HAPPY 17, MICHELLE

my "little" sister, best friend, and champion segway rider turns seventeen today. seventeen. considering i sometimes feel like i'm still seventeen, i can hardly wrap my mind around this number and its significance.

for the last three years, michelle's birthday has always fallen on the same weekend as my university's family weekend, so bless her and her thoughtful, understanding, selfless soul, she's spent half of her teendomhood birthdays in lil' ole pella, iowa at my silly family weekend and never once complained or made it about herself, even though she had every right to. but that's just the kind of young woman she is, and i admire her oh so much for it. this year, with me not participating in my school's homecoming or family weekend due to geographical circumstances, michelle has the entire week to herself - the world is her oyster! she gets to do whatever she pleases in celebration of her big day. and would you guess what she's got planned? spending the weekend in pella, iowa, so she can attend the central college homecoming football game. that's what. i kid you not. i'm only slightly jealous she's going to be there without me.

oh michelle, i so badly wish i could be there to ring in your seventeenth year with you. if i could teleport you here i would do it in a heartbeat just so i could spend the day spoiling you with my granada favorites, and it would look something like this...

we'd start the day by stopping at my favorite little bakery to see my favorite little baker, where we'd pick up a yummy birthday breakfast pastry. i'd get my ever-trustworthy ever-moist blueberry muffin and recommend to you the neapolitan croissant, with "secret" underlying intentions of doing splitsies and sharing a bit of both. hey, it wouldn't be a family meal if we didn't!

we'd carry our fresh pastries up this little alleyway to my hidden, secret plaza...

which seems to be occupied by an overabundance of hobos (and honestly i now realize doesn't look very visually appealing; it's cozy, i promise!), so we'll backtrack...

...to plaza trinidad, where we would eat and talk and enjoy the fresh air and natural company.

after breakfast, i'd lead you back towards the main drag via the posh mini shopping district. we'd window shop, try on over-priced garb that we'd never be caught dead wearing, and find you a futbol jersey.

"woofta!" we'd say. "all that shopping's made us hungry!" i'd weave you through the backstreets of granada until we found the perfect, hole-in-the-wall, authentic spanish restaurant and we'd stuff ourselves silly with paella and churros con chocolate.

time to walk off that big lunch of ours! i'd lead you on an afternoon "intense walk" (the word "hike" is too serious) up to the ahlambra, for a more informative, historical experience and the most breathtaking view of the city.

don't let me forget to pack our selfie sticks!

we'd grab an evening treat of tea and crepes at a moroccan teteria in an attempt to hold off our hunger until night rolls around and the tapas bars open up. come 10:00 PM, we'd set out to roam the awakened, lively streets, stopping every few blocks to grab a fanta or coca cola and the free tapa that comes with.

as the drowsiness sets in after such an eventful day, we'd pop a squat on a bench near this fountain, and i'd use this opportunity to tell you how proud i am to be your big sister. you radiate beauty, always know how to put a smile on my face, and have the kindest heart and the most infectious smile of anyone i've ever met. i love you, midge the beast! happy birthday!

JULY 4

happy birthday, united states of america! 

happy fourth of july, my friends! 

let freedom ring

and eat lots of hot dogs, pie, and ice cream on this extended holiday weekend.

oh and light a sparkler or two for me! 

for old time's sake.

HEY BIRTHDAY GIRL

happy birthday to my beautiful, kindhearted, thoughtful, intelligent, hilarious, lovely, flexible, mature, witty, ginger, shining, supportive, musical, calm, "super," modelicious, sweet sweet fifteen-year-old sister! each of these qualities of yours is so admirable and inspiring. oh how i can't wait to see where life takes you. i am so proud to be your big hermana. i love you so much it hurts.

birthday bonus! on  this day both 12 and 7 years ago...

mini jennas! WASN'T SHE THE CUTEST? those freckly cheeks!

it looks like june 21 was a really good day because today is also my best friend alyssa's golden TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY. happy birthday, chick! thanks for taking on the world with me. oh how i wish i could be there to help you celebrate, but i know you will have the best day. i promise to grace you with my presence soon... after all, i do owe you a birthday drink... at starbucks! ;) 

a rachel-alyssa photo is not complete if it doesn't contain food. love ya friend! 

thanks june 21 for providing me with two of my very best friends ever! you really rock. and so do you, jenna and alyssa! happy birthday!

