Graduation Celebrations & Moving Out

Saturday:

A little sustenance before embarking on a mission to complete the last of my packing (note the boxes in background).

A little bit later I decided to repeat my smoothie from the other day.

1/2 banana, 1tbs crunchy peanut butter, 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 1 tbs hemp protein

I even reused my coffee cup!

After finishing up the last of my packing I went and met my roommate Erin and her family for a little post-graduation lunch at Tra Di Noi in the Malibu colony. This was the perfect place for lunch- they have great Italian food and we sat outside underneath the big umbrellas in the perfect beautiful weather.

I had the bruschetta which they accidentally served me w/ shrimp on top. I contributed it to the rest of table's meal.

I dug in before stopping to take a pic, that's why there is a missing piece. This was very garlicky. We also munched on lots of foccacia bread.

Pic of Erin and I in carb heaven.

Afterwards I met up w/ my mom and my sister Emma to go and partake in some more graduation festivities. My other roommate Diane and her family rented a beautiful house in Malibu over looking the ocean and they hosted a little party complete with lots of delicious Mexican food from La Salsa.

My meal- salad, guacamole, black beans, chips, rice, tortilla chips, salsa

I also ate a bunch more tortilla chips, how could I resist this assortment of salsa?

Diane's mom made some great sangria too. I just loved all of the bright fruit, by the end of the evening I was eating the fruit out of the pitcher w/ skewers.

Mom, emma, and me.

Lisa, Cami, Me, & Diane

That night grad night was held at M Cafe in Calamigos Ranch. Sadly, I didn't get any good photos of the venue, but this place is amazing. It is all outdoors next to a lake, chandeliers are hung in the trees, and they have big white canopies outside draped in white gauze next to fire pits and pool tables. It was a really great way to finish the school year- there were lots of drinks and dancing.

Great DJ

Sunday:

Had to wake up bright and early this AM to move out all of my stuff from my apartment. First though I needed a bit of the cure, sadly I had already packed my berraca : (

You know you have a coffee problem when the guy working at Starbucks already has your coffee prepared for you when you get to the counter.

Beautiful things sometimes come wrapped in foil.

Lilly's burrito- beans, rice, potatoes, avocado

This burrito gave me plenty of energy to move everything out of my apartment- Let's be real it was more like watching my stepdad direct the workers we hired than me lifting boxes. It was so nice having everything finally packed up and moved, such a relief. I was so happy to be heading back home with the family in Laguna Beach, on my way back down I made my last stop off in Malibu at the Vitamin Bar.

Almond shake- almond milk, almond butter, banana, and dates.

This was insanely rich and delicious, I love anything almond. It kept me full almost until dinner time. When I arrived in Laguna I snacked on a few meatless meatballs that had defrosted during the trip now but didn't get a pic (it wouldn't have been a pretty sight anyway).

After passing out in my mom's bed for a couple of hours I was woken up for dinner. Ahh it's so nice to have someone else plan your meals for you. The fam had chicken fried steak and french fries, and my mom made me a variation of a recipe for Thai coconut soup that was in this month's Coastal Living.

Thai Coconut Soup

4 cups vegetable broth (w/salt)

1 (15 oz) can coconut milk

1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger peeled and sliced

2 serrano chiles sliced

handful sugar snap peas

2 tbl fresh lime juice

1 tsp lime lime juice

1 (12-oz) package extra firm tofu cubed

2 tbl fresh cilantro leaves

Directions: Combine first 5 ingredients in a large sauepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduces heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Add tofu and simmer ten more minutes. Discard ginger. Stir in cilantro. Makes 7 cups.

This recipe was quite spicy, just as I like it. I also had rustic arbatta bread and a side salad too.

mmm tofu

I had lots more of this salad too.

It's nice to be home : )