Flashin’ Costumes

Guess what I have been enjoying lately?

Pumpkin smoothies!!

In giant mugs no less.

With swirls of chocolate syrup.

When I first started making these back in my sophomore year of college, I’d have one every night (no joke).  Often times twice a day.  Such a simple recipe:

• 1 cup milk of choice (or part milk, part water)
• Huge scoops of pumpkin
• Cinnamon and/or pie spice
• Maple syrup or sweetener
• Ice

Blend and enjoy!!  Best topped with whipped cream.

And now…

A Flashback Friday post??  Well…sure, why not

I know I’ve already done a Halloween costume flashback last year (in fact – it was my first Flashback Friday post!), but….I thought I’d do it again to remind you

I only have pictures of the past 5 years on this computer.  But I can tell you what I’ve been!

Junior year (of high school) – Mary Kate Olsen (my friend was Ashley)

Senior year – “Taylor the Sailor”.  Yes – I pinned a sign that said that to my shirt

Freshman year (of college) – a polar bear.

Sophomore year – a fairy when I visited my friend in Santa Barbara.

Night#2 at a party back at school, I was an Indian:

And an Eskimo on actual Halloween night (it was on a Tuesday that year).

And for you’re enjoyment, some pre-party getting ready dancing

 

Junior year – Minnie Mouse!  And sporting my marathon necklace

I found my twin!!

Senior year – Indiana Jones (on the far right)

This was my first Halloween bars experience – it was crowded!!

Then I was Santa the next night.  It was actually November 1st, yet still “Haloween Weekend.”  We assumed people would be dressed up again.  We thought wrong.  It was slightly awkward….oh well!

Last year, my house braved it, and had our own party!  We had a blast decorating…

Making the jungle juice….

Getting ready together…We seriously had no idea what we were getting into. 

I was a gangster/mobster, by the way.

But it was lots of fun!!

The next night, I was a pumpkin when we went to the bars. 

 

What was your best/favorite/most creative Halloween costume you’ve ever been?

I seriously come up with costume ideas a year in advance.  I always have too many ideas and then know what I want to be next year.  Or as I’m shopping throughout the year, I see something and think “that would be great for a costume!”  That’s exactly how my Fairy (saw the dress at Walmart and thought Fairy!), Indian (saw the dress at Target and thought “Indian!”), and Minnie costumes (saw the shirt at Target and thought “Minnie!”) came to be.

In 5th grade, I was a picnic blanket.  I literally had a blanket over me with plastic food, plates, and even ants glued on.  I’ll find a picture and show you, I swear.  I loved being “Taylor the Sailor” – got a few laughs on that one.  I also loved being Indiana Jones because I love Indiana.  And that whip got a few comments lol.

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Running This Flashback

I had PB&J for breakfast the past 2 days. 

One in yogurt-mess form:

• Peanut butter yogurt (peanut flour mixed with yogurt)
• Cereal
• Raspberries
• Pumpkin butter

Yes, there was yogurt under there

The juicy berries mixed into the yogurt like PB&J!

This morning in overnight oats form:

• Peanut butter overnight oats
• 1/2 a nectarine
• Raspberries
• Sprinkle of granola
• Jam

Mmm pretty much like fresh raspberry jam

 

I also was quite the fashion statement:

Running shoes + cute dress = oh shush it, I have a sore foot.

 

Today I worked a bit, then hit the road home!  Grabbed a sandwich at a local deli on the way.

Sooooo good.  Seriously – big ol’ sourdough rolls make deli sandwiches.  I used to get plain sliced wheat.  But the sandwich is 3097532085032 million times better with this bread.

 

I drove straight to my orthotics appointment, where I was refitted.  And told I need new orthotics.  SUPER DEEEE DUPER.  Apparently, my arches have stretched out and are now over-riding my current orthotics.  Causing my ankles to roll slightly inward.  She was also in shock how tight my ankles are.  Even though I stretch after each run – it’s not enough!!  Most likely the cause of my recent foot pain.  I really need to focus on like hour long stretching or something if I want to keep running.

 

Then to Target.

 

And guess what was right next door across the street?

I can’t turn down the fact that they have pumpkin pie flavor.  If I see Yogurtland, I must buy.

 

This then welcomed me home when I walked in the door:

Except someone seems to have been picking at it!

