Coconut Coffee Shake.

I've recently fallen in love with a food blog called Green Kitchen Stories. Besides the fact that everything they post looks amazing, I LOVE the site. Its so clean and beautiful, very well designed. Since I've been craving chilled coffee drinks lately, when I saw this I knew I had to share. I can't wait to try it!

Coconut Coffee Shake
Makes 2 large glasses or 4 small

3/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup rice milk
1 large banana
2 tbsp coconut flakes
1/2 cup hazelnuts or 2 tbsp nut butter
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp vanilla powder
8 ice cubes
1 – 2 shots espresso (depending on how strong you like it) or 2-3 tsp instant coffee

Mix all ingredients, except the espresso, in a blender for a couple of minutes (if you use instant coffee you should blend it as well). Pour the shake into the glasses. Pour the wished amount of espresso into each glass, stir a couple of times with a spoon. Serve immediately.

Be sure to head over to the blog and check out some of their other recipes!

❤love.

My June loves.

I've spent the past several days spending some time with good friends. I had lunch with my friend Hannah on Friday and we talked out things that have been bothering both of us. It's nice to just get things out. Some things left spinning on their own through your head can just get worse and make you a wreck. Then on Saturday night I went out for some Mexican with Jordan and Kayla. Girl talk and margaritas, yes please! Then we went back to Jordan's place where my friend Anna joined and had a great time reliving old memories and making new plans. I feel renewed and ready to spend this week getting organized and dare I say... painting rooms?

Anyway, I thought I'd share some things that I'm absolutely in love with right now.

greek cheese pies. to. die. for.

shirt dresses. like this one from american apparel.

this book. her courage to regain her love of life is inspiring.

not this particular brand, but SO good. love it iced.

What have you been in love with lately? Please share!

❤love.

I would choose a shield.

I've tried to get things accomplished today, but I've just had too much on my mind. Besides thinking about all the things there are to do, there's just so much else going on. It's distracting. Too many problems I wish I could fix. If I could choose a gift, a superhero power, I think it would be to shield. To wrap myself around people I love and heal them. Mend their hearts, fix their wounds, rid their lives of what was pulling them down, draining the life out of them. I'm a firm believer that the bad things make you stronger. They make you appreciate the good, the people that love you, the small joys that can be found in every day life. But sometimes, enough is enough. You know? Have you ever known someone who deserved a break, needed a reprieve? I guess hardship is very much relative. And I know lesser things cause some people great pain. And I don't diminish what they feel. But I know some who have carried unimaginable weights. And they're tired. And especially to one, all I can say is, please don't give up. Wait just a little longer. I'll be right here. Maybe we can find something to make us laugh in the mean time.

"It is not easy... to wait. Waiting is what the hunter does, and the poet and the slugger. He waits for the moment of inevitability and fate and then he swings, or shoots, or takes up the pen to put down a line. They don't teach us to wait in America; they teach us to grab. But waiting is what we do when we are looking for something beautiful, when we are looking for an end to our sorrow. Nothing is infinite in life, not even sorrow. You just have to wait."

-Cary Tennis

❤love.

This is the thing.

and the things that keep us apart keep me alive and

the things that keep me alive keep me alone.

this is the thing.

❤love.

Grecian Ruins and Turkish Delight.

For ten days I was on a boat, starting in Athens, heading over to Istanbul, and then making my way through the Greek Islands with a Turkish one thrown in too. It was such an amazing experience and I had so much fun with some of my very favorite people. The food was fantastic, the places were so drenched in history, and I could barely be pried away to leave.

For now I can't share anymore photos... I was doing an independent photography course while on the trip and so I have lots of editing and figuring out to do in terms of what I'm turning in and what my projects consist of. Hopefully soon I'll share some really amazing ones with you all! Also, know that I'm back in the blogging world! I promise I'll be around more. Thanks for staying with me.

❤love.

I miss Union Square.

I think it's my favorite part about New York. Sometimes I just wake up in the mornings and wish I could walk through the market place, buying ingredients for dinner and fresh flowers for the kitchen table. When I went up there for a conference in April, I stayed an extra day just to see a friend and go there. If you've been, what's you're favorite part about New York?

❤love.

Park City, Utah

A very belated overview of spring break in picture form.

midmountain

The beautiful sun soaked deck at Deer Valley.

snowwwwww!

View from the plane.

I love Park City so much. One day I want to visit for the Sundance, but for now I'll take a visit whenever I can get it! We started going five or six years ago and there's a huge group of us that meet up there. It's such a fun group and it's always so awesome to see everyone. And well, snow just makes it all that much better!

❤love.