"...Just touched down in Londontown"

Hey Everyone,
After a veryyyyy long week, and an even longer Thursday, I have finally arrived in London! I could not be happier to be here. We had no problems with our travel, and were even upgraded to premium economy by United Airlines (I love extra legroom!!) and were picked up by a private car and driven to our friend's "flat" that we are staying at! With a quick change of clothes and some mandatory teeth brushing (lol) we headed out for a lovely "light" brunch. Uh yea...that did not happen. Lots of "light" wine was consumed and my ROOMIE from last year (aka the love of my life) met up with us for the entire day. Man oh man did I love catching up with her. I needed to vent like no one's business because I have been dealing with some serious bullshit lately, and talking to someone I trust explicitly reallllly helped. Post lunch (aka day drinking), we did a small tour of the area (Notting Hill), which is adorable by the way and full of cute markets and one of a kind shops and restaurants. Then we did a quick change of clothes and were off to St. Paul's Cathedral. I captured the mandatory telephone tourist photographand then grabbed the nearest caffiene boost I could find. Yes. I came to London, England and had Starbucks. It is sinful lol. My roomie used their bathroom where we found the smallest. sink. ever. Poomie sized I think ;)
We toured a lot of London this afternoon via a cab. But not just any cab, it was one of those explicitly London cans, with the backwards seats and everything. I loved it! Then we had a pit stop at a wine shop and chatted for a while before heading to my roommate's (hereon referred to as Jen B)(yes, we have the same name) flat which is in a prime location! Just look at this walk she is lucky enough to walk all the time!The lighting sucked, but if you look closely you can see that there are flagged strung along the entire alleyway! When we arrived at her flat, we cleaned up, grabbed a London-esque version of a granola bar
and then headed out to meet my cousin for drinks and dinner with her worldly friends. Oh yea, this is here view. Um, and I thought my balcony was cool. Yea, she wins :) So that was the last picture I took, but we ate at a very fancy restaurant called Cecconi's. Um, fancy is an understatement. Definitely delicious, and definitely overpriced and swanky. I just ate the most delicious cupcake of my whole life from Hummingbird Bakery in Notting Hill. I had the red velvet and I am drooling just thinking about it.
Okay, I am beyond exhausted at this point. Time to hydrate and sleep.
Until next time,
~Jenn

It's a good thing...

...that my weekday's are pretty monotonous because I still have not had the chance to catch you guys up on my Sunday! This week is nothing more than a waiting game for Thursday evening...when I am off to London for a long weekend!
Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early (and sans headache since I stayed in Saturday night like a lady) and prepped for a power walk outside. I am still trying to let my knee heal.
I made a bomb.com breakfast. My first fruit bowl of the season! I used fresh pineapple, canteloupe, and 1/2 banana. The closest grocery store to my apartment FINALLY started carrying some decent greek yogurt! Chobani! And it was on sale, so I stocked up! I put 1/2 container's worth on top with 1/4 cup of galaxy granola. I ended up feeling stronger than I anticipated and actually ran intervals around DC for about 45 minutes. I passed this beautiful building on Mass. Ave. I can't remember the name of it, but my cousin told me that it serves as a haven for Middle Eastern countries (or something like that).The point is, apparently right after 9/11, someone rammed their car into the side of the building. Isn't that awful? Thank goodness it was rebuilt, because it is truly lovely. When I returned to my apartment, I was hunnngggry. I fueled with 1/2 orange, leftover sushi, and a bigass salad that included chickpeas, feta cheese, and 1/2 pita.I ate that shizz up. I was starved. I ate while watching swarms of tourists chillin' on a double decker bus. I remember thinking how happy I was to be in my apartment and not around all those people...and then I sat down for all of 20 minutes until my roommate busted in saying we were going paddle boating around the Jefferson Memorial. INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE SWARM. The line was foreverrrr long, so the boats didn't happen, but I did see this guy.Badass. My roommate and I walked the entire trail home. That means I got A LOT of exercise on Sunday. Go me.
Moving onto Monday. I was super down all day. No details are really necessary. But I did take pictures of my food, so I figured I would share. I'm just realizing how much green I consumed. I'm surprised my skin hasn't changed colors.
Breakfast was a given. My favorite hot/cold combo. Thank goodness for smoothies to cool me down from the coffee. That smoothie had some unknown staying power because the only snack I had between 8AM and 1PM was this 100 calorie mini Clif Bar. (It appears as though I will also have some French to attend too next semester ;)) I am so glad they make smaller portions now, because I really struggle to just eat 1/2 of anything. Lunch was a new creation that turned out really well! A sandwich comprised of Dr. Praeger's Veggie Burger, fresh spinach, and hummus.I served this alongside some broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potato that I roasted the night before. Not too shabby for a work lunch, huh? I didn't get hungry again until 6:30PM but it was so hot in my apartment (they haven't turned the air on yet!!) that I could only fathom one thing for dinner.
Green Monster in a bowl. That's right, two in one day. I put it in a bowl to make it feel more like a meal and added granola and raw oatmeal for some staying power. Around 8PM, while making today's lunch I ate 2 rice cakes with Sunbutter and Crofter's Organic Superfood Spread. I did my 45 mins of yoga after that and was asleep by 11PM. Glad to get Monday over with.
I didn't take pictures of my food today because I wanted to catch up. Tomorrow I will try to blog, but it is doubtful. I have lots to organize and projects to finish before I head to London on Thursday! I am going for a long weekend with my cousin and I can't wait!! I will do full blog recaps I promise!!
Until next time,
~Jenn

Another Monday.

