2010 June|Chia Seed Me

Jun 30, 2010 Posted by candice on Jun 30, 2010 in faith, goals, our life | 20 comments

the whole story

“It isn’t necessary to know exactly how your ideal life will look; you only have to know what feels better and what feels worse…Begin making choices based on what makes you feel freer and happier, rather than on how you think an ideal life should look. It’s the process of feeling our way toward happiness, not the realization of the Platonic ideal, that creates our best lives.” ~Martha Beck, life coach

I stumbled upon this quote on Angela’s quotes page awhile back, and I filed it away in my memory (and on my computer of course). It sums up exactly how I feel about my life right now.

Today, I made the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. I walked into my principal’s office, and I told her that I won’t be teaching again this coming year.

Let’s start from the beginning.

leaving for my first day of student teaching

Three years ago, I timidly walked into a high school English classroom. I had been assigned to student teach junior PreAp English, and I had absolutely no clue what would lie ahead. I fought hard that semester and finished with flying colors; I learned so much and grew immensely. At the end of the semester, the principal interviewed me for a job, and I landed it. A few days later I turned it down to go on a crazy adventure in Thailand with my husband.

A little over a year ago, I walked into that same high school, the same principal interviewed me yet again, and again I landed the job. This time I accepted. I became a high school English teacher.

leaving for my first day of teaching – Olive was not so excited to be losing her stay-at-home-mama:)

The past year has been intimidating, challenging, exciting, emotional, full of doubt, frustrating, rewarding and exhausting. In all honesty, it has been the hardest year of my life. Teaching myself and then teaching my students all new material of two different subjects, learning the ropes of having my own classroom, putting in hours of overtime and driving two hours everyday to do it left me feeling drained and lifeless most of the time. Through all of the difficulties there were moments in which I enjoyed being with the students. I loved interacting with them on a personal level, and I felt rewarded when I knew I had made a connection with them.

While I enjoyed some aspects of teaching, in the end the stress and time involved paired with the commute chipped away at my spirit. I have not been myself, and I have not been thriving. I’ve been surviving. And I don’t want to just survive anymore. I want to pursue my passions, I want to be around more to take care of my home and my family, I want to have energy and life and I want to be able to put more time into my relationships.

leaving for my last day of teaching

I have spent hours into days debating and praying over this decision. I’ve sought advice from the people who know me and love me the most. And while I still feel like I left a little piece of myself at that school, I have made the decision to move on. I’ve decided to put my health and happiness first. And that makes me feel strong.

So what will I be up to now?

I already have many projects in the works!

If you’ve noticed the ad on my sidebar, you know my husband has his own graphic design business. He has worked so hard to build and grow, and he has! His success is such a blessing, but in the last 6 months it has also become a bit overwhelming. So, that’s where I come in. I’ll be taking care of the administrative side of our business. I’m extremely excited about this role because our future goals include working alongside each other, perhaps focusing solely on our business at some point in the future.

But that’s not all! About a week ago I started tutoring an international student, helping him with English conversation and vocabulary. Mohammad and I have been/will be meeting everyday for an hour, and I will be helping him to improve his English so he can enter into the graduate program at our university. I have enjoyed teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) classes in the past, and I’m looking forward to a possible part-time ESL teaching job (I turned in my application a few days ago), as well as more tutoring opportunities.

Of course I am also stoked about being able to put more time and energy into CSM. I love my blog – I love to write, especially about healthy living, and I love being a part of the blogging community. I’m excited to be able to focus more on my passion.

I’ve also got a few other exciting possibilities up my sleeve, but I’m not quite ready to spill the beans on those:) Who knows what may pop up in the coming months? Honestly, I’m ready for anything. While I’m scared of the unknown, I’m also so excited at the possibilities that lie ahead. I hope you will all continue with me as I start this new phase of my life. There will surely be many bumps and detours, but hopefully many victories as well as I step out in faith, trusting that God has great plans.

So, here’s to another new chapter.

seeking peace

Good morning!

I missed you guys yesterday. It’s funny – now that I’m blogging more, if a day goes by that I don’t blog, I feel like something is missing from my day. I appreciate all of you who come to my little corner of the blog world so much!

This post is going to be a little heavy and maybe not terribly interesting for many of you. And there won’t be any food pictures (my appetite is MIA anyway) or recipes. But I just wanted to drop in and say hi, and it seems that when I start “writing” my fingers take off and don’t want to stop.

I am in the middle of a very tough decision that I’ve been trying to figure out for several months now. I know it may be driving you crazy when you read my posts that I am being so secretive about these “projects” I have going on, but it’s a very sensitive issue right now, so I have to still keep the details under wraps for the time being. I know you all understand.

Throughout the course of this decision process, I have been praying constantly. I have been seeking out every person who knows and loves me, hoping they will tell me what to do. Sometimes they do…but it doesn’t solve it for me because I know I have to be the one to decide. I always try to be very genuine on this blog, and right now I have to be honest – I am scared to death. I’m scared of each potential outcome for different reasons, and I think this is part of what makes it so difficult. A wise friend told me last night that in almost every decision there will be “what if’s.” Nothing in this life is ever certain, but we still have to move forward, making the best decision we possibly can after considering all the facts. Then….pursue joy. Pursue joy and contentment in the situation we’re in. Sometimes we make the wrong decision, and we have to deal with the consequences, but in the end it will always be okay. We’ll always come out at least having learned something about ourselves and having grown in some way. And every step we take in this life contributes to the person we’re becoming.

In every decision there will always be a path left untraveled…and we may always wonder if that would have been a better path to take. But the fact is that we have to move forward. No matter how much I wish for it, life cannot stand still while I debate this for another three months. In fact, everything has come down to today. I have to make a decision one way or another…today. And even though I still don’t completely know what to do, I’m trusting that God is with me either way.

In my time with the Lord this morning I stumbled upon Psalm 91, and it brought me such peace. I have begged God to reveal himself to me by showing me what I should do, and I have felt angry at times because I still don’t feel sure. But, I suddenly realized that even though God has not given me a direct answer as to what I should do…He wants me to feel peace knowing that no matter which path I choose to take, He will be on it too. He gives me freedom to choose, and as long as I’m loving Him through either decision, He wants me to make the choice. And He wants me to trust Him and find joy in Him regardless of what decision I make. He will be beside me for better or for worse.

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Your will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord , who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will life you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

Because he loves me, “says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he ackowledeges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. Wth long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for me that I will trust and feel at peace today. Once this is all over (hopefully tonight), I’ll be back – and hopefully so will my appetite!

And again, I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday!

it’s the little things

Wow, today was a hot one! I about passed out on my run this morning…literally! All’s well that ends well, though, and I pulled through. It didn’t help that I waited until about 9 am to get out there. Tomorrow’s goal: get my bootay outta bed early!

