MIMM 9.9.13

thanks to Katie for hosting!

marvelous is... this album by Bastille. i'm obsessed. it's soooo good, and only 6.99 on iTunes (yep, i still buy my music. i'm crazy, i know). but really though, do yourself a favor and listen to this! 

marvelous is... a vitality bowl while shopping with my momma. 

marvelous is... finally getting a much needed haircut! 

marvelous is... going into GNC for some quest bars and getting a free extra bar, a free baby blender bottle (i can't get over how cute it is), and a free gold card membership. score!

marvelous is... brunch dates with friends (because even when your egg scramble isn't that good, at least the company is!) 

marvelous is... snuggles with my baby girl. i'm gonna miss this pumpkin soon!

marvelous is... getting whole foods hot bar and coffee after a killer Saturday WOD. we did "donny" which was 21-15-9-9-15-21 of deadlifts and burpees. i used 113 pounds and am still sore today! 

marvelous is... my Junk Brands headbands that i bought a few weeks ago. they're by far the best headband i've bought! they keep all my hair and sweat out of my face and don't move at all when i'm working out. highly recommended.

marvelous is... these Paleo peanut butter cups that i made yesterday. guys, not even kidding, these are probably the best thing i've ever created in my kitchen. the recipe will be up soon (promise!) so stay tuned! 

what's marvelous in your monday?

MIMM 8.19.13

happy almost-tuesday, everyone! thought i'd participate in katie's marvelous in my monday link-up since this is a random post and what better way to tie it together than some marvelousness?

marvelous is... snuggles with my baby girl. who apparently had a question while she was sleeping, haha!

marvelous is... saturday morning coconut flour pancakes with dark chocolate dreams PB and fresh raspberries. 

marvelous is... this awesome sign i found in chinatown! regretting not buying it already..

marvelous is... a beautiful day in the city!

marvelous is... being reunited with one of my best friends from school for the weekend! she matches my crazy.

marvelous is... brunch with friends! i got a spinach, mushroom, and avocado omelet that was delicious. 

marvelous is... iced skinny mochas from starbucks. i'm obsessed and it's kind of a problem because my wallet isn't happy about spending $4 every other day on a drink, haha. 

marvelous is... going shopping & finding some good deals! i love this dress, and i also got a pair of mint shorts for $10 (score!) and a few pieces of jewelry (like the ring in the above photo for $3).

marvelous is... the toasted marshmallow latte i got at biscoff in SF. soooo good! 

 marvelous is... RX'ing a WOD! even when it's one with tons of pull-ups and you forgot to tape your hands and now they're ripped. #worthit

marvelous is... luke bryan. and his new album. playing it again. and again.

what was marvelous in your monday?

{late} WIAW + New Workout Gear!

hi guys! happy WIAW!

today i have some recent eats (despite being a liiittle late to the party) & some other new (random) exciting things to share with you. first, the food!

coconut flour pancakes with vanilla almond butter

eggs with spinach, goat cheese, and sriracha

greek yogurt with frozen berries, vanilla almond butter, and unsweetened coconut

eggs with goat cheese, bacon, brussels sprouts

new-to-me Larabar that was pretty good! 

coconut flour pancakes with vanilla almond butter and defrosted frozen berries

egg scramble with quinoa, spinach, bacon, & goat cheese with iced coffee

first bowl of oatmeal in months! plain oats cooked in almond milk with chia seeds, topped with vanilla almond butter, unsweetened coconut, and brown sugar. 

basically i've been eating a ton of eggs, bacon, coconut, and vanilla almond butter, haha! there's also been a lot of chipotle (for some reason i've been really lazy about packing dinner for work) & froyo happening around here. i need more green in my life, stat!

and now onto the new stuff happening around here! i ripped two pairs of my nike frees doing rope climbs at crossfit (they are currently taped with duct tape), so i decided to splurge and get myself a pair of Reebok Nano 3.0. they just recently came out and were only $10 more than the 2.0 so i decided to just go for it. 

BEST DECISION EVER. all caps were completely necessary, these shoes are the best! i have done two WODs in them with a variety of different movements including running a mile and all around they were fantastic. i don't have much to compare them to since they're my first pair of shoes designed specifically for this activity but they're freakin' awesome. 

