College, Running, and Nica Night

Hoooooly man, I have been so busy! I can't remember the last time I was this busy, except maybe during the school year when I don't even have time to sleep. As I mentioned earlier today, I've been taking a college essay-writing class which was SO helpful. I got my Common App essay done as well as my activity description. Now all I have to do is my supplement essay! Boo, more essays...

Well, I usually feel this way, anyways. I actually really enjoyed writing my Common App essay. It came so naturally and everyone loved it! (not to toot my own horn at all, I was surprised when they liked it so much!) I really hope the acceptance officers like it. I wrote about my passion for cooking and nutrition and how it's driven me. I'm not going to put up a copy of my essay (ever! I don't know why people do that), but it sounds exactly like me and rolls perfectly. Ahh, one less thing to do for college :) I'm planning on applying Early Decision, so being proactive is really important. I'm also almost (half-way) done with the Common App!

Do y'all have any stories about applying to college or advice for applying and essay-writing? All suggestions are welcome :)

Not only am I slowly getting back into the swing of the Blogosphere, but I got back on running today! I started off my workout with 2 miles on the tread, then 20 minutes on the elliptical, stretching, abs, and arm weights. Ahhh, it felt so good! :) My legs thanked me.

I wasn't very hungry after working out, so I grabbed a juicy farm-fresh peach. It was so good! It's the little things in life that make us happy... :) for me, it was a juicy peach. I haven't had a brightly-colored fuzzy-fresh peach (with a large paper towel for catching juice!) in a very long time. I like to rotate my fresh fruit that I keep in the house to keep from getting bored. But, there are some fruits I always keep in the house:

• strawberries
• blueberries
• cameo apples
• grapefruits

What fruit do you always keep in the house? I'd like some funky ideas to add to my kitchen :)

Right now I have a watermelon, two mangoes, peaches, bananas, The Staples (see above), cherries, and blackberries. I love cherries!! So much. I used to not like them, but now I can't get enough of them! Funny how taste buds change over the years.

I've also discovered my love for brussels sprouts. Most people would make an "ew!" face at the sound of "brussels sprouts" but I love them! I preheat the oven to 350F, trim and slice the brussels in half, and put them on a lightly olive-oiled baking sheet. Then, I drizzle olive oil, sprinkle some sea salt, and grind some fresh black peppercorn on top. They are good in the oven for about 15 minutes, or more if you like them crispier. I like them crispier :)

I'm currently "watching" Star Wars (the first one). Rebecca and I are sitting in my room watching it, and I love this movie! I just watched about half of it a few days ago though with a friend, so I'm blog blog blogging until we get to the part I stopped at.

I used to poo-poo this movie because of all the dorky hype that's been made about it, but it's actually a really good movie! I have yet to finish it, but I'm sure the second half is just as good as the first.

Tomorrow is Saturday! Yayay. I had a great Friday. I went to class, had breakfast in the sunshine (outside on the patio, obvs), and then went to the gym. When I got home, I took some surrious "me-time" and read tons of blogs, which always makes me feel energized.

For dinner, I cooked up some plantains, but this time they were ripe :) This means they were sweet! Definitely different than tostones, but I love them so much. They're the ones we usually get at breakfast in Nicaragua, but I couldn't resist making them for the whole fam at dinner.

Quick note: do not make plantains with olive oil to make it healthier! It completely compensates for taste. Canola/vegetable oil is the only way to go. It's not as nutrient-rich, but since plantains are a delicacy in my house, it's definitely worth it to make it with canola oil.

Of course, I paired this with brown rice and black beans (a killer combo), fresh salads, and cooked veggies. I love Nica Nights :)

Tomorrow I'll try to get up all of my birthday pictures. I am such a lazy blogger :) Yes, my birthday was a whole week ago. I've been a busy busy little bee. Shame on me.

You'll die when you see the pictures of my birfday carrot cake. Not only was it my first vegan birthday cake, it was AMAZING. And when I say AMAZING I mean I had a huge slice and somehow that wasn't enough..so I sneaked some crumbs (okay, more like chunks) later on. And we enjoyed delicious carrot birfday cake for dessert for the next two nights until the last piece was devoured. And I mean devoured.

Goodnight, and happy friday! Have a blissful Saturday morning :)

xoxox,

Katelyn