Sprinkled with Love

This week has been weird. Monday night I participated in this year’s Greek Week Greek God and Goddess Pageant. That’s right. Me. On stage. In a toga. I still can’t get over the fact that I mustered up the courage to do it, let alone bust out my alto saxophone after four years of hibernation for my talent portion. I blew the audience away with a rendition of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, if I do say so myself! I may not have placed (I unfortunately did not do well in the Q&A portion…I was asked about my favorite ice cream flavor and how it relates to me/my personality, uhh hello, I’m sort of lactose intolerant/more of a froyo gal?) but I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my senior year. I felt so supported and loved by all of my frienDZ, who danced and sang along to my performance, all the while conquering my immense stage fright.

Ok, so now you all have a form of black mail to use against me. My proud mother took this from the balcony after I dedicated the song to her. Little fun fact that I added in when introducing my talent: my mom made me my first screen name back in the early days of AIM, ilovesax. In hindsight, I understand why I was so popular in chatrooms. This little anecdote got a few laughs, so I was pleased and oh, #ilovesax was trending on Twitter. No big deal! Anyway, I’m paying for not doing work leading up to Monday night’s event (I couldn’t focus, too nervous!) so have been swamped with papers and such but wanted to give you a taste of yesterday’s clean eats. Here is this week’s What I Ate Wednesday post, courtesy of Peas and Crayons. I’m proud to say that I stepped up to this month’s challenge of eating an extra serving of veggies…not that I don’t get enough already!

I’ve been loving hemp seed protein powder smoothies for a pre-workout breakfast, especially when served in leftover nut butter jars. I accidently bought unsweetened almond milk (only 35 calories per serving, can’t beat that!) but honestly couldn’t tell a difference with a little stevia, frozen fruit and Chobani. I guess I’ll be buying that from now on! I’ve gotten my fruit concoctions down to a science at this point. Yesterday’s was similar to my Banana, Berry and Hemp Protein Smoothie with 8 oz. almond milk, a plain Chobani yogurt, one frozen banana, sprinkle of chia seeds and flaxseed meal, a handful of frozen berries (to blend and some for topping) and a packet of stevia. In honor of the April Challenge, I also hid a little bit of baby spinach in there. You would have never known!

After hitting the gym for a sweaty ab workout and quick 3 miles on the treadmill, I hopped in the shower before making my way to work. An early lunch included two hardboiled eggs and a monstrous Granny Smith with my new favorite nut butter, chunky soy nut butter. I added in some extra roasted soy nuts for an extra a protein-powered treat. I’m obsessed and already almost done with this jar. Oops?  

After a few hours at work, I posted up at Starbucks with my friend, Bre, in attempt to write a paper we have for our Art, Museums and International Relations class…why I’m enrolled in this, I couldn’t tell you. Just needed the credit at this point! We downed a little too much caffeine and ended up accomplishing more in terms of gossip but all in all had a nice afternoon. I shifted gears and focused back in my room shortly after to start tackling a media literacy research paper (bleh!) and rewarded myself with one of my new favorite bars, Cashew Caramel Macrobar. Gooey, delicious and 16 g. of protein! It helped with my coffee jitters, too!

Moving on to dinner. I had to get over to the journalism department to help in a senior survey thing-a-ma-gig (there was a Dunkin Donuts gift card involved so I didn’t ask any questions…) and another Greek Week event so made a hearty, healthy dinner of baked tofu and roasted veggies topped with half of a ripe avocado and (unpictured) sunflower seeds! I drizzled some apple cider vinegar on top and, naturally, some nooch and was ready to go! It kept me full and satisfied for HOURS!

Airpopped popcorn followed suit, as always, and helped me get me through the conclusion of my paper before bed. Time to get back to hitting the books! Can’t wait to take a break later for a run before heading to New York!
Do you have a hidden, sort of embarrassing talent? What was your first AIM screen name?

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!