Shopping Frugally For Groceries

If you're like me, and have zero source of income, it's a daunting task thinking of how to afford day-to-day items. I can't make any promises, but there is some help when it comes to buying groceries. Here are some of my suggestions to eating (and affording to eat) on a budget.

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1. BUY IN BULK - While it may cost you more upfront, you'll be glad you did. There are items I frequently use and what better place to find them than at Costco (or a similar type of place)? Most of our non-perishables came to us from Costco and those that aren't went straight into the freezer for use later in the month/year. Buying in bulk saves a ton of money because the price per unit is generally much cheaper than buying one of those items at a grocery store. And speaking of that....

2. CHECK THE UNIT PRICE - I know this can be a pain, but trust me, it's worth it! Sometimes similar products come in different sizes and prices. How do you compare apples to oranges (not literally), then?? By checking the unit price! I don't think I've found a grocery store that doesn't list unit prices. No matter the case, I will ALWAYS go with the product that costs less per ounce. Counting pennies eventually adds up in the long run. Most grocery stores put the more expensive items at eye level. Look higher or lower for similar products with smaller price tags.

3. GO GENERIC - I've found that more often than not, generic labels are just as good as name brands! If they have the option, go generic. You'll save a lot of money in just one trip that way.

4. USE COUPONS/CLUB CARDS - You know those annoying coupons you get in the mail every week?? USE them!! They do save us money. And often they're for products that you actually use. Also if you have a chance, sign up for your grocery store's club card. They're free and act like using coupons virtually. That being said, always check and see if there are specials on club member items.

5. BUY FROZEN - I don't know if you've noticed or not, but many of the fresh items can also be found for lower prices in the freezer section. This does make a difference in taste when you're talking about eating fresh, but I use most of these products for cooking or baking. You really can't tell the difference in a soup or sauce if a product is fresh or frozen!

6. COOK STAPLE ITEMS IN BULK - If you're a fan of rice or beans for example, those are cheeeap to buy.  At the beginning of the week, cook up a large amount and store them in the fridge/freezer for the rest of the week. You can instantly (and cheaply) bulk up meals with this filler. Add to soups, use as a side dish, make a warm/cold salad, put in tacos, make chili, the possibilities are endless with what you could do with a little extra grains and legumes in your house!

7. MAKE IT YOURSELF - Most pre-packaged items are super convenient and save you a lot of time. But they're also marked up much higher than if you could make it yourself! Being unemployed gives you the luxury of having a lot of extra time. So if you see something tempting at the grocery store or at a restaurant and it looks like something you could replicate to a certain extent, don't buy it! Wait and make it at home. The Internet is full of millions of recipes, just do a quick Google search and try your hand at making it at home. Plus, you'll feel more confident with your own cooking abilities once you pull it off!

8. FORGO BOTTLED WATER - A fast and easy way to save money is by ditching bottled water! Buy a Brita filter or use your reverse osmosis water filters and bottle your own water. You'll instantly save $1 every time you drink a glass of water and imagine what you're doing for the environment by not using all that plastic. Make sure you get a sturdy aluminum or a BPA-free plastic bottle to refill with water.

9. SKIP SPECIALTY STORES - I know it's tempting, but I haven't walked into a Whole Foods/A.J.'s/Sprouts since the move here! Sometimes regular old chain grocery stores have just as good gourmet-quality products for a smaller price. I mean, if you HAVE to go to a specialty store, make a short list and STICK TO IT. Don't buy things there you can readily find at larger grocery stores.

10. BUY IN SEASON - I looove fresh fruits and vegetables. But there's a time for everything. Take advantage of the crop seasons by only buying what's in season! Don't buy cherries and peaches in the winter, you'll be slapped with a bill two-to-three times the price you'd pay in the summer! You can usually tell which items are in season by their unit prices, how big the display for that produce item is and any special sales that might be going on. Our grocery store in Stockton used to have strawberries for buy one get two free at the high point of the summer. We stocked up and froze half. Plus, you get to be creative with new recipes for foods that are in season!

That's it! It's easy, it can be a little time-consuming, but it'll save you money! By following these rules, J.D. and I have spent under $110 (for two people) over the past two weeks. Not bad.

I feel like I'm forgetting something though... anyone have any tips for me/us on my limited spending grocery runs?! :)

Eat healthy for under $10/day!

Ok, so yesterday I brought you the beginnings of my meal on a budget! After factoring in the smoothie and my leftover stir fry for lunch my meal today for the first half of the day came to $6.42... and I still have some left over for snacking on today!