Here’s the stats:

distance - 3 miles
time – 29:54 yay!
fastest pace – 7 minute mile – I sprinted it in, hoping to finish in under 30 minutes
average pace – 9:58

Guys, I seriously wanted to quit on this run at about 2.4 miles. My legs were so tired, and I’m fairly certain I was dehydrated (it was blazing hot and so humid). I just kept thinking “pain is temporary, pride is forever.” As silly as that sounds considering this was just a random 3 mile run, it’s the little things you do that add up to big things. Next time three miles won’t be quite as daunting!

By the time I recovered from the run, I had about 20 minutes ’till I had to be at my hair appointment eek! I scurried around, guzzling my green monster on my way out the door and made it there about 7 minutes late. Check out the new ‘do

Riiiight. So, you’re thinking it looks the exact same. It’s shorter…you’ll just have to take my word for it;)

After chatting with my mom for a bit, it was time for lunch!

It’s tempeh time!

I heated slices of tempeh in a skillet for just a couple of minutes, toasting a slice of ezekiel bread and whipping up a quick batch of guacamole in the meantime. I laid a thick layer of guac on my toast, topped by a layer of spinach leaves, with tempeh to finish it all off! Simple!

If you’ve never tried tempeh, you should really give it a go. It’s a great protein source for all of my fellow non-meat eaters. It’s made out of soybeans and often has seasonings and grains, such as barley added to it. Even though it’s made from soy as well, tempeh tastes almost nothing like tofu. And unlike tofu, it has a very textured consistency and nutty flavor. You can add it to stir fries, soups, sauces or eat it on a sandwich or wrap. There really are a plethora of possibilites! It can be found in the refrigerated section of most health food stores and maybe even your local grocery store.

These cherries were on their last leg, unfortunately. I even had a to pick through them and end up throwing away several:( The one thing I hate more than throwing away precious cherries is eating soft ones! The good ones were still tasty though.

A little lunch time hangin’ out. Like mother like daughter with the crazy hair!

I spent the afternoon working on these mysterious projects I keep referring to (I promise I’ll be spilling the beans soon)! I’ve been thinking through a lot of things about my life lately. I’m currently reading a book about how we should focus on our strenghts in everything we do.

What makes you strong?

Try to think of a strength as different than what you’re used to. Instead of being something that you’re good at, a strength is something that makes you feel strong when you do it. What makes you feel alive? Those are your strengths.

Have you ever felt like somebody wanted you to do something because they thought you were good at it, but it wasn’t something you enjoyed? It was something that made you feel weak or drained afterwards? That is not a strength because it doesn’t make you feel stronger.

We should all play to and focus on our strengths as much as possible. Life is too short to focus on the things that make us feel weak. Of course we have certain responsibilities that are non-negotiables. I don’t think anyone would say that cleaning the toilet makes them feel strong and alive. I’d love to hear about it if that’s you:)

But in every situation possible, we should do everything we can to incorporate those things that make us feel strong.

What are you thoughts about this idea? Do you think it’s a bunch of hullaballoo (yes, that’s a word;)? Or do you think there’s something to it?

Also, have you ever tried tempeh and did you like it? What is your favorite protein source aside from meat?

I’m off to go read and then head to bed soon. I hope you’ve all head a great Monday!

to nap or not to nap

Is your weekend flying by as quickly as mine? It seems like it just started and now it’s already mid day on Sunday.

I’m hoping to fit in a short nap today, but I have so much I need to do I’m not sure it’ll happen. If it’s ever going to happen though, Sunday is the day! Sometimes it’s hard for me to nap during the day because I feel like time is just passing me by, and I could be using it to do something productive and/or fun!

Unfortunately, our alarm did NOT go off this morning *lame*…so we didn’t make it to Sunday School, but we did manage to get to our 2nd service on time. We are currently studying 2nd Timothy, which I’m really enjoying because I think there are a lot of practical applications to take away for my daily life. I love our pastor because he teaches the Bible straight up – verse by verse and passage by passage. If you’re interested in checking out some really great teaching of the Bible, you can check out the website here. You can download podcasts of the message each week or just past messages.

After church we headed home for some lunch ! I had quickly gulped down a green monster on the way to church, so my stomach was really talkin’ to me. Lately, I’ve been just throwing together veggies a lot. I always vary which veggies I use or the sauce or grain…or something, so it doesn’t get boring. I love these kind of meals!

Today I stir fried some frozen cauliflower, green beans, spinach and edamame in a skillet. I then added it to some leftover couscous from the other night and topped it all off with leftover “cheeze” sauce. It was every bit as delicious left over as it was fresh!

Jonathan also shoved these down my throat a little while ago. uhg

I’m off to do some laundry and work on some projects. I may also try to squeeze in some yoga a little later. Or maybe…just maybe I’ll go join this girl

Hope you all have an amaaazinng Sunday! See ya later

Do you like to take naps on weekends? Or do you feel like it wastes part of your day?

sleep, yoga, family and fresh veggies

Hey friends! Time for me to play major catch up. I have been MIA all day – today flew by! Jon and I pulled our usual stunt by falling asleep on the couch last night and waking up at 2 am with cricks in our necks. lol. Off to bed we went, where our smart little pup was already curled up in a tight little ball fast asleep. She looked at us like a mother looks at her teenager coming in past curfew.

Because of our late night shenanigans, we slept in until about 10:30. When I woke up, ma belly was calling for some food!

Peach flavored soy yogurt hiding under raw oats, sliced almonds, dried cranberries and Puffins! This was my first time to try the peach, and it was a win! It even had little slivers of peach in it. Yum!

One of my biggest struggles with going vegan has been giving up Greek yogurt. I’m a big fan of plain yogurt, and I cannot find plain flavored soy yogurt in our little city:( Last week I did sneak in a few servings of plain Greek yogurt and it was heaven. Oh, how I miss it.

After paying some bills and other adult like tasks, we headed to the gym. I did about 2.5 miles running/walking, but mostly running. I have currently misplaced my iPod (boo!), so I watched a documentary about conjoined twins, which was rather interesting….and impressive. It definitely served as a great distraction!

Lunch couldn’t come fast enough after we got home because it was already 2:30! I threw together a black bean burger pita.

whole wheat pita, hummus, Morningstar black bean burger, spinach, broccoli slaw crunch!, onions, pickles, ground red pepper, tobasco sauce!

Yoga time!

After lunch, I piddled around the house a bit more and finally made it to my yoga mat. I did this youtube yoga series that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. I really enjoyed this one. I practiced a couple of poses I’ve never done before + I liked the way she flowed through the poses at a fairly quick pace. I still have so much to learn, but the more I learn the more I love I do have to say that today was nothing like participating in a yoga class, unfortunately. Oh how I wanted it to be at least almost as good, but it just wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it was worth doing, and I definitely appreciated it for what it was, but it just wasn’t anything compared to being in a live class. Surprise, surprise, right?

