Currently: May

I feel like I was just saying this a month or so ago, but it’s dead week again on my campus. It’s honestly not as awful as it sounds, but seeing as I have just over a week until my first and only final, as well as many projects due this week, I needed to get in some quick and easy posts while I’m stressed out over end-of-the-year stuff for the next week and a half. I promise I’ll be back to more normal posting once school ends, I move out and get settled back in at home and with my internship and online summer class. Until then, enjoy the mindless fun posts

Current Book: Does my geology book count? ‘Cause that’s probably the only book I’ll be reading until next Tuesday…and it’s not even by choice.

Current Music: Still loving on the alt rock genre, especially Vampire Weekend and Blondfire. I jammed out to this song while taking an impromptu mini road trip to the mountains two weekends ago. Reminds me that summer’s coming soon!

Current Guilty Pleasure: All things raw and delicious! This weekend alone, I stocked up on kale chips (hey, they were on sale!), sprouted Thai curry cashews (total obsession), cacao nibs, dried fruit and a few raw energy bars. Raw food can be expensive but it’s worth it to me for the taste and health benefits.

Haven’t bought this in awhile, but it may be my post-finals treat.

Current Nail Color: Pink+coral, with polka dots. So fun, but so easy to do!

Super cute!

Current Drink: My infused water…planning on making a second batch soon!

Current Food: I’ve been loving on the raw snacks (as I said above), sweet potatoes (what else is new?), salted crunchy peanut butter (normally not a PB lover, but I’m going with it), all kinds of summer fruit, tofu, avocados and the new paleo BBQ sauce I picked up.

Current Favorite Show: I haven’t been keeping up with many shows, but SNL is a perennial favorite of mine and Zac Galifianakis is always hilarious.

Probably one of the funniest sketches.

Current Wishlist: For the weather to stay warm for the rest of the summer(60s and rain is better than snow, but I want 70s and 80s!), good grades in all my classes, a smooth move-out process, maybe one more time to hang out at my apartment’s pool (which as far as I know still hasn’t reopened…and there’s less than 2 weeks left in the semester).

Current Needs: Less stressful days,  more sunshine (we’re set to get rain most days this week, which is nice for drought conditions but makes me a little sad) & more regular visits to the Whole Foods salad bar (maybe when I go home for the summer?!)

Current Triumphs: Finishing off my second semester at CTV strong, getting the summer internship I really wanted, starting to conquer my food issues. (P.S. Look for me in the video at about 6:20 and ignore the awkward screenshot)

Current Bane of Existence: The checkout list I got from my complex for moving out. Seriously, it’s a full page of cleaning instructions. I see a lot of sweeping and vacuuming in my future

Current Celebrity Crush: Justin Timberlake. He’s super sexy, got a great voice and sense of humor and I loved his SNL “Veganville” song!

 

So flippin’ funny!

Current Indulgence: I finally got my fill of the Whole Foods salad bar again this weekend, and it reminded me how excited I am to be home so I can enjoy it more often. My wallet doesn’t love it, but it makes for a better dinner out option than most restaurants! And everyone’s got a guilty pleasure, right? Might as well be a healthy one!

Always so damn good.

Current Blessing: Much better weather this week than we’ve been getting the past 3 weeks. I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m thinking we’re done with the snow for awhile, and rain is always much-needed here. I would hate to have to deal with a wildfire like California is right now and like the bad ones we experienced last summer.

What are some of your currently’s?

Currently…

Hi guys, long time no see huh? It’s getting to be that time of the year again…back-to-school time! So I’ve been pretty busy the past few days getting everything packed and ready for second semester. I’m actually really excited to go back–my classes seem interesting, I’m ready to do weather anchoring again and I can’t wait to be back in my apartment so I can do whatever the heck I want. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family to pieces, but I need my alone time sometimes and having my own kitchen again will be nice.

Since life’s been cray over here, I’m gonna borrow a little survey I spotted on Amanda’s blog the other day so enjoy…and I’ll be back next week with some updates!

Current Books: Erm…uh…I’m actually not a big book reader (please don’t hate me!). I do have some books I love, like Dave Barry (he is hilarious!) and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, but I haven‘t actually read them in awhile. I am loving Veganomicon though–so many delicious vegan recipes I need to try out.

Current Music: Anything by Foster the People. Love them. I just added their station to Pandora and I’m addicted. Right now I can’t get Houdini out of my head.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Lotions from Bath & Body Works. Seriously, can I just buy them all?! They smell so delicious…

Current Nail Color: OPI’s Giftcards for Everyone. Oh, and Sally Hansen’s Posh Plum on my ring fingers. I got the OPI color as a mini giftset for Christmas and the colors are perfect for winter.