In today's post, I'm going to show you dinner and weekend breakfast that fits right into that same budget! My total meal prices yesterday came out to be $8.74 (this is just for one person). But that does not include my $1.16 beer, a $0.25 fruit strip and $0.13 clementine, but you get it, we're still under $10 for one day.

Dinner last night featured a (semi-)home made chicken tortilla soup that makes 4-5 bowls depending on how much you want to eat for $9.28. This gives you about $2.32 a bowl which was more than filling enough to stand alone as dinner! Well, except for the bottle of Landshark I needed to cool down my mouth ;)

À la Sandra Lee, here's my (semi-)home made chicken tortilla soup:

• 1 can Amy's chili: $2.58


• 3/4 can chicken broth: $1.19


• fill empty chicken broth can with tap water


• 1 can corn: $0.75


• 1/2 can olives: $0.25


• 3 frozen chicken tenders: $1.75


• 1/3 red pepper: $0.33


• 1 spoon marinated/minced garlic: $0.16


• 2 stalks celery: $0.10


• 1c carrots: $0.25


• 1 t. pepper flakes: $0.10


• 1/4 c salsa (I didn't have tomatoes): $0.38


• handful of cilantro: $0.30

Toppings:

• 1/4 c grated cheese: $0.50


• handful tortilla chips: $0.07

In a large pot, mix chili, chicken broth, water and corn on medium heat. While that's cooking, thaw chicken in microwave and then sprinkle each side with a pinch of pepper flakes and garlic. Chop the pepper and grill all together on separate pan.

With the chicken grilling and liquids simmering, chop olives, carrots, celery and cilantro. Once the chicken is done, shred the tenders for small, bite-sized pieces. Dump it into pot along with chopped veggies, cilantro, spoonful of garlic and salsa (or tomatoes if you have them).

Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for an hour, or until vegetables become soft. Add more pepper flakes, salt/pepper for taste and spiciness to your liking.

It was really easy and will last me until the next few days!

Now on to this morning's Saturday breakfast. Today's preparation cost me about $2.99, and left me with nine cranberry clementine protein pancakes. I only ate two, so today's breakfast cost me $0.64 plus $0.37 for a glass of chocolate soy milk for a morning total of $1.01. Not too bad ;)

Cranberry clementine protein pancakes

• 2 c wheat flour: $0.67


• 2 t. baking powder: $0.09


• 1 t. salt: $0.04


• 2 eggs: $0.33


• 2 c milk: $0.25


• 2 T vegetable oil (I went with applesauce instead): $0.08


• 1 scoop protein powder (Aria vanilla): $0.34

For my add-ins:

• zest and juice of two clementines: $0.26


• 1/2 c Craisins: $0.26

In mixing bowl, stir together all of the dry ingredients. Then mix in wet ingredients until blended well. For the last touch, add your fruit/flavors -- I went with Craisins and orange juice/zest. The possibilities are endless! Then you're ready to start flipping on the grill.

Now, protein pancakes are not as fluffy as regular pancakes are so prepare yourself for that. They are very dense because of the wheat flour and also the protein powder. This is a fairly savory recipe (minus the fruit) and makes for not-so-sweet pancakes. If you're looking for that pancake taste, feel free to add in some sugar or better yet, honey (I may have put in a squirt of honey after testing the first pancake)! Also, I noticed my mix was fairly runny at first, so I put in an extra half scoop of the protein powder and a pinch of flour. That seemed to have done the trick.

Instead of dousing mine with syrup and butter, I grabbed a cup of frozen tropical berry fruit mix and nuked it for about a minute in the microwave (1 cup of the bag came to about $0.67 and I can put the rest back into the freezer for later). When you microwave frozen fruit, the juices start to come out and it's just as good as any syrup you might find! And can we talk about how filling these suckers were?!?!?! I really enjoyed the subtlety of the orange juice; you really could taste it in every bite!

I know that a lot of us are on kind of tight budgets right now, but who says you can't eat healthy and have fun doing it on a budget?! Soon I'm going to give away my tricks to spending wisely within a budget (can you tell I just went grocery shopping last night??).

Time for some reflection

I feel like I've been having more major freakouts in the past few days than I've ever had in my life. Living off "savings" without a job to replenish that is a harsh awakening at only 25 years old. I thought I'd still be adding to my savings right now, as my ultimate hope is to soon buy a new car, or rent for as short a time as possible!

