Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Happy Memorial Day!

I had a great lazy day today meeting with family friends, hanging out with my siblings at home--I may or may not have chased Johnny around the house for 20 minutes for a hug just because I knew he didn't want one-- and had the obligatory family BBQ.

Yay for the first official BBQ of the summer! Nothing says summer quite like all these goodies.

My grandma's homemade 7 layer chips.
Oh hey there grandpa
The meal... hamburgers




and WATERMELON. In case it wasn't already obvious enough here and here (or, you know, by my blog name), one of my favorite foods is watermelon. I could eat it all day everyday, and we don't ever get it enough.

For dessert we had make your own banana splits. Even though the chocolate sauce was running a little bit low by the time I got there, I made up for it with extra banana and created the best split ever. Nom.
I was actually happy (health wise) with my portion size... maybe I should go last more often?
I had a good time talking to my grandparents and just having a relaxing holiday (ok so I don't work, but it still felt like a holiday to me).

Happy Julia: talking with my Mom's friend's daughter about USC, law school, and randomness, chasing Johnny around the house and backyard (and feeling like a 5 year old), talking to my dad about organizing a hiking trip, finding out that Scott liked the Hangover 2 just as much as I did

Monday, May 30, 2011

Hermosa Beach Fair and Other Excursions

For my run yesterday, I went on the fire trail with the puppy. Usually the fire trail is only a section of my run, but today I decided to go to the end of the trail and back for my workout. The trail is mainly downhill with small hills and flat areas, but coming back up is killer. According to this site, it's about a 2 mile run (I don't know if that is the there and back distance or not). It wasn't too hard of a workout, but it was a beautiful day and the views on this trail are incredible.

I had originally wanted to go for a run with my Mom, but she wasn't home when I woke up and I ended up going by myself. Right when I finished my run and got back to the car, I saw that she had called and actually hadn't gone for a workout yet. My mom, Johnny, and I ended up deciding to walk the fire trail again and take in all the views (it was a really pretty morning). Roxy was very excited to get two walks in one day, and I felt very accomplished for doing my hike run twice.

After a quick, random lunch of a bagel thin with cream cheese, a dumpling, and lots of fruit, I headed to Long Beach to meet up and spend the night with a few of my sorority sisters.

We walked around 2nd street, went shopping, and feasted on food and pizookies from BJs. Sadly, my camera was forgotten at home, but here are some pictures I found that can show you the amazingness of a pizookie. We shared the regular chocolate chip and the red velvet pizookie between all of us. It was literally gone within minutes. Too much deliciousness.
I want one againnnnn
Ours only had one scoop of ice cream. So sad.
After going back to my friend Katie's house, we decided to go to the movies and see Hangover 2. Maybe it was just the fact that it was late at night and we've had a ton of sugar, but I found the movie to be hilarious. Obviously it wasn't brilliant, but every reference to the first movie made me laugh and the story was just so ridiculous. It was very similar to the first one (in the set up of the movie, not what happened the night of the hangover), but I guess why change something that works.
I laughed a lot, and had a good time watching it and so did the rest of the audience. I love when the theatre is super into the movie. It makes the movie so much more fun when you can laugh out loud with everyone else.

When I got back home today, I met up with my friend Sophie to go to the Hermosa Beach Fair. It was such a cute little set up, and there was so many street vendors...aka prepare yourself for picture overloads.
It took us 30 minutes to actually find a parking space--half way in we did find one but this mean lady stole it from us, and then laughed. Ugh, some people are so annoying. I felt road rage being summoned up inside me and I wasn't even the one driving. Eventually we did find a place that was decently close, and we didn't even have to parallel park (which would have been a disaster). We walked over and enjoyed the fair.
One of the many cool painting exhibits


How cute are these? They're actual four leaf cloves. What a perfect present idea! cough cough


This booth was so cool. All the jewelry was made from the gears used to run watches. The rings were the coolest, but they were too small for pictures.


