Saturday, June 15, 2013

Cacao. Good or bad?

j

 

I recently purchased a bag of Cacao powder from Whole Foods. After doing some research I've read mixed opinions/facts on the bean. I've read that it is a superfood packed with a lot of nutrients and helps boost your mood and is a great natural alternative to cocoa powder and chocolate (which is why I bought it in the first place). However, I've also read that it contains more toxins than nutrients therefore it's not good for you and it's highly addictive resulting in a list of possible negative effects on the body. I've eaten a bit of it over the past couple of days and I did notice  that it has the same effect coffee has on my body...causing me to become anxious, which is probably why I will not consume much more of it. Right now I am just going to listen to my body but I'm really interested in finding out what you all have read and studied about cacao. What has been your experience with cacao?

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Part 2: Chicago Trip 2013

Three weeks ago John and I along with Molly and Ryan (our friends from Tampa) flew to Chicago for 4 a night vacation! We planned the trip very well (we purchased the Chicago Go Card) and had the opportunity to see everything that we had hoped to see.

2013-05-15 17.00.13

The night we got in was Molly and Ryan's 2 year anniversary so Ryan planned a romantic dinner for them at the Signature Room (the top of The John Hancock building). While Molly and Ryan were at the very top of the building John and I were literally at the very bottom of the building enjoying dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and soaking up the city life :)

trhfdg

Day #2

Was a lot of fun! We started off with The architecture boat tour which was really neat to see the city from the river and get schooled on the history of the Chi town. Afterwards, we hit up a local restaurant at the Pier for lunch and then hopped on the Ferris Wheel for a little ride then headed towards the John Hancock building for an amazing view on the 95th floor. It was beautiful! We also went to the Chicago History museum and that night went to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs game. However, you did not hear this STL Cardinals fan cheering on the Cubbies!

2013-05-14 11.41.23 2013-05-14 10.46.58 2013-05-14 12.22.47

T YRTHERTE

 

Y5

adfhzcx EVDSCA

 

reg

2013-05-14 19.39.34-2 2013-05-14 21.10.52

Day #3

The following day we started off with MOSI. It was a really good museum however there were school children running around EVERYWHERE and we had a hard time enjoying all that the museum had to offer and the same for the Space Museum as well..SO many children! For lunch we decided on Chicago Pizza at Lou Malnati’s. I had been looking forward to good pizza for much longer than just a couple of days. This midwest girl knows good pizza and I knew Chicago would not let me down. The pizza was soooo good, John and I ended up coming back the last night we were in Chicago. Apparently, you can have the pizza shipped to your house! Hmmm....I might see this happening in the future :) After pizza, we went on a bike ride around Chicago and Lake Michigan. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was a lot of fun exploring and we got to make a lot of stops along the way.

EVF

 

fdgvcx gadsf htegrfvdaz nfgbdv rdfg

Molly and I were told by both of our friends to go to Garrett Popcorn and try the Chicago Mix (half cheese, half caramel). So that's what we did! It was so good!

ERG REGQ

We then headed to the SkyDeck at Wills Tower (aka Sears Tower) and took a lot of pictures standing over the city. Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous standing over 103 stories of nothing :)

rgf RVE RVFEDS

To wrap up the night we went out for dinner at his pretty hip restaurant near our hotel, I remember when we were eating dinner feeling so stuffed, turns out Molly and I both woke up in the middle of the night sick...our conclusion: we ate too much junk in one day! Guess that's a good sign of our daily diet though :)

The last day in Chicago we went to a lot of Museums: Field Museum, The Planetarium, and the Chicago Aquarium. We all were pretty tired but Molly and I were up for one more thing, a pedicure. The lady at the Spa recommended a place nearby our hotel and we were off! The boys definitely didn't believe we could make it there without getting lost and once we arrived to our destination safely we got a confidence boost that we could totally survive in a big city. It was a great way to wrap up our trip.

dsg erhgs fdahgvxcz FEW RGWEFD

 

One of my favorite things about Chicago was the transportation. Since we didn't have a car we literally took the bus and the subway everywhere. It was so much fun since I had never truly experienced anything like that. It was also cool to witness how many people could squeeze into those areas at once, at times I felt like we were a bunch of sardines crammed into a can. It was an experience!

4TGRE FGBR YHRT

 

 

Here are some more fun pictures from our trip!

5hergwfd 54yrgefdsc dafh ergds ERGRE gdf RE rfz yshbfdvz 2013-05-13 14.31.01 2013-05-14 13.46.47 2013-05-15 16.55.00 2013-05-15 16.56.22 2013-05-15 22.27.48 2013-05-16 11.01.24 2013-05-16 12.35.33 2013-05-16 12.36.18 2013-05-16 13.19.34 2013-05-16 16.10.05 2013-05-16 19.51.05 2013-05-16 19.51.35