It's a Love-Hate Relationship

We've all got 'em. 

They make you look amazing, and your confidence levels just go sky high. 

But you also look like a newborn horse struggling to take its first steps. 

If you're like me, you give up and end up walking barefoot through the streets of Santana Row. 

Could it be the SAT? (No, although I did take that this weekend).

Yup, it's those heels. 

Among other things, this weekend, I spent 4 hours in 5-inch heels. I loved being super tall, but my balance is questionable as it is, so it was definitely a struggle. Any tips for not being the loser holding her shoes while walking through downtown? 

This whole ordeal was for my friend Prachi's 16th, and it did make for some pretty cute pictures- enjoy!

apologies for the crappy phone quality and the demon eyes. 

I like to think the second picture is more relationship representative. 

This weekend was also Diwali, or the festival of lights, which is the world's best excuse to play with fire. 

gaah, it's gorgeous. 

Oh yeah, and I dressed up my dog for Halloween. I'm that kind of person. 

How was your weekend? Any exciting Halloween parties or firework mishaps? Let me know :)

xo, Hima

P.S. Best friend Tulika started a blog. Go show her some love!

Hello Monday

Mondays aren’t really that bad, come to think of it. Especially when you’ve had a productive and tenjoyable weekend. It may not have been the most fun weekend, but hey, it’s the little things that count, right? I’d say this weekend had a lot of little things that made it memorable.

For starters, I got my nails done!

Don’t tell me you haven’t done this at some point. Something about raspberries just brings about the 5 year-old in me. You get I ate them off of my fingers afterwards.

Yummy sweet potato and sesame chicken for dinner! (Probably 23848390284 calories, but calories don’t count after September, right? It’s “the holidays” according to all the department stores in the nation.

I actually love fall leaf colors. Sometimes I wish I could live in the Northeast just for fall foliage, but the tree down the street is fine for now.

Sunday night after finishing all my homework, we headed out to the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed some yummy oreo cheesecake. My parents also both forgot their wallets so we sat in the restaurant for an extra half hour as my mom went back home to get it. It happens...right?

Any more exciting weekends? I’ve got a great post coming up tomorrow so check back for that soon!

xo, Hima

Labor Day Lovin'

I hope your Labor Day Weekends were amazing! Like I said on Friday, I got my wisdom tooth out, so I spent a lot of my weekend taking things slow. 

Two of my lovely friends (shoutout to Sneha + Indu if you're reading this!) come over on Friday after school to keep me company. And they brought me ice cream. Can you say "amazing?" Thanks guys!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures...sorry about that!

In my neighborhood, we have a block party every year at the end of summer to celebrate. It's such a great experience to go out and have some fun with and get to know your neighbors better, and it creates a really great community feeling. 

This time, I decided to take my camera along and I'm pretty happy with some of the shots I got. Take a look, and tell me what you think!

This little girl was such a natural model and I had so much fun shooting her!

Admittedly I didn't take this, but I love this picture of my friend Gauri and me!

How was your Labor Day weekend? Summer 2013 is over, but I'd be hard pressed to say that it wasn't the best one yet!

#Sarinotsorry + more!

I would say weekend, but it's not like I posted on Friday. Or Thursday. Or anytime in the last week and a half. 

Oops.
EDIT: This post was supposed to go live this morning, but Blogger and I got into a fight. Updates on the first day of school tomorrow!

Last week: Last week was all about wrapping up teaching at Breakthrough and getting ready for school! The graduation ceremony was absolutely beautiful!
The speeches were on point, no one messed up, and my slideshow evoked lots of tears!
The only downside? I'm an ugly crier.

Post ceremony, us teachers just got a lot of love from the students in general.

Clockwise from top left. 

1. A note that a student wrote me. 

2. Our crew alien

3. A flower with notes on it from the students to symbolize growth- remember the packet of seeds we got in the beginning?

4. WOOHOO I'm a certified educator!

5. My planet with notes from all my students. 

Just reading and looking at these in my room gives me so much joy!

I also got my schedule and my ID picture! It was hot and sweaty in the room, so my pictures not that great, but I liked seeing how I've changed over the years according to my photos!

The top photo is from 6th grade, and the bottom right is from 11th 

We had another Indian party on Friday, so it was time to sari-up (bonus points for anyone you can name the show reference!)!

Saturday night I hung out with some girlfriends to celebrate the start of school/enjoy out freedom while it lasted!

Pizza night plus a sleepover with TONS of girl talk :)

Always wonderful, right?

Sorry for the SUPER long post with all this pictures, but after almost two weeks, I was ready for a photo dump. 

