My (Now) Crazy Life

Sorry I’ve been missing lately! I wish I could promise a more regular posting and commenting schedule but my life is about to get even crazier and busier in the next couple of weeks so I may not be around much. But I want to fill you in on what’s been happening in my (now) crazy life lately!

I don’t always get manis…but when I do, I take shameless selfies to show them off!

It all started on Wednesday. I drove up 2 1/2 hours to my college town to reunite with one of my best friends. We hadn’t seen each other since before I graduated in December and a fun girls’ day was in order. We got sushi for lunch with her boyfriend (I got an avocado maki roll and it was the cheapest lunch ever–like $4!) and then drove over to our favorite nail salon to get manis and then drove down to the outlet mall for a little shopping. We didn’t buy much (I only ended up getting a coral dress from American Eagle for under $20) but we had fun trying on different outfits and just reconnecting. She’s graduating in May so we talked a lot about our future plans. And I filled her in about my new job! I haven’t talked about it a lot here yet, but let’s just say I’m moving out of state in a couple weeks…

Of course, this chipped a couple of days later.

My first time at a Trader Joes! I fell in love 🙂

On Friday my mom and I headed up to Denver for a busy day of shopping and food. We got lunch at Native Foods first (my last time getting to eat there for awhile 😦 ) and then the moment I’ve been waiting for for at least a year…we stopped at the new Trader Joes! Colorado finally got with the program and opened up a few TJs last month, but since none are where we live, we had to drive about an hour up to Denver to check out the store.

Their produce is so cheap but incredibly good!

The store was a little smaller than I was expecting it to be, but then again I’m used to Whole Foods and Sprouts which are a little bigger. But the selection is incredible! They had so many products I’ve never seen anywhere else, and a lot of stuff (like their raw almond butter) is just much cheaper than at any other store. It made me a little sad that I’m moving to a state that doesn’t have any TJs. Of course, I ended up with a bunch of stuff, including dried persimmon (!), almond butter, tofu burgers and a pink sea salt grinder. My mom was mostly impressed with their beer and wine selection!

Where else can you find exotic dried fruits for less?

IKEA has my heart.

After a quick trip to our favorite ice cream place (they always offer 4 rotating vegan flavors and I got the spiced cider sorbet–just like apple cider!), it was off to IKEA! If you’ve never been to an IKEA, you won’t realize how awesome it is. It’s also a decent workout, as you have to walk through the entire store to get to the checkout. My mom and I went to check out some inexpensive furniture for my new apartment but we didn’t get anything other than a tabletop ironing board because we realized we won’t have enough room in the car to move it. And there’s no IKEA where I’m moving to, so any IKEA furniture will have to wait until I come back home to visit and I can take some back with me.

An amazing locally-made GF vegan cookie. So buttery and maple-y.

On Saturday my dad and I hit up a vegan pop-up market downtown. The weather was seriously crappy (windy, cloudy and cool) but luckily the market was held inside. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting it to be, but we got free samples of kale chips and green juice and I also got a couple locally-made gluten free vegan cookies. I wish I had bought more, because they were incredible.

I love sangria.

After church, it was time for my celebratory dinner out. My family doesn’t go out to eat often (once a month, if that) but we always do for special occasions, like birthdays and apparently job offers! I chose Tapateria, where I had my birthday dinner in July and even though we couldn’t sit outside because of the weather, it was still just as nice of an experience as it was the first time. We ordered a lot of the same things as last time, like the incredible fresh garlic bread (everything is gluten free, which I love!), the warm olives and of course, the sangria. I don’t drink that often (again, probably about once or twice a month) but I love sangria and I plan on making my own this summer.

So fresh, so garlicky, so good.

It’s crazy that Saturday’s dinner was one of the last times I’ll be eating out with my family. I know it’s kinda hard on my parents too–my sister’s going off to college in the fall so they’ll officially be empty-nesters. I’m lucky to be so close with my family, so I know the transition period will be tough on all of us, but it’s nice to know that I’m always a phone call, text or 9 hour drive away from seeing them.

I’m finally an iPhone owner!

On Sunday, I officially became an iPhone owner! I’ve had an iPod touch since 2010 but all my smartphones have been Androids. I’ve been wanting an iPhone for awhile, and since T-Mobile finally offers them, I upgraded to the iPhone 5C. In pink, naturally. That phone is seriously my baby. I’m in love with iOS 7 and the feel of the phone. And I still have the best of both worlds, because my tablet still has all my Android stuff on it. Win win! The best part is, I can finally use emojis so…don’t be surprised if my Instagram is bombarded with them 😉

So there’s just a little glimpse into the craziness of my life lately. I’ve got one more post lined up for this week, and then I’m off to TX at the end of this week for spring break! Fair warning, my life will be even crazier post-spring break so I’ll try to keep up with commenting but I probably won’t post much for the next few weeks. See y’all in mid-April!

What were you up to this weekend? 

