“the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”

-marcel proust

this is exactly what i have been trying to do in my food choices lately. i have a problem with eating at the same places i love all the time even though i would love to try someplace new because i get a craving that i feel must be satisfied. i am even worse at going somewhere and just ordering the same thing every time i go instead of branching out and seeing if there is something else i love more. since moving to okc i have enjoyed my ability to easily try many new and delicious places to eat. when i return to a restaurant i try to not order what i loved the time previous so that i can try something different. so far, i have loved everything!

naturally, this "event" was kicked off when karen came and helped me move! here are some very delicious things we ate while she was here and when i went down to fort worth for a few days.

we finally ate at the earth natural cafe and deli. i had been meaning to go for forever and for some reason always forgot. i am really upset i missed out on this place while i lived in norman, but hope to enjoy it when i go visit.

lets just say the hummus sandwich was absolutely amazing! as was the smoothie i had! seriously, best. smoothie. ever!!! and most satisfying sandwich i have had in a long while. (im sorry to cheat on you pink elephant)

karen always utilizes her artistic skills. dont worry, we didnt waste the rest of the carrots. we took them home and tulip enjoyed them very much!

we also went to native roots to get my sister her first reusable grocery bag(!!!) and picked up some expensive locally grown strawberries and a box of annies noodles for dinner (i think it was broccoli and alfredo). the local strawberries were the best strawberries i have ever eaten and worth every dollar they cost! they were extremely juicy and more full of flavor than i can even explain! all i have to say is, go local.

the following afternoon i took karen to the absolute best burger places ever, nic's. i was introduced to it by one of my friends during finals week and i was completely impressed and immediately fell in love. it is a very tiny place and only open from 7-2 monday-friday which makes it very difficult to go to, but if you get a chance you must try it! karen couldnt even deny the amazingness since she felt the same love at first bite that i did! 

here is what you see if you get to sit at the bar (he usually isnt blurry, but does move pretty quickly)

this is what my first burger looked like. amazingness, i know!

i opted out of getting fries at my first visit because the burger is ginormous and i made the right choice. when i went with karen, we split an order of fries and it felt perfect.

later that night, karen and i headed to dinner with our dad at the lovely spiral diner in fort worth. my dad got vegan macaroni and cheese as a side and it was strangely good. i would really like to try it again the next time i go. i got a sandwich called the simpleton and karen got a wrap of some sort. we finished with a very yummy dessert, but i forgot to take a picture of it! yummm

there are so many more places on my list to eat and i am so excited to try all of them! my mouth is watering just thinking about them! sorry about the length of this post. i just couldnt help it!

love.

lightning round!

i have been an awful blogger these past few months in both taking pictures and the actual acts of blogging and reading blogs. because of this i will now do a quick recap of a few things that involve pictures taken from others (a few are my own).

1. bailey and i decided that our picture pose was going to be a moose! since then there have been many moose sightings.

2. tracys birthday fondue! be careful eating cheese fodue while singing the gaston song from beauty in the beast. somehow a chunk of cheese flew off my fork thing and became lost. later in the night i found it in my pocket suck to my phone! hahaha

3. jungle party! i dressed as a tree. and also ended up on the winning flip cup team, 12-1!!!

4. norman music festival! it was awesome! i ended up being able to hear more music this year than last and also bought some super cute coasters. the end of the night was filled with awesome dancing that ended up causing my lovely birdcage necklace to break and fly across the street. i was able to gather up the pieces, but still have not put it back together. i really do intend to fix it though!

5. thirsty thursdays! i also saw my first country concert this night. i only recognized two of the songs, but it was still a good time!

6. cinco de mayo....apparently bailey and i were tricked into taking some tequila shots that had worms in them. worms that were purchased from pets mart and then killed on the bar and put into the shot glasses shortly before ingestion. im just glad that i didnt feel it go down my throat. that would have ended up badly. other than that, we had a really great celebration!

7. hosty! i had not gone to the deli to enjoy the lovely sounds of this one man band in forever. i am glad i got to spend my last sunday night with a free monday morning enjoying it!

love.

pony tricks

sometimes carnival rides do not treat me well. i found that out the hard way many years ago while visiting some cousins somewhere in kansas, and they still seem to treat me the same.

the saturday of norman music festival, april 24th, there was also some strange carnival in a parking lot off of main street. i naturally had to ride the carousel for many reasons. 1. it is pretty 2. it wont make me ill 3. who doesnt like riding little horses that go up and down?!

tracy and i had a fun little photo shoot during each turn. thanks brad for being our photographer!

