Currently: November

As you can see, I’ve changed my blog design yet again! I am a little obsessed with page design but I didn’t want to shell out money that I don’t have to get one of the premium designs or find a professional blog designer so this is what I went with and I like it–I love the colorful, bold look!

Anyways, here’s the latest edition of Currently. These kinds of posts are always my favorite to write because they’re more personal but in a fun way!

Current Book: Am I ever reading a book I actually like, instead of something I have to read for school? No such thing! Again, currently reading this book (on my tablet) for my post-WWII history class. I really like that class, and the books are pretty interesting, so no complaints.

Current Music: I’m patiently awaiting the arrival of Christmas music on Sirius XM (editor’s note: actually found out it started on Tuesday, so I’m officially listening to it on the drive to and from school) and I will be listening to that nonstop until New Year’s. What can I say, I love the Christmas season!

Current Guilty Pleasure: Starbucks 1x per week. I’ve been hitting up the ‘bucks almost every week for awhile now, especially now that the red cups are back. Seriously, it’s a problem but not really because I’m working my way up to gold card status and I never order those crazy fancy expensive drinks. Tall Americanos and blonde roasts for me, please and thank you, with the occasional addition of soy or sugar free syrups.

Another guilty pleasure is car selfies.

Current Nail Color: This pretty forest green color from OPI that I got last Christmas. It came in the cutest mini-size bottle and somehow I still have some left.

Current Drink: I feel like I say water every time (boooooring!) so I’ll switch it up and say tall Americano from Starbucks with 3 pumps sugar free peppermint, in a red cup of course. I got this drink the other day when I was at Starbucks for a group project meeting, and it was surprisingly good and not overly sweet.

Current Food: Lettuce wraps for lunches on campus, random salads at home, homemade PB & J bites (basically raisins blended with peanut butter from the Whole Foods bulk section), black bean pasta (soooo good, and I love the protein it has), protein banana softserve, pomegranates and persimmons.

A totally random but yummy salad.

Current TV Show: I’m not watching any show regularly, aside from SNL every week. A lot of the cast is brand new this season, but I’ve liked most of the shows so far. I still miss Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, though.

Current Wishlist: Basically, all I want is to make it to Thanksgiving break alive (I am crazy busy with school stuff) and then make it to graduation with good grades. I’m in the home stretch, and I’m freaked out and not at the same time. #senioritis

Current Needs: More time in my day to get shit stuff done, a break from school (Thanksgiving break in T-minus 8 days!), a little bit more money in my budget to get me through the rest of the semester.

I also need to find more persimmons, to feed my addiction. I like the hachiyas best.

Current Triumphs: This may sound weird, but learning to like the color black. Before this year, I owned basically nothing black in my closet. I was not a fan of black in any way. I finally branched out and bought a few black pieces to add into my wardrobe and I’m finally starting to love it, in small doses, paired with other colors. I just love how chic and edgy it can be!

Current Bane of Existence: School, my skin situation (I still have acne, and it’s not going away easily), stress about finding a job after graduation.

Current Indulgence: These homemade PB cups I made last week. Okay, maybe they weren’t that indulgent, being made with stevia-sweetened dark chocolate and organic, no-salt no-sugar PB, but they were really good and I’m planning on making them again once I get more chocolate chips and PB.

Current Blessing: Having the support of my family, forever and always. I’ve said it before, but I love my family. Even when they get on my nerves, I still love them and I will be forever grateful that they’re so supportive and loving. My mom’s been helping me pay for groceries lately since I’ve been running low on money, and my dad’s helped me figure out some school stuff, and my sister’s just been there to cheer me up with some new Lady Gaga music 😉

Current Outfit: This was something I wore last week, but a red peplum shirt from Forever 21, my new black jeggings from American Eagle (I’m obsessed with these, and they were $12!) and sparkly black flats from Target.

OOTD shots are always better in my new full-length mirror.

Current Excitement: ARTPOP, the new Lady Gaga album, is finally out. It’s a lot different than some of her older stuff, and I still think I prefer her Born This Way album, but the new songs are really catchy and fun.

What are some of your currentlies?