Sari for Party Rockin'

This weekend was a good one ya'll. And by weekend I mean Thursday through Sunday. Because Thursday is the new Friday right? 

Pshh, who cares about having to work on a Friday!?

Anyways. 

On Thursday night, we went out to dinner to celebrate my first paycheck!

HOLLA FOR A DOLLA. 

or $550.

that's right. 

i'm now officially rich. 

on a $2/hour salary. (Don't worry guys. It's not illegal)

BOMB. 

Pasta with broccolini and brussel sprouts. 

On Friday and Saturday, I just had myself a little grading party. 

Sunday morning, my dad and I went on a 17 mile bike ride! My butt is still sore. 

No pictures from that because they're still on my dad's phone. 

#bloggerfail

On Sunday afternoon, I went to a desi (Indian) party. We got all dressed up, so that was fun!

Let me tell you- saris are DIFFICULT to wear. 

EDIT: Guys, my pictures are ridonkulously grainy. Some of them are taken with a DSLR, and some of them with my phone, which is still pretty good quality! I've resized all of them to 700 pixels wide on PicMonkey, but they still look terrible. 

HELP. 

What do I do?

How was your weekend? 

xo, Hima

El Fin de Semana

It's time for my favorite link-up, Weekend Shenanigans!

Basically I get to tell you about all the stuff I did over the weekend, and you tell me what you did, and we have a big ol' party thinking about all the fun or not-so-fun stuff we did!

Friday: After work, went to a karaoke place with some of my coworkers. That was fun. Lots of Avril Lavigne, Jonas Brothers, Hilary Duff- really throwin' it back!

The only part I didn't like was that the room was dark, so I couldn't get any pictures. 

1. Luis wore a penguin suit to work on Friday. Again, I love my job. 

2. Pretty flowers in the front yard on Sunday!

3. Frozen Blueberries. OH.EM.GEE. 

We bought 2 pounds of blueberries last week, and I finished them all! They're insanely expensive at the Farmer's Market ($8 a pint? NOT happening!), so Costco came to the rescue.

I just wash about 1/2 a cup and throw 'em in the freezer for a few hours. 

The end result is godly. 

4. I like it. 'Nuff said. 

5. And this is why I live in CA. 

What was your weekend like? I want to hear about all the fun stuff I couldn't come with you to!

xo, Hima

RECIPE: Banana Chia Waffles

Soooooo.......

I made these on Saturday and they're pretty much the best things in the world. 

I had a lot of good food this weekend (that I didn't take pictures of- bad blogger!), but these definitely take the cake  waffle. 

Here's the recipe!

• 1 whole wheat flour
• 1 finely chopped banana
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
• 1/3 cup applesauce (there is no butter in these, but you have to spray the waffle maker!)
• A TON of chia seeds (gotta get that protein!)

Mix it all up, pop it in the waffle maker, top with whatever you have laying around, and enjoy!

You need waffles in your life. I really want to try savory waffles! Has anyone tried them? What do you think?

Also, totally off topic, but the TransAmerica building is very tall.  

San Francisco was amazing, as always. Just didn't get to take pictures b/c I couldn't use my phone. 

Sorry for the short and rushed post, ya'll. 

I'll make it up to you tomorrow!

How was your weekend? 

xo, Hima

I have an addiction....

Strawberries. 

I just can't stop eating them. 

But we'll get to that later, I've got a few other gems for you from this delightful weekend of mine first!

First up is Thrift Shop Friday at work!

Yes, I am wearing a fur vest, a bugs bunny tie, and harem pants all in one outfit. 

But seriously, why can't harem pants be a thing again- SO comfortable!

Saturday morning was a family bike ride to downtown Saratoga, where we met the cutest poodle! Her name was Bisou, which means kiss in French, probably because she wouldn't stop giving them!

In the afternoon, I randomly proposed a trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Palo Alto, about a 20 minute drive, and to my surprise, we went!

They are $3.50 each and DEFINITELY worth all the hype. 

Clockwise, the flavors are banana, salted caramel, red velvet, lemon blueberry, black and white, and coconut.

Haven't tried all of them yet, but the red velvet is my favorite by far!

Have you ever been to Sprinkles? What do ya'll think of the whole cupcake fad going on? 

OMG. 

Does anyone watch Cupcake Wars? LOVE. 

Sunday afternoon was another bike ride, this time with my food and fitness buddy Gauri! This was definitely a much needed catch-up since we last saw each other two weeks ago. 

Never mind the fact that we text on a daily basis. 

We went up to this GORGEOUS place in Saratoga called Villa Montalvo. 

On to my little problem.

NOM. 

