My packing playlist.

BFFS & NOM

Chelsea and Kaycie visited this weekend, and we made sure to do everything we loved in DC before I move: Jazz in the Garden, my balcony, Value Village and one crazy night on U St. 

I injured my back and have no been able to run/go to the gym/bike for a week and a half. So with all my free time, as frustrating as it is, I have been experimenting in the kitchen.

1) No pictures. but I did my own version of a cleanse this past Sunday, based on Gillian McKeith's cleanse. Here's what I ate:

-3 servings of kale, avocado, cucumber, coconut water and a teaspoon of almond butter

(It kind of looked like the picture above).

-Countless natural sunflower seeds.

-Echinacea tea. 

-Blackberries.

...and my biggest meal of the day: Spinach, Kale and a Red Pepper with Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar.

It was tough, but after a weekend with my best friends, it felt like the perfect time. I watched a bunch of movies, napped, and read. Afterwards, I felt like my body had a clean slate. 

2) My version of the Eat Clean Diet pita pockets that I found on The Athletarian's blog. I replaced the Greek yogurt with plain soy yogurt. It took about five seconds to make. 

3) Finally, my new obsession: Avocado Cream Pasta. I've seen this recipe before, but I never realized how easy and delicious it was. All I did was boil some pasta, mix the ingredients for the sauce in the blender, mix it up, and savor every bite. 

All the sauce calls for is:

1 avocado

1/4 cup cilantro

S & P

Garlic

Splash of almond milk

 So good.

PS: I GOT AN APARTMENT. Right across the street from Pratt's Brooklyn campus, in an adorable 3 br in a brownstone. Can't wait to see it in person and meet my new roommates. So all that is left in DC is a weekend with Matt and a week of babysitting. Then I'll be going back to New York and start moving in!

July, July

I sort of forgot about this blog because I was 

riding the bike Matt fixed up and painted for me, 

celebrating my 22nd birthday, 

spending time at a big old lake in Pennsylvania, 

running the boardwalk with my mom, 

being kids,

cooking delicious meals, 

spending time with my family, 

and spending one last weekend in Philly.

Next up: going back to DC for a bit, friends visiting and moving back to NY. 

run on sentence

Had an awesome weekend in both DC and Batimore.

Drank a lot of sangria at Jazz in the Garden,

then cured aforementioned sangria head with a walk around DC and a visit to the Francis pool,

boarded a 5:20 PM bus to Baltimore to spend that the night at Eleni's,

ate dinner at the bistro she works at,

which is right above her apartment, so we walked right up and had a beer-tasting party on the patio.

I came back to DC and met up with Margie, Lexi and Cory for some Eastern Market fun, ran and twisted my ankle (ow), and am now relaxing watching True Blood. 

Two more months, it's bittersweet.

sweatin'

Let me start off by saying it is hot as hell in DC right now.

(PS: I love this app, Swackett. It shows you what to wear each day!)

There was no way I was running in the heat yesterday. I've always had problems with getting very dehydrated in hot weather, so I wasn't going to risk it. Instead, I did 30 min on the elliptical and my Couch to 5k training on the treadmill. Already on week 5! Haven't been in the gym since before I started running, and I was so impressed with my endurance. In sum, I did about 6 miles! 

To celebrate my small but significant progression, as well as my summer roommate's 21st birthday, we headed to Busboys and Poets on 5th and K where I devoured a vegan quesadilla. Busboys is definitely my favorite restaurant in DC. I know I will always love whatever I get. It's also a great place to go with vegans and meat eaters!

Source

Today is spent completely indoors, with temperatures like this. I got up early (7:30) to run and it was so hot out already, I ended up chasing the shade and doing a crazy route. While baby Colin rests, I decided to make myself a pretty awesome lunch: Tempeh bacon/mashed avocado/tomato on Ezekiel bread with some quinoa/mixed veggies/spinach on the side.

