Nom Nom Nom

EATING
healthy . vegetarian . well . in moderation . less . and feeling more satisfied
So happy for inspiration from everywhere. After getting a new blender for Christmas, watching a few documentaries, and putting in the effort to eat well, I feel awesome. In a matter of weeks I feel better, my body looks better, I'm losing weight and sleeping better. This will be a grand year.

Celebrations

So, who's going to be Sushi Q's newest waitress pretty soon? THIS GIRL. I cannot tell you how happy I am.

Boots and cats-ing. Because I can.

Drink Up

I am so thirsty.

Why can I not quench my thirst?? And the worst part about it, is I'll be waking up all night now because I'm going to have to pee every hour.

But on a lighter note, I am traveling North to see some family in Long Beach tomorrow. Cannot wait to feel that familial love. That is one of the biggest reasons why I miss home so much.

Question of the blog:

It's a cold, rainy day outside, and you've just come home from a long day away from your warm and cozy home. What drink do you make yourself?

Happy Thursday

This was last night. My life is a joke.

But I did receive this today:

Dear Alexandra,

Happy Thursday. You've made it through another week, and we are so proud of you. Here is a free caramel latte, perfect temperature, just for you. Have a great weekend.

Love Always,

Panera Bread

Oh, how I love you, Panera.

Also- Today was the day. Where my car celebrated its 121212nd mile birthday. YEE!

Question of the blog:

Do you play any instruments?

If you could play any particular one you do not currently play, which would you choose?

Thoughtful Thursday

Brie, apple, crackers.

Angels and Demons.

Lemonade and comforters.

Low lights, cool air.

Happy to be on my own, in my space, good thoughts, warm face. Movie nights by myself.

Fairy Tea

As I ate my sushi, I sat and watched girls dancing, girls laughing, boys drinking, and paying. I looked down and saw the brown and black speckled table tops I have eaten at so many times. Two guitars and dual voices sing a haunting melody at the open mic. My legs are crossed and I set my chopsticks side by side. Fairy tea, exchanges and tips. Chatting about work, and how busy this Wednesday night turned out to be, I wave goodbye as I walk down Commercial Street. A fond farewell. We will see you tomorrow.
Finish my drink, but not before the lid leaks. Rice milk sends me home, to a silent, gentle, song of good nights.

Mustard and Catch Up

Hi... Umm. Do you hate me? I'm sorry I've been away so long. I feel like I have abandoned a child or something. I promise I'll do better!
A lot has happened in the past week, so here is a quick recap.
1. I saw How To Train Your Dragon in 3D last night, and it was so amazing. I would definitely call it one of the best children's movies of our time. Also- It could have been called "Cats With Wings" because those dragons are basically felines. Which I'm obsessed with.
2. I got a job with the census, so I'm for realsies going to England. Which is awesome and scary all rolled into one. Work has been weird lately, and I do not like throwing up sushi. SICK.
3. This past week, my family was gone on spring break. In this time I came to the conclusion that Hamilton, our 25 toed cat, is nutso and I can't handle him. I just about punted him because he is so annoying.
4. The weather has been so fickle lately, and it makes me sad that I can't just drive down to the river whenever I want. I hope it is sunny tomorrow, so I can listen to my playlist of river. Dustin, Jordan and I listened to some of the best songs from last summer. Can't wait for river days.

Life And Times

Hello friends. This is sort of a color-coded blog. I guess I just have some catching up and explaining to do. So we'll start with this. The other day was a turquoise day. I love when I get in my car, and the sun is shining ever so perfectly that my clothes sort of light up the inside of my car.

A lot of my days are spent solo. I've learned to like it that way. It's a peaceful solitude that gives me time to think, for now. I have a lot of things to think about right now. But sometimes, I just need a friend right next to me. When I can't have that, I just want to just scream red! But it's teaching me patience. So I go to the fairgrounds, and take my box of fried rice, and I read on my own. I'm learning to be on my own.

Something that has always been incredibly important to me, is capturing moments. I'm a forgetful person. God built this beautiful person that I have come to love as myself, but I'm a bit broken. I am forgetful, and I lose sight of what once was. I love looking back at silly photos and just chuckle at my life. Welly has been doing this thing where he will sneak up on me while I'm on my computer. My bed is right behind, so while I'm at my desk, he hops up onto my shoulder and rests half his body on me. It is so cute, and brings a little sunshiney yellow to my days.

There is someone very close to me whose spiritual life completely changed mine in high school. I have always struggled with the expectations of what a priest's daughter should do, and in a sense I took those expectations and felt very discouraged by them. When I met Jillian, I introduced her to the Christian life, and the other day she reminded me of the importance I was to her in that time. I don't think she will ever know what an impact she made in my life at that time, and how much she inspired me to learn and grow in my faith, so that I could properly minister to other people. Her clay stained hands have molded me into a better person, that I am proud of today.

