Non-stop day

I just stopped for making this yummy lunch with the pecorino cheese I purchased a week ago at the farmer market but that I forgot at home, it was still fresh, though! 

Sometimes, ok many times, I wish I would already be graduated. Classes are hard but the thing that I'm sick of most it's the huge amount of time spent studying, writing essays and recopy notes... It's absorbing all my time, and this semester I don't have a single subject that I really like!

I'm curious...

What do you study? Or do you have a work?

I'd like to find some balance between school, life and blogging, so I'll appreciate if you'll share your experience!

Random Monday II

Second post of the day. Lucky you!

I collected my database book (exciting!) from the post office and now he is menacingly staring at me... brrr

It doesn't even have words!!!

***

As snack I had an eat natural bar, documented (and eaten) very quickly since I didn't want to look like a crazy while snapping a photo of it. I don't think I succeed.

It was good, but they practically forgot the dark chocolate part

in the cranberries, macadamias and dark chocolate flavor's expectation

Ok, I know I've just promised that I would not have gone grocery shopping anymore, BUT that was before I passed by an asian food shop that I had never seen AND I remembered that I needed some tomato sauce if a wanted to cook the premeditate dinner for tonight. So I just did it, but I limited myself at just one item:

Whole wheat soba noodles

I have NO idea how to use them,

Any suggestion??

Dinner was a long-term (=yesterday) craved item:

Whole wheat Pasta with Eggplant, Chickpeas and Black olives sauce

It was delicious and it took me like 20 minutes to make it.

While waiting for the water to boil, I sliced a small onion and browned it with some oil in a frying pan; then I added 1/2 medium-size diced eggplant, chickpeas and some water to make them cook. When the eggplant was tender, I added the tomato sauce, pepper and hot pepper to taste, black olives and some basil (not fresh because I forgot to buy it, ehm ehm). Then I threw the cooked pasta directly in the pan to mix all the flavor. Enjoy, I surely did! =)

"Dessert" was a boring pear, but I'm sure I'll eat some chocolate later since I'm studying database... Moral support needed!

Today, I didn't run but I walked for like three hours (not all at once!) and I'll probably do some stretching later since my back is hurting me. Mmm I forget things, my back is a pain, I don't go out because I'm tired, it definitely looks like I'm 81.

I don't see fun in my near future

I'm free from exams here (I have a couple more at home, duh!). So this week I'm gonna pack all my teeny tiny room FULL of stuff and leave Leuven. I'm almost done with my exchange, I cannot believe it! These 6 months were super fast (
and completely free from studying
). Sometimes I feel like I could have done more (more study, more trips...), but then I remember that I discovered something that I really like to do (photography) and I met great people, I saw Paris many and many times, so it wasn't wasting time at all!

So now, in my near future I see:

• moving (with an help to pack the HUGE amount of my stuff (20 pairs of shoes, ehm ehm). Thanks mom!)
• one month at home and then moving again (Yurray!) to my University city
• starting to think about my thesis
• doing my last 6 exams
• thinking about what I want to do after (absolutely.no.idea.)

So all funny and pleasurable things, you see. I'm also planning a travel somewhere, so I won't be crazy by the end of the semester.

Today my food was meh meh meh, exactly like the whole day. Besides breakfast which was yummy I had:

a PBJ sandwich and a pear

Since I wasn't really hungry before my exam and I had nothing else in my fridge (literally). I snacked on a

black
very ripe banana and caffèlatte (no photos, because it wasn't a nice view).

Dinner was a HUGE salad with everything

(mushrooms, broccoli, cherry tomatoes,carrots, Brussels sprouts)

since I was very low in veggies today, hummus and whole wheat bread

plus an orange

Now I'm off to a birthday party in a place called Villa Ernesto where they do the best mojito of Leuven (and also the only one, I suppose).

I see a very late brunch in my future, though.

Winning combo

I'm looking forward to restart to do things (besides studying), so that I can photograph them.

In the meantime here is what I ate today. I'm officially the leftovers Queen.

Breakfast was this and this:

and a caffèlatte

Lunch: Whole wheat bread, tomato with basil, spinach and guess what? feta!

and a pear (apparently)

plus caffèlatte (i'm coffee-addicted, you know)

As snack I had an apple with peanut butter, but I forgot to take pictures, nothing special anyway!

Dinner was the reason why I deserve the crown of leftovers Queen

Pasta with frozen grilled veggies, peas, chickpeas, black olives, Brussels sprouts (no not feta!)

