Best Friend Friday No. 16: The Green Line Cafe Edition

January 23 couldn't come soon enough. For the whole week leading up to Friday I was transfixed and so excited to try The Green Line Cafe for the first time. I was able to taste Dottie's Donuts the week before, and I was pumped to try them again at a different location. After stalking The Green Line Cafe on Instagram, I happily noticed that their coffee joint seemed a lot less crowded than Hub Bub and they had a ton more vegan options than just the donuts. All of this meant that Lauren and I wouldn't have to squeeze into a shared table and we could order a lot more food!

I had absolutely no idea how busy The Green Line Cafe would be on a Friday morning, and therefore didn't know how quickly they would sell out of their donuts and other vegan favorites I had been wanting to try. So, Lauren and I woke up at least an hour earlier than the week before, hoping for a wide selection of vegan treats.

Green Line Cafe's new location is only five blocks from our apartment which made it a quick walk. To my joyful surprise there were only two other patrons already seated when we arrived. We were the only ones in line to order which was one of my first clues that I was going to enjoy this experience much more. Whenever we're presented with a lot of vegan options, it always takes Lauren and I a pretty long time to decide what we want. I'm so used to finding that one item on a menu that I can actually eat, so when I have numerous choices to pick from I'm overwhelmed! Because I had my sights set on donuts, I selected the chocolate blueberry and cinnamon and sugar ones. Lauren chose the peach donut and the Steve Sandwich. We also ordered our favorite fancy drinks; chai again for me!

All of the donuts were delicious of course, and it was really nice to have all four flavors still left to choose from. I was really impressed by the sandwich! It was a toasted marinated tofu sandwich with veggies and a delicious vegan chipotle aioli dressing. It was a tiny bit spicy, but overall it was amazing! Luckily Lauren and I like order different things so that we can share and try even more items. I split my donuts with her and she gave me half of her sandwich. I wasn't super thrilled with my chai though; it was too watery for me. That being said though, I'll definitely be going back to Green Line Cafe again thanks to their extensive vegan offerings. I'll skip a fancy drink and stick to the food. I'm thinking of trying the sweet potato burrito next!

Lauren and I also had a few other errands to run. Lately we've been using Fridays to get stuff done while still throwing some fun into the mix. After taking our time at Green Line, we hopped on the subway and headed over to Staples to use up some more of our rewards. We picked up some cute washi tape, to-do list notepads, and cards. I also bought watercolors!

Next, we made our way to Whole Foods. We were in dire need of veggie broth, and since we prefer a very specific brand and type (Better Than Bullion's No Chicken Broth), we made the trek since we were already in Center City. Since Whole Foods is the only place that sells this particular broth and half the time we're searching for it they're out of stock, we grabbed three jars like the apocalypse was coming. Sadly they were out of the Field Roast Chao cheese, but we did pick up some mozzarella Daiya.

We could have easily jumped back on the subway to get back home, but we decided to soak up nice day since it wasn't too cold and the sun was out. I also really like walking down South Street; so many cute shops/eateries and townhouses to admire! After walking over 30 blocks, it was nice to be back at our apartment.

The rest of the day was spent sewing! Lauren and I recently got interested in garment sewing again. We have a "collection" of pdf patterns that are just waiting to be used. I printed several out and we got to work. Lauren worked on a Linden Sweatshirt and I started with a Tova Top.

The past handful of Fridays were really lacking a special feature. It had been a long time since we indulged in Friday night pizza night, so we eagerly agreed upon making pizza for dinner and I quickly devoured my share!

This is what Best Friend Fridays are all about! I love trying new places, getting errands out of the way, crafting with my bestie, and eating pizza. Nothing beats that!   

Birthday Goals Update

Since today is my half birthday, which may not seem like that big of a deal, I thought I'd briefly go over how I'm progressing on my 24 birthday goals.

