Man Alive!

This can be a laughing matter, or you can just shrug your shoulders and assume I am a freak. Just so you all know, I am an incredibly difficult person to sleep with. I have been told I am a fan of flailing in my sleep, talking, laughing, crying, and/or making sudden jerky movements. Boyfriend obviously has the patience of a saint, because he spent most of last night quarantined in the smallest section of the bed while I occupied the rest of it in a position I can only liken to doing the YMCA dance.

Poor soul. It must have been all the high fructose corn syrup and sugar I ingested yesterday. I discovered that sour patch kids (an old favorite of mine) are vegan! This led to me purchasing a huge bag of them and consuming most of that bag while watching Frost/Nixon with Boyfriend. This was an unusually large amount of sugar for my fragile mind to handle, and it resulted in dreams of me swimming in a large tub of moisturizing lotion.

Boyfriend survived the night, and I suppose that's what is really important. When I got home today I realized I had never made it to the grocery store at any point this weekend and I was out of kale and a few other choice items. I grabbed my bag and headed for Whole Foods AND Trader Joe's! It was a double whammy, and I enjoyed the walk/shopping trip immensely, especially because it was so nice outside. I took some choice photos of my purchases!

I also wanted to take a picture of my new re-usable water bottle! My trusty Nalgene was stolen at school (boo!) and I was distraught for quite some time. I finally recovered/got sick of drinking out of water fountains and sinks, so I made a new one out of an old Snapple bottle! It's the perfect size, it's glass with no BPA's (hooray), and it doesn't make my water taste like plastic! Took me forever to get the glue off the side of the bottle, though...

In other news, I have a paper due tomorrow. This means I will be cutting this post short in favor of finishing my work and then posting again tomorrow after school! Until then, my precious readers.

Post-Birthday, I'm Back!

Craziness! I can't believe it has been over a week since I have updated! I just got so into being home, then it was my birthday, and then I had to make the trip back to Boston. It was a fun filled week and the good news is that means I have lots to say!

Let's begin with my sister making it safely to France! As soon as my dad got to the train station to pick me up my sister called his cell phone to let him know she had made it to her host family's house. It was truly perfect timing because I got to talk to her! When my dad and I finally got home I got to mom, my brother, and my dog! I haven't seen my dog or my brother since I moved to Boston a few months ago and my mom since she visited me a couple weeks before, so it was all very exciting. My dad and I spent the afternoon doing the weekly grocery shopping and chatting, and I made fried udon noodles with cabbage for dinner. It was delicious and even my older brother enjoyed it (he's a skeptical eater). It was a perfect first evening home, and my dog got to lick my plate when I was done so everybody was happy.

The next night I recreated Olivia Wilde's vegan bolognese recipe, and this was a big hit (especially with my parents). I tried it the first night on some fresh spaghetti squash and then a different night I spooned it on some actual pasta like a real human would. Spicy and full of awesome.

Onto the rest of the week! As some of you may know, it was my birthday on Thursday so now I am old. Twenty one! I hope you guys can believe it, because I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around the whole thing. I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning making chocolate vegan cupcakes and coconut frosting. They were absolutely delicious, and I used some green food dye to tie in the whole 'St. Patrick's Day' theme. 

My original intent was to find a vegan cake at the Whole Foods near my nana's house, but they didn't have any! They did have a larger produce section than the one I frequent in Boston, but I wasn't terribly impressed with their bakery section. Win some and lose some, I suppose. This led to the creation of my own birthday treat. I love cake, but having an entire cake sitting in our kitchen is never a good idea. 

The perfect idea was then suggested: bake a batch of cupcakes, set aside four for our family on my birthday, and bring the rest to my mom's school and feed her class! It was fan-tab-ulous. Only thing was, I made six more cupcakes than I needed and this resulted in their immediate consumption. I have no self control and ended up with a serious sugar-hangover. Though I did get to see my friend Steve, so that made the whole thing incident fade into the background a bit.

Cut to my birthday! I don't mean to make this moment all about me, but it kind of is, right?

So this is me...using my dad's shoulder as a birthday snack. If you thought my turning twenty one was going to signify my debut into adulthood you are going to be sorely disappointed. So we spent the first part of the afternoon after returning from my mom's school lounging, taking pictures, and discussing how I am now decrepit.

Now once you look past the fact that I am so pale I look dead, this is actually a cute picture! That's my mom on the right, and my daddy on the left. Aren't we cute? I am totally wearing my sister's prom dress, but I will attempt to justify this by explaining that I couldn't bring any clothes home with me since I took the train.

Since I know you're all here to read about me getting drunk on my birthday. I'm not sorry to report that drunk isn't quite the word I would use. Pleasantly incapacitated might be more appropriate. According to my family, it is incredibly difficult to tell if I am drunk or just being myself. I can't tell if that is good or bad. We went to P.F. Chang's for dinner, as that is definitely one of my favorite restaurants.

