Yes, I am alive!!!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so hopefully this image-loaded edition of Week in Review makes up for my lack of posting in the past two months. Apparently, Meghan and I unintentionally in sync this week too!


Also, I oh so want to say that you should stay tuned for another post a little later this week or that with working slowing down around the upcoming holidays I should be able to post more but I'm tired of making promises I don't keep. So I shall play it by ear. Maybe this is where my life has to be right now. And maybe that is alright.

Okay, in the words of Meghan herself, let's get picturing!

Okay, I now know the Sunday scaries feeling that sets in before getting back into the work week. Even if it's only been a couple of weeks but now with work, I'm learning to appreciate the time off. There has been no time to do anything during the week; I find I'm half-heartedly doing most things. My attempts at multitasking mean my brain is even more all over the place than usual. I never felt a TGIF moment feel any better than I did last Friday.

Before I begin to count down to the next weekend already, I'm recapping a pretty productive few days c/o the lovely Meghan at Clean Eats Fast Feets.



Finally posted on the blog after weeks away. Just in time for Friday linkup!

Got a head start for most but a later start than usual for me in crossing some items off my Christmas gift shopping list. Friendly PSA that there are only 79 days left!

Grocery shopped at Target, Trader Joe's and Sam's Club. Not entirely sure if this is the most time or fuel efficient way to do it but I'm particular about getting select items from different places and will usually go to a handful of places to get it done.

Cleaned my apartment -- bathroom, kitchen and living areas. And yet somehow there's still clutter... I hate not having a place for everything yet.

Whilst in the cleaning mood, did a couple of loads of laundry including my sheets and towels.

Treated my friends to breakfast Saturday morning. Breakfast sandwiches are everything.


Went into downtown, which yay! is less than 30 minute drive away now, and visited one of the art museums because of their free first Saturdays admission. Beforehand, got tacos and ice cream sandwiches for lunch. Ice cream sandwiches are also everything.

Attended glow-ga (aka glow in the dark yoga)! This needs to be more of a thing. Loads of fun for sure. You should've seen our post-workout glow!


Stopped by a local art festival that brings in artists from around the nation to get my culture fix.

Made a plum and apple baked oatmeal for a late Sunday breakfast and stocked my freezer with the leftovers, among other meal prepping activities throughout the day.

Continued through this latest season of the Great British Bake Off!! Why is this show so addicting? Now I just want to bake pies, puddings and biscuits.

Questions:
Have you started gift shopping yet? 
Do you prefer going to multiple places for groceries or getting it all done at just one store?

I know I sound like a broken record here but sorry for that unexpected break again in the blogging. Really wanted to post more last week but a) my internet didn't get set up until 5 days after I moved in and b) my laptop unfortunately still continued to fail on me. Living without internet even for a few days was harder than it should have been as sad as it is to admit that. The good news is these issues were solved over the past couple of weeks along with some other adult-y things.


Went to the dentist.

Moved into my new apartment after just one little speed bump (a time scheduling misunderstanding with the movers I hired) with several trips up the staircase.

Unpacked, perhaps the worst part of moving. Or at least when you can't quite find a place for everything.

Put my KitchenAid to good use and tried out the spiralizer attachment for the first time to throw together a sweet potato and zucchini 'noodle' dish. Pictured alongside my video watching setup.

During those days sans internet, I was able to finish an entire book in a day--All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Something I hadn't in ages. Don't know if it was how quickly I read it or was feeling overly emotional but I even cried when reading, another thing I hadn't done while reading recently.

Having said that, got the internet hooked up. Yay for adulting!!!


Had my first overnight guest at my new place. My sister came over and we had a pizza night. I've been raving about our creation: TJ's whole wheat crust + chopped garlic + fresh figs + black pepper + goat cheese + a drizzle of honey. So freaking good.

Assembled my first Ikea furniture by myself after a trip to the store including a free birthday meal, which let's be real was the main reason I went there in the first place.

Did some yoga. Volunteered a bit.

Watched a movie (Ocean's Eight) by myself at the dollar theater because movies are waaaay too expensive for my life. Had never seen the an Ocean's film before and thoroughly enjoyed this one with an awesome cast!

Finally, finally, finally got a new laptop! Got it set up and all that jazz.


Tried to meal prep including:

• A vegan peach pie (pictured above!)
• Zucchini goat cheese loaf cake
• Lentil turned split pea meatballs
• Split pea soup
• No bake chocolate filled cookies
• Cashew yogurt

Went to not one, not two, but three friend's apartment parties. The first two in the same Saturday night --my introverted self was so exhausted that evening--and the last just this past weekend.

Questions:
What is your least favorite part of moving?
What books make you emotional? 
Do you have any go-to make ahead meals? Meal prepping tips?
Have you ever gone to the movies on your own? 

Continued to dogsit this little pupper for my aunt while she was out of town.

Attended a restorative yoga session on Labor Day despite the pouring rain that has unexpectedly been hitting Dallas throughout the entire week.

Posted August's Eats and Monthly Reads!

Volunteered at the animal shelter again luckily one of the days when the sun was shining.

Had a pretty productive Thursday -- got my car oil changed, attended a pilates class, sold some books to a used bookstore, picked up a few groceries...
Including a box of black figs to make this cake with goat cheese frosting. If you get a chance and get your hands on some figs before the season ends, definitely make it or at least the frosting; I'm addicted to it.

Crossing some things off for my new apartment. About time to since I'm moving in this week!!! Ahhhh!


Had an amazing triple date game night where the girl team beat the guys by a long shot.

Questions:
What did you do for yourself last week?
Have you ever tried fresh figs? They're one of my all-time favorite fruits!
What's your favorite board game? 