1. Run another marathon and ultra marathon.
I'm not planning on running anymore races until after my birthday. I took much too long of a break after AR50 and haven't really been interested in running until this past October. I'm signed up to run the San Francisco Marathon (two days after my birthday), but don't see any ultra races happening anytime soon.
2. Blog at least 5 times each month. 
I'm doing great at this!
3. Sew every month.
I'm pretty sure I haven't sewn every month. That being said though, I have sewn a lot more this past year than I have before. Plus, I plan on sewing through a lot of my garment stash, hopefully really soon!
4. Use up the majority of my stashed fabric (so I can buy more, of course) ;)
Like I said above, I have plans for a lot of the fabric I currently have. I've officially put myself on a fabric-purchasing freeze until I sew through the majority of my stash.
5. Knit and finish at least one project. (I must get back into knitting!)
Several months ago I started (and finished!) an Orchid Cowl for Marissa's birthday, so I can definitely check this goal off my list! I also started a winter hat (which I need to frog), and what is going to be a huge knit blanket (still currently in the making and will be for a long time). In February Lauren and I are going yarn shopping so I'll knit Lauren her super-belated birthday cowl as well.
6. Mail at least one letter each month.
Moving across the country as really encouraged me to send a lot more mail. I think I mailed at least one letter each month, except in December. I just completely forgot, which seems odd. The postal service's biggest delivery month is most likely December because of the holidays, and I didn't even partake in this world wide mailing spree.
7. Take lots of pictures with my big camera as a way of exploring my "neighborhood". 
Basically, I really haven't used my big camera a whole lot. I really need to get on this!
8. Finish my Summer Sampler cross stitch pattern.
I'm almost there! I hope to have it completed by the end of February!
9. Read at least one book per month.
So far I've read a book every month, except in August.
10. Sew at least two dresses, and actually wear them.
This summer I cut out fabric for the Alder Dress. I started sewing it up and made a mistake which developed into even more of a mess because I was so frustrated. Needless to say I haven't worked up the courage to pick this project back up. But I am hoping to get back into sewing soon and whip up a lot of new pieces, dresses included!
11. Try at least one new food item each month.
Honestly, I don't even know. But what I do know is that I've been eating a lot healthier and eating familiar foods in new ways. Let's take sweet potatoes as an example. Before, the only way I would be inclined to dine on sweet potatoes was in the fry form. Now though, one of my favorite dinners to cook is roasted sweet potatoes with other random veggies.
12. Read through all of the magazines I own to clear up some much needed space.
I got maybe halfway through all of my magazines; I seriously had so many of them! One of my August goals was to go through my magazine stash. By the end of August I still had so many left to read, so I decided to just toss the rest of them. I didn't miss anything life-altering by not reading them, and I cleared up an entire corner in my room. That's a win-win!
13. Catch up on all of the birthday presents I owe people.
I'm almost there. All I have left is Lauren's birthday cowl.
14. Run under an eight minute mile.
I haven't really tried to do this yet. I'll be going home to Sacramento in July, so my brother and I will have a mile race and I'm determined to run a sub eight minute mile.
15. Go through and clean up my room at my parents' house.
I talked a little bit about this when reviewing my December goals. But basically, I've come to the realization that my room at my parents' house will never be as clean and organized as I would want. I did what I could with my space, but at the end of the day there's so many other factors feeding into this task that can't be disturbed, so my room is as good as it's going to get. 
16. Create an art/gallery wall.
I hope to start working on this next month. I already have a few pictures that I need to find frames for, and others that I can't wait to receive/purchase/make!
17. Keep plants alive.
When I was living in Sacramento, I managed to keep several different plants alive. When I moved to Philadelphia, I left these plants at Leti's house for her to babysit. After visiting in December, I'm happy to report that my plants are still thriving. Also, when Lauren and I moved to the East Coast, one of the first things we did was buy new plants. We each chose two different varieties to keep on our respective window sills. All of the four plants are doing great!
18. Have at least one vegetable every night for dinner.
Nope. I would say that most nights I have at least one vegetable for dinner, but I know that there are definitely times where I just had a large cup of trail mix to hold me over till breakfast. I have made an effort to eat more nutritious meals though, so that's got to count for something, right?
19. Set a monthly budget and stick to it.
Since moving to Philadelphia I set a monthly budget for myself and broke my total budget into separate categories (rent, electricity, groceries, eating out, fun, misc., etc.). I've been able to stick to my budget every month except for December (Christmas present giving time!). I didn't go over my budget by much, and all of the other months I've managed to "save" a decent amount. So, I consider this a success thus far.
20. Weed through my belongings and donate items I no longer need.
I donated a lot of things in June when I moved out of our Sacramento apartment into Leti's house, when I left Leti's house for Philadelphia, and when I arrived in Philadelphia. Everything I currently own in my Philadelphia apartment are items I actually use. However, the whole "Capsule Wardrobe" idea has really got me thinking about all of the clothes I still own. While I love the concept, there's no way I'm willing to narrow my wardrobe down any further right now. Plus, I don't have the extra space to store the different seasons' pieces. Maybe this summer or fall I'll go through my closest again and figure out what I've actually worn this past year. The things I haven't worn in over a year, I'll make an effort to wear. If I no longer like that item, I'll donate it. That's my new plan!
21. Get a hair cut!
I got a hair cut in September!
22. Make sure I get my daily 10,000 steps, but not make it a chore.
I've done pretty well with my daily steps, thanks to my FitBit. But to track my success even better, I've made this goal one of my New Year's Resolutions and have been marking off the days I do reach my daily 10,000 steps.
23. Try a new physical activity, like yoga.
I've tried yoga and zumba, and luckily enjoyed both but for very different reasons. I hurt my hip a month or so ago and I've found that zumba really aggravates it, so I've been cutting down on that activity. But, I have been going to power yoga twice a week and find that it really helps get some stretching in post-running. 
24. Ride my bike often, while I have the opportunity. 
I haven't rode my bike at all in a few years, and this year isn't an exception, sadly.