 

WIAW: 6 Days

Ahhhhh I can’t believe we’re so close to Christmas! It always seems like the days drag on leading up to the big day, but then it’s all over so fast. So this year I’m trying to savor each moment leading up to the 25th so it doesn’t zip by me!

This week’s WIAW is what I ate Monday and it’s a random assortment of old favorites and new foods…and there’s even a recipe thrown in there.

Breakfast: carrot cake buckwheat waffle topped with shredded coconut and vanilla Sunwarrior protein frosting

I’ve been alternating between homemade waffles and protein chia puddings for breakfast. This waffle was carrot cake inspired–filled with carrot shreds and raisins, and topped with coconut and vanilla ‘frosting’. The Sunwarrior is new to me, and not my favorite protein powder, but I think it’ll grow on me.

OOTD: colorblock dress (American Eagle), pink heart necklace (Forever 21), tortoiseshell hipster glasses (American Eagle).

It was not warm enough to wear this dress on its own (Colorado in December isn’t quite that nice!) but I paired it with my faux leather jacket, grey tights and my favorite grey wedge booties and felt like a total fashionista hipster. This is my first winter-appropriate dress and now I want even more–dresses are my absolute favorite thing to wear so it’s nice not to have to say goodbye to them during the colder months!

Lunch: fresh raw lemony kale salad topped with raw sunflower taco ‘meat’, mango salsa and guacamole.

I love kale salads for lunch but I need a way to mix them up. Enter: raw sunflower taco ‘meat’. Obviously it’s not meat, as I am vegan, but it replicates taco filling so well…actually, better than taco filling! I’ve seen a few recipes for raw vegan tacos so I tweaked those to come up with my own, crave-worthy taco filling that’s totally raw, packed with healthy fats and protein and is delicious.

Raw Sunflower Taco Filling (vegan, grain free, gluten free)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

chipotle powder, to taste

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until it comes together and resembles taco filling. Serve in kale or lettuce leaves with guacamole, salsa and raw cashew cream. Makes about 1 cup. 

Lunch (part 2): fresh Satsuma tangerine.

Can’t go without fruit or something sweet to end lunch! On my trip with my dad to WF over the weekend we picked up some Satsumas which are my favorite type of citrus fruit, and luckily, they’re actually good this year. I love how pretty they look with their leaves and stems, too.

Snack: rice cake topped with cheap girl pumpkin butter/chocolate chips/coconut shreds, baby carrots, peanut flour paste, Theo orange dark chocolate square, fresh fig.

The snackplate lives on! Sadly I had to toss the fig after a few bites because it was dried out inside and not tasty, but everything else was. The rice cake combo is something I’ve been having almost daily–there’s just something about pumpkin butter, chocolate and coconut that goes together so well.

Dinner (repeat photo, sorry): pineapple ‘fried’ quinoa with edamame, kale and cauliflower.

As much as I love to give new recipes a try, there’s nothing like reinventing a classic. I’m just obsessed with pineapple ‘fried’ quinoa for some reason and I’ve been eating it at least once a week. I think it’s the sweet, salty, spicy and crunchy combo that just gets me. It’s so good and it’s so quick and easy to whip up.

Dessert: PB chocolate microwave protein cake topped with Nuttzo, java chip coconut milk ice cream, Alter Eco mint dark chocolate square.

I’ve been having some kind of protein cake for dessert for at least a week now and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. This version is probably my favorite though–I just combine peanut flour and raw chocolate protein powder with a splash of unsweetened almond milk, baking powder and sometimes a few Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (love them!) and pop it in the micro for a minute until it puffs up and turns into a cake-like consistency. I sometimes have it with a small side of coconut milk ice cream and a square of dark chocolate if I want a little extra something.

Do you prefer making new recipes or sticking with old favorites? Do you like citrus fruits?

Recipe submitted for Healthy Vegan Friday #22. 

Kid Approved

No worries–I don’t have kids nor do I want any for awhile! I just happened to spot another survey floating around and thought it would be fun to relive my childhood through all my former favorite foods.

Favorite Cereal: On normal days, Post Blueberry Morning. Yeah, I was one of those kids who always ate fairly healthy cereals. But whenever we’d go camping during the summer, my mom would buy us those multipacks of mini cereals, and my favorite was always Lucky Charms, obviously for the marshmallows!

Favorite Breakfast Food: Waffles, specifically frozen ones. Apparently when I was two years old, I would be in my bed in the morning asking for waffles! I can’t remember the exact flavors I liked, but I think I preferred the blueberry ones.

Favorite Drink: I used to love Capri Sun (especially the strawberry banana flavor), but mostly because when I was done drinking it, I used to turn it into a ‘cell phone’. Did anyone else ever do that?!

Favorite Lunchable: Oh gosh, this is a hard one as I used to really love Lunchables when I was in elementary school, especially on field trips. I think my favorite was the nachos one–though now I can’t imagine eating that fake cheese crap. The best part was always the dessert though!

Favorite School Lunch: Honestly, I rarely ate the cafeteria food, since I preferred bringing my own lunch. In middle school I did sometimes though and I liked the popcorn chicken or breadsticks with marinara. So healthy, I know 😉

Favorite Cookie: I used to love those Snackwell’s cookie cakes, especially the mint chocolate kind.

