healthy fruit and nut bars

i love this recipe and plan on making some more this week.  three layers of goodness.  you can find it here.  i had no idea dates were so tasty.

confession no. 6

i'm kinda a control freak.

i made this

i finished this during my first week home from school.  i painted the canvas background at a class at the international quilt festival five years ago and never did anything with it until now.  i just dove in one day and finished it.  YES...i realize i spelled "disappear" wrong, but i have a creative license, right?  i used alphabet stamps and then colored the letters in to make them darker.  i'm happy with the result and think i will hang it up in my room at school.

i truly believe we are all made of little pieces...the pieces come and go.  i feel like i have pieces of me that are dead through all the normalcy, but once they are fed or triggered they just explode and flourish for quite some time.  i go through phases of being inspired and driven to routine where i just go through the motions until the inspiration strikes me upside the head.

someone asked me, "what's it worth to you, being inspired by someone?"  it took me by surprise, this question and i had to think.  it's a good question to find out what drives your inner creative being. 
this was my reply, "if someone can get at my core and truly inspire me to create or think or come alive, it cannot be numbered.  it gets into my blood and stays there until i do something about it."


i feel indebted to people who inspire me and draw me out of ruts.  people who ask the tough questions that help me understand the inner networks of my mind.  all the pieces are there, i just never asked the questions that helped me put them all together.  and i don't manifest all the pieces on my own...they come and go along the way from who i meet and what i experience.  i just hope i can keep them coming alive without letting too many die off before i'm ready.

thursday quote

“I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you.”

—	Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

gpoyw

birks.  grandma's belt.  new urban outfitters dress.
happy wednesday....take a photo of yourself.

green machine

so my latest obsessions are green machine smoothies and my ninja blender.  bright green deliciousness.  i drink them after a hard lift and feel refreshed to start my day.

recipe:
1 c. skim milk
1-2 c. fresh spinach
1 tbs ground flaxseed
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (from trader joe's)
1 frozen banana
1/2 c. frozen pineapple
1/2 c. frozen cantaloupe

father's day

early morning talk.  brunch.  exploring empty buildings.  leisure walking.  simple.  perfect.

monday quote

“The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.”

—	Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

thursday quote

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” — Rumi

monday quote

“If you’re going to doubt something, doubt your limits.”

—

Don Ward

thursday quote

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

—

Carl Jung

monday quote

“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”

— John Burroughs

health nut

so i'm in trader joe's doing some grocery shopping and as the cashier is checking me out he says, "what is all this for?  are you a health nut?"  then i thought well yeah, i guess i kinda am.  i know this blog has always been for my philosophical moments and art, but health and fitness are also actually huge parts of my life and who i am.  i am going into the physical therapy field and i am a fitness fanatic and play tennis for my university.  i've been hitting the gym twice a day most days of the week cause i love the feeling of lifting heavy and pushing myself to limits i didn't think i could reach.  there is something thrilling about picking up a barbell loaded with weights that i struggled to pick up weeks before.  i am blessed with a capable body...a strong machine that makes anything possible.  and there is nothing more satisfying than the high i experience after a killer workout...sweat dripping down my face, legs shakey but i'm so full of energy.
this week was for spinach smoothies, protein peanut butter cookies and sprints til my quads were numb.

it's amazing to see the changes in my body and how my hard work is paying off.  i'm getting stronger mentally and physically.  so yes, excuse me for being a health nut.

thursday quote

“You have to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” - Andy Warhol

monday quote

“That’s who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of.”

—	John Green

hello june

hello deep sleeps, fresh morning air, ice cream cones and late night talks.  hello bright eyes and full heart.  hello new chapters and secrets of summer.

xx
kayla