Welcome to Independent Lifestyles, sponsored by the Sheboygan County Aging and Disability Resource Center. We present programs that promote independent lifestyles and that direct you to the resources that will help you maintain your health and independence in our community. I'm Christine Jeske and I'm an outreach worker at the Aging and Disability Resource Center and I will be your host today. Today's show is about the pink heels and the patient assistance program of Aurora. I'm excited to have two very special guests, Shelly Nigro, Struvi, and Stephanie Struvi as well. Welcome, ladies. Hi, Chris. Hi. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. How's it going? It's fantastic. How are you? Good, good, good. Good. Good. So Shelly, could you tell us a little bit about pink heels? I just found out this morning that this is a volunteer thing you do. Correct. So this is all on your own time. Yep. We don't get paid for any of it. Pink heels, we are a nonprofit organization in Sheboygan County and we offer emotional and financial support to families dealing with the disease that disrupts the family structure. And our main focus is cancer, all cancers.  No. No cancers for men or women and children. And we promote our presence by the pink fire trucks around town and we do local community events. Currently, there are 66 chapters of pink heels and more than 200 refurbished pink vehicles. So now when you say 66 chapters, you're talking through the United States? Correct, and overseas. And overseas. Correct. Yes. refurbished pink vehicles. What types of vehicles are being refurbished? Fire trucks, police cars, ambulances and motorcycles. Really? Yes. So then do you spray them all pink and stuck? Yes they do. They usually a lot of people donate their time and they'll donate the paint jobs for them which is wonderful. Yep and most of them are retired vehicles. None of the fire trucks actually work anymore but they run on the road but you can't use them to go stuff out fires or anything like that. So they're donated? Correct. They're donated yes and they no longer can use them. And you guys get them? Yes we do. And when you say you no longer use them they no longer can use them is that mean like they're still workable? It's still workable that we can drive them to events if we're in a parade or we do a home visit or we do a school visit but you're not going to see them at an act of fire or at a police call or anything like that. And how many of those vehicles do you have? You have roughly about 200 total. In our community? No not in our community no across the United States. Through the 66 chapters? Correct. Okay. We currently in Sheboygan we have one pink fire truck. Neat. And how many pink heels are in the state? The state we have three of them. Manitowoc, Lake County and then Sheboygan County. Neat. Yeah. And how does pink heels impact families in our community? We make social visits to brighten spirits and we fundraise to help those dealing with the financial distress. Pink heels focuses on returning all funds raised in the community back to the community that raised it. You know we make home visits, we visit schools, we go to workplaces, we visit people and just show our love and support. So when you say you show your love and support for these families this doesn't necessarily mean you're coming and bringing them a check or you're coming to give them something. You could just let them know that you're available and I understand when you and I spoke you talked about a team of people that comes in this refurbished pink fire truck. Could you give us a little scenario about that? We just did a school visit and these two children at a school we come um firehouse number one brought their fire truck they led us in we had the pink fire truck behind and we went into the school parking lot and all the kids were out there and we all line up and we show our love and support by giving the child or the adult a big hug and three little words I love you. We give the kids a nice teddy bear we give the family a carnation or pink rose in a vase we also give them our paperwork to let them know how they can get a financial request but it's all about showing our love and support that we're there for them. Three little words and a hug I love you. It means it goes so far. I don't think we do enough of that nowadays. Well we don't and we need more of it. Yes we do, yes we do. And the response from the families when you come? Oh my gosh tears flowing everyone everyone's got the crying you know it doesn't take much for me to cry I'm crying in the fire truck as we're getting there for Pete's sakes but it's just it's just showing that that someone out there else cares that we are there for them whatever they need we are there.  Absolutely. So you want them to know that we're here to support you. Right and that's in our paperwork that we hand out um it's got our phone numbers on it how they can get financial support how they can um get some bills paid if they need it we also give our pamphlets out and let them know we have email we have um Facebook. Okay and how do you raise money to help support your mission? By selling our pink heels merchandise such as t-shirts sweatshirts cankuzis water bottles and other various items in the community promoting our organization. So now you spoke to us about you promote on Facebook? Correct email we have a website but the biggest um promoter is word of mouth. Isn't that amazing? Yes how people have seen us or they look at us I went I wear my t-shirt um at school sometimes you're like you're the lady with the pink fire truck right I said yes I am and then I want to know more about it you know so they equate that I remember you yeah yeah that would be me. So our Facebook page is wonderful if people would like to go on our Facebook page like us and they'll really see what we do the visits that we do the home visits the school visits and then go on the national page it would be pink heels national tour and you'll see them touring the United States and talking about the love and support and what we actually do and the home visits the school visits visiting people at their workplace and just seeing all the firefighters and the volunteers walking in giving that person a big hug and three words I love you it's just amazing and I can imagine sometimes that's very overwhelming for people because a lot of people don't show emotion I mean it's easy for me to hug anybody correct you know and tell everybody you know tell my friends I love them or but a lot of people are real kind of standoffish and how does that affect I mean by the time you're done with them do you think they're more comfortable absolutely I think they really see that we are genuine and that we mean that you know when they see us all lined up and they're in their pink turnout gear and then we have the firefighters from the stations or EMS and they're standing in line and it touches them to to really see it's like wow look at the impact you made on that person and that person when you're coming down the street and those fire engine lights are are going and the horns are going and you're beeping it's just amazing here I get chills yep very rewarding it's very rewarding yeah and um Stephanie can you tell us a little about a little bit about your role yes um again my name is Stephanie and thanks for having me on today chris I am actually a social worker with Aurora healthcare um I've worked as a social worker for about the last 15 years all with Aurora specifically the last 12 years I've worked in a department called patient assistants very interesting and um I got to be part of a patient assistant program when I got to they wanted me to come into their family and see how it all went and I was actually so impressed on how that was all handled so with that said can you tell us a little bit more about that patient assistant sure patient assistance is really just a small department within Aurora it's made up of myself and a registered nurse Sue Fryer and what we try to do is work with Aurora patients to navigate their community resources to help them address concerns they may be having a lot of times we're working with patients who are struggling with chronicle medical conditions or experiencing acute distress and the team of people like when they meet for the first time you have a doctor there you have a social worker there can you tell us more so that that can be part of our family conference program that's offered through the Vince Lombardi clinic we often identify patients who may be struggling with their cancer diagnosis or could benefit from a team approach to help them meet their needs so frequently our family conferences consist of our medical oncologist a registered nurse navigator and then myself oftentimes they'll pull in an occupational therapist too to help address home safety or management concerns now you've been with Aurora for 15 years yes 15 years so you've seen a lot I haven't I've met a lot of great patients and families it's always interesting to sit down and hear people's stories their concerns their fears you know I learned right along with them I can never fully understand what they're going through until you're in that situation but certainly trying to help them access even the smallest bit of assistance it warms your heart I think the team approach is awesome when you meet with everybody and their family because I think that that gives that daughter or spouse permission to say this is what's bothering me how can we how can we help I mean that has to be very beneficial for everybody am I correct oh absolutely and it it helps to increase the lines of communication between the health care team with the family and even among the family themselves because the patient may be experiencing something that they didn't feel comfortable talking about with their family and that provides the opportunity in a safe space to