It's Fun to be 2(5)

It's true...

...it's fun to be 25. 

After some good ole family mockery at my family & friends birthday party (see below), my fabulous friends and I made our way to downtown San Diego for the continuation of my birthday celebration. I couldn't love a place more than I love San Diego, especially the downtown area. Ok, I guess Italy is right up there at the top of my list, but SD in comparison to the rest of the world, SD isn't such a bad place to end up :) 

The morning of my actual birthday, after forcing myself to go back to bed, was spent at the most adorable wine bar & cafe called Cafe Chloe. Seriously adorable cafe with simple yet flavorful food and very welcoming French decor. It felt quite picturesque...the perfect place to start my 25th year of life. Thanks for the recommendation Missy!

The Girls

A-mazing

We then ventured down to La Jolla for a walk around the beach and local shops, and a pit-stop at the Living Room for a mid-afternoon pick-me up (isn't every good birthday organized around food?).

A stop to visit the seals (ohhh, the life of a seal). 

A stop at the *bucks for pick-me-up coffee and....presents!! I love my friends :) 

After a brief stop at my sister's house, it was off to Hob Knob Hill for a light dinner before we hit the road. Technically I ate there three times in the week I spent in San Diego. I was introduced to the restaurant by a family friend who brought there (AMAZING) cranberry sauce to our Thanksgiving Dinner. Then on Saturday I ended up there with my sister to meet up with her best friend and fiance (yum!) and then back there for a simple, homestyle birthday dinner. This place kinda makes you feel like you're in your grandma's kitchen in the midwest. All their bread is freshly baked every morning and they're best know for their breakfast. I would definitely recommend! 

Everyone needs birthday dessert! Simple as it was, their chocolate ice cream was bomb-tastic. 

And because no one wants to go back to work after 6 days, a weekend, and a birthday off, a very welcoming birthday surprise from my team. Oh how they love me :) (Note the green theme: balloons, green dyed flowers, DARK Dove chocolate, Yogurtland gift card, homemade sign and a few other special trinkets in the mix). 

If any of you who were a part of my special day(s) are reading this, THANK YOU!

Good food + good friends + good family + good fun = a gooooooood birthday 

It sure is fun to be 25 :) 

Thanksgiving is for Lovers

Normally I'd be posting Fresh Cuts today, but since the page didn't seem to be updated, I figured I would go another route and give you Fresh Cuts when there actually are some. Until then...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited. I've loved Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, and my love for it just seems to keep growing. Maybe it has something to do with sharing my birthday month with Thanksgiving. Occasionally my birthday falls on Thanksgiving, but usually it serves as the pre-cursor to my birthday--like an appetizer if you will...and those appetizers are ooohh sooo delish. 

I love thanksgiving because it has everything to do with family and food and absolutely nothing to do with presents (unless it happens to also be my birthday). For my family, Thanksgiving usually starts with a long morning in our pajamas, cooking and baking to our heart's content. Now that we are older we are doing this mostly in our own homes, but since I am the baby of the family, I still get to pawn myself off on a welcoming sibling who will let me take over part of their house to make a mess and some really good rolls (or whatever it is I am baking that year). This year my sister has the privilege of my presence :) 

As a say-at-home-mom most of her life, my mom spent a lot of time cooking and baking from scratch, especially when we were little. She has some incredible recipes and taught all of us kids how to do it on our own. This is a lifeskill I am so grateful to have! We may not have been spoiled with stuff, but we sure got spoiled with good food!

In light of that, Thanksgiving has become our own version of Top Chef. We cook, we bake, we sweat, we experiment, and we make darn good food. Well, I guess I would say we are a little more "Little House on the Prairie" than "Top Chef", but either way we end with a good meal, so that's all that matters. 

I could honestly keep talking about Thanksgiving for hours, so to keep things interesting here are a few things I would love to have or wear this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving may not be about presents (phew!), but there is always room for a little Anthropologie in there!

Kitchen Impressionism Apron

Imagined Iris Cup & Saucer 

Breton Holders

Stream Bank Platter

Alistair Napkin, Flora

Reclining Rabbit Tureen

That last one I couldn't help but include. Come on, a bunny?? How awesome is that?!

