April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Hopefully! It's been gloomy and rainy for the past few weeks but I have a feeling that as soon as the rain passes it'll be amazing here. We're on holiday again (Spain really knows how to live) and I don't have classes til Thursday. I'm staying here in Madrid but planning on visiting some museums and doing other touristy things I haven't done yet.

I took these photos a few weeks ago around my neighborhood, I really love where I'm living. There are so many plazas with adorable terrazas (terraces) that are perfect for grabbing a quick coffee and catching up with friends.

my building

plaza next to my apartment

park just up the street

playing bocci ball

Homemade Hummus

One of the things I miss about the U.S. is Trader Joe's. Specifically the cilantro-jalapeno hummus. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I looked up a few different recipes for hummus and created my own. I just put garbanzo beans, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon, and hot sauce into a food processor and mixed it all together until it tasted right. Disclosure: I made another batch about a week ago and put wayyyy too much garlic in it and it was pretty terrible potent. So be careful. This is what I used yesterday:

1 jar cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 clove garlic
olive oil (I eye-balled it)
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
a few shakes of cayenne pepper
a few squeezes of lemon juice
hot sauce to taste

Blend together in a food processor and voila! Serve with veggies, pita bread/chips, or on toast :)

it tastes better than it looks, i promise

Up next, sun-dried tomato hummus!

ps- I cook more here than I did in Sacramento... weird

Life is an Adventure

I love this quote.

 via

And I love adventure.

i know you're all jealous of those hiking boots and fleece

Happy hump day!!

Obsessed

Some of you might know this, but for those who don't, here's a little known fact about me: I get obsessed with songs. Like really, really obsessed. Like listen to a song on repeat 15 times a day for a week straight. In college I remember listening to this song at least 40 times just in iTunes, and who knows how many times on my iPod. Then there was one summer where I listened to this song over and over again trying to memorize the lyrics so I could sing along with my roommate. And when I got to Spain I listened to this song constantly because it was playing everywhere and I wanted to know the lyrics so I could fit in. Right now I'm really into this song. I heard it on Grooveshark, and I have no idea if it's popular in the US right now or not, but the video is pretty cool and I love the music and the guy's voice.

           

Here are a few more things I've been obsessed with lately:

zara

I am LUSTING after this skirt. Seriously. I've tried in on 5 times in the past 3 days. I love it, but I just don't know how practical a white skirt would be. Thoughts.... it's also available in yellow, which I'm a fan of.

Trying to find a color similar to this Essie Lilacism nail polish. I refuse to pay € 12,00 for a bottle of nail polish. 

My Grandma used to always tell me to wear lipstick. And I used to think that lipstick was just for grandmas, so I didn't wear it. But I've converted. A lot of Spanish women wear lipstick, so obviously I need to fit in. L'Oreal has a line of intense colors and natural colors created especially for blondes or brunettes, so it helps take away a lot of the guess work that goes with picking out a lipstick. I haven't bought one yet, but every time I walk by a shop that I know will carry them, I put one on and wear it for a few hours. I think I might be close to picking one!

Besos! xo

Amsterdam Continued

Like I mentioned the other day, I didn't take a ton of photos in Amsterdam due to the bike and the torential downpour that took place the entire last day we were there. Our second day there we went on a walking tour in the morning and then rode our bikes over to the brewery. It was really cute and even had a windmill out front. I almost felt like I was at New Belgium again :)

new belguim brewery, fort collins, co cerca 2008

via

After the brewery we just rode our bikes around and enjoyed the sun while it lasted. Here are the rest of the photos from Amsterdam!

Amsterdam was so amazing, and I can understand why so many Americans move there. I'm really bummed the weather was so bad while we were there, but luckily I have a friend living there so hopefully I'll be making another trip this spring!

ps- the reason I'm wearing that hat in every single photo is because it was freezing and raining and my hair was a hot mess. I haven't turned into a Rastafarian. It was, however, the best €1 I've spent to date.