Playlist #24: Spanish Rap (Thanks, Breaking Bad)

It's official: Breaking Bad has made me love Spanish rap. How weird is that?! I'm all for finding new genres of music (remember my post about celtic rock, electro-swing and gregorian chants?!) but I never expected to find a new genre in a TV show about meth. I mean, duh, I realize it's not a "new" genre, but I just discovered it, so it's new to me. This music kind of makes me want to cook up some meth. (I kid, I kid.)

Also, when I used Music Map to find some similar music, somehow Trampled By Turtles (one of my favorite bluegrass groups), Bassnectar and Nicki Minaj came up as similar to Spanish rap...

So which is better: Breaking Bad or Spanish rap? Wrong, both. 

Snippets 02.

ONE. I really, really like gardening...in theory. I've tried my hand at keeping up this little window box with some pansies and some kale and for awhile, it was going really well. My kale was growing tall and blooming with these pretty yellow flowers. My pansies were blooming and making me feel like a successful old lady. But then these big ol' bugs showed up and I have no clue what to do about them. I can't even figure out what they are, for are my googling. Like this is 2014, I should be able to do anything if I google enough. Anyways, my pansies are dying, thanks to these poopers. Sad day. 

TWO. Last weekend, I paid a visit to my future school! I'm not sure if I'm going to share exactly which school it is, but probably at some point. Anyways, it was really nice to scope out the whole living situation and trek through campus. This (very bad iPhone picture) was taken in a walkway through a ravine that cuts through from my future room to the student union (and food court, so you know I'll be walking this stretch often!). I just thought it was such a gorgeous little area tucked away in a busy, urban campus and I'm so excited to have this near me next fall!

THREE. H and I have had a series of lovely dates lately. Last week, as a particularly belated birthday dinner, we made fancy pizza. H picked up some fancy mozzarella and pesto and freshly-kneaded dough. We cooked up some chicken and fried up some quality bacon (YUM). It was just a really good-tasting and good-feeling meal and a genuinely good time with my main man. On another note, I'm a notoriously picky eater and H took me to a local Cajun place today and I tried approximately four new things. Which is about how many new foods I usually try in a year. Please be proud of me. 

What's been going on with y'all lately?

4 Gorgeous Color Palettes Inspired by Plants

Lately, as spring has been exploding all around me, I've been inspired by plants. Even when we think of nature in spring, it's always about the flowers. You know, the tulips and the daffodils and all. But I've just been enjoying the green. 

Behind my house, there's a little forest separating my street and the next street over. All through the winter, we can see the other houses, but as of the last week or two, the new leaves completely block our view. As I've been noticing and admiring those new leaves and all that lovely chlorophyll, I've been amazed by all the colors within the leaves. At a glance, they look like they're all the same color but there are all sorts of shades of green and even other tones of blues and yellows if you look closely. 

I'm using these color palettes to inspire my design, my attitude and even my writing as I work to breathe life back into this blog and into everything that I do. 

Particularly in that last palette, I just love admiring the colors. For the record, I used a color picker to take all of these colors directly from the picture. That bold purple in palette #2? That's all nature at work. How can you not feel happy looking at that + knowing that you get to live in that world!

Have a lovely day!

All images are from F L O R A. 

Weekly Goals #32

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely Easter if you celebrate it or just a lovely weekend! I had Friday and Monday off and my weekend was oh-so-relaxing...I'm not looking forward to putting that nose back on the grindstone tomorrow. 

On Friday, H and I went out for lunch at a local Cajun place and tried to go golfing, only to find that the driving range was closed. After a quick google, we found out that the owners of the range just up and left a few weeks ago. So no golfing (I was not-so-secretly relieved)! On Saturday, I did lots of exam review + visited my long-neglected lover (aka, the library). Sunday was for church with my family and lunch with kids. Then yesterday, H and I went out again to get us some Genghis Grill (which is delish, by the way). It was just a very laid-back, happy weekend. Also, it should be noted that I watched approximately six episodes of Breaking Bad this weekend...

But even with all of that awesome quality time with Netflix, I still managed to kick butt on my weekly goal! Which, if we recall from last Monday, was to exercise for at least 45 minutes three times + my two soccer practices. Check, check! Well sort of. My first two workouts were about 35 and 40 minutes each because I procrastinated and had to get home for dinner. But yesterday, I got a solid hour and a half in, so that felt good! So I'm considering this week a success!

I have two goals this week: stay on track with my exam prep + finish my book! I've made a daily schedule of which sections to review for each course and I'm already behind! :/ I just need to focus on putting in the time so I'm not super stressed out the night before! Secondly, I'm reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and unfortunately, I'm not liking it as much as I hoped. But I've heard great things so I just need to keep working through it. As soon as I finish it, I'll post a recap with The Memory Keeper's Daughter and Reconstructing Amelia.

What are your weekly goals?