Prepping for “The Natty”

Hey bloggies! Yesterday was such an emotional day, by the end my friend asked me how I was doing, and I literally couldn’t answer. I was just so drained of emotion.

Yesterday the Oregon Ducks played for the National Title against Auburn in the BCS National Championship. I knew I wasn’t going to be doing anything productive after the game, whether we won or lost, so I had to do some preparations.

First off was the Library for 4 hours on Sunday. I got done 1 project, 1 paper, a reading and an extra credit paper as well. It felt so good to get that all out of the way.

I packed an apple, Snyder’s Oat and Whole Wheat Pretzels with Sabra Pine Nut Hummus for study snacks. They kept me perfectly full, so I didn’t have to go and get lunch in the middle of studying. I just had a super late lunch instead.

Then it was game day.

Breakfast

I started off the day with some banana action.

Sprouted Wheat bread with sunflower seed butter and banana

Vanilla Goat Milk Yogurt with the rest of the banana.

If you’re new to the blog, the reason I eat goat milk yogurt instead of regular yogurt is because my stomach can handle the goat milk a lot better than it can regular yogurt. Just as an FYI. It’s not miraculously healthier than regular (no weird sugars/preservatives added) yogurt–at least I don’t think.

Snack

My stomach couldn’t quite make it till lunch so I dug out a Skout bar from my bag.

I’ve never had this kind before, it was just the flavor that really stood out to me.

Verdict? I absolutely LOVED this. It felt great in my stomach and was super yummy. The bar is made nearby in Portland, so I was very glad to be able to support the local economy in this purchase. I will for sure be buying more of these in the future.

Lunch

Lunch was a salad (corn, red onion, peas, green bell pepper, chickpeas, carrots) with Annie’s Creamy Asagio dressing with a bit of baked beans on the side as well. I definitely went back for seconds on the baked beans.

I usually don’t eat the chickpeas, because they’re canned and canned foods are hard on my stomach, and the baked beans, because they usually also have some kind of weird preservatives in them, however, I only had slight discomfort after eating this. I’m wondering if my stomach is reacting better to these foods because I’m more relaxed this term, or what.

 

I ran off to Rock Climbing class then headed straight to a Natty viewing party.

I so failed as a blogger and didn’t bring my camera. But we had Domino’s pizza, homemade meatballs, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, bread & brie cheese, another cheese tray, brownies, Oregon cupcakes and lots of soda.

I filled up on cheese pizza, some meatballs and loads of veggies and a brownie for dessert. I was literally stuffed for the entire game. I overdid it a bit, but its okay. It happens. I learned my lesson and I’ll get back on track.

 

For those who didn’t watch the game, Oregon lost to an Auburn field goal at the very end. 22-19 Auburn

(source)

The ducks played very well, despite a few costly mistakes.

(source)

I still love my ducks.

 

I embraced in some retail therapy this morning to help with the heartbreak.

New copic markers which got stolen at the end of last quarter as well as some new mechanical pencils. I’m a nerd what can I say.

 

Did you watch the “Natty?”

or

What is your way to deal with heartbreak?

Mine is generally to go for a run, shower then curl up with a good book, but I really needed some more school supplies this time

Holiday Fun

Good evening bloggies! It’s almost Christmas Eve

Well, by the time a lot of people read this it will be Christmas Eve.

I just dropped off my best friend at the airport. We had a fun week filled with shopping, tennis, reading and a hike.

I can’t ever seem to go anywhere in Arizona with out taking a picture of a cactus. They really amuse me for some reason.

pictographs

We went on the same hike as my parents and I went on last spring.

The water was much lower this time and it was actually raining!

We also got the Christmas tree all set up and decorated.

This was before I rearranged the presents to make them all look pretty. I have to rearrange the presents so that they are displayed nicely. It bugs me when they aren’t! Just call me OCD.

Pre-Run Breakfasts

I’ve gotten back into running since I’ve been in Arizona. I’m only doing 1 1/2-2 miles though for a few reasons: 1. The heat is so different than what I’m used to running 2. My body gets so tired afterwards 3. I’m a bit out of shape

Almond butter on Ancient Grains bread with a banana

Steel cut oats topped with almond butter and banana. A bit heavy for a run, but it kept me full afterward through my shower and post-run nap.

Holiday Treats

Of course I have also been enjoying some fun holiday treats courtesy of my mom.

Santa cookies

Caramels

I never liked the santa cookies when I was a kid for some reason, but now I love ‘em.

 

 

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

 

Hectic

Usually I like to live a busy, organized lifestyle. It sounds difficult, but I usually manage very well. However, due to traveling the past 3 weekends and traveling again this next weekend, packing and still nannying, life has been crazy, unorganized and overall hectic.