Currently: August

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! You really know how to make a girl feel special 😀

I’m not sure when (or if) I’ll get back to a regular posting schedule with a vacation coming up and settling back in at scchool but for now, enjoy this little survey I always enjoy doing.

Current Book: I’m loving my new “Going Raw” cookbook. I like that it’s not just recipes (and delicious-looking ones at that) but it also came with a tutorial DVD and has tips for implementing raw foods into your lifestyle. I basically want to make everything in the book!

That burger on the cover looks unreal.

Current Music: I’m loving the new Grouplove song “Ways To Go” and “Hurricane” by MS MR. Alt Nation on Sirius XM is my all-time favorite radio station.

 

Current Guilty Pleasure: Phoney Baloney’s coconut bacon. Gah, I need to stop devouring this stuff–I only bought a small bag of it and the stores around me don’t sell it yet! Sooooo addicting, and awesome ingredients list.

Current Nail Color: Mint Sprint by Sally Hansen.

This goes with almost everything.

Current Drink: Water all day errryday in my VS PINK giant water bottle. It makes drinking water that much easier. Also, coconut water iced coffees.

Current Food: Salads at least 1X per day, protein banana softserve (though not as much anymore), protein fruit ‘cereal’ (Sunwarrior+almond milk+fruit+other toppings in a bowl), Larabars, ice cold watermelon.

These veggies aren’t for eating but they sure are cute! An adorable recent IKEA find.

Current TV Show: I’m not watching much right now, but I like that new Hollywood Game Night show on NBC. I like seeing celebs in real life!

Current Wishlist: Some clothes I can transition into fall (particularly a hi-lo dress), more cute oxfords (spotted the cutest pair at a little boutique the other day!), a new planner for the school year…and motivation to get through this last semester. Senioritis is hitting me hard!

How cute is this one!

Current Needs: The need to pack! Seriously, I actually like packing but I always procrastinate. I can’t even think about packing up stuff again for school in 2 weeks…I just need to pack for vacation first!

Current Triumphs: Finishing up my weather internship with a bang. Last summer’s internship was a bit of a letdown but this summer’s was an amazing learning experience and I got to work in a great environment with awesome people. I’m going to miss that place a lot, but I’m thankful for the experience I got there. Annnnnnd, I may end up posting some of my work from there at some point on here, who knows!

Current Bane of Existence: School coming up. I’m sorta looking forward to it, but after 16 years of school, I am beyond ready to just get my diploma and move on to the real world. I loved college but at this point, I’m so done.

Current Indulgence: The vegan carrot cake ice cream I enjoyed the other day. Totally fine with having ice cream right after a delicious salad, and it was really good ice cream. It was like two of my favorite desserts (carrot cake+vegan ice cream) in one.

Ugh so good.

Current Blessing: Being able to see my extended family again. We haven’t been back to see most of the fam in 4 years and it’s good timing now because one of my grandpas is not doing so well. Hopefully our visit can lift his spirits and help him feel better. Not to mention, it’ll be great to get away for a week and enjoy a different state!

Current Outfit: Strapless blue-checked corset-style top from Abercrombie & Fitch, navy blue twill shorts from Hollister, jewelry from American Eagle.

It’s getting hot again (wooo!)

Current Excitement: Vacation…and college graduation in T-minus 5 months!

Answer any of the above! 

WIAW: Flooding, Fedoras and Fun

Sometimes, you can’t do much better than the classic alliterative title! And with that, here’s another WIAW…

Flash flood aftermath, day 2.

My city is just getting hit hard with natural disasters, after last summer’s fire, this summer’s fire (which hit even closer to home for me and my family) and now flash flooding on the southwest side of town. We all knew it would happen eventually with the burn scar in the foothills meaning no vegetation to slow down rainfall, but no one imagined it would happen after just half an inch of rain fell in half an hour! Luckily, they were able to clean up the streets and businesses that were affected very quickly and by the time I made it over there on Tuesday, it looked normal, aside from tons of mud near the creek. The perks of being in TV news is that you’re always the first to know about things, and you can always get a close look at whatever happened, which is good for a nosy person like me!

I wanna be a localvore!

