After being MIA for a few weeks, it’s time for another round of Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four things I don’t eat. This was a really difficult question because I love food and I love eating so I had to really think about things I don’t eat. I wish I could say that I don’t eat fast food or processed junk or sodas, but I am only human and I make a lot of bad food choices. I do try to eat lots of veggies, lean meat (although I do love some red meat) and I do *try* to cut out the junk as much as possible. That being said, here are the four things you’ll never (or very rarely) find me eating.

1. Miracle Whip. Ew. Just ew. I don’t know what it is about Miracle Whip but I think it’s disgusting so I don’t eat it. I almost feel sorry for Nick, though, because he ate it all the time when we started dating but since we’ve lived together/got married we don’t keep it in the house. There have been a few times that he bought a small bottle to keep for himself but I never eat it. I’m a Duke’s Mayonnaise kind of girl.

2. Cool Whip. I’m noticing a pattern with me and whipped foods. I don’t like cool whip at all because it’s a weird consistency and is way too sweet. I have, on occassion, enjoyed some homemade Chantilley cream on my desserts, because it was thicker and tasted better. There’s something about being homemade that makes everything better.

3. Liver. When I was growing up, occasionally my mom would saute up some livers for dinner because my dad really likes them, particularly liver and onions. It was the grossest thing ever as a kid, and those nights were always PB&J for dinner for my brother and me. I haven’t had the courage to try it again as an adult, so I just don’t eat it. However, I will eat livermush (it’s a western NC thing, apparently) which I think is delicious. I’m a little quicky like that.

4. Swordfish. This is more of something I’ve never eaten, and probably because I’ve always heard about the high mercury content, which is bad for you. I eat all of the other fishes, though, so maybe I just think this is a weird one to eat! I have no desire to try it, and I usually desire to try everything.

I do love going to the local farmers’ market though. It’s one of my favorite weekend activities!

And I do love taking foodie road trips! Agh, I just love food!

It’s time for this week’s Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four places I have been.  Nick and I love traveling and seeing new places, and I try to write about it as often as I can. Two of our favorite traditions are 1) to take daycations, or small vacations that we can do in one day and 2) when we take long road trips, we research restaurants en route that have been featured on Food Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, etc. and make sure to stop at them on our way. If you’re a new reader (or a regular that missed some of these earlier posts) please check out the following pages on my blog!

I just wrote about our Mini Vacation to Savannah, GA so I won’t include that one here, but be sure to read about it if you haven’t already.

1. Middletown, RI.

My first flight ever was for a daycation to Rhode Island to eat at Flo’s Clam Shack. This is the trip that started it all and you should read all about it and even watch my videos here. It all began because my job was sending me to a conference in Denver, CO, and I had never flown before; I’d never even set foot in an airport – hard to believe, I know! I was so scared about taking a 3-hour flight for the first time all by myself, and Nick suggested we take a short flight together before the conference so I would have some experience. He found some really cheap tickets to Rhode Island and off we went. It was a fun and exhausting experience but one I’ll never forget.

This blog post was when I first started blogging so please excuse the different sized photos and weird pull quotes; I was still trying to figure it all out.

2. Atlanta, GA.

I’ve actually been to Atlanta several times but most recently was almost two years in August 2013, right after I started graduate school. We wanted to take a daycation before I got so busy with school and we couldn’t do anything for a while. We went to The Little Tart Bakeshop for breakfast, then explored the Historic Oakland Cemetery, followed by chocolate at Cocoa Atlanta Chocolate Shop, and finally lunch at Bone Garden Cantina. Read all about it here.

3. Illinois.

Nick is originally from Illinois and still has a lot of family that lives there. We’ve taken several road trips to visit for various birthday celebrations, weddings, etc. I documented most of the last trip we took to Illinois and the different places we stopped along the way. The first was the Parkette Drive In restaurant in Lexington, KY, and then we stopped again in Champaign, IL to eat at Fat Sandwich Company, where they put everything but the kitchen sink in their sandwiches and they’re so good! Read all about it here.

4. Puerto Rico.

Nick and I went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon in May of 2012 and I fell in love with the ‘isla de encanto’ or island of enchantment. For the past three years, I’ve been working on a page about it but I barely have enough time to get outfit photos up so it’s been really difficult to finish that post. I’ll make that my goal for this summer! Anyway, we did so many fun and amazing things like take a walking food tour, swam in the ocean in a spot that only locals knew about and then ate at a delicious road side food stand, we explored a beautiful cave, climbed a waterfall and zip-lined back down, played in the bioluminescent bay, and explored the city. I loved every single thing about Puerto Rico and I cannot wait to go back.