Favorite Snacks: Gushers and Fruit-by-the-Foot (rarely had them, but I enjoyed them a lot when I did), Rold Gold honey mustard pretzel twists and popsicles/fudgsicles.

Favorite Home-Cooked Dinner: I was such a picky eater as a little kid, but I always loved when my mom would make chicken curry over rice. I loved anything spicy, even back then!

Favorite Restaurant Dinner: I can’t think of specific meals I loved, but one of my favorite places to eat at was Red Robin.

Favorite Ice Cream Truck Snack: The ice cream truck was so fun! I really liked those orange or raspberry creamsicles.

Favorite Fruit: I’ve loved fruits forever, so I can’t remember a specific favorite from the past but I loved bananas, kiwis, watermelon and berries.

Favorite Vegetable: Like a lot of kids, I wasn’t a huge veggie fan (now I am though!) but I’ve always loved baby carrots.

It’s so weird thinking about how much my eating habits have changed! Some of the changes are because of trying new things and becoming interested in healthy eating, others are because of my eating disorder and fear foods that I still have and some are because I’m now vegan and have no interest in eating some of those things again. I would say that as a kid I had a pretty well-balanced diet–we would almost always have a home-cooked dinner, I’ve always eaten breakfast and I would usually pack a lunch for school but there were some treats here and there. I’m definitely happy eating the way I do now though–eating healthy makes me feel so much better!

What did you used to like to eat for breakfast? Did you have a favorite Lunchable?

WIAW: With a Side of Survey

Hiya guys! I can’t tell you how glad I am that I’m not the only one who seems to be stressed out around this time of year! For any of you currently in the same boat as me (finals, packing, etc.)–hang in there! We will make it through, and today is one day closer to freedom break.

I decided to interrupt my studying (ummmm who am I kidding, I haven’t started yet!) and bring you this week’s edition of WIAW, aka the best part-ay ever! I mean who wouldn’t want to party it up in the midst of finals and projects? I know I do so let’s get to it! This week’s version includes a fun little survey brought to you by Tessa at Amazing Asset.

1. Four TV Shows I Watch

• The Office—OMG, so funny! I started watching this show religiously a couple of seasons ago and haven’t stopped since. It isn’t quite the same with Steve Carell (aka Michael Scott) around, but it’s still hilarious
• What Not to Wear—probably my favorite show. Stacy and Clinton aren’t afraid to tell people that their style is horrendous, and I love seeing the before & after, and their shopping trips.
• Saturday Night Live—okay, maybe this is my favorite show? This show makes me crack up every time, and I love watching it with my family. Looking forward to some hilarious fam time over winter break catching up on SNL. Seriously, we are so obsessed that we constantly quote the sketches.
• The news—haha I watch the local news on a pretty much daily basis, whether I’m at home or at school. What can I say, I’m a broadcast journalism major and I pretty much have anchors who are my idols on the local news!

Breakfast of champions: (last) Clif Kids full moon brownie bar, spicy veggie sausage, gummy dinosaur vitamins, frozen pineapple/banana chunks.

2. Four Things I’m Passionate About

• Healthy living. One positive thing that’s stemmed from my eating disorder is my passion for eating healthy. I am now vegetarian/semi-vegan and it just feels right for me. I also like to stay active in fun ways like playing tennis with my dad and sister, going for a long bike ride or a major shopping trip  😉
• My faith. I don’t mention it a lot on here, but I have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, and it really fuels everything I do. I’ve been  Christian my whole life but my faith has grown even more as I’ve struggled with things during the past few years.
• Fashion. I really need to do another  Style Phile post on here soon, because I’m missing having a fashion outlet through blogging. I am not the kind of girl who goes to class in sweats or jeans and a t-shirt. That being said, I do think comfort and style can go together and that’s how I strive to dress.
• Staying true to myself. Sometimes, yeah, I do feel out of place for not going out and partying every weekend (or ever…) but I remind myself that that’s just not who I am and I know personally that that’s not what I consider fun. I prefer hanging out with people on a closer basis and just doing low-key things and that’s perfectly okay.

Seems like a bizarre lunch, but I promise you it was delicious! 1/2 cup organic kettle corn (my new addiction), tablespoon peanut flour sauce, plain Greek yogurt mixed with cinnamon and Truvia.

3. Four Words/Phrases I Use A Lot

• Like, especially when I’m nervous!
• Definitely. It’s pretty much my go-to phrase.
• Haha. That one is definitely overused in my text messaging!
• That sucks! So creative, I know!