I guess we can't always plan everything out perfectly, now can we?

Anyways, while I evaluate my life and the direction in which it's heading (seriously considering being a TA and applying for a master's in French Comparative Literature at ASU), I'm going for a little blog makeover.

Now I am living on a pretty tight budget. So my goal is to eat under a certain budget each day. I'm going to go all Rachel Ray on you and say $40 or less a day, but this is more of a dialogue. As I realize where my money's going on food each day, I'll maybe cutback or boost food allocations on a weekly basis. We'll see.

But first, how about those peanut butter brownies I promised you a few days back?!?!

I cheated a bit to start here by using a regular old box of brownie mix. I would have liked to make them from scratch, but that would require going out and buying chocolate and the box has been sitting in our pantry forever now.

My favorite part about baking is that I always get to channel my inner child and LICK THE SPOON!!! I don't care that it had raw eggs inside... I used to lick spoons all the time when I was a kid and I turned out just fine. Then again, maybe I should stop licking spoons....

...NAH!!!!

I knew I wanted to jazz the brownies up a little so I googled peanut butter frosting recipes and came up with this fluffy PB frosting recipe from allrecipes.com.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

I won a container of PB2 from Mary's blog before I moved and knew this was the best time to put it to the test! I think because it's just ground peanuts and doesn't contain any of the oils, it made for the perfect whipped topping! And it was super fun to mix.

The finished product (kind of looks like a meringue):

It really is one of the best brownies I've made! Notice how I said made and not had... I'm not that snobby :) And it made a ton, too. I didn't even use the entire mixture because look how fluffy it got. Let's just say, I'm happily eating a brownie (or two) a day, even after giving J.D. 1/3 to take to work and share.

And as for today's breakfast it consisted of a homemade tropical smoothie (Jamba Juice size, for half the price) and oatmeal.

Smoothie: 248 calories (if you drink all of it, I could only make it through 75%)

• 1 c watermelon (46 cal): the entire seedless watermelon cost me $1, so I'd say this was about $0.30 worth
• 1/4 mango (54 cal): one mango cost $1, so again $0.25
• 1/3 can chopped pineapple (36 cal): $1.50 for the whole can, so $0.50 spent there
• 3/4 scoop of Aria protein powder (32 cal): $9.99, one scoop is about 1/34 the can therefore $0.30
• 1 container of pomegranate light yogurt (80 cal): $0.50
• Total cost = $1.85

My oatmeal was the generic brand raspberries and creme which cost about $2 for the entire box. Therefore I spent $0.25 on the packet of oatmeal (130 cal). Then topped it with a small handful of chocolate hazelnut biscotti granola (75 cal). The entire box cost $3, so I doubt I even spent $0.25 for the handful.

There, that brings my breakfast tally to 453 calories (again, if all of the smoothie is consumed) and $2.35. Not a bad start to the morning! And guess what, my lunch is FREE because I didn't finish all of my dinner last night, so leftovers are in my future! Granted, I did have to budget out for dinner last night, so it really wasn't free, but as far as today's spending is concerned it is!

A day in Scottsdale

We live kind of far from Scottsdale, but it's an area I absolutely loooove down here!! I had to go down there on Saturday, so J.D. tagged along with me and waited patiently so we could shop, play and eat in Scottsdale.

After I finished getting things done, we wandered around the Fashion Square mall and delved into what it's like to live a high-end lifestyle. However, I left having only spent about $35. Truly, I was a fish out of water. We did wind up in a puppy store (shocking) and found some toy ideas for Woody that might have to be purchased at a smaller, cheaper, pet store.

Like this toy, it's a blue kitty called iSqueak Monique! What the heck?!? Really?? I might have to find this soon.

Overwhelmed by all the Bebes, Bloomingdales and Coach stores, we concluded our shopping trip (since I was in heels all afternoon long) at H&M. Man, do we know how to luxury shop or what??? While J.D. ventured downstairs to the men's floor, I waited in the 20-minute line for the dressing room, yikes. I found quite a few outfits I loooved but since I'm on a budget and no income, I promised myself I'd only leave with one thing. I'm really digging dresses right now, for when I finally do land a job. I don't really ever see myself wearing pants down here in the Southwest!

The lighting was kind of blah... but this dress sure wasn't!! I bought it immediately and then we went back into the maze that was the parking lot to find my car. Sidenote, if it was that packed during the summer, I can't even begin to imagine the winter when all the retired snowbirds come down.