{side note: weekly workout recap is coming at the end of this week!}

i also got myself some new workout gear since i just got my first paycheck of the summer & am in desperate need of some more workout tanks!

i bought the lululemon power y tank (it is supposed to be for yoga but i fell in love with it at the store & it did great in crossfit), champion c9 seamless cami bra for extra support, and lululemon wunder under crop.  i'm really happy with everything that i got! to me, some things are worth splurging on, and i always end up buying nice workout clothes instead of nice normal clothes (sorrynotsorry). 

other things i've done recently:

started my internship at the physical therapy office! i'm loving it so far.

annoyed the crap out of ginnie. this picture makes me laugh so hard every time i see it. she is such a primadonna and doesn't like being held! 

went to an A's game with my parents & one of my best friends! 

went to the farmer's market with my mom last weekend.

other than that, i've been wasting my life away watching how i met your mother. i just started watching a few days ago and am already on season two! halllp. but not really because i need to make it through like eight more seasons before the summer's over. 

have you gotten and new workout clothes lately?

HIMYM... love it, hate it, or haven't seen it?

home sweet home (& my first CrossFit class!)

i finally came home for the first time in 5 months yesterday!

moving out was bittersweet because the last year has been the best year of my life, hands down. i made the most amazing friends, was incredibly challenged academically, became even more of an independent person than i already was, and so much more. UCLA is the best thing that's ever happened to me. & there's a whole post on that coming later!

one of the last sunsets of my first year! 

anyway, coming home was seriously like discovering a whole new wardrobe. after the long drive i started unpacking right away and then discovered how much crap i have. there were a lot of things that i left at home that i completely forgot i had - so i went through it all and threw away and donated most of it. it felt so good! i still have some more unpacking to do (and a lot of stuff is staying in boxes for moving back in in the fall) but it's so, so, so good to be home. 

i get to hang out with my babies and smother them in kisses. 

and sit on a couch and watch TV on a big screen.

and drive my CAR! (while blasting imagine dragons, of course!) 

and make pancakes & eat loads of berries. 

and, try out my first CrossFit class!

i knew that i was going to miss my IFT barbell class like crazy when i came home this summer, so i looked into crossfit. i found a box that's 10 minutes away from my house and  emailed one of the coaches about a week ago asking how to get started. he told me about the free intro class they have on saturdays so i decided to go to that this morning (even though getting out of bed was reeeallyy hard. i was wiped from yesterday!). 

i was super nervous beforehand because it's really easy to get intimidated by crossfit, for many reasons! i almost bailed out like 10 minutes before i was supposed to leave, but then i realized how stupid i was being. lifting and doing intense workouts is something that i absolutely love, so why not try it? 

so i went! the box is reeeeally cool, especially compared to the room we use at school for IFT. i felt like a little kid at a playground! and the coach that i met was really nice. it was just me and this other girl there for the intro class, and the coach told us about what crossfit is and what a typical class looks like. then he went over some of the movements with us, and had us do a 12 minute AMRAP workout of jump rope, thrusters, kettlebell swings, and burpees. 

guys, i absolutely LOVED it. i knew how to do most of the stuff he went over today, and he told me i had a perfect front squat (using a PVC pipe, haha). this kind of stuff is my favorite kind of workout!! i know there's so much potential for me to really challenge myself, learn a lot, and have a lot of fun. 

after the intro class i was stretching and the coach came and talked to me a little bit - he asked about my IFT class, if we lifted heavy, and if i could a couple of things (like snatches). and then he told me that i could skip the fundamentals class (which is where they teach you most of the movements you do in crossfit)!! the other coach that i'd already emailed had told me that there was a possibility to skip the fundamentals class depending on how much experience i'd had, but i was fully planning on taking the class unless after the intro class a coach told me otherwise. 

i left with the biggest smile on my face! i am so grateful that i took the plunge fall quarter last year and signed up for my barbell class, because if i hadn't, i don't know if i would've been able to get myself to go to that intro class today. i was so nervous, but i'm incredibly glad that i went. i know that there's so much for me to learn and improve on, but i love a challenge. 

here's to a freakin' awesome summer! 

have you ever tried crossfit?

