Bringing Back Color for Summer

Thursday:

I haven't really been eating breakfast lately, but I have been having lots of coffee in the AM. Check out my cool zebra rug from Target in the background.

For an early lunch I had a big, mostly raw salad.

Hidden underneath is mixed lettuce covered by sugar snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, a few meatless meatballs w/ a dollop of hummus & BBQ sauce

(post mixage)

After eating this I started in on quite a project- unloading all of my clothes from college & organizing them. Since I will only be home for a month I decided that I would hang up all of the clothes that I plan on wearing for the month on a rolling rack in my room, and keep everything else in boxes. This is what I ended up with...

I was inspired to keep all of my clothing colorful & cheery for the month of May by a couple of bright maxi dresses from the 70's that my grandma gave me. I allowed myself to hang up only 3 black items (this is a major feat for me considering I live in black) and decided to let bright colors & patterns dominate. Even my black purses have bright scarves tied on them. I am telling you I think this is the best idea ever- it takes me 2 seconds now to pick out what I want to wear and everything is easy to view & access.

Anyway... let's get back to the food.

Once I finished organizing my clothes I made myself a smoothie with the only fruit that we had in the house- frozen strawberries & dates. Interesting combo, I added almond milk & ice and blended away on my mom's amazing blender.

This smoothie tasted like something you would buy at a diner, it was sooo sweet. Not really my cup of tea but I drank it anyway.

Last minute my mom & I invited a couple of her girlfriends & a couple of my girlfriends over for appetizers and drinks. We had to run to Trader Joe's to stalk up on appetizer foods- TJ's is the best for entertaining they have hors d'oeuvres that are so easy to make, all you need is a microwave.

Mmm look at all of the yummy food. For drinks we had wine, margaritas, & corona light. We munched on different kinds of chips (tortilla, parmesan sticks, potato, & pita) and baby carrots w/ 3 different types of hummus and guacamole. I also made chicken taquitos w/ salsa, and there were lime and chili cashews.

Left to right- dark chocolate covered pomegranate pieces, baby tomatoes, mixed mediterranean olives.

Cucumber wontons (filled w/ cucumber & textured soy protein) w/ a dipping sauce I made of soy sauce, miso paste, and sesame dressing. They were delish.

After stuffing ourselves w/ lots of yummy food we headed to downtown Laguna to go to art walk. We got there so late that we actually ended up not seeing any art at all but we did visit almost every bar in town and I managed to get some vintage shopping in.

Trouble- tequila shots & cocktails ( I had the blood orange cocktail)

Dru & I

Friday:

After my big night out the next day all I wanted was a burrito, the cure once again. Sadly there is not a Lilly's Cafe in Laguna so I had to make due with a burrito from Papa's Tacos.

It was filled w/ pinto beans, guacamole, pic de gallo, and lettuce. While it was tasty & filling, it was not the same as a Lilly's burrito. Oh Lilly's how I miss you.

Crazily enough I did not make it to Starbucks until 6 pm to get a coffee. I had the usual- ice coffee w/ soy milk & sugar free hazelnut syrup.

When dinner rolled around I was really excited to use my mom's steamer for the first time. I really wish I had a steamer at my house. I steamed a bunch of veggies (sugar snap peas, carrots, broccoli).

While waiting for the veggies to steam I munched on a few of TJ's lime and chili cashews left over from the night before. These are my favorite, they are way too addicting though. Ever once in a while you will bite into a chili and burn your tongue off.

My steamed veggies turned out perfect. I dipped them in hummus & bbq sauce while my family devoured Z pizza (I managed to steal a couple pizza crusts from my sistas)

It was a nice and healthy way to end my day, veggies are the best.

Last Day at Psych Convention & Flight Back

I had to wake up at 6:30 this morning (4:30 U.S time) to practice for my presentation at the "International Psychology Symposium" that was at 8. I brought my peanut butter pretzel Mojo bar, some black coffee, and freshly squeezed OJ down to the lobby where I was able to practice for a bit.

My presentation went really well, even better than I thought it would. All of our hard work seemed to pay off. Afterwards me and the rest of the research team headed down to the pool where I was able to bask in the sun for a few hours. I convinced the waitress at the pool to see if they could make me a burrito- I ended up with this beast.

Burrito with black beans, guacamole, and lettuce, w/ a side of fries. I never order fries but if someone else has them I always steal them (just ask my boyfriend). I didn't order the fries this time either, but even though I tried to give some away I couldn't resist eating most of them. Burritos & fries are two of my weaknesses. It was nice to finally have a real meal in Cancun, even if it meant that I had to pig out in my bikini.

Finally I had to say adios to Mexico and travel the five hours back by plane to LA. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I was to see a Starbucks in the Cancun airport. I left all of my luggage in line w/ my teacher and went to go grab an iced coffee asap.

I was really grateful for this coffee because the line ended up taking us an hour!

Luckily though once we finally got on the plane the flight was not bad at all. I finished my book and was able to get some studying done for finals. I bought the "luxe snack pack" which I was really impressed with.

Basil & Garlic olives, Multigrain tortilla chips, Grissiti bread sticks, whole wheat crackers, and an adorable package of hummus. It also contained chocolate covered pretzels and a rondelle cheese spread which I gave away.

I didn't get home until 11:30 tonight, I am sooo tired it's been a 20 hour day. I have a really sore throat so I made myself some an Annie Chun's odon noodle soup.

I thought this cute Hello Kitty card my roommate Diane bought me in San Fran went with the soup perfectly. I love Hello Kitty!

Brekkie X 2, Mexican X 2

I woke up early this morning in Ojai and had a lemon zest Luna bar and a cup of coffee which was really gross. It was way too watered down; coffee done w/ a French press is so much richer. Afterwards I went to the hot springs which were really beautiful, I was disappointed to see though that people had littered a bunch there. I got a great picture, but it was accidently deleted : (

By the time I got back my family and I went to go and get breakfast at Eggs & Things. It's a cute little place w/ very traditional breakfast options. This is how I ended up eating breakfast twice, although a burrito w/ beans, avocado, & potatoes w/ a side of fruit really isn't breakfast.

Close up

I also had a few more cups of coffee (much better than my first on of the morning) & some OJ. I love this coffee cup

Pretty flower I saw, had to add it.

On my way home to Malibu, I went and stopped by this sketchy massage place in Thousands Oaks where my mom and aunt had gotten a massage before & they said it was great. I was a little hesitant, but an hour later & only after spending $40 I was super glad that I had went - they were really good. I was feeling so relaxed that I came home & passed out for a few hours.

The burrito from earlier sat in my stomach like a stone and I wasn't hungry until about 9 p.m. tonight. Weirdly enough I was craving Mexican again so I improvised.

Nacho's vegan style! I was going to go and buy tortilla chips but I decided to use some of the left over Terra root chips that I had left over from earlier in the week. On top I melted TJ's Mexican shredded soy cheese, black refried beans, homemade guac (1 small avo, diced onion, salt, & pepper), & diced tomatoes. I doused it in Tapatio before digging in.

It was delicious, I'm in a food comatose now. Perfect for staying in on a Saturday night & catching up on Lost.