• Went to the lake apparently in Oklahoma about an hour away from Dallas. Brought a picnic of foods for lunch! Carrot sticks, crackers, cheese, salami, fresh fruit, kombucha. Can it get any more summer than that?? 

• Won a couple more escape rooms, which made it three in the span of one week! Including one for my friends' combined bachelor bachelorette party.
• Joined in on the fun with my first Fab Finds Friday post! 
• Took a walk with a view of the summer sky whilst listening to a Modern Love podcast episode.
• Got my car cleaned and polished as well as my nails!

• Went to Dallas' Restaurant Week and dined on some delicious seafood dishes.
• Made these salted brown butter dark chocolate coconut cookies from Half Baked Harvest... 

• ..as well as this date sweetened ice cream after a headache of a process. After I opened it for the first time, I unfortunately discovered that the ice cream attachment doesn't fit my mini kitchenmaid mixer. Luckily, it fit my mom's older model and we were still able to enjoy homemade ice cream. Consistency is a little off but flavor is a 10/10. Not bad for a first attempt if I do say so my self. 
• Got a hair cut! 
• Attended the final musical of our summer season passes, School of Rock!! 
• Went to the wedding of aforementioned friend. AKA my 2nd wedding ever (the first being when I was a flower girl 15 years ago) and 1st adult wedding.

• Finally, just this past Saturday didn't totally suck at mini golf-ing. 

• Continued to clean and packed everything then brought one last car full of stuff to my parents', my home for the next month. 
• Turned in my keys at my apartment 🙁 Feels weird to be leaving the place I've been in for 2 years and moving away from campus.  

all moved out

• Made brunch one morning gluten free apple cinnamon pancakes with Siggi's vanilla yogurt (the best flavor out there IMO) and finished up the remaining frozen blueberries I had.
• Finished another season of The Office. Three down, six to go! 
• Picked up some work at my parents' school working at the reception desk. Sucks to have been spending a lot money when nothing is coming in so it's nice to have worked a little. 

• Finished that puzzle mentioned in last week's review in much less time than expected. 
• Posted some of my favorite July eats on Saturday. Check it out for Italian food galore!

• Made gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies then turned them into ice cream sandwiches because Texas evenings are hooooot.
• Whipped up two types of nut butters: a toasted walnut one as well as a cardamom cashew butter (based off of Broma Bakery's here).
• Sat poolside reading August's book club read, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, before getting a swim in.

• Watched Like Father on Netflix with my parentals. Semi-unrelated but still adjusting to this whole living with them thing. I'm trying to see the bright side and stay grateful; this will likely be the last time I'll be living with them so might as well enjoy it even the times we'll for sure butt heads. 
• Went to and won (!!!) a Western-themed escape room with under 5 minutes to space. Tons of fun! If you ever get a chance to go and have one in your area, it's a must! 

• Enjoying some Thai food while coincidentally watching the latest Bachelorette, which took place in Thailand for the week. You can't say that that's not meant to be...
• Finished season 1 of the Good Place! If you need a light and fluffy show, be sure to check it out! 
• As mentioned above, packed and after a handful of car loads to my parents house, I'm about a full kitchen clean and one final car load away from moving out. 
• Finally got June's eats up on the blog
• Also watched Love Never Dies, the sequel musical to Phantom of the Opera. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't actually watched the original. 
  
  

• If it isn't already evidenced by the Thai food above, definitely missed all the spicy foods while I was away. So this bowl that I threw together hit the spot. Steamed sweet potato with black beans, green salsa, corn and cauliflower.
• Went for a swim for the first (and last time) at my apartment complex. I forget how much I love the water until I'm actually in there. T'was lovely. 
• Started a 1000 piece puzzle for funzies. Far from finished. Stay tuned for updates! 

• Booked a reservation for Dallas' restaurant week towards the middle of August. 
• Went shoe shopping Saturday afternoon with my friend--the bride--and fellow bridesmaids for her wedding that's happening in under 3 weeks! Such an exciting month ahead. 
• Then hit the outlet mall for shopping for more clothes to fill my work wardrobe. Snagged some pretty good deals including this navy blue coat which I am completely in love with.

Hi there!! Long time no talk (again). I got back over a week ago now from my trip to Italy. More on that hopefully later this week if my computer allows; unfortunately, I've been having more of the same issues 😫 Possessed screens and random crashes.

• The day I arrived I had dinner (thankfully Asian food!!!) with my family. I found out when I was abroad that I passed the rest of my CPA accountancy exams! So they surprised me with a celebratory chocolate cake for dessert. 
• Got some grocery shopping done, which never felt so good. 
• Settled back into cooking in my own kitchen! Delicious pan fried salmon with sweet potato mash and curry powder dusted roasted cauliflower. Yum yum yum! 

• Finished Season 1 of The Office. I know I'm extremely late to the party but better late than never. 
• Made several hour-long phone calls with friends across the world to catch up after weeks of being gone.
• Went through and purged my closet. Finally got rid of a bunch of clothes I've had since my high school days -- probably 6 or 7 years old. My bad. 😳
• Went apartment hunting. Though I'll be moving out of my apartment, I'll be living back home with my parents for a bit before my new lease begins. It's been years since I have lived with them for this long of a period so stay tuned for how that'll go.  

• Started to pack up for said move from my current apartment.
• Tried my very hardest not to fall asleep at this yoga nidra class. I came into the class expecting a flow + meditation combo but found out it was going to be entirely meditation this time. Definitely interesting concept but was honestly not as enjoyable as it wasn't what I was wanting out of a class.
• Watched Land Before Time at a local old school theater. Sometimes after re-watching movies from your childhood can end with disappointment. This was not the case; it was just as great -- or even better than I remember it being.

Happy Monday (and Bachelorette day) y'all. 😊