Here we go!

The trip is just a day away now and we are so looking forward to it.  I may even go a little crazy and eat something that's not Gluten Free...but I'll only do it once, so I'm going to make it good.  It's almost been a year since I was diagnosed, and since then I have never (knowingly) eaten anything that was not GF and my life is, I would say, 10 times better because of it.  

I don't want to go off on a tangent, because I was talking about the trip, but I do think people generally have the question, "How could your life possibly be 10 times better just because you went off wheat?!".  I really do get asked that a lot.  And the answer is two-fold.  First of all, my tummy thanks me.  I went probably 2 to 3 years undiagnosed, and I had serious stomach issues.  So that speaks for itself.   And second of all, like as soon as I went off wheat, probably within a week- I started to feel WAY more energetic.  I was getting NOTHING done when I was eating gluten.  Celiac kinda sucks, but I won't go back to wheat (nor the long list of other things I can't eat).

On the same topic, I was thinking of starting maybe a list of places (restaurants) in my area where I've eaten and not gotten a bad reaction.  But would that make this more of a Celiac blog than a Bead blog?  I guess I can call it whatever I want to call it.  It's my blog and I can write about whatever I want.   And it's up to you whether you want to read it.  (Suddenly, they all rushed for the door...)

So with that said, the first place I would like to recommend is a place that my husband and I go to ALL the time, and we've gone there for years.  I know a lot of things on the menu are safe, but to be honest, I've never tried the thing they're probably famous for.  It's House of Falafel on Stevens Creek (Cupertino-there's one on Lawrence as well).  I've had the Kebabs and the rice and the hummus-all SUPER delicious, but I've never tried a falafel...I don't know if they use actual flour in them, or just chickpeas.  Obviously, you have to use your Celiac discretion there; for instance, you couldn't have a wrap.  Stick with the Kebabs and I would say you're safe.  And if you're going with your non-GF friend, have them order the DELICIOUS baklava, which I tasted before I was diagnosed, and I miss very much.  Also, I've never had the Shawerma, but I would vouch for that, too.  It looks okay...but once again, use your judgment.

Now that I've broken through the wall, you can look forward to more GF restaurant recos as the blog trudges forward.  We tend to eat out a lot.  That's not to say I don't cook!  I cook like every night!  But a girl likes to go out!  (and so does her husband)

So look forward (on Friday-or Saturday morning) to a new post on our first day in Hawaii, hopefully with some pictures.  And of course, in the days following that, there will be updated posts on a (anticipated) daily basis.  

Well now I've written more than I intended to write.  :)  Bonus!  TTFN!

Just Beady

Welcome to my new blog! My first blog, which follows the trip my husband and I took to India and London was a joy to write and I decided to start a new one. The name of this blog, "Just Beady", comes from the name my husband calls me when he sees me intensely working on a beading project when he comes home every evening (he's always saying, "Hey, Beady!"). Above is a Picasa collage of my first few rings. I think they're all really well-made and I'm very proud of all of them. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the black and orange one. I will definitely be making more of those. There is one similar in blue, green and gold.

On Wednesday nights, I take a glass bead making class which is pretty intense. I thought it was going to be a really fun, creative process, but there are a lot of technical aspects that you have to remember, and it's often difficult to focus on creativity. To be honest, my teacher tends to pay a lot of attention to what I'm doing and it sort of gives me more than a teence of performance anxiety...I find myself making obvious (BIG) mistakes and forgetting the simplest things. And my hands are forever shaking...not a good thing when you're holding molten glass in both hands! I consider myself to be a pretty confident person, but she really kind of has an effect on me. I actually have to remind myself to take a breath when I'm working on a project...time sort of stops and I'm just sort of somewhere else. I should take a picture of some of my first beads. They're really pretty awful as far as form and decoration go, but hey, at least they're not totally lopsided and they didn't crack in the annealing process! I'll work on those pics. I lost one of the beads in the car...it was my favorite. :(

Anyway. I have a dead link on this page linking to an etsy shop that I have yet to create. I plan on selling my beaded creations on etsy very soon, but have yet to create my etsy shop. I'm a little too busy this weekend to do it, so hopefully around the beginning of the week I'll get that handled. However, if you would like to see (and maybe even BUY) the GORGEOUS and, can I just say extremely creative vessels and beads made by my teacher, you can go to her site or her etsy shop.

I will post some new pictures soon. I have a new bracelet that's really pretty and I'm working on a new ring. TTFN!