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Arts and Crafts

Hey guys! I actually writing this post Saturday night, but I’ll delay it until tomorrow. That way I’ll be all caught up in case things begin to get busy (they should get busy- busy studying).

First off- HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the mother’s out there, especially my own, who has put up with me through a lot.

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Also, to all mother’s out there: make sure you’re not the only on taking pictures! Many years from now your daughter may be writing a blog post for which she will have trouble finding pictures of the two of you together. 

Although she does not know it at the time I am writing this post, my sister and I are surprising her my coming back for lunch! I’ll let you know how that is tomorrow!

There are a few things I want to touch on about Saturday. First. It was very unproductive. And I skipped some events because I wanted to get things done. But that wasn’t great. It’s ok though, it was only Saturday. Some R&R is necessary. 

ImageBrunch. I have a love/hate relationship with it. The food is really good, but it completely messes up my entire eating schedule for the day. This may be why I struggle with eating well on the weekends. I went with half of a whole wheat bagel, toasted with cream cheese and eggs, plus a salad with guacamole. Half of a waffle was also consumed, although it went unphotographed. 

Brunch always leads me to snacking. Which causes problems. I had a big grand workout planned, but I kept eating and then having to digest. Here are some snacks:

ImageGreek yogurt, cranberry orange quinoa, and cocoa sesame seed butter. Citrus+chocolate works, right??

ImageBlueberry-pomegranite kefir, zucchini bread (from the freezer), and sunflower seed butter. 

Numerous other snacks included bananas with sunflower seed butter, and granola with a protein bar.  Dinner was just meh but here it is:

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Well guys, this is it. It is the ending of an era. That’s right, I’m finally getting over my sunflower seed butter and my yogurt obsession. Since ditching some of the sugar in my diet, I don’t find these items as enjoyable. Or maybe consuming 10,000 jars of sunflower seed butter in a quarter is too much. I’m not sure. But I’m feeling ready to move on. It’s not that I dislike these things, but they don’t hold quite the same level of joy for me as they did in the past. :'(

I may try plain yogurt and see if that is more appealing. But as it is, I only have a bit of yogurt remaining anyways. I guess I’ve been more into produce lately: fruits and veggies. Produce kind of shaped how well my week went last week; I focused more on eating fruit and veggies, and it helped me eat more healthfully overall. Which takes us to the next topic of conversation.

As any normal American, I don’t eat as nutritiously on the weekends as on the other days of the week. For me, starting Monday on a positive note is crucial, and sets the tone for the week. Last Monday, I really focused on clean eating, and ate mostly fruit and veggies (minus the pizza that may have slipped its way in). As a result, I felt great the whole week, and had no difficulty eating well. Which is why I want to try something different this Monday. Before I say anything. let me first iterate that it is not necessarily something I believe in, but just want to give a try. A juice cleanse! I was inspired when last Monday I tried Trader Joe’s Green Juice and actually enjoyed it. It is a bit sugary (from the fruit) so the plan is to mix it with a more unpalatable and veggie heavy drink. I wasn’t sure whether to blog about this, but since it’s only a day, it’s not really going to change anything anyways. And the idea has always intrigued me. 

But on to the title of the post! Lately, I’ve been finding workouts online and writing them on Post-its. I regularly take these post its to the gym with me when I work out, but they get really rumply and crinkly and gross. So I decided to laminate them with tape!

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Most of them are WODs, and I thought it would be easier to have them in one medium, together. ImageThe ultimate plan is to make some type of pretty poster to put on my wall that I can stick all of them to for easy access when I want to pick one for a workout. I haven’t figured that part out yet, but I’m satisfied with the finished cards!ImageImageImageImageImageImageMost of them came with names, but I gave names to most of the ones that didn’t for ease of reference. For example, the one I did the other day that featured pull-ups, push ups, and squats I titled “Popeye” because it killed by arms for several days after. And Popeye has huge arm muscles, right?

I’m slightly obsessed with Crossfit. Yet I’ve never even tried it. Sad. This summer though I want to try it!

Aaaand to tie this post together again: Happy Mother’s Day!

Tell me something awesome about your mother.

You’re Jamaican Me Crazy

You know what is crazy? I only have a month left of school. That means that my freshman year of college is almost over! How did that happen??