Apples and peanut flour sauce are a match made in my mouth 😉

4. Four Things I’ve Learned in the Past

• Don’t take things too personally. Honestly, I am still so bad at this. I get emotional really easily and I read too much into people’s words and reactions. But really, most of the time, people don’t care that much about me, so I should just move on.
• Comparisons suck. I am so done with comparing myself to others, it’s just completely pointless and has it ever made anyone feel better about themselves?
• Making excuses all the time can really bite you in the butt. I make excuses a lot and while they sometimes work to my advantage, sometimes I just need to suck it up and do the work.
• I am so glad I’m not majoring in a math-related field. Pretty self-explanatory, but I am so over math and science. I definitely wasn’t expecting to have to take some classes in it in college…

And this is why I've stopped taking pictures of my dinner! The sun sets basically at like 5 pm, so lighting at a quarter to 7 is awfulness. But it honestly was good--volume oats topped with peanut flour sauce (I'm on a roll with this, obvs) and organic raspberry jam, with a side of cinnamon-spiked butternut squash.

5. Four Places I’d Like to Go

• Somewhere in the Caribbean. I love that whole tropical atmosphere, plus the water there is gorgeous!
• Mall of America. Shopaholic over hurrrrr! Haha but seriously, this mall has everything (or so I’ve heard). I just need a ton of cash to spend first!
• Australia. I’d actually love to go there this time of year (when it’s summer there) and spend Christmas on the beach or something. It would probably blow my mind.
• A vegan/raw restaurant. They have these in a few places across the U.S. but they just sound so yummy whenever someone posts about going there. The food seems so creative and I’d love to try a raw recreation of some of my fave foods.

This banana looks suspiciously vibrant...with some almond peanut cashew butter and a couple of vegan dark chocolate chips.

6. Four Things I Did Yesterday (I’m writing this on Tuesday, so it’s what I did Monday)

• Gave a presentation in my PR class. My group did pretty well I think, but I just can’t wait to be done with the project altogether. Just some issues I’m having with the group…
• Did NOT slip on random ice patches in my new heeled boots. We had to dress professional for the presentation (I was basically the only one who really did) so I decided to wear my boots with tights and a dress. Luckily, I didn’t slip on the stupid random patches of ice all around campus.
• Took an hour-long nap around 5:30. I try not to nap so late in the day, so it doesn’t wreck my sleep schedule, but I was honestly so exhausted yesterday that it felt good to just rest. I didn’t really sleep much, but it was still a nice break.
• Continued to count down to Christmas break. Yeah, it’s down to only 8 days total, as of Wednesday!

And finally, for a pin of the day--how women see color vs. how men see color. So. True.

7. Four Things I Love About Winter

• Starbucks holiday drinks and red cups. You could say I’m obsessed.
• The holidays. Christmas and New Year’s, it doesn’t get any better than that!
• Wearing tights and boots together. It’s one of my favorite outfit combos—sometimes I wear (different) tights and boots every day of the week!
• How pretty snow is when it’s falling. Once it’s on the ground and frozen over so you slip every few seconds, not so much…

What is one thing you love about winter? Do you have a peanut flour obsession?

WIAW: Halloween (Weekend) Edition

Hey guys, how were all of your Halloweens? Mine was basically like any other school day: classes at 10 and 1, then an editorial meeting with staffers at 3. Oh yeah, not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I’m the editor for my campus’ faculty & staff newsletter! I’m so stoked because it’s a paid job and it’s in journalism, which is my field. I was dreading trying to look for some lame minimum wage job but I’m so glad I got hired for this. It was a long process of interviewing and paperwork, but it’s finally coming together. Me and another girl (the other editor) get along really well, and even though we’re pretty confused and overwhelmed at this point since we have a deadline this week and only just hired our writers, we’re still loving the position. So yeah, I officially have my first ever job 😀 But anyways, yeah, my Halloween was pretty boring…but Halloween weekend is a totally different story!

Mi madre picked me up around 2 on Friday and we were off! Unlike most weekends that I go home, she was able to get me earlier which meant I got to eat a home cooked meal. Score! Sure, I like going out to fast casual places, but they can get repetitive and expensive after a while, and I’ve missed being able to use the oven. So that’s exactly what I did–I made Gardein meatless ‘chicken’ nuggets and Alexia sweet potato tots (best thing ever!) alongside some green beans (ick, but decent with some spicy three-pepper mustard) for dinner. It was basic but gourmet compared to my dorm meals. Though I can get pretty creative with those… 😉

Look how much snow was still at our house 4 days after the storm!

Friday night was so much fun, because we all carved pumpkins and watched some reallllllly old (from the early 90s!) Disney Halloween cartoons. Those 2 things are basically a Halloween tradition in our house, and I love it. I ended up carving a pumpkin in my pumpkin because I thought a face was too cliché haha. It was so much easier than carving a face too, and the only part that sucked was digging out all the seeds. The insides of all the pumpkins were freezing cold so it hurt our hands after a while to get all the seeds out. But trust me, it was worth it–you’ll see why soon!

My pumpkin in a pumpkin!

My mom's and dad's pumpkins. My dad always likes to do something--erm--creative!

