people and things.

You ever have a weekend where you think, “I was exactly where I was supposed to be, with exactly who I should have been with”? I am fortunate enough (extremely fortunate, at that) to have a pretty cool family. We make it a point to have fun together as often as possible, or at least when we’re lucky enough to be in the same city at the same time. 

We were at the Coin Haus (again) on Friday. This is roughly 3 times in 3 months… I’m so over it, BUT I’d gladly recommend it to anyone who wants to have fun in La Mesa (they’re opening one in OB soon). We had a cute little cousin night of fun, even though there were only 6 out of 12 of us… 3 are in other countries, and 3 are in other states ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  My parents got to join in on the fun but I’m pretty sure my mom wanted to hang longer than my dad- Sorry, Pam. We had a fun little tour of La Mesa, ran into people from high school (shocking) and left hungover (seriously, I cannot take shots… stop buying them for me). 

We also got to take the SD Passbook out for a spin, and in one use it paid for itself! $35 for I believe 40+ restaurant promos around San Diego…such a good deal. Im fairly certain that the deals are all buy one, get one free entrees? First stop was Farmer’s Bottega – I’d been there before but this time for some reason it was so much better! Their menu is huge and offers a lot of Italian inspired dishes (photo is below but doesn’t do it justice). Braised short ribs with polenta and grilled veggies 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽seriously could only finish about a third but it was amazing (luckily Lulu doesn’t mind leftovers). I would definitely recommend the Passbook to anyone who eats out in San Diego, even if they only use it once or twice. Their Instagram handle is: diningoutsd and the link to the passbook is in their bio with a code for 65$ off 😱. During the summer I bought a boozy Passport and it definitely got me out to new places I would have never known about before, and I’m hoping this does the same thing. 

Lastly, the squad got to reconvene today (minus Hill and CM 😢). I feel like no matter what we end up doing it’s always a good time, and never truly long enough (luckily this girl’s birthday is next week and I get to see them again 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽). I’m pretty lucky to have friends who enjoy a good brunch, a cocktail, and minor (read: major) smack talking as much as I do. Also, Court deemed 1/29 as Squad Day… so that’s a thing now. Never mind my awkward outfit below👇🏽missed this today. Until next time, bitches…

I’m not entirely down… if we’re being honest, I’m not down at all, I just have this Drake jam stuck in my head as I sip my champagne (OK Champagne Papi…). So, as I sort of add different things that I feel will make a difference in my overall life/health/productivity while I read about them, I was introduced to Ashwagandha. Used correctly, this ayurvedic supplement can support overall stress relief, anxiety, energy levels, improve sleep, etc. I have done an ayurvedic test before that basically lists things you should stay away from in your diet, things you should eat more of, and what you should do to be the healthiest you. Unfortunately, that was 6+ years ago and I have no idea what that test even says/means any more. Being the Amazon Prime Addict that I am (yes, I have capitalized it because it’s a problem, and if there were meetings I should and very well could attend) I go onto Prime and order the highest reviewed Ashwagandha. I begin to immediately take this as suggested, and feel sick 30 minutes after I take it, every day that I take it. After consulting my best friend/PhD (not MD but definitely more D than me… get it?), she suggests taking it with food might make things better? It doesn’t, but I had totally disregarded all of the amazing things that have occurred since I began taking the supplement, and only focused on the negative (sick to my stomach isn’t exactly ideal, but there were some GREAT benefits). My sleep has been amazing. A-MAZ-ING. I go to sleep early. I do not wake up in the middle of the night. I wake up feeling rested. What more could a person really ask for? Overall, I’m less stressed, I have been able to focus in on one activity without straying to another, and without caffeine, my energy levels have been great.

Prior to looking into Ashwagandha, a lot of people recommended the Moon Juice dusts to me and I decided that rather than continue with the Ashwagandha I had ordered off of Prime, I’d look more into the Moon Juice dusts. They make SO MANY great ones that I couldn’t pick just one, so I decided to add the sampler box via Amazon. Prime has them for $5 more per dust, but does not charge shipping. If you order directly from Moon Juice it is $5 less, but a LOT more in shipping (anywhere between 12$-30$). Moon Juice does however give a 15% discount for their email subscribers, however, my code didn’t work, thus went to the tried and true Prime. Although some of these I’m not sure I entirely need; Power, Dream, Sex, etc., I figured why not look into their healing abilities and weed out what I don’t need.