WIAW: Recipe Explosion

so remember how i told you that i'd have plenty of recipes for you when i got home for break? well, i've been cooking and baking like crazy ever since i got home! i'm pretty sure i've made a different cookie every day not to mention i've been cooking a few dinners for my family. i love having a kitchen!!


prepare yourselves.. cause i've got a lot of recipes comin' atcha!

first up: homemade pumpkin spice latte!
as you guys know i'm just a *little* obsessed with pumpkin at this point. i've demolished one of those huge cans of pumpkin in less than a week. and there's no signs of stopping.
this drink is really easy to make, and if you leave off the whipped cream it's vegan!

ingredients:

• 2 cups almond milk (or other milk of choice)
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 
• 1 cup brewed coffee of choice 

directions:

1. heat the milk, pumpkin, and sugars over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until milk is steamed and mixture is hot. 
2. stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice and remove from heat. 
3. in two {large} mugs, pour 1/2 cup coffee, and then pour 1 cup of the pumpkin mixture over it. top with whipped cream (if desired) and an extra shake of pumpkin pie spice. 

up next: shrimp, brussel sprouts, and goat cheese pizza.

i made this for dinner a few nights ago and i can honestly say this is the BEST homemade pizza i have ever made. it doesn't take too long thanks to the premade pizza dough (i highly recommend using trader joe's - it never fails me!) 

ingredients:

• 1 premade pizza dough (i used trader joe's whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• sprinkle of salt, pepper, and garlic powder (you can omit the garlic powder if it's not your thang) 
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 cups shaved brussels sprouts
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (and salt & pepper) for sautéing
• 1/2 pound frozen peeled cooked shrimp
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms + 1/2 cup water for cooking
• 1/2 cup romano and parmesan cheese (i used a mix of both, but you can use whatever you prefer)
• 3 ounces goat cheese

directions:

1. preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. roll out pizza dough on a floured surface into a semi-round shape (as you can see i'm not too great at that). place on a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and brush the olive oil over the crust. sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and top with parmesan cheese. 
3. heat a pan to medium heat and add the brussel sprouts and coconut oil. once the brussel sprouts are soft, add the shrimp and cook until shrimp are hot. season with salt & pepper to taste. 
4. meanwhile, in a different pan, add mushrooms and water and cook on medium-high heat. cook mushrooms are tender (they will be a brown color) and set aside. 
5. add brussel sprouts, shrimp, mushrooms, & parmesan and romano cheese to pizza dough. crumble goat cheese on top and bake for 10-15 minutes. 

and thirdly, parmesan kale chips!

i've never cooked with kale before but this was SO much easier than i thought it would be. the key is getting a bag of washed and chopped kale from trader joe's - it makes everything so much easier!

ingredients:

• 1 bag chopped kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

directions:

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. spread kale out on a baking sheet. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan, salt, and pepper. toss the kale around to make sure it's fully coated (i just used a pair of tongs). 
3. bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. 

i have a few other recipes for you - a classic holiday shortbread recipe, my mom's sugar cookies, and a few more! so be on the lookout :) 

on another note... this girl just found out she got an A- in chemistry! to say i'm stoked is an understatement!! i have never worked harder in my life for anything and to see that it paid off makes me so freakin' happy. 

besides cooking and baking like crazy, i've been snuggling with these cutie pies LOTS and catching up on my TV shows. i've made it through 8 episodes of Once Upon a Time in 24 hours. hey, isn't that what break is for? ;-)

and this just cracks me up every time. i have the prissiest little chubby cat ever.

thought of the day: 

what's the best thing you've made recently?

favorite thing to do when you have free time? i love to read, watch TV, do my favorite workouts, cook and bake, and spend time with family and friends!

Giving Thanks & My 18th

I am so happy right now. I love my family, I love my hometown, I love fall weather, I love leaves that actually CHANGE color, I love it all. Everything about this weekend has been absolutely wonderful - I think that Thanksgiving is rising in the ranks as one of my favorite holidays. I never really was all that excited about it in the past because Thanksgiving food isn't my favorite, but this year was the first year that I truly realized that the food is not what it's about. Being away from home has made me cherish my time with my family (including the kitties) all the more and made me appreciate so many things I would've taken for granted before.

I didn't end up taking any photos of the Thanksgiving meal but I did want to share some of the things I'm thankful for this year (not in any particular order).


1. The Lord's crazy love that never fails, never runs out, and never gives up on me. No explanation needed. I am so blessed.
2. My parents and my older brother - I don't know what I would do without them! They never fail to make me laugh when I'm down, always have the best advice, and just get me like no one else.
3. Being able to attend one of the best universities in the country. Not many people have the privilege of saying that - I am so grateful for my education!
4. My kitties! These little balls of fluff always turn me into the 5-year-old that I am at heart and give me so much joy.