 

I thought the yogurt and trail mix would ruin my appetite for dinner, but I still felt munchy.  I rummaged around, and found some tomato soup in the cupboard.  Eaten with a quesadilla made with a flatout wrap and cheddar cheese.

 

And then I was soooooo full.

 

I haven’t done a Flashback Friday in so long, but I figured this race weekend would be perfect to flashback to my previous times running this race!  I actually flashbacked to it last year as well, but I’ll re-flashback

 

In 2007, I ran the full Nike Women’s Marathon in SF.  It was my first marathon, and actually one of my first serious races!

I spent the day before with my sister, mom, and cousin hanging out at the hotel and exploring the Expo!

…and getting attacked in Macy’s.  No big deal.

The next morning, we were up bright and early!  (My mom and cousin walked the half)

 

I was wandering the streets, when I ran into my dad and siblings!  Seriously, out of all the people in the crowds, and out of all the places they could have been.  Talk about coincidence!  It really made me excited.

It really meant a lot that my whole family came out to support me.  I love you guys!!!  During the last 3 miles, I randomly saw a huge sign that read “DO IT FOR ZIMMER!!” (Zimmer was our dog who died of lymphoma, what this race benefits).  I cracked up, and my brother started to run alongside with me.  I challenged him to beat me But he dropped off behind me.  HA!

Sprinting to the finish!

Done

Finishers!!

 

In 2008, I ran the half! 

Enjoying the day with mom and her friends:

My hand always looks like it’s hanging dead when I have my Garmin on haha.

The weather was freeeeeezing this year!!  I ran the half, and everyone else walked, so I hung around for a good 2 hours afterwards waiting.  So cold!!

 

I can’t wait to make new memories this year!!

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Happy Birthday Roommate!

First off, Happy Birthday to my roommate Jenna!

(Jenna’s on the right in case you for some reason have no idea what I look like. Or are a new reader)

Thanks for being such a wonderful and fun roommate. Can’t wait to celebrate tonight 🙂

Quick Thursday recap.

Yogurt + cinnamon + Kashi berry crisp cereal (new try!) + blackberries + PB at 9:15 before work.

This Trader Joe’s European style yogurt was so runny, it was almost like a soup! Not such a fan.

Iced coffee while running errands after work.

I used to get McDonald’s iced coffee all the time! I ask for no creamer, and then add some of my own since they put way too much in for my taste.

Lunch of leftover goat cheese vegetable pizza (on its last leg)

A small piece of PB fudge

Some marinated mushrooms (random snack)

And a small bit of cookie dough (yes – I love love love cookie dough)

Wait! Can’t forget my vitatmin! Looks like I had Wilma.

These were sitting on the table at work, and I couldn’t turn down the Flinstones telling me to get my daily vitamins 😉

Dinner was the rest of my eggplant parm (repeat pic alert!)

And other snacks throughout the night:

• Celery and ranch dip (before lunch)
• Tons of blackberries. Literally the whole 12 oz container.
• 2 big bites of DCD PB (eaten with my blackberries)
• Apple dipped in dessert hummus
• Hot cocoa

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve taken you all on a flashback journey. As May comes to a close, let’s take a look throughout the Mays of my college life.

2006 (freshman year)

Cinco de Mayo party!

Going to a concert with some suitemates

Took this as we were walking somewhere because we were shocked how much gas was! Then it got up to over $4.50 a gallon…

Taking a few drinks before a baseball game. Hey! You only live once (the clock readers 5:00 I think – the earliest we’d ever drank! haha)

Then heading to the beach to play.

2007 (Sophomore year):

Not nearly as many pics. True love.

I just want to document that at the beginnning of the night, my hair looked like this:

After a night of walking in fog/dancing: (I can’t believe I’m posting this)

Holy hell.

2008…..

Wow. I seriously have no pictures from May 2008. This year I wasn’t going out too much and wasn’t very close with my roommates. Moving on..

2009:

Mother’s Day brunch.

Josh Gracin came to play at my school’s University Union hour!

Trip home for my sister’s 1st Communion.

And my brother’s Senior Ball.

Now for menu fun. We’re going to Big Sky Cafe for dinner, yet I can’t decide what to get! What would you get? Keep in mind we’re going for dinner! And I don’t eat red meat.

