Tag: culture

Love. Laugh. Eat. Repeat. 

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Everyone who knows me best, knows I have flare for the dramatic! So at end of the year, I can hear the cast from RENT singing those legendary words “how do you measure a year?” Undeniably this has been a tough year in a LOT of ways. Equally, in an attempt to offset some hard ships it has been a year of incredible experiences. Funny how life works that way …

All over facebook, Instagram, or your social media preference of choice people try to sum up the year in only 9 pictures. Think about it… how many pictures are currently in your camera roll? Mine has 723 pictures from this year alone (ok I’ll subtract out a few random selfies). The thought of my year summarized in ONLY 9 pictures was giving me anxiety and for good reason.

When I looked back on 2017, there were a few common threads that have over shadowed the weight of the world around me. Love, Laughter, & Food. I think you would have to agree, that the best times in your life this year revolved around these 3 things. So to close the door on 2017 and only carry the things that have brought me joy into 2018 … Ladies & Gentleman my top 9 -ish.

LOVE…

  • My grandmother is 96 and still wears red lipstick
  • My hubby is the strongest most sincere man I know
  • My mom is my rock! I’m talking Gibraltar
  • My Sisi is ride or die — She’s basically my Solange

LAUGH…

As my Grandma Cox would say “my God we we’ve had some good times.”

2017 ran the spectrum from D.C. to Thailand, Janet Jackson to Bruno Mars, Ghost Tours to Arcades. I can honestly say I have shared some incredible laughs this year.

We were laughing so hysterically at the Brazilian steak house the table next to us gave the waiter $$ to but towards our meal because “we just looked like we were having a great time.”

Bar crawls to the blues, 2017 has taught me that a flexibility will always guarantee a great time.

“I’m here for a good time, not long time” – DRAKE

EAT…

This will come as no surprise that the most interesting food I’ve eaten this year was in Thailand. I no longer feel like a complete alien in my local Asian market. Who know that you were suppose to leave the roots on the cilantro to use in your soup stock. While I’m at it, how come no one told me cilantro & coriander were the SAME THING!

And just as I expected Sushi is so must more amazing in SE Asia (duh) and Thai hot and regular hot are not the same thing!

So thank you Thailand you take the top 9 most delicious things I’ve eaten this year.

REPEAT ….

SEASONS OF LOVE

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets

In midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles

In laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life

How about love?

How about love?

How about love?

Measure in love

Seasons of love

Seasons of love

Cheers,

Southern Fried City Girl

A Southern Girl in Thailand

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I was invited to join a friend for her 40th Birthday Girls trip to Thailand. It didn’t take me long to say yes. In fact, within a week I had already secured support staff (my hubby & mom) to hold down the fort for 12 days.

4 months seemed to creep by I was so excited I had nothing else to do with my energy but google. Yes, Google (verb). I googled everything from the weather in the region to our choices for day trips. Although I had nothing to plan, the planner in me was still planning. I guess in my mind all those years my mama told me that God blesses a prepared heart, she was actually talking about this moment. Not career choices or late night partying back in college. Nope, she was talking about traveling halfway around the world and leaving your family behind (picture her saying it as you read this). So I knew the one thing I had to do was return safely. If I had come back to the states with anything as petty as a cold. I would never live it down.

So imagine my anxiety when I realized we were going to sea canoe in Phang Nga Bay! Not just a boat tour but canoeing into the limestone caves or “Hong” in Thai.
Don’t forget to face your fears…

 

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And of course, I can’t forget the food. All fresh and prepared onboard our boat for the day. Locally caught and sourced… The was basically canoe, eat, repeat for about 6 hours.IMG_E3950IMG_3953IMG_E3954IMG_3955IMG_3958

Fear will stop you from having amazing experiences and seeing things you would have never seen. It’s important to know while growth sounds exciting it is and will be uncomfortable. But from my experience, its always been worth it. IMG_9229

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D.C. and Around the World in a Weekend: Days the start with ‘S’

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SATURDAY

So here we are on Saturday and after sleeping in we caught the last few hours of the Passport DC.  

The short version is that you can basically travel to different countries without ever leaving the U.S. Countries display and highlight the most unique aspects for their culture including food, music, dance, art, you name it. Some super poplar countries had lines that wrapped around several blocks. You know I do not have that type of patience, so we sought countries where we could just walk right in.

First stop, Indonessia. It will be a very long time before I actually get my passport stamp, so this was certainly a great commercial for what’s to come.

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Our next stop and probably my favorite was Botswana. The people were amazing and they took time to talk with us about their country. I love the pride, smiles, and genuine feeling of love.

But what didn’t go over well was the worm snack … Let’s just say dried worms didn’t go over to well.

Nothing wraps up the day like dinner at Cafe’ Dupont. While ridiculously priced, its a great place to people watch or meet your group in the Dupont Circle area. The salmon tartare really was amazing! Perfectly diced, chilled, and flavorful. Which is a trifecta that is not easily accomplished. The jicama not only served as a garnish but a nice crunch and change of texture. Delightfully light after a long day.

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Sunday

To wrap up an amazing weekend we traveled out to Potomac for the 2017 D.C. Holi Festival. A festival all that celebrates love with colors, music, and food. It was an amazing experience. A month later, I’m still trying to get color out sneakers, but so worth it.

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