I will post more recipes as I receive my cooklet in this starter pack, and circle back on recipes that I feel will work/dusts that didn’t work for me. If you have any suggestions in regards to anxiety/stress relief, supplements that cue in on focus but also help with sleep, PLEASE let me know!

Roasted veggies with cilantro grilled chicken

Basil chicken kabobs with bell peppers

Veggie BBQ’d pizza with fresh mozz

So, above are some recent recipes/things I’ve made lately in regards to that post a few days ago when I said I was eating clean (in moderation… yes, I fully realize that one of those is a pizza, but it’s covered in veggies! That’s good, right?!) I think an issue I had when I was vegan for so long was consuming the exact same foods all the time to the point where I’d get so sick of them that I couldn’t eat that specific item ever again (I will never consume stir-fried broccoli and carrots with brown rice and tofu anymore. Ever. Again.) Notice the above grilling trend – insert rolled eye emoji… needless to say I get stuck in ruts, and this trend will turn into a rut at some point soon too, I’m sure. But, is it bad if it’s a healthy rut? How does one combat this issue of constantly eating the same things all the time? I follow as many clean eating, no BS bloggers/chefs on Instagram/Facebook/SnapChat as I possibly can. I will literally take ideas from anyone who seems to know what they’re talking about (or at least know more than I do… which is probably most people). I know this sounds like an incredibly entitled first world/Whole Foods(whole paycheck) problem, as we get to pick and choose what we want to eat while some people don’t have food at all, thus making me feel guilty AF as I write this out… bleh.

From following said individuals who know more than Meagan, I’ve been learning more about the healthy fats, oils, and so on that go into food preparation. This Sicilian was not ready to give up her Olive Oil… but reluctantly (and with much hesitation) made the change to Organic Avocado Oil and Avocado Oil cooking spray. We are going to just NOT tell Nonna, or my father about that one. Avocado Oil has a higher smoke point than other oils, and also has a lot more fiber (up to 7% more depending on the brands).  I’ve also crossed over to the land of Ghee (OMGhee is the brand I’m currently using) as far as butter products go (to be honest it just smells like movie theatre popcorn to me?). Remember how I mentioned that this leads down a rabbit hole?! My go to seasonings (get ready for this shocker) are Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, Paprika, and Red Pepper flakes (those are probably bad because I haven’t seen anyone use them, but I’m not sure why, so I’ll keep using them). In addition, I’ve been able to take a cilantro/lime sauce and sort of make it as clean as possible. Yes, yes… that cilantro sauce is basically used twice in recipes up above, except I switched cilantro out once for basil to make it more like a pesto and it totally worked. I give it a solid 6-ish months before I never want to taste said sauce ever again.

I had the best old fashioned this weekend, and I wish I could have ordered said drink (you know, like a little make believe waitress would come out of my kitchen and deliver it to the couch) while attempting to watch another round of “Corinne’s Stupid Antics” or, as it’s popularly known as, “The Bachelor”. I guess I’m just confused as to why girls are  UPSET that Nick isn’t giving them a rose? Join the show, show moderate levels of attraction towards Nick, go on Bachelor in Paradise, and meet the real person you’re supposed to be with. Right? GRACE. You couldn’t have GRACE without a little heartache (I know it didn’t last, but tattoos are for life. Give it a year, I bet they’ll be back). Girl with short hair and a terrible red dress was crying and fanning her face (I’ve certainly cried before, but never needed to wave my hands towards my face. What is the purpose of this action?) said, “I’ve been really, really patient to fall in love.” So, do you want an award? Do you think that said patience means (at 24, mind you) that this somehow buys you points towards winning the “man of your dreams”? I’m super curious as to how some of these contestants actually think. Or, maybe they just say something before they think it through? What a novel millennial concept.

