Convocation Day

Yesterday was my Convocation – I’ve officially graduated!

Side note: I was seriously considering not going to my convocation. I know, a little crazy right? Especially since I live right down the road from my university. I had no good excuses other than… nerves? I tend to overthink things and work myself up more than need be, and the idea of the attention that goes with walking across a stage in front of a crowd of people to be “hooded” and granted my diploma freaked me out a little. But after several mentions of “I’m not sure if I’m going to go,” followed by several replies along the lines of, “Are you crazy?” or “You’re going to regret missing your graduation!” I decided I’d suck it up and power through it.

And guess what?

It wasn’t even a pinch as awkward or nerve-wracking as I convinced myself it might be. And I’m glad I went.

Moral of the Story: Face Your Fears! – No matter how big or small they may be. Odds are that things will turn out just right

 

For those curious about my degree:
Bachelor of Arts Honours Communication Studies and Psychology.

My response to “And what are you going to do with that?”
A small chuckle, shoulder shrug and wide-eyed stare… It’s a work in progress ;)

 

The Final Affair

 

A day filled with:

Formal Gowns

Family Photos

Fancy Flowers

Thanks Dad

Thanks Mom

Free Food

No pictures but it was here, hidden amongst the masses. I was too late to get the fresh fruit skewers but of course I nabbed a slice of graduation cake.

Farmer’s Market Finds

The afternoon led to the first Farmer’s Market trip of the year. Alongside some apples, berries and fresh bread, we also grabbed a jar of red pepper jelly and delicious vidalia onion mustard (Big mustard fan right here).

 

Fish

a la sushi Rainbow Roll. My graduation dinner of choice. And a fabulous dinner it was.

 

Frozen Yogurt

We were going to go out for ice cream but the evening got chilly and clouded over and the sushi did a number on the hunger front so we decided to save it for another night. Instead? A container of caramel yogurt mixed with fresh and frozen berries, slightly frozen and then eaten in a cone.

 

The Finish

After all was said and done, with the end of the day came the official end of a chapter. And both a fabulous day and a fabulous chapter they were.

Farwell Undergrad, you taught me well.

 

And who says F’s have to stand for Failure?

 

Happy Friday!

Long Weekend Fun and Fuel

What a long weekend.

Not what a long weekend, but rather WHAT a long weekend. One solid track of celebrations, complete with copious amounts of cupcakes, decent amounts of dancing, and devilish amounts of drinks (Slight exaggeration. It was all good times but all decently tame. I’m too old and crotchety for that party animal lifestyle! Har Har). Something about long weekends that just makes everyone want to nonstop celebrate.

 

Thursday there was a night out reunion with a group of old high school gals. We’ve lived in different cities for school but they’ve all finally trickled back in for the summer and it was time to reconvene. Drinks and singing along to cheesy Glee tunes beforehand; drinks, dresses and dancing at a bar to finish it off.

(weheartit)

I rarely actually drink fruity drinks but they sure do look suave.

Friday was a buddy’s birthday, complete with breast-studded cupcakes delivered in a shoebox to his delighted hands. There were several big hungry men at this birthday and they were all more than excited about the brownie-bottomed treats, topped with chocolate womanly bits. The way to a man’s heart…

Said birthday began at the house, then continued on to two different bars. It was a Bud Light and antojitos (Stuffed with MANGO. Absolutely delicious) kind of night.

(google)

(google)

Saturday was the craziest one yet! Okay…no it wasn’t. Highlights included going to work, running, eating a salad and a lot of bean salad, updating my Ipod and going to bed early. Hey, I needed a break! I told you, old and crotchety.

 

Sunday was good for some tame tanning time during the day (I got some nice colour and a good dose of the natural Vit D) and some retro moves and grooves at a bar at night. The best thing about going out on a long weekend Sunday is running into faces you rarely see. I love my long-lost acquaintances.

 

A whole weekend of late nights left me run right down though. I actually half napped today and I NEVER nap. It was lovely.

 

Aside from cupcakes, non-fruity beverages and low levels of sleep, how else did I fuel this long weekend?

