Time to break.. and I wish I meant breakfast!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend! I absolutely did but I can't believe it's already Sunday night... and even moreso, JUNE!!!

I signed up for the GRE Saturday so I'll be taking a break from blogging this week as I try to cram as much antonyms, word pairs, and math equations into my brain before the test! I'll be back Sunday :)

But first, I have to show you what the incredibly talented Kelly made for me with her photoshop skills...

I seriously LOVE this!! She took stuff I like (Paris, orchids, etc..) and created that amazing collage!! Thank you again!!!

Alright.. It's bedtime.

Good night, all!

My tofu kicked your chicken's butt!

And why, you ask?! Because it's so versatile.

I brought a package of light firm tofu for lunch that was intended to accompany my salad. How boring, right?! But, at the last minute, I was feeling like dessert would make a much more satisfying lunch so that's absolutely what I did. Yeah, that's right.. i said it! I ditched my salad (saving it for later), warmed up my tofu with some kashi puffs, chocolate chips, stevia, PB2 and became a very happy camper.

I think I've been on a sweet streak this week because for dinner last night, i had d'anjou pear oatmeal/cobbler. It made me feel like a kid again where there's that special and rare evening that your mom says "we're having breakfast for dinner!" and it's practically the best news ever. haha. Needless to say, it was a nice little switcheroo...

Today has been kind of blah as I try to sort my thoughts...

Feeling:

• Introspective
• Quiet
• Ambivalent.

Wanting:

• To rid some of these ED thoughts.
• Take a nap.
• To learn how to be more content and mindful of the present rather than always looking ahead.

Because:

• I've noticed I've been restricting this week after seeing the scale number jump even though I'm still below my normal weight.
• I'm a sleepy girl at the moment.
• I don't like not knowing.
  

Procrastinating on:

• Studying for the GRE.

Looking forward to:

• Dinner with my momma tonight.
• Dinner with my gma and a great blogger friend tomorrow evening PLUS a movie!!
• Therapy Thursday

Daily Gratitude: (yes, i stole this idea from the lovely Kim)

• I woke up this morning :)
• New York is less than 3 weeks away.
• Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Lastly:

I receive the newsletter/Gwyneth Paltrow blog and it had a post on there today about addiction. How fitting... Below is the link, but here were some points mentioned that I thought stood out:

GOOP

Kabbalah teaches that we are in this world to achieve lasting and true fulfillment. However, our wires often get crossed and we think this fulfillment can come from physicality. This is never the case. The material world always leaves us wanting more. There is a saying, “If today I have one then tomorrow I want two, and if today I have 100, then tomorrow I will want 200.”

The addiction battles many of us fight are here to push us toward finding a deeper fulfillment, which comes from connecting to the real things in life: love, compassion, sharing and revealing our true essence.

Our soul has this massive thirst, and we are trying to quench it with a teaspoon.
Therefore, there are three essential things we can do to begin the process of leaving addictive behavior behind:

1. Realize these yearnings are coming from a true place (our soul) telling us we need to do more, and we can do and be more.
2. Begin a process of both realizing and connecting to our true essence by focusing, meditating and becoming more conscious of our thoughts, behaviors and true potential.
3. Do actions that take us out of selfish behavior. Become a more giving person. This helps us be less busy with ourselves.
Being addicted doesn’t make us bad, weak or hopeless. Just the opposite. It means we have a unique soul that wants more. We aren’t satisfied with the status quo. We have a burning desire to connect to something bigger than ourselves. And as we come to understand the source of our desires, and stop letting our addictions distract us from our true essence, we can find a lasting, uninterrupted level of fulfillment.

Have a lovely Thursday!!

The Irish who brought me Irises...

Happy Memorial Day weekend!! I feel pretty strongly that all weekends should be 3 days long!! I have to admit that although I miss catching up on every one's blogs over the weekend, I love being so far from my computer! And what was I up to during my lack of posting?

• Saturday morning, I went to the farmers market with one of the lovely girls from Blogworld and had such a blast! It was so refreshing being around someone that I didn't have to put on a fake face for... Plus, it's a lot more fun to shop for fruit & veggies, and do the grocery shopping for the week when you're with good company :)
  
• Sunday, I had 2 great dance classes and then headed down to San Diego for Date #2


• Last night was date #2. TJ boy brought me Irises that he gave to me at the end of the date. We went to a beautiful restaurant on the beach and watched the sunset and talked over a couple of drinks and appetizers.
• For the appetizers, he picked artichoke hearts and a ahi tuna roll... I figured it was a great choice until they arrived and both were fried!! There was no way out so I ate them, enjoyed them, and realized I could either ruin this date for myself by obsessing about the food in front of me or I could forget about it and enjoy the cute boy in front of me :) I chose the latter.

This was our view from our table... Poor me, right?! ;)



• This morning, after staying at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my cousin, we all got up and had breakfast together. It was really nice. They had potatoes and eggs while I had left over peach and cranberry cobbler from the night prior. So delicious! There's a high possibility that some yogurt covered raisins made their way onto my cobbler ;)
  I'm not one to believe much in signs but my Yogi tea bag from this morning said "Let things come to you" and I thought it was very fitting for what is going on in my life and not trying to force life, love, travel, etc..
  
