Goodness in my Belly

Quinoa (Keen-wa): A goosefoot found in the Andes, where it was widely cultivated for its edible starchy seeds before the introduction of Old World grains

-Google Dictionary

To my healthy siblings: I made Quinoa! Be very proud :)

Yes, I decided to be like my fit siblings last night and I made Quinoa. Best idea ever. Not only is it healthy, but it taste phenomenal. (Phenomenal: a big word people use in the office all the time). I can't get enough of this stuff and it has officially become something I will make on a regular basis. I'm obsessed with it. This is the recipe I used.

Side note: I also shook Mitt Romney's hand yesterday. He walked past-what we call-intern row and said, "you guys all minimized your video games" as he went by. haha I think he was just kidding, but it was kinda true... He came to our office and we all got to meet him. In my personal opinion, the man's mannerisms scream "president".

Other Side note: I'm currently watching step up 3...I think my cheesy-meter will be just about full after this movie is over.

My week: concerts, bachelorette, and choking

On Monday I went to an out-door movie. Nothing better than the big screen under the stars...

Watched Bach. In my opinion, Ashley is annoying and JP is fine.

Saw the mormon tabernacle choir at an outdoor theater. As always, they were amazing.

My office participated in the tradition of "seersucker Thursday" every one was looking snazzy in their suits.

I had the sister missionaries over for dinner (Not these ones. I got this picture from the internet, but I'm sure they are lovely people). I completely forgot they were coming and had about one hour to whip something together.

I saw Cars 2. Really good! But me, being me, probably would have been fine if I had just waited to see it in the dollar theater.

shopped shopped shopped on Saturday

Ended the week with watching DC United tie and USA lose. Bummer. (so frustrating that we lost 2-4with a 2-0 lead...)

Half-Way

Even though the Cherry blossoms were gone before I got here I still think this place is really pretty! I am officially half way through the internship and have come a long way from that first day when I didn't know anybody and the day felt like it lasted ten years. I will be very sad when it comes time to say good-bye to all my friends out here.

Little things I've noticed about DC:

• Everything is more expensive
• No matter how hard I try to make my hair look good it is ruined by humidity
• Sometimes I miss the mountains, but the trees out here keep me pretty distracted
• People are really nice
• The frozen yogurt isn't nearly as good, unfortunately
• Everyone (and their dog) has a dog!
• The way I travel has drastically changed--being squished against a metro door while being surrounded by sweaty bodies on my way to work is a daily event.
• The LDS social scene is really good, even though I'm probably the youngest out here

impatient

Bread dough,

RISE FASTER!

love, Sarah jane

Prancing about

It's 2 AM and I can't fall asleep. I'm super frustrated with my body because I'll be waking up in four hours to make myself go running. I keep saying out loud to myself, "just GO to sleep!". hm....my lack of tiredness may have something to do with the fact that I took a three hour nap today...Anyways, After tossing, reading letters, turning, reading books, and more tossing and turing I finally pulled out the pooter.

This weekend was great because I got to spend it with my parents! After they stocked me up at Costco (I have declared that place the greatest thing that happened to America) we spent the weekend partying.

We toured this:

and this:

Mt. Vernon--home of George Washington

Then we drove down some pretty streets while I enjoyed the feeling of being in a car. It isn't something I get to experience very often so I rolled down the window and soaked up the summer breeze. We drove until we came across a national park. Luckily for us the park was renting out paddle boats so we paddled our way out on to the potomac river!

It was my mom's birthday so we promised her we'd go to a Nats game. Only too bad for us because when we got to the stadium it was empty and we realized we were six hours late. So we went and saw the Jefferson Memorial. I've always seen it from a distance and was dying to tour it--It's especially pretty at night.

Living in DC has given me such an appreciation for the founding fathers. George Washington was a great man and I don't believe there was any other man who could have done what he did for this country. I am proud to be an American!

Friends, family, random people that read my blog in Germany...

I have an ANNOUNCEMENT!