The only thing that sucks is my current apartment search in Brooklyn. It seems that I won't be able to have something set up until at the very earliest August 1st, which stresses me out. The other day, I was pretty much told I had a room- and my parents drove to Brooklyn to see it- only to get an email telling me that the room had been given to someone else. Before my parents arrived. And they said nothing. So, I'm starting to ditch the idea of moving in with random Craiglisters (scary even to say) and spend a little more for a studio apartment. I definitely would love living on my own, but it is not the most cost-effective. I have one more potential roommate set-up in the works, so hopefully that pans out! I just want a place to sleep! (In a full-sized bed). 

Everything else is pretty great. Next Friday is my birthday, and I will finally get to see M after four weeks of being separated! We're celebrating my 22nd with my family at home, and then driving to his house on Lake Wallenpaupack, PA for his graduation party. Can't wait! And when did I become 22?!

nine months later

Ok, my first attempt at blogging ended with last summer. So, since last September...

I took classes, wrote my thesis and finished up my internship at Women in Film and Video.
Best friends visited. 

VegFest DC

Value Village scores

Brunch @ Mark's Kitchen

Chelsea loves the balcony.

After three years and 123.7 miles, my freshman boyfriend Matt and I got back together. We're going to the same graduate school and city in August (More on that in a minute.)
 

I discovered Philly.

I'm officially a graduate of the Catholic University of America, cum laude thankyouverymuch!

I quit smoking and have been running 4-5 days a week. I signed up for a fun 5k with my best friends from home in Brooklyn on August 25th. This picture is from two weeks in, when I ran my first 3 miles since about 7th grade. I'm amazed at how positively I've changed my life in under a month!

And here I am, trying to enjoy my last summer devoid of real responsibilities. And wearing as many dresses as I can.

In August, I will move to Clinton Hill in Brooklyn and start attending Pratt Institute's School of Information and Library Science. I know grad school won't be easy, but I'm really excited to start the School Media Specialist program. Right now, though, I am spending my last two months in DC, my favorite city so far, happily babysitting Kaitlyn's six month old Colin.
I'm going to miss DC, and can see myself coming back later on, but I'm excited at the prospect of finally calling Brooklyn home. It will be great to have independence while living only 45 minutes from my parents house in Wantagh. I recently deactivated my Facebook (it just got old), and I thought blogging would be a more productive way to spend some time on the Internet. So here's to changes, including this one! I'm going to try and document my 22nd year (my birthday is in ten days!!) as well as possible. 

for Evan

With the hurricane, going home and school starting, I didn't have time to blog. I still don't really, but I have to take some time to say a few words about Evan Giradi, whose 1st anniversary is tomorrow.




Evan and I studied abroad in Rome together in Spring 2010. I found him a bit shy, but noticed how when he did speak, it was so earnest. He spoke of his family, friends and sisters at home with a lot of love, and this made me want to be his friend. Aside from joking around in classes and going out in big groups, I didn't get to know Evan until there was a month left in the trip, when 10 or so of us went to Alghero in Sardegna. That weekend was spent at the beach, making dinners together, and hanging out in our sweats. I don't think anyone that was there will ever forget that trip. We almost got stuck there due to the volcanic ash, and I won't lie- we were a little disappointed our flight was still running when we got to the airport.

A few weeks later, we all went back to the U.S. I saw everyone for our friend Camille's birthday over the summer, and that was it. On Labor Day weekend, just as classes were starting at Loyola, where half the program was from, Evan passed away unexpectedly. My friend Abby and I dropped everything the night we found out and drove up to Baltimore, to our abroad family. The majority of us stayed up until 6am consoling each other. I like to think had it been any of us, we would have acted the same. We had all experienced the fullness of life together, with so many unrivaled memories, in such a short amount of time. To lose someone so quickly after really gave us perspective on how short life is.

Most of the kids from the program have since graduated and moved away. I really only keep in good contact with one or two people. But I know all of us took a piece of Evan wherever we went. His friends from home made bracelets that say, "there's more to the story." I know there is. All of us who were able to spend time with Evan know that life gives you these opportunities with reason: to treasure them. I know each time I hesitate to try something new, or talk to a new person, I think of how Evan made sure to live a full life in his 20 years. And so each time I push myself, it's for Evan. Thanks fucker. I'm doing a tongue wag for ya.