Redwoods, Santa Cruz, and Alice's Restaurant!

I know my life is incredibly exciting since 97.23% of the time it consists of studying, studying, and more studying.  But... little known fact: I do get out and have fun every once in a while!

Last weekend I went on a hike through the beautiful Redwood forest with two of my classmates, Liza and Jay.  There is something so peaceful and inspiring about the giant redwoods that I just can't put into words.  Trust me.  The trees tower over you for what feels like miles into the sky.

And then there's the smell of the forest.  Love.

My favorite part of the hike was when we were walking along and Liza all of the sudden gasps... It took about 0.0239 miliseconds for me to go into "freeze-in-place-and-look-frantically-around-me-for-a-Grizzly-bear" mode afterwhich Liza calmed me down and showed me a cute little Banana Slug on the ground. Apparently it is normal to gasp at the sight of a Banana Slug in California.  You can't the the Alaska out of the girl.  :)

This weekend, between hours of studying, I got to have some fun too!  Saturday I drove to Santa Cruz to visit my bestest San Diegan friend, Carrie.  She was visiting her parents for the Easter weekend and since she was so close, I HAD to go see her!  An hour down a twisted, foggy road and I arrived in misty, beautiful Santa Cruz!

We went on a nice long run in the rain along the coast, followed by a delicious breakfast at a local cafe.

It was so good to catch up and see my favorite girl!  Luckily I get to see her again in just 3 weeks when I go visit San Diego for Becca's wedding.  Cannot wait.

My Easter Sunday consisted of early morning mass, studying for 6 hours at a bakery, then... the fun began.  We drove to pick up Nana, the Griffin's amazing Irish Grandma, and we all headed into the hills for an early dinner at Alice's Restaurant.

Best sweet potato fries I've ever had.

Dinner was a phenomenal Fish Salad and more of those yummy sweet potato fries.

After dinner, I had a big task waiting for me back at the Griffin Household. The Easter Bunny's Alaskan assistant had come and visited the Griffins early in the morning on Sunday while they were all sleeping, so they had an exciting Easter egg hunt when they woke up.  Somehow, the Easter Bunny's Californian assistant decided to come back and rehide all of the eggs so that I could find them too!  After searching high and low, I finally found all of the eggs and proceeded to overdose on Starburst Jelly Beans and Whopper mini eggs.  To complete the night, we watched a marathon of Disney movies.  I don't know if you remember, but I have an obsession with Disney songs.  Is it just me, or does your voice sound spot on when you sing "Be Our Guest" (especially when you haven't sung it for 12 years since the last time you watched Beauty and the Beast.)  It was the perfect Easter. 

Best Morning Ever!

I got to meet the greatest girl ever today.  The Hungry Runner Girl, aka Janae Jacobs, has been an inspiration to me for the past 9 months or so since I started reading her blog HERE.  If you haven't read her blog, as soon as you read it you will probably forget mine exists and fall in love with hers.  Just don't forget about me, okay? :) She has the cutest little daughter, Brooke, and an amazing husband named Billy.  She and irunlikeagirl arranged a running meet-up in Palo Alto and I decided I would come and meet her!

Love the Hungry Runner Girl!

It was a great run with new friends followed by a delicious breakfast at Joanie's Cafe.  It was exactly what I needed after a long week of finals and studying.

Excuse my squinty-ness.
Apparently they sell these things that provide eye protection- I should probably look into that.

It took me approximately 20 minutes to decide on the perfect omelette combo. Decision: Omelette with mushrooms, spinach, onions, and ARTICHOKE HEARTS. Side of Sourdough bread = heaven.

Mmmmm

If you look closely in this picture, little Brooke has on Nike running shorts and matching shoes.  This outfit alone is enough of a reason for me to have kids.  A mini-running buddy?  Yes, please!

So adorable!

Brooke decided to take pictures of herself with my iPhone!

After getting home and much procrastination, I started practicing practicum skills so that Tuesday goes smoothly!  Anyone want to come over and be my practice patient?  I'll pay you with Starburst Jelly Beans!  And if you're especially good patient, you may even get some Cadbury Mini Eggs.  (Does anyone else have a huge weakness for those?!) 

Speaking of Cadbury Mini Eggs, I found this recipe online... I will be making those this week.  

Oatmeal Cookies with Cadbury Mini Eggs

Last random but VERY exciting news of the day... I got my graduation gown, cap, and stole this week!  It's finally starting to feel real that I will be graduating in just 6 weeks from TODAY!

Pretty neat Stanford Tradition!

 Have an AMAZING weekend!

Semana Santa and Surf Lessons!



Procession during Semana Santa

In many Latin American and European countries, the week before Easter, called Samana Santa (Holy Week) is often more celebrated than Easter day itself.  This was definitely the case in Peru!  Starting with the Sunday before at Palm Sunday Mass, the priest described parade after parade that would occur in the upcoming week.  Thursday and Friday before Easter are considered National Holidays, so most businesses were shut down as the people flocked to the coastal towns to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather and fabulous festivals.  The most interesting part, however, is that on Easter Sunday itself, most businesses opened back up and resumed life as usual! 

The parades were amazing to see, with gorgeous displays of the Crucifix, huge marching bands, incense, and people following the procession as they walked for miles.  One specific procession walked over 15 miles, from one end of Trujillo to the other.  On Easter Sunday, my family and I went to the Cathedral in Trujillo for mass.  40 minutes later, the mass was over (if you have EVER been to a Catholic holiday mass, or any mass for that matter, you will know this is not normal!) and life continued as any other normal day.  It was a change from the celebrations that I am used to! 


Sunset in Huanchaco, Peru

Since Amber was able to get the Thursday and Friday before Easter off of work, we went to Huanchaco, a town 25 minutes by car from Trujillo.  It is well known to be a surfer's paradise.  Amber has recently become an avid surfer, so she convinced myself and her friend Kathleen to take surfing lessons.  One more fabulous thing about Peru:  it's affordable, if not downright cheap.  A two-hour surfboard lesson, wetsuit and surfboard rental coast only s/35, or about $12.  After learning, in Spanish, that I am a "goofy" (a universal word!) and how to balance on the board on land (not as easy as it sounds when the instructor is pushing you back and forth to mimic waves!) we headed out into the ocean!  First wave came... and I caught it!  Second wave came.... success again!  By the third wave, I thought I was a pro!  It was 4th through 35th waves that got a little ugly.  :)  Let's just make this fact known:  Surfing IS NOT as easy as it looks.  However, equally as true:  Surfing IS as fun as it looks!  Although I swallowed gallons of delicious sea water and attracted many stares as a ridiculously horrible Gringa surfer, it was a fabulous first experience surfing!  Next weekend we are going to another well-known surfing destination in Peru, so hopefully I can try it again!



Picarones in Peru

After a fun day of surfing, we were starving.  Peruvian street food deserves an entire blog post of it's own, so I won't go into too much detail.  Amber, Kathleen and I shared some amazing Peruvian delicacies called Picarones.  Picarones are essentially deep fried dough made from squash and sweet potato. It is served in a doughnut form and covered with a syrup made from chancaca (solidified molasses- way yummier than it sounds).  If you aren't drooling, you should be.  They are perfectly brown and crisp on the outside and soft and warm on the inside.  Topped with the sweet sauce, you forget that you are on earth for a few moments and drown in deliciousness.  Mmm... A perfect end to a semi-successful day at the beach!