Kristen Suzanne

Writer. Expat. Foodie.

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Mint Bulletproof Coffee Inspired By Dave Asprey’s Super Human Book

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Complete with ancient-looking Italy behind.

I just finished listening to Dave Asprey’s latest book, Super Human, on Audible (get the kindle version here).

As usual, I’m impressed with his work.

I’ve met Dave in person, been interviewed on his podcast, and video-conferenced with him in the past. He’s a really nice guy. Humble and kind are the words that come to mind when I think of him. And when I read his books, especially the latest, I think of him as courageous (and of course, interesting).

Inspired by my weird? cravings for MCT oil and his new book, I wanted some Bulletproof Coffee.

Back up: You all know I’m learning Italian for a few reasons: 1) bad-ass speaking more than one language 2) I’m living in Italy, so Italian was the smart choice, and 3) longevity. Learning a foreign language is really good for your brain.

I decided to try MCT oil and see if it helped my learning the language. I hadn’t had MCT in a couple of years I’d estimate?

In the late spring, I ordered C8 MCT oil from Amazon in the UK, and I started whisking butter and MCT into my coffee for a traditional Bulletproof Coffee Recipe as Dave Asprey created.

For whatever reason, maybe it was traveling during the summer and I couldn’t bring my big glass bottle of C8 MCT oil, but I found myself going back to just shots of espresso.

Then, I set it aside to oil-pull for oral health.

Not using it for coffee, I started to make my through the bottle this fall by oil-pulling. But, I decided I wanted to add extra-virgin olive oil to it so I could reap those benefits with my oil-pulling as well.

Then, because I like mint, I added mint essential oil drops. It made for a great oil-pulling solution.

Fast-forward to last month.

Before reading Super Human, I found myself craving MCT oils and keto-style coffee. In my research, I found this powder (on Amazon in the UK) to mix into coffee that included collagen protein powder, grass-fed butter powder (how do they do that lol?), MCT oil powder, and whey protein powder, plus a few trace ingredients of other things.

I wanted it. I ordered it.

I started making coffee with it and found myself only craving this coffee a couple of times in the morning. I didn’t want my usual scrambled eggs or greek yogurt or anything else. I did enjoy swallowing raw egg yolks though and continued to do that on the side.

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Italian Dual Citizenship Accomplished! (My Expat Italian Life)

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Big news! Today, Kamea and I were officially recognized as Italian citizens by bloodline (“Jure Sanguinis”).

Such a great goal of ours accomplished! It’s been a couple of years gathering documents and getting everything processed, and I’m so happy to say we’re done. Well mostly. Greg will need to apply for his citizenship, via marriage to me, once he passes the B1 language proficiency exam.

We arrived (in Italy) in the middle of March and immediately applied in country. From then, it took about seven months to complete it.

Thank you ICA!

I want to give a huge shout-out to Italian Citizenship Assistance (ICA), who helped us once we arrived in Italy and held our hands the entire way. It was incredibly easy and stress-free doing this with them. I can’t recommend them highly enough for their expertise, organization, friendliness, and follow-through. Our specific assistant who accompanied us to all meetings, etc, Alice, was absolutely stellar! (That’s who you see on the far right in the photo above.) From day 1, we knew we were in excellent and capable hands.

Learn more about them in their new YouTube interviews:

What now?

We’re still in Rovigo, Italy (Veneto: northeastern region), and we’re going to stay until December when our lease ends. Then, we’re heading to the south of Italy. Specifically, we have our eyes set on the beautiful, if a bit lesser known, region of Puglia.

I’m eager to explore the south for the climate and slower way of life… including visits to Sicily where my family is from.

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Back in Italy – Still Working on Dual Citizenship (Italian. Expat Life.)

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Finally, we’re back in Italy as of a few weeks ago. And, we’re really happy about it.

We had to leave for the summer due to visa reasons. Well, Kamea and I didn’t have to leave because we’re in the middle of applying for our Italian dual citizenship, but Greg can’t apply until I get mine (as my spouse).

Therefore, we had to leave because he couldn’t stay.

Obvs, I was eager to get back. Italy is amazing. A little piece of my heart (or, rather, a big piece) was back in Italy while we traveled to Ireland and Bulgaria during the summer months.

And since we’ve been traveling like nomads pretty much since March of 2018, I’m a little eager to settle down. Now that we’re here, we’re doing just that.

Update On Our Italian Dual Citizenship Goal

It’s progressing nicely. For starters we’ve been able to get permission from the police headquarters here for Greg to stay while we’re processing my citizenship papers. That’s a relief because we don’t need to come and go anymore from Italy.

The other amaze-balls thing is that my paperwork continues to progress, getting the necessary approvals and verifications along the way. We’ve only one more approval to secure – the town where my great grandfather was born. They need to verify that he was indeed born there, even though they already sent us a copy of his birth certificate for the application. Mamma Mia!

Meanwhile, we’re living up the life in Italy. Indulging in the food, embracing the culture, and taking courses.

This picture pretty much sums it up regarding Italian community culture. Yes, please.

Italian Cooking

Only in Italy… a squashed clove of garlic on the sidewalk.