A LOT of greens. Green smoothies are my breakfast of choice these days, now that the weather has really warmed up.

ONE of these was stuffed not with spinach but with collard greens. It needed a bit more sweetener but I kind of liked the slightly earthier taste the collards added.

Considering how darn cool it is to blend your spinach into your smoothie… how about topping your spinach with your smoothie?

Yup, I did it.

Yup, I ate it.

Yup, I ate it all.

Creepy? Weird? Unnecessary? All of the above. But it wasn’t half bad. And I’d do it again.

I also ate a lot of salads. What else is new?

Salad topped buffalo-chicken style (cooked chicken;dressing of light source cream, dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar; Frank’s buffalo sauce)

Salad topped plain style – veg and honey mustard dressing with rye and cottage cheese on the side.

Salad topped taco style – seasoned ground beef, bean salad, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, cheddar

Salad topped tuna style – tuna mixed with sour cream, dijon mustard, worcheshire sauce and pepper

 

And some odd balls

Italian "Pizza Cheese” made with cashews

Chicken-stuffed Enchiladas. Hideous but delicious.

Red fiesta with red peppers, red salsa on crackers, red ketchup on egg whites

Collard greens, broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms stir-fried in a curry mayo sauce (light mayo + curry powder + splash of milk) with a side of mashed cauliflower

Strawberries topped with coconut/cocoa powder yogurt and sesame brittle

More berries

And more berries

And even more berries – accompanying leftover carrot cake of course.

And to wash it all down? A nice big glass of Crystal Light blended with water, carbonated lemon water, ice, frozen raspberries and frozen mango chunks.

SO. Refreshing.

 

And now I just got asked to go out AGAIN. This long weekend is over, how do people do it? And more importantly, why am I actually considering it? Oy vey!

“You Know I Like My Dessert First”

Thanks for all the kind words and insight on yesterday’s post. Ending school and figuring out where to go next is a tricky time for everyone. Each day is a new day with new possibilities though, and I’m going to do my best to work on one day at a time and concentrate on each little step rather than spending too much energy worrying about exactly where all those little steps will eventually lead. I’m sure that will get clearer along the way. I’m counting on it.

If anyone else has any stories or similar worries to share, please feel free to still do so!

I actually read a lovely post today – On Changing My Life – by Andrea of Can You Stay For Dinner? about the many changes and uncertainties she’s gone through just within the past several years. Very helpful and highly recommended.

 

 

Today has been a little more positive. No more sessions with the Stress Reduction in a Jar. Progress!

Instead, over the past few days, there has been plenty of roasted buttercup squash.

Tuna mixed with light sour cream and dijonnaise

And tuna mixed with Laughing Cow cheese, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce

Egg whites on toast with spinach and ketchup

And runny eggs with ketchup over cabbage slaw salad.

Greens with feta and Mmmm sauce

And Greens with mustard and crumbled turkcauli burger.

 

Boy do I look like a… rabbit?

Let’s correct this.

I’ve eaten about 10lbs of strawberries and grapes over the past couple days. Some were paired with ‘coconut yogurt spread’ – aka a container of raspberry yogurt mixed with a Tbsp of coconut flour. I need to try this spread on toast or a waffle!

Sometimes I don’t even bother to mix the coconut flour into the yogurt.

I’ve enjoyed my fair share (coughx10cough) of Tostitos dunked in copious amounts of salsa.

Is it weird that I dig to the bottom of the bag just so I can eat all of the Tostitos crumbs…out of a bowl…with a spoon?

I also made something that looked kind of like a doughnut but was actually a Microwave Protein Fudge Muffin gone wrong in appearance but right in taste. I used liquid egg whites, applesauce and cocoa powder but could not get that cocoa powder to mix in properly. So I cooked it up anyway. Chocolate-y on top, plain on the bottom – best of both worlds!

 

To remove myself from my woes last night, I reluctantly went out to the movies. You know how sometimes when you feel like bum you just don’t want to go anywhere? A lot of the times going anyway is a much better decision.