 Chris (my brother), me, and my dad in front of the restaurant.

I tried the stuffed lettuce wraps for the first time. I didn't used to be a tofu person, but the chefs there have really turned me to the dark side. It is spicy, flavorful, and totally delicious. Plus, anything wrapped in lettuce automatically gets five points. Interestingly enough, this was my brother's first experience with P.F. Chang's. I am happy to report he enjoyed it, and also that I ordered a Mai Tai for my first drink.

Me, still deathly pale, consuming my first [legal] alcoholic beverage!

The party continued after we left Chang's. We relocated to a bar near my house called 'the Ancient Mariner'. It's a small place and has been around since before I was born! It was there that I came to meet my new favorite drink: the whiskey sour. Ohhhh my goodness. I love sweet and tart, and this drink definitely didn't let me down. I had a few...maybe more but it was so worth it. It was honestly the most fun way I could have spent my birthday. It has been brought to my attention that most people wish to spend their twenty first birthday passed out in an alley, but I'm fairly certain my family is about 500 billion times more fun than that. Boyfriend couldn't make the party (he wasn't on vacation so he had to stay in Boston) and my sister was still in France, but aside from that this was definitely one of my better birthdays.

We made our way back home after a while and then popped open a bottle of Nihonshu (Japanese sake) my dad got me for my birthday. We sipped on this while I opened my presents! My parents and sister got me a book called 'Clean Food'. I know, perfect. My parents also made me a photo album with pictures from every birthday I've ever had. It was the best! I'm glad I enjoyed the night so much, because I hear that it all goes downhill after twenty one. 

As I'm writing this I feel the need to address the above saying for a quick minute: isn't going downhill better than going uphill? I don't mean to shine a spotlight on my natural laziness, but really... That expression seems so misplaced.

My last night home we went to the Applebee's bar for a few drinks before going to see the new movie Paul. I tried my first non-virgin piña colada. Consensus: seriously sugary, very delicious. Due to the extreme sugary nature of the drink, for my next drink I traveled a slightly lighter route with a 'Hurricane'. It was rum mixed with pineapple juice, sweet & sour mix, orange juice, and grenadine. Eughmygod so good! Very strong, though. I have to say, Paul definitely lit up the evening. It was witty and had great references, so comic book reading dorks (me) and anyone born before 1990 would definitely enjoy it.

So I'm back in Boston now. The morning following the trip to the movies was filled with whirlwind packing and squeezing in a breakfast with my friend Chelsea. I hadn't seen her since Christmas break, so it was really fun. After a prolonged farewell, Chris and I headed for Boston. I quickly unpacked the goodies my mom sent me and hopped on the subway to see boyfriend. It was a joyful reunion, filled with dinner at Panera, a pit stop at Newbury Comics, lots of hugging, and a walk outside featuring the biggest moon seen from earth in twenty years. It was SERIOUSLY huge and gorgeous, everyone! I hope you all got to see it... Thankfully the night was devoid of anything alcoholic. I'm not a big drinker to begin with, but I think I'm boozed out for at least a week :)

When I got back to my apartment this morning I munched on some kale and mochi for breakfast (still feeling the aftereffects of all the drinking/sugar) and then walked to Whole Foods to restock on some perishables. I needed apples, garbanzo beans, edamame, and some arame (for those of you unfamiliar, it is a sea vegetable). The second I got back from Whole Foods? Created a sizeable tub of edamame hummus. Is hummus not the best thing ever? I don't ever forget that I like it, but I do forget just exactly how much I enjoy it. I always make mine a little extra garlicky and throwing some edamames in there gives it a really interesting and fresh flavor. I meant to go to school to update this blog and to do some work, but it was already three o'clock and apparently the shuttle to the school closes earlier on Sundays than usual, so it didn't end up being worth the trip. The good news? I had that extra time to make this update extra long! Will be updating on a more regular schedule now that vacation is over, so fear not. This is not the end.

Marvelous Lunch!

I know...I was bad today. A touch too much of my time was devoted to moseying this morning, so I was not left with enough time to pack a lunch. Solution? Salad bar at the cafeteria. Usually if I forget my lunch I prefer to wait to eat until I go home, but today was not one of those days. I couldn't wait, was absolutely ravenous, and weirdly enough couldn't stop thinking about bananas. Maybe I needed some potassium. This whole situation may seem unfortunate, but it turned out to be delicious. I keep forgetting to buy sunflower seeds when I go to Whole Foods and they are just absolutely delicious on salads. My school's cafeteria has them! Go figure. I also got to the salad bar just as one of the cooks was unloading some fresh romaine! I loaded up on the beets too (another fabulous salad addition). Banana for dessert :)

It looks so pretty so I'm sharing a picture! It's a little bit fuzzy/funky since I took it with Photobooth on my laptop so forgive the low quality.