It's only been half of a year since my birthday and I already feel like I've made a lot of progress on these 24 goals. Let's see what more I can do in 6 months!

Best Friend Friday No. 15: Vegan Donuts Edition

Since I'm weird and all, one of my hobbies is scouring the "veganphilly" and "phillyvegans" hashtags on Instagram. I had been wanting to try some Dottie's vegan dounuts after drooling over them for the past several months. I started following @dottiesdonuts on Instagram and have been obsessing over the specific locations their products are sold. Lauren and I were planning on going to Hub Bub the week before, but things happened and we ended up needing to be home all day to wait for Lauren's sewing machine delivery. So, we postponed our plan and decided to stop for donuts at Hub Bub the next Friday.

Most mornings, Dottie's Donuts posts their current selection of donut flavors, as they change daily. I woke up Friday morning and saw that maple, cinnamon sugar, matcha ginger, and spiced cranberry were being offered that day. I was super excited to try the first two!

Because we slept in, I was really hoping that Hub Bub wouldn't have already sold out of donuts. I had no idea about their daily quantity, and since it was a weekday and most people work during the week and wake up much earlier than us, I knew there was a good chance that we wouldn't be getting any treats.

We walked the ten blocks over to Hub Bub and hopped in line. Lauren and I ordered our drinks (chai for me, of course), then Lauren added that we would also like two maple and two cinnamon sugar donuts. The guy gave us that look that made me nervous, admitting that he'd have to go check and make sure they still had those flavors left. He lifted the lid on the single donut box and announced that he only had one maple and one cinnamon sugar left (the ones on display), but that there were still a lot of matcha ginger ones remaining. Lauren and I looked at each other, and with that one look we ordered the two donuts from the display case and agreed to split and share them so that we could still try both flavors.

Since my chai was ready before Lauren's latte, I was in charge of finding a seat. Given that it was about 10 in the morning, the place was packed. The only available seats were at a community-like table so we ended up sitting there. My "lack of comfort" hindered me from taking pictures of our beautiful donuts, which is a pretty big bummer. 

Once we were seated as comfortably as possible, we hastily split both donuts in half. Most vegan donuts are more cake-like and dense. These ones though, didn't even taste vegan. They were super fluffy, and the texture and taste were spot on. I preferred the maple but Lauren's favorite was the cinnamon sugar. Both were delicious, but I enjoy the glaze, hence me favoring the maple version. They were a little on the cold side, but I bet they would be even better if we came earlier in the morning (plus we would have more of a selection). By the way, my chai was great as well.

I'll definitely be indulging in dozens of more Dottie's Donuts while living in Philadelphia. One thing that Lauren and I both like about Philadelphia over Sacramento is the wide range of vegan offerings. Hub Bub wasn't my favorite place ever; it was just too crowded and hipster-y for my taste. A branch of Green Line Cafe literally just opened pretty close to our apartment, and they sell Dottie's Donuts there as well. We've already made plans to go there next week, and if I enjoy the atmosphere there, it's going to be pretty hard to stop myself from making multiple donut trips throughout the week.

This entire Friday was pretty much dedicated to vegan donuts and I'm totally okay with that. This just goes  to prove my weirdness. Thankfully Lauren is almost as weird as me and doesn't mind spending "Best Friend Friday" trying new-to-us vegan treats!