Next up, we headed a few miles down the road to the adult playground. Crackerjax is a large complex of mini golf, batting cages, driving range, bungee jump and go carts. We were set on hitting some balls in the batting cages. First of all, it was super hot. And the price wasn't bad either! After seeing a few and getting a feel for the speed, I roped a few out of the complex :) I think the last three I hit in my round were definitely homers. Awesome.

Could this batting stance BE anymore awkward?!?! I blame it on the purse. And also messing around. Obviously that's not for real since I didn't have my helmet on. Oh yeah, and I am a PRO at discreetly changing in cars. Notice I'm no longer in dress and heels?

Unable to stand the heat any longer, sweating out of our minds we were working up an appetite. I remembered loving Old Town Scottsdale from my Spring Training trips I'd taken to Phoenix in college so we set on out in that direction for some dinner and more window shopping.

Following the walking tour, we made our way into some super touristy shops. And let me tell you, I was thiiiiis close to buying and rocking a cowboy hat haha. Maybe next time.

Anyways after the second round of shopping (sans actually purchasing anything) we passed a neat looking Mexican bar with an adjoining dive bar featuring cheap beer pong. The restaurant, called Cien Agaves, featured what else but 100 tequilas on the menu!! I've had a fair amount of Mexican-inspired food at home, but was telling J.D. that morning how unfortunate it was we hadn't had authentic Mexican food in the Southwest quite yet.

Neither of us bit at the menu, however. I mean, it was happy hour after all, so we indulged in some margaritas! A Cadillac for J.D. and a prickly pear blended margarita for moi. I seriously considered that $200 shot at the bottom of the picture though, because that's how I roll (NOT).

Oooh, they were good! Outside on the chalk board, the restaurant touted its very large taco bar. So I had to go with what was good. I opted for the two taco menu with black beans and rice. My tacos included blackened mahi mahi and pork al pastor with a pineapple salsa.

Yummy!!! Saving room for dessert, I had a surprise left for J.D. So we walked off dinner and dropped the leftovers off in the car just in time to check out something that's becoming a favorite of mine: desert sunset! A large storm was about to roll through, so the clouds were beautifully illuminated in the twilight sky. And then I noticed that strings of light were run across all the streets, beginning to light up and really adding to the ambiance!

And now for the surprise. Last time I was in Old Scottsdale with my parents, we found an old-fashioned soda jerk run by the original owners who established the place in the 1950s.

After much debate, we decided to split something called an "Orange Raft." It was in the section that featured the likes of root beer floats. The orange raft was a refreshingly light glass of Sprite with two scoops of orange sherbet plopped right in!

Um and we even got to channel our inner 50's selves and sipped it out of two straws, while sitting at the soda counter. SO FUN!!!

After dessert, we wandered around the night-lit streets a bit longer before coming home to the puppy.

Such a fun night!!

And now, I'm exercising all the self-restraint in the world as the smell of chocolate wafts around the kitchen. Expect a post tomorrow of my brownies with peanut butter frosting! :)

The Soundtrack to My Life

Music feeds my soul. There are songs that make me smile, no matter what kind of mood or funk I'm in. It occurred to me driving down from the Bay to Arizona. I don't really listen to CDs much anymore with the iPhone/Pod and radios. My CD-making heyday naturally, then, was back in high school and college. So playing CDs to keep the drive going actually took me back to those glorious days.

In chronological order, here are the songs that represent periods of my life! Bare with me, it's long (that's what she said). If you want to watch any of the videos, click on the song titles, they're all links to YouTube.

Note: these are not necessarily my favorite songs, but ones that mean something to me, or take me back to specific people/places in my life. What I wouldn't give to relive it all over again! xx

MONIQUE'S SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE: THE EARLY YEARS

2001

"Zombie Nation" - Kernkraft 400

As a sophomore in a group of girls, most of our friends were senior guys. They expanded my horizons and I'm quite nervous to actually admit that I was into house/trance music. Yep, we were very impressionable. They even took us 16 year-olds to a RAVE in San Francisco. Oddly enough, I saw my driver's instruction trainer there!! He was like 21, it seemed inappropriate at the time and still does now. Either way, this represents my sophomore year of high school, dressed in brightly-colored tee-shirts with blue mascara and let's not forget about the "candy" bracelets and necklaces...

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No. Actually, let's forget about it RIGHT NOW.

