I bet you thought I was gone for good. Nope! You can’t get rid of me. Sorry for pulling a disappearing act on all of you for the past three weeks or so. Finals got a little bit crazy. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have time to blog while I was preparing for finals.

I may have overcommitted slightly last semester. Nothing pulls me in like a social justicey class with an amazing faculty. That is why I think I ended up with 4 exams and a paper due within a two week span. I was very prepared going into exams but things around here got a little bit crazy. I decided it would be better not to worry about blogging for a while so I could focus on school. I’m glad I took a mini break but it’s good to be back!

So what have I been up to for the several weeks? Well my eating has been totally blah. I did a lot of snacking instead of eating a regular lunch and got a ton of takeout for dinner. Living a block from Whole Foods is the best decision I ever made. I also went to zumba and yoga diligently but didn’t really do too much running. I took many breaks where I walked to Farm Shop or Café Luxxe for lattes. Few things in life are better than a latte from Farm Shop or Café Luxxe.

Other highlights include:

Last day of class manicures. Normally I get light pink but I decided I wanted to mix it up a bit. I really love this grey color and I’m going to get it again for sure.

The day before Thanksgiving I went to the Santa Monica Farmers Market to collect ingredients for the dishes I was preparing (recipes coming soon!) While there I found this amazing thing “Buddah Head Lemon”. I didn’t buy one but I couldn’t resist taking a picture. Has anyone ever seen this before?

My wonderful Mother sent me no fewer than 2 packages and an encouraging note with a Starbucks card during finals. One of the packages included ginger raisin cookies and these chocolate peppermint things. They were gone in a matter of days. I am so excited to have the rest of her fantastic Christmas cookies when I go home next week. No one bakes like mom bakes.

Here is a reminder of why I moved to LA. The days after Thanksgiving were very warm, like 80 degrees. I revived my tan and put my toes in the sand. There is no better way to review for community property.

My friend Danielle and I took a makeup lesson from our friend Amanda. As you may or may not be able to tell, I’m pretty low maintenance. I own barely any makeup and have no clue how to apply it to my face in an attractive fashion. Hench, the makeup lesson. Amanda was awesome, taught me some new skills and clued me in as to how to take care of my skin. I’ve been diligently applying what I’ve learned since and have even gotten a couple of compliments! So glad to have upgraded my “lady skills”.

Speaking of wearing makeup I went to this awesome person’s birthday last weekend. Happy 26th Kaitlin, I had a blast!

Finals can be kind of an anti social time. Sure, I see my classmates but normally only in the context of studying for class or having a quick bite to eat and we’re all so stressed out that we can’t really focus on anything other than exams. It was so nice to do my hair and go out. So thank you Kaitlin for being a December baby and throwing a fancy party.

And finally, exams wrapped up on Thursday. The deadline for my paper (which ended up being 41 pages *dusts off shoulders*) was actually Friday but I got in my zone Wednesday and worked for 4 hours literally without moving and finished it up. Finishing was such a relief and it allowed me to say I was finished around 1 on Thursday. I immediately met a friend for lunch at The Counter. I had a burger with fried avocado (!), beer, and those luscious pam fries photographed above. Then I went tipsy shopping at J Crew. Just how I wanted to start my vacation.

I’ll be in LA for a few more days and then I’m relocating to Chicago to visit family for a week or so. Cross your fingers that it doesn’t snow and that the temps stay about 40 because I am totally unprepared for any kind of real weather. I have a couple food posts in the hopper for you to enjoy.

During finals I totally neglected blog reading: What posts should I check out? Leave a comment with a link!