Best Friend Friday No. 14

I'll come right out and admit it, we didn't go anywhere on January 9 for "Best Friend Friday". But we had a really good reason to stay inside our apartment all day long. Lauren's new sewing machine was getting delivered and we had to be home to receive and sign for the exciting package. Typically UPS comes sometime in the late morning and USPS always arrives around lunchtime (we weren't sure who the carrier was), so we weren't expecting to be cooped up all day long. But as the day continued to move on without a call regarding a package, we soon realized that this entire Friday was going to be spent inside.

All was not lost though. We spent the day watching Netflix (always a nice, relaxing thing to do) which meant a lot of knitting time for me. Lauren bought me a ton of yarn for Christmas so I've been even more eager to work on my knit blanket!

When Lauren's sewing machine finally arrived (around 7 PM!), she quickly took it out of its box and started working on a project right away. Of course watching someone else sew made me want to stitch something up as well. After sitting on my desk for several days due to nervousness and frustration, I finally finished sewing my Kindle sleeve, and it didn't turn out so bad after all. Thankfully, it isn't' too small. With more time to spare, I whipped out the paper cutter and started making plans for my 2014 random album!

Although we didn't venture out this Friday like we would typically do, I had a great Friday with my bestie! We had a lot of free time to do crafty things together and now Lauren has her own sewing machine so we'll be able to sew together at the same time, like a true sweatshop!

Best Friend Friday No. 13

On January 2 Lauren and I hopped on a plane and headed back to Philadelphia. It was a nice surprise that all of my siblings wanted to accompany my dad as he drove me to the airport around 4 in the morning. Together, Lauren and I had more luggage on our way back to Philadelphia than what we started with. I underestimated the amount of Christmas presents I would receive and to begin with, I packed way too many clothes for only a three week trip. I guess what they say is true, being Back Home Ballers is a real thing and I'm not complaining! Thank goodness both of my checked bags met the weight restriction of fifty pounds. One bag was around forty-three pounds, and the other was exactly fifty!

As much as I love California way more than any other state (I'm a big fan of nice weather and the suburbs), I was looking forward to getting back into my own routine. Like my mom says, I can be a bit obsessive when it comes to my personal things. I missed having my own kitchen with all of my familiar foods and cookware. I like being able to cook whatever and whenever I want without having to worry about who else is going to be there at the same time, and I enjoy having my own refrigerator and filling it up exactly as I please. I guess I do share all of these things with Lauren in our apartment, but in most instances our personalities are so similar that it's basically like we're the same person, and so we don't really have issues about large disagreements which makes sharing a space a lot easier. So even though I knew I would miss the comforts of home and family, I was happy to be going back to my "normal".

Just like flying out West, we had a layover in Phoenix again. Nothing truly memorable happened during our flights though. However, once we landed in Philadelphia we managed to fit all of luggage in a little taxi and hitched a ride back to our apartment. Lesson learned, the $36 we spent on taxi fare was completely worth it and definitely the only way to travel to and from the airport with checked bags.

I was so happy to see that there wasn't any damage or changes done to our apartment while we were gone. Marissa scared me by saying that one of her friends (who also lives in a cold area) came back to school after Winter break to find that his water pipes burst because they froze, or something like that. It was so relieving to see our apartment, just the way we left it. We had the bright idea to clean before we bounced in December. Coming back to a clean place and not being disgusted with the state of your living arrangement is very rewarding. Lauren wanted to unpack all of our stuff right away and get that task out of the way. I agreed and so we spent probably two hours emptying out numerous suitcases until my hunger started making me grumpy as I was getting into my "window period".

Since we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, we jumped at the completely necessary chance of eating out. We collectively decided on Sweet Greens. I felt like I ate so much junk and sugar while home and so I was actually pretty excited to have a hearty salad for dinner. This was our second time going here (we also went when we first moved in September), and so I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted. I ordered a custom salad with spinach, spicy broccoli, carrots, chickpeas, corn, tofu, onions, and tomatoes with their spicy cashew dressing. I also tried the curry lentil soup. The salad was amazing, just as I remembered it. The soup was okay. It was a nice addition to my meal, but there wasn't anything special about it. I'll probably just stick to the salad next time.

That's pretty much how we spent our entire Friday, flying from one coast to another. I wouldn't say I was jet legged, but I definitely had a difficult time falling asleep the first couple of nights being back in Philadelphia. 