On days 3 and 4 (Saturday and Sunday) of the road trip, Chrissy and I (barely) made the ferry to Orcas Island. We got there very late at night, but got to sleep outside under the stars. When we awoke a beautiful day was in front of us.

We both did some reading and journaling and some crab-catching.

You know these type of crabs

Not the type of crabs some other college students catch.

Ahem.

We made it back to the Seattle area with out too much of a hiccup and we both have reportedly been very. As in I’ve taken 3 naps in the past 2 days and I’ve been getting 9-10 hours of sleep every night, tired.

Yesterday I promised to show you the rest of my loot from shopping on Robson Street, so here it is:

A navy knit scarf from Roots, a Canada hat from some touristy shop and a pair of Lululemon running shorts.

I’m in love with the maple leaf on the hat. Its adorable.

All of that in addition to the Lululemon jacket I showed you yesterday.

I had to do some serious convincing of myself that I needed everything. Considering that I go to most of my classes with workout gear on because I either have a PE class afterwards or I’m going to be working out afterwards, I let myself get away with the Lululemon clothing.

And the hat and the scarf? Well cause Canadians actually sell clothing for winter. The U.S. is horrible at it. I feel like so many American stores just sell light weight jackets and featherweight scarves like it doesn’t get below 60 degrees.

Anyways….

I woke up on Monday and wanted to make an omelette but we didn’t have any eggs. So even though I’m trying to make foods that I won’t be able to make when I’m in the sorority house, I still made a dorm-room friendly breakfast of a mashed banana and almond butter on a whole wheat sonoma tortilla.

Ridiculously delicious, simple and portable.

And since our vegetable drawers in the fridge are currently over flowing with veggies I decided to help out with the problem and inhale two portobello mushrooms.

Pizza Style of course.

I changed it up a bit and used hummus + nutritional yeast + water instead of the vegan cashew cheese sauce as the recipe called for. I added some Trader Joes chicken meatballs to protect my stomach of the acidity of the red pepper and I honestly forgot to add the basil and red pepper flakes.

I ran errands around town like a chicken with its head cut off for the rest of the day and added a bunch of fresh veggies to our overflowing vegetable drawer.

Speaking of chickens, I also picked up some eggs to so I could make my dang omelette.

Shi-zam. Feta, spinach and tomato omelette. It honestly wasn’t even good

It didn’t fill me up at all so I followed with some Great Harvest Low-Carb dakota bread.

I finally found out why I like this type so much better than the regular dakota bread. The texture is absolutely amazing because they put tofu in it! Crazy, but sooo good!

Afterwards I stalked the blog world, read a library book that I need to get through before the end of the week, wrapped my dad’s birthday gift, wrote 5 thank you notes, mailed in my survey of what I spent in Canada back to the Canadians and entertained myself by renaming my cloth bins “Linens” “‘n Things”

One of the bins was already labeled “Linens,” I just flipped the card over and made it into pretty handwriting. I didn’t know what to call my miscellaneous bins, so I just had to write “‘n Things”

Nothing like naming your bins after a store that closed down all of its stores.

Then it was time to make some Carrot Cake Muffins for my Dad’s birthday using this recipe.

But the “batter” turned out hard as a rock.

So I made it again. And it turned out slightly better, but not much.

I was halving the recipe, used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat flour and substituted the sugar for NuNaturals baking blend. There were probably too many changes.

I really didn’t want to try for a third time so I said “screw it” and dumped them into the muffin containers and set it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile I made myself a mini-sandwich

Roasted Red bell pepper, spinach, tomato, pesto, and dijon mustard on Great Harvest Low-carb dakota bread with hummus chips.

It was that small. I wish they would make the slices of the bread bigger! They are just sooo tiny!

Anyways, after consuming lunch these aliens popped out of the oven.

Hehe whoops!

I whipped up a batch of super unhealthy cream cheese frosting, then misted it with blue, my dad’s favorite color. The cream cheese has just enough yellow on it, that the frosting looks creepy.

Another whoops. Oh well, my dad has already gobbled down two of the cupcakes, they can’t be too bad.

It’s time to pack up some more. My room currently looks like this

and its freaking out the organizational side in me.

I guess thats what you get when life gets hectic.

Do you think that U.S. stores don’t sell very heavy winter clothes?

and

Do you get buyer’s guilt? I always feel the need to have about 3 good reasons for making a purchase before I do it.

My New Friend

The window sill.

Just a heads up I’m super sorry about the blurry pictures. My camera battery was really low this morning, so I was charging it in between photographing different parts of my morning. It kept dying half way through the rushed shoots, so I tried taking pictures by the windowsill for the best light, but a lot of pictures still came out blurry.

Cake Decorating Class

Last night was weeks 2 & 3 of Course II of Wilton Cake Decorating Class. We had to double up classes because one of the girls is moving back to college at the end of August, so we are doing the course in 3 weeks instead of 4.

