What a great weekend! Lots of work but also some time to go out and see some of my long lost Omaha friends. Friday night we started at Roja, one of the cutest places in Omaha, not to mention Friday night is dollar Corona nights (yes, apparently I have turned into a beer drinker since going to Europe...who knew?!). Needless to say, it was a good night full of old friends and familiar places, ending up at the infamous Whiskey Tango as usual. :) Saturday night was some bar hopping downtown, and I was lucky enough to see some of my old high school friends around...a nice surprise to my weekend! Sundays are always lazy days for me (yeah I know, what's a real productive day to me?) so we did some tanning at the lake and I finally got to watch the movie Love and Other Drugs- which was good but surprisingly serious. But Jake Gyllenhaal was amazing- definitely have a little celeb crush now. :)

And I finally have some pictures of what I bought! I didn't realize when I went shopping, but I went kind of pink crazy...well, what can I say? I'm a girl...I have a weak spot for all things pink (which probably explains my serious addiction to Victoria's Secret)! I am super excited about my new make-up brushes, they were really soft and not expensive at all!

just loving those nebraska drivers.

No one in Omaha can drive.


Seriously, no one.

This is a given fact at this point, I think, for anyone who has lived in or even driven through Omaha. Having lived in Europe for the summer, it is kind of stunning when you get back on the road for the first time. Not that I drove in Europe -please, like anyone would be dumb enough to let me- but I was with other people who were driving, and it seemed like the rules of the road were pretty clear. Left lane = fast lane, everyone else get out of the way. They actually used their blinkers and remembered to turn them off after they've switched lanes (more Asian jokes probably running through your mind). They knew how to drive with bicyclers on the road...in Amsterdam, there were probably more bikes than people. But Omaha? No. Like today, when someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to cut me off as I was trying to change lanes on my way to work. Okay, maybe I was speeding, but that's irrelevant... :)
...and there's a story that someone reminded me of recently.
So, one morning I am driving to my morning class at Creighton, and for whatever reason I happen to be on 72nd and Maple in the left turning lane, trying to get onto Maple. It's a red light, so obvi I'm just dancing away to some music in my car, and finally the turn light is green. So, I'm ready to make my move...and the car in front of me isn't going. I wait a couple of seconds (maybe he/she was texting, something I'm definitely guilty of)...and nothing. The light goes back to red, and now I'm angry -I don't even get angry that easily, but bad drivers really get me. It was the morning, I was going to class, and I had forgotten my coffee...not a good combination. So at the next green signal, there was no one next to me so I decided to drive around this car, and I looked in to give a mean look...and this woman is ASLEEP at the wheel! In a running car! Head back on the seat like nobody's business. I honked a few times as I passed her and I hope it woke her up because I didn't wait around to see. I was so worked up that I told basically everyone that day about this and...anyway, the point is, no one in Omaha knows how to drive.

And I have a little apology, I didn't have time to take any pictures because I was at the lake all day yesterday getting tan :), so here's a little preview of a couple of the things I bought!

pretty pink and gold ring from Forever 21, kind of plain but I am loving gold lately and the pink is such a cute shade. Thinking about back and getting the turquoise version of this.

cutest little gold bow ring from Forever 21, I have been searching for one for such a long time

Dancing Waters body lotion and body wash from Bath and Body Works, my absolute favorite scent that I have been dying without in Europe, it is so fresh with a little bit of floral in it, perfect for summer! It's just yummy.

Tons of work today and then a night out with best friends tonight! Have a fabulous Friday! :)

PS- I found this really fun video on Youtube of the Forever 21 3D runway show in Brussels...pretty amazing technology being used!

homemade curry chicken- yum!

So even though I have been having a huge love affair with sushi since I've been back to the States (insert Asian joke here), when my mom asked me to cook dinner I decided on a whim to try to cook with some curry. I've always loved curry and so I got super excited when the idea popped in my head. It was a spur of the moment decision so I just improvised with ingredients and preparation as I went along, but the end result was really tasty -even Heidi really liked it, which is saying something! I made sure to use a lot of veggies and some lean chicken breast so that it didn't end up being really unhealthy (on an American scale; in the rest of the world perhaps a different story).

