Stay Classy San Francisco. Or Not.

Scones, Wine, and Boom Clapping All Weekend Long

This weekend, Trisha and I took a little road trip up the coast of California and into San Francisco to visit Katarina for a relaxing Girls Weekend. We took the scenic route for once, and boy, was it pretty. But also, really really long haha. It definitely took much longer than it normally takes us since once you're on the 1, you really can't get off. But it was still really fun to drive with beautiful views, music blasting from the Backstreet Boys to All Time Low, and good company. We even found this little tunnel that looked straight out of Mario Kart (love that game!) haha. Classy score +1.

We definitely had a fun and relaxing Girls Weekend together. And it was really classy for the most part! We took a day trip to Napa Valley and had champagne, stopped at the French Laundry...just kidding, we just got a picture outside. But one day, we will definitely go there! One day far far in the future. Napa is so pretty, and soo perfect for a future wedding or bachelorette party (cough* Trisha). Classy score +3.

We also spent time exploring and walking in San Francisco. We went to Stow Lake and rented some pedal boats. THIS WAS SO TIRING. It was like taking a spin class, except in a lake and you're actually moving. The lake was awesome though--a little oasis in the middle of a big city. It honestly looked like a little forest lake. So out of place in a city like San Francisco, but if I lived in SF, it's the type of place I would spend every day at. Classy score +1.

Andddd of course we did a little bit of shopping. What's a Girls Weekend without some shopping, right? Classy score +1. While shopping we stopped for some Starbucks. Trisha ordered some coffee, but apparently the barista thought her name was Trasha. HAHAHA. Which is hilariously coincidental because that's her drunk name and she may or may not have been slightly drunk at some point this weekend. So classy score -1. Whoops.

But it's okay, we saw the most beautiful sunset on our last night there. The view from Kat's apartment at sunset is on point. A perfect goodbye from San Francisco. Classy score +100.

Art Is Hard. Seriously.

DIY String Art: The Time We Tried To Be Artistic

So, since it's summer and we already played with bubbles... we decided to try another fun summer activity. And we settled on being artistic! Of course, Pinterest probably played a HUGE role in this decision. Basically we were like, why is everything on Pinterest so cute and crafty? Why can't we be cute and crafty?? Why can't we make cute and crafty things??? Challenge accepted.

After searching through the gazillions of cute DIY projects on Pinterest, we settled on string art. Some pins, a cork board, and string, and voila! How hard could that be? UH... REALLY HARD APPARENTLY.

Seriously, it turned out to be way harder than we thought. Pinning the pins took hours and hours (Like, were we doing it wrong? Is there an easier way to do it and we just don't know it??) And while we ended up with some nice looking projects--look how cute my elephant and giraffe are!--we also ended up with huge headaches and aching fingers. I will probably never try to be so Pinteresty again.

HALLELUJAH. FINISHED!

So moral of this story is, everyone on Pinterest probably lies about how long it took them to do their crafts because seriously this giraffe and elephant took 2 days to do. At least it turned out looking nice or I would have been so mad after spending so much time doing it. So Pinterest, can you please stop making all the crafts look so easy? Kay, thank you! Now I'm gonna go find an awesome place to hangout this piece of art. Just call me Picasso. Just kidding, please don't. 

Why Blowing Bubbles Is The Most Awkward Thing Ever

Bubbles are fun and magical. But also really really awkward. Like you just make the most awkward faces, and most awkward poses playing with bubbles. And if somebody drove by, they would probably think you're a crazy person jumping and running around with a stick in your hand. 

This week we found these bubbles on sale at the store. $1 bubbles??? YES PLEASE. 

And of course, we took SUPER awkward pictures while playing with them. But it's okay we're not embarrassed to look like fools. And Sydney is not ashamed to make little girls in the neighborhood jealous by yelling about her love for bubbles in front of them but then not sharing them. We just love bubbles. #sorrynotsorry.

Happy bubbling, ya'll!

How To Eat Breakfast Even When You're Too Tired

Sleeping Morning Breakfasts: Easy Edition

Truth: When I wake up in the morning, I'm grumpy and still tired. I'm hungry, don't feel like cooking, but I need to eat breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I always start my day off with some kind of breakfast.