This morning I was doing some blog reflections. I’ve noticed my writing style has changed considerably. I get the impression that it is choppier now that it was before. And a LOT more sarcastic. Am I getting TOO comfortable on the Internet? Haha. But I also get the impression that although my writing seems a bit rushed, it definitely has more energy and is overall more positive. The things sleep will do for you! It was also interesting to reflect on my food choices, especially given I’ve recently given up sweets. When I was doing crew, I ate sooo much! It’s crazy! It did make me nostalgic for crew as well. But hey, life happens. I do feel healthier now though that I am not consuming quite so much sugar. Another thing: I read some of the first posts from when I was getting sick. It’s kind of pitiful; 2 days into being sick, I wrote, “I think I’m finally getting better!” Sorry sweetie, but it’s going to be another month before you ACTUALLY get better. Hah. I had nooo clue what I was in for. 

But ANYWAYS. My takeaway from this is that I want to improve my writing style. I want to be more descriptive, and I suppose in some ways more formal. I think I was beginning to write a little too much like I would write a text message. Also, I realized how many typos I have, and for that I am so incredibly sorry. I have so much trouble catching my own typos! 

But let’s get back to life, shall we? My Psych midterm was pretty easy (I hope) so that was one midterm down. My super important midterm is OChem this Wednesday. After my exam, it was lunchtime! Friday was one of those days where I ate a ton, but was never super full.ImageI started with a Southwest salad. Every time I am at the cafeteria there, I see this amazing looking pizza, but I can never rationalize getting a slice. Yesterday was no different, until I decided to just go for it, since I wasn’t full from my salad.  It was described as Margarita pizza, but it wasn’t really like any Margarita pizza I’ve had before! Deep dish Margarita?ImageThis was delicious. There were globs of fresh mozzarella under the tomatoes, and the pesto complimented everything perfectly. SO worth it. 

After class, I decided to go on a bike ride. I found a bike loop online that a lot of bike riders take around here. It’s not a bike trail, just 3 roads connected. It was a 15 mile bike ride. Image(My trusty sidekick that sometimes decides to try and kill me.)

I wasn’t too happy with the gears on my bike. The chains have fallen off a few times, and given my highly limited knowledge of bikes, I most likely did not put them back on in the correct place, so I only really had 2 gears to work with. I stopped to adjust them, and I think it helped. I really liked/really hated this ride. It took me a really long time to complete; apparently I’m the world’s slowest biker. Ah well. I’ve ridden most of the first leg of this loop before. The first leg is uphill for a long time, although for the most part it isn’t too steep. But definitely enough to feel the burn! This bike ride is interesting; I start on campus and see tons of people leaving work. Then, as I get farther out, the world transforms. I begin to see horses and ranches, and little town stores. On the second leg of the loop, I saw Vineyards and all of the sudden there were horses on the road next to me. It was as if I had traveled to a different time period. After some downhill, and more climbing, I was finally at the top. I didn’t realize I was at the top at first; I first noticed I had a feeling of unexplained happiness. There was nothing higher than I was! I was pretty tired at this point. I went down a hill, only to turn a corner and find a super steep looking hill waiting for me. I actually said “Oh shit” out loud before. I don’t normally say things like that to myself, that loud. It didn’t turn out to be as bad as I was expecting, since there was a pretty big downhill going in, and I had a ton of momentum carry me to the top.

 All in all, a great ride. 

As I mentioned before, friday was my Mom’s birthday. I love these pictures:Image

What an angel!

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My mom sent me this caption: “They’re just lollipops to Lilly.” 

I don’t know what it is, but my kitties love chewing flowers. Last year I had a big birthday bouquet of roses. We woke up the next morning to find the downstairs completely covered in rose petals. Oh cats. 

For her birthday, we went out to a Jamaican restaurant called Coconuts. 

ImageGuac and Plantain chips? Um YES. 

ImageImageImageImageImageIn case you are wondering why there are so many plates, it is because the restaurant was family-style. They weren’t all for me; I wasn’t THAT much of a bottomless pit!

The food was really good, but had this spice that took a little while to hit you. So by the end of the meal, all the spiciness had built up and my tongue was on fire! I’m kind of a wimp in that regard. 

We all had a great time. I think I’ll hold off on the other things I want to share because this post is already pretty long!

Morning Blogging

So I’m blogging in the morning before class…this is weird. I don’t know how people blog before work or school. I’m always in such a hurry as it is. But today I don’t have class until 11 (midterm yayyy) and this morning is a rest day (although I might go for a bike ride later). But since I didn’t have time to post last night, this is perfect!

