I think Sunday might be the best day of the week. Yeah.

I started my Sunday out great!! Katherine and I ventured to do some much needed catching up at Lux Central, an uptown Phoenix coffee bar. Not having any idea where I was going, no signs for this place, no large parking lot where I could have a little bit of confidence I was in the right place and running super late I was nervous about our mid morning date. BUT..once I walked in it was a relaxing paradise! The feel right away was so eclectic ((which is one of my favorite auras ever)) could not have made me any more comfortable. The small appearance of the place could not have been any more deceiving either. I mean look about at the front door, it looks like a hole in the wall!

We walked in an orded right away, excited to try the delicious coffee that was much needed for not only physically, but emotionally--I hadn't had a coffee in days! I got a peppermint iced coffee and a healthy fruit bran muffin ((both fabulous)).  The seating was really intimately close together, which I think is a touch for a coffee bar where you can always go to find some good conversation. Katherine and I found our own little nook ((right at the fully stocked bar,  yeah we go hard ;) )) and let the conversation run wild, occasionally stopping to admire our new favorite scene and listen the dj playing right behind us keeping the ambiance lively with some smooth electronica, just right for the upbeat morning. 

Song of the day; Finally Moving- Pretty Lights

and a quote I love!

"…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles."
-Jack Kerouac

Have a good week!!

Some Catching Up

Right to business..Song of the day is Waka Waka by Shakira. I cannot stop wiggling around to it, I am literally dancing with every step I take to go somewhere. I am a HUGE Shakira fan to begin with, she is kind of the like the woman I want to be. Go listen to some of her music and tell me if you can stop moving, because for me it is impossible; I LOVE THE FLAVAAA.

Next, I finally have time to post!! I have been so busy with classes starting and doing my first day of interning today :) I will get to that in a little bit. First class talk. So the hardest thing for me is organizing how I am going to take notes and pay attention and what not. For this semester I have decided to leave the computer at home so that I am not surfing the web and telling myself I am just multitasking. I am challenging myself to sit there and pay attention, allowing only the occasional day dream. But this leads to a lot of extra work. I have coincidingly decided that I am going to write the days notes in my notebook when I get home every evening, reiterating what I paid so much attention to in the actual lecture. I think it's a good plan. I mean I review the notes twice and then I am not cramming to write all the notes down the day before the test like I have had a history of doing…whoops! But it also takes time away from blogging--wah wah waah.

Back to today though! Where I do have the time to write and tell the world or whoever wants to hear about my first day of interning. I love loved it!! I have tons and I mean tons to learn, but I am excited to jump in. Today was more of an orientation day, I got info with a side of info and some more info on the top, but I think I am retaining it pretty well. The office if full of great girls who are really willing to help and let me ask as many questions as I need which makes the environment so comfortable. Really I don't think they will ever know how much it helps that they are so nice and willing to teach me. My goals are written and I plan on going into the job full throttle next week after I have the weekend to sit down and get familiar with everything. I am going to keep the details to a minimum on here because I do not like to mix work with pleasure, but I just was so excited about starting this whole new chapter of my life and considering that is exactly what this blog is supposed to be about I thought I had to put a little tid bit in here.

So next on my list, was healthy to go snacks that I have been creating that I wanted to share. After making my Nutella cookies, which were great-the empty plates in my kitchen two days after clearly showed that for fact-made me realize how much sugar I ate in the last few days. I needed to get back on  track and with school starting and a hectic schedule I started to use some great healthy muchies that have just been saving my overeating habits in my long days lately.

1. carrots dipped in honey or hummus (depends on your mood really)
2. celery stalks with peanut butter and raisins
3. greek yogurt with cut up peaches and raspberries
4. pretzel crisps (amazing! I found them in Fry's) and hummus/salsa
5. cucumbers with whipped non-fat cream cheese
6. quaker minis with almond butter (my go to is the caramel corn)
7. fat free rainbow sherbet with sliced banana (great dessert substitute)
8. Starbucks grande iced coffee with sugar free cinnamon dolce sweetener and soy milk
9. Almonds (when paired with a Special K protein water, they really get THAT much better)
10. Cherry tomatoes with whipped non-fat cream cheese

I think that is it for now, more to come this weekend! If you have any other food ideas for the craziness let me know!