 This week, I made a run to the grocery store for some breakfast essentials and used them to make different breakfasts everyday. Each one took no more than 5 minutes to make--they were soo easy! 

What I bought: acai smoothie packs, a variety of fruit, wheat germ, plain Greek yogurt, slivered almonds, cacao nibs, and coconut shavings. I also already had honey and eggs at home. All it takes is combining different breakfast essentials to make different combinations. Even though it make seem a little pricey to buy all of those items, I didn't use them all up in a week and still have plenty left to make more breakfast this week. 

1. Acai Bowl

This was the first breakfast I made, so I went all out. The acai packs come sweetened or unsweetened, but I like to buy things unsweetened so I sweeten everything to my taste. I added strawberries and a banana, then blended it all together. I topped it with some more banana (I love bananas!) sliced on top, slivered almonds, coconut shavings, and cacao nibs. The cacao nibs are really bitter so I didn't add that many.

It's really delicious especially on hot summer mornings, and is even better if you freeze the fruit before you blend it all up so it's icy cold. I like to eat them in mugs.

2. Yogurt with "Granola" and Fruit

I love yogurt, but yogurt doesn't fill me up for very long on its own. So, on this day, I paired some yogurt with a fresh banana and a giant peach.

For the yogurt, I started with ~3/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt and drizzled in honey. Then I stirred it together really well because I don't like honey clumps in the yogurt. Instead of topping it with granola, I made my own "granola" using a couple spoonfuls of wheat germ, almonds, coconut shavings, and a few cacao nibs. So easy!

3. Hard Boiled Egg & Lots of Fresh Fruit

Hard boiled eggs are a definite breakfast essential for me. Make them in advance for the week and store them in the fridge. Plus, it's always really weird to boil just a single egg when you want to eat one, so you might as well just boil a few at the same time.

But a single egg is definitely not a filling enough breakfast. I was particularly lazy on this morning, so all I did was pair a hard boiled egg with a big bowl of cherries and fresh mangos. YES. This was the easiest breakfast of all to make because I really didn't make anything. Who ever said breakfast cheaters never prosper??

4. Breakfast Smoothie!

I absolutely loveeee smoothies. SOOO MUCH. I literally get brain freeze just about every time I have a smoothie because I try to drink them so fast, but they're totally worth it. This week I made a strawberry/banana/peach smoothie. I think that all smoothies should have a little bit of banana in them, or they just don't taste right or don't have the right consistency. But then again, not everybody loves bananas as much as I do.

First, I blended together a whole banana, a whole peach, a couple of strawberries, and a few ice cubes. I like to blend all of the fruit together first--before adding in yogurt--so I can see how much yogurt I want to put in depending on how much fruit there is. Then I add in some yogurt (usually about a couple of spoonfuls),  re-blend it, and it's ready to drink! It's also good to add the yogurt last in case you put in too much fruit, or else you'll end up with a whole gallon of smoothie if you're not careful! I almost always end up making more smoothie than I thought I would.

5. Strawberry Yogurt 

Last but not least, I made a big bowl of strawberry yogurt. I started with about a cup of plain Greek yogurt and mixed in a little bit of honey. Then I cut up a cup of strawberries into small chunks and smooshed them into the yogurt using a spoon until the yogurt turned pink. Some chunks of strawberry remained, which is perfect. I added a lot of strawberries because I love them, plus it fills me up. Then I mixed in a couple spoons of wheat germ, and topped with almonds and cacao nibs. 

Yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in is always more filling than plain yogurt with granola topping, like I did on the 2nd day. So this was actually already a filling enough breakfast. 

So that was my week of experimenting with easy breakfasts. If you can't already tell, I really do love strawberries and bananas. So that's why I pretty much used strawberries and bananas in everything. 

The hardest part of the whole process was probably the cleaning up part, because I HATE CLEANING. But the breakfasts were all delicious and didn't take a lot of time or energy to make, so all in all, it was a successful week of eating breakfast :)