discuss their concerns so what do you navigate the people the family's with so can you tell us a little bit about the navigation part of it well what we try to do is sit down and complete a thorough assessment with each patient and we want to know about their health conditions how they're coping with those conditions if they're experiencing financial or practical concerns and what we try to do then is identify what's available right here in our community that can help them address those concerns and alleviate the distress that they might be having you know oftentimes again it it introduces meet and new services that have come about in the community and that I wasn't even aware of and of course helps me network with people from all different types of agencies right right and you two have an interesting history together right oh we have interesting history not only are you you work together in the community you're also related correct we are we are cousin-in-laws actually yes so that was pretty instrumental that personal relationship was pretty instrumental and educating me about pink heels when it started in sheboygan county I think it was a couple years ago already two and a half next I became involved with pink heels after my husband passed of cancer but two and a half years ago then I found out about the organization and my husband's name is on the is on the truck it bears his name that's the first time I found out about that that the county had this program going on to help people with with financial support and emotional support and then with Stephanie's role it kind of went hand in hand and she's like oh dealing with with patients from Aurora and it just evolved from there well and it helps that you guys know each other you ladies know each other it does it probably made me more aware of pink heels much sooner than I might have otherwise stumbled upon it by myself you know certainly you try to keep your educate yourself educated about what is available in our community but because of the personal our side relationship becoming aware of it much sooner certainly helped to educate me and pass that on to the Aurora patients that we work with so it's a win-win so if you are stuck at something you can then call Shelly and if Shelly needs something she can then call you that's correct and if Chris Jesky needs something she can then call you guys yes and that's we all work together that's really that's the best part of the the job is trying to educate individuals about the different services that are that are available to them and it it connects us with people from the Sheboygan County Health and Human Services aging and disability resource center you know outside agencies like pink heels and there's so many people still don't know about you know about us and we are fairly new it's been around for 10 years Dave Grebel started it in Arizona he's a retired firefighter and he started this program and our president of the chapter Tara Albright wanted to make a difference and her husband is John is a firefighter for Sheboygan Falls fire department and she heard about that about this organization and wanted to bring it here and Manitowoc had theirs already started so she wanted to start a chapter in Sheboygan County and then they had to go about trying to find a fire truck in um Highland Illinois was was um retiring a fire truck so that's how we got our fire truck someone donated the paint job so it all kind of evolved around and and that was it I never heard about it and I never heard about pink heels either and then some of it they were on facebook and they were trying to name the truck so Ty had already passed my husband had already passed and everyone all his friends were let's let's name the truck Ty so they were putting his name in other people were putting in this other lady's name Dawn in and all of a sudden they came back and said we're going to name it Dawn Ty wonderful so the pink heels got a hold of me and said we'd like you to like a christen the truck write his name on there and um so I had to you know investigate a little bit more about this and find out more about and all the truck and this organization and basically if they figured okay she's going to come sign his name be done never come back again I fooled them but did you plan that probably not no I just I know I didn't know I think about the more I found out about like wow and they had just started about a year before that and they had just gotten their truck when they named it and um so it was just it was just kind of neat and I thought well maybe I'd better stick around for a while and I became a volunteer and I became the treasurer of it so so you work with families that struggle correct Stephanie you do too right you have people that can't afford their medications or can't afford gas in their car right sometimes it seems like the insignificant things or maybe things you wouldn't think of how are they going to get to their medical appointment because they don't have the funds to cover the gasoline or maybe they're struggling because they have reduced earnings because medical appointments are frequently pulling them away from work you know certainly at that point we'd want to educate them about all of their options for programs in the community that could help alleviate that distress because we want to focus on them getting well you know and and help them cope with their their medical conditions and it's the little things that can become big things that make people sicker too it right stress stress can can certainly harm you you know physically and emotionally so even sometimes those things that may seem insignificant to us it means the the world to a patient it can totally flip the trajectory of how things are going to go for them and i spoke to you many times yes in my job too and um this last time when we spoke we had an in in common client client and you talked about pink heels so that's how i got to meet shelly right through pink heels and i didn't even know that existed correct with that said that's a wonderful resource for everybody absolutely absolutely we're very lucky to have them right we had a lady um that Stephanie had referred to us and her main focus was getting her electric bill paid that wear it on her so much you could tell that it stressed her out and stress in dealing with cancer is not a good thing you don't need that right and we paid that for her you know it just she was so elated so happy that just took the stress out of you know from her i think that when we do the jobs that we all do you have to have a passion for it or you can't do your job as well and i know shelly you spoke about your husband tie so could you um tell us a little bit more about tie how i know you you said they christened the the truck in his name but how did it all begin with your journey and your husband um my journey you know he was he was ill and we just did not when when he got sick you know we never thought it would be cancer you know you never think it was going to that was going to be something like that and then we found out that it was cancer we figured like you normally do it's going to be treatable and um and we needed the help too we came to Stephanie Stephanie helped us you know going through our journey of um basically you know working we get some help with everything and she did a wonderful job well they were brothers they're cousins cousins cousins yeah yes cousins yes so but having a truck named after your husband how rewarding is that absolutely absolutely you know it was um you know when that came about and you're it's on facebook and people are throwing names around you're thinking yeah all right that's not going to get there you know they need to name the truck okay are they going to put his name on there and then um Dawn at the time was um a survivor I mean she was battling at the time and um so they called it Dawn Ty and I got to meet her and she was just a lovely little thing I mean she went on she went whenever we went she went she helped as much as she could she was battling the whole time and then she passed away last year so it's just remarkable I mean how we all came together and she was just a sweet sweet and we all need each other to come together absolutely absolutely right right um I what I would like you to do is share a like a good story about you know whether you were working with Stephanie in the story because I know Aurora does a lot of wonderful things too with through their patient assistance program but can is there that story that sticks in your mind that you could share with us because we do have a little time okay um we were actually we were just at a local school in Sheboygan we've been a couple lately and um we brought in the fire trucks and an ambulance and we came in and they were all waiting outside for us and the biggest thing for him was to ride in the fire truck oh my gosh he actually was in the seat was this now that when you say him was this somebody that was dealing with yes he was a first grader okay he was dealing with cancer that's why you came to the school correct okay so somebody must have called you guys you you guys too I hate that you guys that's okay you're you know yes um the school did and we had to make sure it was okay with the family and everybody else and yeah we just we showed our love and support for them when we came in they're all standing out they're waiting for us and the big all he wanted to do was ride in the fire truck so we put him in someone's lap and he rode around in the parking lot and the the light on his face he just lit up that smile oh my gosh it was just wonderful and he got that teddy bear and he would not let go of that teddy bear and we were probably there for a good 20 minutes we all got our picture in front of the fire truck and I think what impacts when we have the local fires fire stations bring us into the wherever we're going to a