I’m still mastering the art of nail polishing.

Current Drink: I can’t go without my (almost) daily ACV morning cocktail. 1 tbsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar, English toffee stevia drops to taste, cinnamon and water to dilute. It tastes like a sour apple pie.

Current Food: I’m loving the sweet potato+sunflower butter+peanut flour paste+raisins+chocolate chips combo, as I mentioned on WIAW. Sounds weird, tastes heavenly and never gets old.

Current Favorite Show:  I heard the new season of WNTW (What Not to Wear) is on so I really need to start watching that again, I really missed my Clinton & Stacy fix. Other than that, I think 1600 Penn is hilarious and I love Chopped on the Food Network.

Current Wishlist: I would love some Starbucks and iTunes gift cards because I’m cheap and don’t want to pay for my own coffee and music #collegeproblems

Current Needs: Not sure if this is more of a need or a want, but dumbbells. I really want more muscle and bodyweight training alone isn’t cutting it. I’m really wanting to start a strength training routine so I’m planning on hitting up Target soon to pick up some cute and colorful weights.

Current Bane of My Existence: The fact that everyone is coming down with the flu, and I reaaaaaaallllly don’t want to get it. No such thing as hand sanitizer overload during flu season.

Current Celebrity Crush: Bradley Cooper. He was amazing in Silver Linings Playbook, and he doesn’t look half bad

Mmmmm, yes…

Current Indulgence: My recent trip to Whole Foods. A little over $100…yikes. Yes, it was a restock-my-apartment-because-it’s-foodless trip but still. Hope they’ll last me awhile!

Current Blessing: No snow in the forecast for awhile. I know we could really use the moisture but I’m already sick of winter and snow. Bring on summer!

Current Slang: Whatevs. I know that’s so old and lame but I don’t care, I still use it.

Current Excitement: My family’s spending the day with me tomorrow at my apartment and it’s gonna be fun! We’re going out to eat at my favorite vegan restaurant (which my omni family all love) and my sister and I will probably do some hardcore shopping and jamming out in the car. We’re so cool…

What I got the last time I went to Tasty Harmony…oh sooooo good!

Current Mood: Excited for tomorrow, and nervous for the semester to start.

Current Link: Zite. They have an app and everything, but I love it because you put in your interests and it generates new stories and articles on those and related topics for you to read…and it changes every day!

Answer any of the above!

My Week Through Phonto

No WIAW this week–I know, how lame! Kidding, but my eats have been kinda lacking lately. Think homemade waffles with protein frosting for breakfast, steamed edamame with fresh fruit for lunch, DIY trail mix for snacks (I’ve been loving on the dry roasted edamame, raisin, pistachio and mini chocolate chip combo!), chilled stirfrys for dinner and healthy homemade baked goods for dessert. Okay, maybe not so boring since I love all of it (especially the protein powder-packed version of my mocha chip banana bread!) but you’ve all seen a million photos of these things already. So I thought this week I’d switch things up and share my favorite things from the week–in Phonto form!

Probably a pathetic little bicep, but I’m proud of it!

I professed my love for planks in last week’s Friday Faves–and this is why! My arms and core have been getting so strong because of them, which is awesome. I love body weight workouts because they make me feel badass–like I’m building strength all on my own, without any equipment!

One of my new fave Sbux drinks–berry hibiscus Refresher.

I love love love Starbucks, especially their iced drinks. I could probably just live on their plain iced coffee sweetened with stevia or their light soy Frappuccinos. Or maybe even their unsweetened passion iced tea. But these new Refreshers are definitely delicious, and totally live up to their name. When they were offering them free, my mom and I each got one. I loved the berry one most but the limeade one was decent. I’m excited to try their VIA packets though!

This sight isn’t very common here in CO, so I had to snap a shot!

Rain looks so pretty, especially with a rainbow, but it sure isn’t pretty to drive in! I got caught in it on my way home from my internship and the worst part was the crazy wind. I made a quick stop at Whole Foods and almost blew away on my way out! But when I got home, I spotted this rainbow and had to take a picture because it looked gorgeous.

Still rockin’ the color blocking nail!