The biggest indication of this season’s shit show/the reason behind Nick’s all around shittiness as a person came when he said, “Welcome to my home town. I grew up in Waukesha, just about 2 miles from here.” Bingo. Bango. He’s from WISCONSIN. They’re all nuts, all of them, every person from Wisconsin is insane. Two words: Jeffrey Dahmer. He brings them to the lavish town of Milwaukee on the 3rd date with 5975 more dates to go because he wants to preemptively show them what a shit hole this place is, that way when things get serious in about 4 weeks, they won’t be surprised. Then, while in Milwaukee, he asks the girls to shovel shit. Now, I normally am not Corinne’s biggest supporter, but when he’s seen you naked, touched your boobs, and continues to give you roses because he knows you’ll get naked, I’d refrain from shoveling shit, too. Some of the girls (mental health counselor; who clearly is not a real mental health counselor) thinks this manure date is a metaphor of some sort. I can picture my 10th grade Honor’s English teacher asking for “symbolism”like this episode was a freaking chapter in Bless Me Ultima. What is the symbolism behind this episode? Shit. 

That is all. 

Paying closer attention to the ingredients we put inside of our food and bodies can really lead you down a rabbit hole and leave you constantly wondering “what the fuck”?! After doing quite a bit of research, I’ve come to the conclusion that I still don’t know what the hell most ingredients are. So, there’s that? I find myself to be a fairly intelligent individual, yet I can’t look at a nutrition label and pinpoint something right off the bat and think “Nope, can’t do that. That causes____”. Who can? I’ll take all the help I can get. 

Until I become said expert, I’ll be sticking to a whole/ clean/ no nonsense/no bullshit type of eating plan (for the most part). I don’t like the idea of being so strict that I have to be one way or another forever. As a for-the-most-part vegan of 7ish years, I can tell you I did want a piece of cheese pizza every now and then. And dammit, I didn’t allow myself to indulge. Those years of restrain come back to bite you in the ass. Literally. What is the sense of depriving yourself of everything??

When I turned 21 my dad told me (while in Vegas…after I’d verbally accosted the waitress/was hours away from getting myself kicked out of the VIP area at PURE) “Everything in moderation”. As I get older, that statement reigns more true. Exercise, but don’t kill yourself. Drink wine, but not too much. Eat healthy, but if you need to, have some mac and cheese. 

✌🏼

The title really has nothing to do with last night’s episode of the Bachelor, but they’re two great things to have on hand while you allow your mind to consume such befuddling characters. Before we go any deeper… I am not a fan… of Nick. I love the show; I can’t stand the contestant. We all know how it works:  25 single, successful individuals in a house compete for the love (read: attention) of another single, successful (usually with a history of heartbreak and poor decisions) individual. Note: successful is taken with a grain of salt… there was that one time this girl was a “free spirit”…

Let’s start out with Nick explaining to the women that he had slept with an individual who he had just “let go” (I’m assuming for poor performance). The ladies were so impressed with his decision to be honest with them, and how it shows them that he is there for the (wait for it…) RIGHT REASONS that they totally disregard the fact that a girl was in the house for a few rounds who Nick had already been with. If his choice to tell you something that was bound to get out anyway is so huge, then I can see why you’ve set your sights so high as to be contestants on a dating show.

It doesn’t stop with Nick’s great character showing through to the women; what really gets their attention is a woman I like to call, “Nanny Girl”. Her actual name is Corinne, and claims to “run a million dollar company” (that is actually her father’s) but the best part about this 20-something is that she has a nanny… for herself. Nanny Girl decides to show Nick what she said was “the it factor, that guys really like”. If you guessed her “it factor” was her giant heart or ability to captivate a room, you are mistaken. Corinne decides to bring whipped cream to the party, wearing nothing but a trench coat so that Nick could really see who she was deep down…underneath the trench coat…covered in whipped cream.

The fun doesn’t stop with Corinne’s overwhelming appetite for attention, because in true Bachelor form, the other women begin to meticulously plot Corinne’s demise. Although he catches word of Nanny Girl’s odd obsession with her nanny, Nick can’t be bothered too much by it because he has a one-on-one date with Vanessa. I believe I have Vanessa in my Fantasy Bachelor League final four picks, but I’m not entirely sure why? The best part of Nick and Vanessa’s one-on-one date occurred on their anti-gravity flight in which Vanessa vomited into a paper bag. Fast forward 5-ish minutes: make out time ( I hope she flossed).