhere, and isn't that just the whole point of all of this? To go. To keep moving. To create. To define. To change.

 

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