We all scream for ice cream!

Mark Twain said,"The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."  It's true, summer in San Francisco is foggy, windy and cold, hitting the low 50's many days!  I grew up in Boston where summer is so hot and humid that the minute you step out of a refreshingly cold shower you are already dripping with sweat.  Moving to San Francisco makes me miss those days of east cost summers that envelope you, for better or for worse, in a blanket of steaming heat.  I just returned to Boston this week, where I have been hit with the blazing hot sun reflecting off the pavement and the abruptly beautiful thunderstorms.  I love it!  Today I ordered a mango smoothie for lunch, which I realize I never do in San Francisco because it is never hot enough (for me at least) to want a large cup of icy cold fruit puree.  And ice cream is so much more delicious when you don't have to put on a scarf and wool socks to enjoy it!  Lucky for people like me, who are on restricted diets, we can also enjoy wheat/sugar/dairy free ice cream nowadays!  So Delicious now has a line of "Ice cream Minis" vegan novelty items like ice cream sandwiches and ice cream popsicle bars!  Some flavors do contain beet sugar and wheat, so make sure you read the ingredient labels!  But none the less, today when I got home with my shirt soaked with sweat, I grabbed one of the chocolate almond bars and enjoyed every cold, delicious bite!

Home

I am the constant.  I am home.
I read this in a yoga magazine and it really hit "home" with me.  For much of my adulthood I have been searching for a home, a community, a place where I feel fully accepted for who I am. On this quest, I have begun to realize that the closer I get to truly loving and accepting myself, the closer I get to finding this sense of home. And amazingly, when I get in touch with my self worth, people who really value that seem to just come into my life. Last year when my relationship with my ex fell apart, I was feeling wrong, unlovable, and lost.  I had to find a new place to live (figuratively and literally). I was very stressed out about finding an apartment with good roommates, but in almost no time I landed in the most perfect place.

My roommates were strangers on Craigslist, but I instantly felt at home with them.  They are welcoming and friendly, they like to listen to show tunes and watch Glee, they're culturally open minded, and most importantly they love to eat and cook healthy food!  My roommates are not grossed out or annoyed by my wheat/sugar/dairy free diet, but rather impressed and intrigued by my cooking.  I even converted them all to rice tortillas and Coconut Bliss ice cream! And for my birthday, my roommate's girlfriend wanted to throw me a dinner party with all Jasmin-friendly food!  They brought gluten-free crackers, researched dishes like quinoa and black beans, checked the ingredients on cans of jalapenos, and made it seem like a pleasure to cook wheat/sugar/dairy free, not a nuisance. Best of all, since all the dishes were Jasmin-friendly, I actually felt included and part of the group, not separate like some w/s/d free side dish that nobody else wants to eat.  Before we dug in, I had to make a toast to everyone for making me feel so loved.  And to myself, for finally starting to truly love who I am- wheat/sugar/dairy free diet and and all!