Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012!

11 Best Memories from 2011:

Ringing in 2011.

Seeing one of my best friends marry her best friend. Congrats Jessica!

Going to Santa Barbara to visit old friends. (And do "the loop.")

Watching my brother graduate from high school.



Shooting a gun for my first time. 



Meeting new friends: Drew & Julie.

Taking a limo wine tasting for Brittani's 21st birthday. 

Going to Vegas for my first time as a 21 year-old for my best friend's 21st birthday.

Surviving (and loving) fall recruitment.

Meeting my beautiful niece, Peyton. 

Getting a 3.47 GPA fall quarter.

2011 was a great year! But as I say every year, "I am so ready for next year!" I have my resolutions, will be graduating college, and plan to begin my future as a real adult. One of my biggest accomplishments this year was starting this blog! I can't wait to see where it goes in 2012. 

Happy New Year!

New Years Resolutions.

We make these resolutions every year, right? How many of us actually follow through with them? Well one of my my resolutions is to follow through my resolutions this year. I will be making monthly check-ins with myself (and on here) to make sure I am following through. So hold me to it!

1. Follow through with my resolutions.
2. Love a little more. I have been so caught up in school, Delta Gamma, and working that I have forgotten to give some love to those people who have supported me through it all such as my wonderful boyfriend, my Mom, my brother and my two other families.
3. Fill out as many paid, post-grad internship applications as possible. Let's shoot for at least 10!
4. Stop shopping. I have a horrible addiction that has picked up within the last couple months. I am planning on going to France in May, I am graduating in June, I may be moving to the East coast, and hopefully a wedding will be taking place within the next few years. I need to start saving!
5. Take care of myself. This includes working out and eating healthy. To help save money I need to stop getting Starbucks everyday and start eating and cooking at home more.
6. Live up my last 6 months in college. College only happens once and I will only be a Delta Gamma collegian once in my life. Let's make these last 6 months memorable.
7. Reconnect with old and new friends. I have so many amazing friends and I need to make sure they know how much I care about them and appreciate their friendship.
8. Find ways to re-invent my closet. To go off of #4, I have decided to challenge myself and find ways to get creative with my closet. Pictures will be posted :)
9. Lighten up a bit. I have been known to be a bit of a stress-case but with a lighter load for the next two quarters I have an opportunity to focus a little more on life instead of just school. Let's try and make it a little more stress-free as well, eh?
10. Work on my relationship. I love the boyfriend with all my heart and he deserves the best. We already have pretty good communication skills but there is always room for improvement. If we want to be happy with each other for the rest of our lives then now is the time to make sure we have a strong foundation.

What are yours?

Happy Holidays.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday! I unfortunately was incredibly sick and could not taste any of that delicious Christmas food. It was seriously the worst timing! DayQuil helped me through Christmas Eve and then I was only able to make it to one family get together on Christmas Day! Fortunately, I have the BEST boyfriend in the whole world who ordered Chinese food and rented 5 Redbox movies for us to keep us occupied for the day. I did manage to sleep for most of the day but from what I remember Horrible Bosses and The Devil's Double were both great movies!

I did end up with some amazing presents though. Some of the highlights: My Mom and brother gave me starbucks giftcards (technically one for me and one for the boyfriend...but I took both. I'm a addict) and a GORGEOUS coat! Pics to come soon because it is definitely a new staple! The boyfriend's parents gave me these stress remedy drops (I'll let you know how they work! They swear by them) a gorgeous scarf, and then gave both the boyfriend and I gift certificates for trips with them for wine tasting and snowmobiling. Now, if the snow would only fall... Then the amazing boyfriend did a great job with gifts! He got me a crock-pot (us gift? recipes to come!), much needed new make-up brushes, a "mophie" which is a compact portable charging station for your iPhone, and a gorgeous Michael Kors iPhone wristlet which will be perfect for New Years! Not to mention, the boyfriend and I scored some martini glasses at his family's Christmas Ever white elephant exchange! I am definitely blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life :)

I am finally starting to feel better today and am just suffering from minor congestion issues. Good thing I have this whole week off from work so I have the time to relax and take care of myself.

