lemon bars, packages, & jamba juice

i made lemon bars twice last week. once at miguel's house & once the next day when i went home & my sister was visiting. they both love lemons, so it was the perfect little treat for them : ) i used this recipe but changed a few things (like i didn't chill the dough or let the crust cool before adding the topping). it came out amazing. the recipe is really good, but not very healthy (just a warning!).

i came home from miguel's to two packages awaiting me at the bottom of the stairs to my loft. i was so excited. the first one i opened was from sarah. she sent my a lovely letter & a cute little penguin books notebook. thank you sarah : )

next i opened a package from pauline. it was wrapped all nice and i loved the unicorn stationary! she sent me handmade, beautiful wrist warmers. i love them. thanks so much!

yesterday i officially applied for graduation this may. it is really surreal. by may i will have my master's degree in sociology. it's really a scary thought to be done with school after being in it for so long. i was talking to miguel the other day & i am considering going back to get my doctorate at some point, but not right now. right now i need a break.
we celebrated turning in my application & his first day of school with jamba juice : ) love his face here. such a cutie.

currently i am in starbucks writing my thesis. well, right now right now i am taking a break & blogging, but still. it's been a long day. & i need a break.

old granite street eatery

 i visited my cousin wendy two weekends ago. it was so cold, but beautiful. she took me to the old granite street eatery, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. we ended up going there twice in one weekend. i loved the look & feel of it & the food was some of the best i've had. if you are ever in the reno area, you should definitely grace this place with your presence.

a week at miguel's

hello there! it's been a few. i just came back from spending close to two weeks at miguel's. the stay was split in between by a quick visit to wendy (but a separate post on that later). i spent that time at miguel's to work on my thesis as it is quiet at his right now since all of his roommates are gone for break. i worked on my thesis basically, but it was nice just having him nearby : ) above are the russian chocolates i bought him for christmas. i got them because they were squirrels! he loves squirrels.

one night i took him out for ramen. it was so delicious. my favorite ramen house by far.

miguel played video games while i worked on my thesis. he really gets into his video games! haha. i started playing a little bit months ago, but i'm not very good.

we did most of our meals at home. only went out to get ramen & taco bell one other night.

i made some hashbrowns one morning & a lemon blueberry surprise with lemons from his backyard. i love his lemon tree!

& miguel made another batch of his homemade beef jerky! i love watching him make it even though i don't eat it. hehe.

my fourth chapter of my thesis is due this friday & i am quite behind in writing it. ergo i am really stressed about it. i'll be working on it all this coming week until the due date. eeek.

better, finally

i'm finally feeling better. i had the flu for about nine days! during those nine days, i had a lot of time to myself to do things i haven't had time for. it was kind of nice, aside from stuffy & runny nose, sneezing, coughing, runny eyes, & headache...

anyways, i stayed in bed all day & started watching a korean drama called can we get married?. i hadn't watched a korean drama in a year! it was actually kind of nice : ) i also had time to write a letter & make an envelope.

i began crocheting a blythe hat for someone.

& i wrote in my moleskine. i was really missing miguel while i was sick. he was a sweetheart & drove the hour after work one weekend to surprise me with a visit : ) i was incredibly happy.

in between being sick, i had some hours during the day that i didn't feel as bad, so i attempted mini adventures out. one outing was to starbucks to meet lizzie & her dad for our yearly gift exchange. i loved the cute bag my gift came in.

lizzie works at bath & body works, so she scored me an amazing candle that i love, along with an amazing bird printed scarf that i've been wearing everyday & other cute bits & bobs.

my sister came to visit for a short two days & my mom made us a delicious & fancy breakfast. i was surprised! 

 my sister & papi are so funny ;)

 by saturday i was feeling well enough to actually spend the entire day out of bed, shower, & look halfway decent. haha. this is my amazing new bird scarf from lizzie!

 i know this is really random, but did you know that mango lassi came in a bottle?! i was at an afgan restaurant & ordered one & this is what i got. i was shocked & even more shocked when it actually tasted good. crazy!

even more randomness is that pasta pomodoro has an amazing roasted butternut squash soup called zuppa di zucca. i had that last night when i went out to dinner with my cousin & her man. i was pleasantly surprised with it.

this week is going to be interesting & i'm sure to be quite content & happy. i'm taking today to do a full day of work & then tonight it is off on the train to miguel's for the week. his roommates aren't home yet & he has the whole house to himself. i'm going to use the opportunity for a quite place to work on my thesis all week. because honestly it is very tough getting anything done at home. so i'll be happy to have miguel all to myself this coming week. quite happy indeed : )