Ain't No Sunshine

I’ve been in a funk lately. Blame it on the weather.

I think spending most of the past 3 years at college in Colorado has made me dependent on sunshine, completely slave to its connotations of optimism and happiness. Regardless of the fact that my fair shoulders are still sporting sunburn lines from 2 months ago, I am itching for the impending (hopefully soon) days where I will require more SPF than the 15 included in my still-too-dark-for-me tinted moisturizer. Month of May, I’m counting on you.

Alas, hurumph. Seeing as the past week has looked like this at school…

Mountains? Hello? Are you there?

And this at my grandparent’s cabin, where I stayed for Easter:

Where is the horizon?

A few peeks of sunshine here and there, but no consistent beacons of light from the heavens. Being Easter weekend and all, I was craving warm weather like my Christian upbringing should have taught me to crave the coming of Jesus. Too far? Ok.

Thank God for the arrival of my mom and sister, who nourished me with good food!

Fancy brunch with fruit and waffles. Fruit > Waffles, at least lately.

Cafe au lait (with rice milk and a laughing sister)

Shrimp salad! Pescatarianism is nice now and then.

Chocolate covered expresso beans. What? I had a paper to write.

Sister cleavage and other in-your-face-sexy things at happy hour.

Pear-drenched Brie

Spinach-Artichoke Dip.

Mussels. You know what they say, when dining on a parent's tab...

Butternut squash burger. Surprisingly not my fave!

More shrimp. There's tilapia in there too, but I think I just have to accept that it is not the fish for me.

Oats with strawberries, cinnamon, and chia seeds!

Spinach salad, sweet potato, and some crazy blend of Mexican leftovers. Mmm.

Peach-pear-apricot smoothie from a coffee shop. I think I simply prefer green monsters!

Awesome salad for Easter brunch at a vegetarian restaurant in Denver!

Lil sis and Mom also lovin' vegetarian Easter. Who needs ham?

(The x’s on her hands add to her naive charm, no?)

Topped off with vegan carrot cake. The best carrot cake I've ever had in my life, in fact.

Obligatory Easter candy, with a random and wonderful inclusion of Burt's Bee's lotion. Thanks Aunt Julie!

 The sun did come out sometimes, and those times seemed to call for a beverage with rice milk. Funny how that happens!

Mate latte with rice milk. Mom with her unsweetened iced tea, an obsession that my sweet tooth will perhaps never understand.

Iced cafe au lait with rice milk, which the barista oddly termed a "Rolait."

What are your thoughts on…

Rain?

Until last week, when this precipitation marathon commenced, it had rained all of 3 times that semester, and I had loved that. There’s only so much tea-sipping and novel-reading I can do before I get antsy.

Milk in your coffee?

I usually roll with soy, but I like to switch it up and get other alternatives when they’re offered. I still need to try hemp milk!