Perfect Food Day

Today I had one of the most surprisingly perfect food days in a long time. I started out with breakfast of farm-fresh eggs my mom brought me from her neighbor in Oregon and local strawberries. For lunch, I attended high-tea at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle with six of my girlfriends to celebrate a friend's wedding (in lieu of a shower). When the friend that organized the event called the hotel asking if gluten-free was available she got a vague answer that they could substitute fruit-- so I pictured having nothing but tea and fruit for lunch, but I was going for the experience and the company. Little did I know that the Fairmont knows how to do gluten-free and do it well. In fact, for the first time I personally was more excited about the gluten-free option than the standard! The picture above is what the bottom two tiers of my lunch looked like (the top tier was a mixture of fruits which I already had eaten before I decided to take a picture).

Here is the breakdown:

tier one: mine: fruit, standard: scones with cream and jam
Tier two: mine: asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon, cucumber stuffed with something delicious (I'm not sure what it was) and cherry tomatoes stuffed with chicken salad. standard: tiny open faced sandwiches (not sure of flavors since I didn't eat that!)
Tier three: mine: the most delicious macaroon I have ever had in my life, a wonderful strawberry dipped in both white and dark chocolate, some kind of non-chocolate truffle (I only ate a bite) and a little white chocolate bowl filled with berries (and I discovered later) whipped cream-- I also only ate a bite of the last one, partly because i was full and also because I didn't want to push my luck with the dairy. I did okay with the couple bites of dairy I had-- what got me into trouble was the three or four cups of black tea since I normally never have more caffeine than a single mug of green tea. I was very shaky between the sugar and the caffeine when I left but it was a wonderful afternoon and well worth it.

This evening I went to a BBQ hosted by some of Marc's friends from school. I arrived starving and feared the worst, picturing a sea of chips and hotdogs. Instead, his friend who is an excellent cook, grilled salmon, herb rubbed steak, and corn on the cobb and another friend made a purple potato salad that was amazing (but which had ranch dressing in it which nearly always has dairy, so I tried to only eat a couple bites).

All of the food today I had was wonderful-- I enjoyed it completely and did not overeat-- all of it was accompanied by fantastic conversation. Every day should be as mindful and special as today.