It’s been five months since I pulled the plug on @secondgendesi on Instagram.
I have a post explaining why here, but now that my bestie Christina and I are diving into the “pertinent” topics of today’s late 20s/30-something millennial on our new podcast Pour the Coffee, I thought it would be an interesting topic to cover through audio [click here to listen][listen on Spotify]!
https://anchor.fm/pour-the-coffee
Our “episode 2” covers exactly what the title of this blog post says, “It’s Okay to Not Be on Social Media“, and it is a *solo* episode featuring moi since Chrizz still has socials (lol!).
I actually recorded this episode several weeks before Pour the Coffee materialized. I had this sudden urge to talk about the topic in a free-flowing way:
“If you ask Pree for her social media handles, she’ll have nothing to offer you except the URL of her blog. In this solo episode, Pree talks about why she left a platform millions of people use for the sake of her mental health. She’ll go over…
[x] Her journey with the internet/blogging
[x] Her beginnings with Instagram as a food blogger
[x] Creating a new blog and Instagram in the early 2020s
[x] The red flags of the platform and toxic traits of “influencers” and niche accounts
[x] Why getting off social media altogether was the best for her mental health”
For those that want a written recap, I started writing about how I felt as soon as one week off the platform. Now with this blog post, it seems like an appropriate time to share!
How do I feel about leaving social media (i.e Instagram)?
Despite moments where I do feel isolated, I’m overall very proud of myself for leaving such a toxic environment. I think the biggest thing I gained was releasing unnecessary pressure of “following” people I didn’t want to follow. Despite so-called self-help “gurus” embracing the selfish notion of “look out for yourself” and “declutter your feed for your mental health”, I’m the kind of person who will always think about the other person affected.
When I had SGD on IG, it always put me in a funk whenever I saw someone I thought I had good rapport with (as much as one could have virtually) unfollow me. Towards the end of my IG stint, I even directly DM’d people asking why.
Yeah, I went there. Because it did bother me.
What is there to do with this newfound free time?
Lately, focusing on my job. Focusing on the next steps for the job I eventually want to land. Trying to enjoy things without worrying about others think…
…but it’s hard. Especially, when everyone around you is connected to social media in some form.
As much as I try to push people to go back to reading blogs (mine included!) and check in on my WhatsApp status if they’re *that* curious to know what’s up with me, it still hurts me to know people are okay with living life so attached to their phones.
Some days it’s easier to focus on creative projects, other days I just want to curl up and watch TV all day. Even if there is newfound free time because I ditched one unproductive source of consumption, it doesn’t mean I can be 100% productive with that newfound free time, and that’s okay.
Will I ever go back?
It will definitely depend on the purpose. Perhaps if my writing projects get anywhere and social media can help boost exposure, it would make sense at that point.
If I figure out a new niche or find something passionate about that I am motivated about growing, maybe…
But for now, I’m not compelled to “start over” and mutually follow people I don’t want to follow.
Nothing on that platform makes sense anymore. Pictures of frozen potatoes get more likes than fancy cappuccinos. Carousel posts with spelling mistakes somehow have hundreds of comments yet posts I made for a science education account rank low when it comes to engagement…
Instagram is a useful tool if you’ve got something to sell or promote, and it’s decent entertainment (I guess…) if you’re a passive consumer who doesn’t care much about “creating”. But becoming an “IG sensation” is not as easy as it was 10 years ago. The platform is heavily saturated, the algorithm is wonky, and it really does more harm than good to someone with earnest, but naïve intentions.
If you need some verbal company and want to hear my perspective on why I left social media, please give episode 2 of Pour the Coffee a listen! Let me know what you think in the comments!
Are you off social media/Instagram?
Have you thought about leaving? What makes you hesitate?
It all started a couple months ago when I was visiting my bestie Christina in Vegas.
