Saturday 6 April 2013

Day 44: Moxie's and Saskatoon

A few days ago, one of my friends texted me to inform me that I was going to be kidnapped today and taken to Saskatoon. That's the biggest city in the province, and it's a 2.5 drive from here.

So, today, I was not in fact kidnapped, but I did willingly get in a car with two of my friends and we drove there. Halfway there, we stopped at an A&W because they were hungry (I packed snacks and ate before we left), but all I can eat there is condiments and milkshakes. I got a strawberry milkshake, no mustard, thanks. And then I drove the rest of the way there, because eating poutine or burgers and driving is not fantastic. Lesson learned: A&W is a bust.

In Saskatoon, we had a ton of fun. We spent most of the afternoon at the big mall there, and went jean shopping, shoe shopping, and I made one of the girls try on several pairs of fluorescent pants. We also went to Lush, which is easily my favourite cosmetics store! They have so many amazing smelling things, and innovative products, and everything's natural and handmade.. Okay, I'm not a commercial, but I could spend all of my money there every paycheck and be perfectly happy. But, sadly, I was broke. Both of my friends bought a couple cosmetics, and they both bought henna dye.

I mentioned yesterday to Banana that I wanted to dye my dark hair again, and asked if she'd do it tomorrow. It's been blonde since August, but I guess I'm getting bored of it. I'm actually not. I'm loving being blonde, but I'm not loving the upkeep. Bleaching my roots every six weeks? And it never bleaches the exact same, so I have so many different shades of blonde throughout... Anyways. I decided we'd dye it dark again tomorrow, and Banana said she wanted to dye her hair again too, a lighter brown, or a red maybe.

So we found this henna dye at Lush. I've seen it before, and I'd love to do it, but it says that if you've bleached or lightened your hair, it will come out much more dramatic. So using henna to go red will make me look like Ariel, and that's a no-go. Sigh, I'll just use unnatural chemicals to artificially colour my hair once again.

But the other two girls saw them, and Banana decided she'd try the henna instead of a dye, because her hair is close enough to natural to look fantastic with it, so she bought the red one, and then the other girl thought that was awesome and bought the chesnut one. They're both going to come over tomorrow and we'll all dye hair together. We're all going a little bit red too, which is kind of funny, but I don't think we'll look all twin-sy.

ANYways... So, we had a blast shopping, and then went for dinner! I googled gluten free restaurant options in Saskatoon, and we decided to go to Moxie's. They don't have a dedicated gluten-free menu, or even specifically gluten-free dishes, but a few blogs said they will accomodate and there are a few dishes that just don't have gluten.

Oh my gosh, I loved it. I told the waitress right off the bat that I had a gluten allergy. She said that whatever I order, she'll ask the manager if they can make that gluten free, and then the manager will supervise my dish, and bring it out to me. Wow. I was really impressed. She also said the mango chicken was for sure gluten free, and then other dishes like rice bowls with naan bread could be removed. I debated a few options, but went for the mango chicken in the end.

One of the other girls got the mango chicken too, so when the manager brought our food out, he handed Banana hers first, and then announced a mango chicken, and then my "Allergy". That's what he called it. Haha. But my cooked veggies looked different than the other cooked veggies. Everything about my dish was totally separate and sacred. So impressed. We also got dessert, and again, the manager assured me my espresso mousse was gluten free, and he brought it out again.

Everyone was really nice about it all, and they made totally sure everything was safe. This is by far the best restaurant experience I've had since I was diagnosed. Very impresseed. The celiac forums told me to stay away from Moxie's, but I disagree. I also didn't feel sick once later tonight. Very, very impressed. Why does Moxie's have to be so far away from home?

The other two girls got several drinks, but I have decided not to drink. I know there are gluten free alcohols, but I decided that until I figure everything else out, I'm not going to try to figure that out. It's easiest to just avoid liquor. Soooo, I drove home. Which was fine. Driving for two and half hours at night with two tipsy friends is far superior to driving for two and a half hours with a dog in the backseat, like I did several times this winter.

I had such a blast today. Really good to get out of the city and not have complicated eating times.

No comments:

Post a Comment