I’m leaning towards:

• Cup of turkey chili with side of sweet potato fries
• Tagine of Vegetables
• Vegetable plate with a side of sweet potato fries
• Grilled cheese and chipotle sandwich
• Turkey burger

They’re sweet potato fries are a must. So I have to get those. But I also really want to try the yam risotto. Obviously I’m having a difficult time over here! 😉

Help a girl out!!

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Birthday Flashback

Thank you to those of you who wished me happy birthday via twitter yesterday 🙂 So sweet!!

My breakfast revolved around a little jar I went through too fast.

Perfect birthday breakfast!

• 1/3 cup oats + 1/3 cup wheat bran + 1 cup water
• 1 egg
• Cinnamon & maple syrup
• Dark chocolate dreams (on top)
• Nature’s Path granola

Oatmeal, you never fail me.

The rest of my day I did a little weights, stretching and foam rolling. Relaxing. Lying in the sun. Then lunch.

I topped my last French Meadow Bakery sprouted tortilla with about 1 1/2 servings of ground turkey, 1 cooked egg, FF sour cream, and salsa fresca (Santa Barbara brand from Costco).

I really only like these tortillas when heated or cooked. I heated up my tortilla on the stove. I have a gas burner, so I just lay it on one of the burners for about 10 seconds, then carefully grab and flip it. It heats it up and makes it slightly crunchy!

I love the chewiness of these tortillas once heated.

Yumm!! I had lots of leftover filling (but no more tortillas 😦 ) so I combined it all in a bowl to eat the rest 🙂

Afternoon snack of an apple and my free Starbucks half-caff coffee!

Then came home to get ready for my roommate birthday night. I kept dinner pretty light because we were getting dessert at around 7:30.

Repeat picture!! I wolfed down my dinner quickly, but it looked like this – only a few less pancaked. I made a slightly smaller batch of these “pancakes”.

We then got dressed and headed to the Madonna Inn for dessert! I don’t have those pictures yet (on my roommate’s camera), so I’ll have to recap that part of the night tomorrow 🙂

Tonight is part 2 of celebrating. My friend’s birthday is today, and since mine was yesterday, we’re doing a joint party tonight. And then heading out on the town! I’m still not 100% positive on what dress I’m choosing, but you’ll find out tomorrow! 😉

And now, in the spirit of yesterday and tonight, I thought I’d do a birthday edition Flashback Friday. I only have back to year 2003 on this computer. But I wanted to show you how into birthday parties my mom would always get. We would do huge theme parties when we were younger, and she would make the most creative cakes! Examples of my younger sister’s cakes, which I have on my computer. (Her birthday is in August, so they’re mostly pool themed 😉 )

Unfortunately that’s all I have on here, but she could get pretty intense!

In 2003, we went to a Giant’s game.

My 18th birthday in 2005:

Baskin Robbins ice cream cake = best. thing. ever.

It’s a tradition in our family that my dad would always come home from work with a bouquet of flowers for the birthday kid!

Freshman year, my mom and sister stopped by during a college roadtrip. They made me mini-polar bear cakes!

Then the night before my birthday, my roommate and friends completely ambushed and blindfolded me, then surprised me at the beach!

We had cake (Snickers flavor – one of the best cakes I’ve ever had)

Dared to eat the last piece in one bite

Played football and then ran into the water!

Love my fish faced roommies!

On my actual birthday, we spent the day at the beach.

Titanic!

Then went to dinner at a local Mexican place.

So full after dinner and birthday treats, I said I couldn’t move to my bed. Next thing I knew the entire couch was being lifted to transport me. LOL

Flowers sent by my parents 🙂

Sophomore year, my 2 roommates said to get dressed up.

Then they took me on a “shot scavenger hunt”!

We hit up two of our friends places where they were having parties, and took a shot at each location 😉

The next day I hungoverly drove home to celebrate my birthday with my family.

Junior year was my 21st!! And honestly, probably one of my least exciting birthdays ever 😉 I celebrated with my family a few weeks early over my spring break.

We got catering from Chevy’s!

My mom spent years and years working on a scrapbook for my 21st birthday present (she’s doing it for every kid). I was completely floored!

My sister painted me a mug – you might have seen this periodically on the blog 😉

Copied from a painting we saw in Paris. This girl is freakin’ talented!

With a beautiful quote on the back 🙂

I had a midterm the day of and the day after my actual birthday, so I couldn’t go out to the bars as a new “21-year old” either night. I was also on campus until from 7:40 am-10:15 pm the day of my birthday!

