Kauai, Hawaii

The phrase, 'Just go,' is constantly running through my head.  I have fallen deeply in love with traveling.  Layovers and long car rides provide me with ample time to ponder my place in this world.  I am reminded with each new adventure how many people there are on this planet and the infinite number of paths we choose to take.  

I recently took a trip to Kauai, Hawaii and thought I would share some of the breathtaking moments from my experience on the island.

For more photos of my adventures, visit my Instagram account!

Desert Paradise

I made it to Arizona!  Traveling always exceeds my expectations in the best of ways.  This trip proved no different when my mental image was brought to reality.  It was more beautiful and warm than I had imagined.  Even after a short trip, I feel changed by this experience.

Over the last year of my life, I have taken chances that I never predicted for myself.  My comfort zone has transformed from a space into more of a mental state.  Instead of decorating my house, I have begun to decorate my life with experiences.  As a traveler, I bring back souvenirs in the form of stories and new friendships.  The more of these I make, the more I wish to collect.  While some of these friendships may only last for the length of a layover or the span of a day, I cherish them in my heart.  Another important lesson I've learned through travel is that most people want companionship, be it sharing the clues of a crossword puzzle to pass the hours in a seat on a plane or chatting over coffee on the porch of a hostel.  Every time I travel, I set out alone, yet very rarely end up actually being lonely along the way.

My nervous anticipation has become as familiar as an old friend.  I wonder if I will ever lose that tingle that washes over me when I am headed for someplace I have never been.  Each time my bags are packed and I'm headed out the driveway, it emerges from somewhere within me and crawls across my skin.  Instead of feeling fearful, though, I can now associate this familiar emotion with excitement.  On my first few trips away from home, I was nearly paralyzed by the thought of the unknown creeping through me.  I can now compare it to the anxiousness that used to accompany the first day of school or moving into my dorm in college.  Stifling this is like attempting to halt inevitability.  It just won't happen.  I embrace it and recognize the feeling for what it is now; a mental facade that can either hold me back or propel me forward.

While I was in Arizona, I had the opportunity to take a rock climbing course.  The day of the course, that familiar nervous itch was spreading across my being and I was doubting my ability to even show up.  I focused my courage, though, and headed to the rocks.  I hate being the beginner at anything and climbing, especially so.  I struggle with the thought of failure or making a mistake, but these things are simply a part of learning how to climb (not to mention the huge mental barriers that need breaking while I'm up there).  Luckily, my instructor was incredibly understanding of this nervousness and his encouragement was welcomed as I climbed my way up my first multi-pitch route.  I have less of a fear of falling than I do of failing.  So, the feeling of elation as I reached the top was unlike any other feeling of success.  I had pushed my boundaries physically and, especially, mentally.  Not only was I climbing, but I was entrusting a complete stranger to keep me safe, along with being in a new place quite far from my family and friends.  Once it was all 'scend and done (I think I'm punny), I couldn't have been more happy with myself for taking the chance to experience this.

The next day, I was off to see the Grand Canyon.  What I had envisioned as a solo road trip from Phoenix turned out to be a long ride accompanied by a complete stranger.  She was staying in the bunk below me at the Phoenix Hostel and had nothing to do on the day of my trip.  I welcomed the companionship and brought along a woman twice my age who had never seen the Grand Canyon, either.  It's amazing how easily conversation flows with like-minded people.  By the end of the day, the wonder of the canyon was less intriguing to me than listening to her stories of working in the Peace Corps.  As we drove across Arizona's many varying (and breathtaking) landscapes, I learned all about her life.  We didn't even turn the radio on once.

As I travel, I collect pieces of all of the people I encounter.  I jot down things I notice about everyone from the cashier at a coffee shop to the woman I spent the day exploring the Grand Canyon with, whom I may never see or speak to again.  The personalities, stories and opinions of other people have become a precious resource and its abundance has me anxious to venture further.  The more people I meet from all sorts of different places only opens my eyes wider to the infinite paths a life can take.  We each are a culmination of the choices that lead us in certain directions.  Choosing to pursue my dreams of seeing so many different places has become, not only about the geography, but about the characters that fill my life story; not only about the vastness of the world, but that of humanity.  These are the people who fertilize my ambitions and help me grow to reach horizons I have not yet imagined.  I owe so much to the people I have met along the way and most of them don't even know the impact they have left on someone else's life.

So, remember, you never know if you're the subject of someone else's journal entry.

Greek Yogurt Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips

When it comes to sugar, I am the first person with sticky fingers if it's anywhere in the vicinity.  If it were up to my palette and not my waistline, there would be donuts for dinner, cookies for lunch and all the coffee cake and muffins I could shovel down for breakfast.

Luckily, I've discovered small ways to incorporate sweet things into a healthy diet.  I was checking out Julia's Album and knocked over a recipe for Greek yogurt muffins with chocolate chips.  With a Saturday afternoon at my disposal and all of the ingredients in the kitchen, I couldn't resist. 