MY 21ST

i had the absolute best 21st birthday ever, hands down.

i am spoiled beyond belief by friends and family who know me better than i know myself sometimes. they-who-know-that-the-way-to-my-heart-is-through-pretty-glassware-comma-coffee-comma-and-mexican-food set up an entire day full of my favorite things. and it was perfect.

my best friend came down from des moines in the morning so that she and i could spend the day together. in a weak attempt to set free our friendship's inner serena van der woodsen/blair waldorf dynamic duo, we strolled through the ped mall downtown iowa city, feeling glamorous while simultaneiously window shopping and catching up because two weeks is far too long to go without seeing your best friend. we jokingly cursed baby alyssa for not being 21 yet, preventing us from going completely serena + blair on DT IC and dropping in a local bar for martinis (like we would have if she really were 21... not), so instead we went with sweets and each picked up a molly's cupcake for breakfast while we decided where we wanted to have lunch (it was already 11:00 a.m. but i am a firm believer in dessert coming first on birthdays and the importance of consuming as much of it as your little heart desires before wasting tummy space on anything else. plus i'm indecisive so choosing a birthday lunch spot took a while). we settled on brown bottle, a classy italian joint and, in fact, one of my favorites (they have the best italian vinaigrette dressing and marinara sauce! oh and this happens to be the same place that offered me a kid's menu on the day of my high school graduation) and skipped on over to eat as we were licking up our sticky frosting-covered fingers. :)

after lunch, we went to the mall and drooled over all of the hot trends our expensive fashion senses crave but our wallets can't afford. after a couple hours of perusing, trying on fun clothes, sipping on coffee, and splurging on (at least) one impulse buy each, we made our way back home so i could get to jenna's dance recital dress rehearsal. after jenny's performances, they-who-know-that-the-way-to-my-heart-is-through-pretty-glassware-comma-coffee-comma-and-mexican-food and i headed to carlos o'kelly's for some late night enchiladas and a celebratory margarita. ;) they later surprised me with a beautiful assortment of an entire kitchen's worth of matching dishware in my favorite mexican/aztec print design, matching decor, a sparkly statement necklace, a framed print of graham 27 (from my dad! he's the best gift giver), and a delicious marble cake (my favorite). each of my family members is so incredibly thoughtful. thank you thank you, my crew.

proof! which is probably highly unnecessary but 100% legal so why not.

and that was all she wrote for may 29, 2014. i couldn't have asked for anything more. thank you again to my family and friends for making it such a special, memorable day. (and i'm proud to say i do remember it!) cheers to 21 years! 

TULIP TIME 2014

one of each, please. (bismarcks are my favorite).

every time i take a detour down this walkway i fall in love with pella all over again.

waiting for the parade. paraiting.

the first weekend in may brought in pella's annual tulip time festival {the website has a countdown - only 359 more days until next year's fest! mark your calendars!}. even though my hometown is only an hour and fifteen minutes from pella, my family and i had never been to tulip time before i started attending college here. i partook in the festivities my freshman year, but alas, my family still hadn't made it down, so they took a family "vacation" {my sisters' teachers were amused by this} and came down spend the day with me and experience tulip time together. 

the imperfect weather - cold, cloudy, windy, with unpredictable on-and-off spitty precipitation - made for the perfect day tourist-wise. there weren't many other crazies out braving the icky weather which meant NO CLAUSTROPHOBIA NOR LINES AT THE FOOD STANDS. we went full-blown tourist on this little dutch town we thought we were already too familiar with by walking through the streets to tour every shop and museum, admiring the freshly bloomed tulips, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the dutch dancers in their traditional dress, cheering and waving at the floats during the parade, and eating our way around the park. 

eating. oof. like any good festival, tulip time's main attraction {in my humble opinion} is most definitely the food. the amount of {gross, greasy, heavy, stinky} food i consumed over the entire first 72 hours of the month of may was shameful. i live with regret! and while i'm still paying for it a week later guilt- and bloat-wise, it was totally worth it. we couldn't pass up the once-a-year opportunity to consume sweet little dutch pastries and the always-available-yet-impossible-to-neglect-when-within-a-20-foot-radius smokey row {twice} and disgustingly midwestern corn dog/walking taco lunch combo {not pictured because: regret, see above}. and as much as i hated myself for it, you can bet your bottom dollar my friends and i spent the next 5 meals throughout the remainder of the weekend uptown. heaven forbid the phrase "campus cafeteria" even crosses your mind during tulip time. 

stroopwafel | poffertjes

my family and i have this way of making an adventure out of the silliest, most simple of things. it's one of my favorite things about them and us as a general bunch of humans. tulip time is such a unique affair. while it's in no way simple, it does have a quaint, charm-y feel to it. it's neat to see the entire town come together to proudly celebrate their heritage. it sure was a pleasure to get to experience it all with my crew.

dutch is a good look for me, i think.

HOME IS WHERE YOUR MOM IS

i realized on a recent visit with my mom that she isn't just my mom or my best friend. she is my safe place. nothing, no one makes me feel more at peace - with myself, with life - than she does. no matter how worried or wrapped up i get in my own little world, my mom is the one who reassures me that everything will work out. everything will be okay. she knows me better than i know myself sometimes and i don't have to put up a front with her. i can be honest, happy, sad, excited, annoyed, or obnoxiously passionate about spanish and know that she genuinely cares and sympathizes with me by enduring each of these emotions as if they were her own. when my heart aches, i know hers does for mine. she shares my small but mighty victories. we feel each other's feels. she pushes me to be my best self. my mom is my home. it doesn't matter whether we're in our actual house, in pella, meeting up somewhere in between or somewhere far off the beaten path, as long as i'm with her my heart feels whole. 