The rest of our night was spent hanging out with these guys again

Ironically, this picture is recycled from last year; however, we did go to Orange Leaf tonight as well. It looks like somebody was also wearing the same shirt tonight (see below)…I’m not sayin’ any names;) Also, I may or may not have had yogurt the last three days in a row. *sheepish grin*

We also ate some din din of course.

I stuck with my old favorite – fajita pita with beans instead of meat, hold the sauce, add a side of salsa, steamed veggies instead of fries. poor waitress:)

The best part about them coming up is that they brought me these

My mom’s husband has a garden and they brought me fresh grown corn and green beans! I was just ranting to Jon this morning about how we don’t have a very good/extensive farmer’s market or any way to get homegrown veggies, aside from planting our own garden. Then lo and behold I got my own little delivery. yay!! These will definitely be hitting the blog this week. I’m super stoked!

Sleep, yoga, family and fresh veggies – doesn’t get much better!

I just noticed that some of my favorite meals/snacks have been quite elusive on the blog the last couple of days, so I’ll leave you with some tasty pics!

stir fried cauliflower, spinach, corn, peas in pesto sauce over brown rice – oooh, hot and steamy

smear of pb and sliced banana atop a Van’s whole grain lite waffle…truly blissful.

Friday night cheeseless veggie pizza (x3)

I hope everyone is having a rockin’ weekend! I’ll see you tomorrow!

Have you ever tried yoga? Why or why not? Do you think yoga has to become a lifestyle? Or do you think it can just be isolated physical activity?

Do you have any “at home” yoga that you love?

I would love to hear your thoughts!!!!

Oh, shoot. I almost forgot this! welcome to our home, little mobile

my husband bought us a mobile

Hey everyone! TGIF, right?! Per the usual Friday syndrome, I haven’t been super productive today; however, I was able to get caught up on some tasks built up from shopping with my mom all day yesterday, so it’s all good.

Speaking of yesterday (how’s that for a creative transition;), we had the best time. It is rare that mom and I spend time just the two of us, but I’m always so thankful when we do. Our day primarily consisted of talking, shopping, eating, eating…..and well, eating. Wahoo! My kind of day. Unfortunately I didn’t get home until late and then spent the rest of the night cuddling with the husband, sooooo I didn’t do my online yoga. Tomorrow.

Onto lunch

Black bean soup + whole grain baguette (my Panera usual) = not the most photogenic fare on the block

Strawberry Poppyseed salad (mom’s meal) = at least not a total fail in the looks dept. *ahem, iceburg lettuce*

I love that I now base my feelings about my food as much on how well it photographs as I do on how it tastes. Priorities, right?!

Anyway, after shopping around for another few hours, we stopped for a snack

Oh for the love of all things good and holy.

Not sure why, but this yogurt was the best I’ve tasted in years. And it was completely sugar/artificial sweetener free (not dairy free, but who needs to know that?)!

Insert more shopping…aka exericise;)

And dinner. My step-dad drove an hour to the city just to meet us to eat. He likes to do nice things like that (line stolen from my FIL). Although, I’m not quite sure whether the company or the food motivated him to be so kind.

Appetizer – corn tortilla with spicy carrots, onions and tons of salsa. Just a side note, when eating Mexican, I try to eat fewer chips, instead replacing them with a corn tortilla or two. Saves in the calories dept. as well as your health!

Wanna know one way to keep it vegan and still enjoy Tex Mex? Order tacos with black beans instead of meat (you will most likely get a strange look for this, at least in Oklahoma) and hold the cheese. Also, make sure and check with the server because re-fried beans (cooked in lard ewww) and mexican rice (cooked in meat stock) are often not vegetarian. I find that there usually is a vegetarian bean option, even aside from black beans – all you have to do is ask!

My mother and her charming husband

It was a fun day indeed. And can we say relaxing? Thanks mom!

Not sure what Jonathan and I are going to do tonight. Actually, I do know one thing we’ll be doing. My ever so creative husband ordered a mobile for us. No, we do not have a little bundle of joy on the way. This mobile is more of a mobile for adults. Hmmm…that still doesn’t sound quite right. Either way, after we assemble it we’ll be hanging it in our office, and I’ll just have to show you pics tomorrow. Simmer down, guys. Don’t get yourselves overexcited now.

How do you healthify Mexican food restaurants?
What plans do you have for the weekend?

Have a great Friday night, friends!

say cheeeeze!

Gooood morning! I was up and at ‘em fairly early this morning – I’m meeting my mom in the city to hang out for the day, and I have to leave in t-minus 20 minutes. eek!

Jon and I got in a good, strong 2.5 mile walk this morning. We set out with intentions to run, but were such chatty Cathys the whole time that we ended up walking. I dare say that going on walks with my husband is one of my favorite things in life. I think I’ll try to slip in some online yoga tonight…I’ll letcha know which video I end up using, but I’m thinking maybe this, which was suggested to me by Maggie via Heather. Thank goodness for blog friends, right?!

Last night I went to my power yoga class, and by the time I got back home it was after 7, and I was famished. I decided to whip up this little recipe for Vegetable Couscous + Cheeze Sauce that I had seen on Angela’s site a couple of days ago.

I followed Angela’s recipe, but I did make a few adjustments. First off, I halved the recipe because I was running low on nutritional yeast; I still had leftovers. Also, I had to keep adding water as I stirred the cheeze sauce because it kept getting too thick. In the end, I still would have liked it a little thinner and will likely add more water next time I make it. Thirdly, I used about half the hummus and half the Earth Balance.

For veggies, I used sauteed broccoli sprouts, chopped carrots, chopped onions and chopped bell pepper. Lastly I sprinkled ground red pepper over the top before I inhaled ate it.

All in all it was just as amazing as Angela raved. I will definitely make this again, and I’m super stoked to have leftovers of the sauce awaiting me in the fridge. muahaha.

I also treated myself to a side of steamed broccoli:)

Okaaayyy, now that I am officially 5 minutes late already, I gotta jet. Sorry mom!

See you guys later!

get your juice on:)

Last night we attended a family picnic for Jonathan’s work. While it was quite fun mingling with all of his friends and co-workers, I think the caterers had a goal to see how anti vegan/vegetarian they could possibly be. Thumbs down to that:(

Let’s see, I’m picturing the buffet table as I walked down it, searching for a suitable option: some kind of red meat (I tried not to look), grilled chicken, white hamburger buns, potato chips, cheesy potato salad, and my saving grace – a plate of onions, pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. I went with a bun stacked with lettuce, tomato, onion and two pickle spears. The pickle spears made it kind of weird. I decided to spare you by not taking a picture.

