Part 2- Birthday Beats

...I continued see!
6) Your theme song daddy. Cake reminds me most of writing essays in the wee hours of the morning- usually with you. and those times we had to brainstorm over ichat. This song just barely beat out 'Mahna, Mahna' though...



7) This goes through my mind whenever someone is acting 'psycho'...




8) Getting to drive home with you was always about a lesson. Whether you chose to embarrass me with 'the birds and the bees' talk or (the much preferred) having me figure out what a song was all about - I would always love being the one riding with you. This is just one of the many...



9) Really anything Black Eyed Peas- but especially this early one you were a little obsessed with:



10) Jesse Cook. Thank you for showing me him. and taking me to see him. twice. Picking a song was difficult. So here's two.





These are just a few of the thousands of songs that will forever remind me of you. You have made music central in my life- I can barely walk down the street without something playing. There are so many things I need to thank you for- but for this particular day I will stick to this. I really hope if you ever do get to retire you will actually follow through on your dream to be in a band. You sing BSB better than anyone I know.

Love you Daddy. Hope this year is the best one yet.
xo cmac

HaPPy BiRTHdaY dAd!

Happy Birthday to you!
Now considering that he's the one that has pretty much forced me- from the moment I was born- to love music, it feels only right to make this post all about music that reminds me of him.
BUT decisions decisions - what shall I choose??

1) My oldest memory is in our first house, as dad cleaned- listening to this:

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons: Summer


2) Let's sing this. driving in the car. or anywhere for the matter

Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy

3) Because you love him. therefore I love him. There really should be a playlist of 72 of his songs.

Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Demo Mix 1978)

4) This used to be my 'wakeup call'- thanks to you

You're Still You


5) All things Styx, and BeeGees... etc. etc. (please note: soundcloud doesn't do well with older music)




Okay BUT we need to make this a 2 part post since I gotta go get ready for work!
xo cmac

First Listen

New Coldplay. I need this to be good since I need to go see these guys next year. finally.

Dadday

I don't have much time before the whole family arrives- which will be the first time I've seen most of them since Christmas- but today is obviously a special day. 

Happy Father's Day! 

Here's to a dad that always makes me feel special. 

I wish I had some more eloquent words for someone who always knows just what to say- but everything has been said before. 

I love you and I am so lucky to have you. 

and here are some great dad links:

• The Sartorialist did a great fathers day shoot here
• This blog is all about dad appreciation 
• Something I would have liked to make for my dad here

P.S Wednesday is dad's birthday- so I promise to go all out!

xo cmac

Click Click

Links that do some talking for me:

• Popsicles I wanna make
• Fun Facts at Just a Silhouette 

"I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mind-body connection - the  relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her  girlfriends.  At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.  

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems which help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.  Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes.  Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes.  But their feelings?  Rarely.

Women do it all the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health.  He said that  spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.  

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we  are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged - not  true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality  personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for  doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health."

• The Black Swan Workout
• Great Hair Tutorials
• This insane picture that is everywhere after the craziness in Vancouver last night: 

xo cmac

Hoooomeeee

[[a natural soundtrack for this post: HOME {they won't let me embed it, but you still gotta play it}]]

Well hello my lovelies.
As per usual, I don't even know where to begin. I'm home (obviously) and I feel like I'm in this weird in between state. Am I tired? Am I hungry? Am I ecstatic to be home? Am I sad to be away from my leicester loves? Am I frustrated with how much there is to do here? Am I restless because I really want to be on the island? Am I bombarded by things I feel I need to share with you? The answer is yes- to all of it I think. I think mostly I feel disorganized- or discombobulated {because come on- that's so much cooler}.

I want to do a whole post on bookcases- but I need to do that separately.
I want to tell you all about spain.
I want to talk about how happy I was to see my fambam. and excited to see the ones I haven't yet.
I want to take pictures of my disastrous room - and do a little before/after thing. But the after might not be until like mid-september since it's such a daunting task.
I want to get out of the house. and eat sushi.
I want to have a bubble bath.
I want to unpack. but I don't want to even enter my closet.
I want to work out.
I want to drive. but I'm a bit scared since it has been 6 months.
I want to tell you about all the great blogs I just caught up on.
I want someone to tell me where to start.

