Hi everyone! my website has been having some issues that I am trying to resolve, but I found a temporary fix until I get back from vacation

I am at DISNEY WORLD! 

I will not be blogging until I get home next week, but you can follow my adventures on facebook:

www.facebook.com/disneykatie

This past week brought fun-filled activities! Here is a snapshot of what I did, with many upcoming full posts to come with more details!

On Wednesday I hung out with my nephews! We went to TopGolf and had a good time hitting the targets. They were actually pretty good at aiming and it was a fun time!

Thursday through Saturday brought along a juice cleanse from South Block Cafe. I will be doing a full write up on my experience soon, along with a giveaway for a 3-day juice cleanse! So check back soon!

Thursday brought along some time at the Flight Trampoline Park. I had a blast and a hard workout, as did all my family that came along. I will be posting more about this soon!

On Friday I went boating at Lake Anna, and had fun tubing and swimming.

On Saturday morning I got my hair cut...

Then ran a Glowstick 5k with my niece Ellie! You can read about our experience here!

Sunday was a day of rest and snuggles. We watched Monsters University.

On Monday I spent the day working at the gift shop where I sometimes spend some time making some extra vacation cash.

On Tuesday I went out with Madre and Heidi while they went shopping. WAY too much shopping for me. I was exhausted at the end of the day!!!

It was a good week and next week is looking awesome as well because I will be in DISNEY WORLD!!!!

On Saturday night, my niece Ellie and I went to Old Mill Park in Fredericksburg for a Glowstick 5k night race. We decided to be festive and wear tutus. We also stopped at the Dollar Tree and picked up some glow-gear so we would be appropriately glowing.

It was a great 5k. It wasn't too hot and the course was nice. We ran 1 minute/walked 2 minutes and it worked out nicely with a finish time of 45 minutes.

A good portion of the race was along the river. It was fun seeing people out tubing and fishing. I would like to go back and explore this area a little bit more. It looks like there were some trails down to the river.

Here we are crossing the finish line!!! Thanks, Ellie, for running with me!

On the 4th of July, we went to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT. What was different about this aquarium is that it focuses on the animals and fish from the Long Island Sound. I love going to aquariums because I love animals, so this was a perfect activity for me.

My favorite exhibits, of course, are where the turtles are! There was a huge tank with three ginormous sea turtles. One of them was bigger than me! I took way too many selfies with them...

I also enjoyed hanging out with all the different frogs. It was neat to learn a bit about the different types.

Hanging out with the seals.

The seahorses were so cute! As were the meerkats!

These flounder were really good at hiding in the sand.

This is just a really funny looking fish that I liked.

It was a great morning/afternoon at the aquarium. I enjoyed the IMAX movie about Sharks and loved the hands-on exhibits, and looking at the turtles :)

It's always hard to find places to eat when you are both vegan & gluten-free. I recently spent some time in Connecticut and visited some old-favorites and discovered some new places! 

Located in Manchester, CT is a chocolate shop that I always have to visit! Every chocolate is both vegan & gluten-free! Divine Treasures is THE place to visit if you need vegan chocolate. For those non-Connecticut people, you can also order online and have the chocolate sent to you!

There are three display cases stocked to the brim with different types and flavors of chocolate. We usually get a variety pack to take with us!

Another thing I love about Divine Treasures is that they have almond milk soft serve ice cream!!! I have yet to find this any where else, and let me tell you ... it is VERY tasty!

Nathan and I both got sundaes: swirl soft serve with Caramel Sauce and Peanut Butter Melts. All topped with a gluten-free cone!!!

Divine Treasures also carries ice cream cake...one day I will need to have one of these!

Another great vegan & gluten-free find in the Central Connecticut area is Dee's One Smart Cookie in Glastonbury, CT. I did not have the chance to visit this bakery during my last trip to Connecticut :( but it is a very worth-while trip, and I visit there as much as I can! 

I follow them on their facebook page and their menus are posted everyday. Dee's is a
dedicated gluten, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut free bakery in Glastonbury CT. They offer a variety of goodies such as cakes, cupcakes, muffins, pizza, breads, cookies. Egg free & yeast free items are also available!

I was lucky to find Swoon Gluten-free Bakery in Ridgefield, CT. Swoon Bakery specializes in gluten-free cakes, cupcakes, cookies, breads and desserts.  They offer several dairy-free and vegan options, and we never use any nut products in anything they make.

Swoon had a good variety of vegan offerings. I went on a Saturday morning just after they opened, so I had a lot to choose from. I ended up buying 6 cupcakes (one of each flavor), banana bread, chocolate bundt cake, and 2 chocolate chip cookies.

As you can see, Swoon has a large selection of vegan offerings! 

Above I am enjoying the banana bread. It made for a perfect breakfast with some rice milk!

The chocolate bundt cake was rich and yummy! The cookies and cupcakes were also moist and delicious. I ate them before I could take a picture!!!

