I love Mondays

You don't hear too many people say they love Mondays, but it is so true for me.
I got so much accomplished today, and feel so good right now. Everything for my study abroad trip is coming together, I'm just finishing up a few projects and papers (my biggest one is complete! Good bye FormZ, hallelujah!), Mexico is only three days away, and I'm happy as can be. I'm pretty sure this is the exact opposite of how I was feeling last week... but I'm glad I'm here now.
I hope you all had a fantastic Easter, here's a peek of what mine looked like, or at least the delicious cupcakes my sister made. We didn't get one picture of my family, mostly because we didn't leave the poolside all day and hula hooped and jump roped like we were in 5th grade again. It was great.



So I'm thinking of starting another blog, but my other one will be more event, design and wedding planning inspiration. I'm still deciding if this is a good idea and if I'll actually have enough time to pay attention to both, so we'll see. What do you think? Does any one have two blogs, is it too much to handle or nice to have two separate outlets for different ideas?

Any who... I've come upon a predicament about this summer.. what to do when I get back from the UK. Do I stay at home, take a summer class, and drive to work on Tempe Town Lake or go to Northern Michigan and be a little outrageous? ;] I don't know if that second offer still stands, but it is sounding more and more tempting to live lakeside and work in a little downtown store or coffee shop. I can't help wanting to see even more of the country! Ah, what to do!
Sorry this is so long, but check this out.. it's like Pandora but more customizable(and less commercials!)
grooveshark.com
Have a great week!
Alex

When life gives you lemons...

Another whirlwind of a week. I was stuck in a rut, just day after day of bad moods and bad days. But happy is a state of mind and I have snapped out of it after a couple of good days, but they were probably only good days because I am consciously making the decision to appreciate the good things. Anyways, sometimes words from complete strangers are the most impactful of all. A guy came in to my restaurant today, to get change for the bus with a friend. All he kept repeating the whole time was always positive, never negative. This just really stuck with me, and although it's really hard to follow the never negative part, why not try?
So here's to making really awesome lemon squares with the lemons life has given me.

Hooray for pictures with my new camera!

As for what I've been doing the past week and a half;
- Got the programmer position, and got placed in Cholla apartments. Hello planning awesome events at my apartment complex, and even more awesome because there's going to be excited freshman living here that will want to come to the things I plan!
- Went to frisbee for the first time in like three weeks because elections are finally over, hence the above position.
- Celebrated my Grandma's birthday at Mary Coyle's ice cream parlor, and spent some time with the family. Which of course included squeezing the whole fam into my brother's suburban and singing Whip My Hair, yes I have the greatest family in history.
- I have no finals, but have an excessive amount of papers and projects all due next week! Here's to dedicating my whole weekend to getting them done before Mexico next weekend!
- Helped out with the end-of-the-year comedy show and met Joel McHale! His set was hilarious and he was super cool.

- Finally had a work social where all the awesome people from my work got together and hung out and chilled by the pool, so much fun to hang out outside of work!
- Just found out TODAY that I was awarded the Study Abroad grant I applied for. Hello free money to pay for my trip! Soooo amazing!

Have a good Friday and happy happy Easter weekend! I know I can't wait for all the chocolate-y goodness the Easter Bunny is bringing me!
Alex

Thrift Store Gold

So, I was on rainy day schedule this past Saturday, since I work on Tempe Town Lake and no one wants to rent a boat when it's rainy... I got off work! A Saturday with no work?! I couldn't believe it either. I figured I had to take advantage of it somehow, and to celebrate I went with my co-worker and awesome friend Paige to the most amazing place I've ever been. Okay, maybe not most amazing place ever, but thrift store wise it definitely takes the cake. It may have been that I haven't been shopping in about 4 months, but I think even besides that it was a pretty epic store. It is called Tiedemann's Family Thrift and it is in Tempe. I normally wouldn't disclose the name of such a treasure, but they're closing in two weeks and I want as many people to experience this gem as possible! It's like they took a bunch of the cool stuff from Goodwill and put it all in this store, AND made it cheaper. I got six shirts and two dresses... all for $26! I broke my New Year's Resolution of no shopping until Europe, but I think for that price and the awesome stuff I got it was totally worth it. There are a few things I had my eye on but didn't end up getting. Maybe I'll go with my sister before they close and get the big A & M letters they had, or a cool frame I saw. I hope you make it out there, because it is definitely worth it! Let me know if you go and what you find!