When I got home I had some Newman’s Own popcorn sprinkled with seasoned salt and paprika as a little snack.

This morning Jon, Olive and I went for a fast paced 20 minute walk. I am really sore from piyo yesterday, so we decided to take it easy. Tonight is power yoga at the gym – I’m looking so forward to it! Two cheers for having yoga in my life now!

Breakfast was the usual, except my green monster and I had a little date in the flower bed.

It is incredible how fast weeds grow in a flower bed! We just spent hours on end weeding about 2 weeks ago, and they’re already sprouting back up. I dominated them this morning. Don’t mess with me.

Moving on.

It’s review time! But first, let’s talk about juice.

I first started juicing after hearing about it from Kris Carr. I saw an interview in which she talked about how juicing is one of the biggest weapons in her battle against cancer. After researching a little more into it, I found out that “freshly juiced vegetables give your body an instant boost of nutrients, enzymes, vitamins and minerals in a form that [your] body can easily assimilate, absorb and digest.” Who doesn’t want that? Also, according to that same website, Energise for Life, “…juicing allows us to add so many more vegetables to our daily diet, and to up the amount of raw food we consume giving the body energy and boosting the immune system and the body’s cleansing process.” If there is one thing I need it’s energy, and I love the feeling of knowing I’m filling my body with one of the purest forms of nutrition that I can.

I first started experimenting with fresh juices by buying them any time I went to Whole Foods, which was rare….and expensive. I decided that I needed a way to make my own juice, but I drug my feet for a long time because I couldn’t afford the expensive juicers that I’d seen advertised. Then my sister-in-law came through for me big time. She found this Waring Pro juicer at Target and bought it for me for Christmas. Score.

I was skeptical at first, but couldn’t wait to get home and try it out. It has worked beautifully!

The Waring Pro Juice Extractor is made from plastic and stainless steel, which is great because it looks nice sitting on your countertop, but it is also dishwashe safe. To use it, you simply cup up the fruits and vegetables you want to juice into pieces that will fit inside the chute on the top. I usually have to cut an apple into about four pieces, whereas a large, whole carrot will fit without any cutting at all. No peeling necessary. Once your produce is prepared, you simply push it down the chute and out comes fresh, pure juice into the stainless steel cup shown above. Yes, it’s that simple!

While the greatest downside to juicers is usually the cleanup, this one is a breeze in my opinion. First of all, like I said it is dishwasher safe; however, I usually wash mine by hand because I don’t run my dishwasher everyday, and I don’t want to be without my juicer! There are five parts to be washed including the cup. All but one of these parts really only requires a quick rinsing of the pulp….very easy and quick! One of the five pieces is a metal part inside that separates the pulp from the juice, and it requires a quick scrub, but still nothing too labor intensive. It usually takes me about 3-5 minutes to take it apart and clean it all up from start to finish. Totally worth it if you ask me!

I really cannot think of a downside to this product. It has worked perfectly for me since I got it about six months ago, and I absolutely love having fresh juice right at my fingertips.

I believe the other day I mentioned that this juicer was $40, but since then I realized that my sister-in-law bought it on sale. The regular retail price at Target is $59.99 I believe. Compared to the hundreds of dollars that some juicers can cost, it’s a steal! And by the way, it also comes with a pamphlet of juicing recipes and combinations!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or shoot me an email.

I have my first meeting with a guy that I’ll be tutoring in English (as a second language) here in about an hour, so I have to run. I’m excited about it, but also a little nervous so wish me luck! Be back later:)

I have not been asked by the company to review this product. I simply love it and wanted to inform my readers of an inexpensive way to have fresh juice anytime.

epic vegan chocolate chip cookies (enough said:)

Happy 2nd day of summer! I failed to wish anybody a happy 1st day of summer yesterday, so I figure why not make up for it today?! Honestly, summer is not my favorite season, and so far this one seems hotter than ever! I stepped outside about an hour ago to water our flowers, and after a minute flat I was sweating profusely. Ugh. I’m pretty sure the flowers appreciated it though:)

Woke up this morning and headed to the gym for Piyo. The instructor today made the class ten times more intense than the other instructor I’ve had. I have never gotten into yoga. In fact, I went to my first yoga class only within the last year. I think I love it. And it loves me. The last couple of weeks I’ve been going a lot more, and now I crave it all the time. I think I’m going to have to get some DVDs or find some online bc my gym only offers three classes a week, only one of those being only yoga (not Piyo).

Breakfast was a green monster that was as delicious as it was ugly. Don’t know what happened to the color, but I’m not happy about it! This one contained 1 cup soy milk, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop Amazing Grass, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp peanut butter, the last of my spinach and 1 kale leaf.

There is the cutest little shop in our town, Peck’s Lodge, and in our early college years Jon and I frequented it so much that we became good friends with the owner. This past week his mother passed away. I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but the way Dan always talked about her I know she was lovely. This morning we attended her funeral; it was a very meaningful service that really made me think about life and what’s important. I was reminded that at the end of life, the kindness and love that a person showed to others is what’s remembered most. It really made me think about how caught up I get in trivial things that don’t really matter in the end. Always a good reminder.

Soon after I got home, I threw together some lunch

leftovers of this meal, with the addition of homemade guacamole

I also snacked on a few blue corn tortilla chips.

Now onto the good stuff. I bring you….

Epic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from here)

Yes…they were epic.

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp.salt
vegan chocolate or carob chips – YOU decide how many!
1 cup raw sugar (I used sugar in the raw, but you could use turbinado etc)
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup water
1 flax egg (combine 3 tbsp water with 1 tbsp milled flaxseed in a sauce pan. Simmer until it reaches egg-like consistency
about 1/2 to 1 tbsp of Agave (I didn’t measure)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Add chocolate/carob chips. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl mix vegan sugar and oil. Next add the vanilla and the water. Mix it well. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes. I basically just checked mine every two minutes after the initial 10. I think they ended up taking about 18 minutes. Take them out while they are still a bit soft and gooey. They will harden as they cool; however, these cookies stayed very soft!
4. This batch made about 12-16 cookies.

My husband is a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur. They are his absolute favorite, and they have to be just right. On top of that, he is always honest with me about my vegan/healthy creations. He doesn’t bat an eye when telling me how he really feels, even if he abhors whatever strange concoction I’ve invented.

He loves these! While he says they don’t taste just like a regular non-vegan chocolate chip cookie, they are still delicious and satisfying. I’ll take it! Besides, he can’t stop eating them, so that’s enough proof for me:)

Make these…asap.

Still to come this week: two more Paris recaps (humor me if you’re tired of these) + review of my affordable and fantastic Waring Pro Juicer from Target.

