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2014 in review

JANUARY - Rang in 2014 in my beloved Ireland. It feels like home, in a way...in a different way than Hawaii and Paris feel like home, but still makes me feel incredibly loved. 

MARCH - began to go to therapy on a regular basis. Best decision ever. Still working on the mediation and yoga for mental clarity and peace. 

JULY - two weeks in Michigan for a Midwest summer and to reset my batteries. 

AUGUST - birthday dinner at Root & Bone. I loved it. 

OCTOBER - 10 days in Amsterdam, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Dublin. Yes, you read that right. I went back to Dublin.

DECEMBER - holiday time back in Hawaii. 

I traveled a lot less...it was definitely weird but I kinda needed a little time staying put instead of running away all the time - something I discovered during therapy. I'm looking forward to traveling more in 2015. I'm spending NYE in Honolulu. Paris in March. Atlanta in April. London, Scotland, Dublin (yes, I know), and Paris (again) in July. Midwest summer in July. Birthday trip somewhere in August. Autumn trip somewhere. 

I'm excited for 2015. 

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Oops. I’ve neglected this for awhile. A lot has happened since I last updated. FEBRUARY - I went to Nashville, TN for a long weekend. I ate hot fried chix, meat + 3, and a lot of sweets. My dinner at The Catbird Seat is one of the best meals I ate in 2013. I fell in love with the kindness of the locals and the honky tonks and the Southern men. Nashville was never really on the top of my list of places to visit, but I can’t wait to go back. Back home, I rekindled and mended a broken friendship after four long years. MAY - I spent two glorious weeks exploring Ireland with a bunch of Australians. I don’t think I need to say much more than that :) JULY - I visited my parents and my home state for a long visit. I love Midwest summers. They’re unlike anything else. Sweet corn, tart cherries, blueberries, encased meats, and a lot of bbqs.  AUGUST - Birthday lunch at Pok Pok Phat Thai and dinner at Eleven Madison Park. Spent my birthday weekend solo in Toronto and treated myself to meals at Momofuku Daisho AND Noodle Bar. Spent a day in lower Manhattan and Bklyn with a good friend trying out various ice creams (my favorites: frozen s’more at Dominique Ansel Bakery and everything at Ample Hills Creamery). Labor Day weekend in Portland. We ate way too much. So many food trucks (fave was Nong’s Khao Man Gai), all the Andy Ricker restos, Salt & Straw, Tasty & Sons, Lardo, Ruby Jewel, Pine State Biscuits, Blue Star Donuts, Voodoo Doughnut (overrated), HA&VL, etc. SEPTEMBER - Los Angeles to visit relatives. So much lechon and chicharron were eaten and I made my usual stops at Porto’s and In-N-Out Burger. Road-tripped to Washington, D.C. and daydreamed about Madrid as I dined solo at the bar at Jose Andres’ Jaleo. Walked around 6 miles exploring DC. Three dinners in one night: Good Stuff Eatery, We The Pizza, and Graffiato. Lunch in Falls Church, VA - we happily stuffed our faces with Vietnamese food (my favorite cuisine). We were too tired and ate at Cracker Barrel for dinner (please don’t judge me!) OCTOBER - a long solo weekend in my favorite place on earth (Hawaii) to solely to get away and think and relax. I walked all over Honolulu and indulged in my favorite Hawaiian foods. I made a quick trip to Seattle to eat and reunited with long-lost friends (and met new ones). I had a blast in both places and ate (and drank) very, very well.

UPCOMING: DECEMBER - holidays with the family in the Midwest. I dislike NYE but will be ringing in 2014 in Dublin :)

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Sunday Funday in Bklyn.

Passionfruit doughnuts at Dough (at the Brooklyn Flea)

Sweets and coffee at One Girl Cookies

Margherita at Juliana's Pizza. 

It was a good day :) 

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Dreaming of Hawaii.

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I love éclairs. L'Éclair de Génie // Paris, France

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I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago during one of the winter storms.

Paris, je t’aime.

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‘Just One Day’ by Gayle Forman. It’s a YA novel about a teenage girl who has a brief, chance encounter with a boy from Holland. When they meet up by chance for the second time, she knows she has to act on it. I can relate… :)

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Exploring the Broadway Market in Hackney (east London). I got a sausage roll at Andy the Pie Man’s stall. He’s a gem and so is his food.

I am known for being completely directionally challenged even when I have a map in hand. So of course I got lost when I left and couldn’t find my way back to the market where I knew what bus to take back to central London. Nobody was really around (it was a residential neighborhood) except these 2 hooligan-esque teenagers throwing snowballs at each other, so I sucked it up and asked them for help. They were really nice and wondered what an American was doing alone, lost in Hackney :)

Broadway Market, London

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I was craving green juice and I was happy to find some at Total Organics at Borough Market. I negated it by taking T to Brindisa to get a chorizo sandwich. My sister told me that cute guys work at Brindisa…so T and I were disappointed when we didn’t see any! The bundled-up jamon guys cajoled us girls to come over and gave us free samples - how could I say no to jamon and their sweet smiles?! Despite the early morning and the cold weather, the four of us shared a few laughs for a couple of minutes as we ate the delicious jamon.

Total Organics // Brindisa // Borough Market, London

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After meeting up with T at the crack of dawn (well, 8:45 am) for doughnuts at St John Bakery, we walked over to Borough Market. It’s usually ridiculously crowded but because of the cold weather, the market was pretty dead. Which means…no line at Kappacasein! I got the raclette, of course. Melted Ogleshield cheese, new potatoes, gherkins/cornichons, and pickled onions. It really doesn’t get better than this, you guys. 

Kappacasein // Borough Market, London

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I met up with a new friend named J for a few hours in Soho. We got along really well so I dragged J here afterwards. I think J was a little startled by how delighted and giddy I was to get some Paul A Young chocolates. The flavors were so whimsical and unique. Fun fact - they just started selling chocolates made by my favorite Mast Brothers. 

Paul A Young Chocolates // http://www.paulayoung.co.uk

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I’d totally go back to London just to eat these doughnuts. 

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M & I took the overnight flight to London and we were running on adrenaline for that first day. We met up with K for lunch at Nando’s in Covent Garden. So how do we know K?

Ready?

Several years ago, M and I were at our favorite pub in NYC with our friends A & E who were visiting from Australia. I’m pretty sure I was asking their advice about the Aussie guy I met the night before, when the girl next to us joined our convo with her two cents. That girl was K., a British girl traveling around the USA for 3 months on a sabbatical. The five of us girls (M, A, E, K, and I) got on really well, and next thing you know our group had grown to include 1 French/Spanish guy, 1 English/Swiss guy, and 1 Italian guy (the three were friends and on a holiday). The 8 of us hung out for the next 4 nights and had a blast!

A lot has happened since then and we’ve all grown up! I was so thrilled to see K and catch up. Her boyfriend stopped by later to say hello. I approve :)

Nando’s // Covent Garden, London