If you don't know what to do with random

I-have-to-use-them-asap ingredients, make a pasta!

and a pear (again)

I also had the revolutionary (at least for me) idea to bring my notes to the gym. Advantages:

• not fail the exam
• not have a look-like-a-flat-frying-pan butt at the end of the exam session
• being able to do more than five minutes on the elliptical without dying of boredom

It's brilliant! I know that tons of people are already doing this, but I've never realized that it was such a brilliant idea. (It's clear that I need some excitement in my life if I'm so happy for being able to study more)

Have you ever had a multi-tasking idea who has solved a lot of problems?

Dealing with post-exam mood

Since I ate only boring food today, (in order: breakfast, 1/2 banana, tomato soup, multi-grain bagel at Nosh, a pear, caffèlatte with soy milk, whole wheat bread, carrots, Brussels sprouts, hummus, an orange, and maybe some chocolate later) I won't post any photos.

Instead I did a reflection (not serious, I mean) on my post-exam mood which is incredibly similar to the five stage of grief:

1. Denial: I feel fine, the exam went well, I didn't make horrible mistakes in english and dates

2. Anger: Oh wait a sec, I completely misplaced an event in my answer/ I created some serious language-monsters/ I translated italian words in english only by removing the last vowel

3. Bargaining: Maybe the professor won't notice the mistakes/ He must take into account that English is not my mother-language/ I'd do anything to better explain some points

4. Depression: I'm fucked

5. Acceptance: What is done is done/ it's gonna be okay/ Let's move on to the other exams

Now I'm between the stage 3rd and 4th (actually more towards the 4th). I'm looking forward to the 5th, less to my next exam (on Saturday).

Random things of the day:

• A Polish guy went to the exam wearing a suit (!!!). All the other people wore jeans (including me).


• I went to the gym, but I hadn't been properly fueled, so I made lazy random exercises.


• No one of my friends wanted to go out tonight because of the exams session.


• I drank an espresso with salt on the edge of the cup (bleah!).


• I found 1 cent. After all, not a totally bad day!

-1

No, not the temperature (that, for the record, was a sunny 12 C°. In January. In Belgium. While I have to study), but the days before my exam, actually now we can speak of hours. 12 to be precise.

As usual breakfast is here.

Lunch:

Bruschette with frozen grilled veggies, pesto, black olives, fresh basil and feta cheese (again)

and some more topping on the side (with more feta)

one pear and a huge caffèlatte

As afternoon snack I had an apple pie without pie,

so basically microwaved apple with cinnamon and

leftover (ehm ehm) Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream

Dinner was random food on a plate including lentils and tomato sauce,

whole wheat sesame bread, Brussels sprouts

and a sweet and juicy orange (=sticky laptop)

No gym. No run. No workout of any kind, today. Except that I walked to the laundry and back. The only thing that I did apart from studying (and wasting time on internet ahem).

Now I'm gonna prepare the breakfast for tomorrow so I'm sure I won't running late since my exam start at 10 am!

Don't you hate blah Sunday?

B.O.R.E.D.

Well, it's quite obvious if of the "ten things" that I do every day at least five are studying.

Today the other five were:

• mandatory (if you want to survive) things like eating this:

a heart-shaped PBJ

Seitan, hummus, tomatoes open-face sandwich

Vegetarian chili with brown rice

• I also went to the gym where I run 5k (much better than Monday!) - It was a nice way to avoid the explosion of my brain
• I went to the grocery store to buy soy milk and pears

Sooo I really think that my grandma has more exciting days than me lately (I'm 21, by the way). Other 10 days to go (at least). Yuppy!

yesterday i got so bored i felt like i could die, yesterday i got so bored it made me want to cry...

(but today)

January, 5

... I ate today

Blueberries-raspberries granola parfait

Tomato soup

Coup de Soup

Herbert Hooverplein 15

3000 Leuven

Belgium

Chana masala (first try)

... I saw today

a nice place for studying (Leuven library)

Through a window

here it's still Christmas

... I loved today

it's an invasion!

quack quack

I heart Big Fish

and one about me...

I went shopping despite my closet is exploding, now I have two more nice pairs of shoes and one pair of grey pants.

December, 29

I studied all day long without satisfying results. I'm deadly bored right now.

I also ate more chocolate than real food.

December, 16

... I love about flowers

they look good together

but also alone

I share my love for them with bees

you can keep them indoor (which is great because I don't have a garden)

even vegetables look nicer in flower-shape

they tend to die in Winter (like me)

but you can always replace them with fake ones

or with metal ones

they are beautiful even when they are dried

but outstanding alive

The weather is freaking crazy here (in Belgium) and we have like two hours of good light a day, so I'm really disappointed. I've also stared at some school assignments all day long and this is not really worth to photograph. I've got a good grade, though.