• My Aunt, Little C, and I headed off to the gym where I got a great interval workout in on the treadmill. That cobbler, tea, and a fun night out gave me some lasting energy!!
  
• I'm now watching the season finale of In Treatment with my momma so I'm signing off for the night and leaving ya'll with some shitty cell phone pictures of eats. :)
  

I took my grandma to Mother's Market on Friday night for dinner and as you can tell, she is thoroughly enjoying her Mediterranean faux "Chicken" pasta.

She's actually not doing too well as she fell out of her bed the other night and hit her face on the night stand. My aunt and I spent most of Saturday trying to fix her bed to make it shorter but it only led into a frustrating tear session for my g-ma. She knows her time isn't much more and I think that's where a lot of her fear is coming from. When I went to help her up out of her chair, she grabbed me and started crying and wouldn't let go. :( I feel helpless and not sure how to help her. All she knows is that we have an agreement that when she feels she's ready to "go" that she has to give me a months notice.

I had the biggest sweet potato I've ever seen (that's what she said! Sorry, i couldn't resist!), smothered with black beans, steamed veggies, and a side of bbq sauce. It's fed me through the weekend!



My bowl of Kamut Puffs that PUFFED up my Fage yogurt!! There's some strawberries hiding at the bottom...

My cheeseburger salad with a Flame-grilled garden burger, sharp cheddar, spinach, sweet potatoes and everything pretzels from TJs.

I made on of those breakfast cookies that I keep seeing on here with 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup fiber one, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup water. Soaked overnight and heated in the morning in the microwave+ a side of yogurt= my new favorite breakfast!

And now, it's time for the season finale with Paul!!!

Enjoy what's left of the long weekend! It's officially summer!!!! Good night all,

L

Holy Hay, It's The End of MAY!!

Hola!!

Does anyone ever feel like they're doing the same monotonous routine day in and day out? That's how I'm feeling today. I feel that I have so much I want and need to get done in order to make my dreams and goals happen, but it seems as though there is never enough time in the day. I also don't understand how May is nearly over. yikes.

I got an offer from a family in France to be an au pair for their two little boys. The only problem is that they want me to be there by the middle to end of August. I feel like that is just a little too soon to be able to tie up loose ends here and take off. My main concern (besides leaving my stable job in this economy) is Kiki. I refuse to give her up. My mom can't watch her while I'm out of the country for 10 months. My ex of 4 years and I got her when we were dating and he used to help me take her out even after we ended things, but we're not on good terms anymore. It's not an option to ask him, is it? I've tried to make a mends but he disregards any of my attempts so I figure oh well! I was also wondering if it is manageable to possibly rent out my room for a lesser rate in exchange for a "kiki sitter"... The only problem is not knowing when exactly I would be back.

Do y'all have any ideas?? I've been racking my brain about this and although it may seem ridiculous to let a dog hold me back from such a life changing experience, I always said that I would never get rid of her and I don't think it would be fair to her, nor would I be able to actually give her up. Simultaneously, I can't give up my dreams. Help.

On a lighter note, I had dance last night and was asked to be the demo for the second class, as well as the first one that I normally do, which equals free class! I realized that the ambivalent feelings I have towards this weight gain is completely outweighed by the strength I have gained. During the worst of my ED, what I failed to recognize is that I had lost all muscle as well as fat. I could barely make it through a class, let alone some of the exercises. I had forgotten that it takes more than flexibility to keep your leg up there! As a result, I found myself looking for excuses to skip class. Now that I've gained back muscle, I LOVE dance again. I need to remind myself of this when ED tries to whisper sweet nothings in my ear!

I also want arms like these awesome ladies and I know that lack of calories isn't going to make that happen!

Sorry there's no foodie pics but meals haven't been too exciting! Instead, here are a couple pictures from my mom's birthday!! She doesn't read my blog but if she did, she would say thank you to all of you for the birthday wishes!

The Birthday Girl, yours truly, and her bf

Meet Marge, my grandma. She's my favorite. We had some birthday cake with her after dinner. I'm really close with my grandma b/c she was always my outlet when my mom was married to my step dad, but it's been hard lately because she now has dementia and it is worsening by the month. Some days are better than others :(

My uncle, his bf (who was Prince Charming at Disneyland!), my mom and me in Laguna Beach


That's all for today. It's time to stop procrastinating on GRE study and actually start studying!!! Hope you all have a wonderful wonderful Wednesday-Hump Day! But first....


Giveaway. Alert.


Like donuts? Miss Megan is having a giveaway of holey donuts.


Strawberry Shortstuff is having a giveaway of Womens Health Magazine (!!!) and Simply Bars!!


There's also a lovely Coconut Bliss giveaway!



Also... Don't forget to follow the lovely Stef to her new blog address!!

San Diego... A Whale's Vagina (thank u Anchorman!)

