Tag: By Myself

Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield, WI – Food & Place Alert.

Here is the blog that everyone is so curious about because I went off on my own trip to a place that doesn’t really fit my past travels. I decided to go into ‘hiding’ for my birthday this year. 31 never felt so personal and it was very much needed for myself. This birthday was a mix of emotions, lets just say the last 8 years have been spent with love, but this year was a little different… still with love. Just different.

Every weekend in June up until mid July, I had an event and it was back to back drinking, being social and long active hours/late late nights. No complaints, I made sure to live my summer up. Something I haven’t been able to do in a long time. I wanted something quiet, calm and to be with myself for one weekend. I was looking at all sorts of retreats and came across Wild Rice Retreat. It wasn’t as expensive as the others and I could also drive to it instead of having to pay extra for a flight and rental. Flight prices are a little insane right now. Wild Rice Retreat was also running a 5 year anniversary promo, so that also sealed the deal. Let’s get into the greatness of my weekend at Wild Rice Retreat! ♡

TRAVEL

Wild Rice Retreat is in Bayfield, Wisconsin about a 9-12 hour drive from Grand Rapids, Michigan depending on the route you take and if you hit traffic. I chose to drive there for cost and I simply wanted to be able to drive to and stop at whatever caught my interest.

On my drive to the retreat, I chose to drive out of Michigan, through Indiana to Chicago, Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin and up to Bayfield, Wisconsin. I left at 3 or 4 am and did not hit traffic at all, so it was only a 8-9 hour drive. Something I’m use to when driving to Minnesota. I did stop to take a nap in Chicago, so I was on the road for 12 hours total. This route took me on a tour of Wisconsin. I can say that I have seen about 70% of Wisconsin now. Wisconsin has a lot to offer in the northern region. I would have loved to stop in some of the towns to explore. The towns were on the lake and beautiful. One thing I did not like about this route was the last 3 hours of the drive. The last 3 hours has you driving through these smaller towns on a freeway, going from 50 mph to 25 mph. I’m a Michigander, we go 80 mph everywhere!!! I was trying so hard to not speed and to not get mad at how slow everyone was. I was getting irritated for sure, but nice towns did help me a little.

On my way back home from the retreat, I chose to drive the other route, so essentially I drove in one big circle. This time I drove along the northern part of Wisconsin into to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, passing through Marquette, Michigan over to the Mackinaw Bridge to enter the Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I also got lucky and did not run into any traffic at all. 90% of this route was along the lakes, like your driving on the highway and can see the lake the whole time. This only took me 8 hours, but I stopped at a lot of the scenic rest stops or overlooks to take in the beautiful views and spend a little bit of time on the beaches. Bonus: I got to see the sunset on the lake. I’m a sucker for a sunset by the water (take notes men). I have only been in the UP once, so it was super cool being able to drive through and see why everyone raves about it. I agree with them. I was also able to stop at 2 different spots to admire the Mackinaw Bridge before driving on it personally. There were so many moose crossing signs though. I was a little scared, but thankfully didn’t have to deal with moose. The speed limit in the UP is 80 mph, even faster than our 70 mph in the LP, so I was a happy girl.

LODGING

Wild Rice Retreat has a few lodging options for you to choose from for your time there. All the lodges are these beautiful, wooden, Scandinavian inspired stays where they can accommodate 1-8 people depending on what you choose. I was looking between the Ricepod or Nest for just myself. I chose the Nest for the extra sq ft, the king bed, the separate sleeping and living quarters, sofa and kitchenette. The Ricepod was more like a studio where it’s one big room, while the Nest felt more home like. I also stayed for 4 nights and 3 days, so I wanted something more. The lodges are in separate villages and while yes, you do have neighbors, it’s not wall to wall like hotels. You truly feel like you are in your own home. Every lodge also includes a mini fridge, sink, microwave, portable stove top, rain fall walk in shower, oversized windows, an outdoor balcony or patio and wifi. Don’t even get me on the Parachute Egyptian cotton linens, towels and robe they provide. That robe, I could have lived in forever.

If you noticed in the photos, you don’t see a television at all. That’s right, the lodges are television free. It’s a retreat for your mind, body and soul, so they cut out the technology to help. However, they do have free wifi for those who need to do work. If you know me, you know I’m a huge sucker for huge windows and letting the sun in my space. I woke up early every morning to the sun and started the day feeling so refreshed. It was probably the best sleep that I have had in a while. I can be such a homebody, it was perfect. Plus I had to be a homebody a bit that weekend. Since it’s located in Bayfield, Wisconsin, basically the tippy top of Wisconsin I was only a lake away from the fires happening in Minnesota and Canada. The air quality was pretty bad there and you could see the smoke/fog/sot. My eyes would get irritated if I was outside too long sometimes. My Nest provided for me.