We were staring at our respective laptops, sighing with frustration. I was venting about life in Italy and its difficulties, wondering why life’s twists and turns led me to a confusing place. Christina was lamenting about not yet meeting the “requirements” society has set for late twenty-somethings.
Then she said something that flicked a switch, “What if we started a podcast?”
It was something I found intriguing, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to a new project. I was still struggling with whether or not I wanted to leave social media, and I was concerned that if I took on another creative project, I would neglect my writing projects (which, to be honest, has its ebb and flow).
I quit my IG May 2022. Months went by, and in late summer 2022, I felt like I needed a “creative reset”. I got back to Christina and asked, “you really want to do this?”
And now, here we are, ready to present to you, Pour the Coffee!
Here’s our lil description about the podcast:
Chrizz and Pree are highly-accomplished millennials near thirty, but like most of their peers, they’re starting to realize the world doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee. Rather than vent to each other, they figure others probably feel the same way, but are too shy to tell it like it is. Pour the Coffee is a podcast for anyone who appreciates open-minded conversations, fresh perspectives, and unfiltered opinions led by two vibrant hosts who happen to be besties for 20+ years and counting!
If you like conversation-style, discussion/opinion-sharing podcasts, definitely add us to your line-up! I know some of ya’ll still commute or feel a bit lonely on remote working days. Let Christina and I give you company with our unfiltered banter and genuine conversation!
We also plan to bring on guests in the future, so if you give us a listen and feel like you’d have fun speaking about a topic with us and sharing your unique thoughts and experiences in a space that won’t judge—by all means, reach out to us ( pourthecoffeepodcast@gmail.com)! Chrizz is managing our socials (casually, lol) and we are just getting started, but we are so excited about this project and hope you’ll come along for the ride 😘!
Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored! I am not receiving any compensation from thredUP for this post. Just reporting on my experience and pushing everyone I know to give thrifting a go!
One of my colleagues in Italy recently told me I would have fun checking out the “saldi” since it’s that season in Milan right now…
But 1) nothing is on sale in Milan unless you got to Primark or H&M, and you will never catch me making purchases from those “fast fashion monsters” ever again and 2) I’d honestly rather thrift and feel good about doing my part to live sustainably.
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A few months back, I wrote about my journey with “fashion” and figuring out the best way to manage a tidy, sustainable closet.Definitely check out that post if you haven’t yet!
I was keeping the concept of “sustainability” in my mind even before the concept of “fast fashion” exploded in the media. To me, I could never fathom the idea of spending an irresponsible amount of money on piles of clothes I’d never wear.
So that’s why I don’t go “shopping” anymore. Except maybe for essentials like running shoes, socks, and underwear…but even those are 1-2x a year purchases 😛.
When it comes to clothes? Ladies and gentleman, we have a dire problem on our hands. We need to start acting responsibly when it comes to our textile purchases.
And just in case you didn’t know—ya’ll, it’s okay to thrift.
One site I’ve grown fond of recently is thredUP. They’ve been around for a while, but I recently took advantage of them since I was trying to change up my wardrobe this year because of 1) a new job (no more lazy lab-researcher-at-the-bench looks!) and 2) a desire to change things up!
After selling locally at resell shops in Houston, I put together a collection of clothes and shoes I wasn’t able to sell, and packaged it for thredUP. thredUP is an online “thrift” site where you can send in clothes to try and sell, or buy clothes that have been sent in by others. You can filter out clothes by brand, size, and quality (brand new with tags all the way to “good” condition).
Even clothes that qualify as “good” condition are heavily vetted.
If any of your sent items are passed, they are responsibly recycled according to their FAQ.
They also give a very generous first-timers discount (about 50% off most listed items + free shipping). I took advantage of this code recently, and made way with some very snazzy items if I do say so myself…
I got all of this for around $50, free shipping with my first-order promo code.
My bargain of a haul!