This is my hectic face and what I looked like the whole time writing this haha. 

This is Red Mnt. It is right near my parents house, anytime I need a moment to relax I go and sit outside and look at it. So in crazy times, take a break to have a fresh breath!

Exciting day, comfortable night.

Last week school started, this week things actually get into swing. I had quite the day. Four classes back to back to back to back is hardly what I would call a learning day, since my attention span went out the door somewhere mid second lecture, but hey- kids out there would kill to be in school so I am determined to make the best of it. 

I got a job today! Well kinda, I got an internship. It is for a PR firm. If I could take this short paragraph to talk in-depthly about myself I would love that. I just started considering PR as a career choice the end of last school year..Majoring in communication and management entrepreneurship was not exactly preparing me for that field, I felt as though maybe it was just a fun thought. But I did my research and again with help from a good friend and some other great people I am about to give it a go, I start Thursday! I'll keep you updated ; )

Bad news: I went back to softball. Not completely-so please don't loose the faith. I am going to still be pitching batting practice 4-5 times a week to my team, I am getting paid so I am considering it a job and you cannot really go wrong with a job can you? I don't think so. Especially when it is kind of like the school situation and people out there would kill for it. 

Ohana means family. 

Family means no one gets left behind

Or forgotten

This is our family. Megan Lucy and Jordan. We had a great night talking about classes, life in general, life's processes, planning family dinners, and joking around. It is nice to come home after a long day and have the ability to be comfortable. We are all very blessed in good company. 

Song of the day; Send Me On My Way- Rusted Roots 

I would like to thank my mom. She is an amazing woman, a little screwy but that makes her even better. haha. I do not think I laugh harder with her than I do anyone else. always. I will get a picture of her up here eventually, she is just a little camera shy. 

Happy Monday and I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! 

This about sums the weekend up

Song of the day; Blood bank-Bon Iver

Nuts for Nutella

I have this slight overly obsessive addiction to nutella. I usually put it on fruit, or use it as a delicious spread on bread but my go to method is with a spoon straight out of the jar. I am talking morning, noon and night. So when I decided to take a leap into my long lost love for baking, using my favorite chocolatey sweet with a twist sounded like perfection.

Quite a few ingredients for my first baking project in a while, but all having the ability to make my mouth water.

Oh yes they look delicious. 

And they were! A perfect crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup of white sugar 
• 1 cup of nutella 
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 cup of chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts (I used pecans, first because I went to 2 grocery stores and they did not have any hazelnuts, second because when I went home and looked up where I could get these infamous hazelnuts and saw the price, I figured for a poor college student pecans would do great!) 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. 
• Cream butter in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and nutella and mix well. 
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each. Then add the vanilla. 
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda (sifting helps because the cocoa will clump). Mix into the butter mixture on low until all incorporated. Then fold in the chocolate chips and the hazelnuts (or pecans : ) )
• Refrigerate for ten minutes. 
• Bake on 350 F for 10-12 minutes. Cool after baked. 
• Enjoy!

Ps's - Song of the day; Mary-Kings of Leon 

Dinner W/ Dad is Great..

Because:

1. We don't get daddy- daughter time as much as we used too. It's nice to have to myself once in a while!
2. He picks the best places. We went to our local hotspot Red, White and Brew in the east valley. They have an impeccable menu as well as a wine and beer list to die for. 
3. My dad is a jokester, I couldn't stop laughing the whole time we were together. Even when I was trying to engulf my food ; )
4. He is willing to listen to all of my nonsense no matter what it entails. Men that is huge brownie points!
5. He always lets me try his food.
6. AND go back for seconds!
7. It reminds me when I was little and going out to dinner with dad was one of the most exciting things ever. It meant I was going on an adventure, something completely new and strange to me. Some thing that would make me fall in love. 

First we indulged in the delicious fresh baked garlic bread; there was no saying no to that my friends. Dad ordered a Hefeweizen, while I had a glass of Napa Valley's Leaping Lizard Merlot. The full body of the wine paired with slightest plum notes hit made my taste buds sing. For the main course, I had the Gyro Chicken Salad accompanied with an asiago flatbread ((don't mind the picture, it's terrible!)) Dad enjoyed his Pecan Crusted Brie with a raspberry drizzle, which I have to say was phenomenal ((don't mind his picture either. He and I need to get used to this blogging ordeal when we eat. We both began to dig in before I got pictures! Luckily he only got away with an apple slice and some raspberry sauce)).