Flowers from my parents:

And my best friends from home sent me a flower cake bouquet!! I almost cried when I got it 😀

My 22nd birthday wasn’t super exciting either. Dinner and cake with the roommates!

And my flowers 😀

Can you tell I tend to like the pink, orange and yellow roses? 😉

Hope you all are enjoying your Friday!! And I’ll be back tomorrow with tonight’s recap!! 😀

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Little Bunny Flashback

Breakfast was something different this morning! I have leftover ground turkey I need to use up, so I decided to incorporate it into a Taco breakfast scramble. Topped with cheddar cheese and seasoned with taco seasoning.

Along with a sandwich thin topped with almond butter and strawberry jam.

After a bit of redecorating (pictures will come later – promise!), I hit up the pool for a 40 minute swim.

• 2 x 300 freestyle
• 1 x 50 free, 1 x 50 breast (x4)
• 1 x 50 free, 1 x 50 IM stroke (x4)
• 300 freestyle pull
• 200 IM
• 100 free cooldown

2000 yards total

Not bad, not bad. No hip exercises though 😦 I’ve really been slacking on those and need to get back on the ball since I’m going to start incorporating treadmill work back in.

Post swim lunch salad:

• 2 sweet potato latkes
• Craisins
• Pomegranate “dressing”
• Original flavored Kooloos

Mmm these latkes are so good. I picked them up at Costco and they have a delicious sweet and fatty (in a good way) taste to them.

For the “dressing” I just combined some POM wonderful pomegranate juice with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

The kooloos added a great boost of protein (7 g per serving!) and a delicious crunch to the salad. I liked the original much better than the BBQ (surprisingly, since BBQ anything is my favorite).

And since I told you my appetite has finally returned (I’m also thinking it’s a certain time of month??), I was starving not 2 hours later.

Snackie time! Date Heart Thrive. Warmed up in the microwave obvi.

And dinner was a cheese and black bean dip quesadilla on two sprouted tortillas.

Oh wait wait. I did enjoy some kettle corn while admiring some shirtless warewolves.

[source]

I obviously ate the actual popcorn and not the box.

A peach, carrots and clementines were also consumed this afternoon/evening. But I always manage to forget documenting those. They’re so small – they just go unnoticed!

Now…copying modeling Miss Flashback Friday herself, I chose Flashback Friday – Easter edition. However I do only have the past 3 years of Easter on this computer. So unfortunately, it’s not too far of a flashback. But we’ll live 😉

One of the perks of having younger siblings – we still do egg hunts! Hey – not gonna lie when I say I still hunt for the eggs. It’s all fun 🙂

But before egg hunts, there must be egg dying!

Now hunt!

2007:

2008:

Ready…GO!!

2009:

Then we go in and get our gifts the “Easter Bunny” left on our table 😉

Some distant relatives also have a huge Easter party every year. Their backyard is beautiful and it’s a huge family type reunion! They also have a giant egg hunt in their yard. I don’t participate in this hunt obviously, but I remember the days when I would come home with like 3 pounds of candy!

Go sister!

The older siblings and I just stand around and watch, unfortunately. 😉

Look at this yard. I want to have my wedding here!

I love their dog!! He is the cutest, softest thing ever.

My sister gets excited to capture tadpoles from their pond 🙂

After the hunt, there’s a delicious buffet lunch.

2007:

With my grandma Sissie 🙂

Daddy!

I’m not going home this year, and it’s only my second Easter not spent with my family. It’ll be extremely weird, but I’m hoping that my roommates and friends here enjoy Easter together 🙂

Do you have any Easter traditions?

Are you a Twilight fan?

I enjoyed the books, but am not a huge fanatic. I do not at all see the obsession over Edward. I’m sorry. The paleness just creeps me out.

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Loco for Cocoa

As evidenced by yesterday’s overnight 60 minute oats.

• 1/3 cup oats + 1/3 cup almond milk + 1/3 cup yogurt
• 2 spoonfuls cocoa powder
• Few drops of stevia
• Sunbutter (mixed in)
• Topped with a handful of Life maple cereal (need my crunch!)

And this morning’s chocolate-PB OIAJ (oats in a jar).

