Merry Christmas, Y'all!

'Twas the day after Christmas, and on the internet...just kidding, I went shopping today after having a very enjoyable Christmas Eve and Christmas.  I was so hungry, that I legitimately forgot to take pictures.  In addition, it'd be strange to do with my surrogate grandfather and uncle there.  So I took some selfies and a picture of my gifts.

Shirt: Azul, Skirt: Silence & Noise

Look at me, I did my makeup.  You can't tell though because bangs. Collar: American Eagle

Top Row: Sweater, Free People; Sweatshirt, Abercrombie & Fitch; bath & body stuff; pants, Free People (navy); sweat pants, Abercrombie & Fitch (red)
Middle Row: ASUS laptop; pumps
Bottom Row: slippers, Macy's; sweater, Anthropologie; polka dot shirt, BDG; blazer, H&M

I love all the gifts I received, but my favorite has to be the computer.  It is so beautifully efficient and I am actually a big fan of Windows 8.  I am typing on it right now!  Part of the package I wanted to give myself was an updated iPod, with songs I never listen to deleted and new music downloaded.  It is just the way I want it and I could not be happier.

For food, I eat the same dishes for Christmas every year.  In Polish tradition, fish is eaten for dinner on Christmas Eve, Wigilia, when most of the immediate family gather.  We had four different types of herring, a broiled lake fish, barszcz, pierogi, vegetarian bigos, eel, and smoked salmon.  In some houses, they make as many as 12 different fish dishes, but we don't have the space or means to.  I got to enjoy some South African white wine with my eel, bigos, and fish; the meal was delicious and gluten-free.  The whole pescatarian Christmas feast stems from Catholic religious tradition, where eating meat is undesirable on the eve's of major holidays.  In my family, we always offer coffee and tea with the desserts platter.  For me, there was my mother's flourless cheesecake and we also bought chocolate mousse cake from Eataly, this Italian masterpiece of a grocery store.

Then Christmas day, my aunt came over for some roast ham, potatoes, South African red wine, meat bigos, and leftover smoked salmon.  It was a pretty relaxed day.  I hope you guys had relaxing Christmases/holidays as well!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

I Eat Meat Sometimes

The glorious thing about living in a city where there is literally some form of a grocery store on every corner is wonderful because if you are lacking an ingredient, then you can easily get it.  The downside?  No one buys food in advance.  So, for dinner Friday night while my parents shopped for food in Greenpoint to prepare for Christmas Eve, I had to run to the grocery store to get myself a meat product.  It was pretty weird buying only one thing, but I already have my staple foods at home: quinoa, rice, green beans, colored peppers, and leafy greens.  The meat product I chose: lamb.

Seared lamb chops, sauteed string beans, kale, and pepper, boiled quinoa stir-fried with soy sauce.

To me, the most delicious gluten-free meals are the ones that do not replace foods with substitutes.  My mother thought that this plate had too much food on it, but most of it was green and, using little oil, could be healthy.  Also, the more colors, the more nutrition you're getting and who doesn't love that?

Since this plate had so many different colors on it, I wore a single-pallet outfit to balance it out.  I love gray, white, and black, so I combined all the colors.  Matt suggested I buy these particular jeans because he thinks my legs look good in them and the design is pretty cool.  I have to agree with him.

Hat: Pins and  Needles, Coat: COOPERATIVE, Jeans: BDG, and Boots: Minnetonka

I think Matt is getting pretty good at taking pictures of me.

Since Christmas is just two days away, I want to wish you all a merry, delicious, and stylish Christmas!  Happy eating and spending time with friends and family!

My Christmas tree!

Keep it yummy, 

Jo

BACK TO BLOGGING (Finals and Fall Semester are Over YAY)

Hey everyone!  Sorry for the brief hiatus.  I really wanted to focus during finals and finish strong.  I was cooking!  Just not documenting anything (to be frank, I was wearing sports bras, sweaters, and yoga pants.  Every day).  But now I'm back to blogging every Wednesday and Sunday.  So get excited!

Today (tomorrow), it is mine and Matt's third month.  Yes, we are that corny.  So we went out to Le Pain Quotidien.  It used to be one of my favorite bread shops, back when I could eat bread.  Now they have spelt bread, which does not give me any problems, so I gladly eat that.  I got a little dolled up for the brunch, but first I'll talk about what I ate.

Of course, I start off with coffee. Nail polish (urban outfitters).

LOOK AT HOW FANCY THIS IS.

Three mustards on the side with a gruyere, ham, and spelt tartine.

I haven't eaten a sandwich in a while, so this was a very fine choice.  Spelt is super close to actual wheat, without the after-taste.  I had non-gluten-free toast once and it had this terrible after-taste that I could not stand.

Now about fashion!  Matt usually wears his Acacia hoodie with jeans, so I suggested he branch out a bit.  So he got two sweaters yesterday and I died from how handsome he is.

He got a haircut and he's wearing a sweater.  It's crazy and he's so cute.

Like I said, I decided to get dolled up.  Because we were going on a date, so I straightened my hair, did some makeup and wore a skirt.  I like that the skirt went with the greenery in the sandwich.  Kind of.  I clearly like my winter wear dark like my coffee.

No idea what I'm doing.  Skirt (urban outfitters), sweater (gap, thrifted), necklace (urban outfitters), hat (handmade), boots (Minnetonka)

That was my first brunch in the city during break.  Good luck to everyone still taking finals and whatnot.

Keep it yummy,
Jo