AMENITIES

What attracted me in choosing Wild Rice Retreat was the amenities that are included or the extra options to be added on during your stay. The retreat is about nurturing individual creativity, human development, and meaningful connections. Just like the lodges, the amenities also ground the mind, body, and soul.

Dining/Food

A lite breakfast, brunch and dinner are all included during your stay. Yes, you read that right – all included. Food was served buffet style at Root, the onsite kitchen. They kept the nourishing mission throughout the retreat, the kitchen included. Wild Rice does farm to table, so all the food you get is fresh and only the best. They cater to all sorts of dietary needs and restrictions. Everyday, I went to all three meal times and tried everything they put out. Not one bad thing, I loved it all. Not only were there fires causing bad air quality, but bad lettuce going around causing illness. So I was super excited that the retreat grew their own vegetables and I wouldn’t have to skip the wonderful salad spreads they provided. Water, hot tea, and coffee are available all day at Root for all guest and alcoholic beverages and mocktails are available for purchase. You do receive 1 complimentary mocktail ticket upon your arrival.

Brunch and dinner are different everyday and some of my favorites were: the gluten free midnight brownie, the lemon parsley chicken, fish cakes with yogurt dill garlic dip, ponzu roasted salmon, the apple cake, kimchi egg scramble, roasted vegetable hummus wrap, summer chicken salad wrap and all the house made vinaigrettes with the salad stations, carrot ginger, tomato, berry and house.

Wellness and Movement

There are plenty of wellness amenities included with your stay like a 24/7 sauna with a rain fall shower room and an outdoor fire pit and cold plunge bucket. It is it’s own building and every guest has access to it by using their lodge keys. It’s very spacious and with the open hours you can time it out just right to get the sauna and shower room all to yourself!

There are also daily wellness and movement classes to sign up or drop in for, most are free and a few have a class fee. Every week classes are changed and every day offers various classes to attend. The class schedules are on their website. I had a list of classes to drop in, but I ended up doing none due to being too comfortable in bed and taking to to enjoy my Nest. I also bought a lot of activities or crafts with me to do just in case the air quality canceled any of the outdoor classes. I know I was there to relax, but I caught up with some things I needed to do for my job. It was still relaxing enough, I didn’t want to leave.

Some classes that caught my interest: Morning intention setting, new dawn vinyasa, cultivating vitality: a mid-summer well-being check in, the breathing experience, somatic float aerial yoga, pilates & stretch, self guided forest bathing, grief and gratitude fire ceremony, chakra balance, mixology mocktail, and summer nature therapy walk.

Adventures

Wild Rice Retreat has a few trails to walk along Lake Superior, Marty’s Landing to sit at and adore Lake Superior and some patios with seating with a higher view of the lake. All very beautiful. I visited Marty’s Landing and walked partial on the trails. I know I’ll be back and hopefully when there’s no air quality issues.

The town of Bayfield is not very far from Wild Rice and you can drive over to explore it. From what I drove through, it looked very charming. I’d very much would love to explore the area as well in the future.

My trip to Wild Rice Retreat was what I needed and I would recommend it to everyone. Take time to be with yourself, take time to slow down. This trip wasn’t the typical Sally travel, but it helped me personally in many different ways. I wish I had a discount code to give out to my blog readers, but I do not. I wrote this because I really loved it at Wild Rice Retreat and share all that it has to offer. Please check them out for your future travels. Until the next adventure ♡

Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025.

Yes, SALLY ♡ THINGS blog is still up and running for 2025! The end of the year and start of the new year blog is finally here. I told you that I was playing blog catch up. Since I’m a little behind, we get this cute 2-in-1 post ♡

Goodbye 2024.

In the beginning of 2024, I was parked on the top level of my college’s parking ramp just sitting in my car. Not having a good day at all. I was super emotional about a million different things, both positive and negative. I think I skipped my classes that day because I could not stop crying. I remember it was raining. That day I decided to try to calm my emotions down by journaling and instead of writing about my emotions, I tried to put my focus on what my goals and intentions were going to be for 2024. Writing about something that would bring more positivity forward was the mood that I wanted to try to set. That day I journaled two entries ‘2024 Goals and Intentions‘ and ‘2024 Blog Idea List‘. I think I ended up journaling in my car for three or four hours.

For 2024 Goals and Intentions, I wanted to come up with goals that were deeper than things like exercise more, get up early, drink more water, etc. I wanted the goals to be things that would help me become a better me and help with personal growth. Then when I came up with the goals, I wrote the intentions behind them or how I wanted to go about it. That way it wasn’t just a silly little self care goal, it now held a deeper meaning. I suggest everyone to do the same because it holds more value, is more meaningful and personable to yourself. It gives you a greater feeling when you complete it as well. Out of 16, I was able to cross off 10 goals that I completed in 2024. I call that a win and look, a win is a win!