See ya later!

runnin’ just as fast as i can

This morning I hit the gym for a quick 5k and some weight machines. As mentioned before I have lost some of my running endurance, and I am now on the road to getting it back. I took one walk break smack dab in the middle of my run this morning, so my final time was about 35 minutes. Not that impressive, I know, but I’m just happy to be running!

Oddly, I wasn’t too hungry when I got home, so I held off awhile before fixing this for breakfast:

grilled banana and peanut butter sandwich on Ezekiel

This was my first time for a grilled pb and b, and I loved it! Will definitely be making this again and again. I simply spread a layer of pb on one side of a piece of Ezekiel bread (toasted for about a minute to thaw it out). Then I sliced a half a banana in half, laid it on the bread and put another slice of toast on top. I then lightly buttered each side of the sandwich with Earth Balance so it would cook better. Then threw it in a skillet and grilled away!

A few hours later I decided to make something fun for Jon since he was coming home for lunch.

For the bowl, crumple a piece of foil into a ball and lay a whole wheat tortilla over it, pressing it down over the ball. Bake it in the oven at 400 degrees until the edges are slightly browned. Spread the tortilla with refried beans and sprinkle on brown rice. In the meantime, sautee green bell pepper and onion strips in seasonings until soft, then add them to the bowl. Finish it off with rinsed black beans, cheese, salsa and homemade guacamole. Jon could not stop raving over how delicious this was. By the time he got home to eat, I was a bit hungry so I made one for myself as well, minus the tortilla and cheese. Heaven in a bowl:)

Today I’m working on getting our office organized, which is proving to be quite a feat! There is layer upon layer of stuff to go through, everything from college projects to current bills. It feels like it’s never going to be done, but I know it will feel so good and be such a pleasant place for J and I to work once it’s all cleaned up. We’re planning on rearranging and doing some more decorating as well…there will be chalkboard paint involved!

That’s all folks! Hope you’re having a great Monday. I’ll leave you with a quote I saw on a friend’s twitter earlier:

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage!

Amen and amen!

Also, stay tuned later for my promised juicer review as well as a recipe on these vegan beauties

what a dad!

Yesterday we had such a great time. My FIL has two favorite restaurants, so he very graciously let me choose between them for lunch. Between IHOP and Golden Corral, I went with GC and ended up being pleasantly surprised!

Have you ever been to a Golden Corrall? If not, let me paint a quick picture for you.

Walk in. Get drink. Pay for buffet. Find booth. Go wander through the endless buffet. Try to narrow choices down to what can fit on one, possibly two plates. Sit down. Eat said plates of food. Go back for more if you’re so inclined. Try to narrow down from dozens of dessert options. Eat said dessert. Waddle out.

I ended up with two plates full and a side of fruit. I was a bit nervous about finding healthy options, but there was no reason to be afraid. Check it out.

Plate 1: huge pile of romaine, green peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots, grilled red and yellow bell peppers, steamed baby carrots, steamed brussels (yay!) and a side of honey mustard dressing

Plate 2: peas, corn, baked sweet potato w/pico, more steamed carrots, guacamole, best tasting roll ever

grapes, mandarin oranges, watermelon

I ate almost all of the salad, most of plate 2 minus about half the sweet potato and a good portion of the fruit. Even though I had no room left, I managed to savor two bites of carrot cake, which was just meh, and two bites of apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. I’m sure you can imagine how I felt by this point….oh buffets.

We spent the afternoon going to bookstores and then, believe it or not, stopped for some froyo a bit later. What can I say? We gotta treat our dad right.

All in all we had such a fun time, and I am so thankful to have Brad in our life. A few fun things about my FIL: he loves God, he loves to take random candid pictures, he is always there for us, he loves dots (the candy), the Beatles, golf and Ernest Tubb.

Thanks, Brad, for being such a great father and father-in-law. We love you!

welcome sam

Happy Saturday morning!

We stayed up late watching a movie last night and proceeded to sleep in waaaayyy later than I would have expected. Now it’s rush rush because we are slated to meet my FIL in the city to celebrate Father’s Day in less than a couple of hours. eek!

I’m gonna throw together a gm or a juice – not sure which quite yet. Juicing is becoming a more regular occurrence around here, and I’m loving it. I use a $40 juicer from Target that I got for Christmas this past year. Stay tuned for a review and some info about juicing in the next few days. For now I’ll just say – You don’t have to spend your every last dime to have some healthy, energy giving, fresh juice…promise!

Yesterday was a great day, but for some reason my motivation was waning a bit. That tends to always happen to me on Fridays, and I suspect it’s not all that uncommon for others? Anyway, I’ll leave you with a quick recap in pics.

If you read my old blog brand-new-sidewalk you remember the baby I used to nanny, Henry. Say hello to his new baby brother, Sam.

See you tomorrow!

a fun reunion

Hi!

Tonight’s post is going to be a quickie. I have had a lot on my mind lately, resulting in a lack of productivity this evening. O’well.

This morning Jon and I headed out early for a run – we finished about 3 miles (dead Garmin!) despite the heat, so I was perfectly happy with that. We ended up on the college campus mid-run and took advantage of the fountain on library lawn by splashing it down our necks and backs. Even the distance between the fountain’s pool and our bodies proved too far for the water to keep its coolness, but once we were off again, the breeze felt so refreshing on my damp skin. Best part of the run:)

When we got back I sewed a couple of missing buttons onto Jon’s shirt, and he was out the door to work. I made myself a quick green monster, then hit the shower. I won’t bore you with pictures of my gm again. It was delicious as usual, though, and got my morning off to an energetic start.

A few hours later, I fixed a little snack to tide me over until lunch.

Whole wheat pita stuffed with hummus, broccoli slaw and sprouts. I have a serious crush on broccoli slaw right now. lol. It adds a nice crunch to almost anything!

As mentioned this morning, I worked on getting our budget set up on mint.com. I think I’ve got it pretty much figured out, but let’s just say that anything having to do with numbers budgeting eludes me so it’s going to take some practice. Gotta start somewhere, though, eh?

Guys, I had the best time at lunch today. Not only was my meal out of this world, but my company was even better. Let’s start with the food

I ordered the Veggie pita, which was a whole wheat pita, literally stuffed to the gills with grilled red pepper strips, romaine, onions, bell pepper, cucumber and tomato. I asked for honey mustard on the side, which I later drizzled over the veggies. With a side of fruit. It was so much better than I anticipated! I felt so great afterwards, too – don’t you love the feeling of being full on fresh, clean food?