We made oodles of flowers last night.

Lots of lilies. Though my favorite one got deformed in transit.

Whoops.

Also made violets, apple blossoms, daffodils and primroses. I can not decide which one is my favorite! The lilies are absolutely stunning but the daffodils are also very cool.

The violet broke as soon as I moved it. Good thing it was only a practice one.

Breakfast

I chowed down on a peanut butter and banana stuffed pita while doing my juicer photo shoot

I absolutely love how easy this breakfast is to make. It takes about two seconds, and if need be, I can eat it on the road.

Juicer Review

Finally. My official review on the Koolatron Total Chef Juicin’ Power Juicer. Throughout the week I’ve been hinting at how much I love this new juicer. Well, finally I am going to proclaim my love:

I am in love with the Koolatron Total Chef Juicin’ Power Juicer. Best $85.99 I have ever spent.

It’s sexy and it knows it.

Cut up all the fruits and veggies. I even followed Jane’s advice and put 1/2 a lemon in it with the rind still intact. It added quite a bit of depth to the juice.

Just turn on the juicer, stick some fruits and veggies in, give them a gentle push and you’ve got juice!

The clean up is what makes this juicer absolutely amazing. It takes no longer than 3 minutes. Simply undo the 5 parts of the machine, dump waste into the garbage and spray with a bit of soap and water. It comes of so easily.

You can also put it in the dishwasher, but hand washing them has a faster turn around time

Pro’s

• Easy, 3 minute clean up
• Very smooth, nothing gets stuck
• Will pay for itself very soon since I’m not spending $6 for a juice anymore
• Look’s very sleek

Con’s

• My fruits and veggies bill just went up

Yay juice!

What are your thoughts on a juicer?

and

Which flower is your favorite?

The Blogger’s Curse

Friends, I think I’ve fallen into the blogger’s curse. For me, this curse is only taking pictures of breakfast. I always have a nice, sit down breakfast which I can always take a picture or two even if time is rushed. Lunch and dinner, however, are a completely different story. Lunch is most always at work or on the run. Either it doesn’t look pretty in plastic containers or I’m out to lunch with friends which taking a picture of my food is slightly weird. Dinner is often with my family. My mom knows about my blog, but for some reason I still get weird about taking a picture in front of her.

I’m going to try to break through this curse.

Breakfast

Well first I must start with the curse and photographed breakfast

Yes that bowl really is that full. I had an entire mashed banana in the bowl which sent it over the top. I topped the bowl with two slugs: almond butter and black cherry fruit spread.

So. Filling. Wow.

I have to go to my internship soon, but just in case you were thinking about my obsession with young male stars, I did stop writing this post to watch the interview with Zac Efron on the Today Show. His interview didn’t impress be at all! I’ll just stick with my secret lover:

(source)

Liam Hemsworth. Move over Miley Cyrus.

I’ll be back later today with something other than breakfast. I promise

Do you have a Blogging curse of your own?

Anyone else have other secret lovers (ahem, male celebrities)?

Lovely

Good Morning bloggies! I am in such a lovely mood this morning, cause guess what? It’s sunny here! I’ve been complaining about the lack of sunshine for months, but Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest.

Just look at the forecast!!! 90‘s by tomorrow! Prior to this, we haven’t hit 75 for almost an entire year.

I had just the most loveliest dream last night. Thanks to all of your Eclipse posts that I read before I went to sleep, guess who I dreamed about? Jacob and Edward. Or should I say Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson.

(source)

In my dream I was dating them, except they were the same people. They could transform into each other whenever the feel like it. So I got two sexy guys for the price of one. Sounds lovely, right?

Breakfast

For this lovely mood I’m in I decided to go with a lovely Snackface-inspired breakfast.

Layers of Loveliness

• Layer 1- Millet Puffs
• Layer 2- PB Puffins
• Layer 3- a naner
• Layer 4- cinnamon

With almond milk somewhere in the mix!

With a side of Crate & Barrel

Even Mount Rainier showed up for the lovely party

This is the first time that I’ve seen the mountain since I have been home. Whenever its cloudy the mountain suddenly disappears.

Welcome back Rainier! It’s been far too long.

Later

I have to head off to my internship today, but I will be back with my updated goals later this afternoon.

I hope everyone has a lovely day

You Had Me Fooled

Good afternoon bloggies!!! My best friend is currently on her way up to the cabin to hopefully save me from my cabin fever. Too bad the weather had turned a bit and now its a chilly 60 degrees outside with grey skies. Oh Pacific Northwest, you had me fooled.

Breakfast

I was going to make overnight oats this morning, but after looking outside at the gray skies, a warm bowl of oatmeal was definitely preferred.