This is my plan so far:

•  Tell you what I am listening to: my 'smile' playlist 

{lame name I know but I needed something to remind me to do that over the last few month of studying/ exam stress}

1) Rolling in the deep- Adele 2) Dog days are over- Florence and the Machine 3) Float On- Modest Mouse {oldie but goodie} 4) Chicago- Sufjan Stevens 5) Mushaboom- Feist 6) Wolf like Me- Tv on the Radio 7) What You Want- Two Door Cinema Club 8) Bag of Hammers- Thao & the Get Down Stay Down 9) The Vacationer- Hungry Kids of Hungary 10) Punching in a Dream- The Naked and Famous

• Take a picture of my room- it really has become a dumping ground. And add to that my two jumbo suitcases. 
• Shower. Find something to wear that isn't terribly wrinkled. Eat something that's not plane food. 
• Dance around my room for old times sake. Listening to this. 
• make more to-do lists...

xo cmac

Rad Recipes

Wow. Three posts in one day. Don't get overwhelmed. But I had way to much to fit into one. Plus this has been a little blog idea I have been meaning to do for far too long. Sunday night dinners have been our excuse to try out new recipes and try to make them work in this country lacking good grocery stores. or ovens that cooperate..etc. So here are some of my fav's from home mixed in with some newbies that have been approved as delicious sunday dinner options.

The steps for kale chips are here. This is a great way to incorporate kale into everyday eating, they are simple and so very delicious. The only kale we can find here is in bags of pre-cut pieces, but when I get home I plan to make them a bit bigger (since they shrink quite a bit). We also experimented by adding a little chilli powder in one batch. Then a little cinnamon to another. mmmmm. The only problem is that they don't last long, not because they go bad or anything silly- because they are quickly in everyones tummies.

Last Sunday I tried out this recipe for potato pancakes. If you know me, you understand I may be the pickiest breakfast food eater ever. Pancakes, eggs, french toast- no sir. But if someone made these one lovely morning I think they would win me over. There is no syrup in sight. or runny eggs. And these are so much better than hashbrowns.

And the recipe for the Huevos Rancheros that I showed in my earlier post. Flan gets credit here for convincing me finally to eat (and then get addicted to) this, but like I told her earlier today- she has some serious competition now. {okay remember like two seconds ago I said I hate eggs- well I have this bizarre thing where I can eat them if they are hardboiled/poached. and they are here so don't freak out}

Speaking of her, I figured I better get one of our most used concoctions from last year on this here blog. Kitchen Sink Muffins. The piece of paper I have this written on has something resembling a stain from banana and a little chocolate smudge- and this should prove how well it was used. We looked at a bunch of different recipes, combined them, altered them almost everytime, but here was the basic idea (and feel free to switch things up- the whole idea is that 'they have everything- but the kitchen sink' in them).

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 cups grated carrot (or zucchini or apples)
1/3 cup choped, dried apricot
2/3 cup walnuts 
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups coconut
1 mashed banana 
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla 
~
Combine dry ingredients. Stir in nuts and fruits (except banana). Separately, stir wet ingredients together and then into the flour mixture. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake @ 375*F for 15-20 mins. 
~


This next one was a big hit at Sunday dinner- and so easy. Parmesan-crusted Asparagus will change any bad feelings about asparagus you may have. I don't have any- I love em so much- but this is like your very own tempura in minutes. I got this from the cookbook I got Colt for Christmas last year. Despite his cooking skills, he refuses to take more than a glance at it- yet won't let me steal it. After you read this- maybe you will change your mind buddy.

3/4 cup mayo
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup panko/breadcrumbs
3/4 grated parmesan 
2 large bunches of asparagus
2 tbsp olive oil
~
Preheat oven to 450*F, coat baking sheet w/spray. In bowl: whisk mayo, mustard, lemon juice and salt. On plate: combine panko & parm. Dip asparagus into mayo mixture and then the panko mixture, then onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil. Bake for 14-16 minutes, turning halfway through. 
~


Now I have a few more, but I will give them to you later in the week. Hope these make your mouth water and give you a little inspiration in the kitchen. Maybe in Spain I will find out how to make fabulous sangria- and we are going to the 'home of paella' so I will take notes.
Cheers xo

Latest Blog Crush.