I met Tracy many years ago when we were probably sophomores in college. We were both English Education majors, and we both got placed at a school that was an hour’s drive away for our student teaching. So, naturally we commuted together. She was my saving grace during that time. Those long drives to and from school were filled with venting, encouragment, advice and just good girl talk. After college Jon and I moved away and now that we’re back she has moved. We hadn’t seen each other in ages, and it was so refreshing to catch up. I honestly love this girl, and seeing her made my day so bright. She just got a job teaching English as a second language to sixth and seventh grades, and I know she is going to rock it!

When I got home I was craving a little somethin’ sweet, so I indulged in this piece of dark chocolate I had stashed away in the fridge.

Because Tracy and I couldn’t peel ourselves away from each other for almost three hours, I didn’t do much else before Jon got home from work. We stuck to our favorite for dinner and whipped up some vegetarian burritos.

I started by sauteeing some green pepper strips and onions in some Mexican seasoning for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, I heated up some canned refried beans and cooked some brown rice. Once everything was ready I simply spread a spoonful of refried beans around on the (heated) tortilla, sprinkled on some rice, added a layer of veggies and a sprinkling of soy cheese. I then topped it all off with salsa, rolled it up and had a little fiesta in my mouth:) Simply delicious.

Now that it’s after midnight, I’ve got to be off to bed. I’m planning on going to Piyo tomorrow morning and may try to fit in some running on the treadmill as well. We’ll see how it all pans out in the am. Happy Friday!

Btw, I’m currently listening to a new album by Diane Birch, and I’m loving it! If you haven’t checked her out, you definitely should! Let me know what you think if you do;)

a good day

Yesterday ended up being quite the busy day! I have several “projects” in the works right now that I am not quite ready to reveal, but they are taking up a lot of my time. The cool thing is that I am loving working on them. It’s been awhile since I’ve had something going on that doesn’t really feel like work even though it is.

I’m wanting to get into doing more yoga this summer, and my gym had a power yoga class yesterday at 5:30 pm. I still wanted to squeeze in some cardio so I did a quick 2 miles on the treadmill in the morning. Over the course of the last month of school and then vacation, my running endurance levels have backslid a bit, so I’m trying to build my stamina back up. Let’s be real, the hardest part of running is the phase where you are out of shape and just trying to build up endurance. For me, running is not much fun during this phase, but it feels dang good when it’s over! I think that’s why people sometimes have trouble getting into running – it is hard in the beginning. But it does get easier and more fun the stronger you get. You just gotta hang in there!

I came back to a nice big bowl of overnight oats. It’s been awhile since I’ve made them, and I have no idea why!

This bowl started off with 1/3 cup Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup soy milk, 1/3 cup oats and 1 tbsp chia seeds. They marinated in the fridge over night, and I added chopped fresh cherries and sliced almonds in the morning. The cherries added just the perfect sweetness. Aren’t cherries the most wonderful fruit?

Lucky for me, I had a hot date for lunch

Grace is one of my favorite people, and we had such a sweet time of catching up. Her husband’s name is Jonathan also, and we love getting together and having play dates for Olive and her little Bichon, Lucy. She always shoots it to me straight and speaks truth into my life. Friends like that are not on every corner, and I appreciate and love her immensely!

I ordered one of my two usuals from Panera – mediterranean veggie sandwich (hold the feta!) and a cup of vegetable soup. Also a whole grain baguette for dipping. I haven’t been getting my baguette fill since being back from vacation, so it really hit the spot;)

Several hours and one refreshing power yoga class later, I mad a quick and easy dinner. We had some frozen pasta from a few weeks ago, so I heated it up. I made two sauces – one for me and one for Jon. Actually, I sort of cheated by using this awesome new Bove wine and mushroom organic pasta sauce I bought at the store last week (shhh!). I added tons of chopped bell pepper and onion to mine and bell pepper, onion and ground turkey to his. I loved this sauce! I don’t know how often I’d buy it considering the steep price, but maybe for special occassions.

We were up working late last night, so I ended up having a toasted Ezekiel muffin with Earth Balance a little later.

I’m off to clean out our office and get some work done on our budget. Fun! We are using a program called Mint. You basically set up your budget online. Mint links to your bank account and automatically sifts every transaction into a category. It sends you frequent updates through your phone, so you always know if you’ve gone over in a certain area. I hate those evil little messages. Admittedly I’ve been guilty of just deleting them when they come through, but I’m getting better!

Have you heard of or used Mint?
Do you have a system you like for keeping track of your budget?

mini diana: paris

I am so excited to post a few pics from the first two rolls of Mini Diana film. I hope you enjoy them!

There will be more to come!

Paris: the day of Diana

Here is a look at the Seine river from our hotel room window. We rose on the morning of day 2 to find it quite overcast. Not to be deterred by the gloomy weather, we got all gussied up, me in a skirt and sandals and him in shorts and a tee, and headed out for our first full day in Paris. The moment we headed out the exit we were shocked with a chilly breeze (the day before it had been sweltering), and I turned tail and headed back up to our room to change into jeans.

The first stop of the day was this cute little Boulangerie a couple of blocks from our hotel. So cute, in fact, that we proceeded to eat there every single morning for the rest of our trip. I dare anyone to try and stroll past a Boulangerie window and not be swooned by the sweet Parisian atmosphere and the aroma of fresh baked breads and pastries.

Because it was getting close to lunchtime, we split this savory french bread dressed in melted cheese and tomato slices.

Next, we headed to the Louvre.

This glass pyramid was constructed in 1989 due to some problems with the main entrance of the museum. It is now used as the entrance – visitors enter the structure, then immediately descend down by way of escalator to the lobby of the museum. When plans were made to build the pyramid, there was much controversy as many people believed the modernity detracted from the beauty of the Louvre’s architecture. While Jon loved it and thought it was brilliant, I was, at first a bit more skeptical; however, it didn’t take long for it to really grow on me and by the time we left I found the contrast of styles quite charming.

This sculpture of the Greek Goddess Nike owns the top of the front entry staircase.

Gotta love the peacefully quiet ambiance. lol.

Speaking of peacefulness, poor Mona Lisa will never have peace in her life again. This room was a madhouse. It was rather surreal to see The Mona Lisa in person, but by the end of the experience I wondered if it was worth it! These people were crazy. We got pushed, pulled, elbowed, stepped on, and even harshly reprimanded by another museum goer for taking pictures, when there is no rule about using cameras as long as there is no flash.

As I said, however, it was still quite novel.

And of course we both had to have our picture taken. If nothing else to make all the work of getting to the front of the mob worthwhile! ha.

On our way out.

We stopped for a snack at this little place – and the owner was a bit crazy! He even looks crazy.

I ended up with the only thing they had outside the realm of ham and hotdogs – a baguette with cheese and tomatoes. Very similar to what I had for breakfast a few hours earlier. Cheese and bread actually made quite a presence in my life while in Paris. All my hopes for veggies and legumes were crushed as we encountered cafe after cafe, serving jambon (ham), and fromage (cheese). And bread of course. I made due, though, and tried to enjoy the cheesefest.