Gift Tip: With Christmas just 33 days away I can't help but think about what to buy for the people I love. As much as I love that Thanksgiving has nothing to do with gifts, ironically one of my favorite things to do is give them! Some of the best luck I have had with gift giving is with aprons. Anthropologie has great deals on aprons practically year round for both kids and adults (that one above is only $19.95). It's always fun to get a new, fun apron that changes things up a little, and since it's something you only wear at home for a few hours at a time, I find that people are a little more adventurous with styles. I swear you can find one to match any personality-you really can't go wrong though. For a few more apron options, click here, here, here, and here <--- that last one is only $7.95!!!

Anthro of Little Girls

Like most of the rest of the world, I'm not really sure where my weekend went. If your anything like me, then I'm guessing your weekend started with some sort of list. The first week of November has come and gone *sniff* so for all I know your list included Christmas shopping and buying Justin Beiber's new Christmas album (not that it's on my list or anything). Or maybe your list was more of the "clean the toilet, go to Target" kind of list. Or if your lucky enough, perhaps your list was actually more of a "honey-do" list...you know, the one where you give someone else your list to do an then feel uber productive when he/she starts crossing things off?

Well, this weekend my list looked something like this:  

Pretty good lookin' list, eh? I'm guessing yours may have looked a little different, but I'd take this list over yours ANY day of the week. 

You see, my nieces came to visit this weekend which meant there was a lot of this going on: 

Who knew stairs could be so fun? And no, I don't actually know what they were doing here, but the little one made sure she was in on the fun by copying the middle one. Actually, come to think of it, I think the middle one may have been trying to weasel her way to the garage to find my hidden bin of friends (i.e. baby dolls and stuffed toys). 

So while the little girls did that, the big one and I work on our list. I'm not totally sure where the list idea came from...maybe she's learning about list making at school or something?

Our list was in order of priority, with the break in the middle marking the little one's nap. We got through the first 5 options on our list, some being more successful than others (read: baking was more of a mess than success). I'm also not sure what option "c" meant ("move") but in the busyness of our day, we didn't even make it to the after-nap section. 

We did, however, make it to the candy store. Good thing we prioritized! 

Priority ONE: Candy Store 

All this being said, if this is what it means to be a little girl, then I'm all in! I'll gladly forgo my "clean the toilets and go to Target" list for "candy store, baking, and nerf fight" anytime. Sure, I might not be able to cross everything off my list by the end of the weekend, but I'd much rather try to squeeze "nerf fight" into my week than "paying bills," wouldn't you? 

Speaking of lists, I'm totally avoiding mine right now. Anyone wanna go to the candy store with me? 

Fresh Start -- What's Yours?

I went on my first real diet after my sophomore year of college. That might seem fitting considering the dreaded "freshman 15" we were all warned about, but for me that wasn't the issue.

Growing up I was never that big. Looking back at pictures of me as a young child I was small, if not petite at times. As I got older, I guess I realized I liked food and lived in a family that not only liked food, but needed food. I fit right in. Even still, I was never "big" as you would imagine a "big" kid would be. I was downright average.

While I loved T.V. and watching slightly age-inapropriate movies (Son-in-Law anyone?), I wasn't lazy and wouldn't consider myself a couch potato. Money-woes prevented me from playing team sports, but I'm not sure I would have been any good at them anyways. In place of team sports I spent hours on end at the local pool and running amok through the neighborhood.

Just before middle school I hit that point where I was definitely not the smallest kid in class, but also not the biggest. I was smack dab in the middle. This is probably when I started playing the comparison game.

"Ugh, she's so small-I wish I were tiny like her."

"Well, at least I'm not as big as that kid!"

It's a sick game, and one I still struggle with at times as an adult.

High school was pretty much the same story. To my benefit I did grow in height to make up for some of my width, but to my dismay, my mom packed a pretty legit cream cheese-filled blueberry bagel and an Titanic sized bag of Goldfish crackers. Both of which I had consumed in part by the time third period rolled around. This is about when I realized that I needed food. And that I needed a good breakfast.