home or to a school it impacts them too because they really realize what we're doing I mean you're giving that family and that person a hug if it's not the child or the adult and we're giving them a hug and those three little words I love you that support let them know that we're there well and I think it's important because you know firemen are always people that save everybody which is true but so are policemen but I think nowadays some of that has changed a little bit so it's good for the people to see our police being involved and being who they are actually they're just as helpful and caring as our fire department in a positive way in a positive way absolutely and I think it is an impact for them I think people don't really realize until you do one of these visits what it means to these people and what we actually do well and they're human correct our firemen and our policemen I mean they that must feel good for them inside their hearts too I think something good that people think we're just there for the album of financial we're there for the emotional support and that's the most important that's how I feel and Stephanie do you have anything to share with us about you know a really good story or oh I've got lots of good stories but can we air any of those you know certainly we've referred people over to the pink heels organization certainly there's a story of a young cancer patient who is being treated for breast cancer who really needed to be uplifted you know emotionally and financially and I think emotionally specifically just having the pink heels program be able to go and see her and her family and like you said give them a hug and say that they they were loved that made all of the difference in the world you know it's again it may seem insignificant to some people but that can change the whole course for that patient it puts a face to it it's not like we're just handing them a check and it provides the patient with a sense of community that I am loved I am cared about and it almost makes it seem like well then it's okay if I have breast cancer and I'm sick I'm still going to get through it it's not going to change my diagnosis but there's others involved and it provides a little bit of a break from you know worrying with all the other issues related to their diagnosis so you know certainly in my role I want to find programs such as that and people with organizations that can help a person through that process because we all need a helping hand yes we do so and it's good to know it's about emotions the funding is awesome but really if you can tackle the emotion and be involved and make them feel part of it is really awesome three little words and a hug I love you yeah three little words and a hug right yeah absolutely should put that on a t-shirt I think so there's not enough of that out there nowadays you know it's so bad and a lot of them too a lot you know a lot of the people we talk to they need other than family just to vent to and we're there for that right because I think I think that when I went to this particular family meeting you could open up and they felt safe there and then maybe the spouse or the child isn't going to take offense to what so-and-so is saying because it's all part of that yep and they need to talk to somebody else or you know their family members not that they're getting sick of listening to them but they get sick of maybe venting to them and then we're somebody else they can talk to that you know like for me people ask you why do you do this because I've been I've been down that road my husband passed from this so you can explain and this is my way of giving back if I can give put a smile on just one person's face by three little words and a hug it's just that makes your day it's amazing it really is yeah and I can see it in your eyes when you talk because I'm gonna cry Stephanie too I can see it in your eyes as well yeah and I think it's just important to build up a good care team you know from the medical standpoint from the community organization standpoint and certainly with your your family your friends your loved ones well and you know that person that they're venting to whether it be their spouse their their spouse is having problems dealing with what they're going right everybody brings something unique to the situation absolutely so you know certainly we want it to be patient centered but that includes all of the supporting cast members as well it's good it's a good thing yes it is is there anything you'd like to add we have like two minutes left hmm I would just like to share I would people to go to our facebook page like us we're always looking for volunteers to help out and it's pink heels it's pink heels uh-huh we're on facebook and look at the national tour go to the national tour page pink heels national tour and if you want something very touching you know look at what they've actually done and how we're trying to offer the support and the love and what they actually do you'll hear more about Dave Gravel how he started this 10 years ago his passion for this mission now it's wonderful did he have somebody close to him that passed no he did not he just wanted to start something he's retired firefighter and it is so go to our facebook page like us we have meetings once a month you know always looking for volunteers to help and when do you meet once a month um last thursday of the month and where do you meet usually out of sea lanes at 6 30 but we can you know message us on facebook if something changes we'll you know let you let you know and how many people do you have that come to these meetings right now we're probably roughly about 12 to 15 volunteers that includes the officers and the board members they're always looking for more people to help us to give a little bit more love and support so again could you just say it one more time you meet at odyssey lanes it's the fourth thursday from 6 30 to it's usually about an hour hour and a half at the most uh-huh yes the stephanie go no stephanie does not go you're busy with your family sure yeah well well yeah i i do appreciate having them as an option for our patients well i would like to thank shelly and stephanie for joining us today and informing us about pink heels to our audience thank you for turning into an independent lifestyles please join us next month for another interesting topic on maintaining your health and independence independent lifestyles is sponsored by shabuagan county aging and disability resource center and is shown on spectrum channel 990 uverse channel 99 and u w u w s c s shabuagan com dot com on mondays at 2 30 p.m wednesdays at 7 p.m and thursdays at 9 30 a.m see you next month


Hello and welcome to this British Library food season event sponsored by KitchenAid. I'm Polly Russell, the season's founder and curator and I am thrilled to be here in London today at the beautiful KitchenAid Experience Store for one of three events with contemporary chefs cooking and conversing with the living food legends who have inspired them. Today we are honoured to welcome Elizabeth Luard and Olya Hercules. Elizabeth is a food writer who has lived and worked in Spain, Italy, France and Latin America. She's written more than 20 cookery books including Flavours van de Lucia and European peasant cookery, which are as much recipe books as they are explorations of culture, folklore and history. Besides cookery writing, Elizabeth has written two novels, four memoirs and has been writing a cookery column for the oldie magazine for 16 years. A talented artist, Elizabeth's writing is often accompanied by her evocative illustrations. Given her expansive and generous approach to understanding food, it's no surprise perhaps that Elizabeth is the chair of the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery, an organisation dedicated to expanding the culinary conversation. Elizabeth won the 2016 Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award, is most definitely a legend and it is wonderful to have her here today with Olya Hercules. Olya was born in the Ukraine and lived in Cyprus before moving to the UK to study English, Italian and Russian. After working for a time as a reporter for Screen International, her interest in food led her to retrain as a chef. Following training, she worked as a chef to party in restaurants including Otolengi before landing a book deal for Mamushka, a cookery book that celebrates her family's recipes from Ukraine and Moldova to Azerbaijan. Her most recent book, Summer Kitchen, came out last year. Now in a moment I'll hand over to Elizabeth and Olya, but I'd like to mention the other legends in this series. Claudia Rodin with Ita Marshrilovic and Sirit Packer and Jill Norman in conversation with Rosie Sykes. Now finally, if you would like to support the work of the British Library, you'll find a donate button on your screen. There's also a feedback button and we're always very keen to hear from you. Please do join us for other British Library food season events. To find out more, visit the food season page on the website. On this page you'll also find details of the food season competition we're running, which gives you a chance to win a wonderful range of kitchen-aid cordless appliances, a place on a virtual cooking course and a signed copy of Callum Franklin's terrific book, The Pie Room. So finally, thank you to Elizabeth and Olya. We'll be posting their recipes on the website and thank you also to KitchenAid for hosting. Over to you. Thank you. I can't even describe how elated I feel to be here with you for so many reasons. I'm going to start making these dumplings and then we're just going to chat through. Remember the first time that we met which was... Yeah, yeah, Belly Malew. I can't remember what the date was, it was maybe five years ago? Something like that. Yeah, I still remember. Well, shamefully I didn't really know your work for