I am obsessed with the party or color blocking nail trend. Basically you paint glitter over one of your nails or paint one of them a different color. So fun, and a little more grown up than painting every nail a different color! My favorite shades at the moment are coral and lavender. Who says they don’t go together? I make them work

‘Nuff said

I’ve mentioned it no less than a million times but I’ll say it again–I lurve me some spicy foods! I’m not one of those wimps who thinks jalapenos are too hot…nope, I take my spicy stuff seriously. So these new pickles are right up my alley. They’re perfectly spicy and really crisp and fresh. I only eat Claussen pickles because they’re always kept refrigerated so they taste better. If you like spicy things like I do, please look for these. You won’t regret it…well, maybe your tastebuds will a little bit!

Striped tee: Hollister. White woven belt: Abercrombie & Fitch. Navy twill shorts: Hollister.

I used to hate stripes with a passion, dunno why. Now I’m totally embracing them, especially this particular shirt. It’s just so simple yet cute, slightly cropped and kinda loose fitting, just the way I like my tees in the summer.

A snackplate for dessert: kettle corn, WF vegan chocolate chip cookie pieces, NadaMoo! java crunch coconut milk ice cream, side of fresh pineapple,

I’m so indecisive that it’s no wonder I turn to snackplates almost every day. I’d rather have little bits of a lot of stuff than make a commitment to one big thing most of the time and this dessert was no different. I only had a few pieces of a cookie left so I paired it with some vegan coffee ice cream, my favorite kettle corn and some super juicy pineapple. I did eat them all separately though, otherwise that would just be weird and gross!

What have you been up to this week? Do you like pickles?

Top Ten Tuesday

So in case you haven’t noticed, it’s already almost May. Ummmm, what the heck?! Seriously, I feel like just the other day it was Christmas. Like many other college kids, I’m feeling pretty burned out on school at this point. But my summer unofficially begins in 10 days, so obviously I am beyond psyched for that! I say unofficially because I have only one final exam this time around, so I’m starting my summer a little early, heading home next Friday and popping back up here to take my final the following Thursday…then my summer will officially begin!

Because of this burnout, which extends to many aspects of my life (oh summer, please come faster!) I’ve decided to do a little Top Ten list type post for today, as a little recap of my weekend, and also because I can’t really think about posting an actual post Hopefully you enjoy this for the time being though!

Ten Foods I Can’t Live Without

1. Fruit. Okay, technically this is cheating, but there are a billion fruits I can’t live without, from grapes to pineapple to watermelon to bananas to raspberries to kiwi to…you get the picture!

2. Almond milk. I love the unsweetened vanilla kind, but the plain unsweetened is kinda growing on me.

3. Oats. 

My favorite oats combo at the moment--topped with kettle corn, pretzel sticks, raisins and peanut flour/almond peanut cashew butter.

4. Kale. It’s great in chip form, cooked up with some salt/pepper/garlic on the stove and even raw and massaged with some kind of dressing.

5. Tempeh. My vegan “meat” of choice. I love it’s nutty flavor!

6. Peanut flour. 

I prefer peanut flour to PB2, I just store mine in an old PB2 jar so it's less messy!

7. Kalamata olives. Some people can’t stand olives–I don’t understand those people!

8. Medjool dates. So gooey, so caramel-y, so addictingly good.

9. PB Puffins. Do I really even have to explain this one? It’s basically my crack (besides peanut flour).

10. Sweet potatoes. 

Saturday's simple but yummy dinner: sweet potato topped with peanut flour paste, baby carrots, garden herb Sunshine veggie burger topped with mustard.

Ten Things I Did This Weekend

1. Went to an independent film fest with my dad. We’ve gone to it since it started 5 years ago–we both love seeing random short indy films.

2. Went to church on Saturday night. Pretty self-explanatory!

3. Went out to eat…4 times! Normally, we barely ever eat out, except for when my mom drops me off back at school after a weekend at home. Due to our busyness this weekend, we had to eat out a lot. Definitely a struggle for me with my ED thoughts, but I mostly succeeded. Yes, I did order ‘safe’ things, like salads and veggie/hummus plates, but I truly enjoyed all of them. My favorites of this weekend were the salad I ordered at Mad Greens on Friday afternoon (baby spinach topped with Kalamata olives, dried cranberries, artichoke hearts and garbanzo beans with a fat free balsamic dressing) and the salad I got on Sunday night at Noodles (the Med salad with no dressing or feta, topped with grilled tofu). I kinda learned that I’m really not a tofu girl–it’s not necessarily the texture, but the taste for me. I’m not the hugest fan.

4. Played tennis with mi padre. Usually we play singles and a half (because we play with my sister) but she was unavailable so the two of us just played singles. It was so warm out and I was running around more than usual, so it was a great workout!

