A few days in the life…

This week has been busy and fun. I tried some new recipes, enjoyed morning walks, and started a new adventure!

What I Ate This Week

Smoothies: I love making my own smoothies. I start with spinach and add a half cup of organic berries. I throw in flax, wheat germ, chia seeds, greens powder, and protein powder. Then I top it all off with almond milk. It’s shockingly delicious and so nutritious! I keep Daily Harvest frozen smoothies on hand in case I run out of produce. I order online and then toss them in the deep freeze until needed. They are handy when I’m getting ready to travel and have used up all the fresh produce in the fridge.

Breakfast Toast: Now that I’ve mastered the art of making sourdough bread from scratch, there is always a fresh loaf in the house. This week I toasted a slice and added almond butter, flax, wheat germ, and seeds for a quick breakfast. I love adding 1/2 of a banana when I have them on hand. Bananas and almonds are a treat for the taste buds!

I’ve been reading articles about the authentic Mediterranean Diet. For breakfast it’s common to toast whole grain bread and add humus or vegetables. I tried this out and I’m quickly addicted. I love having a small slice of toasted sourdough with hummus and tomato. If it’s lunch time I add cucumber, tempeh chips, and lettuce from my garden. I’ve definitely changed my mindset about what breakfast should look like! It doesn’t have to include eggs, and it definitely doesn’t have to be laden with sugar!

Salad: I’m trying so hard to keep up with my indoor garden. The lettuces are growing like crazy and I can’t eat enough of it fast enough. I may have to rethink what I plant for my next growing season!

Salmon and Stuffed Zucchini: I have a freezer full of wild caught salmon and cod, so I treated myself to salmon on the grill this week. I tried a new recipe; feta and herb stuffed zucchini. You can find the recipe here. I love the resources from Olive Tomato and I even bought the cookbook a couple years ago.

What I Did for Exercise:

Outdoor Walks: When the weather is nice and I don’t have morning appointments, I love to walk outside. I plug in my favorite music and walk 2-3 miles around town.

Line Dancing: I made it to the community center a couple days this week for some line dancing. I love it! I love to dance and the people there are so nice! It’s a blast. I’m still learning the dances, but it’s such a fun way to get some exercise and socialize.

Yoga: My plan was to practice every day but that didn’t happen. My office, which doubles as my workout space, quickly became packing central for my upcoming trip overseas and there simply wasn’t any room! I did get in a few sessions. I use free online videos by Yoga with Adriene. This week I focused on neck and shoulder relief yoga sessions.

Indoor Walk Workout: Before the office became packing central, I completed a couple walking workouts. I have a subscription to Walk at Home with Leslie Sansone. It’s very affordable and is my GO-TO workout. This week I walked a 3 mile without weights, and I walked a 2 mile with 2 pound hand weights.

New Adventures:

I met a friend for lunch at our area wine bar restaurant, The Wine Journal. We tried a nice Pinot Noir (Uncaged by Z. Alexander Brown). My friend prefers sweet wine and I prefer dry. This was a bottle we could share and both enjoy.

As my friend and I discussed the wine nuances with the wine bar owner, the topic of being a Sommelier came up. I have long joked that “in my next life” I’m going to be a Sommelier.

For reference, a Sommelier is a person knowledgeable about all things wine. They are trained and must complete coursework and certification testing. They often work for restaurants, select wines and wine pairings for the menu, and are available to assist customers in choosing appropriate wines for their personal tastes and meal choices.

As the table and wine conversation continued, I was encouraged and supported to pursue earning my Sommelier level one certification, and when I left the wine bar, the decision was made. The only task remaining was to find the appropriate school for my training.

I returned home, found a highly reputable college that offers online courses, enrolled, and started my first course. The program is an 8 week course and concludes with a level one Sommelier certification test. Within 24 hours I had completed all week 1 coursework and passed the week 1 quiz.

SO MUCH FUN!! I can now tell you all about consumption statistics in the US and abroad, which grape varieties are the most commonly grown, where they are grown, where they originated, what they look like, fragrance and taste profiles, and more. I’m on my way!

Packing for Departure:

Laundry is done, everything is packed (with space for souvenirs), and we’re ready to go. My husband and I are each taking a medium size suitcase that will be checked, and a carry on (he carries a backpack, and I prefer a weekender bag). We have a small connecting flight from Scotland to Ireland with tight luggage requirements. Our checked bags cannot weigh more than 44 pounds each. We used our digital luggage scale and right now our bags weigh 32 and 34 pounds. Whew! We made it! And we have a little room to spare!

That wraps up my week. I’m excited to share my experiences in Scotland and Ireland so stay tuned for that!