some obscure reason, but I saw the description of your talk and I remember going into that church, it was a beautiful little church, I think, or a chapel, and I just sat there and you spoke and I remember I was writing my second cookbook at the moment at that time and I was going through this really weird writer's block. I was really lost with it all. I don't know why, I can't remember, it was a difficult period. And your words, you just spoke with such clarity, I think about the sun and its connection to vegetables and I don't know, you just inspired me so much, you completely unblocked me. After that I just went back home and I finished the book and it felt so natural and effortless. And of course, you know, I found you that evening and well, I feel like we've become friends. We're really good friends and actually I knew your work because you were writing about very close to the area that interests me, which is about landscape and people and why people do what they do and that pretty much we're dictated in our traditions by where we live. And we can't, even though we can now import masses of things, we don't really move out of it. So what you have there is, it's a dumpling recipe for a wedding and I filmed it very close to where you come from. West of Ukraine? Yeah, doing good. I think it was probably 1991-92 on the Ukrainian border and there were Ruthenians there who were maruned in Slovakia after the curtain came down after the second world war. I saw that episode and it's absolutely incredible. It was a wonderful thing to do and it was really lucky because the wedding was going on anyway. So it wasn't set up or anything. They just said, oh, do you want to come to a wedding? And because I use a sketchbook and a paint box, I tend to be welcome. It's a little tiny sketchbook. It's a nice breaker, isn't it? So people can see what I'm doing and what they are and become much more welcoming than they probably are with a camera. So the wedding, the poppy seed dumplings, they're just interesting because they're made for weddings. They're sweet. They've got sugar and the poppy seeds which are used in huge quantities in Eastern Europe.  A little sprickly.  No, not at all. You can see them in markets in the autumn. You know, great big piles of them laid out. Small mountains, yes. And they're high protein, I think. They're oily as well, so they give you everything you need. And when I lived in Wales, I used to gather the Welsh poppies which are yellow. I used to gather the poppy seeds from there. What's that process like? Is it quite... Just shake it out. Really? Yes. Oh, I need to try that. You've probably got poppies in your garden, haven't you? I do, actually, yes. Olya came to my flat in London when I moved from Wales and she arrived with a big basket that you collected in your garden. The allotment. The allotment. And it was kind of late in the season, so everything was quite overgrown, wasn't it? Yes. Including pennyroyal. Yes. Which is... It's used a lot in Spain, but usually with snails. Yes. So I don't know why it is. I think it's mildly, it's digestive, it's probably kills little bits that you might not want in there and things like that. And I used to collect snails. So all my work, in a way, is very much like yours and I can understand why it appealed to you. Because we're talking very much the same language. And your new book, which is completely summer kitchens, where you're talking about the northern version of what was going on in my life in Andalusia. Right. Yes, so many similarities. Yes, a lot of similarities. So, I mean, we all learn from each other. I'm going to watch you. Look at that. So it still looks a little bit rough, but we're going to leave it. Some people are so scared of dough, but just leave it for a bit, it will relax. And then when I need it again, it will just be smooth, smooth, smooth as if by magic. But let's go back to your travelling, to that trip, please, and many other trips, because that is an extraordinary series. Can you tell me how it all came about? I didn't think anybody would publish a book called European peasant cookery, but I wanted to call it European peasant cookery because that was what it was. Because the word peasant in the UK has a sort of, you know, you don't want to be that. But throughout most of Europe, everybody, you know, it's a thing that you're proud of being. And I came to it because when I lived in Andalusia with my children, they all went to school on donkey back, and they learned, I mean, there was still threshing wheat, growing wheat, threshing wheat with a donkey. And my son went to the local school, which was all ages in the same building, and he came back and I said, what have you been doing today? And he said, well, I'm not going to tell you, a sort of seven-year-olds, eight-year-olds do. Then after a bit he said, OK, I'll tell you. This is what we did. We set traps for rabbits in the lettuce patch, and then we caught a rabbit, and we skinned the rabbit, and we made a stew with the rabbit. So I thought, OK, you know, the sort of childhood that you're getting is something that's going to disappear because actually it's incredibly hard work, you know, the sort of self-sufficient way of life in a valley in Andalusia, which I had to learn all sorts of things.  You shouldn't be doing that. You should keep a pig.  Did you get a pig? Yeah, sure. Yeah, we call it piggy. And it was really quite... I mean, in a way, it was traumatic because we weren't used to it, but I kept rabbits. So, you know, the idea that meat is something that somebody else isn't responsible for was really very keenly felt in the area. Women were responsible for anything smaller than a goose.  She said, I'll do it once, and then, you know, you've got to know how to do it. That was a sort of... I mean, it was a kind of knowledge of country how to behave properly in the world, and that you plant chickpeas, and that you harvest them, and that you plant garlic under the lemon tree because that will keep the black fly, all that kind of information, and how to deal with a pig.  And so, that was the basis. So I said, OK, I want to do European peasant cookery. This is what I want to call it. And I must have done quite a good proposal because I got enough to do the travelling. Have you been writing already, or were you still an illustrator? Yes, I had. I had a... I was a natural history artist, and I sort of added the writing to the fact that I could read a landscape. So I had a column in the field, which was, well, rabbits and things, not actually pigs, but plenty of wild stuff, which suited me. And so I'd already maybe done a couple of years of that. And then, do you want to write a book? Yes, I want to write a book. This is what I want to call it. And then I had the gaps. I mean, I was OK in the UK. I was OK in Spain. Good understanding around the Mediterranean, but I didn't have Eastern Europe and I didn't have Scandinavia. So I went to the Oxford Symposium on food and cookery in, say, 1983, something like that. And found people who said, oh yes, we understand what you're talking about. You know, come to Norway and I'll tell you, I'll send you to see my daughter who lives up above the Arctic Circle. You don't need a lot of information. You just need somebody and then they pass you on to somebody else. So I did that in Eastern Europe, but I didn't get as far as Slovakia. I stayed within the Ottoman Empire because I understood that, because it comes out of Turkey. So I did a long trip round Eastern Europe looking in people's gardens, going to markets, using my sketchbook to ask people what they were putting in things. Was it nutmeg? OK, I can draw a nutmeg. How do you do it? So just quickly, very quickly, mention what we've been doing here because we can get carried away so easily. So I've got some curd cheese, which of course you can buy it, but you can also just strain some yoghurt. Or in my case, I've just strained some kefir, actually overnight in the muslin, and that works really well. And we've got some poppy seeds, I've got some nutmeg, some salt and one egg. And this is our filling. And the dough, here's the one that I made earlier, we've got some eggs, some water and some flour, that's it. It's just very simple. No machinery required. And of course it's so much nicer to roll everything out by hand as well. But if somebody wants to use a pasta machine, I always say it's not a problem at all. We won't judge you, but this is a really nice, very relaxing thing to do, I find. Yes, and it's also something that people do at a wedding situation. Everybody will come and help. So younger folk can see what the older folk are doing. So there's a transfer of information when it's not a catered thing. It's where we were filming and I collected this recipe. It was in a separate house, which was kept for weddings or events that the village wanted to celebrate, possibly even funerals, I don't know. It was just a general meeting house. And there was a kitchen and there were maybe about 20 women in there. And they were all doing exactly the same thing and all talking to each other and exchanging news. Isn't it amazing? Yeah, it was great. Yeah, in my part of Ukraine we do that when we make a wedding bread called korobai. And tradition kind of says that it should be seven women and one of them, the leader, it's preferable that she's married and maybe with kids as well. So obviously you're just putting all of these positive vibes basically into your dough and passing all of that on to the bride, which is a really nice thing, I think. Would you like to do some shaping as well? I want to see what you do. So how was it travelling in Eastern Europe at that point in time as well? That was straight after the Berlin Wall came down. No, it was before the Wall came down. And it was quite difficult actually because you find yourself quite often in places where you've been followed by