"Hungry" by Crystal Renn

I just finished reading Hungry by Crystal Renn.
In it, Renn tells her story and campaigns for acceptance of all sizes. She recognizes that she's lucky to be the "chosen one" to blaze a path for plus girls in high fashion, and you can't help but like her, with her humor and honesty and the semi-academic citations that are sprinkled throughout the book. As she chronicles the development of her eating disorder and subsequent "turning point" and success, it's astonishing how clearly she can identify particular events as triggering her behavior. The tales of the model apartments are interesting (and pretty accurate) and add a little levity to serious subject matter. Once she reaches the point of her career as a "plus girl," she wanders off on tangents about the most random things, but all in all, it feels like you're reading a girl's letter to a friend, and that's not such a bad thing.
There are a ton of pictures in the middle of the book, and I liked that her bibliography provides interested parties with further reading material. While some of the descriptions of clothes get a little intense and some of the relationship stuff is kind of winded, it's an informative, funny, and heartfelt read. Definitely worth it!

New Moon Cafe- Aiken, SC

One of my favorite spots to stop in high school, New Moon has delicious coffees, baked goods, soups, and sandwiches. This visit proved to be just as good, if not better, as my memories.

The collection of art and bumper stickers on the wall, pastry cases filled with goodies, hip employees, and coffee shop next door where they do some of the roasting reminded me of Berkeley. The friendliness of the employees and the other customers gave it a distinctly southern twist.

 

Pure Bliss

Bring your dog and sit outside to eat, drink, and watch people walk around downtown.

116 Laurens Street NW, Aiken, SC

Folly Beach: Crab Shack

While visiting Charleston, we headed down to Folly Beach and stopped in at the Crab Shack for lunch. I know, this is totally unhealthy, but it’s so rich, you can split it and still not finish your portion.

Basically, this is an english muffin (which I just skipped) topped with a cornmeal crusted fried green tomato, a crab cake, pimento cheese, and bacon.

They have healthier fare, like steamed oysters, crab legs, and clams, or more traditional nosh like shrimp and grits, crab dip, shrimp Creole, and fried seafood.

South Carolina- Local Specialties

I did a quick trip to South Carolina (ok, like ten days, but it felt super fast!) and re-discovered some of my childhood favorites.
Boiled peanuts- salty, mushy goodness that you can get at some restaurants, but mainly at roadside stands, especially in the Lowcountry. I could eat these every day!

Weekend in Aiken, SC

Over the weekend, I stopped by Aiken and spent time with friends in my hometown en route to Charleston. Taking advantage of the delicious local produce of South Carolina, I enjoyed some homemade peach ice cream.
Delicious!

O-Gelato: Santa Fe

Anyone that knows me knows I'd rather eat gelato (OK- ice cream, milkshakes, Popsicles) than a meal. Today, I stopped by O-gelato in the De Vargas Mall in Santa Fe.

I got off to a bad start- as I was sampling a flavor, some girl cut in front of me in line with her party of four, and the kid working there quickly hopped over to them. So I left and went to the fab card shop next door.
When I came back in, I sampled the rosemary olive oil flavor... it was delicious. Honestly, the essence of this flavor is pure Bay Area, and took me back to my time in Berkeley.

The kid working behind the counter wasn't entirely nice, and a bit pompous when I asked any questions (like, what is the difference between the two chocolate flavors in the case), but the product is quality. Finally, I settled on a double scoop with the raspberry with chocolate chunks and the dark chocolate. It was huge- great to split, I couldn't even come close to finishing it.
It felt a bit odd to be ordering in English, and I was disappointed that they didn't have fragola or pistacchio, but it's definitely worth a try.

Enormous Serving of Chocolate and Raspberry 

Vinaigrette Santa Fe

The ingredients in the soups and salads at this green business in Santa Fe are locally grown and organic.

The mushroom stew only tastes totally sinful, with a rich miso base and piece of fry bread on top.  Delicious, good for your body, and good for the environment. What more can you ask for?

Vinaigrette, 709 Don Cubero Alley, Santa Fe, 87505