Main Street Mania

Main Street Mania. It sounds like it would be intense and carnival-esque, right? Well it isn't, but it's still pretty cool. Basically all the shops in downtown Newton have sidewalk sales, and other businesses (such as Mojo's), set up carts. Leah and I spent the afternoon at a coffee cart in the sweltering heat selling tasty iced drinks and baked goods. It's about a fifteen minute bike ride from our house, so we went early and walked around a little bit before we started.




Leah and I are practically twins. Today we were wearing the same shoes (but in different colors) and each other's clothes. This could be dangerous.







It was really, really hot. Luckily we had a lot of ice available, and we were in the shade the whole time.



After our shift we stopped at Prairie Harvest, one of the shops downtown and got dinner. I had vegetarian Cajun Beans & Rice, and it was sooo good. Not even just because I was really hungry from standing in the heat all day. It was just really good. Our friend Emma ate with us too, and we all split a piece of their amazing carrot cake.



It wasn't the busiest day ever, but we'll be out there again tomorrow, and then again on Saturday! So don't worry, you still have a chance to come on out :)

Wednesday.

What do you do with a day off? Go to the sand pit .... again! This time I finally had sun screen, but of course I got burnt worse than the days I went without it. It's been consistently over 100° for the past few days so it's hard to tolerate being outside for long periods of time without being in water. I woke up early to go grocery shopping with my roommates since it was payday, and then spent the afternoon at the pit with Landon.





My aunt who lives in Ohio was in town for a family reunion so I got to go out to dinner with her at Reba's, a nice restaurant in town. I rarely get to see my extended family because they all live so far away, so it was really nice to catch up. It was burger night, and Reba's has one of the best black bean burgers that I've ever had. It's tied for first with the one they have at Venti's Cafe, but that's in Salem, so it's difficult to get a real side by side comparison.


My friend Megan is in Baltimore for the summer being a nanny, so I'm borrowing a bike from her in the meantime, since I have no means of transportation... After dinner I walked over to her house to pick that up. She only lives a couple blocks away. It's nice to have wheels now and a little more freedom!

That being said, if anyone in the Newton area has a rideable bike that they're looking to get rid of, I may be interested ;)

Pact.

106 °
That is how hot it has been here these past two days. I finally invested in some sunscreen. That stuff is far more expensive than I expected! My coworker told me today that it has been three days in a row now that Kansas has reported the highest temperatures in the states. I'm slowly acclimating..
Payday is tomorrow, so that also means grocery shopping in our apartmenthold. Our fridge isn't looking quite as plentiful as it once did, so we've been forced to get a bit more creative with our meals. I've also been thoroughly enjoying my new lens, which takes far better pictures of food than my last one.
Today I just hung around the house for most of the day until I worked this evening. I made myself a huge bowl of delicious salad for a late lunch. Green peppers, cherry tomatoes from a friends garden, noodles, and spring mix all topped with our favorite peanut sauce.








Leah and I made a healthy eating pact, and I think both of us our doing pretty well so far. If one of us doesn't approve of the other's choices, we just punch em. ;) It's always easier when you have someone to be accountable to though!

The Pit.

Kansas has been quite warm these last few days, so we trekked out to the Sand Pit which is about 20 minutes outside of Newton. Yesterday it was Leah, Landon and I, but today there were a few more of us. We just lounged around on some floaties and I developed a little bit of a sunburn, but it was fun nevertheless.  

Also, exciting news: MY NEW LENS CAME! Thank you a million times over to my parents for coming to my rescue with an early birthday present to take the place of my broken lens until I have the money to pay to fix it.

So finally, I've been able to take some quality pictures.

Playing Catchup

Fast forward to my life now.. I'm back in Kansas, and I cut all my hair off. 

Look, no hair:

My last few days in Oregon were nice. I went to Lincoln City with my friends one evening, where we ran around on the beach taking pictures and then made a campfire. It was perfect weather, really I couldn't have asked for it to go any better.

Anyways, I'm back in Kansas now. While I was home my friends managed to get me hooked on some real "quality television" so I've been spending a lot of time on Netfilx lately.

Today Leah and I decided to wake up early and go to the farmers market. We bought a some jam and a bread knot. We decided that next time we won't go just a few days after we've gone grocery shopping. We stopped by Mojo's to get some necessary caffeine to start of our day. 

Laura was working, look how cute she is making us our drinks.

It was a little windy, but since it was the morning it hadn't gotten disgustingly hot yet, so it was nice.

Leah found a cheap succulent to feed her addiction. I swear, she's got a succulent radar or something.

We came back to the apartment to sample our purchases. As we devoured our bread we made mini french toasts to take to a potluck brunch with other college students who stayed in Newton for the summer. It was a good time.

We're making Lemon Pull-Apart Bread this evening. It's cooling right now, I can't wait to try it.