Today, I bought glasses. They are for times where I am studying, or reading, or on computers. They are a pretty brown/light blue/teal combo, and I like them. While I was at the optometrists, I was taking photos of the glasses, and of my dad and I. A man asked me if I was a photographer.
Am I a photographer?
I don't know, really. I mean maybe. Wikipedia defines me as a photographer. But more importantly, do I consider myself one? I have yet to decide. It's a browned down type of passion. Not one I want to flaunt, just something I want to share with the world.

That's why I'm writing to you, for you. I want to share my life, my times, with you. Whether it's black and white, or I'm living my life in technicolor, I hope you and I can share that together. Am I a photographer? Maybe. But let's go on that journey together, and we'll figure some things about all of us on the way.
Thank you for coming along with me!

Ice Cream Pie!

Spring is here!
It's getting warmer, and I'm starting to uncover those shorts and skirts I haven't seen in months. The other day, it was about 75 degrees here, and everyone around town was in flip flops and buying ice cream.
During this (short) glimpse of warm weather, I decided to make an ice cream pie with Heath bars in it. Ice cream pies are super easy to make, and are a great treat on a warm day like the ones we've been having.


All you'll need for your Heath Bar ice cream pie is
1 Ready Crust chocolate pie crust
5 Heath bars
Enough vanilla ice cream to fill a pie pan.. So not that much. I bought 1.75 quarts of vanilla ice cream, and didn't even use 1/4 of it.
1 freezer.. For freezing, duh.


1. Set up a place to make your Heath bar ice cream pie. Leave the ice cream out to soften.
2. Cut up 3 of your Heath bars into small little pieces. These are the pieces that will go inside your pie, so make sure they're small. You don't want a huge Heath piece to be the death of a friend you are hoping to woo with this delicious treat.


3. Once the ice cream has softened enough to easily scoop with a spoon, lay down a layer of ice cream in your chocolate pie crust. Pack the ice cream as gently as possible, so you don't crush your crust.


4. Next, throw a layer of Heath bar on top of your layer of ice cream. You can put as little or as much as you would like, but make sure there you can see some ice cream through the Heath, so the two layers of ice cream can settle together. How romantic.


5. Once you are satisfied with your level of Heath bars, cover it up with the vanilla ice cream. I chose to only make one layer of Heath bar, but if you're feeling saucy, try putting two layers in, with three layers of ice cream. Just make sure to cover the Heath chunks completely.
6. Smooth over the top of your pie, and put it in the freezer for 45 minutes, or until the ice cream is frozen again. You don't want to eat Heath bar soup.


7. While your pie is freezing, break your last two Heath bars into big thick pieces for the topping. Another way of doing the topping is crushing the Heath bars, so your pie is more of a crumble pie on the top.
8. Take out your frozen ice cream pie, and start decorating! I did more of a Flinstone/mosaic top, but I encourage you to decorate to your own satisfaction. As you decorate, push the Heath bar pieces into the ice cream, so that they aren't easily moved when the ice cream starts melting.


9. Put your Heath bar ice cream pie into the freezer for another 45 minutes so that all of the ice cream in the pie is frozen.
10. Invite your friends over, and slice your pie open to reveal a delicious, chocolatey inside.


One great thing about this recipe, is that you can substitute Heath bars for any candy you want (maybe not any candy..but most). Next time I make this ice cream pie, I would love to try Snickers, Milky Way, Reese's, or York peppermint patties. Have FUN with your creation!

Question of the blog:
In all recipes, I prefer instructions that are clear, but with some vague parts that leave room for me to be creative. In my recipes that I post on here, would you prefer to hear straightforward, meticulous instructions, or more of a relaxed view to cooking?

The Great Rainbow Cake: The Next Generation

Good evening, friends! As you might know, Andy and I made a great rainbow cake a few days ago. To see a few photos and the recipe itself, go to my original post here. My wonderful long-distance friend, Symone, saw my post and tried out the recipe herself. Here was her result!


I'm glad to hear that my recipe instructions worked out well for another person. I encourage you to try making a rainbow cake yourself! And if you do, please send me some of your photos so we can smile together!

Question of the blog:
This one is a question I would REALLY love for you to answer. After this fun baking adventure, I have had this excitement for working in the kitchen and trying new things. So here is my question: Would you like me to start posting a series of fun recipes, with photos and such? I think it would be a fun little series of blogs. I don't know, let me know. You're the ones reading this thing.

Color My World: RAINBOW EDITION!