A few completed goals with their intentions:

୨୧ Take more photos and videos. Print them out, save them, make montage videos, post them or whatever! I want to capture more memories and save/store them so they can be accessible in the future when I’m older.
୨୧ Live life/Be more present. Especially family, they are so important. Be more present in life. Live! Take in moments. Love life again. Don’t over work anymore and don’t over school. Live your best life Sally!
୨୧ Love and happiness ♡ I want to be more loving in everything and I want to remember 2024 as happy. The last few years have not been remembered quite well as happy, so this year will change. Let go of things that don’t belong and be okay with that.

For 2024 Blog Idea List, this was a list of topics that I wanted to blog about and write for the year. It was a list that I could come back to look at for ideas. I came up with 33 different topics and I wrote about 14 of those, but some topics have multiple blogs written about like travel blogs or food adventures. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my food and travel blogs, but some new content is on the way. A little less than half is not too bad, but it’s time to do better this year and I can’t wait to get back into blogging a little more often. I still have this blog “project” or series that I started last year, but I’m still working on writing it. It might not be finished this first half of the year, but my goal is to finish it this year or at least be able to post the first two parts.

Hello 2025.

Welcome 2025! My start of the new years was spent at The Armory with Kaskade and Sullivan King in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I spent my New Years in the most “Feral Festival Sally” way, so you can take that however you want, but I had a really good time. Maybe a little too much fun cause I woke up with gum in my hair the next morning. I have the funniest theory on how the gum got there too. Let’s just say this: I’m a headbanger girly with super long hair and there were a lot of gum chewers around. My hair is known to SNATCH PEOPLE! I also attempted to eat grapes for the New Years, but we did it sooo wrong. Yes, we were able to sneak in grapes at the venue somehow. I ended up being rave mom and passing them out to make sure my friends ate something during the rave. I think I ate 2-4 only, but this was all after the count down. So we all ate grapes to survive the rest of the night basically. It’s so funny to look back at the videos from that night. Thank you Minneapolis for a New Years that I’ll never forget!

For 2025, I want to do the same method with my goals and writing their intentions. I’m planning to repeat the same list and add new ones. I’m hoping to can accomplish more goals this year than I did in 2024. My vision for 2025 is to always live my best life, to be happy, love always and to be better. It’s another year to build the life that I want and deserve. I went in to 2025 as the same me, but a more experienced me. Still the same person, but I have something different about me. I’m still learning if it’s a good or bad thing or if it’s just a phase. This year I am digging deeper into myself and I’m protecting myself more than ever before. I’m also going into things with a different perspective. I posted this before and I’ll say it again here:

If you saw me, you absolutely did see me. If you heard me say something, I absolutely said it and said it with my chest. I’m done with playing the high road. We are not hiding in 2025. Respectfully ♡

I promise that I will be out here living my life for myself. Take it as my ‘villain era’, me setting up more boundaries, or me seeking my full potential, whatever. I said it here.

Here are a few goals and the intentions behind it, that I would like to see myself accomplish in 2025. It’s from both the 2024 and 2025 list.

୨୧ Healing. I want to heal all the parts of me that have been through the ringer over and over again. I want to heal the parts of me that easily get triggered. I accept that if the healing means I end up feeling hateful, then that’s how it ends up. I can’t end everything on love all the time, no matter how much I want that. Let it go and let things play out the way that it does. I was able to do it once, I know that I definitely can do it again. Be at peace and be comfortable and fine with that peace.
୨୧ More journaling and blogging. I know that journaling and blogging helps me with all my emotions, so why deprive that outlet from myself? I’m a person who feels a lot and holds all those feelings. Release it, stop holding on to them for so long. Let them go. I also love to journal and blog, it’s good for me. I have made connections with others through it. I’m no savior, but I’m a person and being a person speaks loud volumes.
୨୧ Love and happiness ♡ This is the 2025 revised version. I want to still be more loving in everything and I want to remember 2025 as happy. The love this year is more me orientated. I choose that love for me, I choose that happiness for my life, for my future. Whatever that looks like, but it’s self focused vs. what I did before. I worked on myself to reach an ‘us’, but this year I’m working on myself to reach a me. If an ‘us’ happens to appears this year, then that is something that fits around me and not the other way around. (No tea here, sorry. ‘Us’ is not a specific person, it’s general use.)

2024, you were wrong, but you were right to be wrong. Goodbye 2024.
2025, your new life is going to cost you your old one. What is meant for you, you simply cannot lose. Hello 2025.

On To The Next – November.

If October was about healing, clarity and truths, then November has to be about reflection, love and gratitude. October gave me clarity and many truths. It’s November now – on to the next.

New month, new intentions and new affirmations.

