Things I Love

My lovely mom is in town for the weekend, so I’m gonna make this post short and sweet in order to spend the most time I can with her. So let’s get to it!

I’m basically just filling out the Lovely 14–Things I Love survey that I’ve seen floating around. It still counts if it’s right after Valentines Day, right? 😛

1. Valentines Candy I Love: 

Gotta be honest with you, not a big fan of candy. The closest I get is fair trade, vegan dark chocolate made with natural ingredients. #sorryimnotsorry But really, I love Theo and Alter Eco’s chocolate, particularly their mint varieties.

2. Current Workout Jam I Love:

Pound the Alarm by Nicki Minaj, I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor by the Arctic Monkeys and Houdini by Foster the People. Yes, all completely random but they really pump me up to pump some iron or blast out some ab exercises.

3. Article of Clothing I Love:

The boyfriend-fit chambray shirt my mom got me for Valentines Day from American Eagle. We actually just stopped by there today and I love literally almost everything in the store right now. Not an issue at all…nope, except for my wallet!

4. Something Red I Love:

Microwaved raspberries on my waffles

This was my very appropriate V-Day waffle.

And my mommy (she’s a red-head, it totally counts!)

5. Month I Love:

July because it’s my birthday month, the height of summer (my fave season) and I love Independence Day! Oh, and I also like May because it kinda marks the beginning of summer for me, what with getting out of school, Memorial Day weekend and the weather warming up. Can you tell I like summer…and much warmer weather than we’ve been having?!

6. Piece of Advice I Love: 

Just do you. I have a bad habit of falling into comparison traps all.the.time so reminding myself that I need to do what works for me and not worry about anyone else is vital.

7. New (or Old) Blog I Love:

Amanda’s blog is pretty much bangin’–love her more personal posts as well as her fun thoughtful ones. And Alex’s blog always keeps me second-guessing myself and my recovery in a really good and helpful way.

8. Current Reading Material I Love:

I honestly like never read books other than required readings for classes (school has ruined me haha) so I’m actually kinda liking my advertising textbooks. Nerd alert! But actually, they have really cool ad examples from a long time ago and even recently so it’s an entertaining read.

9. A Memory I Love:

The summer between my junior and senior years of HS when I went on a church mission trip to San Francisco. Not only was the work we did really humbling and eye-opening, but the city itself is really cool and I’m itching to go back.

A gorgeous city, even from afar!

10. “Chick Flick” I Love:

I’m not sure if this counts as a chick flick, but I love love LOVE The Devil Wears Prada. Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep are amazing (when are they ever not?) and the fashion story behind it is totally my thing.

11. A Special Place in the World I Love:

My hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. I was born there and lived there for the first 2 years of my life, and have only been back once for a spring break trip, so I don’t know all its ins and outs but I do know that I have a special connection to it, it’s really beautiful (I love deserts) and I want to go back someday (hopefully immediately post-college) to live and work. I know the summers are brutal (hey, I was born there in the middle of summer!) but I think it would be worth putting up with to live there amongst the cacti.

You can’t tell me this doesn’t look beautiful.

12. Beauty Product I Love:

Bath and Body Works white citrus scented body lotion. The smell reminds me of summer, just what this summer-lovin’ girl needs right about now!

13. Nifty Website I Love:

Not exactly a site, but these hilarious and so-true Shit Vegans Say videos were found on the SFWeekly website…another reason to love San Fran!

14. A Beautiful Blog Post I Love:

Gah so many! Really, I just love all your blogs #cheesybuttrue

Answer any of the above…and enjoy your weekend!

WIAW: A Day of Red & Pink

Hey everyone! I hope you all had fabulous weekends! Mine was really good, since I spent it at home, and actually a little longer than usual, because of a snowstorm that kept me here for another day. But I’m not complaining 😉

Anyways, I really wanted to thank every single one of you who commented on my last post. I loved that you guys spoke your mind in a very respectful way and I really liked the conversation that the post sparked. I really do believe that every person is totally different and as such, they have completely different nutritional needs and we should all be respectful and understanding of that, which you all did. So thanks again!

Moving on to WIAW for this week! I decided to do mine a little early, since I wanted to do a special Valentine’s Day edition and V-Day is today! Basically, my meals were pretty pink and red (and chocolate-y) today in honor of the holiday. I’m not a huge fan of V-Day, but I also don’t hate it. I mean, my parents are basically the best Valentines ever, since they got me the sweetest card, a pink carnation plant and a cute American Eagle scarf. And after all, the day’s a good excuse to wear pink which is exactly I did. But more on that later!

Breakfast: raspberry mocha smoothie in a bowl topped with Kashi GoLean, peanut flour paste, gummy vitamins and a couple vegan chocolate chips.

This was my first attempt at a smoothie in a bowl and while it was super tasty, it wasn’t thick. At all. More like cold soup, which is alright but I want a super thick smoothie. Looks like I have to invest in some xanthan gum…Anyways, the smoothie was just a mix of some frozen raspberries, cocoa powder, u/s vanilla almond milk (my personal fave brand is Pacific Naturals) and a little Starbucks instant coffee powder. I love the little caffeine burst+coffee flava in the morning without shelling out $4 for some ‘bucks. Speaking of which…

Tall skinny soy caramel macchiato (love!) in a special Starbucks Valentine's cup.

My dad and I hit up the ‘bucks on Sunday for some afternoon coffee and I was soooooo excited, because I’d heard about the special V-Day cups. I am such a sucker for all things seasonal so this did not disappoint. I also tried out a new-to-me drink, the skinny caramel macchiato with soy and it was delicious and caramel-y without being too rich. Definitely a repeat order.

Outfit of the day: hot pink cropped cardi (A&F), pink ruffled tank (A&F Kids), tan corduroy jeggings (Hollister), pink plaid scarf (American Eagle), pink polka dot headband (American Eagle).

I was honestly surprised by how few people were wearing red or pink on campus. I guess I just like to be festive 😉 The pants look like a nasty color in the photo, but trust me, they’re actually a caramel color, not a gross mustard yellow. The lighting in my dorm is pretty pathetic!

Lunch: butternut squash cubes with cinnamon, chocolate brownie Pure bar, raisins.

Who says you can’t eat a brownie for lunch? It is Valentine’s Day, after all! And of course, the chocolate brownie Pure bar is super-healthy, so it’s alright. I enjoyed this lunch on-the-go between classes as per usual.

Snack: raspberry zinger tea, superfruits Oikos.

My favorite Oikos flavor, hands down, would have to be the superfruits. It’s an amazing mix of pomegranate, raspberry and acai and I just love it. I haven’t had it in literally months, though, because the stores me never seem to stock it. When my lovely mom picked up groceries for me last week, she found it and knowing how much I love it, got it for me. Now I get to enjoy it three more times!

Dinner: dark chocolate raspberry "cheesecake" oats, smart bacon.

I love love LOVE having oats for dinner…with some protein and a fruit or veggie to balance it out, of course. Tonight I went for a really sweet oats combo of dark cocoa powder and frozen raspberries with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt stirred in. The yogurt made the oats really creamy and reminded me a little bit of cheesecake. A healthy cheesecake, of course!

Snack: bunny pretzels, organic strawberry jam, almond peanut cashew butter, peanut flour paste.

Of course I had to use my heart-shaped bowl at least once today. I’m not really sure how this snack is related to Valentine’s Day, except that it’s in the bowl and it has strawberry jam. It’s just one of my favorite snack combos at the moment!

How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day? What’s your favorite berry?