The vendors were really amazing, but the fun part was hunting down all the free samples. I didn't know there would be any at the fair, but there was so much good food being given away. Here's just a few:

Although this salad was delicious, they were only advertising the almonds. Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't sound like the most financially savvy decision.

YUM YUM YUM

At one station, Sophie and I were asked if we were 21 or over. We both sadly said no, but the guy still let us have a sample of frozen, shaved red wine. It was actually one of the best tasting samples at the fair.

And I'm obviously a little to excited to have it. I know... such a dork.

A large array of dips and soups actually led to our only purchase of the day, black bean and vegetable mix to make soup for dinner.
So many to chose from...
We ended our little excursion by walking to Hermosa beach. Even though it was beautiful, it was so windy that the sand hitting our legs was actually stinging us.


Finally, we headed back to my house to make some dinner. We used the Coyote Country Seasoning Co.'s Black Bean Vegetable Soup that we had just bought. To make it more of a meal, we added more black beans and some orzo to the soup. With some cheddar cheese on top, it was a super delicious and healthy meal (the soup without any of the additions was only 50 calories a serving).

I'm really glad Sophie and I could hang out today because she's leaving for the summer on Wednesday. I'm going to miss her!

Happy Julia: skype calling Scott tonight, the Hermosa Beach fair, relaxing and talking on the couch with my college friends, coming home to a clean room

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Raincheck

I have a busy day today, and I'm running super behind (shocker), so there won't be any elaborate post tonight.

But prepare to hear allll about my weekend adventures in Long Beach tomorrow!


And enjoy the great weather outside :)

Friday, May 27, 2011

Clueless!

I have had such a busy day. Which consisted mostly of shopping... I know life is hard for poor, little me.

I woke up early, and discovered with the rest of my siblings that my mom had bought Frosted Flakes. Usually, our house does not contain any sugary cereals whatsoever. We grew up on plain old Cheerios, and I even learned to love Grape Nuts as a little kid (lots of milk to make it soft and then add honey or brown sugar), so the presence of a sugar cereal is rare. Even though I have been eating very healthy and yummy breakfasts, I did not hesitate to fight my way to get a bowl of cereal (no picture...it was a jungle out there).

My brother had his big 5th grade history fair today, so I walked with my parents to go see. He was Powhatan (aka Pochohantas' dad).
It runs in the family
A little bit later, I met my Mom and Grandma at PF Changs for lunch. I ordered beef and broccoli from the lunch menu so it was a slightly smaller and came with rice and soup. I ordered brown rice and egg drop soup.

So. Much. Food. And then I went shopping with my Grandma because nothing says shopping moment of truth then trying on clothes with a full stomach.

Sadly, I was buying clothes for my sorority so I can't unveil or wear any of the outfits for awhile. Still, I got to go shopping and get lots of goodies (they are technically my birthday gift). My favorite part about shopping is bargain hunting. Seriously, if you leave me in TJMaxx for hours I will be the happiest girl in the world. So my Grandma and I spent 4 whole hours walking around Del Almo hunting for good finds. Which is nothing to laugh at because according to Wiki, Del Almo is the 14th largest mall in the US...see you learn something new everyday!
So many bags! Many with just one item inside... I know it's wasteful but
I've secretly always wanted to have a Clueless moment
The bargain shopper in me left very happy. Almost everything I got was seriously on sale. A skirt from Anthropologie was originally $99 and I bought it for $19, and everything at Gap was 40% off. Score.

I did get one thing I want to show off share with you guys. This "sharing" is an annoying habit that I'm very guilty of doing frequently. I got new sunglasses on sale! I always lose my sunglasses and I'm really picky about buying new ones, so I'm pretty excited. They're going to be super useful when my family goes to HAWAII in a few weeks! But more about that later.
Awkward photo.
Hopefully by posting this I can spare Scott all my "look at what I got!" moments that he has to suffer through. Hah, nope he's still going to experience them. 


