weekend

1. Pancake balls (filled with chocolate chips & blueberries) for breakfast.
2. Authentic Kenyan chai tea (so so so much better than Starbucks/ any American chai).
3. Sarah's homemade mandazi's, a Kenyan donut... to accompany the chai.
4. My new favorite beverage. It's like ginger ale, but better.
5. Sunday night dinner, per usual.
6. A close up of Jenna's pad thai. It was delicious.
7. Purple ube/taro roll cake for late night dessert. It's my filipino childhood in a dessert.

Yet another weekend where (almost) everything important revolved around food.*

*Not pictured: A last minute drive to Santa Cruz for a mushroom, avocado and melted jack veggie burger in a freshly made sourdough bun. And sweet potato fries. So gigantic I could hardly eat it (don't worry, I managed).

Also not pictured: David. I love him (even though he's camera shy).

emerald bay

Before I came to Tahoe, I asked my friend Chelsey what some of her favorite spots were. She mentioned Emerald Bay and I wasn't sure what to expect, but when we got there it was breathtaking. Not to sound lame, but even as we began to drive up into the mountains we couldn't believe the views of the lake alongside the snowy mountains.

Emerald bay was even better. Calm, serene, and absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine never looked so good.*

Edit: Chelsey mentioned Emerald Falls and I somehow only made it to Emerald Bay. Not a bad turn out, though...

*This entry concludes my week of Lake Tahoe posts! I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. xoxo

ski food

Two butternut squash, salt, pepper, & cumin:
Bake for an hour at °375,
Add milk and blend.

Peel, coat with olive oil, & sprinkle with salt and pepper:
Bake at °375 for 35-45 minutes.

Visit Napa.

Repeat layers of:
tomato/mushroom sauce, pasta,
ricotta/spinach mixed together, mozzarella.
Bake at °375 for at least 45 minutes.

I'll have to ask Sarah for this one.

Anna used Martha's recipe.

I'll definitely have to ask Jenna for this one. Think:

Rum, hot water, and a mixture of ice cream, brown sugar and spices galore.

snow day at the beach

When I found out that I was coming to Tahoe, it never occurred to me that I would be going to the beach. It especially never occurred to me that if I had gone to the beach, I'd be able to throw snowballs and make snowmen.

After tubing and playing Settlers, the four of us were ready to take naps and "work" on school stuff for the rest of the day. But, in my effort to make Saturday the best day possible, I suggested finding a local beach for us to do "work" at and we found one really close to our cabin in South Lake Tahoe. However, if I had known that there was going to be snow, I would have never changed out of my snow pants and boots.

But! It was such a wonderful afternoon. The sun was so bright and warm when we got there. We spent a good 30 minutes just being in awe of the combination of sand and snow. It was so quiet and peaceful and just as the sun was setting, Michael and Zac showed us their adorable snowman-- affectionately named Wassail. Proud fathers Michael and Zac made him complete with goldfish facial features and Norris' scarf. And he was so popular! Tons of people came up to ask for pictures with him.

After a frenzy of photos with little Wassail, we sat on picnic benches and watched the sun set behind the snow-capped mountains. I loved Saturday.

snow tubing

This weekend was the first time I'd ever gone tubing and I loved it! I wasn't sure what "snow activities" I would be able to do since I had knee surgery last year (so skiing and snowboarding were out of the question), but Norris found a really great place called Hansen's and we went tubing there Saturday morning. It was so sunny that I wanted to take my coat off! But I was also afraid of landing in the snow sleeveless... Regardless, it was a beautiful morning. Who knew gravity could be so much fun?

weekend

Before I got to see any of beautiful Lake Tahoe, one of my backseat windows shattered while I was driving on the highway. We're not really sure what happened, but a lot of big trucks were driving by really quickly so I think a rock must have randomly shot out from underneath one of the trucks and hit the window. Luckily, my friend who was sitting there was asleep, facing away, and had his hood on. There was glass all over him but no one got hurt and we eventually made it up to Tahoe with our make-shift duct tape window. (After stopping and vacuuming all of the broken glass).

Needless to say, the weekend wasn't off to the best start. I was upset (from an accumulation of things) for most of Friday and come Saturday I was determined that Lake Tahoe and I were destined to never get along. I called my sister and she encouraged me to make the most of the rest of my weekend. Being the pessimist that I am, I was doubtful of any salvaging, but decided to at least give it a try.

Saturday was wonderful-- and not only because I made the effort to look beyond my self-pitying attitude. Even though I was disappointed that I hardly saw my roommates, the people I did spend time with made everything so much better. Once I realized this, everything just felt right. I was even able to make a little trip to see my family since we got back so early. Family always makes things better. Who knows? Maybe I'm taking baby steps toward becoming an optimist.

scenes from istanbul

I'm off to Tahoe! More Istanbul photos + text to come!