Guest Post: You Know You're From the Caribbean When...

Hey everyone, we are on our Lake Michigan Circle Tour, but I have a real treat for you. I love sweet Kay from The Kay Times, and I am so excited she is guest posting for me today! Take it away, lady!

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Hi guys I'm Kay and I blog over at The Kay Times. I'm stoked that Olya let me take over her blog today.

One of the things I love about Olya is her cultural background, being born in Siberia and living in the U.S. I love hearing about the unique things from different cultures. I myself am not from the U.S. (in case that wasn't fairly obvious) and there are many eccentric (and frankly comically weird) things about people who grew up in the Caribbean. You can spot us a mile away I tell ya!
 

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... You think anything Under 30 degrees Celsius (70's F) is freezing!

... 36 - 40 degrees (90's to 100) is legit unbearable and RARELY ever happens (if ever).

... You work with people you went to school with ... Or who knows someone you went to school with

... You wash 'wares', you don't 'do the dishes'.

... You put ketchup on your pizza ... and pepper sauce (this may just be Trinidad ha!)

... You eat everything with 'pepper' (hot sauce)

... And you know someone who 'makes pepper'

... Sunday lunch is an occasion

... You know that a 'sweet drink' is 'soda' and 'coke' is coca cola or Pepsi 

... You say 'old years night' instead of 'New Years eve' 

... Growing up it was drilled in you that a good education is the best thing you can have and you probably know this rhyme: 'learn little children before you are old; for a good education is better than gold; for gold and silver may fade away; but a good education will never decay'

... As a kid, you knew better than to talk back to your parents because Caribbean parents don't play.

... You know that just because the sun is up in the morning, it doesn't mean that it won't be a rainy day by noon.

... You went to Secondary School, not High School and each class was called a Form and not a Grade (unless you went to an International School in which case - disregard).

... No one ever leaves your house thirsty, hungry or empty handed. Food for all.

... Rich, poor, middle class or in between - you greet people politely when you enter a room

... You know what "chicken and chips" means ... A "far" place might mean an hour's drive

... You don't consider going to the 'beach' a vacation. It's called the weekend. If you're taking a vacation you're leaving the country.

We're a weird and cool bunch I tell you!

Thanks again to Olya for letting me take over her page while she's on vacay!

Friday Favorites: College Football Edition

Happy Friday, friends! I am so ready for this long weekend and next week with my love. Here are my Friday favorites for this week:

/ / One:
Chris started his vacation on Wednesday! It’s so wonderful to have him home. After months of barely seeing each other, something as simple as getting to make dinner together is so fun. We are leaving on our trip on Tuesday! I can't wait to see a new part of the country with my man.

/ / Two:
Baylor football kicks off today! I am so excited to see the Baylor Bears on the field again. The start of college football really makes it feel like fall is here. Last year I wrote a post about why college football season is my favorite time of the year, and I still love it just as much.

/ / Three:
Since we can’t make it to a Baylor game this year, we decided to drive to Evanston tomorrow for Northwestern vs. Stanford. It will be fun to watch a game without caring about the outcome.

/ / Four:
I have been reading so much lately, and I can’t wait to share some of my favorite reads with y’all when we get back from our trip. I am currently reading The Weight of Feathers (c/o NetGalley), and so far it’s a great read about two families full of traveling performers trapped in a dangerous feud.

/ / Five:
I wanted to thank the High Five for Friday girls for making me their featured blogger this week! I love linking up with High Five for Friday each week and finding new blogs to read, so I was really excited to be picked as a featured blogger. Thanks, ladies!

Linking up with Amanda, Karli, and the High Five for Friday girls.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! 

Life Update: Three Months in Chicago

Where did the summer go? I feel like we were just moving in, and now we’ve hit the three-month mark of our year in Chicago. I can’t believe our Chicago summer is over, but we have so many fun things to look forward to in the fall.

In August, all the walking we have done finally took a toll on me. We walked 10 miles the day of the Chicago Air and Water Show, and I ended up with blisters the size of my heels on both of my feet. I bought a pair of walking shoes as soon as I could. I had to walk around on my tip-toes for days, which Chris thought was entertaining. Also, being the sweet doctor he is, he told me if I got blisters that big and they got infected, I would have to get my feet amputated. Sometimes it's just better not to know.

Speaking of the Chicago Air and Water Show, I liked it so much more than I expected. I honestly went because it was something Chris really wanted to see, but it was so neat! The acrobatic flying skills were fun, and it was so crazy to watch the planes weave in and out of the skyscrapers.

Our goal is to eat our way through Chicago, and this month was no different. I was craving taramosalata, so we tried Santorini, a Greek seafood restaurant. I had the Shrimp Santorini, which was shrimp covered in cheese. I don’t know how I’ve never had shrimp with cheese before, but I will definitely be eating it again. We also got orange sorbet, which came inside an orange. I usually hate orange sorbet, but this one tasted amazing and is worth a return trip on its own.