This collection included:
✨ Guess Sleeveless Blouse (New with tags)
✨ Ivory Ella Long Sleeve T Shirt (tie-dye style, excellent used condition)
✨ Black Winter Hollister Cardigan (New with tags, uhm what?!)
✨ Billabong Summer Dress (New with tags, again…anyone who’s ever shopped at PacSun knows that these surfer brands have a rep for being expensive!!)
✨ Victoria’s Secret (VSX) Sports Bra (NEW WITH TAGS! For $7.80!!)
✨ “Vintage Y2K” (Oh boy, this is what the kids are calling my teenhood 😭😭😭) Abercrombie and Fitch Blue Khaki Shorts (good used condition)
✨ The same “Vintage Y2K” (🙄🤦🏽♀️) Abercrombie and Fitch Blue Khaki Shorts (good used condition)
It averages to about $8 an item—not bad given the brands I was able to find and the brand new with tags quality!
Another cool thing about thrifting is you can go back in time to shop! LOL! I never got to wear Abercrombie in high school…I finally shopped there in college, but then took a break from it in recent years. Now, I feel like I can go back in time and live the teen years I observed others live from the sidelines 🤣
Take-aways:
🛍 Great for a buyer, okay for a seller – you’ll obviously find a lot more great bargains as a buyer, since the seller takes a brunt of the cost. After thredUP’s commission, you don’t get much for middle-of-the-road items. I recently sold a shirt from Old Navy for $0.39, but it was one I was not expecting to at all—in fact, I thought it was going to get recycled 😂!
🛍 Can save items over time, and make one purchase when you are ready – I’ve noticed that a lot of items have “likes” or are “sitting in someone’s cart”, but then they are still on the site for weeks. Just comes to show people love to browse passively but when it comes to buy time, most people don’t act! So this can be to your advantage, especially if you have a first-time code to use. You can browse for as long as you want, save items to your favorites, and buy everything together when you are ready (and take advantage of the FREE SHIPPING)!
🛍 Printable mail tag is useful whenever you want to ship out items that you’d otherwise donate or throw away – since January 2022, I’ve sent in three separate packages. Because of short-staffing issues, the shipments do take a while to sort through. For a package I sent in mid-February 2022, it didn’t get processed until end of May 2022! They did announce they are opening more facilities to help with processing incoming shipments, but this is something to be aware of in case you want cash fast.
🛍 Be aware of how sizing works – especially if you are interested in anything “used”. Because of wash and wear, fabric can stretch out and not really be true to tag.
This was the example with my shorts. One was tagged one size higher than the other, but the flat measurements ended up being the same! At least on thredUP, they measure things in a way that makes sense so it helps when deciding whether or not to purchase:
Two shorts, tagged as two different sizes, ended up having the same measurements more or less!
Also be aware of your item’s style—if it’s described high-waisted, the waist will be measured higher up.
Waist is one word that has thrown women off for centuries…
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If you want to give thredUP a try, click here for a $10 credit! Send some of your “old” stuff in, knowing it will end up in a new closet or responsibly recycled, and browse for “new” things for yourself while living sustainably 😉
Do you pay attention to your closet’s sustainability?
My first race in Italy was also my first race after a long hiatus from marathon racing, the peak of the COVID pandemic, and outside of the United States. With all of these “firsts” involved, no wonder my race day experience was a rocky one!
But before hashing the details on that, it might help to describe the steps (forward and back), in the months prior…
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Prior to COVID, I imagined my first race in Italy would be the Milano Marathon in April 2020, thinking that I would have been settled in my new city a few months prior. Obviously, plans changed for everyone, but I decided to get back to some form of training, even if I didn’t have a specific race to motivate myself for.
In 2021, I thought about Milan again. My training for the race was touch-and-go, but mentally I was ready. I was hitting my goal pace on fast runs and relishing the brisk, cold winter air that made my lungs burn, but my body feel as light as a feather.