November Intentions

Intentions are like goals, but are more mindset focused whereas goals are focused on completing a task. Whatever October came to you about, make sure you continue to follow through with it and nourish yourself. Be kind, be gentle. ♡

୨୧  Practice Stillness: This month is for settling – for myself that is. November is for me to practice being still and enjoying the present moment without my daily stresses or worries. Practice being still in all moments whether it’s bad or good. Practice stillness in the silence even if it’s being loud.
୨୧  Stay Focused: I got a little derailed last month, so here’s to getting back on track and staying focused. Also making sure that I have my focus set on what is right. I am not the main focus, there’s others. Focus on what is right. I was offered more work that is along the lines of my business marketing degree, so I need to make sure that I stay on top of that. Be relentless in this, good things will come.
୨୧ No Anger, All Love: It’s always all love and always have been. I still have a little bit of these qualities and still working on it, but over time I’ve learned that it’s easier to live with the least amount of anger in your heart. I can be upset and disappointed all that I want, but it is not easy to keep anger inside and carry it around. It’s just not me. Let it go, do all in love and find your own peace. This is not a weakness, it’s actually a huge strength.

November Affirmations

Affirmations to manifest and to guide/shape your mindset. Say it out loud as often as you will like. Say it loud and proud, say it for you. ♡

୨୧ I accept my feelings as they are.
୨୧ I am willing to believe every thing will work out, even when it feels like it doesn’t.
୨୧ I lean on those who offer me support.
୨୧ I honor the changes that are happening within and around me this November.
୨୧ I gave this my all, that does not make me any less.
୨୧ I allow myself to take a break and do something I love.
୨୧ I find inspiration in peacefulness of November.
୨୧ I am confident and secure in myself and allow others to be exactly who they are.
୨୧ I give myself time to process feelings before I react or respond.
୨୧ I choose to have the strength to move on to healthier relationships.
୨୧ I will step out of my comfort zone today and do something new.

This section is a little more personal to me, but like always, it’s just as much for you if you need it. All I have to say is thank you ♡

“You are deserving of all the beautiful things manifesting into your life. The trash took itself out, so you just do you. Be gentle to yourself and take all the time you need to heal that pretty little heart of yours.“

“But as a girl’s girl – You’re doing the right thing for yourself.“

“You’re a good person with a beautiful soul, so give yourself grace. You did nothing wrong and it’s not that you weren’t enough. Don’t forget that.“

“For what it’s worth don’t let it fuck you up. We are too young to be not living our life/being the best version of ourselves.“

“Don’t lose yourself in who you become especially when you’re on your healing journey.“

“i think in these times my favorite saying to hear is ‘let it go, you’re exactly where you need to be and something better will come along.’ i hope you bask in the times you feel great cause you deserve it.“

Wishing that November shows you all that you have so many things to be thankful for and that you are loved, enough, and deserve all the best. I’m wishing that you accept that you are loved, enough and deserve all the best. Do what is right and with love. It’ll come back to you 10x when the time is right. I hope everyone gets the day they deserve. There’s so much more to life, so go there. ♡

Then and Now.

I probably have typed about this in the few blogs I wrote before, but never finished. Fair warning, be prepared to read a little more of this in other blogs if they ever get posted. So far it’s the only thing that comes to my mind when I try to sit down to blog, so it’s something that needs to get out and hopefully after I can blog about other things. I feel like a broken record sometimes. I blog a lot about healing and my journey, it’s all I know right now. It is currently what’s going on in my life. Then and now. I wouldn’t quite call this a drunk thoughts blog, but I did have a good chug of some strawberry sake. Just a bit to loosen up and be not so in my head about sharing this. I actually find it hard to share this side of me because it feels super and very vulnerable of me. Maybe a part of me feels embarrassed, maybe because it still gets me in my feels or that I haven’t yet fully processed it. It’s hard for me to express because I simply do not know where I’m quite at with it all. Whatever it is, here I try to go.

These summer months, I have really compared my current self to my 2023 self. If I could describe myself this summer it would be: confident, strong, happy, healing, thriving, joyful, sober, living life to the fullest, a normal person. If I were to describe summer Sally 2023 it would be: sad, but grateful, stressed, alcohol driven, burnt out, lost, fun, goal driven, and hurt. What two very different and confusing versions of me.

A word that best described me then is lost. A word that best describes me now is healing, but of course I would not be who I am today if it wasn’t for that lost version of me. Looking back I’m actually very grateful for that part of my life (not the problems, but the lessons) and very proud of how I managed, even though I was very hurt. I sat with myself every day and I listened to my cries, I listened to my thoughts, I felt the hurt. I sat with every emotion and let them take their turn. I sat with all my doubts and gave them the time they needed. I sat there and cried out every tear in my body almost every night until there was nothing left. Some people might think it’s pretty pathetic, but it was what I needed to do for me. That was my way of trying to comfort myself. I gave myself that safe space. Now, I still have that safe space, but it’s more for the appreciation of my happiness, celebration of small steps on my healing and the new self love that I have for myself. I won’t say I’m completely on the other side, but it’s definitely a positive path.

