Beating the Heat

I apologize for the double post but it seems that my busy schedule is leaving little time for blogging. So, I am going to take advantage of this down time and keep posting until I run out of inspiration.

It has been unbearably hot in the city. You think I would be used to it after growing up in the South, but it is rather miserable to walk home from the metro when it is over 100 degrees outside. The last thing I want to do when I get home from work is turn on the oven and make something hot for dinner. So, I decided to experiment last week in the kitchen.

When I first saw the recipe for Avocado Pasta on Oh She Glows, I was a little skeptical. I love avocados and I love pasta but I was not sure how the two would taste together. That being said, I am so glad I put my doubts aside and made this dish. It was the perfect summer meal - refreshing and light.

I improvised by cutting the recipe in half and leaving out the basil. I also added some chicken and served with a side of asparagus. So good.

Evening Conversation with Curt Thompson

Last week, the Trinity Forum hosted an Evening Conversation with Dr. Curt Thompson at the National Press Club. Thompson discussed his newest work Anatomy of the Soul, a critically acclaimed book demonstrating how insights from interpersonal neurobiology resonate with spiritual truths - and validating the deep human need for meaningful relationships as a key to a life of hope and fulfillment. 

It was a packed house with over 160 people in attendance!

There I am, holding down the fort at the registration table.

It was my first event with the Trinity Forum and overall I really enjoyed it. When it was all said and done, we took a staff picture:

From left: Carrie, me, Beth, Cherie

The Newseum

On Monday, we toured the Newseum as an office.

It is one of my favorite museums and I was excited about revisiting all of the exhibits. Shelby Coffey, a senior fellow of the Freedom Forum and trustee at the Newseum, was nice enough to give us a tour. There is certainly something to be said about having a such a knowledgeable tour guide.

We tried to take a staff picture but it ended up being a video. Oh well, we tried...

I did not have my camera with me (story of my life) to document everything, but I would highly recommend going. It is definitely worth the admission fee.

The Italian Store

One thing I love about living in the city is the hidden gems of places to eat. My roommates had told me about The Italian Store but yesterday was my first time actually going there.

 I did not have my camera with me, so this picture is from the blog Two DC.

I was a little skeptical because it is located in a strip mall but I was pleasantly surprised. The Italian Store offers just about everything you could ever need to recreate a little piece of Italy at home. From fresh made sandwiches, pizza by the slice, homemade ravioli, wines, cheese, etc, they had it all.

I had half of the Mozzarella sandwich for lunch and the other half heated for dinner.

Hello cheesy deliciousness.

It was so good - if you can't tell from my partially eaten sandwich, I got a little carried away before I snapped a picture.

This may be one for my new go to places. Be on the lookout for some Italian creations from my kitchen. Buona notte! (Goodnight!) 

Catching Up

My apologies for the lack of posts lately, this week has been crazy busy. With Bible study, two happy hours, a dinner, a lunch, and hanging out with old friends, the time for blogging quickly disappeared.

Needless to say, I am enjoying a quiet Saturday at home. After spending a few hours at the pool, I came home and decided to make these No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies from Eat, Live, Run. In case you were wondering, I love chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal. Put them all together and I am in heaven. 

Another thing I liked about this recipe was that it was so simple. We already had all of the ingredients in the house:

Put it all together and you end up with this:

I finally used my cookie scoop!

While Jenna's cookies may have turned out prettier than mine, mine were certainly just as delicious.

Sidetracked

I had every intention to update my blog tonight until my roommate and I started watching this:

Two hours later, it is time to call it a night. On the bright side, I am pretty sure we have found our new Sunday night tv show. It was so good!

Time

One thing I love about being in the working world is having more time on my hands. That might seem ironic since I work from 9-6 Monday through Friday and give myself 40 minutes for my commute to and from work, but it’s the time outside of work that I enjoy the most. I am no longer stressing over research papers, book reviews, and upcoming tests. I don’t have to worry about getting ahead in my reading so that I can spend as many hours at the barn as I want too. (Although, I really miss riding and going to Still Creek Farm.)

But, back to where I was going to this, I love having FREE time. For those of you who don’t know me, my life has always been busy. Between school, riding, babysitting, working, internships, did I mention riding, friends, family, etc.; I have pretty much always had something going on.

Not that my life has slowed down by any means since my move to the big city; but now I have more time to do the things that I love. Whether it’s going to happy hour/dinner, reading a really good book, or just hanging out with my roommates, it is so nice to not have to stress over school work.

I have already read three books this summer and I might actually finish that needlepoint belt I started over a year ago. I have also rekindled my love affair with the kitchen and am looking forward to trying new recipes. On that note, the oven timer just went off. Time to go!

Great Start to the Day

I did this circuit, this morning:

15 jumping jacks

30 push ups

15 dips (which I took to mean split squats)

50 squats

40 crunches 

You are supposed to do it 3 times, but I am a little out of shape so I modified it:

Round 2:

15 jumping jacks

20 push ups

10 dips

30 squats

40 crunches

Round 3:

15 jumping jacks

10 push ups

10 dips

20 squats

40 crunches

Killer, right? Thank you Iowa Girl Eats for her take on this 40 day challenge work out.

So after feeling the burn, I decided to reward myself with this for breakfast:

Almond Butter & Banana Oatmeal
(The plastic container made the lighting weird.)

Stove top oatmeal made with almond milk, cinnamon, a banana, and almond butter...recipe idea taken from Iowa Girl Eats. Shocker, I know. But let's just say, it was absolutely amazing! It made my Thursday morning so much better. I normally savor my coffee in the mornings at work and then eat a later breakfast, but not today! I dove right into my oatmeal as soon as I got to work. Yeah for great starts to the day!

Fourth of July Recap

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! I was fortunate enough to be able to fly home for the weekend and had the best time back in South Carolina. My sister and her husband picked me up from the airport late Friday night and I had the honor of being their first houseguest! I absolutely love their place!

Saturday, we met up with my parents on the way to the beach and I jumped in the car with them. We stopped at Independent Seafood to pick up some necessities for the weekend and came across this outside art show:

Pretty cool, right?

 I am absolutely in love with this picture:

It might have to be mine one day soon...

And of course, it wouldn’t be South Carolina without a little redneck flare:

Gotta love being from the South.

But anyways, after quite the adventure at the seafood market, we headed to the beach for the rest of the weekend. I could not have asked for prettier weather and it was so fun to spend some quality time with the fam.