• 1/3 cup oats + 2/3 cup almond milk + 1 egg whisked
• Add cinnamon, 2 scoops cocoa powder
• Chocolate PB2
• Dash of vanilla

Then I remembered to mix in about 1/4 cup of wheat bran after it was done cooking. That stuff adds a butt-load of fiber!

Honestly, it’s hard to tell a difference between overnight and hot cocoa oats! They’re both….dark?

Scrapeable almond goodness down at the bottom yo.

I’m actually not sad at all to see my raw almond butter exit the fridge. It was kind of just taking up space. I know lots of people said raw AB would grow on me, and it did. But I still wasn’t a big fan.

Yesterday’s snack was non-cocoalicious, but worth of sharing.

Some strained yog, Penny’s LF carrot cake muffin top (forgot I had these in my freezer!), handful of bluebs.

I’m not sure if the muffin top was too old, or if I just micro’d it too long, or what. But I wasn’t a big fan. I really liked the almond poppyseed flavor I tried long ago.

I’m now sitting here convincing myself to go for a swim, but I think I’ve run out of time. Oh well such is life! 😉 I’ll hopefully get some weights & abs in here at home before I leave for class.

As February comes to a close, I thought I would take you through all my Februaries in the past 4 years.

Back in 2006…

Cowboy & Indian party.

I went home for President’s Day weekend and it snowed!! Unheard of in my hometown.

Celebrating Mardi Gras on the D-L. San Luis Obispo used to be a huge Mardi Gras town until a few years ago when they started to crack down immensely on partiers. You could get in some big trouble!

Pretty stoked over these pink & orange shots 😉

We also wrote all over the wall in our suite. We were allowed to paint the walls, as long as we painted them back to the original color. We opted to draw on the walls instead 😉

But in February, we decided to paint them back to white 😦

2007…

Reppin’ the lab goggles.

We took my roommate mini golfing for her 8th 20th birthday.

Batting cages!!

POLAR BEAR shot glass!! 😀

2008 was slightly uneventful, but I have a few pics!

With the current roommate of junior year.

My room that year (don’t ask. My roommate was a mess. She literally slept out in the family room for 90% of the year because her bed looked like this):

My very favorite trees ever bloom only for a couple weeks in February. There’s a strip of huge cherry trees on my walk to school, and it made me smile everyday 😀

Hanging out with my old roommate from sophomore year!

2009 brought the February of age 21 😉

Repeat shirt alert!

I think my face says it all. LOL. I do not like shots.

We also went to see Sex & the City in theaters, and wanted to enjoy a pre-drink of champagne. This bottle would notopen. haha!!

And now 2010!

Pretty much all we’ve done this month includes birthday celebrations 😉

No flash because my shirt was reflecting with the flash.

Classy slippers 😉 Hey, might as well stay comfy until we head out!

Hope you enjoyed my last 5 Februaries – man how they fly by!! Yup, the years fly by, so I’ll leave you with this quote:

“Love everything and everyone in your life. Nothing last forever so live it up, drink it down,and laugh it off. Avoid the bullshit, take chances and never have regrets. Cherish everyone , everything and every moment. Love the people that treat you right , apologize when you should and let go of what you cant change. Life’s too short to be unhappy , you have to take the good with the bad. Cross the lines, break the rules, and love with all your heart. Never regret but learn from your mistakes. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”

– Unknown (I randomly found it and loved it).

How have the past years flown by for you? Okay, that doesn’t really make sense. But…what were you doing 3, 4, 5 years ago that feels like it was just yesterday?

All these moments feel like they were this past month! I feel like I was just living in the dorms and paiting my walls and goofing off with my rooommates of sophomore year! Crazy!

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Happy Birthday Sara!

I definitely wrote this yesterday (Friday) and then forgot to post it once I got home and got internet access. So let’s just pretend it’s Friday 😉

First off, Happy Birthday to my roommate Sara! 😀

Instead of opening a new can of pumpkin this morning (I have one can left, and am scared for the rumored pumpkin shortage!), I opened some butternut squash to mix into my yogurt!

Nutrition stats are similar to pumpkin – less fiber though.

With the yogurt.

And finished off with a bluebran Vitatop, pumpkin butter, & sunbutter.

But I missed the crunch of cereal!

I then ran around doing a few errands, baking a bit and decorating for the birthday gal, that time snuck away from me.