As usual, my day began with a 7am spin class. There are these two adorable ducks that have been hanging out near the gym. Which is nowhere near water…And Wednesday they were sleeping in the grass outside my dorm. I’ve been meaning to snap a photo of them but I didn’t get the chance, until I saw them snoozing on my way back from Spin. Too cute!ImageI attempted to make my breakfast look pretty…ImageI had been planning on using my real camera in my room when I am eating instead of my phone, but my roommate is still asleep when I am eating, so it is kind of dark. And it’s not really fair to wake up my roommate just to take a picture….For some reason, my iPhone takes better pictures in this awkward lighting…Who would have known?

My 9am class had a midterm, but it was not difficult. I was done in half an hour. Then, I went to the library to study for today’s midterm, since I knew I had a lot going on tonight. At the library:ImageWhat is that, you may ask? It is a Coupa Coffee machine! You swipe a credit card and select your drink, and it makes it right in front of you! I had a Cappuccino. ImageMilk foam (AKA the only reason I like this drink).ImageEspresso.

ImageThe finished product!

I spent 4 hours in the library working yesterday…with a lunch break 🙂ImageA salad from the actual Coupa. No salad machine! Although how awesome would that be?? This is what I got: 

beverlyhills chopped salad

chopped mesclun greens, romaine, chicken, tomatoes, olives, asparagus, and avocado topped with gouda cheese and tossed in a dijonmustard vinaigrette

YUM. I also learned you apparently get wayyy more when you get it for there, and not to go. Look at the height on this thing!Image

After 4 hours of hard work, my brain was pretty fried. In Psych section, we talked about our week’s project. We had to pick a social norm, violate it, and get a picture of ourselves doing so. The best was a person who wore tons of makeup on one half of her face, and people thought she was actually insane. Mine was boring. I went to the dorm lounge and did my homework upside down. I thought it was weird, but no one so much as looked up. ImageApparently I do stuff like this normally? I have been caught doing yoga with my textbook before…Yesterday I got the best idea for what I should have done. I should have walked around with a camera to all my classes and taken a picture of everything. How perfect would that be for the blog??

After class, I had to do laundry. I had an event last night, and not too many clean clothes. Although it turns out I had everything clean that I needed….Oh well I needed towels. Unfortunately, since I was under some time pressure (had to make it to yoga), I only did a really small load that would dry in time. And I still have a ton of laundry…as in, I have very few clothes. As in, my workout clothes are dirty. Good thing I have so many! 

Pre-yoga snack:

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One thing I’ve noticed since I gave up desserts is things are starting to taste really sweet. Like this oatmeal-ish thing. Interesting…It’s been a week guys! And honestly I don’t miss desserts. I was thinking, “I’ve had no desserts in the 19th year of my life! Maybe I can do the whole year!” Somehow, I doubt THAT is going to happen!

Yoga was awesome, as usual. I can feel myself getting stronger again. After yoga, I headed to Spring Fair. Yesterday, all the dining halls put out their best efforts in a Fair, where we could get tickets and get all kinds of delicious things. Since the fair was in the plaza, all the dining halls were closed. ImageAaaaall of the bikes.ImageI got Hawaiian food from the best dining hall on campus. To be honest, I was disappointed. It was kind of plain. ImageThen I got a lettuce leaf (that sounds sooo filling) and a veggie empanada from a different place. The empanada was good, but not my favorite combo of flavors. Image

After the Fair, I ran back for a shower before heading out…to make challah! My school has a program called Challah for Hunger, which makes and sells Challah to students and the proceeds go to charity. My sorority is vaguely Jewish ( I’m not. Only like 3 people are…) so we get a chance to do some of the baking sometimes. 

Note: in taking these pictures I managed to coat myself and phone in flour and dough. Sacrifices, guys. ImageImageLOTS of dough.ImageAll I was actually doing was braiding. 

ImageImageAaaand done!

There was plain, chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin (I want to try this!), and banana. I know there was going to be Sun-dried Tomato and some other flavors as well, but I had to leave.  I had to go to another sorority event. I didn’t actually decide to get any challah because I didn’t want to encourage myself to eat late at night, but that kind of backfired when I had yogurt after the mixer…

Ah well. It is Friday! Happy Birthday to my fabulous mother!

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Any fun weekend plans?

I Gotta Run

Hey guys! I swear one of these days I’m going to try a What I Ate Wednesday…but today is not the day. I’m going to go through some snapshots of my day instead.