police cars and Romania particularly. But on the other hand, because food is sort of a universal thing, I think I need the long... Is there another one? Oh, wow, look at that. I don't know where I got that. I bring stuff back from wherever I am. I love yours, that's a really nice little thing. Thank you, I think it's an Italian one, a pasta one. And how did you find fixes there? How did you find people who found you people at that point? I had a link in every place I went to. So in Bucharest, I had a link with American Spy for no good reason. And she was called Kiki, Kiki Mochis. So I think she sent me to the places that she thought I would need to go to. And once that was done, I mean, I knew she was a spy, I don't suppose I'm really able to do that, but I wouldn't have cared. And up in the Cafethians, sometimes there's an exchange if you want something from people. And it could just be a sketch. I mean, I've been invited to weddings. Bring your sketchbook and you can come. That's amazing. So that sort of worked. And these dumplings are from the Cropethians or quite. These are from, well, Slovakia in the High Tatras. Right, yeah. Bears and Wolves, that kind of thing. But I didn't get there until I was filming. I didn't get there for the European Person Cookery. Okay. And did you witness the women making them? Yeah, I did. And we filmed them. So I had to get the recipe. Yours is much bigger than mine. It's smaller piece. Or did you give me the same size? Maybe I'm rolling it up a little bit thinner. Is this too thin? No, it's perfect. Well, this is the first time that I make these. But if they are kind of similar, so would you call them peroshki in your recipes? Is that what they were called? But they're boiled and not baked. They're boiled but not baked. That's interesting. Yeah. I had a cutter somewhere. And I think the egg holds it together, you see. So that matters. Okay, I'm not going to watch you. So this is our filling. Look how fluffy and gorgeous it is. Now if you're going to bake it. Yes. It'll be as thick as that. If you're going to boil it, you can do it a bit thinner. Shall I do it thinner? Yes. Yes, ma'am. I will definitely do it thinner. And just boiled and salted water, yeah? Yeah. Just wait till they're bob to the top, like ordinary dumplings. And of course these are sweet. And you know, I'm used to the idea of a sweet dumpling. We filled them with sour cherries and apricots. And you name it. And also served with butter and sugar. But maybe for our audience. That's an unusual thing. So when would they be served? Are they served as a dessert? Now let me think. I think they are. Yes, I think it was at the end. At the end of the meal. So they serve the same purpose as a wedding cake. Right. Amazing. And the fact they've got seeds in them is an indication that you should get on and procreate. Yes. Of course. Really important. So, so before the Berlin Wall came down, you're all over in Romania, in Ukraine, in Hungary. And what were people like? You know, what did they think of this of this adventurer? I didn't know. From England. I didn't know. I wasn't really thinking about that. I mean, I can go into a market and people, the children will come and watch what I'm doing. Drawing, presumably. Yes. I can take that out and show you what it looks like. So basically what we do is we're just going to cut it, roll it out into a bit of a sausage, and then cut pieces, and then we're going to roll each one into a, you know, rough circle, right? Yeah. Okay, sorry. Keep telling me about your, about your travel, about your adventures. So market drawing. So market, go to a market, find the market where, because I've done my homework where the traditional midday meal is set out. It'll be beans, potatoes, veg. Right. Maybe a bit of meat, that kind of thing. Yeah. And then go and take out my sketchbook and the kids come round and they talk to me, whether I can talk to them back. Yeah. I've got Spanish and French, pretty bad German, and one of those will do, and if it doesn't, and I want to know if it's honey in something, I'll just go, and it's not as difficult as you might think if you don't mind being an idiot, which is all fine.  Yeah. It's good. Are you going to do, are you going to do some as well? Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. I think you're my granny now. Yes. We're swapping rolls. Yeah. So markets, what were markets, what were the markets like? There were wonderful markets in, what was then Yugoslavia. Right. And it, while we were travelling, because I had my husband Nicholas with me, it changed throughout Yugoslavia and you could see that people were not doing the same thing with a cabbage and a bag of flour as they would have been doing in another part. So when I'd finished it, I had somebody, a native of wherever I was researching, telling me whether I'd made any enormous mistakes. I'd just send off the text. And in Yugoslavia, I had a problem because I couldn't say there was a Yugoslavian way of cooking. Right. There was a Bosnian. There was a Kosovo. Of course. It had divided into the seven groups it now is in. I think it's in seven groups. So it was perfectly obvious that people were saying who they are by the way they were cooking. And I think that remains true. You like doing that because that's what you're used to. And that works for you. So if I was in your kitchen because you'd invited me, then I would be watching what you were doing and go home and write it all down, including the jokes that you made. Your mother's Christian name. And all the rest of the stuff that you pick up as you're travelling. And you've completely managed to avoid the dreadful Soviet style canteens? No, I did canteens as well. Did you? How was that experience? A lot of pink sausage and stuff. Yeah, dreadful. And in Romania, the official market was full of pink stuff. And not many cabbages because they were sending those to Russia and they were rather cross about that. But round the back streets people were unloading stuff out of the back of cars and things. So you could tell what the preoccupation was, what people really wanted to eat. And that becomes pretty obvious. And the other trick, of course, is you go into a supermarket and you go and look and see what's in the frozen food section or in the cans. Because that's what people really, that's their everyday, what they like to eat. So it kind of tells you lots of information. Would you like to do one? Yeah, thank you. Okay, here's some spoons here. So does this look right, the consistency? Probably is a little bit thicker with the cheese that you would have encountered in Hungary. Looks pretty good. Yeah, it's good. Okay, so I've just got this really uneven circle. Let's just make it a little bit neater. Bring a little bit of water to fix it? No, this dough is actually very soft because I eyeballed it. It should be a little bit, it just sticks. You don't need anything. Do that finger thing when you clip it together with your finger. It's just very easy. Look, it just sticks together because I've made quite a wet dough. Sorry. But here we are. But they will be very nice to eat because the softer the dough, the nicer they are when you boil them. Beautiful. So what I'm doing is just making a crescent, right? Yeah. And then... And you've done a little patterned one, haven't you? Yeah, and I wanted to show you how to do this action. So you just grab it by the edge and then... Oh, I've got cream on my fingers, which would not be a good thing. Okay. And then, so the first one, we just grab this corner and basically you just want each corner to go alongside where the filling ends and kind of the empty dough begins. So I'm just kind of like sending it over my thumb. Okay. And kind of using my finger to push it down. Okay. Just like this. So you're just making a twist, basically. You're just twisting it. Yeah, you're doing it. It's a bit bigger than yours. Maybe my fingers are a bit bigger. You're tiny now. Well, you know, when I teach dumpling making, I always say, look, even the simplest technique, where you think that they will all look the same, they don't. They look so different, because of course we're all individual. And people will know who's done what, won't they? Exactly. I love it. It looks gorgeous. Probably better be here. Just keep it there. Keep your dumpling there. Perfect. I'll give you another one. Do you want to do it again? Yeah, why not? I'll give you another one, isn't it? It's just such a lovely thing to do. As you say, you know, people do it together. I'll give you this one. I'll give you some flour. I'll give you some flour. Yeah. And this we can do for hours. We can just stand here discussing where we've been and what we've done. Exactly. And you did all the, you went back home, didn't you, to do the summer kitchens? So for summer kitchens, yes.  You know what? I must kind of adopt your technique, your watercolour technique. That is such a lovely way to make friends. Are you doing it now? No. I am drawing a lot at home, but I haven't done it. You know, obviously I haven't been able to travel yet. But yeah, we did about 10,000 kilometres all over Ukraine and went into people's summer kitchens. Yeah. What time of year are you there? Mainly spring, summer and just the beginning of autumn. So the season, when the summer kitchens obviously are used. Because it's not just summer food, is it? It's preparing food for winter. Well, exactly, yes. And have you encountered that during your travels? Yes. Have you seen them? The main preoccupation in when the weather's good is to stock it up for when it's not. Yeah. Particularly in the north, because the growing season is so short. I don't know what it is in Ukraine, but certainly there's nothing much coming up in gardens in Britain until about May, something like that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess similar in Ukraine as well. May will get our first kind of like fresh-bored juice. Do people go home at Easter to plant potatoes? Yeah. Yeah. Because it's such a thing. It's a practical as well as, a nice little round. Oh, that's perfect. Look at you. Okay. I know. Brilliant. It's very good. But you can stuff them more than I do. I don't risk as much stuffing as you do. Yeah, yeah. That's a skill, isn't it? Yeah, well, I don't know if it's always the good thing, because they do unravel if you overstuff them, but I'm so greedy. I just want all the filling. Yeah, and it's so much nicer, isn't it? So the wedding where, so you went to the wedding where juice was served. Yes, yes, always through. And there was lots of play-acting. Right. Yeah, tell me about that. That's interesting. Do you have play-acting in... So we have this really interesting thing where there's, well, the wedding is two days. Yeah. And the second day, all of the men wear women's clothing. Oh yes, no, there was that. We call it the gypsy wedding. And it's wonderful. It's really funny.  