im back!

i am finally back! and i must say, it is nice to have internet again. that is right, i have been without it for nearly a month. it actually was not too difficult and ended up being a nice little break. except the fact that i am now super behind in reading everyones blogs and in watching tv shows. but now i can begin to catch up!

also, i just finished moving! i love my new place. i know a year ago i claimed i would never in a million years move to the city, but the day came, and i now live in the city! i am excited about the new possibilities but will also miss a lot of things that i love about norman. however, rush hour traffic both ways every single day will not be missed. i am still in need of a kitchen table and a sewing table and hope to find them soon. we will see! i will post pictures once i get everything set up.

well, here is some more stuff from the past month! i dont want this post to get too long so i will begin with one of my loves.

april 20-25 was the week of one of my favorite things, the festival of the arts! every year i try to make my way to the myriad gardens at least twice during the week to pig out on the amazing food. yes, eating is really the only reason i enjoy going. i also like laying/sitting in the grass but i consider that to be a part of the eating experience.

cristina and i made our way down there on opening day for a late lunch/dessert after class. it was a hard decision, but we settled on the banana nutella crepe. and i must say, it was delicious! i had forgotten how much i loved nutella crepes and having this lovely taste has rekindled the fire. now i just need to learn how to make a crepe successfully and i will be good to go!

for some reason people seem to love these strange dog in martini glass paintings. they are there every year and everyone seems to love trying to find the splitting image of their own lovely pup. this year they were a bit short on the selection so cristina was unable to find one of gus and champ, her two cute wienie dog babys.

the following thursday, brad and i were up in the city searching for a home and i convinced him that it was necessary to eat lunch at the festival because i didnt get to eat all of the food i wanted to when i went with cristina. i was not wrong. i had a garlic chicken burrito and it was amazing!!!! exactly what i needed to eat. brad got a chipotle beef burrito. he looks like he doesnt enjoy it, but really he loved it. he loved it so much that when he finished eating, the great oklahoma wind blew his plate away causing beans and tomatoes to fly everywhere! luckily no one was in its direct path.

i absolutely could not leave with out eating my favorite, the chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick. yum! i love it sooo very much. i eat one every year and i am never disappointed!

since i will still be in the midst of rotations next april, i am hoping that i will be able to find some time to go and enjoy this special treat outside of lunchtime when its festival time again.

love.

one day i will be in shape

until then, here is a list of things i have learned from biking to campus corner twice....

1. biking down constitution street is going to always be the death of me. i feel like im going to die everytime. hopefully i begin to improve soon.

2. there is only one skirt i can wear while biking bc it has two layers so when the wind blows only one layer flies up. i also need to cut off some jeans so that i actually own a pair of shorts for these adventures.

3. computers are really heavy and make me really realize that i must find a basket soon. they also make my handle bars lopsided causing me to look like a drunk biker at times.

4. i hate the wind.

5. if there is any remote incline on a road, it makes the ride infinitely painful.

6. its harder to use bike locks than it looks. i have gotten better though.

even though i have all these complaints, i really do enjoy it. especially when the ride is smooth and lovely. like once i get to jenkins and lindsey street.

if you cant tell, i chopped off all my hair. well not all of it, but almost four inches worth. its MUCH healthier and more beautiful now! i just want it to grow back a bit.

love.

monthly macaroni 3

i am beginning to sound like a broken record in that every time i write about a macaroni and cheese the only word i can think of to describe it is absolutely amazing, and i am about to do it again!

i realized a week or so ago that it was nearing the end of the month and i had yet to even think about which macaroni and cheese i was going to make or when would be the best time to make it. that is when i decided to get down to business and narrowed it down to the one entitled creamy macaroni and cheese with spinach. it calls for using gruyere and parmesan cheeses and lots of spinach so it looked very promising. it was not until i began cooking the onion and its sweet carmelized smell filled the kitchen that i knew i would love it. i instantly began anticipating its first taste! (i contemplated just eating the onions out of the pan, but refrained so that i wouldnt mess up the entire dish i was slaving over)

the sauce is very thick, which for me is a good thing because i would gobble down the entire casserole dish if it wasnt. if you are turned off by thicker sauces, this may not be the best recipe for you, but i still feel like everyone should try it because i absolutely loved it!

i ended up eating two servings of it before i was absolutely stuffed and opted for going on an extremely short bike ride to work off a bit of the heaviness and check the mail at the same time.

overall, this may be my favorite macaroni thus far. i know i say that every time and i will probably continue to say it. it just feels absolutely impossible to decide on one! the onion added the absolute perfect flavor that i wanted and the amount of spinach is perfect to break up the noodles. it's a good thing i am looking forward to eating it some more because there is an entire casserole dish sitting in my refrigerator waiting for me! (well, hopefully i will still have some left because i keep nibbling at the leftovers when i walk past)

love.