5. Grocery shopping. When my mom and sister picked me up on Friday afternoon, we hit up the Whole Foods and Super Target up here, then back at home we picked up a couple more things at the Super Target by us. And on Sunday, my dad and I ventured to Walmart where I stocked up on Truvia.

6. Bought my first-ever Zevia! I got the cream soda variety, and while I’m still waiting for the perfect opportunity to enjoy it, I have a feeling it’ll be incredible. Hopefully not so incredible that I feel the need to buy it on a regular basis since it’s pretty expensive…

So excited to try this!

7. Rode my bike for the first time since last fall. I never get the chance to ride it during the winter because of snow (duh) and there was even some lingering snow when I came home for spring break. I got in two quickie miles that were super hard because my tires were flat. Oops!

8. Worked on my final papers. Not fun, but they have to get done at some point!

9. Starbucks trip! I ordered a tall unsweetened iced coffee with 3 pumps of sugar-free hazelnut. Even better than the plain unsweetened with Truvia. I loved the nutty taste.

10. Repainted my nails silver and pink. I love this color combo and I actually haven’t had it since the beginning of school back in August!

My (slightly chipped) nails, and my lovely snake ring from American Eagle.

Ten Things to Do Before School’s Out

1. Finish my papers/essays. I’m definitely on track, just gotta keep my motivation up.

2. Clean my room. Vacuuming, dusting and all that should probably be done before I peace out.

3. Laundry. I don’t want to burden my mom too much, so I’m planning on washing my sheets and towels.

4. Finish up my last two weeks of classes. Even though I’m so done, I still have to get through 8 more days of classes. I can do this!

5. Make a (huge) list of recipes to make this summer. Some of this list will be coming ‘atcha tomorrow or Thursday for WIAW.

6. Turn in the last page of my internship stuff. The adviser in charge of organizing internships for students has such limited office hours that every time I stop by her office she isn’t there. I need to get this in though!

7. Move everything out of my room. Most of this will be done next Friday, and the rest the day of my only final. Not exciting or fun, but it’s gotta be done.

8. Sell my textbooks? Since I won’t be here during finals week, I’m not sure if this will get done, but I hope it will so I won’t have to have all these books laying around until the next buyback.

9. Study outside. It’s been incredibly nice here lately (I’m talking 80 degrees in April!) so I want to do this at least once.

10. Move out of the dorms…forever! I can’t tell you how excited I am for this. I love my dorm this year, since it’s all my own and it’s new and has air conditioning, but I am so ready for my own place next year.

What’s on your top ten foods list? What’s the best thing you did this weekend?

Easter Weekend in Pictures

Hi bloggy friends! I hope you all had a lovely Easter/Passover weekend (if you celebrate). Mine was really really good, but as usual, it went by super fast and it’s back to the daily grind. The only good thing about that is that the countdown is officially on–4 weeks til I’m no longer a sophomore! Wooooooo I am beyond excited for summer and everything I have planned for it, plus all the little things that are sure to pop up. Just gotta get through these next few weeks.

I took a bunch (well, not really) of pictures this weekend so I wanted to do a mostly wordless recap of my Easter weekend. So here goes!

Small sweet potato topped with peanut flour paste and almond peanut cashew butter, garlicky kale, fresh strawberries, chocolate and peanut butter Puffins in unsweetened almond milk.

Look how bright those strawberries are! My mom bought a huge box of them at Whole Foods for only $5 and even though they started to go bad by the end of the weekend, I got to enjoy them several times over the weekend. They’re my first of the season and were really juicy and fresh. Definitely a sign that summer is on its way! The garlicky kale is a super simple dish that I whipped up three times this weekend–oh yeah, it’s that good!

Garlicky Kale (vegan, gluten-free)

large handful curly kale, washed and patted dry

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2-1 tsp minced garlic (or freshly grated garlic clove)

sea salt, nutritional yeast and black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add kale and salt and pepper, until the kale starts to shrink and gets crispy edges. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and browned. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top and serve as a side dish (makes 1 serving).

Saturday's outfit: navy striped cropped tee (Hollister), dark wash jeggings (American Eagle), necklace and bracelet (American Eagle).

Saturday was fairly busy but pretty fun. My sister and I went for a walk, then my dad and I popped in at my pastor’s house for his birthday open house and later my whole family went out to eat to celebrate my dad’s birthday a few days late. The restaurant wasn’t too vegan friendly, but I did get a yummy homemade-style black bean burger with a side of avocado and black bean salsa. Yum!

The lovely Easter eggs, post-dyeing.

Coloring Easter eggs is one of our family traditions. My sister didn’t join in on the fun this year because of homework, but I had fun dyeing the eggs. Do I have a future as an artist? Ummmm, probably not!