Dinner tonight was brinner, and I made PB&J oatmeal: maple syrup oatmeal with a little bit of peanut butter and lots of strawberries.
Since I had a huge lunch and a bajillion snacks (for real, it was bad), this was all I was really in the mood for. It was delicious. I love having huge packages of strawberries in the house.

I didn't work out today, but I feel like all that shopping has to count for something. I'm excited (kinda, ish, maybe not) to go for a run tomorrow morning though before I sleep over at a friend's house.

Happy Julia: sunglasses, the most adorable youtube kitten video in the world, seeing friends at lunch

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Quick and Easy

So here's a quick run through of my lunch and dinner:

For lunch I made myself a quesidilla with black beans, chicken, and cheddar cheese. I also had a small plain salad with Trader Joe's Goddess salad dressing.
It was so good that I almost forgot to take a picture
Dinner was simple spaghetti with sauce and a salad with Italian dressing. I put copious amounts of parmesan cheese on both items. Yumm I love Parmesan cheese a little too much... I put it on any and all Italian foods and salads.
Oh and my single carrot just for good measure
And that's the quick and easy post for a pretty uneventful day. Thanks for bearing with me!

Happy Julia: watching Modern Family and the Biggest Loser, going to Rite Aid with the sissy

Playing Catch Up

Sorry there was no post last night, I didn't feel well, and just tried to get as much sleep as possible.
So here's a quick recap of what happened yesterday:

I woke up bright and early, grabbed a piece of toast, and hurried to meet my friend Ali at the beach to go for a run. Neither of us were feeling totally in the running mood so we decided to just try to get a good workout and not worry about the distance. We ran along the strand and walked the first .25 miles, ran at a normal pace the next .25, and then did a quicker run (not a sprint though...we were both in high school track together and were forced to run to many 400s to ever do one again) for the next .25. We did this until the 1 mile mark which was where the steep stairs of Avenue C reside.

We did the stairs 5 times, and it was hardddd. My butt is so sore right now from it. I tried counting the number on our last time, and got about 46 stairs... but don't quote me on that.
Source
After completing the seemingly endless stairs, we ran back in the same walk, run, quick run pattern.

When I got back home, I had a banana before taking the dog for a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood. She was a very happy camper.

Jessica had a minimum day at her high school, and at 12 I went to go pick her up so we could go out to lunch together. We went to this small Hawaiian restaurant called T amd T's, and both ordered a half order of fried rice. I can't tell you how good it is... I always order it whenever I go there, and it's literally the most delicious fried rice I have ever eaten. Jessica and I got it to go, and ate it at a park near the beach.
Perfection
She is such a cute surfer girl!
Still in workout clothes..
Since we were close by and Jessica's Yogurtland addiction rivals mine, we got some frozen yogurt before we headed back home. I got original tart, pineapple tart, and a little bit of strawberry cheescake. As usual, I got an insane amount of toppings: watermelon, kiwi, strawberry, a little bit of white chocolate chips, a few cheesecake bites, some sprinkles, and one wafer cookie.

That afternoon, I went to my friend's house to go swimming and watch movie, where I had a small piece of pizza for dinner, but I didn't feel very well. So I conked out for the night.

Even though I feel better, I'm taking it easy and hanging in bed with a little comfort food, water (check out my tumbler!), and my laptop. Once I'm done with this post it will be blog lurking and Modern Family watching for me!
PB&J wrap
Happy Julia (yesterday): lunch with the sissy, jacuzzin'

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Watermelon Smiles

So instead of going for a run this morning, I met up with some friends at the Original House of Pancakes for breakfast. By the way OHOP is very different from IHOP (i.e. much better).

I ordered banana pancakes that came with tropical syrup. Unfortunately, my camera died right when I took it out to take a picture, so you'll just have to squint your eyes to see what they looked like from this one picture I found. The pancakes weren't actually as good as I had hoped, but they were still yummy. I wasn't able to finish all of them though, and didn't bother bringing them home.