wind will rush through my hair

back in the dreary month of january, allie and i made plans for the first possible free weekend to reward ourselves for surviving school by finally finding our long awaited bikes. we have been counting down to this day that has been on our calendar for months and i am very excited to announce that on april 15th we traveled up to tulsa and found our bikes!

we went to the most awesome bike shop ever called g. oscars (i am so upset with myself for not taking a single picture of the place). the guy who owns it finds old bikes and fixes them up so that they run well and then sells them.  seriously though, if you need a bike and can make it to tulsa, you definitely should go! just remember to bring cash or check because he doesnt take credit. 

we ran out of gas on the way back. it was a bit amusing, but also added some to my stress level since it caused me to be late to a meeting. i enjoyed that it gave us some time to cruise around a parking lot on our bikes until someone was able to pick us up and take me back to allies though.

and here she is, the lovely penelope! i love her. i fought the intense wind and hills the other day and took her on a ride to campus corner. the first part of the trip was really difficult, but the second half was a breeze. anyone want to meet up at the library for some happy hour beers so i can take her on another trip?

she has a cute little white stripe on the back.

and there you have it. one of my main goals has been achieved! all i need to find is a super cute basket!

love.

you have to be willing...

...to get happy about nothing. -andy warhol

what is something i love more than anything? going to the modern art museum of course! what makes it the best ever? when you get to eat by the reflection pool and see the lovely works of andy warhol!

my sister and i had been looking forward to this exhibit for months and we were lucky enough to go with our mom over spring break in celebration of my sisters birthday! it was perfect.

we began by eating some delicious food outside by the pool. the cafe puts interesting twists on some of your more typical foods, such as putting apples on grilled cheese. let me tell you, it's amazing!

it was very sunny and a bit more windy than desireable that day, but i enjoyed being able to sit outside and absorb some vitamin D. it had been awhile.

after making sure our bellies were full, we headed into the exhibit. it included his works from the last decade of his life and it was very interesting. there were so many pieces i had never seen before even though i always flip through an andy warhol book every single time i go to any museum without fail. my favorite is still one of his self portraits that is green. it has been my favorite for my entire life and will most likely remain my favorite forever.

what a perfect day!

love.

not much a baby anymore

a few weekends ago was the twins birthday! naturally, i had to make them hair flowers as their gift. it ended up being a bit complicated because i wanted to keep some for myself. i then wondered if it was weird for me to be wanting to keep something that i am making for two year olds. sometimes i still wonder about this, but usually decide that it's not problem in any way.

i guess i didnt take a picture of the ones i actually ended up giving to them, but here are the ones i kept for myself! haha (excuse how creepy this picture is, i am going to blame it on callie because i was using photobooth to show her what i had made. and to help me to decide which ones i definitely needed for myself haha)

i ended up using fabric that is green with a purple paisley print that callie used on her lapboard and the fabric i used on one of my coffee table stools that is a pink and purple leaf print. they were super cute and perfect for little two year olds.

i also loved how i ended up wrapping them! it was hard for me to decide because i dont have any actual wrapping supplies unless you count saved tissue paper, which has worked very well for me thus far. (excuse the awful lighting. i cant wait to move for this reason)

ever since they were born, tori's color has been purple and toni's color pink, so i used purple and pink tissue paper and tied bows around them out of random ribbons i found in a drawer. i punched holes in the coordinating cards (that i happened to find in another drawer) so i could string them onto the ribbon. i think they turned out pretty cute!

hopefully they wont be too terrible during their terrible twos! i dont think they will though. i love them! and that of course makes all the difference...

love.

you always end up just where you need to be

i feel that this is completely true. at least i tell myself that it's true when i think about how scared i am of the future. 

i went to a meeting the other day that scared me to death about the future. i dont have a plan and apparently i need at least three. and if my first plan doesnt work out i will only have hours to put the following two into action. i cant even believe it.  it freaks. me. out. 

i am hoping that i will figure it all out in six months because that is all the time i have. definitely NOT enough! here is my main goal: move back to texas and hopefully be able to live with my friend molly. we have had this planned for a long time (since thanksgiving i think?) and now i am very afraid that it wont happen. all i can do is try my hardest, and that is what i will do.

i took this polaroid a few weeks ago (yes, i finally took out my polaroid camera!) and love it sooo very much! i was very excited to find this beautiful fence when i was driving to study one day. i cant wait to have a fence of my own so that i can leave something just as beautiful to be inspirational to others.

i feel like i smile most of my day, but it makes me feel much better when i come home freaked/stressed out about the things i need to figure out and see it hanging above my bed. it's so true. everything is lovely. smile more.

and with that, i will leave you with my favorite buddha quote:

"when you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky."

love.