Hi Bloggies!!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!! To all the recent graduates, congratulations and welcome to the grown-up world (even though I still don’t consider myself apart of it!). To all of you that are in finals week, I wish ya’ll GOOD LUCK!!

I missed you all over the weekend since I didn’t get a chance to check the computer once! However, it was kind of nice being busy! Recap, shall we?

Friday..

• San Diego for little C’s dance recital. She did GREAT!


• Went afterwards with Big C to get some frozen yogurt. It was nice to spend some time with her because for the past year, we have had some issues between us. With my ED recovery/isolating myself getting better and her knee problems/constant pain/”hate the world” outlook getting better, we were able to have a relaxing girls night!

Saturday…

• Little C and I were planning on going for a long beach jog but we procrastinated so long that we only had 45 minutes to get a jog in before our pedicures :) Instead of jogging the beach, we sprinted down Pacific Coast Highway through all the different little shops. It was speed cardio shopping We finished our workout by sprinting to the frozen yogurt shop. Gotta refuel, right?!
  
• Tried to get some studying done for the GRE but my heart and mind were just not in it! I think I was more preoccupied with my (let’s call him TJ for Trader Joe’s boy) date that night. I took a nap instead! I heart naps
  
• I took little C shopping for Prom dresses... I'm not even ashamed that I tried on some myself! haha. It was too much fun searching for the most ridiculous looking prom dress!

Saturday Night...

• I don’t want to jinx it so I’m keeping this very short and simple, but we had a really good time. When he first asked me out to dinner, it was in response to a text I sent him saying “What’s a girl gotta do to get some more blueberry cookies” (that’s what he was serving at TJs when I met him). Needless to say, he definitely brought me blueberry cookies on the date! Haha. Cute.


• We went to dinner at a small Mexican restaurant across from the beach, then out for a drink after at a local dive bar.


• Quick background check: Graduated with a degree in Psychology and studying to go back to graduate school for developmental/school psych. We thought it was funny that developmental psych was my most hated area, while neuroscience was his least favorite!


• I’m kind of hoping I don’t pull a “classic me” on this one. I have a problem where I’ll be interested in someone until I find out that they actually like me, and then I shut off, become uninterested, suddenly “busy” and I stop talking to them. It’s like I’m afraid they’ll get too close or I’ll lose my freedom or something. Who knows.. I need Paul from In Treatment to analyze me!!
  
  Sunday..
  
• Kiki was sweet enough leave a dead rat on the patio in our backyard that I saw first thing after getting home Sunday morning. umm, yeah. I screamed....and not for ice cream.
  
  
  It was also my mom’s pre-birthday celebration. She turns the big 5-5 today! We went out to lunch yesterday and got BBQ and Ranch chicken salads. Kiki was happy to get the chicken later on! I’m tellin ya’ll, I can’t kick this bbq streak that’s been going on the last month! Maybe it’s the summer weather! Fun fact, I used to hhhhhaaatttee bbq sauce!
  
• They sang happy birthday at the restaurant followed by some carrot cake that I had a bite of (that’s right!!!!) We then saw the movie State of Play with my crushes: Ben Afflect and Rachel McAdams.
  
• In other news, I'm having a hard time dealing with seeing my weight increase. Still under my healthy weight but it jumped a good 3-4 lbs in the past couple weeks. I thought it was due to my “expected” girl-time of the month since I took progesterone rx to jumpstart it but I still haven’t gotten it yet, so now I’m kind of worried. Was that just TMI!? Yeah, I think so. It's also been difficult being able to fit back into my regular fitting clothes again that use to hang on me just a few months ago. I'm truckin through though.. thanks to the help of all of you girls on here!!

Tonight is my mom’s official birthday so we're headed out to dinner! Hope everyone had a great start to the week!!! I'm still catching up on reading ya'll blogs and commenting.. I'll get there :)

XOXO

Put that dog on a leash!

Oh. my. gobbs.

What a morning. Actually, i may be exaggerating a bit but I'm just frustrated so I'm getting on the soap box for a second here...

I took Kiki out this morning for our daily jog. I was feeling pretty good because I we were up earlier than usual and I took some Aleve for my knee so we could get a good run in! We start joggin along on our merry way and I see a small Chihuahua/pincher mix with it's owner. I assume it's on a leash so kiki and I keep on going. Next thing I know, the dog is CHASING us and the lady is just standing there! wtf?! I tried to distract Kiki "RUN FASTER, LET'S GO!!" as the dog proceeded to chase us down the street until we finally lost him.

**Note: Kiki is a pitbull mix and although she is friendly at the dog park, when she is on her leash, she gets territorial. Because of her breed, I take extra precaution to make sure nothing happens. I expect the same responsibility and respect from other dog owners so it is one of my biggest pet peeves when people don't have their dogs on leashes! Just because your dog is friendly to other dogs, doesn't mean mine is, WHICH IS WHY SHE'S ON A LEASH! Anyway, back to the story.