You probably know about my slight blog obsession as of late, but thursday night I came across one that I could not stop thinking about/clicking through/obsessing over. Atlantic- Pacific is insanely great. This girl has such fabulous style I can't even handle it. Now because I knew you wouldn't believe me right away, I copied a few of my favs (of her most recent posts) to share (and hopefully get you addicted too).

(Almost bought this skirt in Malta. Big mistake not to)

(In case you were wondering- I have now decided which colour of hunter's I want. Red.)

So Audrey Hepburn. 

Also this is the same top that G-mo wore last night. 

 Cannot get enough stripes. 

Okay so I've shown you my new crush. and hopefully style inspiration. With all this packing and organizing going on here I have realized I need to get better at 'key' pieces and get more creative with everything I already have. Also, hot yoga.

These are also a couple cute things I've found on other blogs:

via Ilovewildfox

via Fashion Toast

Also, I found these shoes on this blog and I think they are so cute and wonderful and...I have a problem.
xo cmac

Slow Sunday

Hello my lovelies,
I know I know, I have been neglecting you. But today is Sunday. and I have time. So get ready.
Four exams done. Suitcases starting to be filled. Dreams of Alicante beaches. But let's recap.
First off, here are some pictures of various things I have done...

G-mo made filipino spaghetti for us on Wednesday after our con&admin exam.

It was so good it made me (almost) forget how much I miss mom/gramma's.

She also made kale chips- and now we are all hooked.

{p.s I just decided I will do a separate post with a bunch of recipes I've been dying to share with you}   

(okay the picture is not my best, but I was too excited to eat)

That night we also discussed the name our 'group' has been given- The Naked and Furious. 

This is a bit different from 'legal thunder' and 'the judiciary'- but it suits us just fine. 

I'm making us friendship bracelets (and a ring for J Todd)

Thursday we went to a 'Modern British Gastopub' called The Almanack for dinner. 

and Pimm's. 

[[how has it taken me until the last few months to find this amazing drink that beats sangria and maybe just maybe mojitos on my fav list??]]

We had fondue. I heart fondue. 

{they even called it "fondue for two" glee fans} 

Then Friday we found a new friend in the park post-study sesh. 

She called me from noorin's phone. and hung up on me. 

She reduced us all to cooing idiots. 

Then Saturday we finished Analyzing Law. 

The sun was belting down on us- so we went to Dry Dock

(a pub in an old boat- the roof opens hence the squinting eyes)

Pitchers of Tequila Sunrise were consumed. 

We were all smiles especially because we knew we had a week until the next (and last) exam. 

These two colour coordinated. 

Then amy convinced us we MUST go to this 'new' club she stumbled into a couple weeks ago. 

We were told to not dress up. and get ready to dance. 

G-mo and I obviously don't listen to her. 

{behind us is my new fav part of my room- the bag wall}

But after this little photo-op we headed out to the blackest bar in Leicester. Amy was in heaven. We were all way too sober. But the music was good. We were up until like 4:30...it was light out as we finally closed our eyes. Then our favourite chef/fashionista/geronimo made us huevos rancheros when we finally rolled out of bed. Soooo good. and considering diaz and I are both not egg fans- you know it was good- plus we weren't even hungover. We all decided non-hungover sundays are lovely. Especially because tomorrow someone is coming to look at the house, so we spent the day scrubbing down the house- and gardening. It was just a bit overgrown in the backyard...

FYI there are lots of snails in the yard. This grosses me out despite that time in grade 5 we all had to take snails home as pets for a science project. ew. 

Okay this blog has been long enough. more to come. 

xo cmac

3 exams down- 2 to go!
8 sleeps until Spainnnn!!
Less than two weeks until I am home!

{hopefully 24 hours before you get a fabulous blog post- but if you're curious- read this. G-mo's description is much better than I have time for right now}

xo cmac