Congratulations to the boyfriend's cousin who just engaged! And congratulations to one of his fraternity brothers who also just got engaged! I love weddings! My Pinterest wedding board says it all :) Where's my ring? (Just kidding...kinda.)

Here are some pics from the last couple days!

An amazing family that treats me like their own. Love you guys!

 KINGS GAME! 12/26 BLACKOUT! 

Our NEW seats. NOT surrounded by Laker fans. GO KINGS!

Take that, Lakers! #KINGSALLDAY

Italian Meatballs. Nice chunks of garlic and parsley!

The Sauce.

The final product :)

After having these at a friends house I was hooked. So I made some for the boyfriend. These meatballs are amazing! We had a spaghetti squash so we did half spaghetti squash and half whole-wheat spaghetti noodles. It also calls for ground turkey! A+ in my book! Recipe here. 

Time to work on some post-graduate internship applications and hit yoga later! 

Lazy weekend.

I have officially been done with school for 10 days. 10 days already? Yes. Unfortunate. But tomorrow is the day that I start actually doing things with my mornings and evenings. I swear. Tomorrow. I would start today, but it is Sunday. And who wants to start anything on Sunday? Not me.

Tomorrow I am going to wake up and go running. I recently got an internship with an environmental consulting firm and my schedule for winter break is Monday-Thursday from 12-5 so I need to start being more productive in the mornings. So I need to start running, going to yoga, or going to Crossfit. Once I do at least one of these things I will get back into the swing of things. It usually only takes one "high" from working out to get me re-addicted.

I read this saying today to that will hopefully get me motivated: I'm not fat, it's just that I could look 10x better than I do now. Whenever someone who isn't fat calls themselves fat people laugh and make comments such as "omg, shut up. No you're not" but that person feels like they are fat. This quote will hopefully change how I look at my body and can maybe help you too.

But on the topic of "fat talk," I had quite the episode in the kitchen today. I went on a baking spree. I love to bake and I am so thankful that I have a job now where I can take all my goodies for other people to eat. However, my banana bread and fudge did not turn out so well... I have made the banana bread a million times but somehow got distracted and didn't stick a fork in it to make sure it was done. So I had to bake it some more after it cooled. It still tastes fine, but it totally collapsed in the middle. The fudge on the other hand...well let's just say that might have to go in the trash. But the banana bread recipe is delicious! The boyfriend's Mom shared it with me so I will pass it along to you:

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat 3 eggs until thick and foamy.
- Add: 1.5 cups of sugar and 1 cup of canola oil.
- Stir in: 1 cup of non-fat cottage cheese, 2-4 ripe (aka very brown) bananas*, 1/2 chopped walnuts**.
- Sift together (in a new bowl): 3 cups of whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder.
- Add wet and dry mixture and stir until combined.
- Add 1 cup of semi- sweet chocolate chips***
- Spoon into non-stick or buttered**** loaf pans.
- Bake about 45 minutes. Stick a fork in the middle at about 40 minutes. Bake until the fork comes out clean.

*The browner the bananas the more banana-y the bread will be.
**Optional
***Optional
****I like to save the wrapping of butter sticks and use them to butter the pans. 




Had a great time this weekend at DJ R3hab in Sacramento, a wonderful holiday party, and a friend's birthday! Wine and pizza with some family tomorrow and then another friend's birthday on Tuesday! No wonder I feel like I "haven't had the time," actually the energy to workout.

So far I have 3 of my 4 grades for this last quarter and all B+'s! Couldn't be happier. This quarter was so hectic and busy I am so glad to see all my hard work paid off. It will be smooth sailing until graduated in June!

On top of working out I need to start writing some essays for post-grad PR internships! Thankfully I have all my Christmas shopping done! But I need to find a dress for New Years... this New Years will be BIG!

Catching up on LIFE.

Is this what life is? Not living in the library for 15 hours a day? Not living off coffee and sandwiches from Zia's and Nugget? I'm not quite sure which life I like more. Since school has ended I have found myself completely unmotivated to do absolutely anything. Which is not good considering I have a million things I should be doing.