This was actually one of the homecoming week spirit days, crazy clothes day. Except, this is something I would have worn there.... yikes.

2002

"Last Resort" - Papa Roach

Junior year. My best friend Laura and I played Papa Roach's Infest over and over again. I think we even burned like 15 copies of that CD. In fact, that might be one of the very first CDs I ever burned!

2003

"Ignition" - R. Kelly

Nothing, nothing, NOTHING says prom night to me like R. Kelley's Ignition, the remix version. Prom was one of the most fun nights I'd ever had! My high school rented out an abandoned military base on SF's Angel Island for the night and danced the night away. And away and away and away. Then a group of about 10 of us took joy rides around San Francisco and Marin Headlands. We crashed in two hotel rooms that night and explored the streets of SF the following day. And probably blasted Ignition about 1,349,948,387 times along the way.

Yeah check out the tiara ;) haha not like I'm bragging or anything....

Summer 2003

"Here's to the Night" - Eve 6

Even though we all know this song is about one-night stands, Eve 6's "Here's to the Night" instantly tore open the floodgates and waterworks. Hoping to cling to one last moment of childhood innocence, we all proudly crossed that stage, grabbed our high school diplomas and lived that summer like it was our last. In a sense, it was. Everything changed after high school. Not a single one of us ended up at the same college, so some major soul-searching and friend-making was right around the corner...

THE COLLEGE YEARS

Fall 2003

"Milkshake" - Kelis

Remember when MTV actually played music videos?? Like, before Laguna Beach and The Hills?? Yeah, I can barely remember myself. Anyways, freshman year in the dorms I feel like this song was ALWAYS on MTV. I would go to my neighbors' dorm room (Michelle and Lisa, SCHOLARS HALL FOREVER!) and we'd have dance parties in their room. Usually this song was on. I even remember once our RA came in to break it up, since it was after quiet hours, and everyone hid in the closet. Classic. We never did get written up though...

Spring 2004

"Bubble Toes" - Jack Johnson

During the spring quarter of my freshman year I became a tour guide at UC Santa Barbara. And you know what my FAVORITE piece of information to share was?!?! Seriously, I ALWAYS told people about this. It was a huge piece of Gaucho lore. JACK JOHNSON went to UCSB and he sings about it in his songs!!! This would be a sample of the information I'd provide when we neared the residence/dining halls along my tour route: "How many of you guys know who Jack Johnson is?! [Pause for a few raised hands] Well did you know he actually went here and sings about it in the song 'Bubble Toes'? [No one ever knew that]. Well, the line 'I was eating lunch at the DLG' refers to this building here [point to the left à la Vanna White]. De La Guerra dining commons! Now you can brag to your friends you ate at the same place as Jack Johnson!"

Yeah, I'm a huge geek, I know. But seriously, Jack Johnson, Bob Marley, Pepper, etc. all remind me of my days at UCSB: carefree, studying on the beach, watching the surfers in between classes and kicking back in the California sun.

2005

"Get Low" - Lil' Jon and the East Side Boys

Anything with Lil Jon takes me back to sophomore year living in our own apartment! There was never a shortage of parties to find on the beach street in Santa Barbara on any given weekend. Being underage and looking for a place to dance, we'd wander the street (total walking campus and college city) in search of the loudest music. Since bars weren't an option for our weekend amusement, we'd walk into the parties like we owned the place and danced on tables until the early morning hours. And then we'd go to Freebird's and get a burrito/nachos at 3 a.m. Those were the days. I apologize to anyone who's table we might have broken trying to pile 6-10 girls on!!

Spring 2006

"Gold Digger" - Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx

Ah, the beautiful year I turned 21. And in celebration of my 21st birthday my friends threw me a GOLD DIGGER themed party! We used to have theme parties like it was our jobbbb in Santa Barbara. We'd have black and white parties, EuroTrash, Dressed Up & Messed Up, PROM PARTY -- that was a good one, we all donned our prom dresses and my roomie Jess even painted a backdrop we all posed in front of!!! -- Rock Stars & Roadies and the obligatory Golf Pros and Tennis Hos. Anyways, this song was one of my favs to dance to junior year. And it celebrates my ascent to legal drinking, so that's pretty exciting.