I soon learned that the Milano Marathon wouldn’t be open to the public in 2021 either, thanks to the unfortunate occurrence of Italy’s second COVID lockdown…the restrictions for which weren’t lifted until summer hit. When June rolled around, I was ready to take my chances again—I decided to seriously consider an Italian marathon to race in for Fall 2021.
I’ve run a countless number of races since 2013, ranging from 5ks to marathons. And out of all those races, absolutely zero were run outside of the good ol’ USA 😅. I mean, it makes sense since I was either an undergrad student living at home while going to school, or a graduate student with an insane lab schedule that prevented me from jet-setting to exotic locales for a “mere hobby”.
Since my experience with racing has only been limited to the US, there were a few preliminary steps that were new to me when I registered for my first Italian race:
1. I had to register for the RunCard – basically a “membership fee” that lasts a year to participate in Italian-based races. If you are an elite/professional runner, this membership can be subbed-in with a professional running club membership. Given that I don’t see myself staying in Italy long-term, I haven’t bothered looking into professional clubs…I’m kinda hoping I make my comeback while I am living in Italy though, so I can return to the US in tip-top elite shape 😉 (you know, those #LongTermGoals)!
2. I had to get medical clearance.Wait what? It seemed as though this requirement is to protect Italian race organizers. In the US, you simply sign a waiver saying you won’t sue. In Italy, they literally screen you out so there is no question of suing 😅.
So in mid-June, I ended up going to S. Gottardo “Centro Medicina dello Sport” in Milan to get my tests done, so I could get a certificate to participate in long-distance running events (on my certificate it said “atletica leggera“) like marathons and half marathons.
If there wasn’t some sort of paperwork to be done, could you even call it the Italian way? 😂 This health certification sign-off is required for other activities too like access to gyms, group sports, etc.
My tests included the basics (blood pressure, height, weight, urine analysis…which by the way, in Italy you need to hand deliver to the doctor him/herself 😝) as well as some weird, ancient tests like spirometry (basically assessing lung function by measuring how much air you can breathe out in one forced breath) and a step test that really gets your heart going for an EKG.
The things one does for a marathon…
Once I bought the run card and got my med certifications, I was able to upload it onto the website where I registered for the Verona Marathon (TDS) and I received an email once my documents were approved.
At that point, I felt comfortable with my registration and training plan, and braced myself for a hot and sweaty summer in Northern Italy to start my marathon comeback training.
But of course, something had to get in my way.
Within a few weeks, I was experiencing unbearable fatigue. I was having trouble focusing throughout the day, and feeling especially exhausted on the weekends. I’d go for a long run, and then be completely useless for the rest of the day. Looking back, I think the exhaustion first appeared in late winter, but I overlooked it as being related to work stress.
I had the opportunity to get bloodwork done in August, and that’s when I learned my ferritin levels were at a dangerously low 4ng/mL—for reference, the “normal” range is anywhere from 10-291. This includes men and women, but a woman runner should definitely be on the higher end of this range, and the fact I was landing on the exact opposite side of the spectrum was concerning.
So I decided to downgrade from marathon training to half marathon training. I thought it would be best, and more feasible, to train for a shorter distance while trying to get my ferritin levels back up. I wanted to have a comeback, but have it be a sustainable one too.
I switched to the mindset of training for a half in mid-August, and felt so much more relieved. Despite the muggy summer runs, I felt my new goal was feasible—especially since I was able to visit my family for two weeks right around the time I made this training change!
A beautiful Texas sunrise
Running in a new environment helped a ton. Texas was brutal in it’s humidity (3 miles left me drenched in sweat!), but the views of Spring, Texas were indescribable.
I started to take 54mg of iron a day, and focus on my protein. Once I got back to Italy, I was feeling better in regards to the chronic fatigue I had been experiencing, and I felt a little bit better about my protein since I came back with a giant tub of Sprouts vegan chocolate protein 😂.
In addition to low iron and humidity, I was wearing the most HORRIBLE shoes for running…do not get Saloman shows for running, even if they say they are running shoes. WORST decision ever and my heels made sure I knew!