I recently started CrossFit at their Davis location and fell in love. I have never done so many squats or felt so sore. However, after my 6-intro sessions I found lost the motivation to get up at 7am and get my butt there. While procrastinating for finals I made myself a workout schedule for break: 3x a week @ Crossfit, 2x a week @ yoga, and 1x a week @ running. Today is only my second day of break so I guess I haven't slacked off that much. But I really should get up and do something. 

My birthday was yesterday so I have spent the last 3 days celebrating with my friends and family. Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special :)

Everyone at Hot Italian for my birthday dinner

Lauren, Brittani, Me, and Shiko

Alex and I

I updated my Favorites page. Be sure to check it out! I had my nails done and had the OPI gel put on instead of just the polish. I might be obsessed. It is supposed to last for 3 weeks so we will see how it goes. 

I just started my new internship for an environmental consulting firm here in Davis as the marketing intern. I am so excited for this opportunity to learn more about the field and make my resume even stronger. It will be nice to add to my resume as I am getting ready to graduate from college and find a job in the real work. 

But as of now, my break is filled with work, blogging, and hopefully some working out. My best friend, Michelle, got be a spa package for my birthday so I need to make sure to take a break and treat myself. 

This is a busy, stressful season. We need to remember what makes us happy. Ya, we hate those long lines, crowded malls and our long lists of Christmas presents, but remember why you do it :)

Love is Strong.

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted lately but I have been studying, and writing papers, like a crazy person for finals. But I just wanted to share two things with you that have caught my attention, aka distracted me from studying this week. 

This video had gone viral! It is allll over the place. It is about a boy who started eight grade this year. He was scared and had attempted suicide many times and even shows his scars to the world. He has been bullied since first grade for being gay. This is absolutely ridiculous. Where were the teachers, the principal, and recess attendants when all of this was going on? But most importantly, where were the parents of the students who were doing the bullying? Children are a reflection of their parents.  This should never, ever happen. Ever child should be taught to love, no matter how different someone is. I hope and pray that Jonah is doing better today and has learned to accept himself as a beautiful human being. From a young age I was taught to love and accept everyone regardless of skin color, gender, or sexuality. My mother exposed me to many types of people so that I would learn the to accept and appreciate the differences people in this world have. And I am so thankful she did this. This kind of bullying and hatred makes me sick. So 8th grader should ever wish to die because of the bullying that is taking place because he is different. The issue of bullying needs to be addressed and taken care of, not only at school but at home. Parents need to take responsibility for their children and their children's actions and mold them into contributing, loving members of society. 

45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

Check out the link above. Each and every picture gave me the chills.

Sparkles and Fur.

Holiday season is in the air.  Tomorrow is the last day of November and then my favorite/ the most hectic month of the year begins.  December 7th is Alex's birthday, December 12th is my birthday, December 20th is my friend Alex's birthday, Christmas is December 25th, and New Years Eve is December 31st (just in case you forgot when Christmas and New Years is...).

Not only does that mean a lot of gifts but is also means a lot of dresses and outfits. And since my birthday is rarely celebrated with one event I usually need multiple birthday outfits and/ or dresses.

I have been itching for a faux-fur something for a while and stumbled on this great find (on sale at urban!):

I have been all over pinterest and polyvore trying to figure out how to wear this. As soon as I figure it out I will post some pictures! 

Additionally, I am going through a sparkle phase.  Maybe I have just missed the holidays? I did just put christmas lights in my living room and bedroom... Anyways, I am hoping to find a sequin dress for New Years! Maybe something like this:

I am also in search of a sequin skirt! My only issue with sequin clothing items is that sometimes they can be thick and frumpy.  I am not stick skinny and I am also on the short side so I cannot wear bulky things.  The sequin clothing item needs to be delicate and the liner needs to be thin. 

On another note, I was watching Gossip Girl today (I cannot believe the season finale is already next week!) and I became obsessed with the picture in Serena's room.  Apparently it is a towel, but they somehow turned it into a canvas. I have been searching everywhere for this towel but have had NO LUCK. I will not give up. 

