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Ladies and gentlemen the time is finally here. Tomorrow morning I'm putting myself on a plane to go home to arguably one of the best places on earth. 

Austin, Texas y'all. 

While I am used to being away from home and part of the reason I chose to school in NY... I am not used to being away for over 6 months. While I pride myself on my ability to be a girl in her early 20s that can march to the beat of her own drum, I just need to go home. This time it's about family for me. I have a niece waiting for me to become her Godmother on Saturday, a sister who I haven't seen since the end of February, and two pups that I need kisses from! It's time to surround myself with the people who have been there for me my whole life...and eat a lot of good food. 

If you know me at all I am a Texan through and through and I will always stick up for the Lone Star State. Yes Yankess, I am looking at you.... I invite you to Texas so you can quit thinking it's all farms! Needless to say, it's about damn time for my return, even if it's only for 5 days...sigh. What's even more crazy is that after those 5 days my mom and dad will be joining me back here in Rochester to help get me settled in my new place so I can start my SENIOR YEAR of college...WHAT. Yeah, I am going to postpone my anxiety about that for later.

Besides family, my bed and my dogs I am looking forward to FOOD. Yes, food. I love food. I especially love the food I can find in Texas. 

Things at the top of my "To-Eat" list include:

Chuy's Tex-Mex

Z Tejas

Salt Lick Barbecue

Homeslice Pizza

Saltgrass Steakhouse

Tio Dan's Puffy Tacos

Round Rock Donuts

Juan in a Million

...the list goes on. I'm not even worried about the potential 5 pounds I will gain. When in Austin, right?

Post Vacation Rituals

…with food. 

With my recent lifestyle change I have been paying attention to what I put in my body. Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, I’m not the hippie psycho that HAS to be all natural, all this or all that…I just like to put a main filter on what I am consuming.

A typical day for me will consist of a smoothie, a green juice, a small snack and a bigger meal that I try to eat at lunch-time. Training my body to get used to its new way of life was no easy task as I love chocolate cake and ice cream as much as everyone else.

This is the part where this thing called “vacation” slips into your life and you allow yourself to indulge not for just one or two meals, but for a few days! In my own philosophy I think it is important to let yourself have a sweet treat or something fried every now and then because it’s important to understand that it’s not about never eating those goodies again, it’s about portions and control.

So vacation. Vacation brings (for my family) fried food in the form of fish n’ chips, the occasional ice cream, the morning walk to Dunkin’ Donuts—donut included, the extra snack at the random bar you decided to grab a beer at & so on. You see what vacation did there? Processed fats, hydrogenated oils, sugar for days, your BFF sodium, and some extra carbs on the side!

Others may not struggle with weaning off these bad YUMMY foods, but I definitely do. The minute I feed myself all those things my cravings ramp up. I have a hard time getting them under control and getting back to my normal way of life. It’s things like the free bagels at work yesterday…did I need one? No. Did I eat one anyway? Duh. It was delicious. But you see that bagel then effs up my craving system for the rest of the damn day. So how do I get it to stop?

Water. Water is a small miracle. After all those nasty foods my hands were so swollen from the influx of sodium and other crap that I put in my body. The best way to counteract the sodium is by drinking lots of H20 throughout the day. Not only does water help me reduce swelling but it keeps me FULL and less likely to reach for the random bagel, check out the chip drawer or snack on all the free m&ms our office has to offer—a blessing and a curse I tell you.

On Monday evening I knew I had to get my ish together quickly or the rest of the week would be a gorge-fest. Environmentally-friendly people please don’t hate me but I bought a 3 liter bottle of water from the grocery store so I could CHALLENGE myself to consume the whole thing. I work best if I can challenge myself. Playing a sport for years really paid off. And guess what?! I drank the whole thing. My rings fit onto my finger again. I lost a half of a pound…not a lot but come on that was definitely from the water drinking! I haven’t convinced myself to run yet… ;) Maybe today or maybe tomorrow—running is for another post.

Of course there are a whole other host of tips and tricks that will help to get you back on track. But after this 4^th of July, water has been my key. 

Now go fill up a glass of water and enjoy!

4th of July Weekend Pt. III- Martha's Vineyard

Saturday, the 6th, was our last full vacation day—activity wise—so we headed to Martha’s Vineyard for the day. 

We drove to Cape Cod to catch a ferry over. The ferry ride was about 25-30 minutes. The ferry took us into Oak Bluffs. I should mention that it was freakin’ HOT. Like, oh my lord sweat is dripping off me, hot. Somewhere between the actual temperature and the amount of humidity, I began to lose my sanity. 

Oak Bluffs was PACKED with tourists and beach-like shops. Because we were so hot, I think we were easily overwhelmed by the amount of people that were around us and wanted to get out of there ASAP. We quickly settled on a $7 bus pass that would allow us to hop on and off a city bus to go in between parts of the island. I had been told several times to check out Edgartown so we headed there. 

Y’all, Edgartown is where it’s at—such a different vibe from the chaotic Oak Bluffs. First, there was A LOT more shade to walk in, so we weren't melting and there seemed to be less touristy type shopping and more actual shopping that everyone in the fam enjoyed. We actually ended up spending the rest of our time at MV in Edgartown. Dinner was delicious. I had a Greek-inspired sea bass dish and I wouldn’t have changed my dinner choice for the world. 