I'm currently enjoying it's deliciousness as I write. I'm super psyched to make garbanzo burgers tonight. I know they will be delicious, and the hard/lengthy part of the process (soaking and cooking the beans) has already been taken care of! Will definitely be taking pictures, worry not.

Talked about sodomy in my Roman Civilization tonight. Apparently I have not grown out of my giggle fits. Am also starting to think that will never happen.

Why Whole Foods?

Interestingly enough, on Mondays and Wednesdays I sometimes find myself eating my lunch on the floor outside my America on Film classroom. A girl in my class who is sometimes waiting in the same spot asked me what I was eating today and commented that she often wonders what I am eating but is usually afraid to ask for fear of seeming nosey. I found this incredibly amusing, as I am one of the nosiest people in the world. I was eating homemade vegetable sushi (avocado, carrot, cucumber, nori, and brown rice) with some shredded daikon. This conversation led to her asking where I got the nori and me detailing it's precise location in the Symphony Whole Foods.

Already I was proud of myself today for taking two leaps at social interaction. Now, instead of dwelling on my success at being a functional human being for the afternoon, I would like to discuss Whole Foods as a whole. Why is it important to me that I buy my food there as opposed to Shaws or Stop and Shop? Someone asked me this quite recently and I would like to elaborate.

Above the simple fact that a lot of my favorite foods (or even a variety of vegan foods in general) aren't available at the average supermarket, there are the environmental and health concerns:

1. Whole Foods is an active participatant in the non-GMO project. I have no desire to eat genetically modified foods. Anything that has been genetically engineered to withstand endless amounts of Roundup (a pesticide) is not something I want to be putting in my body. Mother Nature had it right from the beginning, and Whole Foods makes an enormous effort to avoid and protest the sale/distribution of genetically modified foods.

2. Whole Foods also has a great deal of locally grown/locally created products in stock. This contributes to the local economy as well as putting less strain on the environment. They are also avid supporters of the Free Trade and Organically grown movements.

3. Whole Foods does an extraordinary job of providing proper nutrition labeling and information to their consumers.

4. Whole Foods was also listed alongside Trader Joe's and Starbucks as one of the most wholesome and friendly environments to work in Forbes. Their employees will go out of their way to help you and generally give off a feel-good vibe that really enhances my grocery shopping experienced.

These are just a few of the many reasons when I am doing my grocery shopping and I have to give my money to a particular store, I choose to shop at Whole Foods. I can feel much better about the direction my money is taking and even better about the food I am about to eat, not to mention I can feel super good about my shopping experience lacking the same stress I would be feeling at another store.

I'm excited for tomorrow. It will FINALLY be March, and I'm so very happy for that. Also, does anybody else think Orson Welles looks like a total creeper in Citizen Kane?

Lazy Friday and Super Saturday!

Usually I find February to be terribly dull and I rejoice in it being the shortest month of the year. Now I know I failed at updating yesterday, but I was surprisingly not at school as long as I usually am. After my early class and going to the gym, my boyfriend picked me up so we could hang out, do some laundry, and cook dinner.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. Not to brag, but I make a mean pico de gallo. It is spicy but because the vegetables are fresh it is also a little bit sweet. We also lived a little bit on the edge and got some vegetable rolls (a cucumber roll, a carrot roll, and an avocado roll). It was nice to not make my own sushi for a change! I'm ashamed to admit that I may have eaten about a few (or eight) too many Newman's Own cookies (they make amazing dairy free cookies). Clearly I lack self control. The perfect ambiance to accompany our dinner? Goodfellas. Robert DeNiro is amazing, and I did have a laugh watching Joe Pesci.

After a night like that it would seem as though my weekend couldn't get any better. You would be so wrong. Surprise! My family came to visit me (except for my brother). My favorite thing is to have my family visit. I get terribly homesick when I don't see my family for too long (two weeks is my limit on too long, though I have gone longer). My sister is diving head-first into the college application process, and with an amazing offer from one of her top schools she needed to revisit Boston for a tour.

After the tour my parents took us out for lunch at P.F. Changs, and I got an absolutely delicious brown-rice Buddha Feast. It was five-spice tofu with asparagus, broccoli, and green beans. I have leftovers for dinner so I am beyond excited that I get to enjoy it twice. The thing I love about hanging out with my family is that it is always comfortable, and even if I am not home it FEELS like I am.

Another treat that simply ices the cake? Grocery shopping! Grocery shopping is honestly one of my favorite things to do. It is calming and filled with possibilities. My parents took me to Whole Foods and in honor of that awesomeness, I have decided to grace this blog with its first picture! The food looked so delicious sitting on the table, so I knew I had to document it.

Doesn't that look so amazing? I can hardly wait to start using it! I feel so spoiled with a weekend full of loved ones, clean laundry, and amazing food!

I'm not planning on leaving the house tonight (a bit too cold outside) so I'm going to stay close to the heater and study for the two exams I have this week and maybe watch a bit of Take Home Chef. Maybe February is trying to send me a message that it's not so bad after all...