JUST before July

It's almost July! I needed to squeeze in one last post for June.

My friend Kristen laments on how she wished that August would arrive so we can all resume our dynamic college lives, but I'm in no hurry leave just yet.  Yes, home life can be suffocating, yet I'm trying this new thing where I take a step back and realize how grateful I am for the present. 

Took me long enough to figure that one out, eh? ;)
I work hard and I see the people I love; that I can not complain about.  I wish I was more satisfied though, because I always find myself dwelling and yearning for the past and how things used to be.  I realized that my attitudes towards the present realities can either be joyful and boundless, or turn painful and bitter.  Obviously we are shooting for the former.

So between these two attitudes, there seems to be a bit of a trade-off:

I despise my weakened mental resilience when it comes to exercise and how I don't maintain my body the way it used to be; I am frustrated by various restrictions in my life that I can't seem to overcome; I am saddened by the people who are losing priority in my eyes, as I am losing touch in theirs.

However,

I am proud of what I have learned throughout these last two years, and the progress that I still am making in all different areas of my life; I am thankful for a mind that has been expanded and a body that has healed itself; I am astounded at the maturity that has developed in my family relations, despite the occasional setback; I am invigorated by my friends who have stayed true and keep me going.

Oh, the contradiction of life.

Peace out, take care and see you in July :).

Back with my Baking Buddy

Of course I'm still bonding over food with friends.

In particular, my friend Ariel and I go back to the middle school years of being baking buddies. Last week was the first time we really spent time together since I returned from college, and it was great running errands at the grocery store and making our own confections.

I just bought a cookbook from Kohl's ($5 and all going to charity, why not?) that has dozens of simple, healthy recipes. We used Ariel's wilting bananas and made the banana blueberry muffins-- and I added the rest of the dried cranberries from my house.

We also baked a two-layer confetti cake for Jen's birthday, smothering it with vanilla frosting and candy messages.

And for dinner, we followed another recipe for pesto pasta salad. I've never made my own pesto unfortunately, so we mixed in pre-made from the olive bar at Wegman's. That was super easy to make as well, and with fresh cut mozzarella, steamed broccoli and crunchy bread, dinner was divine!
Would anyone like to join me for a food party?  Really, come visit, and we'll eat until we pass out.

Listening: "A Punk" by Vampire Weekend

Riots Whereever We Go

"It's like a Chinese Thanksgiving!"

Wednesday night I went to dinner at P.F. Chang's for my friend Jen's 18th birthday (which was Thursday)! It was chaotic and confusing trying to order a sufficient amount of food for a table of 12, because it's served family style, but the staff was totally patient and courteous.  A lot of my friends were first-time eaters there, so of course we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps!  Much laughter was shared as we passed around sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken, crab wontons, lemon scallops, the coconut curry veggies and tofu that I ordered, and much more.  Dessert was fun too; Jen was given a complementary dessert 'shooter', while a few others tackled the 7-layer chocolate chocolate cake called the "Great Wall of Chocolate"!!  We were all frazzled by the ordering process, then forgetting what we had ordered when it arrived, though Jen declared that dinner with all her friends was perfect.  I couldn't agree more :).

A group picture in front of the (hollow!) horse statue outside the restaurant. 
Do you have a particular restaurant or place you love going out with your friends?

 Afterwards I slept over at Jen's house, though there wasn't much rest amidst the wild toddler, cats walking all over you, and her 9th grade brother climbing and harassing our friend Brad.  Typical-- but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Lastly, that afternoon a baffling package arrived in the mail! It turned out to be a lovely, hand-sewn leather iPhone case that my extraordinary friend Justin ordered from Etsy!  The crafter (Robbie Motto) mailed it to me, accompanied by an endearing note from him.  We became friends this year at school, and he lives quite a distance away, so this really made my day :).

If you're up to it, send a friend, regardless of how near or far they are or how often you see each other, a handwritten note just to remind them how much their friendship means to you.  And if you'd like a snail mail penpal, at least for the summer, give me a shout. Receiving mail addressed to me is my favorite ♥

Happy Weekend!
Listening: "United State of Pop" by DJ Earworm