I’m obsessed with the “dump and devour” method.

Cereal. Salads. Stir-fry. Very little effort. Dump. Devour. Move on.

Normally, the pre-packaged stuff has some of those extra lovely preservatives to keep it “fresh,” but Trader Joes has a variety of pre-chopped veggies (JUST veggies) that make my life so much easier and still allow me to eat [fairly] clean. You know, when I’m not digging around the kids’ prize box for some Hot Cheetos.

Take, for example, the riced cauliflower. It made for such an easy meal on Tuesday night. (When, after a Tuesday at work, you really just need an easy, no-brainer meal).

Riced cauliflower out of a bag. Pre-chopped veggies out of a bag. And two eggs.

Cauliflower fried rice.

Dump. Dump. Dump.

In one pot.

Devour.

Question of the Day:

• What’s your favorite dump-and-devour meal? 

Yesterday was National Margarita Day and I didn’t partake. [It’s like I’m an adult or something.]

In other big news, I survived Monday. Which I was pretty surprised about.

I had booked my flight back from Vegas so that I would land at 10:30 and have the rest of Sunday to prep for the week. Instead, I got off the plane and went on a 9-mile hike.

We went back to John Nicholas but, this time, we kept walking past the reservoir.

At one point, we crossed a bridge that had THOUSANDS of ladybugs on it. It was surreal. Some were sleeping. Some were playing. Some were posing for pictures.

  

We would have kept going, but my bladder couldn’t hang. So we decided to turn around and vowed to come back again and go for the full length of the trail.

After the hike, we went to Trader Joes and stocked up on some healthy groceries for the week. Well….99% healthy. 1% chocolate goodness.

After unpacking the groceries, I got to work making dinner and soup for Soup Club this week.

I decided to make this delicious looking soup for everyone and I’m pretty impressed with how it turned out.

And, instead of working while the soup cooked, I read Harry Potter. Because I’m officially addicted.

But the best part of the day was getting this fun surprise.

I said yes. Obviously.

<3

So you can understand why I wasn’t prepared for Monday.

But it was worth it.

It always is.

Questions of the Day:

• Did you celebrate National Margarita Day?
  
• Have you read all the Harry Potter books? How many times?

This past weekend, I flew out to Vegas to celebrate this beautiful bride-to-be.

Any time I get to see this girl makes me the happiest. But this weekend, as we all gathered together in the Albert’s home, I felt especially lucky to have stumbled across our friendship in 2004.

Gina’s world came together on Saturday afternoon. Family, college friends, post-college friends, and co-workers.

We all came together to celebrate the future Mrs. Pearl and I was reminded just how easy it is to love this girl.

Mama and Papa Albert spent months prepping the beautiful decorations and centerpieces. And the newly-retired Papa Albert spent hours upon hours painting sticks and signs.

I’n not the crafting kind so I participated in the chopping of the vegetables and putting together the Mimosa Bar.

As everyone began to arrive, guests helped themselves to mimosas and appetizers while we chatted away.

And, as the conversation carried into the late afternoon/early evening, I realized that I wasn’t the only one counting my blessings.

Everyone had stories to share about how Gina was one-of-a-kind and how fortunate they were to have formed a friendship with her at some point in their lifetime.

It was such a wonderful way to celebrate Gina and Tyler’s upcoming wedding. It’s only two months away!

The countdown is ON!

This past weekend was unbelievable and looking through all these pictures makes me want to push rewind and re-live it all over again.

Friday:

We got all sorts of special treats at school. Have I mentioned how difficult it is to maintain self-control when you work at a school? The carbs are EVERYWHERE. They just multiply on holidays.

Right after work, we hit the road to get to Groveland before dark. The “before dark” thing didn’t happen because we were starving by the time we hit Oakdale so we had to stop for dinner.

Once we got to Pine Mountain Lake, we fell asleep immediately. There’s something about sitting in long-weekend-traffic that is completely and utterly exhausting.

Saturday:

We woke up bright and early and went to Mount Sage for some coffee, quick fuel, and some Prana cuddles.

We strolled through “Downtown” Groveland (which took all of 5 minutes) and then decided to stop at the market to buy some supplies for the day.