I did something that I never thought or saw myself doing and that was to stop engaging and going silent. I let go of any hope and expectation, I let go completely. That’s such a hard thing to do. To let things go free and to let things come to or go from you. I ignored and pushed everything away as much as I could until I realized that it was something that was trying to come to me. I really crawled into my own little shell and if you weren’t someone I saw in my daily life, I unfortunately didn’t reach out to or interacted with for a bit. My social battery was fighting so hard, but my emotional side won. I’m a person who tries to act fine when I’m not, but in reality my emotions literally leak out of my pores and you can tell how I am through my body language and facial expressions. I pulled away for a bit so people didn’t have to see that side of me, ask me anything and I didn’t have to keep pretending. I’m sorry to my friends and family for that and I’m also very thankful that everyone understood that I needed some space. I put myself first and really focused on nothing, but myself and moving forward. One positive that did come out of it was my decision on schooling. Now, because of then, I still am continuing my education and I feel more comfortable with being truly vulnerable in front of others even if I feel stupid. It is not a burden. Now, I can thank the ‘then me’ and comfort any part of her that I still have left with the ‘now me’.

One thing that I learned from this and in my therapy sessions are to acknowledge all these different parts of me, listen to what they need to say, validate them and thank them. Practicing this has helped build a better relationship within myself with myself. Practicing this has allowed to me forgive myself, love all the different parts of myself, remember my worth, remember what I deserve, growth, healing, forgiving others and most importantly not to hurt others because of my own hurt. One day, I’ll be at the end with the rainbows and unicorns or in my case, a room filled with anything and everything Hello Kitty.

This was really building up in my head and I tried to avoid blogging more on it, but I guess I still have a lot to say. If you are still reading this, thank you. Sending lots of love out. Then and Now. ♡

Food Alert: Royal Oak Taco Fest.

I decided to spend my July 4th over at Royal Oak Taco Fest! It was a very last minute decision, but in the end worth it. I’ve been saying that I wanted to challenge myself to go out and do things solo more, so I did just that! I’ve never been to any Taco Fest, so I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but it was well worth the drive and admission fee. Royal oak is about 2 hours to 2.5 hours away from me, so I made it a small foodie adventure. Admission tickets were $12 per person and when I got in, there were tons of food trucks, vendor booths and a huge kids area. There were all sorts of food beside tacos and plenty of drink booths, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. Now, let’s eat!

It was pretty hot out, so a freshly squeezed lemonade was a must! There was an option to add alcohol to the lemonade, but I decided not too. I was not going to make the mistake of “eating” alcohol like I did with previous festivals that I wanted to blog about.
The first food truck was Eight Claw Crab Boil. I will say, I was hoping they had their seafood boil available, but sadly it wasn’t. Instead I ordered the Crab and Lobster Grilled Cheese. I’ve never had a grilled cheese that was this tasty. It was like heaven. I might have to hunt down Eight Claw Crab Boil pretty soon.

Next was Spicy Jerk Chicken and the famous BBQ Mac & Cheese from Chef Collier Willis of House of Barbecue. I was walking around and the smell of the ribs was so amazingly delicious that I stopped and grabbed food. The ribs were a big portion and I wanted to be able to try more foods, so I skipped on it. Don’t worry, I’m coming to find you too! The BBQ Mac & Cheese was nothing special, still good though, but the Spicy Jerk Chicken was SPICY. It had a great kick to it. I usually don’t like chicken that much because it usually is dry, but this was perfect and juicy. You got everything fresh and right off the smoker. House of Barbecue also got voted for ‘best entree’ out of everyone else!

I always try to go on these foodie adventures and get so full after the second food truck or booth. I opted in for some dessert just in case I was going to call it a day. I was so stuffed after eating this delicious strawberry and pineapple milk chocolate skewer topped with sprinkles, marshmellows and peanuts from Lekker Choco Treats. It was just what needed on a hot summers days. They have different fruit skewers to choose from, then you get to choose your chocolate and then your toppings. You can’t go wrong!

Who was I kidding? Who just quits after the third food truck when you go on a foodie adventure? Definitely not this girl. I was at the Taco Fest for hours, just trying to walk off the food I already ate to try more. I walked around for a good hour and even sat at one of the stages trying to stay awake and away from the food coma that was trying to get me LOL. Ya’ll I was struggling trying to not nap. I succeeded and decided to celebrate with some tacos! Finally the item that the festival was named after.

I know, I know. This might knock down my foodie credit with some of my readers, but I like flour tortillas over corn. Don’t hate me, okay!?! Please still support me ♡ I visited Galindo’s Authentic Mexican and ordered their red queso steak taco and just a regular steak taco. No, I didn’t eat them dry. I added both of their spicy roja salsa and verde salsa. They were good tacos, but nothing that made them stand out to be the ultimate best. Galindo’s got voted for most authentic taco at the festival!