Paint Your Own Pottery

Back in elementary school I attended a few birthday parties at a local paint-your-own-pottery studio. Basically you selected a ceramic piece, chose a few colors, and painted to your heart's desire. Then a few days later, your custom decorated piece was ready to be picked up and brought home.

Fast forward about 15 years, and I found myself doing the same thing. In 2012 my mom, siblings, Lauren, Heather, and I discovered Color Me Mine. Three years ago I painted my first cereal bowl, completely covered in tiny dots. Everyone (except Frank) had so much fun expressing themselves in this way, that we kind of made it a tradition and have been going back at least once a year since then.

While home for the holidays last month, my mom, Lauren, and I were eager to go to Color Me Mine again. We planned to on December 20 but I decided to change up my design routine. In the past I've painted all of my ceramics with tiny dots. Although this technique gives a nice finished texture and looks really cool, I was ready for something completely different. My current painted pottery "collection" contains a hearty sized cereal bowl, a smaller bowl, a star-shaped decorative dish, and a black and white tall vase. My favorite and definitely most used item is my initial cereal bowl, mainly for its huge size. Even though I wanted to change how I decorated my piece, I still wanted to stick with my favorite cereal bowl.

I decided that I wanted to eventually have a "collection" of hand painted fruit bowls. I opted for strawberries on my first bowl with a solid pink on the inside. I just love how my bowl turned out, so much so that we all made reservations to go back to Color Me Mine on New Year's Eve. They were offering a two day special; if you purchased at least $15 in ceramics, you got to paint a free mug. Of course we had to this, even though Lauren and I had already committed to preparing the majority of the food for NYE nachos!

This time I went with pineapple on my bowl with a blue interior. For now I want to stick to painting just the fruit I actually like. I'm a pretty picky eater when it comes to fruit, so we'll see how this pans out. On my free mug I attempted to paint a very bright and colorful town with multicolored, different styled houses. These two pieces of pottery weren't ready to be picked up (they have to be fired in a kiln) by the time Lauren and I hopped back on a plane to Philadelphia. Hopefully though my parents will be able to bring our pieces with them when they come and visit in March.

I'm far from being a good freehand painter, but I love painting my own pottery nonetheless. It's fun to have the freedom to transform a solid white object into basically anything you want with tons of paint, and be able to use and cherish something you created. 

Best Friend Friday No. 12

 Way back in November I saw on Facebook that Cal Expo was hosting an ongoing event in December with lots of lights and amusement rides. All of the lights looked really cool and I thought it would be neat to walk around and see a whole bunch of Christmas decorations in one place.

It reminded me of driving around to look at Christmas lights in different neighborhoods, except this time it was actually like walking from door to door.

I mentioned this to Lauren and got her on board too. We figured if the perfect moment popped up in our busy Sacramento schedules, then we'd give it a shot. It seemed really fun, but I didn't want to be stressed having to fit it in.

About a week later I received a text from my mom asking if we wanted to go to Global Winter Wonderland while we were in town with the rest of my family. Of course we responded, saying we would love to go. It's like it was meant to be. It took a while to find a date that worked with everyone's different schedules, but we were all able to free up time in the evening of the 26th.

We all happily agreed to skip the rides and simply enjoy the fanfare of the lights and scenery. As we entered the venue, I was pleased to learn that the attraction was actually a decorated representation of the world. Global Winter Wonderland highlighted many of the famous creations found throughout the globe. My favorite spectacles included the: pandas and dragon in China; huge peacock (I'm not sure which country that's from); gondola and gondolier in Italy; Big Ben in England; and the more locally recognized Golden Gate Bridge.

After walking around taking tons of pictures, we decided to sit down for a little bit and enjoy the Circus of Lights show featuring acts from different cultures. There were many performances by Chinese contortionists and plate spinners, Argentinian dancing gauchos, and Kenyan acrobats. The majority of the show was pretty good, although it did seem a little long and repetitive. Maybe it was just the fact that I was freezing sitting outside for over an hour, but I was happy to go inside and walk around the market.

I was expecting to see a lot of various "handmade" items from around the world, being that the theme of the overall attraction was "global". However, the most "diverse" items being sold were stun guns and tasers, and those don't really scream "diversity" to me, in a positive way.

Although I wasn't super impressed with the holiday market and I would've been happily content with watching just the first half of the show, I'm glad I did go to Global Winter Wonderland solely to admire the lit up wonders of the world. A good Friday was had not only by besties, but also by my family.