Not baked-good related, but still a good restaurant that I ate at in East Norwalk, CT: Los Molcajetes was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the Maritime Aquarium. 

The one thing that I liked about this restaurant was that they attempted to make me a burrito. Usually when I go to a Mexican restaurant they won't make a burrito using corn tortillas because they are so small. Because of this I order a plate of rice and beans, with a side of corn tortillas. At Lost Molcajetes, they at least attempted to make me a burrito! 

The restaurant was very authentic, albeit a bit slow with the service. I could not eat the tortilla chips, but they did bring me some corn tortillas so I could have something to snack on while waiting for our food.

Nestled on South Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire is a great restaurant called Spoon Revolution Vegan Bistro. Spoon Rev is 100% Vegan & Gluten-free, and I was super excited to try it out! It was awesome to find a place where Nathan and I could eat everything on the menu!

Spoon Revolution's mission:

To offer healthful, nutritious, good-tasting meals at an affordable cost. In addition, we aim to offer the community educational and cultural events with fine vegan cuisine to both inform and entertain the public.

The inside of the bistro opens to its kitchen where you can see everything being prepared fresh. We went for lunch and each ordered the lunch special: Appetizer and Entree with Mixed Organic Green Salad. The price was good for the amount of food, and we set out to feast! We each ordered something different so we could taste more of the delicious offerings.

Nathan started out with a glass of kombucha. We had never tried it before. I did not like it, but Nathan ended up having two glasses!

Appetizer #1 was a hummus plat: organic chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, scallions, parsley or cilantro, and organic spices. Served with fresh organic crudites: carrots, cucumber, celery, pepper, radish, kohlrabi or jicama. 

It was a great tasting homemade hummus. It just needed more veggies!

Appetizer #2 was the Vegetable Pate Roll-ups: Steamed green beans pureed with bell pepper, celery, fennel bulb, scallions, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, fresh basil, lemon juice, olive oil and spices. All rolled up in a fresh young collard or Swiss chard green and topped with a dollop of basil cream sauce.


I've never really had anything like this before, and it was quite tasty. I really liked the basil cream sauce.

Entree #1 was the Biryani: Curried vegetables (eggplant, green bean and tomato or cauliflower, summer squash and green pea) and spiced basmati brown rice topped with roasted nut and spice mixture.


This was REALLY good. Not quite the same as the biryani that you get at an Indian restaurant, but in my opinion, more flavorful!

Entree #2 was the Colombian Corn Cakes with Pico de Gallo: Stone ground organic cornmeal batter pan-fried in organic coconut oil, topped with picante salsa of tomato, scallions, jalapeno pepper, basil and spices. 

I also really enjoyed these corn cakes. The sauce was delicious and complemented the corn cakes.

Dessert #1: Raw Carob Brownies - An irresistible mixture of dried fruit (dates, figs, prunes, cranberries, raisins) and nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds) mixed with oats and ground rice cakes and sweetened with Panela.


This brownie was very rich and delicious. You really don't need more than what you are given!

Dessert #2: Green Juice. The juice was fresh and refreshing. The only thing that would have made it better is if it was cold. It was room temperature when they served it, which is ok, but I am used to cold juice!

Spoon Rev is a great find in Concord, NH. We will definitely be returning each time we visit New Hampshire. The menu is on the small side, but they change it out for each season, focusing on fresh, healthy food!

**These opinions are my own, and I was in no way financially compensated for this review.**

It's been a busy summer so far! Read on to hear about my exciting adventures for the past TWO WEEKS!!!!   :)

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit Sterling Restaurant Supply to pick out some items. If you are a Virginia local, you should check this place out. It has some awesome items with very inexpensive prices. I came home with a bamboo cutting board, ceramic knife, soufflé dishes, and a melamine serving dish. You can see here one way that I used some of these products! And I currently have a giveaway happening!!! Click here to enter!

Kendra and I had a lunch date and visited The Dons' Pizza in Sterling. They had gluten-free vegan pizza that was delicious. The sauce was tasty, and the pizza had a smoky flavor, which I enjoyed very much.

On Wednesday evening, Nathan and I took a trip out to Wolf Trap to see Ben Folds and the National Symphony. I don't really know his music, but it was a well-done concert and it was neat how he was playing with the symphony. It started lightening during the show and we had an awesome view of the electric sky.

On Friday I made a delicious fruit crisp for breakfast. You can read my recipe here :)

On Saturday Nathan and I headed over to Madre's neighborhood for a picnic and firework show. There was a live band; Nathan, Ryan, and the kids played Super Fight; and we ended the evening with fireworks over the Potomac River.

On Sunday evening I attend a Gifford's Ice Cream Tour Kick-off Party at the Dulles Golf & Sport Center. It was a great time, and you can read more about my experience here!