Next up, we visited this Cultural Center. It was built with all the electrical wires on the outside. Nestled in among the charming French architecture, it is seen as an eyesore by many people and was also very controversial when it was built.

While I personally didn’t see much culture inside, I did find a couple of wonderful things – this clock, which is the exact same cuckoo clock we have hanging in our living room (random much?) and this….

The Mini Diana camera. It is a smaller version of the Diana F+ camera – but even better because it uses 35 mm film and has the unique ability to shoot half frame or square frame photos. Throughout our last days in Paris, I used two rolls of film in this gal and got some really amazing pictures out of them. If you stop back by tonight, I’ll be putting them up on the blog. It’s my new baby.

Don’t worry, Olive, you’re still my favorite:)

I’m not sure which one of us is more excited about the new addition to our family:)

Okay, okay. We’ll start taking pictures with Diana rather than of Diana;)

How about if we bike over and get some food??

Enter the Canal Saint Martin, Paris’ lesser known waterway (next to the Seine) that runs through old parts of the city and is lined with beautiful trees, cafes and locals living it up in their own Parisian way. We strolled by the water for awhile before stumbling on this perfect little cafe.

Cheese Ravioli with a cream and tomato sauce

And Spinach Ravioli with cheese on top

We shared these two dishes, and it was the best meal this side of heaven. Regardless of the fact that it was technically still cheese and bread (my third of the day), it was so delicious it didn’t matter. The cheese was French, and it had just a hint of sweetness. I die.

And the bread, of course.

We worked off dinner by biking home the long way back to our hotel. Hands down, the best part of the trip.

Did you know that every hour for ten minutes the Eiffel Tower illuminates with these tiny flashing bulbs that make it appear as if it is glittering? I didn’t know that beforehand, but it was so beautiful. We would often stop at it’s feet on our way home at night and linger for just a few extra minutes to catch the show.

this girl knows what she wants

So, I’m not the only one who knows exactly what I want in my food.

For awhile now we’ve been having trouble with Olive not being able to um….let’s just say “hold down her food.” It finally dawned on us yesterday that she might just be trying to tell us something. Maybe losing your lunch at least once a week for no apparent reason isn’t totally normal.

After a short visit to the vet, we decided to change her food. You can’t just change it overnight, though. You see, if we switch her cold turkey lamb, we’ll risk having problems at the other end. The trick is to sift in the new food just a little at a time and after about a weeks time be completely done with the old food. Well, that only works if the ahem person involved agrees to continue eating the old food. As opposed to only picking out the new food kernels of course.

Exhibit A. This is what we found after having incorporated the new food in with the old. If you look closely you can see that there are bits of food under her bowls. She also had trailed it all across the kitchen floor. So, we decided to do a little test to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

Exhibit B. Olive is given an Olive sized bowl each of California Natural (the old food) and Prairie (the new food).

Exhibit C. When given the go-ahead, Olive immediately goes for Prairie.

Exhibit D (not pictured). Trickster Dad stops Olive mid-gulp and quickly switches up the bowls to see if she chooses the same one again. Of course she does.

Lastly, dad gives Olive the California Natural bowl and scowls as she turns her nose up at it. He then proceeds to give her the Prairie bowl, which she immediately devours.

Folks, we have a verdict. Now we’re left scratching our heads and wondering “has she been throwing up as an act of rebellion because she doesn’t like her food? or is she allergic?” We may never know.

Onward and upward. Today Jon and I proudly made it out of bed in time to get in a workout. We had planned to break our sweat at the gym because it is so dang hot outside, but we were pleasantly surprised when we stepped outside and it felt only like a cool 80 degrees. Without hesitation we abandoned our gym passes and headed to the street. After putting in a quick 20 minute run, we came back to get O for a walk.

Shortly after our run, I was reunited with this guy

2 big handfuls spinach
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 scoop Amazing Grass
1 tbsp almond butter
ice

Because of vacation and a lack of groceries since, I have not had a green monster in a couple of weeks! It was a grand reunion. Tomorrow I shall be reunited with overnight oats methinks.

I spent most of the morning at the coffee shop working on some stuff and sipping on a nice iced soy latte.

Now I know how this looks. Let me explain. When Jon and I decided to commit to our “no eating out for a week and that includes coffee” challenge, we agreed that we could still get coffee drinks from The Daily Grind. Jon worked there for five years during college and we’re still good friends with the owner, so we have a prepaid card and we are only charged a dollar per drink. I know, I know. It still seems like we’re cheating, but technically no money changed hands, so I vote that we’re in the clear.

On a more honest and admirable note, I did pack my lunch so I wouldn’t be tempted to grab something.

Thank you Mister whole wheat tortilla broccoli slaw sprouts hummus and tempeh wrap. You saved me from making a decision I would later regret. Just a warning for tomorrow, though. A good friend whom I haven’t seen in some time asked me to meet for lunch tomorrow, and I agreed. Hey, life happens. And the point of the challenge is still being driven home.

And dinner…

Carrots, onions, bell pepper, squash and zucchini sauteed in Evoo and doused with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and Nutritional Yeast. Served over a bed of Soba noodles. A go-to favorite.

Followed by banana soft serve with a bit of Maranatha Chocolate Almond Butter mixed in.

The rest of the day consisted of a long overdue phone chat with my college roommate, starting to clean out our office and chilling with my sweet husband.

I’m off to bed now! G’night!

our first look at Paris

We rose early in the morning to make our 10am flight to Paris. I had planned meticulously for what I would eat on our flight from the states to Europe (see this post); however, it is a little bit harder to plan for travel in the middle of a trip. So, I found myself scouring the airport for a decent breakfast option, and all I could come up with was this:

That’s right, a big hot bowl of spaghetti with marinara. When McDonalds is the only other option, spaghetti at 9am starts to look decently appealing. I have to admit, it was tasty:)

I ended up being thankful that I ate a heavy breakfast because once we arrived in Paris, it was about 7 hours before we ate again. If you know me at all, you know that doesn’t fly.

We had decided instead of taking a cab from the airport to our hotel, we would take the train and then connect to the subway. In theory this was a brilliant idea, and I can’t say we wouldn’t do it again, but it was rough. We were on that train for over an hour, it was sweltering hot, and we went through really sketchy parts of the city. Picture us crammed on this train with our suitcases and some questionable looking characters in 95 degree heat. Not a happy Candice. Then when we came up out of the subway, we had no idea where we were and spent another half hour at least trying to get to our hotel. With two suitcases in tow. Not a glamorous arrival for sure.

It ended up okay though, and at least we saved a lot of money….which we readily spent a week later taking a cab back to the airport;) This girl can only “rough it” so much. lol.