Curry Chicken and Vegetables on White Rice
(serves 4 "hungry man" portions)

3 bell peppers (I used red, orange, yellow)
8 oz sliced mushrooms
4 oz sliced carrots
1 jalapeno pepper (optional, we just like our food a little bit spicier!)
4 lean chicken breasts, sliced into small chunks or thin strips (think chicken fingers)
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
chili powder (optional)
olive oil
3.5 oz curry paste or curry sauce mix (I used golden/yellow curry, but use whatever type you like)
water, as needed
white rice, as desired (chow mein noodles would work too!)

1. Slice up the bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and jalapeno (or whatever vegetables you've chosen to use). Put them all in a bowl and set it aside.
2. Slice up the chicken and put it into its own bowl; add a pinch of salt, pepper and also the garlic.
3. Put around 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized skillet and add the chicken. Cook on medium heat until chicken is fully cooked (if you are using thin slices, make sure that you flip the chicken so it gets cooked on both sides). Slowly add curry while the chicken is cooking. Add 1 teaspoon of chili powder if you want it to be spicier.
4. Once the chicken is fully cooked, add the veggies to the mix. You can grill or sauté the veggies first if you want, or add them fresh. Add additional olive oil if necessary.
5. You can decide how much water to add, depending on how you like your sauce. To make a semi-thick sauce, add 1/4 cup of water.
6. Cook until the sauce is at desired consistency and the veggies are done.
7. Serve on top of white rice or chow mein noodles.

And...enjoy the deliciousness!!

I also got to do a little shopping for the first time since being back, and got some goodies from Victoria's Secret and Forever 21- two of the hardest shops to resist! Even so, I am definitely missing all of the shopping Europe had to offer- but I'll have to make due for now! I'll be sure to post some pictures of my purchases later. :)

Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?

So since my trip is all finished, the blog is going to kind of change its direction. I'll still continue to post on our summer travels and my solo trip (since there is still tons to tell) but we are expanding what we are writing about! We'll include the yummy food we come across and recipes for what we cook, fashion that we are into and see on the streets (although in Nebraska, I'm not sure how much of that we'll actually come across...), and anything else we become interested in.


But as for more travels, Heidi and I decided to travel to France over our puente with one of our friends from the program, Jackie. The night before we left, we went to this amazing bullfight which was very gory with all the stabbing of the bulls, but such an intriguing experience. Then an early flight to Paris the next morning with Ryanair, who is cheap but a bit scary considering they play music for every flight they land safely. Yikes. We had some trouble with our hostel (BVJ Louvre), who overbooked and told us that our reservation didn't mean anything and that we had to find somewhere else to stay our second night in Paris, which made Heidi very very angry (she was giving her Lily death stare, for all the HIMYM fans out there), although we ended up being able to stay. The location was ideal and we walked everywhere in Paris! By far the most romantic city in that we visited in Europe...hopefully someday we will be walking the streets with our husbands and boyfriends. :)  

in front of the arc de triomphe with Bianca, who we met in the hostel

in front of the Moulin Rouge (we were standing on top of this fan and so our hair was blowing everywhere!)

drinking some moscato in our hostel, so typical

Heidi and Jackie, out for some crepes at lunch

laughing the night away!

Notre Dame, only a 5 minute walk from our hostel :)

at Sacre Couer, the most incredible view of Paris

outside the Louvre

my bank account took a serious hit on this street

the eiffel tower!

the guys that were selling souveniors on the streets heard the police were coming and so they ran (very very fast) across the street to escape

at the bullfight the night before Paris

using some free wifi from Le Metro, our favorite little cafe. or in Jackie's case, roaming.

red lips!

The nights out in Paris were very fun! Although a little expensive (7 Euro for a beer?!). But we met some fun people in our hostel both nights to hang out with and have a good time, even a few Spaniards and Mexicans to keep practicing our Spanish on. :) And of course, we drank some delicious wine to start both of our nights in Paris! Unfortunately, we also had a few experiences with French prejudice against Americans (particularly on the metro), but we tried not to let it get us down. I think by the end of our trip, though, we were definitely ready to be back in Sevilla.

Well, 4:00 AM has arrived very, very fast, so I think that my bed is calling my name!

Goodnight :)