Saturday morning I woke up a little early (like 8:15, which is totally not early but it is for the weekend) because I wanted to make pancakes for my lovely familia. But not just any pancakes–oh no!–I made pumpkin pancakes with dark chocolate chips! OMG, pumpkin and chocolate are a match made in heaven for sure. I love the Archer Farms pancake/waffle mixes because they have the best flavors, especially seasonal kinds. My personal fave is the double chocolate peppermint (I’ll be making those over Thanksgiving break!) but pumpkin is awesome-sauce too. I also added a scoop of vanilla protein powder, to up the protein a little and use up the powder. They turned out really good but sadly, there weren’t that many of them. The amount I used only made 15 mini pancakes, so everyone got 3 (and I froze 3 for myself for later…shhhhh!)

Pancake batttttttah 😉

Just 3 ingredients: pumpkin pancake mix, mini chocolate chips and vanilla protein powder. Oh, and water of course!

My dad and I ventured out to (where else?) Whole Foods. Knowing us, we also made stops at Sunflower Market and Albertson’s. Gotta stock up on food, ya know? I got bunches of yummy stuff from WF, including some new things you’ll hopefully be seeing on this bloggie soon, like purple cauliflower and dried figs. Love that store. At Sunflower, I basically took their entire bar selection 😉 Just kidding, but I got soooooo many bars, like my newly beloved Clif Mojo white chocolate macadamia, Clif Kid Z-Bar full moon brownie and Pure orange cranberry. That is literally the only store near me that has that flavor of Pure bars and Clif Mojo bars, so I gotta get ’em where I can.

I may love the chocolate and PB Puffins even more than the PB!

Back at home I had a super late lunch and then got to work roasting my pumpkin seeds. You know the seeds are the best part, right? Of course they are. I decided to stray from the usual spice combinations and make a spicy-sweet kind. I found the recipe from here and they turned out better than I thought. I made a few tweaks though based on what I had on hand: I used Eggbeaters egg sub in place of the egg white, I used raw sugar instead of cane sugar and I used crushed red pepper flakes instead of cayenne pepper. They still ended up amazing, with just enough sweetness and heat.

So. Flippin'. Addicting.

Dinner turned out to be an (almost) family affair. My dad and I really wanted to try grilling eggplant and brussels sprouts so we fired up the grill for those. Meanwhile, my mom made dinner for the rest of the fam (minus me) while I cooked up a couple of Gardein meatless nuggets at the last minute. My sister, the only non-cook in the house, was of course the only one who didn’t participate but it was still fun. I miss being in the kitchen with everyone. It’s just such a fun, lively atmosphere. Anyways, dinner turned out great, especially the grilled veggies. I’ve had grilled eggplant before, but I’ve never done it myself and it turned out amazing. Same with the brussels sprouts. The outsides got nice and crispy and the insides were warm and smooth. So. Darn. Delicious.

Would you like a little fake chicken with your veggies?

I love how pink this raspberry cappuccino smoothie is!

The rest of the night was spent watching-slash-making-fun-of a really lame infomercial on 70s music, my dad helping me with stats (beeteedubs, I absolutely HATE stats with a passion, so this sucked but was also super helpful), me learning to enjoy hot tea (my mom got some Celestial Seasonings candy cane and sugar cookie tea bags, and they totally transformed me into being a hot tea lover) and watching reruns of SNL. I ended up staying up pretty late but it was so worth it.

Mmmmmmm, I'm such a sucker for all things seasonal!

I love this mug (please ignore all the random crap in the background).

Sunday, as usual, was pretty chill. Enjoying breakfast with the fam, reading the Sunday newspaper, packing up my stuff, lunch, hanging out with my sister and finally having to drive back up to school. I always hate Sundays on weekends I’m at home because it means I have to go back to school. Don’t get me wrong, I like school and my dorm and all, but I just really cherish the weekends I spend at home and it sucks when they’re over. They always seem to go by way too fast 😦 Back up in good old FoCo, my mom and I stopped for more groceries (I couldn’t live with nut butter, of course!) but sadly, I’ll have to be sweet potato-less for the next two weeks ’cause we couldn’t find them anywhere. We also stopped for dinner at a new-to-us place, HuHot Express. We went to HuHot once for my dad’s birthday, but this one was slightly different because it’s not all-you-can-eat. But I ended up loving what I got here better than at the regular place. I got rice noodles topped with shrimp, fresh jalapeno (spicy is where it’s at), edamame, spinach and what was called a Mongol mustard sauce. It was really delish, a little spicy, and not too overwhelming. I ended up mostly just eating the shrimp and veggies, but I would totally get it again. But the real star was the super-cool, high-tech soda machine. It had a touch screen menu so you could mix and match between all kinds of sodas and juices. Normally, I don’t drink soda but I had to try this. I got diet orange Coke mixed with diet vanilla Coke–it was like an orange creamsicle! Have you guys ever seen one of these machines? They are le-git!

Overnight oats in a jar! I basically just saved this jar and keep reusing it. Cookies 'n cream overnighters, frozen raspbs, spicy veggie sausage. Breakfast of champions right thurrrr!

I love tempeh bacon. And apples. And sriracha. Oh, and cold brussels sprouts. Don't judge me 😀

Of course, it was sad to say goodbye to such a fun-filled weekend, but Thanksgiving break is in less than 3 weeks–wooooohooooo 😀 You know I’m looking forward to 9 days away from school!