I really love this new campaign Whole Foods has going about focusing on local food. I’ve become passionate about buying local, and even though it’s hard to get really good local produce in CO, Whole Foods does stock local produce when its available and a lot of the products I love to buy, like Larabars and raw kimchi, are produced in my state! Once I move to a better produce state (ahem, CA!) I hope to exclusively buy locally-grown produce.

Ah-mazing stuff.

And speaking of local, I happened across this gem on a random trip to the Whole Foods I rarely frequent. It’s smaller than the one I prefer and farther from where I live but I wanted to see if they had anything different. I’m so glad I did, because I have yet to see this new brand at the WF I usually go to. I spotted the “I’m a local” tag and the awesome flavor combos and was instantly intrigued. I mean, what other brand has cherry vanilla almond butter, or blueberry cinnamon walnut butter? I decided to get the dark chocolate coconut one since I knew I’d like it, but now I wish I’d gotten the espresso hazelnut one too! The best part is, there’s no added sugar aside from dates and the only added oil is organic coconut oil, which is the healthiest kind. I’ve never been a fan of the flavored nut butters that have added sugars and gross oils that some bloggers like, but now that I have a cleaner, more natural flavored nut butter option I don’t have to go without!

A good look for me?

If you think this hat looks too small for me, that’s because it is. It was technically found in the little boys’ section at Target, but lets be honest, I rock it better than any little boy would 😉 Ok, maybe not, but my sister and I had way too much fun at Target the other night. Insider’s tip: if you ever want to joke around in Target and generally just act immature, the best time to go is after 7 pm. Fewer people are there so you can be obnoxious and take silly photos without anyone caring.

The new Starbucks Refresher!

I took advantage of the half off Refreshers deal at Starbucks last weekend and tried the new Valencia orange flavor. Not bad, it reminded me of Sunny D actually, but it wasn’t my favorite (I prefer the lime). I’d love to mix this with vodka or something for a citrus-y cocktail though 😀

WF salad bar for the millionth time.

After going without it for 3 weeks, I caved and got some Whole Foods salad bar…twice in one weekend. I know I have problems, but I wanted a break from it for awhile to see if they started rotating in new things and they did! I’m now in love with these homemade bread-and-butter pickles they have (they’re obviously fresh!) and their addictive curry roasted nut mix. Obviously, I got some greenage in the form of romaine lettuce, and I got my favorite curried tofu salad because Whole Foods does tofu right and I realized I’ll never be able to make it as good so I gave up on buying it. Oh, and get this: one of the nights I got the salad bar was with my sister (before said Target outing). The weird thing is, she loves the salad bar as much as I do, but for very different reasons–the macaroni and cheese, and the Caesar salad. Sometimes, I think we come from two different families 😉 Just kidding, but we eat completely differently, which is funny that we both have a place we love.

Random taco salad for dinner.

After being busy at my internship, I haven’t felt much like throwing anything together that takes more than 5 minutes. I’ve also been craving salads, because all I have time to scarf at my internship is a Larabar, some berries/grapes and baby carrots. I’ve still been sticking to mostly raw, but I threw in some navy beans mixed with nooch and garlic gomasio (basically garlic, sea salt and sesame seeds–soooooo addictive!) and called it a well-balanced dinner…with some water and watermelon on the side.

My favorite right now. I could eat this. all. day. long.

Speaking of watermelon, it’s my favorite fruit at the moment. It’s just the best when it’s straight from the fridge, especially on a hot day. I hope summer never ends, so I can eat watermelon forever.

Silly seesta time at Target.

Sometimes, it’s good to be spontaneous and just enjoy life. I love spending time with my sister because she brings out the best in me. We always have fun together and I’m gonna miss her to pieces when I graduate in the fall. Only we could have fun wearing kids hats and taking embarrassing pics of us wearing bras over our clothes (don’t ask)!

For those of you who live in Canada, I hope you had a nice Canada Day on Monday and for my fellow American readers, I hope you enjoy Independence Day tomorrow! My plans for the day are going to a parade and having water balloon fights with my family…fun stuff!

What have you been up to lately? What have you been eating?