Room with a View

Hey guys!  Ready for the weekend?  I started mine last night and it felt glorious.

I'm at my parents' house through Easter, so I got to wake up to this lovely view:

There's not usually a big pile of dirt out there - my dad's filling in a depression in the yard and the dirt still needs to settle before he plants more grass.

A little different from the view at my apartment, but I guess it'll do :)  Growing up, I didn't think too much about the land our house was on, but now that I've lived in 2 cities, I appreciate nature a lot more.

This morning I went to the gym with my mom and got to take two classes!  So fun.  I did zumba first (after making fun of my mom for years about taking zumba, she's turned me into a huge fan) and then an awesome ashtanga yoga class.  With tons of arm work.  Ouch.

We stopped at a local health food store, Earth Fare, and I finally got to try out the kombucha they have on tap.  Looks like a coffee cup, but it was actually filled with delicious and  nutritious kombucha.  Felt kind of like getting a beer in a to-go cup since it was on tap, haha.

I've also been sipping on this new-to-me tea.  I fell in love with Earl Grey tea when my host mom would make it for me during my semester abroad, but I only heard of Lady Grey tea recently.  It's delicious - kind of like a light version of Earl Grey.  Plus it sounds so feminine and pretty, dontcha think?

A lot of times when I'm reading blogs studying I find myself mindlessly snacking even though I'm not hungry. I try to drink tea instead so that my hands have something to do and I'm satisfied without eating empty calories.

I don't know about you, but I can have a tough time coming up with a great gift for someone, especially when that someone is my dad.  If he wants something/ needs something, he tends to just buy it for himself.  And he doesn't like knick knacks or things without a real purpose.

Awhile ago, I saw a LivingSocial deal for a website where you can make your own photo books, and I decided that would be something that could be a great gift.

So this year for my dad's birthday, I put together a book of old slides which my sister had scanned to the computer, as well as a few other photos I had previously scanned, and made this book for him.

Doesn't my grandpa look like a movie star in that top picture with the ukulele?  It's my favorite.  

It was so fun to look through all of the old pictures and put this together.  And surprisingly easy for someone not very tech-savvy like myself.  I had grand allusions of scrap-booking a few years ago (and have the unused supplies to prove it) but I never did get around to doing more than a few pages.  I think the online photo book was a really good alternative.

And because I can't resist, some more nature photos from my parents' yard:

Almost Easter, aka chocolate, time!

The bunnies are ready.

So am I.  I can't wait for the Easter bunny to fill up my Easter basket.  (That cute little chicky is mine.)  And yes, I do still get an Easter basket.  And I love it.

That's all, folks.

Song of the day:

"I'm Good, I'm Gone" by Lykke Li.