After we lost the other dog, we continue on with our jog, both of us out of breath! We come around the corner and I see the lady letting her dog run around still without a leash as she just stands there. In my "aim to please-personality-type" voice, I ask her to PLEASE LEASH UP YOUR DOG!.. She mumbled something about how she couldn't get him. Next thing I know, the dog is chasing us again! Seriously!? Is this really happening twice in one morning? I'm freaking out thinking that it's going to chase us all the way to my apartment and I can only contain Kiki for so long (she was already trying to turn and growl at the dog!). Finally it stops and Kiki and I run home!

Oh man, I was completely exhausted and was not expecting such a hectic wake up call this morning. I wanted to go back out and yell at the lady because she wasn't even doing anything while her dog was chasing us!! I said forget it and just decided to treat myself to the overnight oatmeal breakfast cookie I had waiting in the fridge. I was originally just going to have half of it because oatmeal is still a fear food but after that run, I absolutely had the whole thing and a half serving of cottage cheese.

On a side note: this was my first time making a breakfast cookie and they are everything you girls said they are to be!...delicious. I thought maybe ya'll were exaggerating but after trying it, they won my heart over! :)

ughhh. So please, for my sake, my knee's sake, and Kiki's sake, if you have a dog, i beg you to keep them on a leash!

On to a recap of yesterday:

• Good day of intuitive eating. I haven't been taking pictures much of eats because it hasn't been anything new! However, last night before my GRE prep class, I made half of a flatout cheese quesadilla. I loaded that bad boy with tomato, lettuce and pickles. I was craving a "burger" and by "burger", I really just mean something grilled with cheese, that I can add ketchup to! I had it with some leftover veggie soup my momma made for me (aww)! I was off to class from 7-10 and that meal held me over the whole time..

Well, that and the Annie's chocolate chip bunny crackers that I packed for a snacker!

THAT + THIS (sprinkled on top):

EQUALS= :)

Despite the recent negative body image thoughts, yesterday was actually a very mindful day of eating, which made me feel a lot better. I'm striving for the same thing today!

I'm off to the gym with my momma and then home to pack for San Diego this weekend!! Cathryn (my cousin) has a dance recital tomorrow night and Saturday is the potential "date" with TJ boy... no clue what to wear still.

Hope you all have a wonderful wonderful Thursday!!

Post Mother's Day

What a busy weekend!! It took me a good portion of yesterday to catch up on blogs and I still haven't read a lot of them! I didn't check my computer once over the weekend because we were on the go non-stop! It looks like everyone had a lovely Mother's Day though!!

First and foremost, I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful comments to me regarding Friday's post!! It totally brightened up my day and relieved a lot of the anxiety I was having! It still amazes me how supportive you bloggies are!! I'm very thankful to "know" each of you!!



Friday:

• Changed out of my "inappropriate" outfit ;)



• Drove down to San Diego after work to have a girls night with my two cousins (20 and 17). We had a laid back night... Went grocery shopping for my cousin (she had to pick up groceries for her apartment back at school) at Trader Joe's. I ended up walking out with some chocolate almond milk, Fage yogurt, white bean basil hummus, and a phone number of the cute boy that was behind the "samples bar"... Actually, when my younger cousin ran back in there to grab something, he gave it to her to give to me :) hahaha. I knew I liked Trader Joe's!



• I only had some mushrooms with hummus for dinner before I SD so I allowed myself to guiltlessly have frozen yogurt that night while we watched movies in bed. I usually never let myself have more than a few bites of fro yo because it's a trigger food but this night, I was very intuitive and enjoyed every last bit!

Saturday

• Woke up from knee pain at 7:30, so went downstairs and watched cooking shows on Food Network with my Aunt. She loves to cook (total opposite of her sister aka my mom), but she also has some OE issues with food and although I love her so much, part of my ED is that I would become that. Is that horrible to say?



• We had tea and talked until the rest of the house woke up. Made some oatmeal, which I enjoyed with PB chips and some trail mix! (woo hooo!) No pics, sorry!



• We headed up to Orange County later in the morning to hang out with my grandma and take her out to eat for a pre-Mother's Day!! (Souplantation!)



• I love hanging out with my 2 cousins since I never grew up with sisters. The older one, courtney, and I have some issues but in all, it was a great evening!



• My younger cousin, Cathryn, ended up staying at my place Saturday night instead of going back to SD with her mom. I knew that she had body image issues but found out while we were talking that night, that she had been B&P over the last couple of weeks. I wasn't really sure how to go about addressing it without coming off as parental. She knows I'm trying to recover from ED and so my only plea was to not let ED rob her of what it did me. I just hope it's one of those things that she doesnt want to find out on her own.
  
  A lot of her issues come from being the youngest and her older sister getting all of the attention due to her severe knee problems, resulting in Cathryn being left out in the dust. I've also heard my Aunt make some ED remarks to C like "you could lose a couple.." or "that dress makes you look fat"... C has such an amazing spirit and is such a gorgeous girl.. I just dont want to see her turn to starvation or BP as an answer!
  
  Any Advice?