I ate sour keys and got to watch Vinny and the Rock duke it out in Fast Five.

“You know I like my dessert first.”
…
”Now gimme the damn veggies.”

Please see this movie. And stay for the spoiler after the credits!

 

If you don’t feel like boosting your mood with the Rock’s cheesy lines…how about with some green tea? I might be able to help you out with that one… ;) Stay tuned this weekend. And have a good one!

Spring is Springing + Reading Week Recap

It’s March 1st! Which means it’s automatically Spring in my mind. Now if only this snow would take a hike we’d be well on our way. It’s bright and sunny and not completely freezing today though so we’re off to a good start – end weather report.

(weheartit)

End of February also = end of Reading Week. I just got back to the grind this week after a lovely but much too speedy week of rest last week. Or what should have been a week of rest but consisted of a week of mostly late nights and ridiculously early mornings. I’m glad to know my internal alarm clock is still unbelievably reliable even on my holidays…

Nothing too out of the ordinary went down during my time off:
– Throughout the week: A little bit of studying
– Tuesday: A break up consoling party – not mine! That of a poor confused friend. New relationship. Guy ends it. We have some gals together for ranting time, music, pizza and chocolate fondue. She wakes up the next morning to a text from him saying he made a mistake. Oh boys.
– Wednesday: Girl movie night
– Thursday: Get dressed up and go out dancing night
– Friday: Day at work.
– Saturday: Uh oh, Reading Week is already almost over?! Time to crack down on the studying all day day. Another friend movie night.
– Sunday: Uh oh, Reading Week is REALLY already almost over?! Studying = ALL day.

It was no hot and sunny beach but it was a welcome break from classes and constant school work.

 

And as per always, there were plenty of “interesting” eats going down during Reading Week:

This jar of The Bee’s Knees saw it’s final end…

…in THESE healthified “blondies”. I’m not even going to try telling you what I put into them because they were less than award winning. The carob chips were their only saving grace.

Some of my salads got “popcorned”

I soggied up some wraps with egg whites, salsa, Laughing cow and Frank’s.

Most of my sweet treats have been random stuff bowls – usually a yogurt base with fruit and whatever extra sweet thang I can find kicking around – like candy-coated almonds or hunks of dark chocolate.

Or crumbled muffins/whatever baked good I pull out of the freezer.

On another dessert note, after the great success of the peanut butter dessert hummus (which will now be made on the regular, guaranteed), I obviously had to try out Lauren’s black bean version too. Dessert is just sailing on whole new seas.

Since Lauren is pretty much an expert in the kitchen, I had to try out her Zesty Kale Chips too. I may have burnt them just a tad…doh. But the flavour… BOMB. I ate at least 1/3 of them before even sticking them in the oven.

Reading Week also called for a very special breakfast: My last Vitatop with the last bits of a plain Greek yogurt container with the last of my peanut butter dessert hummus + frozen raspberries (I have a TON of those left). Costco needs a visit from me.

I still have a couple containers of fruity Greek yogurt left over from my Costco stash. Yogurt-topped bowl of pumpkin oats and wheat bran anyone?

I’ve been a Multigrain Cheerio monster lately.

As a smoothie topper.

Or topped with Chocolate Amazing Grass. Don’t worry, I didn’t eat this DRY. Choco almond milk added post-pic for reduced sog effect :)

And a hummus monster as well. But that’s kind of an always thing. Hummus = BEST salad topper.

Second best might just be…

Ooey gooey runny eggs!

So that was Reading Week: The Quick and Hungry Version.

And now that it’s over and I’m back to the grind… it’s also time to get back to the studying. One (tough and stressful) midterm Thursday, then three more next Monday->Wednesday. Woo.

Luckily it’s MARCH and I love new month beginnings. Especially new ones that basically mark the end of winter.

 

What are you most looking forward to this month?
Aside from the warming temperatures and later, sunnier days, I’m thinking my birthday! It’s not until the end but that means I get something to look forward to for the whole month :)

Happy March!