After breakfast/brunch ended, my ride (I came with my friends Sophie and Angie) took a small detour to Joann's. Have I ever mentioned that I am helpless when it comes to craft stores? Last time I was at Micheal's I made some random purchases. The second I walked in the door today I knew I would be leaving with some useless adorable things.

Maybe I'm not as bad as I think because I did get one thing I needed. I know it's bad, but I don't use a water bottle. When I was living on campus, I could count on the fact that every time I went to the cafeteria I would drink at least a glass or two of water. Now that I'm at home I realized I barely drink any... like seriously some days I realize I drank just a single cup of water. This little habit is bad because I am really prone to headaches. So my solution was a cute, orange Tumbler that I had to swipe off the shelves.
Yep the tag is still in there, I'm a dork.
The rest of my purchases were a tad ridiculous. I've realized I can't resist anything that has watermelons on it... check out my link above and you'll see what I mean. I was WAY too excited to buy watermelon cupcake holders and watermelon drink umbrellas. Together they were only a little more than $3 so I wasn't splurging too much.
Here's a picture of my goodies:
Aren't they adorable? And I'm smiling! Get it?! :)
And here's a picture of how excited I actually am about them:
Crazy Watermelon smiles!

Later, I met up with Ali again to go on a pretty easy run around the neighborhood. After our tough run yesterday, we decided to do the walk/run that we had done the other week. We walked the beginning downhill (I get paranoid of shinsplints when I run steep downhills) and ran on the fire trail to along the golf course, and then walked up the cul-de-sac of hell (super uphill), ran through dirt field area, and walked back to her house.

After we got back we hung around for a little bit, and did some sit ups to the one and only Kanye's Workout Plan. Get them sit ups right and tuck your tummy tight and do your crunches like this.


For dinner, I just had a turkey cheeseburger with a whole wheat bun. For dessert, I had a yummy Trader Joe's frozen yogurt popsicle. It was the last one so I had to quickly claim it...there is no time for pictures in dire situations like these.
I'm going to attempt to go to bed early tonight because I'm going for an early morning run (hey, 8:00 is early for me).
And is anyone else a little too in love with Joann's or Micheal's like me? I love hearing what other people buy there:)

Happy Julia: going to Joann's, looking at my new tumbler/water bottle, feeling like a wild person when I ran through the field, knowing that the BF liked the care package, figuring out the details of the mud run (more info coming soon)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Three is the Magic Number

I went for a run todayyyyy! I love running with someone else because whenever I'm alone I usually spend the whole time complaining in my head. Also, when I'm by myself I tend to go for shorter runs because I get bored really quickly. 
Lucky for me, I went with my running buddy Ali for a 3 mile loop around the local golf course. The area is really hilly, but aside from one just insane hill (which was about .38 miles uphill) we ran the whole way. I actually felt pretty good during the run, and almost...enjoyed... it.
I love runningmap
I was also wearing my favorite running outfit so I was in the mood today. PS I can only run in bro tanks.


Most of my meals today were just repeats. I just had oatmeal again  and banana with peanut butter for breakfast, a sandwich again, and a bundle of random things for dinner because I was at my friend Ali's house. 