*All photos by me.

Where all have you been? What is/was your favorite place to visit?

Warning: there’s lots of text in this post because we had a fantastic time!

We’re back from our mini Savannah vacation! We had a great time and I can’t wait to go back; there were so many things to do that we didn’t get to fit it all in to our few days there. So, this post has made me realize that I’m not the best blogger because I get so caught up in the moment that I’m not able to multitask by taking photos and being present at the same time. In fact, I lugged my nice camera with me but didn’t take a single photo with it and all I have is a few of the best phone photos to share with you. But the important thing is that Nick and I had a good time and got to spend some quality time together 🙂

I snapped a few pics during our travel. I tried to convince Nick to stop at South of the Border in South Carolina but he didn’t think it would be very fun. Maybe next time.

Historic Savannah is beautiful. I love all of the architecture and plant life; the Spanish moss-filled trees are magical! One reason we chose Savannah for our trip is because I visited over the summer for my best friend’s bachelorette weekend (because she used to live there) and I thought it was so pretty and romantic and I couldn’t wait to come back with Nick. Another reason is because I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt and was very intrigued. I also made Nick watch the movie so that he would be “in the know” with some of the things I wanted to do and see.

One of our first stops was breakfast at Clary’s café. They have THE. BEST. chicken fried steak I’ve ever eaten. We ended up going to Clary’s two out of the three mornings we were there. When we find something we like, we tend to stick to it. And did you know that they filmed some of the movie in the café?

After breakfast, we did a lot of walking around the area. I think the squares in Savannah are amazing. They’re so pretty, like little mini parks in the middle of the street. I wish we had them here in Durham.

This is the only photo I got of my outfits and everything but the pants was in my packing post. I ended up switching out the pink sweater for this pink tee (because it was supposed to be really warm) and I added an extra pair of jeans because a friend of mine made a good point that I might spill something green on my white pants so I should take a backup pair. Apparently, St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in Savannah, but we left before most of the activities began. 

This is Nick in Franklin Square. He wanted his photo with this particular statue because he is proud of his Haitian heritage.

This is us doing some shopping. #truelove

We were at the Paris Market and I made Nick try a Rose Granita, which is  semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and, in this case, rose flavoring. He did not like it. He said he felt like he just chewed on a rose petal. I said that’s exactly why I liked it! We got him an Elderflower granita, and he liked it much better.

Afterward, we took a stroll down Riverfront Plaza. I loved the worn look of the buildings. I kept imagining what life was like back when shipping and boats were the main form of travel. That kind of thing really interests me.

I love walking through beautiful cemeteries and all of those in Georgia are absolutely beautiful. For reference, see our last Daycation to Atlanta where we ventured through the Historic Oakland Cemetery. We were very close to the Colonial Park Cemetery so we took a quick stroll through it.

I feel like I wouldn’t be a good public health student/professional if I didn’t acknowledge the Yellow Fever Epidemic!

Normally when we travel, we try to find restaurants that have been featured on Food Network or the Travel Channel or one of those other foodie TV shows. This time, however, we kind of stayed off the beaten path and it was great. We had dinner at Wall’s BBQ, which was literally in an alley/lane and we would have walked right past it if we hadn’t been using our GPS. The food was great, probably because it felt like we were in grandma’s kitchen.

photo source

If you should know anything about me, it’s that I LOVE ghost stories so I also look for ghost walks and tours when I travel. This trip was no different, except I was able to find an awesome tour that not only incorporated the haunted history of Savannah, but also took us by the Mercer Williams House and Museum, from the book (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). This is a photo of Mercer House where the infamous murder took place. I wanted to go to the museum, BUT I found out that only a few rooms on the first floor were open for visitors and they wouldn’t answer any questions about the murder/book/movie, so I didn’t think it would be very fun. They also filmed the movie here. There were a lot of other spooky stops on our tour, but this was the best photo I got from it all. I really enjoyed hearing the history of all these places as much as hearing about the ghosts. I also didn’t realize how big voodoo was in this area back in the day. Fascinating!

I mentioned that we missed most of the St. Patrick’s Day activities but we did get to see them turn the fountain green in Forsyth Park. It was drizzling and we got there a little late so we didn’t get a very good spot but it was a nice experience nonetheless.