I have ambitions of opening something along the lines of a bakery at some point in my life.  One day a long, long time ago, my Grandma let me bake "cookies" with any ingredients I chose.  Those cookies lacked flour of any kind and I can only remember them being rather like gooey blobs than anything that resembled a cookie.  For my sake, Grandma stomached whatever concoction I had created and I'm pretty sure she did it with a smile, too.

With that small ounce of encouragement (despite my realization later that they must have been atrocious and I cannot believe we ate them.. because I pretended to like the mush, too, ironically), I grew to love baking.  After learning more about health and alternative ingredients, I'm anticipating a bakery full of zucchini brownies and sweet potato muffins.

For today, though, I thought I would try out this Greek yogurt muffin recipe.  The thing I love about Greek yogurt is it's versatility.  I can have it on a taco or use it in my baking or gobble spoonfuls, just plain with fruit and honey on top.   

For this recipe, I used dark chocolate chips because I feel less guilty eating those in the morning.  

You can see the base recipe I used here, but because I like to experiment I changed it up a bit.

GREEK YOGURT MUFFINS WITH DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour   
1 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sunflower oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup  dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk oil, eggs and yogurt together in another bowl.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir together. Don't stir too much because the mixture gets stickier with each rotation.  Fold chocolate chips into the mixture.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Yields about 14 small to medium muffins

Not to toot my own horn, but ... TOOOT! These are wonderful in a light and fluffy kind of way. The subtle sweetness of the dark chocolate chips is delightful paired with the not too sweet muffin. I will definitely be grabbing one of these on the way out the door in the morning for the next few days!

If you liked this, you might also like Avocado Stuffed Turkey Burgers, Watermelon Spritz Delight or Banana & Egg Pancakes.

Hidden Treasure

So, despite my general opposition to shopping for clothes, I needed a pair of shorts for Music Midtown this weekend, so I pulled on my patience panties and headed out to find some.  This day, however, I ended up with much more.  And all for a whopping $25.  I bought six different items, averaging around $4 each!

When those low prices include J. Crew, Charlotte Russe and BCBG shorts, along with an Argentinian leather belt, a book and yoga cards to boot, it took everything for me not to run, shouting whoops of sweet victory, from the sliding glass doors.

This one's for the broke college students, the penny pinchers, clearance rack creepers and thrifty shoppers everywhere.. But, particularly in or around Atlanta.

If you've never ventured into Goodwill Buckhead off of Roswell Rd., then, boy, do I have a treat for you!  This is the place to find designer clothes at the best price imaginable.  When I worked in Buckhead, people always told me to check it out because it was "the best goodwill."  To me, a Goodwill is a Goodwill.  (Or shall I say was)

After finally giving in and traversing the labyrinth of metal and asphalt that is Piedmont Rd. to get to the Goodwill in Buckhead (which if you ask me, is half-way to Sandy Springs and barely Buckhead).. Well, let's just say that labyrinth isn't so intimidating now that I know what awaits me on the other side.

This thrift store is a diamond in the rough.  There is no Whole Foods-esque Heaven smell when you enter.  I wouldn't consider it the most aesthetic atmosphere, either.  Taking into account the size of it, on the other hand, with rows upon rows to scour, (all of which have signs with single dollar amounts printed above them) it has become this broke girls amusement park.  The key here in Buckhead is the surrounding community, too.  I've discovered the quality of clothing at any given thrift shop generally depends on the quality of life surrounding it.

I kept hearing a man come over the speaker to inform shoppers that the red tag was the sale tag of the day, too.  This, I found to be quite amusing, because this place was the sale of the city, anyway.

I have always wanted a braided leather belt and couldn't have been happier when it rung up for $2.92.  I had approached the register willing to give back any item too pricey for my conscience.  I bought everything that I was holding...

Once I was satisfied that I had seen every last short, blouse and skirt possibly tucked out of sight between the hangers (because this is how you must thrift.. carefully), I sidled over to the book section.

Bad idea.

I could have stood in the aisle for hours scoping out the forgotten pages donated so graciously, for which I could now buy for less than two bucks each.  The highlighted and underlined favorite quotes in novels and splattered pages of cookbooks make them all the more alluring to me.

I abstained from asking the men to load the shelves on a cart and send them onto my imaginary library, and left the store with the Essentials of the Theory of Fiction.  I figure a textbook I buy for pleasure might actually be utilized.

Aside from the clothes and book, I also toted out something I'm very excited about.  Yoga cards; 62 of them to be exact.  

I'm experimenting with yoga at the moment, and I feel like I'm turning back time to the 90's if I put in a DVD and do it in my living room.  I'm a bit embarrassed to go to a class without some sort of understanding, though.

Like a sign from the Goodwill Heavens, these handy yoga cards (with a $14.99 tag) only cost me $1.91.  The thing that made me most excited, I think, was that it was the singular one there and I found it.  A special treasure, stocked just for me to discover.  Now I'll learn a bit on my own without having to post up my laptop in the process.  I'll keep you posted on how it's going, too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is go check out Goodwill Buckhead, or any thrift shop for that matter, because you never know what you might knock over.

Photo Splash

Because everyone loves pictures of the beach {right?}, I thought I would share some from the time I got to spend with my family in Florida.  These were taken with a waterproof disposable camera by none other than the Pink Hedgehog herself. ;)

(That first one I found on the wall of a Cracker Barrel, in Georgia..)