I’ve already talked about how much I loved Eleven City Diner, but it’s worth another mention. We have several guests coming this month, and this will be one of the places I want to take them. I have been thinking about that barbecue brisket melt since I had it.

I know this isn’t news for those of you living in big cities, but we are loving all the delivery options here. Since I never know when Chris is going to get home, we do our fair share of ordering out. We have been really craving Chick-fil-A, but there aren’t any close to us, and since there are no drive-throughs here, we would have to pay to park somewhere if we drove. We recently learned that Chick-fil-A delivers to our area, so we had it last week. We also tried Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (delicious) and plenty of rolls from our favorite sushi place.

I’ve been trying to make as many friends as I can during our year here. In August, I organized a fantasy football league in our building, which was a fun way to meet fellow football lovers. We met in the lounge for the draft, so we could get to know each other.

It has been a fun summer in Chicago, but I am excited for what fall will bring.

California Road Trip: Private Tour at the San Diego Zoo

When Chris was in Kindergarten, he had to pull two pins at school for saying the word “pitchfork.” A kid in his class thought he said another not-so-nice word that rhymes with pitch and told the teacher. Poor Chris didn’t know any bad words, so he was confused by his punishment. His parents didn’t believe him, though, so he had to wait in the car with one of his parents while his younger brother got to go to “Boo at the Zoo” without him.

The story of this injustice is told often in Chris’s family, so when we visited the San Diego Zoo as part of his medical school graduation present, Chris’s parents decided to “make it up to him” by taking us on a private tour of the San Diego Zoo called the “Inside Look Surprise Tour.” I never considered doing a private tour at the zoo and honestly didn’t know it was something people did, but it ended up being one of my favorite parts of our time in San Diego.

Our tour guide took us around the zoo in a golf cart for about two hours, telling us interesting facts about the animals on exhibit. We found out there are currently 4,000 animals at the zoo, not counting reptiles.

We also got to skip the line for the panda exhibit and get some close up photos of the pandas. It was interesting to learn that panda means “one that eats bamboo,” and that they were named giant pandas because red pandas were discovered first. We also learned that the pandas are on loan to the zoo by the Chinese government. It’s one of the few ways we deal directly with the government. Each panda costs $250,000 a year.

My favorite part of our private tour was feeding the animals. Usually, there are two feedings on this tour, but our guide arranged for us to have three. First, we fed a camel. Camels have really dry mouths, so it felt really strange to have it eating out of my hand.

Then, we fed an okapi. I had never heard of okapis before, but they are interesting animals that look like a mixture between a zebra and a giraffe. The guide told us that the adult okapi's butt looks like zebra stripes to make it easier for its young to follow it through the forest. The okapi we fed was young, and it loved running around in circles around the tree.

The neatest part of the tour was getting to feed a giraffe. It was crazy to hold out a piece of lettuce and have its long tongue swoop down to grab it from me.

The San Diego Inside Look Tour was the most fun I’ve ever had at a zoo, and I would love to do it again in the future with kids.

 Catch up on our California Road Trip: 

Quick Thoughts

Seven-Day Itinerary From San Diego to San Francisco

Exploring Old Town San Diego 

San Diego Old Town Trolley Tour 

La Jolla Cove 

San Diego Zoo Tips 

Friday Favorites: I See You, September

Happy Friday, friends! I had several fun projects this week, so it really flew by for me. I’m a bit bummed because Chris was supposed to have this whole weekend off, but the hospital called and told him he has to work tomorrow. I can’t be too sad though because he’s about to start his vacation!

/ / One:
Chris starts his two-week vacation on Wednesday! We are both so excited to spend time together. I have been planning some fun things to do in Chicago before our trip, but I think Chris wouldn’t mind a few lazy days thrown in the mix.

/ / Two:
I am so in love with the sunsets from our balcony. I may or may not take a photo of a sunset every week. Here is a recent shot I took #nofilter.

/ / Three:
Have I mentioned how excited I am for September? I get two weeks with Chris, then the in-laws come into town, followed by a few days with a close friend. My heart is full.

/ / Four:
I grabbed as many Loft riviera shorts as I could during Loft’s end of summer sale. They are so soft and comfortable. Of course, I was a total dummy and didn’t realize most of the shorts I bought were the 6” inseam and the ones I owned before were the 4” inseam. Good thing I got them for practically nothing because I can’t take them back!

/ / Five:
Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blogiversary post. My survey is still open, and I would love y’all to take it if you haven’t already. It’s a huge help in deciding the future of my blog. Also, there is still time to enter the giveaway!

Click here to take the reader survey

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Linking up with Amanda, Karli, and the High Five for Friday girls.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!