Just so you know, I do not bother listing anything I eat for snacks. But I am willing to make an exception this time in order to defend myself to the public. First off, I like apples and I like cheese. I like to eat apples and cheese together. I don't find this strange at all, but my siblings and boyfriend seem to find this repulsive and confusing (siblings-->repulsive, boyfriend-->confusing). I cannot be the only one to know how good this combination is right? I very much enjoyed my snack of a green apple with Laughing Cow swiss cheese spread on it. It was delicious. Does anyone else have weird food habits?
No makeup. No judging please :)
Anyway, back to business. The random dinner items included: a mini chicken burger that was less than 100 calories and that I ate just because it was adorable...
Next to a piece of small toast so you can see how cute it is!
... then had a veggie burger because the little one didn't do anything...
The bread was only 45 calories a slice so it was EXTRA healthy
... and had a poached egg for the very first time. I'm typically a scrambled type of girl. When I actually list this all out it seems like a lot, but it was actually nice cause it was not very filling (or veggie filled...oops).
And then I had dessert! Ali's grandmother made her biscotti from scratch and she still had a ton left over. We took a piece or two and put different jams on the biscotti since it's a very delicious but plain flavor. The 3 jams were so good! The flavors were Trader Joe's cherry and apricot and Knott's boysenberry. They were perfect for the biscotti, but I think they would have been too sweet for anything other than a dessert. 
Apricot, Boysenberry, and Cherry
Wow this is quite a feat... I'm about to post a blog before midnight! Whoo! And yes, I'm sticking to the corny Happy Julia's for now.
PS: trust me, I'm aware of how corny the title is. But I only have a few minutes to make my midnight proclamation true!

Happy Julia: finally mailing out a care package, pretending to go inside to do situps but end up talking and making dinner at Ali's house, chilling on the couch with my Dad

I Stop for Cake

Head's up this post is going to contain more food than usual, and most of it will be very boring average daily food pictures.
After waking up super late (in case you haven't realized, I'm not a morning person), I got up and made myself chocolate oatmeal with peanut butter. Best. Oatmeal. Ever.
For the most part, I truly dislike watery oatmeal so this picture may not appeal to everyone. It also looks a little uninteresting but chocolate and peanut butter is such a good combination.
For lunch I had a Everything Thomas Bagel Thin with Trader Joe's whipped cream cheese and a green apple. I also snagged a bite of my brother's quesidilla, but I had to be sneaky so that went un-pictured. This lunch is given the most boring photo ever award, but bagel thins are the best so it's ok.

So one of the fun parts about today was helping my brother Johnny work on his extra credit project: making a geometric cake excluding squares, rectangles, and triangles. I know, best extra credit assignment ever. So our (cough mine) idea was to make a stop sign since it is an octagon. My mom, Johnny, and I worked together to make a two layer red velvet cake with white frosting and cake crumbs on top. Johnny got the honors of writing the word STOP on the top with more icing... a task which ended up being a lot harder than he expected (Cake Boss makes it look so much easier). But it ended up pretty good for a math cake.
Sorry about the messy table and lack of a pretty plate. We just placed it straight on the tupperware Johnny's using.
Blurry so just glance from afar :)
I'm not including any recipe because it was just boxed red velvet and regular icing and I didn't get an actual slice so I can't go on and on about how good it is like I usually do.

Ends up the day kinda crept up on me because before I knew it, it was already 4:15. I babysat at 5:30 today and really wanted to squeeze a run in, so I just took Roxy for a quick 20/25 minute run around the neighborhood. I sprinted even faster after though to shower and gulf down a salad my sissy made me before I went to babysit.
PS.. isn't salad that you didn't make yourself infinitively better? For some reason, it feels like a chore if I make myself salad, but if anyone else does it I find it delicious. Oh that's just me? Cool.

I used to babysit for this family for years before I went to college, and I was actually really excited to see them all again; they are so cute! So I was a big sucker and let them--and me--have a big bowl(s) of ice cream for dessert after my dinner of dinosaur mac n cheese. I ate with them because I'm not the type of person to only eat a salad, bagel thin, and oatmeal for my main courses (I also don't mention my snacking on here).

So I've decided that since I'm blogging mainly for myself to track how I'm trying to be healthier and since I post every day, I'm going to include a little personal touch at the end of each entry. This blog is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a diary, but I thought it would be nice to just post short reminders of something that made me smile today as just a way to reflect with a more positive outlook.

Happy Julia: waking up to a very excited and happy text <3, having Johnny insist that I help him bake, the little girl I babysit getting excited to see me