What was the best thing you did or ate this weekend? Do you like roasted pumpkin seeds?

Weekend Food & Fun

Ya wanna know what my least favorite part of the weekend is? When it’s coming to an end. I hate that feeling you get on Sunday night when you realize that the weekend’s pretty much over and tomorrow it’s back to the daily grind. Can you tell that I’m sick of school already? 😉 I know how sad that sounds, I mean come on, I’m only like 5 weeks in! Honestly, I actually love school this year (nerd alert!) but sometimes you just want a nice little break. Especially when you’ve got a crazy busy next few weeks ahead–in my case, 2 tests this Friday (eek!), 2 tests next week and a paper due in 3 weeks. Gosh, these professors are insane!

This is my "You've gotta be kidding me, 2 tests in one day?" face.

 But the point of this post is not to complain about school but to talk about my weekend! It started out when my mom picked me up around 6:30 on Friday. We grabbed dinner at Garbanzo, which is this really awesome fast casual Mediterranean place. It was a little too awkward taking a picture of my amazing dinner, so I’ll just explain it: baby greens, tabbouleh salad, fresh red cabbage, hummus, falafel topped with spicy cilanto sauce and grilled eggplant slices on top. It was drool-worthy.

I finally changed my nail polish! My sis got the shatter polish for homecoming, so I def had to try it out once I got home. Verdict: love it! And every time, it's a different design!

Saturday started out bright and early (if you consider 8:15 early, which sadly I don’t anymore since I’m used to being up by 7) with some Kashi Honey Sunshine-topped overnight oats. Oh how I’ve missed Honey Sunshine! I haven’t had it for months and forgot how much I loved it. Topped with frozen nanner slices and mango chunks, it was heaven in a bowl.

Please take me back, Honey Sunshine! I can't live without ya 😉

Around 11:30, my mom turned on the TV so we could cheer on my college’s football team in their big annual rivalry game. The Rammies did so well in the first quarter, but then they lost a lot of steam after the half. It was getting way too depressing so I stopped watching 😦 Luckily, my dad and I ended up going to see “Crazy Stupid Love” (I was shocked it was still in theatres) so it ended up being a great afternoon. I love comedies, and it was  really good one, so definitely see it if you have the chance. Then my dad took me to get froyo nearby–how could I pass that up? Despite the fact that I was freezing cold all day (seriously, the weather changed so drastically!), I still enjoyed my frozen yogurt. I got a new-t0-me flavor, apple pie. It tasted as good as it sounds 😀 Perfect for an almost fall day.

I have so many froyo pics on this blog, it's a bit ridic. But each one is unique and a piece of art (baha). Apple pie froyo topped with raspberries and blueberries.

After a Target run, we got home and I was able to make my own dinner–for realsies this time, I actually used the oven, which totally counts as cooking. I miss being able to do real cooking, but I’ve got a whole lineup of recipes that I want to make come Thanksgiving break. Everyone better stay outta my way–the kitchen will be mine 😆

I also appreciate the slightly better lighting I get at home! My dinner was a Gardein veggie burger topped with General Tso sauce, baby carrots, chipotle seasoned sweet potato fries and sweet potato tots. I think I OD'd on the orange.

The rest of the night was pretty low-key: SNL-watching, shower-taking, beating my dad at an UNO tournament. I am beast at UNO–no really!–I mostly always end up winning against my dad.

I think a big trend for me this fall will be layering--I love how cozy I felt in this outfit. Grey knit duster cardigan (A&F), burgundy plaid tunic (A&F Kids), navy culotte shorts (A&F), navy sparkle tights (AE).

Today was even more chill–at least until I had to head back up to school. When we finally got up here, my mom suggested Larkburger for dinner. It’s basically this pretty simple place with all-natural gourmet burgers and fries and such. Usually I end up getting the portobello burger but I wasn’t too hungry tonight and settled for the field greens salad topped with a grilled tuna filet and some edamame on the side. The tuna was amazing and the edamame was too (of course!) but the salad wasn’t great, mostly because they served it in this plastic container that was extremely hard to eat out of, plus the tamari ginger dressing  that sounded so promising, turned out to be totally nast. I hate when that happens, but I pretty much usually expect restaurant dressings to be sub-par. Luckily, it was on the side so I could just toss it without having the whole salad be ruined. I ended up saving the salad to eat sometime this week–in a more convenient way, like on a plate!

More Kashi Honey Sunshine? Yep, I'm a woman obsessed.

Now it’s back to the real world 😕 Oh well, not every day can be a blast and I know I’ll have some awesome days in the near future!

Oh, P.S. an update on my foot. Thanks so so so much for the well wishes! It’s still in pain, I wrapped an Ace bandage around it and hope it might help–hey, if it doesn’t, at least people will know why I’m limping around 😀 Plus I feel cool with it on, please don’t ask me why!

 

What fun things did you do this weekend? What is your dream froyo flavor?