Women's clothing, I know. It's a bit like sort of... Yeah. I really wanted to do that, but also... But that was disguise that men came in in women's clothing for the bridegroom to choose which was his bride, and then the bride came in eventually. Is that where that comes from? I didn't know. That's so fascinating. But they're fun, aren't they? Well, you are. The weddings. And they're also shoeing the bride? Very odd. Do you know that one? Yeah, shoeing the bride. Do you want to tell... So she doesn't run around and... Yeah, that's... Get up to stuff behind the cow shed. That's really crazy. Yeah, I think people are stopping to do this now, but... What other food were they serving? There would have been chicken, because there always is. Yeah. And there were noodles, too. So just cut noodles. So the same paste. And the weddings happen in the spring because then you've got food. Yeah. You've got the first curd from the cow. Yeah. And you didn't have it in before then. So it has to be May, something like that. Yeah. That's the reason for May weddings. And no greenery for some reason. No...  No green stuff. No vegetables. Really? It's no vegetables. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. I don't know. Green has a sort of funny connotation, doesn't it? No, I didn't know that. That's really interesting. So it's... I think it goes back to pagan times. It does. So people have these ideas about what's right and what's wrong. Yeah. And you can see when somebody looks at what you're doing and they think, ah, she comes from somewhere else. I was in Greece with a whole American group of people, you know, chefs and food writers and things like that, about 80 of us. And we were in Thessalonica on that peninsula. And we were being shown, first of all, how to build a bread oven, how to bake bread in the bread oven. Right. And then how to fry vegetables over jeans. Yeah. And somebody hadn't turned up. So there was a vacant stall.  And then there was this vacant stall. Any volunteers? Yes, yes, yes, I say. Yes, yes, yes. And so I went forward and started frying the aubergine slices, dipping them in flour, dipping them in... Actually, they did flour and then water rather than I'd have done egg and then... Anyway. And they all stopped and looked to me and started laughing. And I said, why are you laughing?  Which, of course, I was. And I have no idea, you know, why... Because I'd copied exactly what my companions had been doing. Yeah. But they still knew that I was frying like a Spaniard. That's so fascinating. The slate of hand is very much personal and to somewhere. So what you're doing now is what you're used to.  Yeah. So the water is on, slightly salted. We need to melt some butter. And of course, you know, back at home in Ukraine as well, when my grandma would make very similar dumplings, you know, you'd have something that we called krynicka, which means a little well. But essentially it was almost like half a pack of butter. Yeah. The more butter the better. So we're going to bathe our dumplings and butter as well. And I am going to do half a pack. Why not? I'm just going to switch it on. And then of course, we're going to sprinkle some sugar on them. And you know what? Now I use a little bit of maple syrup. I know that this is not traditional. But we don't have any today. But at home, if people don't want to use sugar, because sugar is the enemy now. So just a little bit of honey or maple or something like that. Honey would be good. And honey must have preceded it. That must have been what was used before. Originally before sugar, before fine sugar. Yeah, exactly. And also I think that the mixture with the poppy seeds, that is kind of dusting. Yeah. Rather than a syrupy sweetening. Yeah. So the water is boiling and I'm just going to pop them in. And because the filling is pretty much cooked, we're just waiting for the pasta to cook, which is going to take two minutes, two to three minutes until they pop on top, as you just said. Here you are. Okay, so put them in. Does that work? The butter is nice and melted. I'm just going to switch it off. Yeah, that should work. The dumplings are in. It's actually such a nice dough, because it sticks to itself, doesn't it? It does. No, exactly. So I'm just going to give it a swirl so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. And maybe just increase the temperature a little bit just so they cook quickly. And then we'll just take them out, pour some butter over them, a little bit of extra poppy seed.  And then I'm sure you, again, because it's a pasta dough. And then you'd have another dish with that. And that would be served with a sink. Exactly. So these are called vareniki, where I come from in the south of Ukraine. And my grandma would call these off-cuts vareniki, which means the little bits. Yeah, the little bits. So these were literally two minutes away. Got some butter. I can't wait to taste these. Lesbeth, I've never tried these before with poppy seeds. So this is all very, very exciting. Have you ever boiled? Have you or not? Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, we do them exactly in the same way, but we don't use poppy seeds. So I'm really excited about the addition of poppy seeds. It will be beautiful. It's a fertility symbol. There we are. Gorgeous. Tell me about your paintings. I don't know where we are. Have you still got some from that period, from when you travelled around? Yes, I keep masses of them. This is... Let's see. Oh, I know where it is. It's at Abergavenny, so it's quite close to home. And this is what I use. You've seen me use that before, haven't you? Yes, I have. They're absolutely gorgeous, Lesbeth. It's such a lovely way to kind of break the ice and start a conversation, aren't they? Gorgeous. I love these breads. It's sort of... It's a friendly medium. It's not like a camera, as I say. Yes. People come and watch. Actually, when paint goes on paper, it's really shiny. So you can take advantage of that. It's like a cartoon. The children will come and watch and then their parents will come. And then they will tell the other recipes and the stories. And then you get a story. It was fantastic. Amazing. I have such a pleasure to hear about all of these. I almost feel... I wish that I... Even though I lived there at the time, I wish that I could have seen everything that my grandmother used to do and my mom used to do with the eyes that I have now. Haven't been taken out of Ukraine. You just appreciate all of those little details so much more. I wish that I asked my grandma so many more questions. I think the fact that you watched her when you were little, did you? I did. But just impatiently, just waiting to be fed. So I don't think if those little bits kind of went in as much as they would have done now. But of course, she passed away when I was 12. So yeah, I really regret not asking more questions for sure. So you're telling me all of these stories. I don't know, it's bringing her back to life a little bit. I think as well. So it's really nice. Thank you. These are done. So I'm just going to take them out and we're going to address them with our gorgeous melted butter and poppy seeds. You could drop them in a chicken broth, you know? But actually these are sweet anyway. Yeah, but the filling isn't. So probably not traditional, but you could serve them with some crispy onions or something as a savory thing. It doesn't have to be. It's quite a versatile filling, I find. And the dough, of course, is just gorgeous. These are going to be so silky to eat. The dough is just the one that you get all over Europe. Yeah. You know, it's either made with water on its own or a proportion of egg or all egg. And this is virtually all egg. And sometimes just with yolks. Yeah, look at that. Ha ha ha! I'm not putting as much as my grandmother. OK, and then this a little bit of sugar. A bit of nutmeg. Or did we put the nutmeg in the stuffing? Can't remember. I put a little bit in the stuffing, but there's no harm. Shall I do a little bit? Yeah. Just a little flourish of nutmeg and just a little bit of sugar. But of course, as I say, you can use honey and that will be really nice as well. Just a tiny little sprinkling here. Traditional Hungarian poppy seed dumplings. Voila, they smell amazing. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much, Elizabeth. It was such a pleasure. I loved making these with you. And thank you for sharing your story. And I've learned how to do the edge now. Well, you have, but you already knew how to do that. Thank you very much, Olli. I'm lovely to see you anyway. Thank you.