I grabbed a couple slices of this leftover pesto pizza from the roommate’s dinner last night (she didn’t like it! What?!) on my way out the door to work.

Not positive what’s in the cards for dinner – but we’re thinking a local BBQ place or even Pita Pit – yes Sara wants to go to Pita Pit for her birthday dinner! haha.

Sara and I have only been roommates for 1 1/2 years, but I decided to do a little flashback Friday of our times together.

We were the two random roommates moving into a house of three girls who had lived there for a year. They found Sara through Craigslist! And I’m so glad they did. She has become my best friend. Sorry if some of these are repeats of recent times!

Halloween last year:

Fun times spent hanging out at the bars last year!

Sara is hilarious and makes some of the funniest faces ever. And never on purpose either! haha

We’ve got so much closer towards the end of last year and over the summer.

LA trip for Disneyland & the Dodgers game!

Kayaking.

She’s introduced me to a ton of great friends 🙂

And this year has been an absolute blast.

Spent an awesome New Years in LA.

And whether we were going on adventures…

Going out…

Or just having fun at the house…

I just have fun with her no matter what 😀 I’m so glad we “met” through craiglist. Happy Birthday Sara!!

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When we were merely freshmen…

Hello hello and happy Friday to one and all!

Let’s start with yesterday afternoon, shall we?

During my 10 minute rush between class & work, I grabbed some pumpkin yogurt & bluebs for a snack.

Then couldn’t help myself at work – they had some pizza that I absolutely love! White sauce & pineapple (picked off/ate around the ham) – yummm. Had a slice.

So I wasn’t too too hungry for dinner. Kept it light with an egg & veggie (sauteed zucchini, onion & mushrooms) omelet topped with cheese.

And some roasted squash & broccoli.

I have a problem.

And then my roommate made White Trash Toffee (toffee made with saltine crackers).

Um. Yum. Had about 3 pieces too many.

Whoops!

Breakfast this morning was quick and easy on my way out the door.

Cinnamon-raisin Ezkekiel english muffin. Half with pumpkin cream cheese, half with PB & jam.

I had my breakfast very late (11:30! I was busy all morning and not hungry until then), so I wasn’t very hungry for lunch before work.

Had a snack of squash (+ ketchup) before work.

This squash from last night is dry!!! I don’t know if it’s just a bad squash or I didn’t season it right, but man was it bland and hard to choke down. I literally had to take sips of water to moisten it up with each bite!

And then a small piece of this PB/Chocolate fudge thing at work

& coffee at work. 1/2 caff Americano with 1 pump peppermint. + a splash of creamer & some NF milk of course. Delicious.

I brought a sandwich thin to toast up at work, but honestly wasn’t hungry. I think it’s the “less-hungry” time of the month, y’know? 😉 And that squash filled me up.

——————————————————

I wasn’t sure what to do a Flashback Friday post on today, but knew since Janetha is out of town, I should definitely do one in honor of her 😉

So as I sat here procrastinating on my senior project paper, I decided to look back through all my pictures for inspiration. With senior project on my mind, I looked back at my freshman year pictures – I can’t believe almost 5 years have flown by!

Originally when I applied to my school (California Polytechnic University – or Cal Poly as it’s mostly known 😉 ), I actually got rejected. But through my cousin, I knew of a “backdoor entrance” – apply for summer quarter! Rejected for the fall quarter of 2005, but accepted for summer 2005!

I literally graduated on Friday, went to our all-night grad party Friday night, packed up on Saturday, and drove down to school on Sunday. Phew!

I was so upset to be missing my “last summer home” after graduation, but I honestly had the best summer of my life away at school for that summer. I was only taking one morning class, and had the rest of the day free to relax and have fun – away from home! 😉

My 3C roommate! (with Jamie – my old roommate I just mentioned the other day!)

Summer was extremely empty. There were about 150 freshmen, and only about 10-12 girls lived on my dorm’s floor for the summer. We all became super close.

We were the smallest floor up at the very top, so not many people came up to visit. Some didn’t even know people lived up on the third floor! So the “Third Floor Ghosts” we called ourselves 😉

First hike during the first week.

Full of my first parties.

Lingerie party (which I obviously did not feel comfortable to participate in haha).

And can’t forget Harry Potter coming out and getting the free glasses that came with it!

Beach trips and bonfires…

Midnight vending machine runs with our campus dollars.