There were sandcastles, sand turtles, boogie boarding and even a kite.  The beach totally brings me back to being a kid.  I could entertain myself for hours with sand and beach toys and waves.  And sun.  I love the sun on the beach.  Sam did an awesome job capturing the beautiful clouds that day, huh?

My travel spark has ignited and I want to explore.

Avocado Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I figured it was about time I shared a recipe that made it's way out of our kitchen.  Having been immobilized by my ankle, I had plenty of time to scour through my Delightful Dinners board on Pinterest.  I knocked over an avocado stuffed burger (here's the original recipe on A Civilized Caveman's Cooking Creations) and decided to use ground turkey, instead.  I added a few spices that I thought would pep it up, as well.

If you're like my friends, you're looking at me with wary eyes and images of guacamole topped burgers.  Oh, no, my friends.  This is not that kind of recipe.  The filling is so simple, and it's versatile to your personal taste.  For example, the Civilized Caveman's filling calls for sundried tomatoes.  Since we didn't have any of these in the pantry, we chose to add some red bell pepper and serrano peppers.

By recruiting the help of my trusty chef friends, we put together this delightful, delicious, southwest inspired, guacamole surprise! 

For the sides, we had a few cobs of corn (fresh from none other than the Dekalb County Farmer's Market) that Brendan took out to the grill for us.  He rubbed the corn with our favorite greek seasoning.   Then, we heated up some refried black beans (my new obsession) and topped 'em off with some sriracha and goat cheese.

We stacked our burgers  with some spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato and the refried black beans, too.  I think we all deserved a pat on the back after this wonderful meal.

I downloaded this recipe card for free from vertex42.com.  These are going to be great when I finally accumulate all of the family recipes I want to keep.  They'll be super easy to organize on the computer; plus, if I feel so inclined, I can print my own little recipe book!  I have gift ideas floating around in my head as I type this..

If you liked this, you might also like my breakfast experiment (3 gluten-free ingredient pancakes). It was to die for & so easy!

PinPalooza

So, in an unfortunate walking (you may even classify it as strolling) accident, I sprained my ankle over the weekend.  Consequently, I have been drowning in pillows for the last two days, foot in the air, and laptop within arms reach at all times. 

Luckily for you, though, I have knocked over some very interesting recipes, clothes and quotes.  I have to admit, I was skeptical of Pinterest at first.  However, I am so glad I caved!  I find myself organizing my boards and (after reluctantly looking away from the infinite scrolling inspiration) actually crafting up and cooking the things I pin.

Here are just a few things I (un)fortunately had the time to find:

Arnhem Clothing Label

If you read Ms. Arnhem's about page, you'll find a woman true to my own heart. After finding this ladies blog, I want nothing more than to track her down and work with her.  And I don't even have a passion for clothes!

And for the sake of the fall weather we had last week...

Ninth & Bird DIY T-shirt Scarf

Easy Magazine Shelf
I was so intrigued by this.  I find giving up old magazines almost as difficult as getting rid of books.  This would be a great way to actually use the stacks accumulating around my house.

And for when you're exhausted and in need of a good dinner after all that crafting...

The Tasty Fork's Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

This recipe comes off a little vague, so next time I make this, I plan on rewriting it for my own records.  I'll be sure to post it on the blog, as well.  

Banana & Egg Pancakes - That's it!

I've been knocking around on Pinterest attempting to find healthy and cheap meals to fix at home.  When I found this Blueberry Banana Pancake recipe, I was skeptical (yet intrigued) of whether or not I could pull it off.  The simplicity made me cautious, I guess.  I'm pretty good at messing up elementary cooking tasks.  

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 large banana (or 1 & 1/2 small bananas) 

blueberries

Yields 3-4 medium sized pancakes

You start out by smashing the banana until mushy. 

Asante sana, squash banana!  (I just learned that Asante sana is 'thank you very much' in Swahili.  Ha! Indeed.  You'll sing this, too, after eating this easy breakfast)

Then, just add the egg and whip the two together until it's the consistency of pancake mix.

 Once you've got it good and creamy, just pour about 1/4 cup into a greased pan (just like regular pancakes) and plop in a few blueberries.  The amount of fruit (bananas included) is really up to your discretion.  I used 1 & 1/2 bananas and ended up with two small and one larger pancake.  I can't wait to try these with strawberries or blackberries, too.

And since I couldn't help but experiment a bit more (this would be why the third pancake was so much larger), I went scavenging the pantry for something to add to them.

Boy, did I find it. Fresh ground peanut butter from Whole Foods Market and this delightful Ruby's Gold granola with walnuts and dried blueberries and dates.  The just banana and egg pancakes definitely had the right texture of a pancake, too, which I found super surprising.  The granola just gave it a little more substance for me.  As for the peanut butter..  I just can't refuse the combination of bananas and pb.

It really was as simple as it seems and I am still so full after editing all of these pictures and creating this post.  This was a great way to actually intake more than one serving of fruit and it's gluten free to boot!

And to give credit (also her pictures are way better than mine): The Undressed Skeleton Blog