Hey y'all, what's up? My name is Sonali, welcome to my channel if you are new. And if you are, hit that subscribe button. But if you are already subscribed and if you're gonna subscribe, then definitely hit those post notifications so you guys can get notified every time I post a video, which I feel like I'm getting on a good schedule of a Sunday and Wednesday post schedule. Let me know if you guys are down with that or would you prefer Monday and Wednesday? I feel like Sundays are a big YouTube day for me, so I just picked Sunday. I feel like I haven't vlogged in a while, so I wanted to pick up the camera and vlog and I got already, so I thought might as well. Today I'm also gonna be updating you guys on my health journey, but I'll do that a little bit later. I wanna get this video cranked out that I'm about to do. I've been meaning to do this for so long now and it's kind of like an at home photo shoot video for my YouTube channel. I have some really cool tools that I feel like not many people know about. So I'm very excited to share them with you guys and just share the process of how I take my photos. If you guys follow me on Instagram, you would know that I got the most beautiful florals this week and I am kind of basing my shoot around them. They're just so pretty and I wanna take some photos with them. This is what they look like and as you can tell, they're slowly like wilting and dying and I'm so sad because I really wish I could keep them forever. Obviously the next best thing is to take photos with them so that's what I'm gonna do today. It is currently 10 a.m. I got up pretty early to just get full glam for a full day of just like content. Actually later tonight, I think at three or something but I have to like leave by two, two 30.  This morning at 9 a.m. my friend Sarah came over because there's like this launch with a brand happening I think in September or something. I was gonna blog it but obviously I wasn't allowed to show the pieces unfortunately but we just took like some mirror selfies for the brand so that they could use it like their campaign and stuff and what else? Oh, right now I'm randomly obsessed with the idea of redoing our patio and just making it a lot cuter. I know so many of you guys asked where that freaking wicker glider is on my patio. I guess I can show it to you guys. It's from Walmart but of course it's not online anymore. I cannot find it anywhere. It's so annoying. All right, so this is the patio now. Got my bike, the Yeti helmet, this mirror that I don't know why it's face that way and then I have this little area which is really nice to sit on and just like, you know, enjoy the warmth out here and then these two pieces are from Amazon and then like I said, this is from Walmart but I was thinking, I just had this idea. What if I sprayed like the wicker and this part maybe not that part but just like the wicker white but the thing that I've been obsessing over is having a concrete table. I've heard that you can like fake concrete that's what Sarah said but this would be my dream table for out there. This style is super in right now just like literally a hollow box. I think it's so cool.  I think Serena and Lily has similar bedside tables which I was obsessed with but obviously still really expensive but if I could just do like this and then have like a concrete top that would be so cool. I actually just texted Brian to see if it's like easy to make so we will see what he says. I really just wanna redo the patio because we re-signed on our way so we'll be here for at least another 11 months because I think it like got re-signed in June. Well actually, it's literally August. What the heck? So weird, so freaking weird. I'm gonna stop rambling for now. I'm gonna start my video that I was doing. Fun fact, my videos, my sit down videos, the like main channel videos. I don't really have a separate vlog channel or main channel. If you've been watching the YouTube videos for a while you know what I mean. I kind of created an outline of just like the points I always wanna hit so I'll always do it in Google Docs so I can access it from my iPhone, iPad, computer, whatever. So I have just some things like bulleted out and you would think this would make me like a little less stressed and like nowhere to start and like can get it done but I just feel like I've been putting off this video for so long. But the first step is to find some inspo. So I'm gonna go on Instagram and see what are some posts that I've saved in the past that I kinda wanna like recreate and I purposely wore this like purple shirt to like kinda go with the pastels of those flowers. So I think I'm gonna do the flower picture first. So I just set up the camera, got all my tools and I have this app that you can see yourself on the iPhone. So it's super helpful, especially like when I'm filming just to make sure that everything is not too bright, not too dark. My camera does a really good job of keeping everything in focus, like my face and stuff. So that's always nice. I'm currently filming the video. It's taking so long, I don't know why but now I think I'm gonna treat myself to a matcha. I haven't eaten anything and it's like almost one but it's perfect because I'm trying to do intermittent fasting and I had something late at night last night. So I'm gonna make some matcha. I am currently doing the keto diet but I'm doing like the more moderate route. So please don't hate on me. I know the soy milk that I use has some carbs. I'm just trying to like finish everything off before I buy like other milks. I don't really like almond milk though. So that's an issue but I think I do like oat milk which I think that's keto. I feel maybe it's not, I don't know. I need to research more. So Sarah told me that if you put your matcha powder in the fridge it lasts longer. So I did that. And I use this one that I got off of, I wanna say Amazon, maybe not, maybe Amazon Fresh but I feel like it's Amazon and I'll link it down below if I'm able to. It's the Rishi Sweet Matcha Japanese Green Tea Latte Mix and it is a powder. So that is perfect because I can just put it in my frother which I love to do. Usually I put heavy whipping cream first and then the matcha powder but I'm gonna try to mix the matcha with just some water and then put the heavy whipping cream like in, I don't know, now I'm confused because I do need the heavy whipping cream. So maybe I'll do the heavy whipping cream first. Heavy whipping cream is keto and I love to put this even in just like my coffee because it makes it so much thicker. I just poured ice in my large mason jar. This is my favorite freaking cup. You guys already know. And I have this little lid and then my glass straw, I don't know why I put it on. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and put my soy milk in there. Basically I wanna get like a really cool photo of like the matcha at the top, you know? So let's see if this works. I just shot the clip for my video and I finally get to drink my matcha and it's so good. I finished my video just in time.  I honestly don't know where this is from, but this is what I'm wearing. I feel like this is my go-to outfit when it comes to like a hot day and having to look nice. It is almost 6.30 and the bachelorette party was actually in Dripping Springs, which is about 30 minutes away from my house. And I actually was done with that about 5.30. I was like back in my area, but then I decided to go get some drone footage because I had my drone with me. And so I took drone footage for my where to live in awesome video, which should be up before this video, so I'll link that down below. But it's gonna be a really good video because I have so much Austin footage that I haven't really been able to use in a video because I'm just kind of starting to make more awesome videos. And honestly, let me know in the comments if you like them or not. I just felt like since my apartment tour video was kind of going viral, I guess, on YouTube, I mean, it was getting, let's see how many views it's at right now because it's probably, hopefully gonna be my most viewed video ever. That'd be super cool. It's on the way up, but not yet. It currently has 84,000 views and my videos usually don't even get 1,000, okay? So that's a big deal for me. And I feel like I'm getting a lot of new Austin followers. If you guys do live in Austin or like Texas in general, comment down below where you're from in Texas. Honestly, everyone comment where they're from. I'm really curious to see. So I'm just trying to make a lot of Austin videos from a perspective of someone who recently moved here. It was about, you know, a year ago or so. So I hope those videos help whoever is moving here because I know so many people are moving here like every single day. I just wanna keep making those videos but obviously I'm trying to like incorporate those videos and like my other videos so that if you don't really care about my Austin videos you don't have to watch them but you do have other content to watch throughout the week. So I am literally so dehydrated. I just feel like I need the electrolytes. Also, I heard that electrolytes are good for keto diets and so this is the Gatorade Zero. And it's perfect. Ryan actually bought these and I was like, wait, these are keto. After I started the keto diet, I was like, that's kind of perfect because he left and he left me so much Gatorade.  I didn't put my AC back on because I've realized when I film the AC is so loud. I mean, it's like, it's going on right now. I don't know if it's like really loud or noticeable to you guys but I think for especially my main channel videos like the sit down ones or like whatever, the more highly produced videos I'm going to try to turn my AC off every time if I'm like, okay with it.   I don't know why I'm hyped up right now.  