I’m back in the kitchen and I’m experimenting with Italian cuisine (yes, that means pasta!). Funny thing, though, as a kid growing up with pasta I would eat a huge plate of it, then find myself noshing on the stuff cold from the fridge in the middle of the night. But in Italy, a serving of pasta is not quite like that.

It’s smaller.

So, I bought a scale to serve proper amounts. I also bought a nice pasta pot. You know, a pot with a strainer insert for making pasta? I thought it made sense to buy one.

Well, when I was walking home with my prized possession last week I bumped into my Ukrainian neighbor (they’ve lived in Italy 11 years).

Always eager to practice my Italian, I told her I bought a pasta pot.

She asked why?

[Read more…] about Back in Italy – Still Working on Dual Citizenship (Italian. Expat Life.)

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6 Reasons Why I Like Bansko, Bulgaria for Summer Travel

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We are spending July and August in a small and beautiful ski village town in Bulgaria. The name of the town is Bansko. Here’s my brain-dump on Bansko, and the 6 reasons why I like coming here for summer time.

Why Bansko, Bulgaria?

For most people, Bansko is a winter destination, with its popularity reigning as a nice ski destination.

However, it turns out that summer is a great time to enjoy Bansko, too. And although people do come here during the summer (there are a number of attractions noted below), it’s not crowded in the summer. It’s pretty darn perfect.

When we arrived in Bansko, I was cautiously optimistic. There are so many immediate notable things: the cleanliness, the splendor of the beautiful mountains all around, the walkability of the town, the friendliness of the people, the ski-village-like design of the buildings, the flowers… so many flowers, especially roses. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the plethora of roses, as I quickly recalled “Bulgarian rose” from my beauty product mental list. Turns out, I’d been using products featuring Bulgarian roses since I was a teenager.

So, this is where it comes from? Duh. :)

My immediate fascination aside, I waited a couple of weeks before making an opinion. You see, I have a knack for falling in love with a place, shouting its praises, and then seeing more warts than I want later.

[Read more…] about 6 Reasons Why I Like Bansko, Bulgaria for Summer Travel

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Caffe Shakerato in Italy’s 100 Degree Heat – Italian Expat Life

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Our first ones.

Back to Italy!

Kamea and I had to make an impromptu trip back to Italy, from our time in Bansko, Bulgaria, to work on our dual citizenship stuff.

However, it’s friggin’ hot in Italy right now.

Like 100 degrees F. And humid. And no air conditioning.

Most places and homes don’t have air conditioning because I don’t think this intense heat is normal.

Basically, we’re hot as f-ck 🥵 here.

But, I’m in Italy, and somehow that makes it seem less hot? It’s still La Dolce Vita.

You know something else that makes the heat more tolerable though?

Caffe Shakerato! Classic italian iced espresso.

This refreshing drink of espresso is the ticket to cooling off in this blistering heat. As my new Italian friend says about the heat, è bruttissimo (it’s very ugly). But with a caffe shakerato in hand, it’s not too bad.

So, Kamea and I have been popping into the few cafes with air conditioning, and cooling ourselves down, each with a caffe shakerato.

The classic recipe calls for a liquid cane sugar which beautifully offsets the bitter espresso. That’s how Kamea likes her caffe shakerato – decaf, too. I typically get mine senza zucchero (without sugar). The espresso is freshly brewed and then shaken with ice (and sugar, if that’s your jam). Strained into a glass. Enjoyed.

Or, Kamea gets a caffe shakerato and Mama gets a spritz!

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Going Blonde in Italy – Italian Expat Life

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Time for blonde.

I’ve been going back and forth for a long time trying to decide whether or not to put blonde highlights back into my hair. Having been blonde most of my young adult years I feel a longing for that youth I guess.

My first highlights were at age 11. It was a very exciting moment to get my hair done at the same salon as my mom.

I stayed blonde for many years, testing out some other colors here and there, always going back blonde.

I met my husband, Greg, as a blonde. Then, I got into the natural non-toxic thing and decided to go brunette. A phase, like torn Levis.

I did that for a couple of years, before I wanted to experiment with blonde again. I was feeling too blah with brown hair. I slowly added highlights until I mostly blonde after a few years.

Going frugal.

Then to save money, I went natural. Again. Even so far as to cut my own hair, which I didn’t realize was a mistake until I wore it down one day, eschewing my normal bun.

Now though, again, I’m missing the light color.

So, I decided to get highlights in Italy. But I wanted specific highlights. I don’t see a lot of women walking around with highlights here so I don’t even know if the people in the salon have a lot of experience with it. I like platinum blonde highlights. I like them to be very light. I’m not a fan of highlights that are too golden or yellow with my skin tone. And I definitely don’t want brassy highlights.

Google Translate at the salon.

So I typed into Google translate something to the effect of how I’d like to get my hair highlighted. I said in Italian, reading from Google translate, basically that I want them very light blonde. I do not want gold. I do not want brassy. I do not want orange. I like them very light.

They looked at Google Translate on my phone, and then they looked at me. The look on their faces made me question whether my translation was clear. I wondered whether the word “highlight” came through Google translate appropriately.

[Read more…] about Going Blonde in Italy – Italian Expat Life

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