We are MOVING!

    So I have been quiet for at least a week, maybe longer. There is a really good reason for that: we are moving to Virginia Beach! We officially only have only 4 more sleeps in Danville. I cannot tell you how excited I am! Ok, well maybe I can, and I'm going to try to tell you all the reasons I am excited.

     Last week we ventured to our new town to explore and apartment hunt. We looked at A TON of apartments. We looked at some in Chesapeake first, and then at my urging we looked in the Virginia Beach area. Why did I want to live in Virginia Beach? Weeeellll.... the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are in Virginia Beach. The BEACH is in Virginia Beach. AND there is a farmer's market in VB that is open 6 days a week. At the Virginia Beach Farmer's Market, there is a grocer called Virginia Garden Organic Grocery and they are speaking my language. They carry only locally sourced organic produce and pastured/grassfed protein, INCLUDING protein from Polyface Farms. Jackpot. The grocery store website even says that they have lists of the ingredients used in the feed of the proteins they offer that we can read before we buy anything. How awesome! There are also a number of other farmer's markets throughout Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, so if I wanted, I could hop from market to market all day long on Saturdays to my heart's content. I AM SO DARN EXCITED!

      We don't normally eat a lot of meals out, but since we were traveling we did eat out a fair amount, and the Tidewater area doesn't disappoint. Two restaurants we liked so much that we went back twice to each one.

      One night we ventured down to a neighborhood called Ghent in the downtown Norfolk area. And then we went back again the very next night. The restaurant was a VERY cool "gastropub" called The Public House. They had me at DUCK FAT FRIES. (Yes, some paleo peeps eat white potatoes on occasion. #saveithaters) They also featured many items on their menu containing locally sourced ingredients, and they also had several items on their menu that featured Duroc humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic free pork. Yes, it's technically not pastured, but it is a good step up! In particular we had the Pork Belly Confit with butternut squash puree and sauteed broccoli. Delicious. It was supposed to come with a buttermilk biscuit, but we just asked them to leave it off, and they had no problem obliging. Of course when you eat out and you are paleo, you KNOW that nothing is guaranteed to be perfect, but it is nice to have good options! They also had awesome looking salads and burgers ( that we could order bunless). We will definitely go back.

    The second place that we went back to twice was a breakfast spot called the Egg Bistro in Chesapeake. It was a great breakfast place with lots of mostly-paleo-friendly items. A particular highlight was a side dish of grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon and topped with hollandaise. Again, I'm not saying this place was all organic with pastured eggs or anything, but they had better offerings than a chain that will go un-named that puts freaking pancake batter in their omelets. Feel what I'm touching? The place was super busy on the weekday mornings that we went, and rumored to be packed with a line out the door on weekends. We will definitely take our mom's when they come to visit!

     I also noticed that Virginia Beach is VERY gluten-free friendly. Many restaurants pride themselves on sourcing their ingredients locally and organically. We also tried a Mediterranean restaurant in Virginia Beach that had a LARGE gluten free menu and also boasted using organic olive oil for cooking. We ordered paleo (well, we did eat a bit of white rice, but that is the ONE grain that we will eat on occasion because it is less irritating than most), but the waitress did bring out some complementary jalapeno hummus for us to try. It was served with cucumbers rather than pita (probably because she noticed that we were ordering off the gluten free section) and I was a dummy and ate some because it was free, and she asked if everything was ok when she noticed we weren't eating it. That was a poor choice on my part. Ian however didn't touch it, and looked down his nose at me for eating it. You know how sometimes you say to yourself, "Hey, it's gluten free! How bad could it be?" Well, I learned my lesson. My tummy hurt later. Hello Katy, chickpeas are NOT paleo for a good reason. Lesson learned. I will go back and try it out again, while refraining from those damn chickpeas to see if I do better (which I suspect I will) and then I will review the restaurant more fully because I think it is a great paleo option... if you remember that you don't eat legumes for a reason. Again, lesson learned and a good reminder of what doesn't work for me.

     I am also currently researching Crossfit boxes in the area. I need to bite the bullet and just start. I'm not going to lie, I'm scared, but I NEED to be working out, and I agree with what Crossfit is doing for people. Most people start with Crossfit and then become paleo. Well, I'm doing it backwards, but I need to do something to start getting leaner. The wedding is a little over 6 months away, and I need to fit into the dress that I bought, and look fabulous for all those pictures. My arms need work. I hate having pictures made, and I need to develop some more confidence in that area. Hopefully doing crazy WODs will help with that, and as a bonus, I might make some paleo friends!

     Lastly, I took a peak on Paleo Physician's Network and found an ACTUAL MD that is within a reasonable driving distance. I'm excited about that possibility as well.

    I can't wait to get settled into our new digs, twenty minutes from the ocean, and I can't wait to explore more of the city. I also can't wait to get back to developing new recipes for you guys, learning more about photography and food styling, and blogging on a regular basis, but for now, I gotta finish packing and then unpacking. Have a great week and I'll see you back here on the other side!