VLOG CITY LIFE: 3 Years in the City: Spring Table Reveal & Yoga Journey & Celiacs Disease Updates

Hi loves! I had a lot going on this month so much that I am falling behind on some of my deadlines. This month I was excited that Winter would finally be over so I set out to plan out my Spring/Easter table setting; you can find all of these items at Crate & Barrel. Purple is my favorite color so I was pretty excited to once again be able to incorporate it into my home decor. In case you can't tell those napkins are folded into little bunny ears!

My main goal was to find some cute purple or peach pillows for the chairs, but I guess neither of those colors are in high demand because I can not find them anywhere! This spring table will be up until summer and by then I will be on to a new surprise setting!

How fabulous!

DINNER DATES:

Miguels

A local restaurant we have gone to for at least 4 years has always told me their food was gluten free (except for a few items). I have always asked them and made sure every time I would go there and I have always been told "yes, this is gluten free". To my chagrin, on this night, we apparently had an extremely honest waiter who emphatically told us that "Almost nothing on this menu is gluten free, this is authentic Mexican food, but most of it has a little bit of wheat flour. Whoever told you this was gluten free lied". After I got over the initial shock, I had to know for myself so I tested my nachos with NIMA. Sure enough, they tested for up to 20 parts per million of gluten.

At this point both my husband and I had a lot of questions, like one, why would employees knowingly lie to us about something so serious? Well, thats the thing, Celiacs Disease and gluten sensitivities (or allergies) are two completely different things. Then you have people who are just on a GF diet for fun or to loose weight -whatever their reasons may be- this last group of people is why "being gluten free" is stigmatized and not taken seriously by most people. Being "gluten free" is also often ridiculed on t.v. shows and commercials which further implants in peoples minds that it is just a "FAD".

A great example here is one of my favorite reality shows (I won't mention the name) the people on vacation asked the chef to serve them all gluten free food for their entire four day trip. He then responded in kind with an eye roll and said "this will be fun" and at one point he fed them a dish with barley in it.

So one thing we can get straight, and people should understand, even if I (or anyone with Celiacs) didn't have a physical reaction all the times I ate here, or even if I had a mild reaction, every time someone with Celiacs ingests gluten it causes an autoimmune response causing their own body to make antibodies that attack and destroy the lining (villi) in their GI tract and it never re-grows or recovers. And yes, I did unfortunately, get sick.

Shrimp and scallop ceviche (one of the few GF menu items Miguel's)

Roy's Tampa

On another note, we did visit a few restaurants in South Tampa that always prepare their food exactly as asked and they will always take the time to make sure everything is gluten free. And I have an announcement, NIMA has asked me to be an affiliate and brand ambassador for them. I am super excited about this because I feel like I can really learn a lot as well as help people.

Ocean Prime

Everything here is GF: King crabs, jalapeno au gratin, tomahawk steak. Ocean Prime Tampa

Coopers Hawk Tampa, Parmesan crusted chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

Sprinkles Tampa

FITNESS

More learning experiences: This month I definitely tried a lot of new and harder poses. I finally was brave enough to do a headstand with my husband spotting me and I was so happy. Then, when I tried to do a full headstand I fell on my head. I have a long way to go with that because I have very little arm strength. One of my favorite sayings is "The only limits in life are the one's we put on ourselves". I feel this rings true when it comes to yoga because my fear is what stops me from doing a lot of poses.

HOME GARDEN

So this one is a shocker. I have about 8 or 9 orchids now. I have never been able to keep one alive and I just never had the patience to even try to figure out why; orchids have always been that one plant that drove me crazy. In my yoga journey I have learned to meditate and be more patient in life. Pilates is so different than yoga and for a while I was just frustrated like "when am I going to get to the cool poses". I had to learn patience in a new way and surprisingly, I bought one orchid and I didn't kill it. Then I got a few more and I learned how to care for them and honestly, they too are pretty calming just like yoga is.

The orchids grow really well indoors which was the main difference between the ones I killed before because I had them outside. Florida weather is so unpredictable and one day it can be nice and cool and the next its 100 degrees which will definitely kill your orchid. I have mostly Phalaenopsis orchids and one Dendrobium.