Easter outfit: yellow floral dress (Abercrombie and Fitch), bracelets and necklace (American Eagle), unpictured silver wedge sandals (Target).

Besides going to church on Easter (I always love the holiday services!), we also went to Starbucks where I got my new favorite unsweetened iced coffee, played tennis for 45 minutes, snacked outside in the gorgeous weather (sunny and in the low 70s), colored eggs, made a special dinner and Skyped with my grandma and grandpa.

This year's Easter basket!

My mom still hides Easter baskets for me and my sister…yes, we are still 5 years old! Haha, just kidding, but I still think it’s fun to go find the basket and see what’s in it. This year, I got some Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail strips (super excited about these!), some sparkly green nail polish, guava-scented body wash from Ulta, mini Sweet Tart bunnies/ducks/chicks and two new-to-me Chocolove dark chocolate bars. My mom knows me so well

My Easter dinner: grilled chili lime tofu and mini sweet peppers, broiled lemon pepper asparagus (tops only, the best part) and cheezy quinoa (sprinkled with nooch).

While the rest of my family enjoyed their carnivorous dinner (flank steak, asparagus and cheesy mashed potatoes, in case you were wondering), I had a very vegan and very yummy dinner. It was my first time grilling tofu and I was a fan. I think next time I’d get extra firm, rather than super firm sprouted tofu, since it was kinda bitter, and I’d try out a marinade, rather than a seasoning on the outside. But still a really nice Easter dinner.

My new favorite 'ice cream': So Delicious mini Neapolitan nondairy ice cream sandwich.

I really wanted to try the new So Delicious almond milk ice cream sandwiches, but my Whole Foods didn’t have them. I did find these, which are soy ice cream, and actually really good, if really small. I haven’t had an ice cream sandwich in years, but these are better than regular dairy ice cream sandwiches. They also have coconut milk ice cream versions, if you like coconut milk.

Just what I needed on a Monday morning--Starbucks tall coffee light Frappuccino with soy.

Monday came early–at 6 am, to be exact. I wanted to stay all of Sunday so I could spend more time with my family, so my dad had to take me back up to school on Monday morning and we had to leave at 7. Luckily, we made a stop at Starbucks and I got my first Frapp in about six months. It was the perfect little pick-me-up!

How did you spend your weekend? What’s your go-to weekend lunch? 

Random Ramblings During Finals

Heeeeeeeeeeey all! What is up? I’m so glad the week is over–I’m ready to spend this weekend chilling at home before heading back up for a couple days of finals and what-not. I’ve already got one of of the way (yay!) with just 2 more left next week and a take-home one. I lucked out this time with finals for sure.

I basically have no brain cells left, and no motivation (thanks, school!) so my next few posts before break might be kinda sketchy. And by that, I mean pretty random. But random is good, and I hope you think it is too because that’s what I want to post!

A lot of people have shared their site stats in the past and I thought I’d jump on that bandwagon because I have some pretty hilarious search terms just within the past week or so. I’m not sure which one takes the cake for being the weirdest–I’ll let you decide that for yourselves!

• Little girl leggings. Okay, you guys, you caught me. I do shop in the kids section (basically just Abercrombie Kids) sometimes…
• Ultra nerd. You knew that already though.
• Scrawny Christmas tree photos. Ummmm, what?????
• Hummus myths. What, that it tastes awesome? ‘Cause newsflash, it actually does! That’s not a myth!
• Good. Pooped out and ready for my weekend break haha. You? I feel ya. And thanks for asking.
• Naked Hollister model. As yummy as that sounds, let’s keep it PG, ‘k?
• Foodies love Medjool dates. Yes. Yes they do.
• Why did I born. Obviously not to be an English major.
• “Gun show” brides. I would actually really love to know what this is.

Yeah, okay, some of those were just too bizarre to even comprehend.I’m just gonna wrap up this quickie of a post with a few of my favorite fashion/beauty inspirations from Pinterest. But first, a little thank you to Abby of iHerb! She saw my mention of their great services on one of my posts and now she’s sending me a little package of some free stuff. Can’t wait to see what I get (and review it, of course!)

I want sparkly eyeshadow so bad!

My obsession with tights/boots continues with these cute patterned version.

A hair bow made out of...hair? Yes please.

These booties are so fierce!

I love the boots/leggings/long sweater trend for winter.

Who could pass up a Santa mani just in time for Christmas?

What is the weirdest search term you’ve ever had for your blog, or from the ones I shared? Anyone else a Pinterest addict?