Today I have not felt motivated by anything. Luckily, (actually this is BS) I can not blog because the Internet is so shitty in my apartment. Expect a long post tomorrow. Fate is telling me to take this opportunity to try to unwind with some yoga. Until tomorrow.
Namaste
Jenn

Cherry Blossom Festival Weekend 2010

Lemme just start at the beginning and settle in with some epic Oats In A Jar. This post is very scatterbrained, so just bear with me. I left in about a tablespoon's worth of PB in the bottom, so they were extra flavorful and delicious.
They were the perfect early dinner to fuel me through an epic night out. That outfit was not meant for going out, but our rooftop extravaganza carried over to the bars, so we were looking awfully springy on the dance floor. Those pics may or may not make an appearance, pending a thorough review later this evening. :)
Saturday morning, I awoke to an english muffin with a spread of almond butter on one side and a shmear of vegan "butter" and strawberry jelly on the other. I find this combo extra appealing after a long night. I spent the day lounging on the mall with friends and then met up with my cousin to discuss our upcoming trip to London over some sushi. I ordered A LOT of avocado. NOM. Lot's of leftovers too, which is always good! I also tried this beer. It was really good, nice and light, but I was so stuffed from my sushi I only ended up drinking about half of it.
On Friday and took a long walk through Rock Creek Park that wound all the way around to the National Cherry Blossom Festival. I was pretty upset about some things on Friday morning, so I managed to only drink 1/2 of my green (purple) monster.
I added Galaxy Granola to the other half as a snack when I returned.
Mmm... it was crunchy and cold. Super refreshing after a long walk. Speaking of: this trail is absolutely fabulous and was the perfect way to clear my head. Just so you can get an idea of what I see along the path toward the monuments... The infamous Watergate Hotel...
The waterfront area at Georgetown...and the Lincoln Memorial. Not to shabby, huh?
The crowds at the festival were UNREAL. So many people. But, since I was by myself I was able to navigate through them pretty much unscathed and snap some great pictures. Here is my photo montage. Enjoy!








Today, I spent the day completely outside, which could not make me happier. I have lot's of pictures to share...in my No Meat Athlete shirt to boot, but my internet is being fussy and this post is long enough. So I will save the recap for a later date.
Happy Easter to those who celebrate and don't forget to tell the people in your life that you love them.
~Jenn

A Reflection

D.C. is taking its toll on my overall well being.
Allow me to explain.
My awareness of this fact has waxed and waned over the course of the semester based on whatever was going on at that time. Overall, I have come to terms with the fact that even though it is not over yet, I am finished with this semester.
I have learned a lot, to be sure, not only in through my internship and classes, but through the interaction I have had with people I would have never encountered otherwise, and the day to day things one encounters living in a city for the first time. This semester was a long time coming; I can still remember thinking how cool the opportunity sounded my freshmen year of college. Two and a half years later, here I sit, with just 5 weeks left, thinking the end will be bittersweet.
On the one hand, I have had more fun, both sober and otherwise, than I could have ever imagined. I am forever grateful to this program for introducing me to so many new people and forcing me to step outside my comfort zone to live with strangers. The academic portion of this semester has reaffirmed how good I really have it. Learning about the major problems facing the world and how many people out there are really suffering is a constant reminder of how blessed and fortunate my circumstances are.
Yet, here I sit, having come to the point where I am ready to move on. I do not want to wish away my remaining time here, but I know that I have lost my zest for the city and all that it encompasses. Through this reflection, I have realized that in all areas of my life, I am ready to move forward.

My headspace has never felt so crowded. There are so many things I have been thinking about lately that I can't even convey. It is frustrating, but I am going to try to get this out. For one thing, I have lost control of my eating again. I know it is repetitive on this blog, but my struggle with food is CONSTANT and a huge part of how I qualify a good or bad day, so there it is. I estimate (b/c I don't want to get on the scale) that I have gained around 10 pounds. Writing that makes me cringe. But it is true. I attribute it, for one thing, to my work. I am bored and unchallenged all day, which leads to me snacking. Moreover, I am always so hungry when I get home and too tired to go to the gym after class. It is a very sedentary semester overall. As for the weekend calories, ugh, I can't even go there. These are not excuses, rather observations, because I know very well that I control what goes into my mouth and the choice I make to go to the gym or not.

The thing is, these things make me feel awful and yet I keep doing them. It's a rut I can't seem to bust out of. There are many other facets to this as well, but I like to think of myself as a healthy person, and these are not the choices of healthy people. You have not seen all of my food choices because I have stopped being accountable to myself. I am not sure what this all means but knowing that my time here is limited has helped me acknowledge and accept where I am now.
I am very much looking forward to moving beyond this, and back to Little Rock for a short while before heading off to Strasbourg. And that is not to say there are not things I am not excited about while still in DC. I am off to London next weekend for a short getaway with my cousin, and then my best friend is coming to visit. But my time in DC seems to have just expired for now.
Whew. That was a lot. I am going out to enjoy the weather.
Until tomorrow,
~Jenn