As fall approached, I noticed that my pace seemed to become faster compared to my summer times, thanks to the cooling weather, but my training plan took a huge hit due to uncontrollable stressors in life. I was having to deal with a lot of unknowns about my prospects in Italy, and whenever I am dealing with stress at a level of intensity that seems unbearable, it most definitely impacts my running performance.
As it got closer to late November and I was still not hitting my time goals consistently, I decided to go into race weekend with a “chill” attitude—this race would be my comeback to racing after 2.5 years, after all…
Set up in Verona before the race. At Piazza Bra.
Verona is about 1.5 hours away from Milan by train, but given that there weren’t any early morning trains on Sunday leaving Milan that would make it to Verona before the race start of 8am, I “had” to make my stay in Verona an overnight one. I know, how unfortunate 😉.
It occurred to me about a month out that I would need to get my boarding sorted for Saturday night of race weekend, and I was able to find a room in the center of the city, about 6 minutes walking distance away from the Arena and Piazza Bra, where the race start would be.
On race weekend, I arrived in Verona around 10am after dropping off my things, I made the 30 minute walk over to ParaOlimpia where packet pick-up was being held.
Checking in was extremely easy, but the “expo” was so tiny compared to what I’m used to. The LA Marathon expo for example is a huge event in itself, hosting hundreds of vendors, giving away dozens of free samples, and an occasion to celebrate before toeing the start.
Waiting in line at packet pick-up—10k and full marathon had shortest lines. Of course the half marathon line was the longest!!
I got my bag after a short wait in line, and indulged in some of the free snacks from Scotti, apparently the only vendor giving out food freebies. In addition to the food freebies, a few med samples were thrown in along with my race shirt, the latter of which was exciting to get since it has been a lonnnnng time since I had a new workout shirt from a race in my closet 😂
I’ve walked away with LARGER hauls from races in the US, but I suppose this was a pretty good haul for an Italian race!
After walking back from the expo, I stopped for lunch at a cute vegan restaurant (I love supporting vegan establishments wherever I go, especially Italy) and had the most filling, delicious lasagna I’ve ever had come across my lips!
I was able to gather enough energy to walk around Verona, snap some pics, and gobble down some Venchi gelato within a matter of 2 hours—Verona is tiny and so this is certainly not unthinkable 😂.
I walked back to my stay for the night (around 4pm, lol) and decided to just relax, watch HBO Max, and rest my legs for the race the next morning. I also kept hydrated, and decided to go to sleep early, around 9pm 😅.
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The next morning however, I woke up with sharp, excruciating pain on my upper left back…seriously, on race day? I did my best to massage it out, but it was pinching pain that felt internal, and was nothing like I’ve experienced before. The only thing I could think of causing damage was maybe the extra firm mattress and pillow I was sleeping on? But it seemed strange that one night of different sleeping conditions could cause something so persistent and sharp…
I walked over to Piazza Bra seeing if a proper warm-up could fix things back in order. I was able to run, but every time I took in a deep breath, my back would spasm and pinch, and I would feel a sharp pain. I was wondering if I’d be able to handle this for 13.1 miles…
Trying to warm-up before the race
Assembling at the start was simple, however the start line was wrapped around the park so it made things inaccessible at first. Once I was in my corral, I tried to keep stretching and moving around but the pain was still there. Soon we were off, and I allowed the cool, brisk air and the adrenaline of others to push me at 8:07/mi pace. For the first 3 miles, the pain was sharp but I managed to reign it in and keep going.
When I got to mile 4, my pace had slowed incredibly from my outset to 9:29/mi. The pain felt stronger and mentally, I just felt like I couldn’t fight through it. We were running by the river at this point, and I found a side street to duck into at 4.66 miles.