Andy and I love to have food adventures when we are together, and this visit definitely included a few of the top food adventures yet. One night, we had delicious homemade vegetable omelets with hashbrowns for dinner. Yum! Okay, that was great, but it was nothing compared to our food adventure we had yesterday. May I present to you, The Great Rainbow Cake!

Isn't it amazing?? So, for your viewing pleasure, and possible future pleasure for your own tastebuds, I'm going to give you a quick image slideshow on how to make this, and then send you over to the full recipe where we learned how to make this rainbow cake!

Andy and I made this cake with these ingredients:
1 package Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake
3 eggs
Some water.. You can measure it yourself
1 package of food coloring (food color gel works better)
1 box of vanilla frosting
2 baking pans

1. After preparing the Betty Crocker cake mix as directed on the box, we split the mix equally into 6 bowls.
2. Andy and I then added the food dye to each (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Our food dye worked great for a couple of the colors, but for the red and purple especially, it was much too pastel colored for our liking.
3. We then took half of each color cake mix, and dropped it in the center of the pan. The bottom color (purple, for example) will spread out as you add the top layers (blue, green, and so on).
4. In your other pan, you can do the same thing, or switch the colors so the color on the top of the other cake is the bottom of this one (for example, we went p-b-g-y-o-r and then r-o-y-g-b-p on our two cakes.)
5. Bake cakes in oven as instructed on the cake box.

As the cakes are baking, take pictures of all of the fun colors on your spoons. Make sure to bake this cake midday so you get the best lighting. I wish mine had turned out better!

Then, after approximately what your Betty Crocker box says, take those suckers out and let them cool. I suggest oohing and aahing for your beautiful rainbow cakes. Our cakes didn't look too pretty on the outside once we were cooked, but not to fear, because nobody sees the outside anyways when you have psychedelic frosting on top!
But before that! After cooling your naked rainbow cakes until they are room temperature, add a sealer to the top of one, and then stack the two. Andy and I used vanilla pudding (which we dyed orange, just for funsies), and it worked great in sticking the two together. It also tasted awesome. Just use a thin layer, or if you're feeling saucy, do whatever the heck you want!

1. Just like you split your cake batter into 6 bowls, split your frosting into 6 cups.
2. Add food dye into each cup to create red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Again, our purple really wasn't that fab.
3. You can really do this however you would like it, but we decorated our frosting in a bullseye fashion, with each color frosting on its matching color of cake. The purple part of the cake was in the center, so we started there, and rainbowed outwards.

4. Once you are finished making your cake into an acid trip bullseye, take a fork or knife, and starting at the center of the cake, pull the frosting outwards so it creates a marble effect.
5. After setting for a while, the fork marks will go away and you will have the most over the top cake you have ever seen.
6. Complete with sprinkles of your liking.

After an hour or so, and lots of dirty dishes covered in crazy colors, you will have a rainbow cake that is out of this freakin' world. Like the Easter bunny barfed up its existence and then put it on a platter. It's that good.

Andy and I, with the completed rainbow cake. What a fun adventure to share with someone. And and I had a good laugh over the commentary from the recipe where we got this, so be sure to go over to Omnomicon and look at her fun rainbow cake and sassy reasons why you want to make this cake. She used gel food dye and her cake colors turned out incredible vibrant and fun. Or if you're just looking for a great photographer, you should look there too. Omnomicon is the full package, complete with cute name.

All in all, the rainbow cake was a complete success. It not only filled our adventurous appetite, but our tastebud ones too! I have been asked by a few people about date ideas for couples, and I would definitely recommend this as one of them. It gives you a chance to work together as a team, while gaining kitchen skills and having fun together. It also teaches boys that they can be creative! Yes, boys, you too can be creative!

I encourage you to try new fun food adventures, whether it's with your boyfriend, girlfriend, mama, or just on your own. The end result is just so satisfying.

Happy cooking! xoxo

The Bees Knees

In honor of my sister's homecoming, my mother baked the CUTEST cinnamon bread I have ever seen. It's a little bee hive complete with bees all over it! How precious is that?! I am so happy she is home.

Today I picked up Andy from the airport! He is here for a week and I am so stinkin' excited!
Just thought I'd fill you in on the buzz (har har) around here. Now I'm off to the kitchen to see if there's any cinnamon bread hive left over.


Question of the blog:
What is one of your favorite things your parents bake?

Red Is The Occasion

My heart is all a-flutter about Valentine's Day. Why, you might ask. To be honest, I have no clue! I have never really been one to be excited for Valentine's Day, but I think I have an idea why I am anticipating it greatly. I get to see my boyfriend, of course! That and I absolutely adore any occasion where I can dress up! This Valentine's Day, Andy and I are going on a hike at Torrey Pines State Reserve, and then having dinner at Masala, which looks incredible inside and also has a splendid menu. I just can't wait!
Also, I have this thing for red lipstick right now. I think tonight calls for some dress up and a movie. Mull over these cutesy precious photos for a while, and I'd love to hear your response to my question below.

