Remember way back in May, when I posted these two posts?
A Day in the Life of a Celiac – What It’s Like Living With Me
A Day in the Life of a Celiac – May 24-28
You don’t? That’s ok – I don’t think I remember typing them either. Go ahead and read them. I’ll wait.
You back? Cool. Thanks.
The regular followers of this blog will know that after those posts went live, the site went down. And then came back up. And then I went off the grid.
Fast forward to Aug 27, and posts started appearing, on a site with a totally different design. Wondering where I’ve been?Well, the end of May was an interesting time for me. I was finishing a not-so-easy semester of grad school, and transitioning my site to a different host provider. I had every intention of finishing out the month of May and posting every day (harder than that sounds) for Celiac Awareness Month.
The month of June and July saw me waist deep in wedding planning. For most of the months leading up to the date, we decided for do the planning ourselves. I’m a project manager by day, so it only seemed logical that I manage the planning of the biggest project of my life…er…my wedding.
The wedding went off without a problem, just like all weddings should. And speaking of problems, the ugly problems that come along with Celiac Disease didn’t appear. That’s right, I survived eating at a venue that didn’t have a dedicated kitchen, or separate equipment. How did I do it? Lots and lots of education and communication, having a chef that knew about Celiac Disease and the dietary needs associated with it, and picking items that are naturally gluten-free for the buffet menu. Since we had other guests with wheat intolerances and other dietary restrictions, the venue noted each item on the menu accordingly.
Granted, not everything was gluten-free, but the kitchen staff took the necessary precautions – making the gluten-free food first, using just-cleaned equipment and surfaces, thoroughly washing their hands after touching gluten-filled foods, etc. – to ensure that I could eat safely. I even had a gluten-free cake from Aunti Gluten’s. I must say, not only did I eat well that day, but it was also very, very good.
All of the planning and preparation definitely paid off – we had an amazing wedding with family and friends, lawn games, a candy bar, and enough video cameras to ensure every moment was captured. Like five cameras enough. Seriously. Why? Well, our wedding was filmed for an episode of the TLC TV show Four Weddings. That’s right, you can see what our wedding looks like – and what I sound like. We’re not sure the exact date when the episode will air, but I’ll definitely let y’all know when we find out. I’m sure the food will be featured.
So, obviously, we went on our honeymoon after the wedding. Let me tell you – all inclusive resorts really want to take care of you. Seriously. I talked to them before I left, and they took care of me for all of the meals. And by take care of me, I mean meeting with the Director of Culinary and Executive Chef of the resort when I arrived, waiters saying that they have been expecting me, chefs coming to the table to discuss my needs and menu, and sometimes even saying “I’ve prepared something special for you.” Seriously. It was definitely a great experience.
After the honeymoon, we went to Disneyland, hung out with friends and family, and I started working on redesigning the site, which brings us up to today. I’m quite excited to be back, and have a renewed vigor for the site. I must say, posting every day for Celiac Awareness Month really burned me out, but now that I’m rested and relaxed, I’ll be posting again on a more regular basis.
Stay tuned – great stuff coming soon!
Really cool! Congrats!