i hate yoga

I just got back to Texas yesterday afternoon after spending five days in southern California at home for my brother’s graduation from high school (woo!) 

My parents hosted a graduation party for my brother the day after the ceremony, and I insisted that we have a fruit salad and raw vegetables, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

oh yea, those scones in the background, I ate about five of those

In addition to the fruit salad and crudités, I made about fifty cupcakes. And I only ate about five of those as well

I don’t have much more to say about the weekend regarding food. It was all delicious and I didn’t really bother taking pictures of every single platter. One word of advice, though, the Moscow Mules at PF Chang’s are awful, never order one. 

it looks as watered-down as it tasted

And most importantly, this is my nephew :)

I only get to see him once in a while, so of course I took a thousand photos of him. Really, who can blame me?

This morning was the first morning in two weeks that I have been eager to wake up, get up, and be productive. Some people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder during the cold and dark winter months, but the season that has always caused me the most anxiety is summer. 

I am a person who is happy staying busy but anxious when I think of all the things I have to do. I love the structure and routine of the school year, but once I have “nothing” to do, I feel like my whole day is going to waste. I feel chained to my couch watching “Greek” because summer is supposed to be relaxing and carefree. So I sit, and watch, and snack, and feel like the biggest couch potato cheesy fatty potato casserole. Made with tater tots and not even real potatoes. 

That was the venting portion. The real reason I’m writing this is because I need some new structure in my daily schedule. I need to remember that summer is more relaxing for me when I’m being productive. About a year ago I wrote down in my journal things that I need to remember:

wake up early, it makes morning last longer

just be productive!! 

I’m happier when things are clean

drink water ALL day EVERY day

exercising makes me feel better

Really, the simplest things… that I already know. I’m leaving for California for a week and starting an internship once I get back, so that should help with the extreme boredom. Basically, I am going to start making myself plan a daily routine each night so I can wake up and have a reason to hop out of bed and be productive. And truly, every day is a new chance to eat healthy, get things done, (clean), and take care of myself… at least during the summer.

And I need coffee. Every day. I forgot to buy almond milk and didn’t have my latte yesterday and that was just a bad time. 

at least for the summer — it just eliminates so many unhealthy options and I felt amazing last time I ate a vegetarian diet. I’m going home for five days, though, and it’s usually pretty hard to avoid meat when I’m with my family. So we’ll see how this goes…

Anyone else on board? Going vegetarian at least for the summer?

I made this probably about a week ago now with the gorgeous brussels sprouts and the leftover demi baguette I bought from Central Market. A panzanella is a type of bread salad usually made with leftover crustier bread that soaks up the dressing as it’s tossed together — a super yummy summer dish. 

This one is so easy and delicious, I would have made more, but I ran out of day-old bread.

Ingredients: 
1 cup brussels sprouts, quartered
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup day-old crusty bread, sourdough or baguette
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Toss quartered brussels sprouts in a touch of olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and pour onto baking sheet. Cook in oven about 15-20 minutes until tender and a little browned. In a medium nonstick pan, heat tomatoes over medium heat, stirring constantly - they’ll get a little blistered but that’s ok. Warm them for about 3-5 minutes until they are soft and a little wrinkly. 

Cut bread into one-inch cubes and place in large bowl. Add in brussels sprouts and tomatoes. Pour in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to taste, and toss together. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Since I’m not really doing anything at all that’s productive, I started up my personal blog again, and shall be posting - again - about all the very creative ways I fill my day. So far I’ve edited photos for 6+ hours, cleaned, cooked, cleaned, eaten, gymed, blogged… eaten more…

Here’s the link that will take you straight into the glorious details of my wonderful life