5. Coffee that doesn't taste like dirt! I came home and my dad had bought my favorite coffee (Starbucks Blonde Roast) and made it for me - I don't know how I've been surviving on that nasty dining hall coffee. Maybe adding all that hot chocolate helps ;-)
6. Fresh fall air. Every time I've stepped outside since I've been home, I just stand there and breathe it in. I miss the fresh air and the colder weather a lot more than I thought I would. 

7. All of the little things I take for granted - always having food and water, a warm place to stay, safety, my health, and so much more.
8. Almond butter - Barney Butter especially!

9. The amazing friends I have, both old and new.
10. My Bible study at UCLA. They have made me feel so welcomed and and home which is a tough feat when you're making the tough transition to college. I love those girls so much!
11. My ability to run, lift, dance like a crazy person, and so much more. I am so lucky.
12. Music. Happy pop music to dance party to, down to earth country music, worship music, all of it.
13. Baking.
14. The blog world - the blogs that inspired me to create my own, the blogs that I read daily, and especially you guys. I love you all<3

I could go on and on.. I have so much to be thankful for! 

Anyway, I also wanted to share some photos of the past few days! :) 

When I got home on Wednesday night I stuffed my face with berries and pomegranate seeds, made pumpkin bread and dance partied with my mom, watched a random movie on an actual TV screen on my own couch while drinking pumpkin tea, and most importantly - was reunited with my babies!!

nose kissies! 

On Thursday morning I went to the gym with my mom and took BodyPump and BodyCombat. BodyPump used to be my favorite class, but since I started lifting heavy weight in my IFT classes at school, I wasn't as big of a fan. The bar constantly felt light and I'd rather do less reps with heavy weight than spend a really long time doing more reps with light weight. But BodyCombat was awesome! And just getting to workout with my mom made me so happy. 

We spent the rest of the day prepping for Thanksgiving - we had over 20 people over at our house - and then Thanksgiving night I got to go see the new Twilight movie. It was really good! I couldn't quite remember what was supposed to happen at the end but I was still surprised. Minus the creepy baby I give it a thumbs up!

Then Friday was my 18th birthday! I woke up to my baby girl snuggling with me, made pumpkin spice pancakes with almond butter and sprinkles and ate them while catching up on Glee, went for a run in the beautiful fall weather and ended at starbucks where I got a PSL. And then my brother came and picked me up<-- he's the best! 

I showered and then my mom took me to get foot massages, which were heavenly!! We came back home and cleaned up a bit and then went as a family to get a late lunch at Panera. I got broccoli cheddar soup, the turkey avocado BLT, and asiago bread as my side. So good! 

After Panera my mom and I got Peet's (my family always gets afternoon coffee together) - I ended up getting a pumpkin chai latte that I didn't snap a pic of, but it was really really good. Then we headed to Target (because I love that place!!), Whole Foods (more pomegranate seeds for meeee!), and came home to start making my birthday dinner. We made the Pioneer Woman's mac n cheese, and my dad made me steak. So delicious!

I opened presents after dinner and all I can say is that my family went above and beyond to make me feel loved on my birthday. I got some homey things - a kitty towel, two cute little bowls, a little decoration thing for my dorm room, and a super nice mattress topper for my bed at school! 

My brother got me a Starbucks gift card and the ZZ Ward album (love!). I love actual CDs. 

I also got almond butter, dark chocolate, and rainbow sprinkles (!!) and three new workout tanks. If that doesn't show you how well my family knows me, then I don't know what does. 

And to top my already amazing day off, the Christmas lights were up, the fire was lit, and I was snuggling on the couch with my man and a mug of sugar cookie tea. It's the holiday season!

I had a huge mug of mocha and peanut butter ice creams with some leftover chocolate cream pie crumbles for dessert - I think I've single-handedly taken down an entire half gallon of ice cream since I've been home! We also opened the ginormous peppermint patties that I got my brother for his birthday (it was earlier this month) and I had a few pieces of that too. It was so much better than a regular peppermint patty!

This morning I got up and made another batch of pumpkin spice pancakes (1/3 cup Kodiak mix, 1/3 cup pumpkin, a few shakes of pumpkin spice, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and enough water to get it moving) with almond butter and more rainbow sprinkles. Who says you only can have rainbow sprinkles on birthdays?? 

I'm sad that today is my last full day at home but I'm trying not to think about it too much because being sad will ruin the rest of this weekend and I don't want to do that. The sadness needs to wait until I'm actually leaving tomorrow! I'm going to just focus on how wonderful my mini-break has been already - filled with family, kitties, and good food. What more could a girl ask for?

how was your thanksgiving?