I began my morning with a run. I had been planning on taking the morning off and going to quidditch conditioning again, but it was just going to be regular practice, and that’s not really my thing. Instead, I decided to get my butt running, a category I have seriously been lacking in lately. It was not fun. I keep wondering why running hurts so much now…and then I realize it is because I never do it. Oops. I did campus loop, which is 3.7 miles (according to my Garmin). I finished in a minute faster than last time, so I guess I’ll take it…Seeing my pace on my Garmin definitely does make me speed up though. Also, today it finally dawned on me that in less than 3 months I will be running for over 2 hours straight in my half marathon…so yeah. I am going to try to work running into my schedule more now so I’m somewhat prepared for my training to start. Training for training…heh. 

After my run, I had my patented YOGURT in a jar. Pshh way better than oats. Not that I’ve actually tried oats yet….I should get on that. Also, I would like to note how proud I am for taking longer to use up my jar of sunflower seed butter.ImageImage

(Sorry it’s sideways!)

Now here are some snapshots of my day:ImageIt’s been cold here lately! Well. Ok, that’s not exactly true. It’s been deceptively cold. Warmer in the morning (aka when I get dressed) and colder starting midmorning. So I was cold in my light sweater. ImageImage

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My dining hall had Mexican food today! And Mexican food=GUAC=YAY. I forgot to put lettuce underneath, so I took the picture pre-lettuce.
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The tragedy of the day: my cocoa powder decided to dump itself all over my floor again…at least it didn’t dump straight into my white clothes this time…
Have a great Wednesday!
How often do you run?

Hmmm Next Race?

Hey guys! How was your day? I had a pretty low-key but still really good day. 

As usual, I began my day by going to morning Spin. Then, I made breakfast. Ok, specifically, I made breakfast look nice and I made myself late for class. But it is a 9am so no one is on time anyways. So I had this genius idea that I should work on making my food more photographable as a way to slow down and be really mindful of what I am eating. My mom even brought me some fabric swaps to uses as background! So since a picture of a banana with a bite out of it and a jar of Sunflower butter isn’t very pretty, I did this:ImageNot the neatest, but spreading sunflower seed butter on a banana is not the most graceful thing ever. Idea for when I have more time: put the sunflower butter in a plastic bag and squeeze it through a hole in the corner like frosting. Genius, right? We’ll see if that ever actually happens…

After my 9am, I studied for a bit before grabbing coffee with one of my friends from crew who I haven’t seen or talked to in so long! It was great to catch up and hear about the team. I ordered a yogurt parfait and a cappuccino. Because apparently I was super tired. And guess what? I actually have a favorite coffee drink. Which is saying something since I hate coffee in general. I love the milk foam in cappuccinos! Also, I really hate sugar in coffee, for some reason. That’s supposed to make it better for people who don’t like coffee, but that doesn’t do it for me. 

I had all my workout clothes in my backpack which I carted around all day. However, I realized I forgot my iPod, which I really wanted, so I ran back to my dorm. Despite the coffee, I took a brief nap. Interesting…

After class, I headed to the gym for another rowing workout. It was nothing too intense. I ended up doing less than I was planning; my knee had been a little sore today and I didn’t want to push it. I was doing an ab circuit and thinking about how I really need to work speed and agility workouts into my life since I really miss them, when I decided, hey, why not do something now? I left mid-abs and biked to the field near my dorm and did some of the agility drills I used to do as part of softball conditioning. I think my joints (knees and ankles) have gotten a little weaker because I never do anything that involves changing direction, so I want of work more of that stuff in. 

For dinner, my roommate and I went to the nearby dining hall that we have not gone to all quarter. SO MANY VEGETABLES. It was awesome. ImageBrown rice, tilapia, and tons of veggies. Plus some fruit and later a small slice of gourmet looking pizza. While there, we ran into one of my friends from my dorm who I haven’t talked to in a while. We had a great time; I can’t remember the last time I laughed that much! And hey, nothing wrong with dinner taking an hour and a half right??

That’s about all that happened today. And now, the title of the post: next race??

I’m running the Giant’s Half Marathon in the beginning of August (it’s in SF and finishes at the ballpark on the field). I hadn’t thought much of anything beyond that. BUT THEN. I got an email from a girl in my sorority about the Nike Women’s marathon in SF in October. I had thought about signing up for the half, but since it’s a draw even after you sign up, I figured, ehh. But I was informed in said email that as a college student, I could get a special code when I registered that would not only give me a discount, but guarantee me entry in the race. How awesome is that? And the race is basically in my backyard, which is incredible given people travel to do this race.

So, what do you guys think??