A Perfect Saturday Morning

I have had the most perfect Saturday morning.

One of my all-time favorite things to do on a Saturday is to go to a farmer’s market in the morning.

I love all the fresh, cheap, local produce…

(I got my produce for the week for less than nz$10!!!)

I love the atmosphere…

(Though these two were a bunch of hacks.  They were very poorly lip synching to their own CD lol)

But what I love most is getting a little treat for myself!

My parents always get a treat to share at Starbucks on Saturday mornings, and I like to think I am continuing their legacy.  I brought home a special pastry for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up….

Since we were in Rotorua last week, it was Alex’s first time and he we went ga-ga for the gourmet hotdogs, croissants (yes, plural, he got two), and smoothies.

He was also kind enough to pick up a special loaf of bread for an appetizer tonight!

Indeed, last night I finished The Other Boleyn Girl (loved it, obvi), so I was excited to go to the library to pick out a new book.

The Auckland Central Library is really big and new inside, but their selection is seriously lacking.  I looked for a bunch of the recommendations I got, plus books from my Bucket List, but they didn’t have anything!  I ended up getting these two books:

The one on the left might insult my intelligence.  The one on the right might make me suicidal.  I predict the chick lit will be entertaining and mood-boosting, but sometimes I need a little bit more substance, and world poverty is a huge interest of mine.  We’ll see how it goes!

I also perused the children’s section to find something for school this week.  I found this cutie.

It looks like a good message about friendship and self-esteem.  It also happens to be perfectly at most of their reading level!  Let’s see if the kids like it!

Once I got home, I went for a nice quick run!  My legs were feeling really tight, but the weather was sunny and cool, so I appreciated just being outside and going wherever my legs could take me.

For lunch, I had some roasted kumara I made yesterday and I threw together a protein salad.

On some chard and kale there were green beans, carrots, quinoa, and pumpkin-kumara hummus.  It was delicious, but nothing compared with my treat!….

A few months ago, I had a debilitating CinnaBon craving, which I conquered for the time being, but I’ve still been jonesing for a steamy, sticky, doughy, sugary, cinnamony bun…

Craving conquered!  For real this time   Hannah and I split one, and it was everything I thought it would be   I put it hot in the microwave and savored each bite.  Hello, YUM!

The Farmer’s market, the library, a run, and a cinnamon bun.  I hope the rest of my day is just as wonderful!

What’s your favorite thing to do on a Saturday?

Namaste.

Date Ideas

You know what one of the best dates is?  Going out for crepes.  My boyfriend Hannah (haha!) and I decided to get some for dinner the night after we bungy jumped.

I got the Chevre:

Sun-dried tomato goat cheese with mescalin greens and walnuts

and Hannah got the Complete

Egg, cheese, and ham.

They were both on gluten-free, buckwheat flour crepes!  I thought of my dear friend Trisha

Then, for dessert, we split a toasted coconut crepe with chocolate

This is why going out for crepe makes such a great date idea.  You each get a savory crepe, then split one for dessert.  Plus, creperies usually have a French atmosphere, which is allegedly very romantic.

Or, another great date Kiwi idea is to get some Fish n Chips and go on a picnic!   According to one of my guidebooks, Fish n Chips is one meal that is “typically Kiwi.”  Of course we had to try it!  The book recommended some of the best places around New Zealand to get the classic meal.  One of the places, Oneroa Fish and Chips, was on Waiheke Island so it made the perfect post-kayaking lunch.

The fish was fresh snapper–so tasty!  Plus, the fries chips were cooked to perfection.  All wrapped up in newspaper.  So greasy!  So salty!  So fun!  Also to add to the novelty, they had Coke Zero in glass bottles!

We got our fish n chips “takeaway” so we had to find a picnic spot.  We followed a nice mother, son, and their two dogs (yeah, we’re a bit creepy) and they led us here!

Not a bad setting to enjoy your fish n chips!  We figured out that we actually kayaked past this beach!  Also near the beach…

Me sitting in a throne made out of an old, large tree stump.

BUT that was the weekend, and I actually had HOMEWORK to do this week.  Can you believe it?! I can’t.

First I had to write a 500 word essay about Maori culture.

We learned about the Maori creation narratives, their creation story, and for the assignment I needed to find a theme and explain its relevance to modern society. I chose the theme of utu which means revenge/reciprocity/balance.  There was a big war amongst all the godsons during the creation period in which they were all trying to get revenge on one another.  From there, the theme of “getting even” pretty much stuck to Maori culture.  In modern Maori society, it’s mostly relevant with gift-giving and such.  Same as in my culture!  The idea of utu all about fairness and equality, which is all really relevant to cultivating meaningful social relationships, in any era.

Then, for my Leadership course, I had to make a presentation all about ME!

I had to make a personality profile.  After taking a personality test, I learned that I have a Melancholy-Choleric personality, which basically means I am organized, thoughtful, a leader, and a planner.  I had to explain my personality in detail with examples.  Then I had to explain the personality of someone I know well (I chose my sister Sam!) and explain why we have the type of relationship we do.  My sister is very calm, cool, and collected, so I explained that’s why I boss her around all the time

In other news, I got a library card!

I have a lot of time to read here (YAY!) so the other day I bought The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory from the bookstore, which I’ve always wanted to read.

It’s fantastically entertaining and well-written!  Though I admit, so far, it’s mostly about sex. I’m glad I bought it because I was craving a good book, but now that I have my library card, I won’t have to spend any more money to read!

Been on any great dates lately?

Namaste.