I can't believe it's already APRIL

Where has the time gone? I've noticed that since graduating college, time just seems to race by. Sure, some days crawl by as if they'll never end, but I wake up Friday mornings and wonder "how are we here already?" As I mentioned in an earlier post, with the weather getting nicer I've started doing even more stuff...here's a sampling of this week's happenings:

Take 1 - too dark... Adanna invited me to go see Hunger Games with her on Monday and I said 'what the heck - I didn't want to work out anyway!' (haha) So we rushed to Harvard Square to grab tickets for the 8:30 show and then grabbed food while we killed time...first we walked in the blistering cold to BerryLine towards Porter Square (DELICIOUS - I really love their sugar-coated toasted pecans and ground up Taza Chocolate as toppings on either Nutella or Original fro-yo), then we powered back to Harvard Sq. where Adanna introduced me to Pinocchio's Pizza...

...which was FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!!! They have slices for $2.95 each and they are absolutely AMAZING. I don't know what they do to the crust (cornmeal and garlic salt on the bottom?) but it's so so good...after picking up our goodies, we booked it back to the theater to get good seats and snuck in our tasty treats. I felt like a rebel ;-) Food, company, and movie were all stellar!

Tuesday evening I met with my trainer (abs - OUCH), which brings us to Wednesday - potluck day! CJ hosted the dinner and made chili, and everybody else brought sides. I haven't been to a potluck in for-EV-er so this was a real treat :)

Melanie's mom is a pastry chef, so she knew how to make these adorable mushroom meringues - she said it's just sugar and egg whites whipped together! A great dairy-free option (CJ has a dairy allergy).

How cute are they???

CJ's chili - I've never seen chili made with carrots, but they were really good! And it had a can of beer added in (which can never hurt)...I'll definitely be making this myself, and you can too by finding the recipe here.

I had to work late Thursday evening, but it wasn't so bad since I hit the gym for a quick workout and then ordered some really good sushi on the corporate account.

Ok ok...so I got a little caught up in the Mega Millons Jackpot hoopla...but I only spent $6! I picked my own numbers for 2 tickets and did 4 random selection ones...unfortunately I didn't win anything, womp womp :(

Friday night I stayed in for a quiet night in, but on Saturday I went to Hong Kong with the ladies for some KARAOKE! I've only done it once before (in Paris, where I knew I'd never see anyone ever again...evidence found here). Hong Kong was pretty cool - typical dive bar near Faneuil Hall. What made it even better: the bartender came to our table to get our drink orders (so we wouldn't have to fight our way to the bar), they had $2 tube shots (I got watermelon), and they had the "Chicken Man" - a guy who walked around with a huge KFC-style bucket of grilled chicken on skewers...$1 per skewer! Pretty ingenious haha...

The ladies - (l to r) Melanie, Amaka, me, and CJ

Making our way up the queue - "Emily and the Girls" was our group name haha... We wanted to sing "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson but it was too new and they didn't have the song, so we did "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood instead. SO FUN! 

I smelled this for the first time well over a month ago and *loved* it, so after payday I decided to get it! This is Noir Tease by Victoria's Secret - kind of a sweet scent, but there's just something about it...

I think my perfume collection is complete... Oiseau - Woman in Yellow from Anthropologie, Noir Tease from Victoria's Secret, Oriental Rose from Laura Ashley, and Armani Code by Armani.

Headed to Reunion Church for Palm Sunday...this is my poor attempt at a cross with my palm frond haha

I had to! This is my all-time favorite comfort food...

This week's flowers! I felt in a happy/bright mood, so I went for yellow and orange.

I completely forgot about these - they've been boxed up under my vanity since I moved in! So today's project was getting them hung.

Last bit of blank wall is now filled haha...

Mirror cascading pictures.

This week's lunch recipe comes courtesy of the lovely Chessa - she made black bean burgers for me for the first time our senior year of college and I've been hooked ever since! Now we go from this bunch of ingredients into a finished product...

I can never use an entire bunch of cilantro in one recipe/before part of it goes bad, so I decided to give this a shot (stays good for a month or so). Tastes good to me!

So there's no actual 'recipe' - just mix together a bunch of random stuff and mold it into a burger. (Also - yes that's a glass of red wine you see there...not included in the recipe, but definitely makes cooking more relaxing haha...) So here's what I do:

1. Open 3 cans black beans, drain and rinse. Add in frozen corn kernels (whatever looks good) and let them drain/thaw. The squish the beans in your hands into a mixing bowl
2. Chop up onion, tomato, and whatever other veggies you want and add them in. Squeeze in juice from one lime
3. Add in spices - cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt, and squeeze in some of the cilantro from the tube. Crack in an egg and add in some flour until it's a good goop - not too wet (so you can't form patties) but not too dry either
4. Form patties and coat in corn meal and add to a non-stick pan (I like using my stoneware) then bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes

Pre-cooked patties

Et voila! Finished product...must be served with Wholly Guacamole, Salsa, Lime, and Spanish Rice. YUM!

And lastly, a brief clip from karaoke night...this guy was having a blast (doesn't mean he can sing well...)

This week looks like it won't be too too busy, but I still have some fun stuff lined up... Trainer on Tuesday, lunch with my Year Up mentee Wednesday, and (I'm SO STOKED for this) Jessica Long & The New Kind will be in Boston on Thursday!!!! Two of my friends from college (Mike and Calin) are in the band, so it'll be really awesome to see them! Brunch with Niraj and skyping into my little brother's Suzuki piano graduation this weekend and I've got plenty of things to look forward to this week...now to go cook my favorite breakfast frittata :)