I felt incredibly embarrassed and ashamed, but also relieved. Despite the time difference, I was able to talk (and cry lol) to my Dad for a bit as I made the 40 minute walk back to Piazza Bra, with my hand firmly placed on my back the entire way. Dropping out of a race—especially one that was supposed to be my comeback—felt like a huge blow to my racing career, given that I’ve been chasing specific goals since 2017, but have had to face one obstacle or another since then…
The Croce Rossa/Red Cross tent was at least at the start, so I thought I’d see what they could do to help. As a scientist, I’m not pleased with medical professionals and how they approach treatment in most situations, and racing in Italy where a language barrier also plays a role I knew wouldn’t help me when it came to explaining my situation…
…but there was at least one man who spoke broken English who gave me a high-strength dose of the equivalent to Tylenol. I still walked away from the tent defeated, but I swallowed the pill, and immediately became brainstorming about the next race.
About 2022. About how my life was now changing for the better, and that perhaps my external stressors could finally be in control, so I can devote time and energy to training for this passion of mine.
Obviously this was not how I wanted my comeback to look like, but I am also at ease to have gotten my “first race back” out of the way! Now I know what are the steps required to race in Italy, and it will save myself from a lot of headache in the future!
My RunCard doesn’t expire until June 2022, so I am thinking of racing some shorter distance races in Spring 2022. Maybe a half can fits it’s way in there, but I am still adamant about wanting to run quality races, more so than quantity, which was the theme of my past.
And the marathon? Will I ever reunite with 26.2, with success? Maybe Fall 2022 will be a good goal, universe-permitting…
Peanut butter was never a favorite of mine growing up, yet as I got older, it became an essential staple. But before that realization, I had a looooooong period of infatuation with other food spreads.
When I first tried Nutella as a kid, I was enamored. And when I learned that people on the other side of the globe—in fancy Europe—had Nutella on flaky croissants or on toasted bread for breakfast, I was convinced I was born on the wrong continent!
Peanut butter just seemed boring in comparison…it wasn’t even that sweet, so what was the point? I was the crazy child that would have rather had a jam-filled sandwich than the American PB&J classic. I know, crazy.
So when did things change?
When I got to college, and fell into the world of food blogging and food reviews, while also being restricted by an eating disorder. All of this led me to become obsessed with “protein-fortified” snacks that were marketed as healthy and for fitness enthusiasts—including peanut butter.
Nuts ‘N More was (and I believe still is) a popular brand specializing in “protein-packed” peanut butter, but stood out from the likes of Skippy and Jif with their collection of unique flavors—like Maple Pretzel, Birthday Cake, and Salted Caramel! Brands that struck gold in the protein bar and protein cookie industries weren’t the only ones dipping their toes into the pool of creativity—peanut butter was also becoming a canvas, and I was all for it!
After moving to Italy, I realized very quickly that Italians didn’t see peanut butter as a kitchen staple. When I paid my first visit to an Esselunga (the Italian equivalent of a Kroger I suppose), only two brands of peanut butter were on display.
One of two brands of peanut butter I’ve seen stocked on grocery shelves in Italy.
But there were tons of nocciole and pistacchi spreads—my dream was being overcompensated on one hand, while something too familiar to me was fading awayin the aisles of an Italian supermarket.
If you ask Google about peanut butter in Italy, you get redirected to another blogger’s experience—and how you’re better off bringing it from outside the country!
It took me about six months of scooping through hazelnut spread jars for me to realize that my heart does have a soft spot for peanut butter, and that I missed the crazy flavors that I could find with ease back in the US.
And it’s as if Instagram read my mind, because the next thing I knew, I “found” Joey’s Spreads on my discover page, a small business churning out peanut butter from the UK. A single, top-view pic of their birthday cake flavor was enough for me to log onto their site and order myself a 4-pack of their offerings.
Ya know, treat yo’ self or something like that?