• Aside from all that, in officially 1 month and 1 day, I will be on a flight to JFK airport in NYC for a week long vacation with my dad and brother!!! Seriously, can't wait!! Plan on checking out Columbia while i'm there and see if I can "see myself" attending that school!!

Sorry for being such a lame blogger! I know everyone has had super busy weekends with Mothers Day, graduation, finals, etc, etc, etc... I want to wish Lauryn congratulations on her graduation and becoming an alumni! I also want to wish Jaime a "pre" congrats and good luck on her graduation this weekend!!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely Tuesday!!

:) L

Casual Friday??

Today started off good...

I was up early. Kiki and I had a long walk and it was a beautiful morning. My breakfast was mindful, intuitive and included 1/2 frozen banana stuffed with PB2, and Fage yogurt topped with cereal... I also had showered before bed the night before which cut my "getting ready" time in half. I was in a great mood.

...Then came work.

<-- This isn't me.. it's a picture stolen from the J. Crew catalog. However, this is a replica of the outfit I wore to work today for casual Friday (except I had on grayish shorts with a blue button up and some kitten heels).

I work at a law firm that consists of 4 other people. 3 of them were in the office today- my lawyer, the office manager, and the receptionist. The lawyer gets in and says "You look nice and very professional today."

(Thanks.)

Office manager: "Are you wearing shorts?"
Me: "umm, yes?"
OM: "You can't wear shorts."
Me: "I'm sorry. I thought since they were the long kind, that they'd be appropriate."
OM: "no."
Me: "Would you like me to go home and change?"
OM: "no, don't worry about it.. Just don't do it again."

She goes back to her side of the office, and I go back to work. Feeling like a child that has just been reprimanded, I emailed her saying I could go home and put pants on if she'd prefer... basically just trying to please her so it wasn't an awkward situation.

Instead of answering my question about changing, I get an email back saying that she doesn't want me to learn bad habits and it isn't appropriate, blah blah blah. She ends the email by saying that she would appreciate my cooperation in this.

ummm, didn't really answer my question!! This always seems to be the case--I can never get a straight answer to a simple question. Do you want me to change or not? Instead, she would much rather take something simple and blow it up. I replied with:

"That's fine and I apologize. I wasn't trying to be unprofessional and thought since they are longer khaki shorts that they would be okay, especially with a professional top.
Does that mean I should run home or no?"

Finally, she emailed back with "if you could"... ummmm, did i not just ask that from the very beginning. That's the part that is just so aggravating. Seems like we had to run around in circles just to get back to the very starting point.

I feel like I put so much effort into college, studying, doing well, and all so that I could end in a job where they not only sweat the small stuff, but they magnify it!

I'm done venting.

The afternoon got better, despite my lingering frustration. I went to lunch with my friend Rachel from dance class and we enjoyed a huge salad from Souplantation!! Tomorrow's the Farmer's Market and that means I get to stash up on some more sweet potatoes!! holllla!

I hope you all are having a great day. I would appreciate if you think I'm being out of line with the work situation because I don't want to be a brat! I feel like I've always been a team player when it comes to work but that this woman just looks for stuff to blame me for so she can put me down and raise herself up. Any input is appreciated!!

Lots of love, bloggies!!
L

Sleeping Beauty...

Hi Bloggies!

So far, it's been a really good week and not for any particular reason.. although I wish it was something I could pinpoint in order to recreate when having a not-so-great week!


Tuesday, I went to my dance class that I demo for and there was a video camera guy there filming for documentary on my dance teacher and things to do in Orange County. Maybe I'll be famous and can quit my "lawyer babysitting" job and just sit by the beach with a cocktail like the rest of the OC ladies ;) Anyway, I had a really great class and was full of energy. Maybe it's because there was a camera there, maybe it's because my mom came to watch me, or maybe it's because of the amazing sweet potato and 2 advil I had before class!


sweet potato= stamina, so I decided to stay for the advanced class. We finished up around 10ish and I was in bed by midnight :) Not without treating myself to some NF frozen yogurt though!!


Yesterday, I thought I had my GRE prep course from 7-10 pm, so I rushed home, changed, nuked a sweet potato in the microwave with some greens and then rushed to UC Irvine for the course. I thought I was going nuts because I couldn't find the classroom AT ALL! After walking around confused for a good 15 minutes, I finally got a hold of the phone number for the office... Turns out that the course doesnt start until Sunday! umm, seriously!? I proceeded home to take Kiki on a long walk and was in bed by 9:30. A-maze-ziiiing!


Woke up once around 1 but then slept straight through until 6 am when my alarm clock (aka my mom) called. Kiki and I went on a long walk and got back around 6:50 for some breakfast! I've been craving lemon so I made myself a lemon pancake with 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup fiber one cereal, 1 Tbsp Fage and 1 packet of Stevia.... Not too shabby :)








Lunch consisted of a salad mess with spinach, broccoli, lots of crimini mushrooms, 2 Tbsp of eggplant hummus, a serving of soy crisps, and soy/teriyaki marinated TVP.. I forgot how much I like TVP.. plus, it helps that it's so cheap.