Dessert time again! I’ve been really into sweets lately, which is very unlike me, but I’m not going to question it. It is what it is. There were some carnival like food booths and this one had deep fried candy bars. I’ve never heard of such thing or have seen one, so I had to give it a try. I ordered a deep fried snickers. I don’t know what I expected it to look like, but not a corndog like item with powdered sugar on top. Let me tell you though, if you haven’t had a deep fried snickers bar, you are missing out. I was impressed with this chocolate corndog delight. It may not look like it in the video though. I was passed full and starting to sweat being out in that heat.

I could no longer eat anymore, I was about to pop. It was time for me to leave, BUT before leaving I had to get one last drink. I tried the Watermelon Sugar topped with blue punch. It was a mix of the blue punch with raspberry tea and strawberry melon. It was very sweet, maybe a little too sweet for me. I think it would have been better without the added blue punch. It was pretty refreshing though, so I do recommend everyone to visit The Fern when you find yourself in Royal Oak!

I’m very happy that I did the solo trip to Royal Oak Taco Fest. Sometimes you just need to self indulge and take adventures. How would I rate Taco Fest? 8.5/10. It was a family friendly event with tons of craft tents and blowup obstacles for the kids, then tons of food options to choose from, plus multiple of the same food trucks, so lines were short. There were multiple vendors and chances to spin a wheel and win prizes from the merch ones. I will point out that if you are against cannabis, then this might not be the event for you. Most vendor booths were cannabis and THC products, so that’s all that I will point out. I’m not sure if this event is held in multiple cities, but you can always get a good idea of what vendors will be there based off of the sponsors! I’m not sure what the next foodie adventure will be and I won’t promise anymore about certain ones because I might end up “eating” alcohol again.. oopsies. ALWAYS remember though, we live to eat and not eat to live! ♡

Food Alert: Festival of the Arts – Grand Rapids.

Here’s a local Food Alert for my Michigan readers. I was able to attend the last day of the Grand Rapids 55th Festival of the Arts this past weekend! This one is a special one because for as long as I can remember, my family and I always attended this festival. It was always so fun with all the painting and different crafts that we got to do, then all the food that we would eat and who can forget about handmade lemonade? I remember we use to design our our own t-shirts with paint, get our face painted, make our sculptures with wood and glue, get ballon animals, spiral painting and even just regular painting. Then as I got older, I was able to take some of my nieces with me and watch them do all the same that I use to do as a kid. It’s such a fun family event that happens in Grand Rapids! I haven’t gone in the past 9 years, so when I was able to make it this year I made sure to make the best of it. A lot has changed from the last time I attended and it was a lot smaller with less activities and vendors, but I just know it’ll get there again! Now let’s jump into the food ♡

I went by myself to do a little foodie adventure, which was very hard because I can’t eat a lot. I got full quick. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat everything and all of it, so I came prepared and brought some to-go containers from home in a bag to store what I couldn’t finish for later. That was actually such a smart thing to do. GO SALLY!
First stop was at the Chinese Association of West Michigan booth. One of my favorites, even as a kid, are these chicken skewers! It was a nostalgic way to start off the foodie adventure.

Not even 2 minutes after buying the chicken skewers, I saw the Sanse Filipino food truck and knew my second stop would be there. With the chicken skewers in hand, I ordered their Pork Lumpias. If I had more hands, I would have probably ordered more food like their chicken adobo, but I also needed to not go in so hard right when I got to the festival.
You guys should have seen me sitting on the sidewalk taking a bite of the chicken skewer in one hand and then a bite of the pork lumpia in the other. I was in such a happy place!

After the first two foods, I was feeling full already. I know, it’s not even that much, but I really have a small appetite! I walked around and looked at all the merchandise vendors for about 45 mins before grabbing this Tamales Platter from the Tamales Mary food truck. It has been a while since I had tamales, so it was everything! I really like tamales, especially with extra hot sauce. The spicier, the better. I got a red shredded chicken tamal and a green shredded pork tamal. I tried to eat as much of the platter that I could, but look it was perfect for leftovers for later.

