Photo catch up

From left to right, and top to bottom:

• Birthday dinner at Roast Restaurant Detroit, owned by Michael Simon of the Food Network.
• Gluten-free Namaste Blondies for my birthday cake.
• Filet Mignon at Roast Detroit was probably the best steak I've had while eating out. It was close to my dad's grilled steak, but still not as good.
• A sweet balloon birthday surprise from my lovely fiance!

I sheepishly admit I've been away from the blog for far too long, and I can only blame so much of it on grad school and organic chemistry. While I will never recommend to anyone to take organic chemistry, lab, and other chemistry in a 7.5 week summer semester, I will admit I probably became more consumed with all of it out of sheer panic and I really shouldn't have. Lesson to self: Find Balance. Work hard, but don't forget to breathe. And certainly don't forget to keep doing the things you enjoy most, i.e. blogging, cooking, adventuring, and EATING.

Nevertheless, I am finally back and have a great many things lined up for posting that I'm so excited to share with everyone out there. I luckily ended up documenting my last couple months away through Instagram, so first things first I'll be catching up through these photos with small captions. I've really missed being away. It's more than great to be writing again.

Here are the TOP TEN things that happened during the break:

1. Finished my first semester of grad school. (also see #10 for details).
2. I turned 26! Now that's scary...
3. Passed three chemistry courses in a summer semester, and my fiance graduated with a Graduate Certificate in Finance. Way to go lovebird!
4. Took a road trip to Philly with my fiance to visit my soon to be in-laws.
5. Traveled to northern Michigan to visit my family for Independence Day. It was amazing to see everyone!
6. Had another article published in Delight Gluten-Free Magazine's July/August issue on Ann Arbor, Michigan Gluten-free eats! On store shelves now, or available at delightglutenfree.com
7. Ate out successfully so many times that I can't even recall how many exactly.
8. Found a great 100% gluten-free shop and cafe in the outer part of Pittsburgh that was out of this world!! I'll be doing a separate post on this coming up soon -- Gluten-Free Zone!!
9. Finally got my passport. Now I can go anywhere!
10. Made the Dean's List!

From left to right, and top to bottom:

• Homemade Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread
• Gluten-free Paella at Sava's Ann Arbor
• Gluten-free Pizza from Silvio's Organic Pizza in Ann Arbor. Check out my feature of them in Delight Gluten-free Magazine's July/August issue!
• Oysters at Roast Restaurant Detroit, owned by Michael Simon of the Food Network.
• Italian herb baked Salmon with fresh chopped green onions from our garden. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice. Yum.