Once we got cleaned up at the hotel, our first stop was of course, the Eiffel Tower.

Hours later we finally made it to this cute little cafe. Notice my “I’m smiling for the camera but I’m going to kill someone if I don’t get some food asap” smile. It was definitely worth the wait, though.

I ordered this vegetarian plate which included a bagel, cream cheese, pesto, onions, pickles, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and oil soaked eggplant, bell pepper and zucchini. With a side of fries. This plate was really phenomenal. Or maybe I was just so hungry that anything would have been appetizing. The only dilemma was how to go about eating this beautiful meal (the French put so much care into the presentation of food). I ended up putting the cream cheese on the bagel, open faced, and then adding the veggies and a drizzle of pesto. The next picture I’m showing not because it looks so mouthwatering, but so you can see why the waiter looked at me quite strangely the next time he came to our table.

I completely ruined the presentation, but at this point I was so famished I could have cared less.

Jon ordered a club sandwich with fries, and was happy as a clam. By the way, did you know that in Paris a soda costs between 7 and 8 dollars if you order it from a restaurant? Wine is cheaper than soda.

In case you haven’t noticed from my vacation recaps so far, Jon and I love to wander around new cities. We almost always walk rather than take the subway if at all possible. And we never take a cab. We just want to see as much of the city as possible, and there’s no better way to do that than hoofing it everywhere we go! The only downside is that we always end up walking at least 7 or 8 miles throughout the course of the day, and after day one of that our feet are screaming. This trip was no different. There were moments when I compared the pain to how my feet felt at the end of our marathon last spring. The upside is that it often makes for great photo ops!

Doesn’t this look like a backdrop?

And finally the Parisian Arc de Triomphe. We’ve seen the Laotian version, we’ve seen the Spanish version. And now we’ve seen the real deal. As expected, it was the biggest, and quite possibly the most beautiful.

After our visit to the Arc, we continued walking along the Champs Elysee, which is one of the most famous streets in world and is the most expensive strip of real estate in Paris. It’s saturated with high end shops and restaurants, and also serves as the final stretch of the Tour de France. We splurged on a Starbucks drink, but wisely waited until a little later to grab a snack because it’s also one of the most expensive areas in Paris.

We didn’t wait long, however, before grabbing this delicious crepe. We honestly aren’t big crepe people (probaby not many Americans are I guess:), but they are so popular in Europe, and we couldn’t resist having this cultural experience. Obviously.

We passed by this extravagant government building that sat alongside the Seine river on our the way to our ultimate and final destination for the day.

The Louvre Museum.

Please stop back by later for the daily post and then tomorrow for a look inside the Louvre!

simple pleasures

Today has been the best day ever. And there was nothing major that happened. It was all about the simple pleasures.

A constant thunderstorm all day. Got to lay in bed with J after the alarm went off and had time to make him breakfast. Went to the gym and wasn’t rushed. Picked up my Mini Diana pictures (more to come on this). Blogged TWICE! Ran errands with J. Was able to do lots of laundry and get the bathroom cleaned.

And ate lots of good, healthy food right at my own table.

Breakfast: Oikos plain greek yogurt, Optimum Cereal, sliced banana, cinnamon.

Snack number one: a bowl of fresh cherries.

Lunch: Morningstar spicy black bean burger, leftover guacamole, hummus, onion, tomato, pickles. With an unpictured ear of corn on the cob (obsessed).

Snack two: more Optimum cereal with soy milk.

Dinner: a spinach lavash wrap, organic mushroom and wine pasta sauce, broccoli slaw, leftover veggie and hummus mix. And slightly overcooked brussels on the side.

I’m off to hang out with J and possible enjoy some more of my current read, Glass Castle. One of my goals for this summer was to read more just for pleasure. I read American Wife and Sarah’s Key while we were on vacation, and now I’m on to this new one. Being an English teacher, I of course love to read, but it seems like it has been months since I’ve been able to just sit and read for pleasure. I hope you all have had a wonderful Monday!

Off I go!

Barcelona: dia tres

Our third lovely day in Barcelona started off with a little breakfast at this sweet Boulangerie. We loved these little corner pastry and bread shops and stopped in often.

We ordered a quiche…

…and a sinfully delicious pastry to share. Normally I would cringe at the thought of such a buttery, chocolaty, indulgent breakfast, but something about the charm of this city wiped clear my conscience and I enjoyed every little morsel. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be on vacation in another culture? All bets are off when it comes to experiencing something new, right?

After breakfast, we strolled over to this work of art, La Sagrada Familia. This Roman Catholic church is nestled in the middle of the busy streets of Barcelona. Construction on it began in 1886 under the instruction of a famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. Construction is expected to go on until 2026. It was incredible!

The opposite side, where we entered.

Close up of the front entrance

and the inside

there is something novel to me about this incredible church with equipment and workmen filling the inside

Next up was a trek to the Mediterranean. The beach was beautiful as was the water. Not having worn our swimsuits, we marveled at the scenery for a few minutes, then moved on to get some pizza! We were starved!

My little vegetarian eyes lit up as soon as they spotted the sign reading “vegetarian pizza,” but this pie left something many things to be desired. I think it had been sitting out a little longer than I’d like to imagine. Regardless, we ate most of it in an effort to tame our hunger and then headed back toward our hotel for some pool time.

Along the way we enjoyed the endless quaintness of the Spanish architecture…

and somehow couldn’t resist joining in on some good ole’ fashioned tourist fun:) While Jon and I typically shy away from overtly touristy attractions, I couldn’t stay away from the fruit man! Who could?

We denied our itch to keep exploring the city, surrendering instead to the luxurious rooftop pool of our hotel. I think this was the most relaxing part of the entire trip for me.

After lounging at the pool, we were off again. This time to an area of town which features more work of Gaudi. Among the quaint, Spanish buildings lining the streets, you’ll find random modern architecture mixed in. These buildings were insane and interesting to say the least.

Not modern, yet too beautiful to be left uncaptured.

Stopping at this Croissantery to get a bite to tide us over until dinner. The Spanish way – a big baguette!

And a couple of hours later…time to eat again!

Sangria to start with…obvs.

Next, a dish found on many a Spanish menu – Patatas Bravas. Aka fried potatoes. With spicy sauce of course. Delish.

And for our main dish, an entree that is seemingly quite popular on the streets of Barcelona – vegetable Paella. I still can’t pronounce it. It was really very tasty. It basically consisted of rice, and vegetables, sauteed in a savory sauce served in a skillet. Nothing to get too worked up over, but pretty good nonetheless.

To end our last night in Spain, we were lucky enough to stumble upon this light show that was going on at the National Museum. There were droves of people there, and for good reason. It was beautiful and entertaining to say the least. The perfect, romantic evening to end our days in Espanya.