2 years and 16 days. That’s how long I lived in this apartment making it the longest I’ve lived in one location outside of my childhood home. And tomorrow I will be saying goodbye.
The day after my 23rd birthday, I piled up my belongings into my parents minivan and hit the road for Cincinnati. I had recently accepted a job in the Queen City, and it was on that Saturday in March that I became a bonafide “adult” by moving into my very first post-graduate apartment.
I was anxious about the move. Would I like Cincinnati? Would I get along with my roommates? Would I miss home too much? Little did I know that 2 years and 16 days from that drive I’d be surrounded by a pile of boxes not quite ready to say goodbye.
Over the course of those 2 years and 16 days, this apartment became my home. These four walls housed so many memories. I made new, lifelong friendships on the lumpy green couch in the living room. I watched more Netflix than I am willing to admit while curled up in my bed. I mastered the art of the perfect brownie on the worn laminate counters in the kitchen. I read page after page from my book collection while soaking up the sun on the uneven wood deck. I filed my taxes (all by myself!) at my desk in front of my gargantuan bedroom window. I did laundry while simultaneously conquering my fear of the creepy, unfinished basement. I danced through the hallway to my favorite Spotify playlist in an effort to make cleaning more fun. I hosted dinner parties, movie nights, and sleepovers for out of town guests. I got sick, both from stomach bugs and fun nights out. I woke up early to watch the sunrise through my bedroom windows. I stayed up late to watch the sun set over cold beers and girl talk.
Tomorrow, just two weeks after my 25th birthday, I’ll pile up my belongings into my rental truck and hit the road for my new apartment. Saying goodbye is bittersweet. My first “big girl” apartment. My first place in this city I now call home. I’ll miss this apartment and all that it’s meant to me over the last 2 years and 16 days, but it’s also time to move on.
Easy Gourmet Breakfast: Fried Egg and Avocado Toast
Despite the fact that breakfast is the "most important meal" of the day, I very rarely eat breakfast. This is partly due to the fact that I never seem to make time for it in my morning routine and because I don't much enjoy a bowl of cereal.
So what's a girl to do? Well, I recently found a recipe that not only takes less than 7 minutes to make but it is also one of the most delicious breakfasts I've had AND it's packed with protein and healthy fats to get your day started the right way.
Fried Egg & Avocado Toast
Serving Size: 1
Ingredients
1 piece whole grain bread
1/2 of an avocado
1 egg
salt & pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)
Toast the bread to your liking and set aside on a plate.
In a small bowl, mash the 1/2 of an avocado adding salt & pepper to taste. I found that a fork is the best tool to use when mashing the avocados.
Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Because the skillet is non-stick, you don’t need to had butter or oil, but I like to add a little butter (no more than a 1/2 tablespoon) to the skillet to help “fry” the egg. Crack the egg on the side of the skillet being, careful to not break the yolk, and place the egg in the skillet. Once the whites of the egg turn from clear to white (after about 1 minute or so), grab a spatula and gently flip the egg. This will help to fry both sides of the egg. If you would prefer your egg to be “sunny side up”, you do not need to flip the egg. After about another 2 minutes, your egg should be done cooking, so you can remove the pan from the heat.
Take your mashed avocado and spread it over your toast. If you would like to add a little kick, sprinkle some red pepper flakes on the avocado spread. Next, add the fried egg to the top of the avocado toast, and voila! You just made a super healthy, quick, and delicious breakfast that you will want to eat every morning.
There is something to be said for spending your afternoon curled up with a good cup of coffee and an even better book.
It's funny; as a kid I never went out of my way to read books. It's not that I didn't enjoy reading, but I would rather spend my days running around outside or playing with my Polly Pockets.
Once middle-school rolled around, books became a chore. I was assigned books to read for class and had to write book reports and present my findings to my peers. I never made time to read "for fun" (which the exception of the Harry Potter series, of course).