I definitely think we will go back to MV in the future. Next time we would spend a night there. Beach day in the morning/afternoon and then clean up and eat dinner and shop around. Enjoy the rest of vacation pics!

My mom and I on the way to MV

Sunset on the ferry back to Cape Cod

Long day = ferry nap time

4th of July Weekend Pt. I - Rhode Island

We arrived in Portsmouth, RI around 1 AM on Wednesday night at my grandparent’s place. This is the third time I've road tripped there from Rochester and every time it’s at night. One of these days I will learn that this is a bad idea. For some reason the last two hours through Massachusetts and Rhode Island are brutal. Somewhere between the low (45-50 mph) speed limit and the lack of lighting on the highways—one begins to feel like they are on a journey to nowhere.

I woke up on the 4^th exhausted but excited to spend some time with my family. My grandparents were scheduled to fly to Spain for the rest of the summer at 5 pm out of Boston so we had a few hours to spend with them before they left. My grandmother is a wonderful woman—preparing to spend more than a month away in a different country always involves a lot of work however, she managed to wake up and make one of my favorite traditional Spanish dishes so I could have a taste of Spain before she left.

I have never had paella in a restaurant in the United States—ever—just what my grandmother has made. So I can’t even make a recommendation on where to try it or get it if you can. I can suggest that if you are ever in Spain at a restaurant that serves family-style (most do), this is a MUST HAVE. Traditionally paella has some clams in it along with chicken and shrimp but for the sake of time this one only has chicken and shrimp in it. Either way, it is still delicious.

While my dad drove my grandparents to the airport in Boston we killed some time in Newport just hopping in and out of shops and enjoying the scenery. On the way into town my uncle took us on a little detour to see the Newport mansions on Bellevue . If you are ever in the area go check them out, they’re unreal. I have never actually taken a tour of one of them, we always drive by, but just looking at them will make your jaw drop.

It was HOT in RI this weekend. Even as a native Texan I struggled. Dry heat is one thing…but heat + humidity is a whole other ball game. The heat called for a stop in the White Horse Tavern. My mom was told by a man on her plane that she should go check it out. Constructed in 1652, the White Horse is one of the oldest taverns in the United States. I’m not sure if it was because we heard it was awesome and I set a mental expectation for it but I honestly thought it kind of sucked. The actual tavern itself had a cool atmosphere, you could tell the place had a ton of history and the way it was shaped was neat…but food/drink wise I give it a C. There were maybe 5 beers on tap—I would expect a lot more—and the little pizza we ordered was far from your normal bar pizza.

My dad returned from Boston and grabbed us from Newport. Unanimously we decided that before continuing July 4^th festivities that we needed a nap. We returned to the condo and all 4 of us were OUT. An hour later we were ready to go. We threw on our swim suits and headed to a friend of my Aunt and Uncle for a little BBQ and water fun on the Sakonnet River. Nick and I hopped on the two person kayak and took it for a spin. We kayaked around the mini island in the bay and watched Olive, the newfie, swim.

On the Sakonnet River

After the sun went down we headed to watch some fireworks! The show itself was kind of slow but after finding out that it was put together by donations it made more sense. Despite how slow the fireworks were, the finale didn't disappoint!

All in all it was a great first day of vacation. Part II to come tomorrow!

Five Day Weekend

Last week I learned my company is extra American.

Initially the office was scheduled to be closed on July 4^th & 5^th …which is pretty sweet. I know some people who don’t have the 5^th off—how rude.

BUT we found out that the office would be closed on July 3^rd as well!! Yes, a 5 day weekend please.

So what am I doing to celebrate this momentous occasion? Well, first I am sleeping in because unfortunately my travel buddy doesn't work for a company as cool as mine and has some deadlines to meet. Then I am planning on meeting up with my friend who will be in town for some lunch. And shortly after that the car is getting packed up and we are off to Rhode Island for the 4^th!

I am beyond excited for some R&R and most importantly time with my family. It has been weird to not be home for the summer but at the same time I find it so relaxing.

I haven’t seen my dad since late February and it’s been about a month since I've seen my mom. My grandparents are off to Spain for the rest of the summer and are letting us take over their condo/house/thing. But more importantly, I was able to convince my grandmother to make TWO signature Spanish dishes for us before she heads off to the motherland…party in my mouth y’all!

It’s ironic that I come from one of the biggest states in the U.S. and we are off to vacation in the tiniest. If you’re familiar with RI at all you know that you can drive through the whole thing in a hot minute but the speed limits are SO LOW. I’m not kidding. A main road that is typically 55 MPH is about 45 MPH…if you’re lucky. It takes some serious patience to drive over there. I just need to remember to breathe.

We will be staying in Portsmouth at my grandparents and my uncle lives about 2 minutes away. Newport is about a 10 minute drive so some time will definitely be spent there. We have a little trip to Martha’s Vineyard planned; I have always wanted to check it out.

Newport, RI via

Martha's Vineyard via

What are your plans for the 4^th?