I just loved hanging out with the floor every night. It was like a giant sleepover!

I found this on my camera. Creeper roommate. haha

TPing someone’s room.

Along with nightly dance parties. Theme song of the summer was most definitely “My Humps” by Black Eyed Peas.

Oh and our obsession with peanut butter.

We even got some of the guys to try it by the spoonful 😉

The sign we posted so all could write on it. Massive inside jokes 😀

It was really sad to pack up and say goodbye at the end of the summer. 😦

The summer I started out dreading turned out to be the best one of my life. 🙂

I love my Third Floor Ghosts and won’t ever forget them!!

All right – enough procrastinating. It’s not freshman year anymore. I need to work on this senior project!

Plus I’m off to see Dear John later tonight! Eeee it’s definitely a BYOT (bring your own tissues) type of night, I’m sure 😉

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‘Ello Govna

Hello dear friends, I’m at the library right now – obviously procrastinating taking a break 😉

This weekend is going to be mad intense – 4 midterms, along with other assignments due next week. And I have my senior project to work on.

At least this morning’s breakfast was delicious. Welcome back to my life overnight oats!

Last night I combined:

• 1/3 cup oats + 1/3 cup yogurt + 1/3 cup pumpkin + 1/3 cup soymilk
• 2 T raisins
• Cinnamon & maple syrup

This morning I topped it off with:

• Quaker brown sugar oatmeal squares
• Life cereal
• Naturally More PB

This was my first “yogurt” based overnight oats (with more yogurt, rather than milk). I could taste tartness, and while delicious, I think I prefer a thinner milk & mashed banana base instead 😉

And coffee enjoyed out of my favorite mug 🙂

Then I packed up the essentials and headed to campus!

Coffee, a large apple, carrots and an ABJ&B (almond butter, jelly, and banana) sandwich.

Gym was a 40-minute mixture of weights, abs & power-clams for the hips.

Then class.

Then 4+ hours of library time. Where I also snacked on an apricot Heart Thrive bar (not my fave. Although it’s probably better heated up).

Came home hangry for dinner and threw a very quick tasty Kashi meal into the microwave.

The tuscan bake! Mmmmm.

Plus roasted broccoli on the side (which looked exactly like yesterdays, so that is the picture I used – sorry).

For the broccoli, I seasoned it with garlic salt, pepper, paprika, and olive oil. Then roasted it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Delicious. First time I’ve tried roasted broccoli is this past week, and I’m hooked!

Followed by some unpictured sour patch kids (or SPKs as my roommate calls them) and a “pumpkin pie” for dessert. With some melty whipped cream 😉

Disgusting looking, but might tasty, I swear.

I know this is two posts in one day (which may be a lot to catch up with! 😉 ), but I couldn’t leave my Friday without my Flashback to Europe part 3!

Last I left you, my sister and I were ending our 3-day trip to Paris. We then took the chunnel back to London to spend another 5 days there. The first week, we stayed in a flat through my grandparents’ time share.

Post-Paris, we stayed in a hotel.

Which came with a daily gourmet breakfast/brunch. 😉

This last week, we hit up the Tower, where they kept all the prisoners. It’s well-known for where King Henry VII kept his wives (including Anne Boleyn).

Traitor’s Gate muahaha.

Fun in the gift shop 😉

One day, we took a bus trip that stopped at Stonehenge,

Baths

and Windor Castle

On the last full day of our trip, my sister and I walked around, finding our way to Buckingham Palace

To watch the changing of the guards.

We also found our way to Platform 9 3/4 😉

Unfortunately, try as we might, we couldn’t make it through the wall 😦

On our walk, we ventured through Kensington Gardens

And came across Peter Pan! This was on my sister’s “to-see” list so she was excited.

It was soon time to bid London goodbye.

It was honestly the trip of a lifetime, and it couldn’t have happened without my wonderful grandparents. While my sister and I had to pay our own way, for some food, and for all of Paris, my grandparents made the trip amazing – treating us to dinners, tours, play tickets, and housing. They were amazing 😀

Regarding my post title, anyone see the Kellogg’s commercial where the guys are naming reasons why they like Kellogg’s cereal? And one guy goes “I like Kelloggs because it has ‘ello’ in the middle of it. Like ‘ello govna.” LOL I don’t know why I thought that commercial was hilarious.  Just thought I’d throw that out there 😉

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Epic oats + Power Paris Trip

This morning I had some of the most epic oats ever.