In the mix:

• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1 T flaxseed meal
• 1 T chia seeds

Topped with:

• 1/2 a naner
• 2 T Justin’s Maple Almond butter

Simple, yet divine

Workout

I went on the Wii Fit for 20 minutes to get me warmed up. I did 10 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of strength training before I was eager to hop on the bike again.

I got about 5 minutes into the workout when I started to sweat. The sweating really irritated my sunburn, so I had to stop. I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t get a sweaty work out in, but I know that my skin would have just freaked out and I would have been absolutely miserable if I had continued.

So I did a few abdominal exercises from the Women’s Health magazine I’m currently going through. They were alright. I think I just really need a cardio session in right now though.

Snack

After cleaning up the house a bit (okay, so just my room and bathroom) in preparation for the best friend, I made myself a mini fruit salad.

It only consisted of watermelon and banana, but that are the only fruits available.

To be honest, the mix of starchy banana and watery watermelon didn’t go together well at all. Humph.

Question of the Day: Do you play Wii Fit? What are your favorite exercises or games to play?

Lots o’ Nuts

So I could definitely make some sexual innuendos with my post title today, but I’m going to keep it clean and classy.

Today I’ve definitely consumed my fair share of healthy fats in terms of nuts.

Breakfast

Breakfast actually started out innocent and nut free.

One egg scrambled eggs with red bell pepper, spinach, onion and mushroom wrap

Sunflower and Millet toast topped with cinnamon and truvia

and my usual fruit fix– 1/2 a naner and starfruit

This breakfast gets three stars

Snack

My snack is where nuts came into my life today

Honey Chobani Greek Yogurt with 2 T almond butter.

I only have a little bit too much almond butter left for Oats in a Jar (OIAJ) so I decided to start digging in. Healthy fat, right?

So about 3-4 T of almond butter today. I usually actually try to limit my nut butter intake to 2 T a day just to keep myself in check. I could eat a whole jar if I allowed myself.

But I don’t feel guilty about my sudden surge in nut butter. It’s not going to kill me and it’s not that unhealthy.

Lunch

The lack of guilt over consuming lots ‘o nuts  headed into lunch. Once again, it started off innocent with a homemade pizza.

• organic marinara
• spinach
• pesto
• grilled chicken
• mushrooms
• yellow and red bell peppers
• onion

but ended rather guilty again.

A fresh herb salad (best salad mix ever!) with strawberries, blueberries and walnuts. Dang it. Guilty as charged. I knew that I had already had a surplus of nuts too.

It was definitely yummy though

Snack

Cally was baking a cake (it’s chocolate too!), so to fight my hunger from the lovely aromas coming from the kitchen I went with a berry fresh smoothie

• frozen strawberries
• frozen peaches
• POM juice
• almond milk
• 1/2 a naner
• chia seeds

garnished with shredded coconut

So yummy.

So goals for the rest of the day: layout my portfolio for my architecture class, oh, and don’t eat any more nuts!

The latter goal will be lifted tomorrow

First Day of Peace

Now that I’m done with my final architecture studio project, what does  a deprived, young architecture student do on her first day of peace?

Well it started off with this:

Almond butter and bananas on toasted millet bread

and a fruit bowl

while getting caught up on this:

my google reader

which gave me fuel and the ability to check off a few items off of this:

(I start off with the more fun stuff obviously)

Afterwards I gave myself a well deserved break and watched some of this:

(source)

and some of this too:

(source)

Which was obviously very tiring and I needed some of this

a homemade frappachino

And resumed my tireless work and read some of this:

Very, very serious reading.

And now I’m off to this

(source)

See you later for a special post!

What do you do on your days off?

Moving On

It should feel this good to be done.

But I’m not too proud of my presentation. I felt that it was a bit stale.

I made half of this model while I was sick, but I guess I’m just happy it all got done.

I had two reviews, but I was just so checked out of this project and architecture in general, that I didn’t care what they were saying.

It’s just good to know I’m done, and now I can move on in my life. I still have 4 more years to perfect these things.A

Breakfast

Breakfast was a super sad sight this morning. I only had a 1/2 a banana as far as fruits and veggies go, I’m super low on oatmeal and I didn’t have any almond milk for cereal. The only meal I could think of was an egg puff on toast (+ hot sauce & dijon mustard) and a 1/2 banana and sunflower seed butter wrap.

Pretty pathetic.

I really missed my fresh fruits and oatmeal today.

It’s time to raid the produce department of the grocery store.

Snack

In between reviews I was super excited for a snack! Breakfast didn’t fill me up at all so I inhaled a Kardea Bar.

The chai spice flavor was fantastic! I felt like I was taken out of the studio and put into a warm coffee shop in my comfiest and cutest clothes and just allowed to relax. The flavor was just that good.

But then it was time for another review and reality hit.

Have you ever been super disappointed of how a project turned out? I’m usually super upbeat about these things, but I just wasn’t feeling this one I guess