We stayed inside most of our last day there because of all the rain and we got up early the next day to head back but we still managed to make the most of it.

I can’t wait to take another trip!

If you’re interested in any of the things I’ve mentioned, here are some links:

Clary’s Cafe
Paris Market
Riverfront Plaza
Colonial Park Cemetery
Wall’s BBQ
Ghost City Tours Savannah
Mercer Williams House Museum
Forsyth Park

*All photos by me except for the one of Wall’s BBQ storefront, which has a link to the original photo source.

It’s time for this week’s Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week it’s Four Places I Have Lived. This may get a little boring because I’ve only ever lived in North Carolina, but here goes.

1) Wilkesboro, NC. I was lucky enough to grow up in western North Carolina, surrounded by mountains and beautiful lakes and friendly folks. It’s a small town and I couldn’t wait to get out when I was a teenager, but now I cherish every holiday and weekend trip back to visit family. Even though I will never live there again, it will always be my home.

2) Greenville, NC. Home of the East Carolina Pirates, arrghh! G’Vegas (as the college students lovingly refer to it) is THE quintessential college town. During football season, everything turns purple and gold from restaurants to grocery stores to local businesses. That is one of the things I truly loved and will miss about Greenville. Other than that, I was also happy to leave after undergrad.

3 & 4) The Triangle. I’m lumping 3 & 4 together because they’re basically the same thing, just different cities. I’ve lived all over the Triangle, from Morrisville to Raleigh to my current location in Durham. The Triangle, which gets its name from the Research Triangle Park and its anchor universities (NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill, which form a triangle when you connect them on a map), is where my heart is and where I will probably live for the rest of my life. There is so much to do here that it’s the perfect place to live, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else!

Of course, home is where my family is so it doesn’t matter where I live as long as I’m with them!

*All photos by me except for the bottom right, which was taken by 2+3 Photography.

It’s time for this week’s Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better.

Four books I’d recommend: This is a really tough one because I don’t know if I can pick just four! I really enjoy reading but I don’t feel like I have enough time to read for fun (grad school life) and I don’t really read any of the best sellers, I just read what sounds interesting. I also like reading books before they become movies; I’ve read the Sookie Stakehouse Southern Vampire Mystery novels (the books that True Blood was based on) and the Stephanie Plum series (the books that One For the Money – the movie with Katherine Heigl was based on). So, anywhere, here are four books that I’ve really enjoyed.

1. Yes Please by Amy Poehler. “In her first book, one of our most beloved funny folk delivers a smart, pointed, and ultimately inspirational read. Full of the comedic skill that makes us all love Amy, Yes Please is a rich and varied collection of stories, lists, poetry (Plastic Surgery Haiku, to be specific), photographs, mantras and advice. With chapters like “Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend,” “Plain Girl Versus the Demon” and “The Robots Will Kill Us All” Yes Please will make you think as much as it will make you laugh. Honest, personal, real, and righteous,Yes Please is full of words to live by.”

Technically I’m still reading this one but I love Amy Poehler and will support anything she does. So far this one has been very inspiring so I would definitely recommend it to any and everyone.

2. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti. Feminism isn’t dead. It just isn’t very cool anymore. Enter Full Frontal Feminism, a book that embodies the forward-looking messages that author Jessica Valenti propagated as founder of the popular website, Feministing.com.

This book is terrific for anyone who is interest in learning the basic foundation of feminism or for any seasoned feminist who wants to have a reference guide. I love this book because it explains the bad-ass principals of feminism for all of us bad-ass feminists. It’s definitely worth a read!

3. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty. “Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty—a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre—took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased.”

This is one of the most informative and thought-provoking books I’ve ever read. It made me reconsider death and how I would want to be cared for after it happens to me. Doughty has the ability to navigate this difficult subject in a way that makes it interesting and fun. It’s definitely worth a read.

4. Blindness by José Saramago. “A city is hit by an epidemic of “white blindness” which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears—through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses-and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man’s will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.”

This is another though-provoking read because throughout the book, I found myself wondering if humanity would really react the way they do in the book, how I would react if this situation were to happen in real life, and the chances of this situation happening in real life. I will also say that you should see the movie because it is really good! It’s as close to the book as any movie I’ve ever seen.

Bonus: The Sookie Stakehouse Southern Vampire Mystery novels

*All photos by me.