Cookie dough mocha oats to be more exact!

On the stove, I combined:

• Oats + soymilk + 2 egg whites
• Spoonful of cocoa powder at end
• Spoonful of instant coffee at end

Topped off with a nice blob of PB, chocolate almond butter…

And a great big blob of chocolate chip cookie dough (I have in the fridge to make for a friend’s birthday).

Wowowowowowowow!!!!!! I was once on a huge cocoa oats kick (especially cocoa peppermint oats), but the coffee powder kicked it up a notch. And cookie dough combined made it food-orgasmic!

(Yes I do eat raw cookie dough occasionally whenever I can get my hands on it 😉 I know the whole raw egg thing is a huge scare to people, but I can’t help I like dough better than the actual baked good!)

It’s now time for London Flashback Part 2 – Paris Edition! (Missed part 1? Check out last Friday).

After the first week, my sister and I took a 3-day trip to Paris. I’d always dreamt of visiting Paris, so knew I need to take advantage of being so close to it.

We traveled on the Chunnel – an extremely fast train that goes from London to Paris.

And walked to our hotel –

Which had a lovely view of the River Siene.

Right away, we got dressed and ready to begin our 2 1/2 day Power-Paris trip!

First, we made our way to the Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, it was closed that day and we couldn’t go inside 😦 I don’t remember the reason. But we made a pit stop a few days later to check out the inside 🙂

Hunchback Quasimodo’s friends 😉

We just wandered around, not exactly knowing where we were going! I think we were looking for a Metro stop so we could hop on it.

We found the Holocaust memorial.

This picture screams Paris to me – I think it might be the shirt? haha. All I need is a beret!

Came across a very denim family.

Finally made our way to Sacre Coeur.

Can you spot me?

I ran up into the crowd to pose for a picture like “Where’s Waldo?”

I think it was the shirt 😉

Beautiful view of the city from the top of the hill.

We walked around up there for a bit.

There was quite little village…town?

Lost?

When in Rome When in Paris – must have gelato!

Remember my mug that my sister painted me?

Well this is where we saw the painting that she copied!

Afterwards, we took the Metro back to see the Arc de Triomphe.

Enjoyed the weird intersections.

We hung around on that street for HOURS waiting for it to get dark! By 10:00, we gave up – this is as dark as it got! Crazy how light it stays there so late due to the prime meridian!

The next day, we decided to travel to the palace of Versailles.

The gardens were insane!!!!

I can’t even put into words how big their “backyard” was!

They got all the way back to the teeny tiniest end of this photo…

We walked all the way there – where I got my first crepe at a food stand!

And then continued even more onward to Marie Antoinette’s summer house! Yes, she had her own “summer house” on the same property as her palace. Recognize it from the movie Marie Antoinette?

After this loooonnngggg day of walking (hours and hours and hours straight), we hit up the Eiffel Tower!

My sister was beyond exhausted, so she ended up heading back to the hotel. But I knew I couldn’t travel to Paris and not climb to the top of the tower!

It was windy at the tippy top!!

Hello America!!

It was dark by the time I got down, and the tower was ablaze! I had to walk far enough away to get a picture.

It’s hard to see in the picture, but it had white lights all over that twinkled – beautiful!

It was absolutely breathtaking and I stood there forever just not wanting to leave. I was underneith the Eiffel Tower!!! Holy cow!! The Eiffel Tower! 😀

One thing is for certain, I came back that night and crashed. Never had I ever walked that far in one day from 8 am – 11 pm straight!

We were leaving in the afternoon of the next day, but wanted to fit in a quick visit to The Louvre of course!

Everyone was taking pictures inside, including of the Mona Lisa. I felt bad thought (since technically you shouldn’t be taking pictures!), so refrained.

I also found Diet Coke with Orange! Knew I needed to buy such a thing and test it out.

Gulp gulp!

Hmmm….tasty! Similar to the lemon flavor.

Tiny European car!

And my first crepe was soooooo good, I knew I needed another to finish off the trip 😉

Paris was honestly so rush rush rush – it’s almost a blur! We tried to cram everything in, but I really want to travel back one day! It was also such a great experience since it was really my first trip alone in another city – a foreign city! Quite the experience 😉

London trip part 3 coming next time 😉

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