It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I began to unearth my love of reading and of books. My english class that year opened up my eyes to the importance of books to the collective consciousness of the human race as a whole.
I know that sounds hyper-pretentious, but think about it for a minute; without books, where would we be?
Books are record keepers, teachers, and companions. Books allow people to travel beyond their pages and get completely lost between the folds. Books have given voices to the voiceless, and produced magic in a world without any. Books have started wars; both on their pages and in real life. Books have been both praised and banned. Books have provided insight into past lives and projections of future universes.
It's pretty incredible to think that all this power lies within pages covered in ink and held together with glue. And you, as the reader, get to harness this potential. That's pretty damn cool.
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.
Whether you prefer coffee or tea, hot or iced, chances are you probably frequent your local coffee shop to buy these beverages. And while there is nothing wrong with going to a cafe every so often, you may not always have the time or money to spare in order to make this a regular ritual. But have no fear! Thanks to the internet, there are tons of deliciously simple recipes to make your favorite coffee shop drinks at home.
1. Perfect Iced Coffee: There is something to be said for a cup of cold, refreshing iced coffee when the summer months are in full swing. The secret to the perfect cup of iced coffee - cold brewing it! The best part about this recipe is it makes enough coffee for days at a time. (via The Pioneer Woman)
2. Frappucino: Want to up the ante on making cold coffee beverages at home? Try this delectable recipe for a homemade Frappucino. And with only 4 ingredients, this recipe couldn’t be any easier. (via Add a Pinch)
3. Homemade Vanilla Latte: Lattes are a coffee-shop staple, and now with this recipe, they can be a staple of your own kitchen. Sub out the vanilla syrup for hazelnut, caramel, or mint to help change up your morning routine! (via Zoom Yummy)
4. Passion Tea Lemonade: More of a tea gal? Try this fun twist on a traditional Arnold Palmer by mixing passion fruit iced tea in with your lemonade. It’s “on par” with, if not better than, any other coffee house iced tea. (via Cooking with Curls)
5. Chai Tea: Spice up your morning with this scrumptious chai. Whether you want to drink it as a tea, latte, or over ice; you can’t go wrong! (via Healing Cuisine by Elise)
6. Parisian Hot Chocolate: Take your taste buds on a journey with this international treat. What makes this Parisian, you ask? Fine chocolate, of course! This drink will have you saying “More, s'il vous plaît”. (via Plateful)
7. Matcha Latte: A matcha tea latte is a great coffee alternative made from ground up green tea leaves. The best part about this traditional Japanese beverage recipe is that it only has three ingredients. Start off your day by “going green”! (via Bon Apetit)
8. Iced Caramel Macchiato: This sweet caramelly beverage is sure to get rid of any case of the Mondays. Put a spring in your step with this super simple coffee shop classic. (via Pocket Change Gourmet)
9. Pumpkin Spice Latte: When summer begins to turn into fall, the only proper way to welcome the new season is with a PSL. Save yourself the $5 from a coffee shop PSL and make your very own for a fraction of the price. (via Creatively Living)
10. Authentic Irish Coffee: Considering whiskey is main ingredient in any traditional Irish Coffee, this is probably best served as a night cap and not a pick-me-up. End your workday curled up with a good book and this coffee with a kick. (via Diethood)
If you are a child of the 90s like I am, you will have no problem remembering Dunkaroos. This stuff was the sh*t.
It was such a treat when my mom actually let us buy Dunkaroos and pack it in our lunches for school, so I have fond memories of the stuff.
I recently came across a recipe for homemade 'Dunkaroo Dip' and just had to share.
You can thank me later.
Here's what you'll need:
1 box Funfetti cake mix
2 cups plain yogurt
1 cup Cool Whip
Graham Crackers or Animal Crackers
In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, plain yogurt and Cool Whip until completely combined and you see no more lumps of cake mix. The original recipe I found suggests you stick the dip in the fridge for four hours, HA!