I will kind of catch you guys up on my health journey because that's what this video is about. And I'm sorry for making you guys wait but I did want to make it like more of a vlog because I don't know, I just like vlogging so hope you guys don't mind. I took a little break. I watched some YouTube videos on the TV and drank my Gatorade. But now I feel like I'm ready to talk about my health journey with you guys. If you guys have just started following me I started my health journey in July of 2019. So a year ago. And I guess you could like listen to all this in my first ever health journey video. It was kind of like talking about, you know how I felt before starting my journey and like why I was doing it. So that will be linked down below. But like I said, I was in a sorority and they did have a meal plan and I did not have any willpower. Like for some reason I would just get literally five churros if it was churro night because it was just like a buffet and you could literally get thirds if you wanted. And sometimes I would and it was really, really bad. And obviously they did have a salad bar but you know, if you have like really good food right next to the salad you're probably gonna go for the really good food. So I didn't really eat that great in college but then when I got out of college and got my own apartment I finally had a kitchen to myself and I've never had my own kitchen because well I did live off campus, freshman and sophomore year of college but like I said, I had a sorority meal plan literally four years of college so I didn't have a reason to cook really except for on the weekends which I always looked forward to eating out. So basically I feel like I gained a lot of weight from that meal plan. So once I got my own kitchen I was able to cook and I feel like definitely the portion sizes were better but not good enough for like you know, what I weigh and my height and everything because I'm pretty sure. I don't know if I would call myself petite. I always feel petite because Ryan is like six foot or six two or something like that. So I always feel petite but I am five foot three inches. I feel like me and Ryan would kind of go through like healthy phases where I would cook really healthy one week and then I would just eat out the next week and I feel like nothing was as bad as that sorority meal plan because like let me tell you all like, I don't know, I just could not control myself like I said. Beware if you are single and you want a boyfriend you will literally gain like 20 pounds being in our relationship. And I'm not blaming Ryan for this. It's literally just like one of our passions is food and we love trying new foods. We love just going to eat out and that experience of it. And I feel like I'll always love food. I've definitely heard of people saying portion control is like the biggest thing. And another big issue is that I will serve Ryan so much food because he's obviously bigger than me and then sometimes I would kind of serve myself the same amount and I'm not like his size. I know what I've done wrong in the past and I'm trying to do better for the future. Last July I started Orange Theory Fitness and I think my heaviest weight was like 175 and I know people don't really care about weight and people say like, oh, weight's just a number but I like to see the number because I have a goal and I wanna see myself like making progress if that makes sense because even if I take progress pictures I can't see like the immediate change, you know? And I know it's really bad that I like need that instant gratification but honestly it's just really helpful to see that progress. I ended up losing 10 to 15 pounds over a year and I think I probably would have lost more if I started to eat healthy but my mentality was that I was working out so I could eat anything that I wanted now and I just, I feel like if I could do it all over again I would definitely try to eat healthier because I probably would have seen really good results from it. The reason why I say 10 to 15 also is because I am fluctuating a lot. Yeah, I don't know why. Really quickly I wanted to show you guys a couple of photos from me in June 2019 when I just moved to Texas. And here are some photos of me in the past month. So since COVID, Orange Theory really hasn't been the same because I took two months of a break because obviously everything was shut down and then when they did open back up I actually did go a couple of times. I feel like maybe for two weeks so like probably six classes maybe five. And then I went back to Georgia and when I was in Georgia they started requiring everyone to wear masks while they worked out. And at first they were just requiring masks to just go in the lobby and get to your station and everything. So I decided to quit Orange Theory so I called them and the guy on the phone was a really good salesman. He was basically telling me that I had literally the lowest rate which I know my rate is super duper low. And I decided to pause my account. I have until September 2nd to decide if I wanna like keep going with Orange Theory or quit for good. So we will see how I feel but I feel like that two month break really just threw me off and I feel like I just didn't love it. I mean I still like it. I think it's a great thing to like especially like kickstart your health journey. I'm really glad I did it. Super glad I did it because now I feel like I can actually run and before that the thought of running I literally thought I would vomit. I also really liked the group setting because it motivated me to just push myself more because you would see like an older lady going so much faster than you and you'd be like, what the heck, I'm a healthy girl. I need to go faster and push myself and be at her level or higher. I'm also really, really stressed out because recruitment season is coming upon us and I'm actually helping some sororities with their recruitment videos. So I've been just filming all the freaking time and devoting like literally so many hours to that and I'm really excited for it because this is like what I wanted to get into. I really wanted to get into the Greek life seen here at UT. So I'm really thankful that that has happened but it just sucks because none of the girls are in town and obviously we can't have too many people in the same vicinity at once. So it's kind of just weird and hard and I feel really bad for them that they have to do virtual recruitment. So since I'm kind of stressed out with all of that I feel like I just don't have the time for like a scheduled workout because it makes me even more stressed that like two hours out of my day are being taken up by like working out. I don't know. Cause like even when I was in orange theory I would just like literally have so much stuff going through my mind that I felt like I needed to write down but I didn't have my phone to write it down and it would just like drive me insane. So I think maybe just like at a later time I could try it again and I feel like it could be better cause I really did like orange theory. So I highly recommend anyone try it out maybe like in a couple months when you know everything's back to normal. I mean like if you're cool with like working out with a mask on then go for it but me and Ryan actually signed up for lifetime fitness which we had all throughout like high school or middle school. I don't know. I think it was high school and we loved lifetime back in Roswell. So we signed up for that because that way I could just go whenever I had free time and I don't feel like I have to go to this one scheduled workout. I feel like once all of these recommend videos are done and you know sent in I could finally breathe and focus on myself and this health journey. My friend's birthday is coming up and we rented a house on Lake Travis. We're gonna do like a full boat day and everything. So I'm really excited about that. And that is my main motivation for losing weight right now and just getting on the healthy track again. So I decided to start the ketogenic diet basically a low carb diet. I know that there's like an unhealthy way and a healthy way to do it. So I'm trying my hardest to be healthy. I bought so much stuff. So I'm definitely going to be uploading a keto haul if you guys are interested in that. Comment down below if you guys are doing keto or if you have ever tried it and if you had good results from it because I actually tried it in college and I did it for like maybe two weeks. And I feel like I lost like a little under 10 pounds which was like actually crazy. And I know that this is like a fast diet and like you could definitely gain the weight back if you don't eat right after you stop the diet. And obviously that is the goal to try to eat healthier. I'm honestly just the type of person that if I don't quit cold turkey it's like so hard for me to get into something if that makes sense. So it's just nice to have these rules that you go by and it tells you exactly what you can and cannot eat. I started my keto diet on July 27th and I'm doing like the moderate route where you can have some kind of carbs. Obviously I'm gonna like search for like carbs I can eat but there are some carbs in like these little keto snacks. And honestly so many things that you don't think have carbs in it like healthy things do have carbs in it. So I just wanna be realistic and try to eat healthier but have some carbs and not be too strict with myself. So that is my update on my health journey. You can follow my Instagram to keep up with me about my stories. I'm gonna try to post keto snacks and some keto dinner recipes and just lunch and hopefully I'll like try to keep up with that but I've posted a couple things on my stories so far. So go and check that out if you guys aren't interested. Even if you're not doing keto it's always good to have some low carb meals. If you guys made it to the end of this video definitely hit that subscribe button and turn on your post notifications so you guys get notified of my videos because obviously I feel like the subscription box hates me like I don't know I feel like everyone has said that they just never see my videos and there's subscription boxes and I'm like what the heck? So turn on your post notifications and I will see y'all in my next video. Bye.