Part of the reason I wrote this post is because I am procrastinating writing an article for my Journalism class on relationships.  Sounds easy, right?  It is so easy that it is hard.  But I need to finish because tomorrow is going to be a LONG day with my second cross-fit class at 8am. Before and after pictures to come after the after picture is taken ;)

All great things must come to an end.

So tomorrow morning we begin our 7 hour trek back down I-5. I am hoping to sleep most of the way but I think the journalism article I have due on Wednesday will keep me awake. Might as well get something done, right?

Here are some pics from our delicious Thanksgiving dinner:

 Baguette, persimmons, and bleu cheese (pre-toaster oven). Slice up a baguette and persimmons and sprinkle some bleu cheese on top. Heat it up in the over or toaster oven until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted.

Delicious! Orange-glazed carrots, rosemary roll, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, brussel sprouts salad and jalapeno-cranberry relish sauce (which we got from this great little kitchen/restaurant in Medford called The Downtown Market Co.). 

And some pictures from the rest of our trip:

 The BEAUTIFUL Delta Gamma house at University of Oregon. 

 Alex and I at Taylor's Bar & Grill for the Oregon vs. Oregon State game. 

Alex and I pre-food coma. 

I had such a great time this week! I had never been to Eugene before and it was such a great town with an awesome vibe. However, I have watched enough football to last me the rest of the season. Three straight days of football is a little much for me. But hey, the NBA lockout is over and I cannot wait to finally watch my Kings! 

This coming week is going to be HELL. One more week of school and then finals begin. But then my mine and Alex's birthdays will be here and the Christmas season begins. December is my favorite month of the year! Let's get through these finals first though.... Wish me luck :)

Giving Thanks.

Woke up this morning to delicious homemade cranberry-orange muffins, fruit, coffee, and cottage cheese. This is my fourth Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and his amazing family and I could not ask for more. As we sit around the comfy living room of the cute house we are staying in while watching football and scanning the Black Fridays, I can't help but to think of all the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for not only my family, but the two other families I have grown to call my own, my loving boyfriend, all my wonderful and supportive friends, and knowing that in June I will be graduating from college. Happy Thanksgiving :)

Welcome to Eugene!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! After the 7 1/2 hour drive we finally made it to Eugene! I am here with my boyfriend and his family for the Oregon vs. Oregon State football game on Saturday. Alex's sister goes to UO so the family loves the Ducks.

On our way we made a pit-stop in Medford, Oregon to visit my brother and my niece- whom I have NEVER met. She just turned two so I brought her a tutu for her birthday... and maybe a bribe to like her auntie? She is the cutest little girl with the biggest blue eyes.. I am in LOVE :)

We ran all the essential errands today for the big Thanksgiving feast and ate some lunch at this delicious thai place called Sweet Basil Thai right off campus. If you're in Eugene it is a must go to!

I got my first Ducks shirt today for the big game on Saturday.

GO DUCKS! (QUACK?)

This town is so cute and everyone is completely obsessed with the Ducks. It makes me wish I had gone to a school with a big (and good) football team and school pride! 

Alex and I had the pleasure of making dinner and went with one of our favorites, stuffed bell peppers:

 Can't forget the wine!

And of course I brought some homemade peppermint bark! It is absolutely delicious!

Recipe:

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Make sure the wax paper comes up the sides.

2. Put a tablespoon of canola oil and a bag of semi-sweet (I used Ghirardelli) chocolate chips in a pot. Stir continuously until melted. 

3. Stir in a tablespoon of peppermint extract. 

4. Pour the melted chocolate onto the wax paper and spread evenly.

5. Stick in the fridge until hard (about 45 minutes).

6. Repeat steps 2-4 with white chocolate chips. 

7. Sprinkle crushed up candy canes (or peppermint candies) onto the top of the melted white chocolate. 

8. Use a fork or whisk to press the pieces into the warm chocolate.

9. Stick it back in the fridge until hard (about 45 minutes).

10. When hard, break into pieces and enjoy :)

More pics of the trip to come later! Enjoy your food coma tomorrow :)

And the Lockout Continues.