However, it didn't satisfy me as much as the canned crab meat that I used on the same salad base yesterday.

I gave myself a challenge... it's not eating related (well not really). Basically, I'm trying to save money and I want to stop buying something every time I see something new at Whole Foods!! So, I'm not allowed to buy anything but fruits and veggies.. oh and dairy (yogurt and almond milk) until I use up what I have.
This includes:

• Proteins (fish, beans, etc)
• Cereal (I have Puffins, Kashi, Fiber 1, etc, etc...)
• Grains
• Breads or wraps!
• snacks
• Bars!

It's been a good day, I believe from all the extra sleep I got! I'm cancelled Therapy Thursdays (didn't feel i needed it today) and going to the gym with my mom after work. And... I finally got the name of a good orthopedic doctor to check out what's wrong with my knee.. I cant take it anymore and want to be able to jog again!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! Any good plans for the weekend?

Taking Sam's lead, here are 38 questions for the people who are a little older...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most? All of them.

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? I dont even remember the last romantic dinner I had! I've been on dates but they didnt seem all too romantic.

3. What do you really want to be doing right now???? Outside enjoying the sunshine!

4. How many colleges did you attend? CSU Sacramento(1 semester), Community College, UC Irvine

5. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now? Because coral is one of my favorite colors, it's comfy, cute, and give the image that I actually have some sort of chest.

6. What are your thoughts on gas prices? It could be worse.

7. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? I was up before my alarm!! kudos for early-bird-bedtimes!

8. Last thought before going to sleep last night? "Jimmy Fallon isnt as funny on his own late-night show as he was on SNL"... I fell asleep to him on Hulu.

9. Do you miss being a child? Barbies, McDonalds Happy Meals where you could care less about the food because it comes with a toy, Saturday morning cartoons, being done with school by 3 pm, stickers, Disney movies, Oregon Trail computer game, board games, video games, Nano pets, MASH, jumprope songs, Home Alone... what's not to miss?!

10. What errand/chore do you despise? I'm like Monica from Friends---I love cleaning. I hate putting laundry away though.

11. Get up early or sleep in?Early

12. Have you found real love yet? yes. their name is EUROPE.

13. Favorite lunch meat? ehh not so much.

14. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart? a headache.

15. Beach or lake? Beach

16. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?Nope. i'm ocd, therefore, i love rituals.

17. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives? 30 Rock.

18. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? There are too many amazing people to choose from!

19. Have you ever crashed your vehicle? no, knock on wood.

20. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? at a fire training.

21. Ring tone? default.. but I do have Bowchickawowwow on there!

22. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth???? There's never a weird place to have clean hygeine!

23. Do you go to church? If I'm visiting a famous one somewhere like Notre Dame. Otherwise, no.

24. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? career career career.

25. How old are you?24 years

26. Do you have a go-to person? mostly my parents. we're pretty close.

27. Are you where you want to be in life? currently no, but i'm getting there.

28. Growing up, what were your favorite cartoons? Smurfs, Bobbys World, Rugrats, Carebears, My Little Pony,

29. What about you do you think has changed the most? think as I've gotten older, I have begun to have a new found respect for history, other cultures, and religion. Things that I never really appreciated as a child. <--- I agree with Sam. I also think i've become more reserved or traditional when it comes to relationships compared to when I was younger.. Now i'm like "you what to do what on a first date?! I just met yoU!!!"

30. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life? nope, the best is yet to come. but they sure were fun.

31. Are there times you still feel like a kid? A kid, no.. but also NOT 24! I am proud of my independence but i'm still a daddys girl and like being taken care of when i visit home.

32. Did you ever own troll dolls? oh. heck. yes. i did.

33. Did you have a pager? yes, remember pager codes!!? haha. 143.

34. Favorite 90's drama?Full House, Family Matters, Saved by the Bell.

35. Were you the type of kid you would want your children to hang out with? yeah, i was ultra cool with my MC hammer neon pants and hot pink tank tops ;)

36.Who do you think impacted your life the most? my parents and a college professor who pointed me in the career direction i want to pursue.

37. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you? see above.

38. Do you tell stories that start with "when i was your age..."? never.

Love,

L

25...24...23...2.. one.. Liftoff!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

I hope everyone is sitting poolside with a margarita and some chips & salsa! or at least, that's where I wish I were right now!

Sunday

• Went to dance and only stayed for one class because of my knee. I still felt like I got a good workout though.
  
• Afterwards, I went with my friend Rachel up to Santa Monica. Her bf is a chef for a restaurant that had a catering event the next day. We helped him for about 5 minutes then ended up sitting and enjoying lemon bars he made for us, followed by a sample of the catered meal: pasta with marinara and lots of tomatoes :)
  
  
  My camera is acting weird hence the blurriness, but we had the entire restaurant to ourselves (it's closed on Sundays!)
  
  
• We walked around 3rd street promenade afterwards and then I headed home and went to Borders with my mom to catch up on some magazine reading!
  
  Monday:
• Definitely dropped my phone from the stairmaster at the gym and cracked the front screen! I still had a greeeaaattt (in tony the tiger's voice) workout, though!!
  