Ps's
Song of the day; boy with a coin-iron and wine

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Lo-la, L-O-L-A, Lo-la

Kicking off the school year right! I was hardly prepared when I got up for class this morning, school came on me fast. So, I did what I have been trained to do and that is get my caffeine fix in. -Of course everything was better after that!!

Dropping by downtowns cozy coffee shop ((Lola)) for a delicious cinnamon iced coffee while being able to get my schedule and long syllabi in order for the day definitely turned things around. The quaint atmosphere has a tranquility effect like you would not believe. 

Happy new school year to all of those starting again! 

Song of the day; The Garden-Mirah, absolutely great to listen to while walking around campus. 

Human Art

I decided that in order to start finding my other interests, I have to take a step away from the college scene of whack out until you black out and go on adventures that are going to actually have some enhancing effect on me. So, this past week I downloaded the Phoenix New Times app and went to town on researching the hip happenings that were going down all around the valley. It was not long before I found my first must do.

Holi, a religious spring festival celebrated mostly by the Hindus, mainly in the countries of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. This colorful holiday is 16 days of celebration at the end of the summer, ushering the new  spring season;  the season of love. 

I have admired this now worldly holiday for years and when the Phoenix New Times told me The Firehouse, an eclectic art gallery in downtown Phoenix was having a makeshift of their own, I knew it was an adventure I needed to definitely jump in on. And why go alone when I can drag my girlfriends along with me!? Shaina, Talor and Lucy joined me at the colored water and powder throwing festival, and saying we had a FAAAABULOUS time is an understatment. Especially considering we walked in looking like this.. 

Upon arrival at The Firehouse, we walked into an artistic heaven. The inside of the comfortable joint was a low key store with tons of art pieces made by all of the local artists that lived in the small quarters. We were directed to go around back where were able to dive into a grown up water fight wonderland. Not as formal as I expected the event to be, but in my opinion that enhanced the experience tons. Being able to throw paint and colored water at complete strangers by the bucket was awesome!

For the first a weekend adventure, I think we made a great choice! 

ps's

-more to come this weekend, and im thinking about some good foodie hotspots!

-also! song of the day; mariah carey pandora. i couldn't narrow it down to just one. 

my first quickie

so.. i have made some progress in adapting to blogger. today was the day i made my pages and started to get a little more of a feel of what i wanted to put on the site. i genuinely have an excitement inside like a little kid.  & i am actually in the middle of casually watching the movie "Monster" with Charlize Theron, and could not stop thinking about how i wanted to write something. !! i guess would be the only real way to describe how i feel in my first hop on and write a quick post.

ps's

• the movie- i completely give a round of applause to Ms. Theron for her performance, i know that she received tons of awards for it and now while seeing it i undeniably would give them to her too. 
• song of the day-let's give them something to talk about ; bonnie raitt

EEEEEEEKK!

So here it goes.. 

my first post! 

Let's be HONEST here folks, I am extremely nervous to start blogging. I have never done anything like this before but as I read more and more blogs I am falling in love with the blogging community. I would like to thank my friend Katherine for introducing me to and helping me begin to understand the wonderful world that I am hoping to become very involved in. I am going to consider this a lifestyle blog. Which will include my adventures I am going to begin to take in order to find some more of myself away from softball and to embrace the world around me. 

To clue everyone in on the "softball world" that I consider myself sucked into for the last 12 years of my life, it gives you minimal time to do ANYTHING else. Since the time I was nine, I was dedicating all of my free time to athletics hoping to achieve my dream of playing in college. While I was fortunate enough to grow up in New York, right near NYC ((having the ability at my finger tips to experience some of the most intriguing sights in the country)) I did not have much time to run with this opportunity. I don't have other hobbies or for that matter even know my other interests. Now that softball is coming to end for me, I hope to take the most important lessons, the great memories, and the love that it gave me and carry it into the new experiences I am going to have- beginning to learn as much as I can along the way.