I have been subjected to football every Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday for too long. And before that I was subjected to baseball. Everyday. I JUST WANT THE NBA LOCKOUT TO END. Is that too much for a girl to ask? I can watch basketball. I know basketball. I know teams. I know names of players. And I actually enjoy watching basketball. It is fast paced and I can actually see the player's faces. But with this never-ending lockout, I will continue to dread watching football. I am such a good girlfriend.

I am pleased that while this lockout is going on the players have gotten together to put on charity events. I mean, why not? They love playing basketball, so why not do what you love for a good cause? So my boyfriend, Alex, and our two friends got some upper-level tickets to the charity game at UC Davis. The Goon Squad Classic! However, we did end up sneaking down to the middle-level for better viewing purposes.

Julie, me, Drew, & Alex

Most of the players were from the Sacramento Kings which was fine by me as I am a HUGE Kings fan. I bleed purple and white, as they say in the sports world. Matt Barnes, a Sacramento native, was playing. However, he now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers so he is definitely not on my cool list. Traitor. 

Julie and Drew are our friends from Kentucky and both went to University of Kentucky. Lucky for them, DeMarcus Cousins, who played for UK, now plays for the Kings. John Wall was also in attendance at the Goon Squad Classic but sat on the bench the whole time even with cries from the stands for him to play. #2coolforschool.

Jimmer is my new love. He is a rookie on the Kings this year and captured my heart when he did "the jerk" tonight at half-time. 

The score ended up being something like 150 to 160. There was no defense played but the players made it enjoyable with their drunks and three-pointers.

It was a great little double date, but now I am even more anxious for the REAL SEASON. If it every gets here. 

In the News.

University of California, Davis. In the Top 10 public schools in the country. Check. Located in the family-friendly little town of Davis, CA. Check. Environmentally friendly. Check. Smells like cows. Check. Police use pepper spray against students who peacefully protest. Check. (Yes, I said it. Check.)

If you have not heard, watch the first 2 minutes of this YouTube video.

I love UC Davis. I am a senior here and am thoroughly enjoying my last year here. I am surrounded by intelligent students, amazing (for the most part) professors, and everyone here composts and recycles. I am used to hearing about protests at UC Berkeley. That is what they do, protest. At UC Davis we get our occasional rallies and protests, most recently due to the tuition increases. (Let's just say I am glad I am graduating this Spring.. I don't know if I could afford to pay $22,000 a year in 2015 compared to the $12,000 I already pay now.)

But what happened last Friday was something I never thought I would see happen on my campus. Those were my peers. Those were my professors. They got tear gassed. For sitting and peacefully protesting. It is hard to fathom and as I watched the first 20 seconds of that video I got the chills. I still do.

The police were called in to ensure the safety of the students, faculty and administration at UC Davis. But I am pretty sure we need protection from the police. It is not safe to tear gas students. And by taking such violent acts against peaceful protestors, the police were only provoking a violent riot. But, thankfully, the protestors were kept their composue and did not allow a riot to break out.

I am currently in a History of the United States in the 1960's class. It is fascinating, by the way. I love history. Just as many African-Americans did, the people involved in this movement are protesting in a peaceful way, in order to make the police look like they are the ones doing wrong. Fox news can say all they want about the Occupy movement, but when violent acts such as these are taken out on peacefully protesting students, the police come out looking like the agitator. The police look like the monsters.

Currently, there is a petition going around calling for Linda Katehi's resignation, the UC Davis Chancellor. Students and faculty are unhappy with the Katehi she handled the situation and are feeling as if the one person who should be on their side is not.  In Katehi's two emails she is clearly playing both sides when she should be standing up for the students and with the students.

Am I going to sign it? I don't know yet. Katehi is scheduled to address the students tomorrow, so I am at least going to hold off and hear what she has to say. Someone needs to be held responsible for these violent acts taken against the students, and part of her job description is taking responsibility.