Now I'm off to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because I have always wanted to see it and prepare for the crazy week ahead!
Have a great week!
Alex

Tofu Cheesecake, say what?

I know I have been lacking in the posting lately, but just stay with me! I have a crazy month ahead with lots of interviews, elections and applications headed my way! I will keep you posted as my (hopefully) new positions come. So I will save that for another post.

Here is what I made last week that I have been dying to make for quite some time. Tofu Cheesecake! Yes, I know.. about 90% of people see this and are automatically turned off, but give it a chance! I made mine crust less because I didn't have any graham crackers lying around. Here is the recipe I used. I did cut this in half because the limited amount of cream cheese I had, and, well, because I would be the only one eating this and I was trying to not tempt myself too badly.






Filling:
1½ pounds silken tofu
12 ounces soy cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all of these ingredients in a mixing bowl until most of the lumps are out, making sure to lick the spoon because I found the batter delicious! :] Then you can pour the batter mixture into a round pan and cook for about 15 minutes. This is very flexible; the recipe said 20-25, but the top of mine was already brown by 15 minutes. Granted it may not be the prettiest thing, and the top was a little crispy, but I really enjoyed the outcome! I feel healthier eating this over regular cheesecake, even though it stills requires hefty amounts of cream cheese and sugar and probably isn't, but oh well! This is a great dessert when you want to try something different and use the spare tofu that's been sitting in your fridge.

I now have my new baby, my Canon G12!! Ahhh, I cannot tell you how excited I am to start taking some great shots with this beauty! I am getting my case in the next week and will be hopefully taking it everywhere and taking some amazing pictures. I cannot wait! Stay tuned!

I'll be in a Stand Up Paddle board race on Saturday at Tempe Town Lake with some of the girls from my work, come check us out! Have a grrrreat weekend!
Alex

April Rules!

I cannot believe it is April already! Where is the Spring going?! Anyways, I've been delaying a new post to get pictures from the fantastic AZ Blogger Meet up, but I haven't gotten around to getting them from my sister. Since my silly self forgot my camera! But, I could not resist a new post on this toasty Friday night. April has a lot in store, and I am both nervous and excited for all of them. There are several interviews I will be going to for an internship and positions in organizations. Then there are elections for the event programmer position I am applying for. After this it will be determined if I'll be living on campus, or somewhere else, which would be nice to start figuring out! There is Relay for Life, Regionals and Sectionals for my frisbee team, and lots and lots of work. I went to my Study Abroad meeting yesterday and it got me so so sooo excited to go to the UK. I cannot wait! There is so much to learn and see and I am stoked to be able to open my mind to a whole new culture - three for that matter. I am stressing about the loans and financial aid I may or may not be getting, but I will work my hardest to make it happen.

Today I worked and then went hiking with my great friend Dubs :] So we went to hike Camelback mountain, and we thought we did once we got to the top, until I heard a couple pointing out Camelback mountain (and it wasn't the one we were on) so I had to ask the odd question, What mountain am I on? They told me that we were on Squaw Peak. So we hiked the completely wrong mountain, but no doubt it was pretty hard work and super hot (98 degrees!) and a lot of fun! :] We're hoping to make this hiking thing somewhat routine, and hopefully next time we'll hike the real Camelback!

Anyways, another highlight of my day was that I got my CAMERA!! Okay do I didn't get it, get it. But I have to package slip in my hands.. now I just have to wait until Monday because I work all day tomorrow and they're closed on Sunday. But as of Monday I will have my beautiful Canon G12! CAN'T WAIT! Expect a lot more awesome pictures and fun things because I am super excited to take pictures with my new camera! Look forward to it! :]

Thanks for putting up with my rambling post and week absence from the blogosphere! And a special welcome to all my new followers from the Blogger Meet Up! I met some awesome girls and can't wait to continue following all of their amazing blogs!

Happy Friday & weekend!
Alex