I say dig right in. Grab some grahams and go to town.
For those of you who don’t drink coffee religiously like I do, I can only imagine that the menu at your local café looks like it was written in a foreign language. You might be thinking, “What the hell is an Americano? And what’s the difference between a Latte and Cappuccino? “
Well, as a self-professed coffee addict who spends more time in cafés than I do in my own house, I am here to help demystify a standard café drink menu for you.
Coffee
Ah, the good ol’ cup of Joe; aka my caffeinated savior. I would hope most of you at least know what coffee is, because if you don’t I’m not even sure what you are doing in a café to begin with. Just as a refresher, coffee is made up of coffee beans and water, and can be served either hot or cold. You can drink it “black” or just add some sugar or flavoring and a little crème or milk and you are ready to conquer the morning.
Espresso
A wonderful concentrated coffee beverage from Italy made up of coffee beans and a small amount of water. If you wish to “do as the Romans do,” you will drink your espresso shot straight or maybe with a hint of sugar. Warning: espresso is pretty advanced stuff. If you don’t like the taste of coffee, a straight espresso shot is not the way to go.
Lucky for you, espresso is a key ingredient in almost all other café beverages, so there are many other ways to enjoy it.
Latte
Italian for “milk,” latte is an espresso based drink mixed with hot milk. For new coffee drinkers, I suggest asking the barista (person who makes your drink) about the different flavored syrups that they carry, such as caramel, vanilla, and hazelnut, which they can add to your drink. Lattes are also topped off with a bit of foam (milk steamed to a froth); depending on the barista, they may even draw a design in your foam. And if you ever find yourself at café in Paris craving a latte, just ask the waiter for a Café au lait, (“coffee with milk”), which is the French equivalent of the Italian Latte.
Cappuccino
Named after the habits warn by Capuchin friars, the Cappuccino is a staple of the Italian breakfast. Cappuccinos are one part espresso, one part hot milk, and one part micro-foam, and can be topped off with a sprinkle of sugar, cinnamon, or cocoa. You might think, “gee, that sounds just like a latte.” Cappuccinos are very similar to lattes but the key difference is that cappuccinos have more foam than lattes. So if foam isn’t your thing, stick with the latte. Another distinction between lattes and cappuccinos is that in Italy, people will give you very weird looks if you order a cappuccino after noon. As I mentioned, cappuccinos are a staple of the Italian breakfast, so it seems weird to them that you would order it at any other time of day. However, since we don’t live in Italy, you can order a cappuccino whenever you feel like it without fear of being judged.
Mocha
For those of you who are new to drinking coffee, or prefer something a little sweeter, the mocha will be your new best friend. Mocha is a blend of chocolate, espresso, and steamed milk, and usually topped of with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Sounds delicious, right? That’s because it is. Coffee snobs and purists may frown upon your choice to drink a mocha because they believe coffee should be enjoyed without being bastardized by chocolate, but in my opinion, coffee and chocolate are a match made in Heaven. And who cares what they think? They aren’t the ones ordering the drink, you are, so enjoy it, because it is delectable.
Americano
Americanos are very similar to traditional coffee, and quite frankly, I don’t really see much of taste a difference between the two. An Americano, which is Italian for “American”, is made up of an espresso shot and hot water. They got their unique name from American GI’s stationed abroad during WWII who diluted the strong taste of an espresso shot with water to make it taste like the coffee they were used to drinking back home. And fun fact, the slang term for coffee, “cup of joe,” came about from all the American servicemen, or GI Joes, who were seen as avid coffee drinkers.
See? Ordering coffee isn’t really that scary once you have a better idea of what goes into the different drinks. And if you are ever unsure of what certain things on the menu are, don’t be afraid to ask the barista. They are nice people who wish to share their love of fine coffee with the world, so they will be more than happy to give you a hand.
Hopefully you find this guide helpful and thanks a “latte” for reading!
(also, please excuse my horrendous attempt at a pun)
