A Family Weekend.

In my career as a fashion writer, I am currently smack-dab in the center of covering Miami Fashion Week.  But yesterday I took a brief pause in my crazy schedule and Mr. Charming and I spent last night and this morning with my parents, who live too far away and who I adore spending time with. 

Last night we had a movie marathon, watching "The Switch" and "Devils Knot".  Both very good movies. Of course, very different.  My dad is writing a book right now, and it's just incredible.  He read us a small part of it and I actually applauded.  It takes a lot for me to applaud a book reading as emphatically as I did.  He is insanely smart, such a gifted writer and I'm so glad I have him as a father and a mentor.  I'm incredibly blessed. 

I made him my lasagna, and he LOVED it.  I must confess, I was nervous. My dad is legitimately Italian, like a New York Italian, who grew up in New York City and whose parents came from Sicily. So he KNOWS true, authentic lasagna.  So for me to serve him gluten and dairy free lasagna, and for him to rave, made my heart and soul happy.  I also made him my gluten-free oat pancakes from scratch this morning (shown above, with Applegate Chicken Maple Sausage, fresh organic blueberries and honey) which he ate too.  I think my favorite part of this journey with food is being able to share healthy, wholesome food with friends and family and just watching them truly enjoy it. 

Seriously. Warm. Fuzzies. Abound. 

I'm SO excited to announce I will be attending (and blogging about my experience) at the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference in September.  Mr. Charming and I finalized our travel and hotel details yesterday, and between the conference and our wedding anniversary we will be spending almost two full weeks in Las Vegas this fall.  I am beyond excited to meet and network with other fellow bloggers in my field, learn and soak up all I can from fabulous seminars, partake in parties that SERVE GLUTEN-FREE food, and see some of my favorite authors and company reps again that I've met and spent time with at other expos and shows. 

And speaking of exciting announcements... my sister, father and I have decided to create a collaborative gluten-free, dairy-free cookbook. 

We are breaking ground and compiling ideas, and though we have a lot of the foundation, it's a very exciting, creative time and I am bursting with happiness and anticipation to share it when the time is right.  But in the meantime I want to soak up every moment I have creating recipes, collaborating with family, photographing our beautiful creations and of course tasting all of our yummy fare! 

I hope you all had a very blessed weekend!  Have a positive week, do something everyday that makes your soul smile.