So much goodness this weekend. 

Plain ol' strawberries, two strawberry spinach salads, and a delicious strawberry mug cake. 

Please please please follow my new food Instagram @healtherrific! If you love food, and I know you do, because everyone loves food, you're bound to enjoy it. 

I promise I eat foods other that strawberries!

Maybe. 

What are your summer addictions? I don't know, something about summer just says "fruit" to me!

xo, Hima

Linking up with Sarah and Shanna!

15 year-olds can teach?

Hey Ya'll! Hope you had a fabulous weekend. I'm sure you're wondering what on earth my title means, because, duh... 15 year-olds are still in high school right? 

But that's my classroom!

That's right, I'm teaching this summer- 7th grade bio and journalism. It's part of a program called Breakthrough Collaborative. 

Here's their mission: 

Mission: Founded in 1978, Breakthrough Collaborative has changed the lives of tens of thousands of students, utilizing a unique dual mission to:

• Increase academic opportunity for highly motivated, underserved students and put them on the trajectory of a successful college path; and• Inspire and develop the next generation of teachers and educational leaders.

Pretty cool huh? I start teaching today, and I'm incredibly nervous. Any advice from all you blogger-teachers out there? Anything would be appreciated. 

They gave us there little packets of seeds to remind us that this summer is all about growth! How cute is that!

On Saturday afternoon, my former third grade teacher took me shopping to get classroom supplies. She's the absolute best!


I've also been inhaling this all weekend. Amazeballs.

Saturday night, we went to a dinner party up in Fremont, which is in the hills, out of the valley. Around 9:30, we took their dog for a walk, and we had the best views.

 

Then we turned a corner to see the entire Bay Area twinkling under the stars. And to top it all off, there were fireworks. 

Needless to say, this was definitely the highlight of my weekend. 

When we got home, we didn't have power. We just happened to be one of the 10 houses on our side of the street who didn't have power. Everyone else did, just us. Even better- it has been 100+ degrees here for the last few days, so it was HOT. 

This explains why I don't have pictures from Sunday- my phone died and I didn't have anything to charge it with. 

Power is back now, so it's all good!

How was your weekend everybody? Any teaching advice?

xo, Hima

When Cooking Doesn't Always Work Out

I consider myself an okay cook. I can follow a recipe pretty well, and I usually come up with yummy food. I'm also a bit of a presentation freak, so I try to make my food pretty before I eat it. 

Need convincing? 

1. Happy toast 

2. Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes!

3. Protein Pancakes

4. I'm fully aware that this isn't actually cooking, but I'm trying to reinforce the prettiness. See the face? 

(Should I be worried that faces on food seems to be a trend for me?)

No? 

Good. 

This weekend, I really wanted to make these birthday cake protein pancakes from the Clarkpharm blog for my little brother and myself. 

No, it's not either of our birthdays. We just love birthday cake everything! 

This is how they were supposed to turn out. 

All nice and fluffy and rainbow sprinkly. Well, we didn't have rainbow, so red sprinkly. 

This is how they actually turned out. 

Seriously, what are those? When something is that ugly I try to make it a little nicer looking.

So I drowned in in greek yogurt sauce (water + yogurt). It was so ugly I didn't even take a picture.

And then I devoured it. 

It was amazeballs. So even if they were really, they tasted great. 

Except for the fact that still kinda full. 

Nine hours later. 

Goal: Make them look pretty next time! 

That wasn't all. The pancakes were only part one of my cooking fiasco. Part two was a little worse. 

So for some reason, I thought that I'd play scientist and test what happened when you microwave cookie dough. 

Would it get all gooey and yummy? ('Cause you know I love that goo!) Would it just be an undercooked blob? 

I put it in and set the time for a 1:30. At 1:10, I decided to check on it to make sure everything was okay. I opened the microwave and clouds of steam poured out. It felt like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Harry was fighting Voldemort in the maze. (Note: If you haven't read HP, we can't be friends.)

Just kidding. 

I'll love you anyways. Maybe. 

Moving on, the steam was all misty and scary, and then I started to smell the burnt...uh...everything?

I waited about 30 seconds until the plate was cool enough to touch and then I dumped that sucker in the sink and turned that water on. 

Craaaaaack! 

Half the plate falls off. 

How appetizing is that? 

I was grossed out just thinking about the carcinogens in that burnt lump, so I tossed it. 

Moral of the story: Even if you think you can cook, some things are just going to stump you. 

And just because I traumatized you so much, I will leave you with more visually appealing picture of my adorable little Bellatrix. 

(does this one post tell you how much of an HP fan I am?)

Have a great day ya'll. 

xo, Hima