I could have taken a little food coma nap at this point if I tried. I had to be a champ and walk around again and explore more of the festival. I sat down at a few stages and watched a few performances. It got blazing hot after a bit and I needed something cold and something sweet, so why not find some some ice cream? There were a few vendors to choose from, but I decided on SemiFreddo, an Italian food truck. The other ice cream trucks were ones where I’ve had them before, so I wanted to try something new. Plus, a sparkling cream float sounded so yummy and perfect! I knew that if I didn’t finish the ice cream part before it started to melt, at least it would still be good as a float! In the sparkling cream float was a scoop of lemon semifredoo, strawberry sauce mixed with sparkling water. I’m not a huge fan of strawberry sauce because it’s usually just artificial syrup, but their strawberry sauce had chunks of fresh strawberries. They won me over. I had a great time eating/drink my float and watching the jazz band, Big Band Nouveau. It was one of those ‘life is good’ moments ♡

With two hours left of the festival and an over stuffed tummy, I needed to choose what would be my last foodie options. I really wanted to try Honeybee’s Kitchen Caribbean & Soulfood food truck or Big Ed’s BBQ food truck, but their lines were super long. I should have because I’ve been thinking about them since! Long lines usually = really good food.
I walked past the Holy Trinity Greek tent twice before deciding that I just needed to get a Souvlaki. This was also one of my favorites to eat when we came to Festival of the Arts when I was a kid. It was just as good as I remembered it!

The last item of the festival foodie adventure was, of course, a Shaker Lemonade from the Big Mike’s Kettle Corn tent. Fresh lemonade is top tier. Usually at this festival it would be a booth by one of the local high schools, but I noticed this year it was more food trucks than associations or organizations like in the past. Not complaining though, all the food trucks were still Michigan local and I was able to have the chance to support them! Also, the streets of downtown Grand Rapids is such a cute place to take photos.

Honorary Merchandise Vendor Mention

You all know how much I LOVE FLOWERS! I was so excited to see a vendor selling flowers and had to get a cute bouquet for myself. Thank you to Leaflet for making this beautiful bouquet and making my whole day. I’m absolutely obsessed with them ♡

I wish I had more space in my tummy to try ALL the other food trucks or tents that I couldn’t get too. If you weren’t able to attend Festival of the Arts, but is now interested, it happens every year in June, downtown Grand Rapids! It is a free event, no admission fee! Just keep your eye out or sign up for emails on their website. You can also follow them on facebook as well! I’m very happy that I had the day off to go. I’m also proud of myself for going on a solo foodie adventure and how much I was able to eat on my own.

This upcoming weekend is the Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival, so if you are in the area you might catch me on another foodie adventure! It’s also held downtown Grand Rapids, this will be my first year being able to attend. It is also a free event with no admission! Another great family friendly event to bring the kids to. Like this one, there will be a Food Alert blog on that coming shortly after! I actually tried to do the same thing with Michigan Asian Fest in Novi, Michigan, two weekends ago, but I ended up only eating beer with a side of papaya salad and kapoon. I had a little too much fun there at Michigan Asian Fest. It was well worth the memories though. See you guys soon!
Remember that we live to eat and not eat to live ♡

January & February ’24 Mini Writings.

Not so many to start the year off with and that’s alright. I’ve actually been a little shy to write down my thought and share them lately. I know there’s no need to be shy, but there will more mini writings to come in the next few months. ♡

January 20, 2024

“Slow and steady wins the race” & will also show you truth.

– sally.things

January 25, 2024

Live your truth.

Dig deep down and decide who you are and live in your truth.

What things are you going to let define you?

What things will you let take space up in your mind?

What image are you going to hold up?

– sally.things

February 8, 2024

Breathe in and breathe out.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Soak everything in.

And just enjoy the moment.

– sally.things

February 18, 2024

You deserve healthy love from yourself too.

– sally.things

September & October Mini Writings.

These two months were quite hard on me, but here I am. Still here, still standing, still living, still loving, still going. Physically exhausted, mentally stronger and overall more kind and gentle to myself. ♡

September 2, 2023

Let them.

Let them try to ruin you and your day.

You know you haven’t played in any fire lately.

They are doing it out of their own insecurities about you anyways.

– sally.things

September 10, 2023

“Listen before I go.”

– sally.things

September 16, 2023

Once you let go, you let go over and over and over again.

You let them go when you go to the grocery store and don’t buy their favorite snack. You let go of them when you eat at your guys’ favorite restaurant and decide to order something different. You let them go again when you do things out of your normal routine that involved them.

You’ll be letting them go in many different ways, in many different places and a million different times.

– sally.things

October 8, 2023

Keep on laughing, smiling and finding little joys in things.

The little things will eventually become big and you’ll forget about all the worries of the past.

Love life in the present.

– sally.things

October 12, 2023

I deserved a kinder goodbye. One that wasn’t ruined by deceit.

One that didn’t get competed against or used for someone else’s needs.

One that wasn’t used by another and rubbed in my face.

I deserved a goodbye that was only meant for you and me.

– sally.things

October 24, 2023

I’m dancing with all my emotions and giving each and every one of them their time to shine.

We’ll dance until we can’t dance anymore.

Love, sadness, grief, gratitude, heartache, happiness, and more.

What a lovely ball.

– sally.things

October 25, 2023

Read these words and think of me.

Remember all the love and think of me.