Yes, I paid almost 60 euros for peanut butter. But it was “fancy” peanut butter. And I saved 4.19…
Seeing as I used their “JAN” coupon, you can guess I made this order early this year. As with any company using shipping services in 2020 onwards, Joey’s gave me a heads up that delays due to COVID could impact the shipment and delivery of my order, but I didn’t think it would take almost two months.
Sliding into the DMs
I got in touch with them via email a month later, and then IG because I was impatient 😅. At least Joey’s was considerate about it, and replied straightaway. We kept in touch via Instagram DMs, and even though weeks were continuing to pass by, it seemed as though they were on top of checking in with the postal service they used.
Then, on fateful March 11th, my jars arrived.
(L to R -> Blueberry Muffin, Birthday Cake, Cookie Crumble & Carrot Cake)
Seeing their presence on my kitchen counter was a huge thrill after a particularly tiring and long day at work. I couldn’t hold back my excitement and had no issues deciding which flavor I’d try first.
I received the box in the morning, but didn’t have time to drop it off at home before leaving for work. So all four jars were taunting me for the entire work day until I could get home and consume them in peace 😆!
Of course, without a doubt, I decided that I would try Birthday Cake first.
I’m the kind of person who prefers a frosting-to-cake ratio of 75-to-25…if not more on the frosting side! And the more brightly-colored and sprinkled a frosting is, oh how better it is.
This jar had a generous layer of creamy pink frosting at the top with colorful bead-like sprinkles. If they want my opinion, I wouldn’t argue if they decided to change up the frosting-to-peanut butter ratio so that half the jar was frosting 😋. I think the point was to mix the frosting with the PB, but are you kidding? I think fellow frosting-lovers would agree—who in their right mind would do that?
The peanut butter itself had a nice crunch, but was still soft and chewy. So even though I inhaled all of the frosting, the PB itself was decent on its own.
Next was 🥕 Carrot Cake 🥕, because it had a frosting-like addition to it as well 😛.
Oh boy was the frosting delicious…it was actually so smooth and mixed with the PB almost to the bottom of the jar. To be honest, it was probably more like icing in consistency! The first flavor note I detected with my first spoonful (PB+icing together this time!) was that of orange. When I flipped the jar around, ‘orange’ was literally listed as one of the ingredients 😂. The next thing I knew, I struck an orange rind and a clump of raisins. Classic carrot cake things I guess?
With Blueberry Muffin, I was given a heads up:
And Joey’s was right, the jar had indeed “firmed up” thanks to a long trek across the pond and over to mainland Europe, but this did not impact the flavor.
I actually didn’t mind the crumbly texture, sharply-defined mini peanut chunks, and juicy blueberries (despite the fact they were dried, lol). The blue color reminded me of Sesame Street’s forever-hungry character Cookie Monster 😂.
And finally, there was Cookie Crumble:
This was a fun flavor to “go archaeologist” on. I was on a mission to dig up chunks of cookies, but I found mini chocolate pieces instead. Eventually I did find what I *thought* were cookie pieces—they at least had a crunch to them, so I assumed them to be so. Overall, the jar tasted and smelled like a giant, crushed chocolate chip cookie mixed with smooth peanut butter. Mission accomplished.
Overall, each jar of Joey’s Spread is a whopping 500g, so the amount you receive justifies the price. If I was living in the UK, I wouldn’t mind ordering from them more often. Their flavor offerings make up for what I’m missing out on back in the good ol’ US of A.
But realistically speaking, as much as I do miss peanut butter, I’ve gotten used to just seeing hazelnut and pistachio-based spreads in the grocery store, and being content with it. I mean, that’s what lil Pree used to dream of, so the least big Pree can do is buy a couple jars and indulge 😉.
Moral of the story is, Italy doesn’t offer anything spectacular in regards to peanut butter.
Shipping finely-ground peanuts from the US (yes, even with frosting mixed in) is not worth it, in my opinion.
So next best thing? Ordering from Joey’s Spread when that international PB cravinghits.