For your personal enjoyment on a Monday:
Roger & I at my High School Graduation Party 

Going into college I was determined NOT to gain the "freshman 15" everyone seemed to be taunting me with. In my mind there was no reason for it and no excuse. I felt I was at the weight I was supposed to be at and a weight I was determined to stay at.

While I did manage to keep most of that dreaded weight off, I did notice my body changing, and I didn't really love it. I also couldn't help but notice the tiny little bodies of my roommates and floormates that I just couldn't quite keep up with. I also noticed the freshman 15 some of those girls started  gaining, and I was eternally grateful I had kept most of that at bay.

Then, at the start of sophomore year I joined a gym. I went on a "healthy eating" kick where I did not restrict myself, but ate lots of healthy salads from the caf and snacks from Trader Joes. And by lots I mean probably too much. Thankfully I was burning more calories to balance it all out, but then again I was also gaining plenty of muscle. So. Not. OK.

So after two months and five pounds I quit the gym. Fast forward to the summer, moving into my first apartment (a story in itself) and living on my own-own for the first time. I went on my own version of the "Morris-Family-Diet" and lost a considerable amount of weight. I wasn't exercising much if at all, but was working plenty and dropping pounds quickly. 22-25 to be exact. Wahoo!!

Personal enjoyment #2:
Diane & I about, junior year of college 

It was then that I really fell in love with breakfast and started waking up at the crack of dawn for it (something I definitely continue doing to this day). I was pretty strict with my eating, but I saw the results so I was totally OK with it, except that I was hungry. Often.

However, like with any worth-while diet, you have off days and days you don't do so well. Such is life. This is when I implemented the motto "tomorrow is a new day". And it's true, tomorrow is always a new day and a fresh start.. My diet and exercise routines have changed and morphed over the years-something I am truly grateful for, but I still have off days or weeks and still need fresh starts. Honestly I think everyone needs a fresh start every once and a while whether or not that new start has to do with food, health, or exercise. I'm not in love with New Year's Resolutions, but there is something nice about the new year and new start that it brings. I imagine every tomorrow as a mini New Year's Resolution.

What do you need a fresh start with?

To be continued...

I Refuse.

Considering the title of this blog, I am assuming most of my audience is (or will be) female. With that in mind, I figure I'm allowed to talk about girlie issues like food, weight, insecurities and the like with you. If you are opposed to such posts then feel free to skip this one and come back tomorrow. However, being that I am a girl, and you probably are too, then you probably understand where such issues come from, and likely struggle with them as well. So you should keep reading.

That being said, I am definitely one to follow health blogs like the Fitnessista, Meals and Moves, and Priorfatgirl. I am fascinated by their journeys and equally fascinated by what they eat for breakfast...lunch...and dinner. I'm continually baffled by the Fitnessista's ability to workout multiple times a day with a quickly growing baby bump, and find myself rooting Jen on as she fights the good fight to make it to the gym and eat right. It's a battle we all face, and I can't help but want her to win. It's unfortunate I am not always so kind to myself.

As a young girl with *apparently* so much time on my hands, I do my best to eat well and exercise often.   The eating well part isn't as new as the exercising part, but eating well gluten free started around the same time I finally jumped on the exercising bandwagon. I am not perfect, no human is (a lesson I am being reminded of often these days) but I really do try.

Me, without a care in the world. 

I grew up in a family of eaters. We love food, we love making it, we love feeding others and ultimately love pretending we live in the Little House on the Prairie. No seriously, I think my family would choose that life any day if the adjoining spouses weren't so weirded out by the idea. Anyways, we love food and aren't afraid to say it. Then there is the whole low iron, low blood sugar thing we just can't keep up with. We don't just need food, we need food. Try to make yourself sparse if you're ever around us the hours before Thanksgiving dinner--K?. Who thinks 3pm is a normal eating time anyways??