i loved the carousel ride so much! even the repetitive music that we listened to over and over again that afternoon. this second ride, however, was a different story. the guy running it spun us in extreme circles before starting it and i almost lost my lunch. it would have been super disgusting because we were in a cage and would have rolled all over me and tracy. parts of it was fun, but i would have enjoyed it infinitely more if the guy hadnt ruined the ride at the very beginning.

i am going to continue looking for such cute little surprises. if it wasnt so expensive, i would have also enjoyed a nice bag of pink cotten candy. i dont know why, but pink always tastes the best.

here is a funny van we saw parked on the side of the road...

i think it was a little hungry!

love.

yummmm

summer is here, so it is time for me to once again bring on the fruit! here is what i have been squeezing into meals throughout the day this past week.

it's a baguette sliced and heated in the oven with smart balance spread and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top, piled high with fruits and decorated with a bit of fat free vanilla yogurt. i must say, its the perfect way to begin the day! just make sure to turn the oven off before leaving for work. i forgot that step the other morning.....

did i mention how much lovelier my images look in my new apartment that actually allows sunlight inside?! one of the things i love!

love.

terrors that come from the sky

that is what i now consider a tornado to be. i have always been fascinated by them. whenever i flip through the tv channels and a tornado show is on, i must stop and watch it until it ends. i have a goal that i must go tornado chasing and see a tornado before i leave oklahoma. i was very close to this goal. if i had finished my final 5 or 10 minutes later than i had, i would have seen a tornado from a relatively safe distance. but instead of seeing the tornado, i was in it. thats right, i achieved something that i never wanted to experience: a tornado attacking. and it was the most frightening experience of my life.

when i got to school before my final on may 10th, i was told that it was said to be a historical tornado day for oklahoma. i didnt believe it until i walked outside after my final and it was nearly 30 degrees warmer than it had been earlier that day. while driving home there were multiple reports of tornadoes touching down as well as some reports of ridiculously sized hail. im talking softball sized. all i wanted was to get home without hail breaking through my windshield.

i parked and went into my apartment and turned on the tv. the tornado sirens were going off like they usually do, but who actually takes cover. i was looking outside because i have always loved watching storms and noticed one of my neighbors standing in the middle of the parking lot staring at the sky. her long hair then began to swirl a bit and the trees began to bend very low. the pressure then changed in my ears and i knew it was happening. i only had a few seconds to grab my purse and sprint into my closet before the wind began getting harder and harder and the walls started shaking a bit. i could hear trees and debris hitting the outside of the building. i realized that i had nothing to protect me and got so freaked out that i didnt know what to do and just told myself that it was the end. i was going to die in a tornado. before i could think anything else, a heard a tree fall on the roof and the wind suddenly stopped. not knowing what to do, i called my mom freaking out. i peeked out the window and there were branches and leaves up against the door and trees blocking any view out of the living room. doors i went outside and trees had fallen down all around my building and the building next to mine. some were even completely uprooted. it looked like a complete disaster zone. 

trees were down. fences were down. the second story skylights got sucked off. no ones phone would work. somehow mine could make a few phone calls and i was very thankful for that because i dont know what i would have done. i was freaked out.

it turns out that the tornado that was on highway 9 was lowering from the clouds right above my apartment. luckily the tornado wasnt actually on the ground yet. i cant even imagine how terrifying that would have been since this was extremely scary.

all i have to say is that i have paid my tornado dues. i still want to see one though. i am a bit upset because i feel that may 10 was my day to see one. i think they said there were about 20 tornadoes across the state that day. im just glad that i can say i survived. i obviously didnt study for my final i had the next day after this adventure. dont worry, i still did fine regardless!

love.

TACOS!!!!!!

brad and i finally ate at big truck taco about a month ago and i must say, it did not let down! i loved their queso so very very much. even to the point that i had to get a to go order of it a few days later to eat on the “long” drive back to norman. hopefully now that i have moved i dont get into the habit of eating it on a daily basis. it would be lovely if my body could handle it though.

 

 

brad got two tacos entitled the 5th amendment, meaning that they put whatever they feel like throwing into the taco into it, and then reserve the right to not tell you what it is. brads looked very amazing, but they were filled with all kinds of sea food jewels that i know i would not be able to handle. that is why i stuck with two different chicken kinds. i tried really hard to decide which one was my favorite, but i just could not narrow it down. lets just say i would love to eat both of them again!

apparently most people dont like pictures being taken of them while theyre eating. i learned this when brad wouldnt let me take a picture of him so i had to have him take one of me. mmm mmm mmmm delicious!

if anyone wants to go, i would love to go with you! i have many tacos left to try!

love.

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.