WIAW: Compare & Confess

Hi everyone 😀 How was your weekend? Ehhhh, mine was nothing special but sometimes stuff’s gotta get done and it’s not fun but it feels so much better when you finish it.

Do you ever have weeks when you take food pics and you think, “Awwww man, I gotta pick just ONE of these pictures for each meal! But a lot of them are really good!” That’s how I feel a lot, so I decided that for this weeks WIAW, I’m going to do a little ‘comparison game’ or whatever and post 2 pictures for each meal instead of just one. And for even more fun, I’m gonna add in a little confession session that I saw on Amanda’s blog recently. So here we goooooooooo!

Monday's breakfast: carrot cake overnighters topped with drippy AB and raisins, spicy veggie sausage, gummy vitamins. Yurmmmmm 😉

Tuesday's breakfast: cake batter oats (with sprinkles!), spicy veggie sausage (do I even have to mention this?), gummy vitamins, gummy calcium chew. I felt like a kid eating this breakfast, because it had sprinkles and gummies! No shame, though.

Confession: I don’t like PB. Errrrrr…please don’t attack me 😯 !!!!!!!! I honestly have not had peanut butter in years, probs since elementary school, and even then I wasn’t a huge fan. I actually prefered just-jelly sandwiches to just-peanut butter ones. Yes, crazy I know but that’s just me. But I’m not a nut butter hater by any means–almond butter wins my heart! It’s just…IDK, so much richer and yummier than PB, in my opinion.

Sunday's lunch: Amy's low-sodium Cali veggie burger spiked with curry powder, with carrots, raisins and frozen nanner slices on the side. A more traditional lunch.

Monday's lunch: Oikos Greek yogurt cup in honey, peanut butter Puffins (addiction!) and date. Sometimes (errrr, all the time?) you just gotta satisfy the sweet tooth.

Confession: I’m not a runner. I know that it seems to be some sort of prerequisite or something to be a health/food blogger, but I’m just not into running. I really admire people that are hardcore runners for XC teams or do marathons all the time, but it’s not for me. My “sports” of choice are tennis, mountain biking and yoga. And that’s okay, ’cause everyone’s different (and I’m totally not dissing running, bee-tee-dubs). Whatever floats your boat is what I say.

Outfit of the day, as per usual: cropped denim jacket (birthday present), red floral romper (Hollister). I thought I looked cute, until I had to go to the bathroom, and realized I had to take off the jacket and the romper. Yikes. Talk about high maintenance.

...and, random tickets to the gun show! Bahaha, just kidding. I'm not sure why this is in here, but I'll roll with it. I still struggle with thinking my arms are HUGE, but I'm working on it. Body by yoga, people!

Confession: I actually read the newspaper on a daily basis. Call me crazy, but I like to stay informed. Plus I basically only read the lifestyle, food, fitness and comic sections 😛 Plus I’m a broadcast journalism major, can ya blame me? Of course this means I watch the TV news too!

Monday's afternoon snackie: Late July Mild Green Mojo multigrain chips (aka my crack), frozen nanner slices (when will these run out?) and homemade Greek yogurt/guac dippage. Sometimes my savory tooth comes out of hiding and I gotta tame it.

Tuesday's afternoon snackie: PB Puffins (told ya they're addicting) alongside a dark chocolate almond butter fudgie. You can't go wrong with this flavor combo.

Confession: I would usually rather do something with my family than with people my own age. Since high school’s been over, it’s been kinda hard for me to really connect really well with other people that are the same age as me. I feel like a granny compared to them, because I’d rather go to bed early (11 pm or midnight) and wake up early-ish (8 am…well, early compared to most college kids) and I absolutely hate partying. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly found that everyone around me wants to party down every weekend. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. No thanks, I’d rather remember my college years and actually get a career when I graduate, so partying is a no-go for me, plus it’s not that fun. Plus, I really love my fam–they are amazing, they ‘get me’ and we always manage to have fun together.

Monday's later-than-usual dinner (due to random floor meeting): Whole Foods spicy black beans, half toasted Ezekiel tortilla topped with spicy guac, side of mango and pineapple. I thought I'd love the beans, but I wasn't a fan. They weren't so much spicy as they were, um, tomato-y. Disappointed, but next time I'll just rinse off all the sauce and call it good.

Tuesday's dinner (sorry about the awful lighting, it's starting to get dark when I eat!): big honkin' sweet potato topped with agave almond butter dip and trail mix, frozen tropical fruits. I wonder why I haven't turned orange yet, with all the carrots/sweet taters/mango I eat?

Confession: I have a weird addiction to medical mystery shows like Mystery Diagnosis. I think a part of me wants to be a doctor of some sort, but the other part of me totally hates math and science so…nah! I just find these shows so fascinating, but they also kind of make me go all OCD and worry that I might have some of the same symptoms and wait years for a correct diagnosis. Yeah, I’m a big worrier!

Monday's dessert: second ever experience with deep chocolate Vitatops...sooooo amazing! I love how the chocolate chips get all melty when you heat up the muffin. A side of raisins for good measure (plus I'm obsessed with them).