I saw the cutest ol’ man buying a greeting card and flowers for his wife. I wanted to squeeze him. But that would have been weird. So I settled for taking a creepy stalker picture.

Later in the afternoon, we strolled down to the lake.

Trees. Water. Sunshine. Good company.

(Pretty sure that’s the formula for happiness)

When we got back to the cottage, we made pizza and watched a few movies. (And by “WE watched a few movies,” I mean, “Divya fell asleep.”)

Sunday:

We packed our daypacks and drove to Yosemite for the day.

  
Larissa recommended Mirror Lake (she had done it the previous day), so we followed suit. Except we decided to venture off trail for a bit.

Naturally, my feet got wet. I despise hiking with wet feet.

Luckily, the surrounding scenery was too beautiful to stay angry for long.

Once we got back on the trail, we stopped by the stream to eat lunch. Deli sandwiches + trail mix are the best companions on a long hike.

Mirror Lake was so beautiful and it left me wanting more. There’s so many things to do and see in Yosemite but, unfortunately, our hike lasted most of the day and we had to head back to PML before dark.
The traffic leaving the park was horrible. But, again, the scenery made it a little more bearable.

Monday:

We woke up, said our goodbyes, and went on our merry way back to the Bay. Having the extra day off helped alleviate some of the end-of-weekend-blues. So did the pitstop at Oakdale Cheese Shop.

A perfect way to break up the drive. Grilled cheese sandwich + tomato soup + a side of free cheese samples.

Once I was back, I went into prep mode almost immediately. I unpacked, drove over to the grocery store, and got cookin’. Literally.
  
While the food cooled off, we walked to the theatre behind my apartment complex and watched How to Be Single. I enjoyed it but that’s because I enjoy anything with Rebel Wilson.

When we got back to the apartment, there was a nice little present waiting on my doorstep.

I didn’t waste any time and tore into the package because I knew what goodies were waiting for me.

I’m excited for all the products but was most excited for Vetiver.

I rubbed some of that on my forehead before I fell asleep last night and, no joke, I slept so peacefully all through the night. 

I like to think it was the Vetiver working it’s magic. But it could very well be the active weekend spent outdoors and this was my body just trying to gear up for the week ahead.

Either way, gearing up requires a bit of caffeine. So I’m going to go take care of that before I start getting ready for work.

Have a fantastic Tuesday. Hope you return to work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated!

Questions of the Day:

• What was the last movie you watched in the theater?
  
• Did you food prep this weekend? What did you make?

Happy Friday!

We have Presidents Day off on Monday so I will be heading to Yosemite for the long weekend! I can’t wait to spend all weekend outside! We are technically staying in Groveland, which is 45 minutes away from Yosemite, so we’ll probably only drive out to the park on one of the days. But there are plenty of local trails that will keep us busy so I’m SUPER excited to spend all weekend outside!

But before I get carried away with all the weekend plans, let’s take a look at this past week. In the form of fun facts.

• I ate breakfast 4/5 days this week. I love starting my morning off slowly. And, even more importantly, I love starting it off with breakfast at home instead of grabbing whatever I can from Starbucks.

• I feel as though I’ve gotten better at yoga since starting last year, but I can’t help but feel like this “Where’s Waldo” lookalike on occasion.

  
  

• Even though I’m spending all weekend outside, it did not stop me from taking advantage of the early release day yesterday.

We had originally planned to do Castle Rock so we started driving in that direction on Skyline (off the 17). But then randomly stumbled upon this trailhead.

The John Nicholas trail is a pretty easy hike that leads to a reservoir. Some day I want to go back and do the full loop, but for yesterday, the in-and-out to the reservoir was the perfect length and difficulty.

  

• My mom loves the number 11. I frequently get texts at 11:11 with screenshots of the time. And this week, I got 11 emojis. For good luck, of course.

  

• I ordered a few more products from Doterra this month. I’m pretty excited for the box to get here. I’m still just as obsessed with my oils as I was after the very first day.

That’s all for now.

Time to get up and get packing for the weekend ahead!

Happy Friday to all!

Questions of the Day:

• What is your go-to breakfast?
  
• What are you doing for the long weekend?