Cooling Down

Hey guys!  Can you believe the 4th of July has come and gone?  I can't.  The summer is flying by!

This was my patriotic breakfast for Independence Day:

Plain yogurt with half a banana, strawberries, and blueberries.  Like most of the country, it's been super hot here lately.

I haven't been in the mood for hot oatmeal, so I've been having lots of yogurt for breakfast.  I love to add some granola to plain yogurt and fresh fruit, and last week I tried out a new granola recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows called Power House Glonola.

It has a stellar ingredient list:  almonds, sea salt, flax seeds (I used ground flax seed), chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, pumpkin pie spice (I used a maple cinnamon mix because I didn't have pumpkin pie spice on hand), dried apricots, oats, cacao nibs (I omitted these), pure maple syrup (I subbed in agave), and coconut oil.

I baked the granola a bit too long - I should have watched it closely for the last 5 minutes like Angela suggested - but it's still pretty tasty and I'm enjoying adding it to regular yogurt for breakfast, and sometimes to Greek yogurt for dessert!

Sometimes yogurt for dessert just doesn't cut it for me, though.  The hot weather has been the perfect excuse to finally try out my ice cream maker and some recipes from Jeni's book.  If you live in Ohio, there's a good chance you've at least heard of Jeni's ice cream, and hopefully you've had the chance to try it!  Her ice cream is unbelievably delicious.  My favorite flavor (so far, at least) is her Salty Caramel - probably because sweet + salty = perfection.

These ingredients are not for the faint of heart.

Pretty darn rich, but that's why it tastes so darn good :)

I was a little nervous to caramelize the sugar, but it worked fine and the results were definitely worth it.  I'm a fairly messy cook, though, and the kitchen turned into quite a disaster zone in the meantime.

Churning away:

Look at that creamy texture!

Ready to go in the freezer (after I taste-tested some from the ice cream maker, of course - someone had to scrape the bowl clean!).

Frozen and ready to be scooped.

Perfection!

Along with yogurt for breakfast and ice cream for dessert, the hot weather has meant the need for cooler clothes.  I ordered a pair of white lace shorts and red tennis shoes from Land's End Canvas (on sale + free shipping, of course).  I love the scalloped edge of the shorts.

Another hot weather staple - watermelon!  I got a juicy, sweet watermelon that tasted so delicious and refreshing.  Eaten with half of a leftover baked sweet potato (with butter and cinnamon) and a slice of whole grain oat bread topped with leftover smashed chickpea and avocado spread.  Great lunch!

The heat finally broke today, so I spent a good portion of the day out in the garage working on painting my kitchen table and chairs.  Thank goodness for my NPR app - it keeps me very entertained!  This afternoon, one of the shows I listened to was the Cleveland taping of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, which I actually got to attend a couple of weeks ago!  

My mom got tickets for our family as a Father's Day present for my dad.  It was so much fun, really hilarious, and also interesting to see the "behind the scenes" part of what goes into recording the show.  And we all got reusable bags - score!

I hope you're all staying cool and that you're getting the most out of your summer!

Song of the day:

"Stutter" by Maroon 5.  I was listening to their newest album the other day and of course I know the song "Moves Like Jagger" but I think "Stutter" is even catchier.

Spring Break or Bust

It's been pretty go-go-go since Friday, but so far my spring break has been awesome.  It was nice to see my family and celebrate my sister's birthday on Friday.  I got her this sweet gift:

She loves her electric blanket and her snuggie, so I couldn't resist getting her a heated snuggie!  I think she was excited about it, and she already tried it out and said it heats up really fast  

I don't need a heated blanket now, though, because I'm in warm and sunny DC!  Might not be a tropical spring break trip, but 70* and a blue sky feels pretty exotic to me right now.  I drove down on Saturday and had breakfast on the road:

Sorry for the blurry picture.

My sister gave up sweets for Lent and didn't even make an exception for her birthday!  So she requested fruit for dessert (and my mom also had angel food cake, so I had some of that as well as fresh fruit).  I packed up some leftover "dessert" to eat during my drive - pears, apples, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and an unpictured banana.  So good!  

I'm embarrassed to even post this picture because you can see how ridiculously dirty my car is... but I just had to say that I love seeing windmills when I'm driving.  And it was a beautiful day out - the clear blue skies helped me stay awake and alert, which is always good.

So far I've had 2 lunches with really good friends, did some shopping, hung out at a park, and went to a DC staple:  Ben's Chili Bowl.  I hadn't been there in so long; love the vegetarian chili!  Here are some of the highlights:

Maryam and I went to Tysons Corner (my favorite mall ever) and decided to eat lunch at an awesome Japanese restaurant in the middle of the mall.  Everyone sits around this conveyor belt, and the chefs put the food they've prepared on the conveyor belt and you can just take what you want as it comes by you!  The plates are different colors which indicates the price, and there's a menu for you to cross-reference if you don't know what something is, or if you want to order something that you haven't seen go by.  

