Summer Highlights

Posted by Nicole

It’s finally time!!! I’m officially moving down to USC tomorrow.

This crazy face of mine makes creepy smiles when I am excited about TWO things: food and exciting life changes. Today, I’ve be walking around with this crazy grinning face.

As excited as I am to start this new chapter of my life, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll be leaving my home and comfort zone in San Jose.

As Lauren would say, “Tearz.”

Today, as a break from packing and the millions of bowls of Cheerios I’m consuming to de-nerve myself, I’m going to throw together a “faves” post about my favorite parts of Summer 2011.

Favorite Dining Out Experiences… okay this one is a tough one…

• Breakfast: Los Gatos Cafe. The fluffiest egg whites ever, paired with extremely fresh crab and avocado. The pictures can speak for themselves!!!
• Lunch: The Chicago Diner. I got to try seitan for the first time! And vegan ranch dressing might be equivalent to heaven-on-earth. Plus, it was during vacation, and that makes everything better.
• Dinner: Main Street Burgers. I may have just gotten a salad, but it was extra special. The portion of guacamole was huge and the salad was very fresh and satisfying, especially considering the restaurant is known for their burgers. The sweet potato fries and garlic fries were also to-die-for. And afterwards, we got froyo! …Oh yeah, and this was the same day I got in to USC and got to celebrate Father’s Day. Quadruple win ;)
• Dessert: Yogurt Park. Um… anything with massive amounts of cookie dough and Reese’s shoved into frozen yogurt is a winner. I’ll never forget this froyo joint– and that is quite a statement.

Favorite Race:

• Bulldog Challenge 10K. Although I loved the Davis Moonlight 10K, this Effingham run was my favorite. I ran with family, had people cheering for me at the end, and got a 10K PR :)

Favorite Recipes:

• Breakfast: Spinach and Cheese Breakfast Bagelwich. I made this breakfast every.single.day for about 2 weeks– it’s so easy and delicious!
• Dinner: Black Bean Tofu Scramble. Mmmmmmm
• Snack: Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting. With pretzels. Oh yeah.
• Dessert: (the above doesn’t count!) Vegan Zucchini Bread. First vegan baked good, made by Lauren…. I won’t forget it.

Favorite Workouts:

• Hiking… Vernal Falls and Almaden Quicksilver were both great!
• My “best workout day ever“
• My first day of doing the “New Rules of Lifting for Women” workouts

Favorites with my friends:

• Trip to Groveland with Vanessa. We had a lot of fun lounging around, eating ice cream from this weird dude (way less sketch than it sounds), working on a large puzzle, and enjoying the lake’s sunset.
• My cardinal/gold party I threw myself… cause I’m cool like that.
• Santa Cruz Beach Day with Vanessa… I especially like the free samples at Marini’s :)
• Hanging out with Madeleine and her awesome coffee maker!!!
• Wine-in-a-box.
• Music in the Park… downtown SJ is always fun/creepy/unique.
• Seeing my old dance friends at dance camp and at Pasta Pomodoro!
• One of the best weekends with lots of great friends :) and only a couple headaches.

Favorites with family:

• Making kabobs with my dad and his family… lots and LOTS of scallops!…. and some froyo ;)
• Having a bakefest and a “Typical Night in the Humble Abode.” Warning: triple layer cake alert!!!
• The huge seafood stew and asparagus risotto my mom made… that was definitely one of my top 3 home-cooked dinners this summer!
• July 3rd at the lake house with LOTS and lots of family.
• Re-enacting my little kid dance skills. VIDEO!
• Going to Great America theme park… the fact that my dad wanted my vegan lunch shocked me.

Favorite Moments:

• Getting in to USC!!!
• Becoming a Runner… when I first decided I wanted to start running more often.
• Lauren’s birthday. I loved putting this post together :)
• Going to USC orientation and falling in love all over again.
• Completing my 30 Day Vegan Challenge.
• Signing up for the Hollywood Half Marathon :) :) :)

Sorry for the link-heavy post. I’m doing this link round-up mostly as a gift to myself (I know, I’m selfish). This will be my go-to post when I’m feeling homesick.

Although, these links and all the photos will probably just worsen the problem.

But that’s okay, I can take it.

Q4U: What was one of your favorite parts of summer?– Favorite dining out experience, workout, recipe, race, vacation, anything!