Smoothie Round-up

I love smoothies.
Let me say that again:
I. love. smoothies. A lot. 

My smoothie consumption is definitely higher than that of the average smoothie enthusiast.  My accomplishments include (but are not limited to) drinking a smoothie every day of the week, occasionally drinking a smoothie for every meal of the day and owning about five smoothie recipe books.  My mother is proud.

Since I'm obviously a guru here (#sarcasm in case you can't tell), I'll impart a little smoothie knowledge on you.  Some things I've learned about smoothies:

1) If using spinach, blend the spinach and your liquid first before adding the other ingredients. Otherwise you will have spinach chunks.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

2) Frozen bananas are the best thing ever because they make smoothies thick and you get to eat them with a spoon.

3) There's no such thing as too many smoothies.

With this being said, it would be cruel of me to tell you all this and not give you anything to practice your newly learned skills on, wouldn't it? Here's some of my favorite go-to smoothies:

(I have no measurements because I don't measure things out . . . sorry!)

• Chocolate Peanut Butter: (creative name, huh?) Sweet & thick. Tastes somewhat like chocolate ice cream or a Frosty to me!
• frozen banana (the more the thicker, as they always say)
• vanilla protein powder
• oats
• peanut butter
• cocoa powder
• water
• Orange Strawberry: So delicious! Not as thick as the CPB, but it's so fruity and the orange juice just makes the flavor perfect.
• Orange juice
• Strawberry yogurt
• Vanilla yogurt
• Frozen strawberries
• Frozen banana
• Tropical Greens: Pinapple-y and so, so green. But not thick. 
• Frozen pineapple
• Mango
• Spinach (remember tip #1!)
• Frozen banana
• Plain/vanilla yogurt
• Water

And there you have my three favorites! I also love to include frozen blueberries, raspberries, almond milk & flax seed in a lot of my smoothies. 

If you want some more ideas, feel free to swing by my Pinterest board dedicated completely to smoothies (another one of my qualifications)!

If you end up trying any of my favorites, let me know how you liked it!

P.S. If all is going according to plan, I should be somewhere in Greece right now! I'll respond to comments and update you on my trip as soon as I can get some reliable wi-fi!

Ciao Amici!

Obviously my post on how I'm learning Italian is going great if I had to google translate how to say "Hello Friends" before I even started writing anything. Yep, I'm pretty much fluent.

Despite that little setback there, I am pretty proud of the progress that I am making in it.  I started to learn Italian few months ago with this awesome FREE app called Duolingo.  Ever heard of it? I love it! I will admit that there are probably better ways of learning a language than a free app, but seriously, this was perfect for me.

(Bonus! While you're practicing to become multi-lingual, you get to stare at this cute little guy! If that doesn't convince you to try it out, you're a lost case.)

I wanted to somewhat be able to communicate common phrases while on my trip and I think (hope! I'm writing this the night before I leave!) that this prepared me pretty well.

For example, I know how to say "I have cats!"

Ready? "Io ho gatti!" See! Now I can tell every Italian that I come across and they will be so happy for me. (Do Italians like cats? If they do, we will get along so well.)

Also! Another fun bonus fact that relates to Italian: Did you know that the phrase "kapeesh?" actually comes from the Italian word "capisci," which means "Do you understand?" Woah. I figured that one out all by myself and my mind was so blown.

When I get back from my European adventure, I hope to continue to learn Italian so maybe one day I could have an entire fluent conversation about my cats.  Kidding, kidding.  Just a little though.

Anyway, I hope that you all have a great 4th of July weekend! I'll be sporting my red, white & blue somewhere by the Adriatic Sea.  And if the good ol' U S of A is still in the World Cup, you can bet your boots that I'll be cheering.

And if you're interested in checking out another language, I do recommend Duolingo! Warning: it can get addicting.

Are you multi-lingual?

Schedule-less

In case anyone was wondering, I did more in Chicago than eat more than I needed to and crash graduations. 

I did, I swear! Here's the proof: 

Panorama-ing like a pro.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever.  I love the mix of urban and nature.  

Finally saw the Bean! It was just as shiny and tourist-y as I had hoped. 

Bean selfie? Why not?

The sky was so blue!

We took the train from South Loop to Hyde Park and only almost got lost for like three minutes! #Win

We toured the Robie House! I've been wanting to see it for years and it was so exciting! Except there was a lot of renovation going on, so that was kind of a bummer. 

I had originally thought that this was a used bookstore, so I was a little disappointed when I found out that it wasn't. But it was still awesome for being independently owned. 

On Father's Day we walked down by the water to get to brunch just a few hours after my dad and I had just run here.  If I had a view like this at home, you would never get me to stop running!

Well, there's my proof.  I loved our long weekend in Chicago because it was so relaxed.  After finishing off a school-year where I was constantly on edge and busier than I have ever been, this was exactly what I would have I prescribed for myself if I was a doctor.

We didn't have any schedule which meant getting out of bed at 10, wandering out somewhere for food and staying out all day until we wanted to go back to the hotel.  You better believe it was awesome.

Everyone needs a weekend like that once in a while to get away from the craziness and chaos of life and forget the schedule for a while.

Have you recently taken a schedule-less trip? Looking forward to one coming soon?  Where did/are you go(ing)?
                                           

Did I Mention . . . ?

I struggled for a while on what to title this post.  There were just too many good options with the likes of:

"I'M SO EXCITED!"

or

"IT'S.SO.CLOSE."

or, even the lamest one in the book would have applied here, 

"!!!!!!!!!!" 

However, I chose the elusive and mysterious option that made it seem like I have my emotions totally in control right now: "Did I mention . . . ?"

You're totally wondering what I may or may not have mentioned right now, aren't you? Good, that was the goal.  

I'll just cut to the chase: I'm off to Europe soon! Like as in four days from now soon. I cannot cannot cannot wait! 

I signed up for this trip back in October of 2012, so you better believe that I am beyond ready to jet off across the world.  

My 2.5 week tour has me traveling all over Italy, Greece and a touch of Turkey. Some of the highlights include: Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, Delphi, Athens, Mykonos, Crete & Santorini.  Whew! And that's not even everything!

I've been trying to get some posts scheduled so my blog isn't completely abandoned while I'm gone, but with all the other chaos that is going on, that may or may not happen ;) Just know that when I get back I will definitely have stories and pictures that I want to share coming out of my ears. 

If you want a little more info on my trip, you can check out posts that I had written for my old blog here, here & here.

*Sidenote: Guys, do you realize that I just posted two times just today? Looking at the archives, two post weeks are a rarity around here!

**Another sidenote: Yes, I did mention Europe here . . . sneaky, sneaky. 

***Yet another sidenote: This trip will allow me to cross off my third event from my 20 before 20 bucket list! Wooo! 

So, now you know! Have you ever traveled in Italy, Greece or Turkey? Any tips or tricks? Food suggestions? What not to do? Let me know! I need all the insight that I can get!

Well, I better get to packing.  Can't forget the toothbrush. Ciao!