• I came home and made a pouch for dinner with some marinated TJs Mahi Mahi, asparagus, and lots of mushrooms (stef's fav!) .. Threw that baby in the oven for 20 minutes and unwrapped all of its goodness ;)

• Since I hate wasting veggies (bc i spend so much $$ on them!), I used the rest of my carrots for some carrot-bran muffins using the recipe from Self Magazine... I replaced the sugar with 1 Tbsp of Agave, added 1/2 cup wheat bran and 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk, substituted pumpkin for the oil, and used 1 cup carrots instead of only 1/2. I also cooked them for 15 minutes instead of the recommended 30!
  

One of those with pumpkin Fage (below) was my breakfast this morning. I had planned to have the yogurt last me 2 breakfasts but i finished it this morning. I had the sudden impulse to add up my breakfast calories this morning and had a mere freak out. I started to calm down when i realized that I make breakfast and lunch my larger meals and then eat light in the evening for dinner.

Since I never got around to the 25 survey tag, I finally did it today!! Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!!

1. I'm obsessed with artificial heat and have one of those space heaters that is constantly on ( i blame my mom for getting me hooked on this!). I try to make up for its high energy-sucking-contribution to global-warming by not running the central heat.

2. One summer, I trained with Alvin Ailey Dance Company in NYC and ever since then, I've wanted to live in a big city. Apparently, I forgot and moved to Orange County.

3. Growing up, I always wanted a sister so I would make my brother sit there while I curled his hair, did his make up and put him in dresses... Instead, I consider my two younger cousins the closest I'll ever come to having sisters.

4. The last couple years, I've turned into a morning person and i LOVE everything about it: being up before the world starts getting busy, BREAKFAST (!), and the Today Show.

5. However, I am still a night person and love staying up late. I need to figure out how to balance the two.

6. My favorite sport is leg wrestling. Thumb wrestling holds a close second.

7. My alarm clock is always 20 minutes fast. My car clock is 11 minutes fast. I am usually still late.

8. My favorite movie of all time is A League of Their Own even though I hate playing baseball/softball.

9. I've been to England, France, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Ireland, and Mexico, yet I've never been to the Grand Canyon or Vegas which are less than 5 hours from me. It's pathetic.

10. When in doubt, I blame the quarter-life crisis.

11. I never liked maple syrup... I do however, like the fake stuff.

12. I used to HATE peanut butter. Sometimes I wish I still did!

13. When I "rescued" my dog as a puppy, they told me she would be the size of the mom who was 40 lbs.. umm, 75 pounds later... yeah, if anyone needs to be watching their weight, it's definitely Kiki.

Puppy Days

All grown up (with my brother)

14. My mom once got a hairless cat (like from austin powers). I thought it was the grossest thing until I had to cat-sit one night. I fell in love with it because it would fall asleep in my lap. It died the next day from a heart murmur.

15. My favorite Star Wars movie is the 7th one... wait, there's only 6, you say? My point exactly.

16. My mom let me have hamsters when I was little and I would put them in my barbie house to play with Barbie. I also thought it'd be a good idea to have a "pocket pet" with one until it got stuck in my zipper. My hamster days ended after that.

17. I would always sit Indian style in my desk chairs. My 6th grade teacher would call me Gumby.

8. I have never seen my dad without a beard. I don't think i want to either.

19. I'm just a girl....standing in front of the world...asking for it to love me. ;)

20. I love theme parties. For my last birthday, we had an "L" party for "Lauren" and everyone had to dress up as something that started with an L. I think the most creative costume was a girl that came as Lindsey Lohan and her boyfriend accompanied her as a 'line of cocaine'!!

21. I am ticklish the way Kiki is chubby.

22. I once decided for Halloween that I wanted to be a dining room table. (yeah, i dont know what spurred that idea).. but my parents made me the costume.

23. I like to watch movies at home in French with English subtitles turned on. The goal: to be fluent in another language before I croak.

24. I used to work in the research dept. of a psych ward doing brain scans and interviews with schizophrenic and bipolar patients. I had a panic attack one day and was convinced I was going to become schizophrenic so I quit the internship a couple months later. This is also partly why I wanted to leave my psych major and go to law school.

25. I lived with a boy 2 of the 4 years that we dated. Now, i refuse to live with a bf until there's some "icing" on my left ring finger.

I think most of my fellow bloggies have already done this but if you haven't then it's YOU I'm tagging! :)

EDIT: FYI Ladies: Megan has a GREAT blog and is holding her first giveaway of some pretty cool stuff! Also, Ashley is having a great contest giveaway of Indian food to help spice up your life!! Lastly, this lovely "Apple" is having a sweeeeeet contest in celebration of Mothers Day!!!

Super-Saturday

It has been an eventful Saturday!

• I woke up slept in until 8 and then got up to get ready for the farmers market with my mom. I did my regular routine of vitamins before making my tea.. Well my multi-chewable (yes i still take chewable vitamins, including the gummy ones) fell on the floor and let's just say that Kiki got her extra nutrients this morning! I thought about taking it from her but she was just way too entertaining to watch so I let her enjoy it. i figured she'd be okay.
  
