January 8, 2016: Enjoying Normalcy
Though Ben and I had plans to go to Universal today, we decided to save our money until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in April. Thus, we were left with no big plans. Since my two best friends, Kathleen and Melanie, always rave about Bowl of Heaven whenever we're together ever since we tried it back in 2013, Ben insisted he try it himself.
We both ordered regular Dan's PB Bowl. It's topped with organic hemp flax seed granola, banana slices, and some honey, and the blend itself is composed of acai, bananas, strawberries, peanut butter, chocolate almond milk, and MAQ 7. At almost every place we go to that offers acai bowls, I order the one that is peanut butter themed. Though this wasn't my first time at Bowl of Heaven, I was still impressed by my order, especially since I haven't had an acai bowl in forever. I also love that there is granola on the bottom - it makes it so much easier to mix in, and I honestly really treasure that crunchy element.
Afterwards, we decided to drive a little ways to The Shoppes at Chino Hills. I had recently just mentioned to Ben how great of a shopping area this is - pretty close to his house, not as far as Brea Mall, and offering a lot of stores, like Active and PacSun, that he frequents. It was totally empty today, which was nice, even though we were only browsing. We looked around PacSun's buy one get two free deal, Forever 21's sunglass selection, Victoria's Secret yoga pants sale, and Barnes and Noble's adult coloring book area. Sadly (but also happily), we didn't find anything worth spending the last of our Christmas money on. Luckily, this money was put to better use - after shopping, we visited Bruxie's, where I ordered the buttermilk fried chicken and waffle, while Ben ordered this week's specialty, the melt.
On the way back to my house, we stopped at Snow Creek Park in Ben's neighborhood (sorry, I know, too many photo ops..). We used to go to parks all the time, especially during our senior year of high school, to enjoy lunch or just to simply relax, but we haven't had time to in the last few months, with school and work and other obligations. We also then made a quick visit to Ben's house so that I could greet his two dogs, Oreo and Oso. I love the photos of them above - Oso looks like he's got a big ol' grin on his face, and Oreo looks like her usual self. They are such happy dogs - I love giving Oso big bear hugs and having Oreo jump around my knees.
Cheese Ravioli with Ravioli Recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cheese-ravioli-pesto
Pasta Carbonara Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-recipe.html
I had plans to make dinner and decided on a pasta carbonara recipe, something I've rarely even eaten let alone tried to make. We went to Stater Brothers to pick up some ingredients and then Starbucks to satisfy our cravings before picking Camille up from dance. Tori made pesto ravioli while Ben took care of the Shake n' Bake chicken - it was so good that I didn't have time to take a picture of it before everyone scarfed it down. I was really happy with my pasta too - the recipe called for me to mix parmesan cheese with egg as the main ingredient for the sauce, which I thought was a little weird, but it turned out perfect after all!
After dinner, Ben, my sisters, and our cousin, Gillian, enjoyed a game of 5 Second Rule! I just bought it for $22 at Target today after watching JK Films play it, and it's definitely my new favorite game.
Ben and I are enjoying the last few days we have in Walnut before going back to school on Monday. While not the most exciting of towns, we both agree that being home without many obligations is so much more attractive than being stressed out at school. Though I can say I am mildly excited for the classes I am taking next semester, nothing beats having my biggest problem be whether or not we can go to Disneyland today. Writing this makes me want summer to come so much sooner. We are so blessed to be able to go to school so close to home - if we had gone any further, I feel that I would be homesick much too often.
About the Author
0 comments