Now read these words: think of me for once.

– sally.things

What It’s Like Going Back to School at 28.

Am I crazy? Slightly. Did you read that right? Yes. I decided to go back to college this semester at the age of 28. The last time I had classes was back in 2014/2015, so 8-9 years ago. Life got in the way and I really wasn’t ready back then. I’ve been wanting to go back, but timing wasn’t right or it didn’t feel right to me. How I feel about something is very important for me. This time around, things fell into place and I was able to sign up and get back into it. I’m happy that I’m back in school and excited to see what’s to come from it.

So what’s it like to be back?
While it feels like I haven’t left and majority of things look the same, many things have actually changed. My professors from back then are still here, but they have aged. It’s weird cause I feel like I went time traveling to the future. The student IDs are different colors and now have more use for things, I got mine replaced to the new one and the person taking my picture said, “Wow, welcome back it must be a while for you. I haven’t seen the all blue IDs in a while.” How embarrassing that was LOL. The parking student rates have gone up and boy does that make me sad, but happy cause I’m only on campus 2 times a week. I also just feel sooo old in my classes. Majority of my peers are 18-20. I’ve interacted with some classmates in group projects and we’ll get to know each other with little questions and they all get so shocked when I tell them my age. It’s always the same reaction too, “No way! You look so good and young for 28!” Thank you for that compliment though, I’m starting to appreciate it more. ♡ I’m also meeting others who are older than me, that are coming back to school just like me. Having that in common has been very motivating for me and reminds me to not be too hard on myself for starting over again.

How are you feeling about it all?
Well it’s been very emotional for me for sure. It’s been 3 weeks already and on the first day I was 15 mins late and I skipped one class lecture already. The enrollment period before was pretty stressful for me already. It’s been a while since I’ve been in school, so some of my credits that I earned when I first went no longer exists. I have to pretty much take some of same classes over again to get the credit again, which sucks. School was a hard topic for me to talk about before and even now at times because of how my first year went. It wasn’t ideal and I didn’t feel supported back then. Those feelings come through still from time to time and I can get very discouraged and less motivated. Have I already thought of dropping out? YES, plenty of times already. I did have someone who was my #1 supporter and they helped me talk about and through my worries about school, someone who was always there for me. I ended up starting this semester without them. It’s heartbreaking to lose someone who was so proud and believed in you and I’m still trying to adjust with that. Besides those feels, mainly I’ve been excited and motivated. I am proud of myself for taking this step again and trying again. I’m happy with my decision of going back and ready to see what’s to come with it. I’m happy that I get the opportunity to change up my daily routine and change my environment. It’s something that I needed to do for myself.

I’m here to let anyone else that’s looking to go back to school, whether you’re older, younger, haven’t gone yet, or dropped out that you can do it. You’re not alone and you definitely don’t have to think negative about yourself about it. Whatever your story was before, it’s not going to be your story this time around. Take your time, go your own pace, don’t listen to those who bash others. You have your own journey to go through. Most importantly YOU got this!

This won’t be the last blog about school and I’m hoping to be able to post about getting my degree when the time comes around. Whenever that will be. I’m in no rush right now and enjoying the ride. I’m happy for this new start and I’ll see everyone at the end. ♡

Twenty-Eight, to a New Chapter.

TWENTY-EIGHT!?!? Yes, it’s true. I am officially 28, bring on the closer to 30 jokes. Even I can’t believe that I’m 28, I feel like I’m still this 20 year old trying to figure out life on my own. Maybe the figuring out life feeling never goes away.

Going into this 28th year, everything is different from what I pictured it would be. It’s really a new chapter of many unknowns. For my 28th year, I’m hoping to really put the focus on myself. I am going to be my number one priority. The healing, the growth, the self care, the self love, the schooling, the career, the future opportunities, all of it will be my focus and I am the priority and not anyone else.

There’s a lot of things in line for me already, but what I really hope to get from this upcoming year is to get back my full self. For the past few years, everyone has met the version of me who was pouring out too much in others leaving nothing behind for herself. I didn’t and couldn’t realize it myself. How does the one who pours out her love see the bad in that? I won’t completely change the way I’ve been cause some of those parts are still me. Don’t worry everyone, that version that you met isn’t too far from where I hope to be, I’ll just be better. I would love to be able to shake the idea of what I thought things would be and be able to take in and be happy about what I’m in presently. Live more in the present and not the past. Next year I would love to look back at this post, see how far I’ve come and be happy about the journey.

Before the day ends, I wanted to thank everyone who took a few minutes out of their day to tell me happy birthday. I appreciate it very, very much. Also to those who took me out today and for my friends that I will be seeing this weekend and later this month. Just because I’m 28 now, it doesn’t mean I’m too old to celebrate all month and yes I did say all month.
Here’s to a new chapter, here’s to 28!