I was away on vacation for 14 days, which would be nearly impossible to catch up all of the details from my amazing trip.
As a result, I'm going to share some of my favorite Michigan things.
1. Family
Me & Kristen (my fellow celiac)
Of course, number one on my list is seeing my family. I saw all three of my sisters, my niece, my nephew, my parents, Justin's parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandpa, even my grandparents from Wisconsin came! I had fun with every single person I saw.
2. Faygo Pop
So many flavors at Meijer.
My favorite flavor is diet Rock and Rye. I describe it as a cross between cream soda and red pop. In fact, at the store I questioned if there was actually rye in the pop. Then Justin's mom made a good point, is there actually pepper in Dr. Pepper? Just to be certain, I emailed Faygo about their gluten status. Here was their response:
Hi Karen,
All Faygo products are gluten free.
Thanks for writing!
3. My Jenna Kator Handbag
I had been obsessing about these online for quite awhile. When looking at the shop locations, I knew I would have to pick one up on my trip! My procrastination got the best of me and I waited until the day I left to search for this Corktown purse. The handbag came with a longer strap as well, that I've been rocking for the summer time. There are little pockets inside that make organizing easy.
Jenna Kator went to Michigan State and named her collection after places in Michigan, which I love! I will hands down support a Michigan designer over other designers.
4. Desserts!
Everywhere I went, everyone was very supportive of my dietary needs. Justin parent's bought a toaster oven for GF stuff only! My mom always made meals that were naturally GF. Kristen and I were always eating first to avoid cross contamination with bread crumbs. Everyone was so amazing.
Desserts are a treat for me. I honestly don't eat as many cookies and cakes that I used to. When I was home, there was no shortage of desserts!
Disclaimer: I have more photos of the desserts than I do of my family. Some of the pics are not the greatest quality either because I felt like my dog, Iivana, with my mouth watering while I looked on.
Julie brought GF cupcakes from a bakery in Berkley. The carrot cake was my favorite.
My mom took me to Vince & Joe's to pick out some things from their GF bakery collection. I chose:
Bumpy GF Cupcakes
The topping was outrageous!
The frosting to cake ratio was almost equal.
My mouth is full, yet I'm still smiling.
I also picked out some GF peanut butter candy cookies. (aka Reese's Pieces inside)
I've had some amazing cakes since being gluten free, but cookies are a lot harder to replicate, in my opinion. I love soft, chewy cookies. Most cookies I've tried are as hard as a rock. These were a little stiff, but the peanut butter and candy made up on the crunchiness.
Then Kristen arrived in town and was craving carrot cake from Vince & Joe's. The carrot cake was moist and filled with raisins. Like I said, so many delicious desserts.
My mom made homemade strawberry pie with Michigan strawberries for my grandpa's birthday. So she made me a crustless version. I never really liked pie crust anyways. The insides are the best part of the pie!
My mom gave Justin and me a couple gift cards to Biggby (formerly Beaner's). After quick research, I concluded there should be some GF options for me. To confirm these suspicions, I questioned the barista. He read me the label, asked me questions, and was patient. We went to Biggby twice. One time I ordered the Caramel Marvel iced. The next trip I ordered Caramel Mellow (caramel + marshmallow) hot. I love that you can order hot, cold, or frozen. I didn't take any pictures of my drinks :(
But if I had the option between Starbucks and Biggby: it would be Biggby every time!
- They offer several GF options. Upon further research I found:
Biggby Coffee Did you know all of our sauces and syrups are gluten free?? Only one drink currently on our menu has gluten - our chocolate chip cookie creme freeze. B happy!! ^FF
This was a recent Facebook post from May 23!
- And they are Michigan based!
Check out my other favorite things here.
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