Summer 2006

"Your Love" - The Outfield

This was a big summer for me. It's where I realized I HAD to work in sports. I worked for a semi-professional baseball team and hung out with the players/other interns on the weekends. One player's walk-out song was the Outfield's "Your Love." We'd play it at our weekend get-togethers and I ALWAYS heard it in the ballpark. That was one of the most fun/eventful summers of my life and I got to see my team make it all the way to the summer World Series and win it all!!!! Nothing else mattered that summer. I had my two loves, the beach and baseball. And my love affair with baseball grew more serious from then on out.

2007

"Prayer of the Refugee" - Rise Against

My boyfriend -- from that baseball team -- and I used to drive around in his truck, blasting über loud, screamy music. He was hardcore. Anyways, that year we'd go see movies, hit up the beach and eat ice cream, relishing our final year of college. Rise Against was one of his favorite bands and I'm always taken back to that year whenever I hear loud, hardcore music. This is one of the tamer songs and one I actually ended up liking! We had fun and went on to graduate from COLLEGE and foray into the supposed "real world." No, not like the show.

AND BEYOND

Fall 2007

"Love is Gone" - David Guetta

This song means a few things to me. First, it's French trash and I looove trashy, dance European music. After college I packed up everything I had into two (heavy) suitcases and hopped on a plane to the South of France. Unsure of anything in my life, I said my bittersweet goodbye to the bf and started to move on to adult life. Though, I'd hardly call it that. I made friends from all around the world, explored Europe, ate my way through the world and had a blast doing it. Oh yeah, I also taught English in elementary schools on the side ;) and improved my level of French to near-fluency. I heard some great music I'd never be caught dead listening to state side. I also learned a crazy new dance I hope NEVER catches on here. This is one of the many weird French songs I loved while living abroad, but also was symbolic of my newly-single status.

Summer 2008

"I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry

Back in the US and reverse culture-shocked out of my mind, I was jobless that summer and missed my UCSB friends like craaazy! So several trips were made to Santa Barbara that summer. I road tripped up and down the California coast and every time I stepped in the car/walked into clubs, Katy Perry's song was ALWAYS playing. My female friends and I would always joke about this song and the boys would love it. Then large dance parties ensued. It was like I hadn't even left college at all and picked up right where we left off. Bonus points: Katy Perry hails from Santa Barbara herself!

Fall 2008

"Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon


This is the year I discovered Kings of Leon. I loved that song so much, I probably played it out. And then did it some more. Then I watched the music video and drooled over the singer!!! I never got tired of this song. It would come on the radio and my chest would skip beats. That's how much I love the Kings of Leon. To this day, whenever I hear the song I turn it up on the radio. One of the baseball coaches and I used to bond over their album on the team's long road trips to and from Los Angeles.

2009

"Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor

I started working in the athletics department for University of the Pacific, a small private (NCAA Division I) school in Northern California in the summer of 2008. Our mascot was simply the Tigers. We had 16 sports and I worked most of the home games and traveled on the road with three of my sports. At first it didn't bother me that we played "Eye of the Tiger" in every pre-game warm-up mix. I kinda liked the song. Then winter sports rolled around and by basketball season, I was hearing the song at least four times a week. Imagine my disdain, then, when teams on the road would play this song in their warm-ups because most schools across the country use it, regardless of mascot. It got old, fast, and then I had to sit two more years through it!!!!! If I could sum Pacific up in one song, this would be it. And my blood would start to boil.

You can't see it that well, but check out the giant Tiger on the gym floor!

Spring 2010

"Lay Me Down" - Dirty Heads feat. Rome from Sublime

My boss at Pacific had access to a crazy amount of free CDs for some reason. I noticed one day he had the Dirty Heads CD on his desk, unopened. I freaked and started gushing like a little girl how I looooved that one song, "Lay Me Down." He told me the CD was as good as mine. And literally, up until we moved down to Arizona, I played that CD every morning/afternoon on my way to and from work. It was ALWAYS running in my car. It works in two ways, since this song really reminds me of my lazy beach days in Santa Barbara, but it's also THE song of Spring 2010.

Late spring (2010) in Santa Cruz!

Summer 2010

"1901" - Phoenix

Ready for some full circle action? I've become quite fond of the band Phoenix lately. I think you can understand how the band itself is rather symbolic since my move to the Phoenix area. But, wait for it, THE BAND IS FROM FRANCE!!!! We all know how much I dig anything French. Voilà, I've come full circle now. QED.

And that is the soundtrack to my life. I hope you enjoyed the musical journey through my past! (If you made it this far, that is. Congrats and thanks for stalking learning about me!!)

If you could have a soundtrack to your life, what would it be????