I tried something new which I was a little nervous about:  seaweed salad.  Verdict:  delicious!!  I really liked it and would definitely get it again.  It had a yummy sesame flavor.  I also had some vegetarian sushi and a funny little dessert called mochi which had a red bean paste filling.  

I did do some shopping while I was at the mall.

The jeans were planned - they're Levi's Curve ID jeans and I had wanted a pair for awhile, but couldn't find them near Cleveland, so I was excited to go to the Levi's store at Tysons.  The sandals were an impulse buy; they were only $10 at one of those cheap-o shoe stores.

After the mall, we went to my favorite park, Meridian Hill.  

They don't have the water in the fountains yet, but I still think it's gorgeous.  It reminds me a lot of European-style parks.  

Maryam and me.

There's always SO much going on at Meridian Hill.  There's a drum circle with people dancing/ hula-hooping, various sports (soccer, football, frisbee, lacrosse, bocce, etc.), juggling, tight-rope walking (!), picnics, people jogging/ bike-riding - pretty much anything you can think of.  

A soccer game.

Jugglers - so impressive!

We've done lots of walking, which has been great, especially with such nice weather.  

This morning I did 3 10-minute workout videos from FitSugar.com:  "Get A Bikini Body in Just 10 Minutes," "Victoria's Secret Model Workout: 10-Minute Fat Blasting Circuit," and "Get Madonna's Arms with this 10-Minute Workout."

I didn't have any free weights with me, so I just used two filled water bottles instead.  I could have used heavier weights for some of the moves, but these did the trick.  I really liked all of the videos, and I love that they're only 10 minutes so you can do them on their own or do a few back-to-back like I did this morning to get in a longer workout.  They got my heart rate up and made me sweat a little, and they were a great start to the day.

I've actually got to work on a writing assignment for school, so I'm off to do that for awhile.  Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

Reader question:  Do you do any exercise while you're on a trip?  I'm not that concerned about it this week, and I know I'll be doing tons of walking, but since I had some extra time it was good to get a little cardio and toning in there, too.  


Song of the day:

"Islands" by The XX.  A mellow song for a mellow day.

Grow Your Own 'Shrooms

For Christmas, I got my dad speakers for his iPhone.  Unfortunately, they didn't work with the 4GS, so I ordered him some new speakers.  Over a month later I still hadn't gotten them, and I ended up getting a refund.  Speakers were not in the cards, so I went in a different direction:

Grow your own 'shrooms!

Amaze your kids dads.  I can't wait to see how it works!  (Found this at Whole Foods.)

The shopping bug really did bite me last week because in addition to my mall finds and new earrings, I ordered a couple of things from Madewell.  I first discovered Madewell at Tyson's Corner in Virginia (my all-time favorite mall) while I was living in DC, and it was love at first site.  Madewell is owned by J. Crew and only has women's clothing.  I've visited stores in NYC and Columbus, too, but there aren't any close to my apartment in Cleveland Heights.

Luckily, both the shoes and shorts fit!  I've had my eye on those shoes for SUCH a long time now, and even had them in my online shopping cart a few times and then decided against getting them.  But this time they were on sale AND there was free shipping, and I couldn't resist any longer.  The shorts were on sale, too, and I really did need a new pair.  I love the cuffs and the dark wash.  Per usual, I already wore the boots and love them just as much as I thought I would.  If it weren't 40 degrees outside, I probably would have already worn the shorts, too!

I'm so bummed because this morning I overslept and missed the yoga class I was planning to take.  I absolutely love the teacher for the Friday Ashtanga yoga class at the gym where my parents belong and was really excited to take advantage of being in the area today, but alas, I turned off my alarm in my sleep and woke up 2 hours later than I wanted to. 

My activity consisted of walking around a craft show with my mom, grandma, and a family friend (then having lunch - not so active), and then trolling the mall with my friend who is in town from DC.  I only bought a fresh-squeezed juice (carrots, oranges, ginger) while I was there, though - I definitely didn't need anything after my prolonged shopping spree last week. 

I'm spending one more night with the family, then back to my place tomorrow.  Hope everyone's ready for the weekend!  Any fun plans?  Or any recent purchases/ splurges lately?

Just for fun, you should watch this video of Jennifer Aniston on Ellen; Jennifer is wearing an ear piece and Ellen is telling her what to say to an unsuspecting delivery guy.  (Ellen has also done this with other celebrities like David Beckham, Dennis Quaid, and Sofia Vergara - they are all SO hilarious!  Definitely check them out if you get a chance.)

Song of the day:

"The Cave" by Mumford & Sons.