my mom is an incredible woman and i'm thankful for a day that allows me to openly brag about her magicalness without looking like a chump. she's my best friend, superhero, partner-in-crime. sometimes i even think she might be my twin (my fraternal, michelle's identical. we have the same tastes, they have the same face. dna is weird). i admire her an insane amount (like so much but it's so much more than so much) and try to learn from her every day. "all that i am or hope to be, i owe to my mother" (- abraham lincoln, apparently. eyebrow raise). if i'm even half the mom she is some day my kids will be pretty darn well off. but then they'll get to have her for a grandma! if there's one thing i think my mom would be better at than mothering it's grandmothering. 

happy mother's day, mom. and happy mother's day to my grandma, too! i'm sorry i can't be there to love up on you in person but know i'm celebrating from afar. i might even have to take myself out for coffee in your honor. ;) i love you i love you i LOVE YOU.

HE HAS RISEN!

there's no such thing as "too old" for an easter egg hunt :)

 happy easter, my loves!

feliz dia de pascua, mis amores!

today was such a sweet day, perfect in its simplicity. my family and i went to church this morning and then we made our way over to our grandma's house for an easter feast(er) (ha). i tell ya that woman can cook up some mean mashed potatoes and gravy and i've made it my life's mission to spy on, question, and take note of her every move during the potato preparation process (the PPP) so i can some day replicate them for my grandchildren. the easter feaster practically put us all into a food coma right there at the dining room table, so we politely excused ourselves, as ladies do, and made our way back home for a "proper nap," which is code for: grab the first change of clothes you can find without any hint of a binding waistband and blob onto the nearest flat, soft surface for the next three plus hours. no shame in our game.

somewhere in that gluttonous series of events we had an adventurous outdoor easter egg hunt! i've always wanted to hunt for eggs outside. chocolate was involved, so naturally, so was running. good thing i've been training! it was a lovingly competitive affair. we looked high and low and have been informed that there are still two eggs that haven't been found. those will be a fun surprise someday. :) the easter bunny is too good to us. 

our pastor gave the most touching sermon at church this morning. he spoke about love and the craziness that it is and the silly irrational things it makes us do sometimes. a prime example: we know that Jesus made the sacrifices he did for us because he loves us, but why? how does that justify? how does that add up? it's not always easy to comprehend.

and then he said this: love makes sense out of nonsense.

bam. it so, so does. we do the outrageous unthinkable things we do without thinking twice for our loved ones because that's just it. we love them. and that's exactly why Jesus died and rose again for us. because he loves us. love wins!

*instert roof-raising emoji here.*

do you feel the love? i feel the love. and i feel blessed. very blessed.

i hope you had an extra special sunday full of all of your main peeps and lots of chocolate and grandma's mashed potatoes. 

psst: i was thinking back to this time last year and oh my, how things have changed. you can read about my easter in mexico here. reading back through those posts - especially the easter one - leaves a little lump in my throat and an ache in my heart, as if all of the emotions come rushing back, followed by a hint of nostalgia for merida and my familia mexicana. i'm grateful to have many places i call "home" and many different groups of people i call "family." 

POST 4TH

i woke up this morning with a serious food hangover. (i repeat! this in no way has anything to do with alcohol! my body is just that on top of things and responsive. oh, my luck!). a headache (from staying out until 10), swollen puffy eyes (from going back for round two of salty nacho cheese dip), and bloated midsection (see: nacho dip) all made themselves present this morning as i struggled to get out of  bed and ready for the day. and that, my friends, despite the unfortunate images they provide, is the sign of a day well had, and further supports the reasoning behind the fourth of july being one of my favorite holidays.

independence day always brings back special memories of july 4ths past, like family traditions and moments shared in celebration of our country and freedom... starting off the day with the annual pancake breakfast at the fire station, both watching and being in parades, running through the park, weaving in and out of the waving american flags, and gathering around at dusk with friends and strangers alike to ooh and aah over the fireworks. 

yesterday was no different. with a happy tummy full of pancakes and sausage, we enjoyed the small-town parade and spent time together as a family until going to a friend's for dinner and fireworks watching.

> jenna made her big high school marching band debut in the parade. she rocked that bass drum and looked so darn cute doing it!

 

 > my grandpa's flag. i was so proud to find it standing tall in the park this week. love and miss that man dearly.

 > i take advantage of the few photos that receive her social media stamp of approval!

 > we're hoping this fire-y explosion was all a part of the plan... it was cool nonetheless!

have a lovely, relaxing extended weekend! stay cool! it's officially july and the hot, humid weather has arrived to prove it. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, U.S.A!

let freedom ring!

and when did we all get to be about the same height?

yikes! 

enjoy your day, eat your body weight in candy and BBQ food, and be sure to instagram/instavid (say whaaat! right?) your town's entire fireworks show. see you back here tomorrow! 

REMEMBER

i'm convinced my hometown has the prettiest downtown square

happy memorial day! 

i love this land

and those who fight to protect it and its people.

thank you!