(All photos from Weheartit)

Question of the blog:

A very close source once told me that the times I look prettiest are when I've taken time to dress up, and when I am wearing my "comfy cozies" as we say. I thought it was interesting how it was both sides of the formality spectrum that made me appear most attractive to him. I was reminded of this statement today, so now, here is your question!

Boys: Do you prefer a girl dressed up or down? Does dress up for special occasions make girls look prettier?
Girls: Do you prefer to dress up or down? When do you feel the prettiest?

Spinach and Cheese

Yay yay yay I love learning new things!
Yesterday I learned how to make handmade ravioli. I got the recipe from The Food Network.
It was so much fun! But sooo difficult. Enjoy the photos, and I encourage you to try making something new this Christmas season!


Happy holidays, my readers. And if you have anything in particular you would like me to blog about.. email your ideas to aalexandraseal(@)gmail(.)com
Thank you!

Question of the blog:
What was the last meal you made from scratch?

Life In Color

Apple pie and fireplaces,
warm my core and leave me feeling satisfied.
Days of thanks and warm cozy beds,
cuddle-naps and hot coffee in big mugs.
Late night talks with brothers,
searching for cat videos and new phones.


We have a very merry Franksgiving,
as babies chased kitties
who chase toys thrown by parents.
Couples dance as the men play their guitars.
I'll sing Beatles songs along with them,
the women follow with shakers,
baby Jaxson dances.


Late nights, early mornings,
this week sees little sleep.
So many outings, you see all from your past.
Who knew the bars in Nevada City held so much.
Dancing in the kitchen,
with fist pumps and booty shakes.
I missed you.


Sisters united, laughing uncontrollably.
Our serious faces never work,
and the longer we are together, the sillier we get.
Love knows no boundaries,
no matter how far away from each other,
we are always close.


Pick ups and drop offs,
bad church services and non-drowsy allergy meds.
You, me, and Food Network.
We're cute together, you know that?
A kiss goodbye,
and we're back on our countdown.


My life in color,
the autumn brings life with the fall of the leaves.
They come and they go,
but you are the ones that bring the color to me.

Yesteryears

Today, my mom and I made delicious smoothies with blueberries, blackberries, pears, and raspberry and yogurt. It was so good! As my mom finished hers off, she walked past my room saying "healthy foood, tastes so goood.." And I burst into song. Remember this one? Sesame Street raps are the bomb.



Question of the blog:
Did you ever watch Sesame Street as a kid? What is your most vivid memory or scene from it?

Do The Math

2 cups of tea
3 slices of cinnamon raisin bread
1 episode of Community
1 episode of The Office
3 episodes of Glee
=
perfect pregame ritual to hell weekend 2009
Work tonight. Tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night.
Let the games begin!

Because Everything Works In Your Arms

Last Wednesday, I flew down to visit my boyfriend in San Diego. The next morning, of course, I woke up with a 102 fever. It was a blessing in disguise, though, and gave us an entire day to lay low and spend quality time with each other.

Con Pane . Cat naps . Back rubs . Sunset Cliffs


I felt almost completely better by Friday morning. We took a trip to Balboa Park where we visited a few museums. We saw everything from beautiful Russian icons to Picasso and Miro. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a day at the park. We are such old people.
Later that night, Andy took me to the Gas Lamp to Nobu Sushi. Holy moley, it was delicious. We got all dressed up and had a wonderful time.

Pretty sights . Bluefin tuna . Staircases . Night talks on a ledge


Saturday was a foggy day. We spent some time at the beach, walking along the rocks and talking on a blanket. Later that night we babysat Stephen and Jillian who live in Old Town. After babysitting, Andy proceeded to spend way too much money on us to see a movie and enjoy a few handfuls of popcorn.

Footprints in the sand . Car wash . Clone Wars . Wild Things


We spent Sunday morning at the church Andy is interning at. I met his crazy boys he spends every Wednesday with. Afterwards, we went to the mall with a few of the youth kids and grabbed some lunch. "It means handsome one!" -Jake
Sunday night was "man night" for Andy and I. Miguel's dinner, cigars, night walks and the prettiest view.

Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop . Cheese dip . Holding pinkies


Six-thirty wake up calls.
I came home yesterday (Monday), but before I left, we packed my things up, and headed to the Living Room for some coffee. Andy and I spent some time on a bench looking at the bay before I flew back home.

Fit like puzzle pieces . Goodbyes . Sudoku . Green tea and Sugar in the raw


Bye bye boyfriend. See you in thirty-three!