Nathan, Maestro, and I headed up to New Hampshire for a Nathan's Uncle's funeral. It is not the best circumstance, but it was good to spend time with family.

While in New Hampshire, I came across this 100% vegan & gluten-free restaurant in Concord. You can read my full review of Spoon Revolution here! I will also be posting about other awesome gluten-free & vegan offerings I found while up north!

Nathan and I walked around the grounds of the New Hampshire State Capitol and took some pictures for the civics classes at our school for next year.

After New Hampshire, Nathan, Maestro, and I drove down to Connecticut for some more family festivities. 

We visited the Maritime Aquarium (post coming later)...

We celebrated the 4th of July...

We went swimming. The dogs were very confused....

We took a group photo...minus Kendra :(

We saw fireworks.... Do you see the hidden Mickey!!??!?!?!?!?!

... And then we drove home. Maestro is still exhausted from his week adventure and has been sleeping constantly since we got home. Too much excitement for him!

It was a VERY busy week, full of family. Now I am back home trying to get re-settled, and preparing for some adventures this week, next week, and then it is time for my DISNEY WORLD VACATION!!!!

It's always fun visiting new places. Nathan's parents live near Concord, NH, so we had a bit of time to explore (aka...find some place to eat!)

Our first stop was Spoon Revolution. You can see my full review of the restaurant here!

It amused me that the capital of New Hampshire has police riding bicycles down Main Street.

We walked by the State Capitol and stopped for some pictures.

Nathan wants you to guess what number president Franklin Pierce was!

Nathan and I had lunch atSiam Orchid, where I had the yellow curry. It was good; I just wish there was more of it. I wanted more veggies and more sauce!

We stopped off for some treats at Granite State Candy Shoppe. There wasn't much we could eat (most of it was chocolate) but we did get some maple syrup candy! YUM!

It was a good quick trip around Main Street in Concord!

I had the opportunity to visit Sterling Restaurant Supply in Sterling, VA. This store is the exclusive outlet location of Fortessa Tableware Solutions products and is open to the public! 

There are two sections of the store: the warehouse, where restaurants can buy in bulk, and the showroom, which is more appropriate for individual items. SRS holds quarterly warehouse sales and has monthly specials. With a wide-range of inventory arriving, it is good to visit SRS often!

SRS carries discounted commercial-quality dinnerware and multiple styles and lines of Schott Zwiesel glassware (Made in Germany, "The World's Best Crystal Glassware"). They also are an exclusive distributor of Virtuose Stainless Steel Commercial-grade pots and pans.

SRS had a good variety of items for gifts, such as cutting boards, cheese knives, 20-piece knife blocks, and decanters. It also has great items for entertaining: melamine serving platters, appetizer picks, glassware, and chef tools.

Sterling Restaurant Supply is a good place to visit when you need inexpensive, yet high quality kitchenware. It is good for families, churches, small businesses, and restaurants of all sizes.

Sterling Restaurant Supply
22601 Davis Drive 
Sterling, VA 20164

Store Hours 
Monday – Friday 10am to 5pm, 
First Saturday of every month: 10am to 3pm

I have used the cutting board and knife for numerous things already, including making this delicious breakfast, and they are really great. The knife cuts so smoothly and easily! It has easily become my favorite knife above everything else in my expensive knife set!

Enter below to win!!! A winner will be chosen on July 15, 2014. 
And make sure to visit Sterling Restaurant Supply for all of your kitchen needs! 
Don't forget to mention that DISNEY KATIE sent you!!

**Disclaimer**  Sterling Restaurant Supply provided me with free product in exchange for my honest opinions in this review.  These opinions are my own, and I was in no way financially compensated for this review.

On Sunday, June 29 I got to attend the Gifford's Ice Cream Tour Kick-Off Party at the Dulles Golf Center & Sports Park.

My nieces and nephews were jumping for joy when they heard that they could have free Gifford's Ice Cream!

Gifford's Ice Cream is a family-business that began in the 1800s and is based out of Skowhegan, Maine. Five-generations later, and Gifford's Ice Cream can be found in grocery stores, independent ice cream shops, colleges, universities and restaurants all the way from Maine to the Mid Atlantic, to the Mid-West and as far West as Nevada.

Enjoying some Gifford's Ice Cream! The Gifford's Ice Cream Truck is touring Maryland, DC, and Virginia giving away free ice cream for the next 2 months. Check HERE to see their schedule!

Gifford's also makes sorbet, so all those who don't eat dairy can also partake in the yummy-ness! 

I had the chance to sit and chat a bit with Lindsay Gifford-Skilling, the General Manager, and John Chester Gifford Jr, VP of Sales, and you can definitely feel the familial passion for their company. 

I had the chance to try out the driving range. I'm not so bad at hitting the balls ;) Dulles Golf also has mini-golf, batting cages, and other activities.

Katie from www.disneykatie.com
Kendra from www.whensmyvacation.com
Heidi from www.meandmytween.com