  
  
  =
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Got ready and hit up the farmers market with my mom. She was a first-timer and loved it! We both got tons of veggies and fruit including buckets of CHERRIES! Don't' worry, afterwards we walked over to Trader Joe's to get my daily supply of yogurt and bat my eyes at the cute cashier from last week!
  
  
  

• I got these lovely daffodils from TJs! I love how fresh flowers totally girly up our condo!
  
  

• My mom headed to a dentist appt. (i know, who goes on a Saturday!?) and I was totally spontaneous and decided to try out this indoor rock climbing place since they have a climb-hour on Saturdays! It was a lot of fun and a great strength training workout since I can't run right with my knee.
  
• I headed over to my beloved Whole Foods to pick up a couple energy bars and a tea. While I was browsing the isles, I noticed this mom who was holding her adopted/foster daughter down on the floor who was obviously not well. I guess the girl was having a breakdown and has a lot of emotional issues and kept trying to run off unless the mom held her down. I asked if there was anything I could do to help.
  
  The poor mom felt helpless so I just started talking to the girl and trying to distract her from whatever it was she was upset about.. asked her about her HS Musical tee shirt, etc...Do you know what worked?!?! Let's backtrack: I stopped in WF partly to grab one of those White Chocolate Macadamia Cliff Bars that all of you girls keep raving about... I asked the girl if she wanted to sit down in the isle and split it with me. Once I opened up the package, i knew I had her! hahah. Not only is that bar delicious but it was a lifesaver. She ate the whole thing! ( i did try a piece though and ya'll are right--it's goooood!)
  
  Finally with the girl sitting down without running off or in tears, I offered to stay with her while the mom went to go do her grocery shopping. One of the WF boys helped us out and gave us some Snackimals cookies and juice boxes to keep us occupied ;) I found out from the girl (Skyler/ 12 y.o.) that her mom had died from leukemia and her dad wanted nothing to do with her bc he lived in Florida... She is also being adopted next week! What a stressful time for her!
  
  About 20 min later, her "mom" finished her shopping and came back for her and her son who was also hanging out with us. The best part is that when we were hanging out and talking about how cute Zach Efron is, she told me that her HSM shirt was too small (length-wise).. I told her that she should ask her mom nicely to get her a new High School Musical 2 &3 shirt if she shows her she can be good. I also taught her how to use her girlish charm by "batting her eyes and smiling really big and it would work every time! hahah. (bad lessons, i know!) yes, we practiced batting our eyes while sitting and munching on Snackimals! So when her mom came back, she absolutely batted her eyes with this huge pleasing grin and said "If' i'm good, can you get me a new HS Musical shirt?" Mom said yes and I replied "seeeee, works every time!" hahaha.
  
  Skyler gave me a huge hug upon leaving and told me I was her best friend... aww, what a sweet girl! Can i adopt her?! ha, if only. I checked out and headed home for a much needed nap!
  
• Got home and ended up cleaning the entire downstairs of my condo to compliment my new flowers ;) Rewarded myself with this HUGE mug/bowl of iced chocolate almond milk with vanilla stevia and soy whip cream.. holllller! ha :)
  
  The phone is in there for size reference ;)
  
  

• About 8:30, I was finally hungry for some dindin.. Instead of photographing my FM buys, I figured I'd photograph a salad I made with all of 'em! This HUGE salad (which is the first one that i couldn't finish!) included arugula, rainbow chard, jumbo asparagus, crimini mushrooms, garlic onions, broccoli, POPS Parmesan & Garlic, with TJs eggplant hummus!

• Tonight, I'm just chillaxin (yes, i just used that word!)!! Tomorrow= dance class if I can manage through it with my gimp knee.
  
• Last night, some girlfriends and I saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.. cute movie. Not an Oscar nominee but entertaining nonetheless :) We also went to sushi and I ordered spring rolls thinking they were the ones wrapped in rice paper.. Didn't realize they were DEEP FRIED! Yuck aka Freakout aka What do I do now?! I ate the inside of one and a couple pieces of tuna before calling it quits. Luckily, i blamed it on the huge wrap I had for lunch!
  
• Lastly, for those that asked, the graduate schools that I plan to apply to (getting accepted is a whole other worry) include:
  - Columbia (Masters of Science in Education and Neuroscience)
  - San Francisco State (Masters in Psychological Research with focus in Cog. Science)
  - UC Davis (Ph.D in neuroscience and cognitive science)
  - UC Irvine (same program but I really dont want to stay in So Cal)
  - UC Berkeley (Yes, stef! hahah i'm applying there too!) (Same as UCI and UCD)
  - University of Arizona (Same as above)
  
  My first choice is the Columbia because of their program, then SFSU because of the area!! We'll see! I start my GRE course for the second time, tomorrow. Hopefully it goes better this time around!
  
• OFF TO BED! Looking forward to catching up on everyone's weekend extravaganzas!