You may have noticed my obsession with posting deals as of late.

I've officially decided to start a new blog full of deal announcements and money saving tips.

I started it last night so don't expect too much out of it. I'm sure with time it will get better.

Idratherbethrifting.blogspot.com

My newest adventure

Awesome deal

I can't remember where I found this....but all you need to do is print out the image above and bring it to a Sephora to get free bare minerals!

I thought it was too good to be true, but I ended up getting a mini brush, foundation, mineral veil, and primer for free!

p.s. I'm sorry my blog is turning into a coupon book...My soul just can't contain the excitement of a good deal :)

Deal of the Day

$15 for $35 dollars to e.l.f. cosmetics

use this link please! :)

Book Suggestion

"First you will smile, and then you will cry. Don't say you haven't been warned"

deals of the day

livingsocial.com

two fandango tickets for $9!

citydeals.com

use coupon code fun20 and you can get $10 of Golden Spoon for $4

This is one of my favorite frozen yogurt places in Orem!

(I recommend the graham cracker and peanut butter)

Happy Birthday!

Today is my blog's first birthday! The first post I wrote was on June 7, 2010. I can't believe I've had this blog for a whole year. To celebrate I made black bean salad...really heathy, but really addicting. You can get the recipe here

I also made cheesecake for the Senator's birthday

Red Velvet cake cheesecake

I spent all of Sunday baking for the cheesecake competition I was in (note to self: never bake on a fast sunday...especially when church is at three) . When I got to work me and my competitor found out we had both made the same kind of cheesecake. whoops.

I considered it a success when I found out eight different senators ate a piece!

(I've kind of got this cooking-bug goin' on. As I type this I've got banana bread in the oven)

Just so you know

It ends tonight!

If you haven't used groupon yet, it'd make me happy if you said I referred you! (click here to use my referral code)

A popular asset

Money. I've decided it takes a lot of money just to exist. Spending the majority of my time on the hill means I have to spend money a lot more than I'd like to.

Many of my coworkers enjoy eating out so to cut down on costs I'll eat my homemade turkey sandwich while they buy a pizza. They call me frugal and I embrace the title. One of my coworkers asked me to help her stop spending so much money. I gave her a homework assignment for this week: she can only buy one meal a day, the rest must be homemade. I kind of like this little service I've been offering and figured I should continue the tips on my blog! So here ya go...tips on saving money...

1. Plan ahead. If you know you won't be at home throughout the day then bring a sack lunch. Make sure that you bring enough food because if you don't then you'll still be hungry and will justify buying yourself an ice cream cone.

2. Use groupon.com, bloomspot.com, livingsocial.com, citydeals.com and coupons.com. I go on these websites every single day (my favorite one is groupon) to find deals around the city. The deals are amazing and now all my coworkers have started using it.

3. Shop at stores like Plato's Closet. Anyone that knows me knows that this is my staple store. I get dresses, shoes, coats, jeans, shorts...all for less than twenty dollars.

4. Have a coupon box. Every Sunday when the adds role through I cut out the ones I may use (mine is like a little index card holder so I can take it in my purse). Caution: don't use the coupons unless you need the item. Some people will buy something because it is on sale, but never use it, thus causing a loss of money.

5. eBay and Amazon. Good stores to shop at if you want a cheap DVD or book, bulk groceries, etc..

6. Sometimes I will be shopping and I'll find an item of clothing I want, but I don't want to spend the money to buy it. This is where my walk away rule comes into play. If I can put the item back on the rack without thinking about it then I can live without it, but if I spend the rest of my time shopping thinking about how badly I want that item then I'll reconsider.

7. Find free activities to do! It is so easy to find fun, free entertainment. Maybe next time I'll list some of them off.

8. Don’t spend money on stuff you don’t want. It sounds kind of stupid, but it is true. If you have friends going to a movie that you don’t want to go to then don’t waste money on the movie! Don’t buy clothes you won’t wear and don’t buy food you won’t eat.