Both my parents have struggled with weight and health issues, honestly...for as long as I can remember. My dad didn't take care of himself and reaped the consequences when he suffered a massive stroke leaving him paralyzed on half of his body with semi-significant brain damage at just 47. My mom on the other hand, she's also struggled with weight, but managed to get it under control as a byproduct of managing her Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Me, annoying the crap out of my sister. 

The older we get the more we've learned about good and bad foods, trying to incorporate more of the good, and modifying the "bad" to at least be homemade from scratch if we are gonna go there. Afterall, everything is better from scratch, right? Something about being able to pronounce the ingredients I think.

All this to say, I'm pretty sure my parents passed some eating issues on to us kids, not to mention all those food commercials and ads calling our names. I don't blame them. If anything I am learning from them (how to incorporate the good, and not do the bad) so I am grateful for that. But as a young girl, single and child-less as I am, I decided today that I refuse to pass any insecurities or food issues on to my future children, or anyone I cross paths with until then. I refuse to abuse my body nor my mind in anyway. I will not let my insecurities get the best of me. And I REFUSE to pass any issues I have to my own kids. If that's not reason enough to get my ish together, then I don't know what is.

AE

Roller Coaster

In a moment of weakness and irresponsibility last December, I bought an annual pass to Disneyland. I've wanted one since the day I moved into the area but knowing it was not exactly a necessity, I could never rationalize spending money on such a frivolity. Enter the payment plan. Payment plans seem like the answer to every financial woe, right? Ok, well, when you're 20-something it does. 8 months later I'm still making the monthly payments. But it's totally worth it.

I'm sure the added pressure of all my closest friends having passes had nothing to do with my decision. Nothing at all.

Anyways. With the variety of rides at Disneyland, rarely is there a ride that appeals to all of us on the same level. I'm a Tower of Terror kind of girl but the same can't be said for everyone else. Getting us all on that one is like pulling teeth from a snail.

However, the one ride we will all readily agree on is California Screamin'. It's fast, fun, smooth, and no one feels like death is ripping them through the overhead safety bar. But that doesn't mean it's not full of twists, turns, the occasional lull, and speeds that make your stomach drop it like it's hot.

Similarly, being in your 20's is a total roller coaster. Ups and downs, twists and turns. Sometimes you're body is going so fast that your brain and stomach can't quite catch up with you before the next change happens. It's incredibly fun, but you don't always know what to expect next or when it will all be over. There are moments of relief, when you can turn to your neighbor and yell, "ohmygosh I love this!!" or "ohmygosh I'm a mess" or "ohmygosh this is crazy!". But before you know it, you're in the middle of yet another exhilerating moment. Exilerating either because you are loving or hating whatever twist or turn you're on.

There are lots of "ohmygosh" moments in your 20's. "Ohmygosh, I don't know how I will get this done" or "Ohmygosh this is so much fun" or "Ohmygosh, what am I supposed to do with my life?". There are also lots, and lots of questions. What's next? When will I figure out what to do with my life? Will I ever have enough money? Who can I trust? WHO AM I?

That last question probably bears the most weight. Every other question or concern somehow goes back to the "who am I?" question. For the first time in life we are living on our own, choosing our own schedule, paying our own bills, working our first job, and ultimately calling our own shots. We've had 20 years of someone else calling the shots for us, or at least pointing us in the right direction, but now it's up to us. We are navigating our lives for the first time and it's bittersweet. Bitter because we don't know what we are doing or where we are going. Sweet because we are experiencing freedom like we never have before. And laughter. There is a lot of laughter.

In my opinion, there is no situation that cannot be made better with laugher. I laugh at myself, my friends, movies, SNL bits, family, funny thingsgirlssay and so much, much more. While it's difficult at times, I even attempt to find humor when the going gets tough and there is really nothing laughable about the situation at hand.  It's just better that way.

Oh, and roller coasters. I literally laugh my way through roller coasters like it's my job. No matter how scared* or excited I am, I laugh. It's the best way to go really--in life and roller coasters. Laughing makes everything more fun. So laugh at yourself. Laugh at your friends. Laugh at thingsgirlssay. Don't "Just Dance"...laugh!

Hehehe :)

*Read: surprised.