 

Um, sometime-last-week's dessert: dark chocolate overnighters topped with chocolate apple crunch trail mix, with the ever-popular frozen nanner slices on the side. You can't go wrong with chocolate, trail mix and banana.

Confession: I have a may-jah sweet tooth. But, uh, I think y’all already knew that 😉

As if you needed more evidence of my sweet tooth (seriously, I must have something sweet at every meal, whether it's just fruit or cereal or something), here's Sunday's entire dinner: PB&J Remix overnighters (topped with PB Puffins and raisins, for the PB and jelly), bloobs on the side. I don't do oats for dinner usually, but I gotta admit that I love them.

Quick, give me one confession! And…did you enjoy the gun show 😉 ??????

WIAW+Facts of Life

Hey lovelies! I loved all your responses to my weekend update post. I honestly had no idea that everyone would be so in love with my glasses! I think they’ll be making a more regular appearance around here 😉

It’s that time again–WIAW! I can always gauge how quickly a week is going by if I find myself scrambling to gather pics for WIAW. That’s a good thing, though; I hate when school weeks drag on forever. Especially when I have something to look forward to on the weekend. Oh well, that’s life. This week has been going by decently fast, which is great, because I can’t wait for this weekend–or more specifically, Saturday. I’ll get to that soon! For now, just enjoy some foodie pics and a little blogger questionnaire that I found on Alexis’ blog.

How could I start a morning without overnight oats? I couldn't, of course, you know me. Today's lovely creation was dark chocolate oats topped with a spoonful of Whole Foods chocolate apple crunch trail mix. Alongside a spicy veggie sausage and gummy vitamins. A heart bowl makes it that much better. And cuter.

 Fact 1) I have never been to the East Coast, except for Florida. Yes, I realize that’s pretty crazy, especially to all you (many many) East Coast-based bloggies out there. But hey, I’m a Western girl at heart. Born and raised out here, baby. And I don’t plan on ever moving out of this region. I ideally want to move to California (either San Diego or San Fran, but I’m not too picky), Phoenix (my birth cit-ay) or Denver. In that order.

Quickie lunch between classes is always fun. Strawberry Oikos Greek yo' cup, all mixed up with Bear Naked Fit triple berry crunch granola. So good for a super-fast lunchie.

 Fact 2) I go to the school that had the major pool party over the weekend that’s all over the news and YouTube. I mean, really, guys, The Huffington Post covered it. Way to take away CU’s party school status, CSU. Go Rams?????

Ahoy matey! Okay, I'll stop trying to be cool. Outfit of the day, inspired by all things nautical (and nerdy): royal blue striped tee (Hollister), navy culotte shorts (Abercrombie & Fitch), ultra cool nerd glasses.

 Fact 3) I collect rubber ducks. Oh yeah, you know you wanna be friends with me now. Seriously, though, I’ve gotten 2-3 every year of the past 5 years or so (from an annual Labor Day rubber duckie race in a ski town near me) and I’ve got quite the collection now, from a cheerleader duck to a Mardi Gras one.

Snackplate time! Literally, on a plate. Kashi TLC crackers, agave/almond butter dip, frozen banana slices. Sweet, salty and cold all in one. But mostly just yum.

 Fact 4) Lady Gaga is my favorite. Despite her weirdness at the VMAs the other night (what were you thinking dressing like a dude, LG?), I will forever be a fan of her music. She is just so chill and I love that she isn’t afraid to make a fool of herself with her outfit choices. Most of them I approve of (but Sunday night’s choice? Not so much.)

More outfit footage. These glasses are becoming a go-to for me. I blame you guys for your love of them 😉

 Fact 5) I really LOVE spicy foods! Seriously, give me spicy over salty any day, I can take it. Some of my favorite spicy foods include: Indian curries, fresh jalapeno peppers (especially on veggie burgers), really hot salsas, chile powder and the spicy veggie sausages I have every day for breakfast.

Overnight oats making their first (hopefully not last) appearance at dinner time! These were my PB&J Remix oats: 1/3 c. thick rolled oats, mixed with raisins and topped with PB Puffins and fresh black grapes. Heaven in a bowl, I tell ya!

Fact 6) Yearbook nerd alert! Yes, I was on my school’s YBK for 3 years in high school. I was a section editor, went to yearbook camp twice and even traveled three hours three different times to go to a yearbook conference at the school I’m going to now. Yeah, I was a hardcore yearbooker.

I like to make a mess when I eat. Plain 0% Fage mixed with chocolate whey protein powder and 2 duplex cookies. Who said yogurt messes couldn't include cookies?

Fact 7) I love Mediterranean/Greek cuisine. Falafel, hummus, tabouleh, vegan gyros, pita, baba ganoush, olives–it’s my favorite cuisine, hands-down. I think I could totally live in that area and be completely happy.

Tell me one fun fact about you! Oh, P.S., I changed my blog design once again. What can I say, I’m kinda obsessed with changing it every time there’s a new layout that looks cool. Change is good, right?