Splendid Saturday :)

Ahhhhh I loved my Saturday.

The morning started off with my book, a latte, and a wonderful cafe - L'usine...

I'm currently reading, The Breadwinner Trilogy, and it's amazing so far.

The story is set in Afghanistan. A 7th grader recommended it to me - his parents are both new teachers at AIS as well (other two campuses) and have taught in Kuwait and Bangladesh before here. 

My bookmark is near and dear to me (even though it's a laminated post-it haha)... this quote was told to me years ago by my friend, Dave Dowd, and it has stuck with me since... basically - enjoy the little things; enjoy the everyday things; enjoy life.

The other side of my bookmark says, "A happy person is a good person." My dad told me this when I began my first year of teaching... and, especially in my current situation of teaching and living abroad, the attitude I decide to have is a big part of my happiness and future successes.

All week Sarah and I were looking forward to our Spa Day coming up... and it finally arrived.  :)

We went to a wonderful spa, L'Apothiquaire, in District 3. The tree-lined drive up to the mansion started the feelings of peace and relaxation...

 We were given tea...

We went into the sauna and steam room... I was pampered with a mani/pedi... and then a 1-hour facial. So, so nice.

We even spent some time relaxing by the pool and reading :)  ...really, this day was pretty perfect.

This french-style spa is beautiful and we figure we deserve to treat ourselves once a month or so! I love that a fancy day like this is actually affordable too!

Leaving the spa we went for quite a long scooter ride - it was great! We went into An Phu, the district next to Binh Thanh (where my school is). We had a wonderful lunch at The Deck... right on the river!

Mmmmm we both had the apple-carrot-ginger juice.
["I'll take 3 more, please!"]

We stopped at a market on the way home and both got some produce. I picked up tomatoes, a cucumber, an onion, garlic, and parsley to make salsa... I got all of my produce for about 20 cents! (Then, of course, my bag of Tostitos cost around $5.00 haha.)

The salsa came out deliciously fantastic! It includes:

• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Onion
• Garlic
• Black beans
• Parsley
• Cumin
• Salt and pepper

I will definitely be making this again... and again... and again...

THEN I made a late-night snack: peanut butter banana smoothie (with honey and yogurt)... A-mazing.  :D

Last year in Denver I had fun trying new recipes and finding healthy foods / dishes that worked for me. It feels like I'm kind of starting over here - as I figure out which ingredients and foods I am able to find... but it's fun and I'm enjoying it.  :)  I even found a box of Twinings Indian Spiced Chai at Veggy's market... It was my first time at this store and included a few more finds that I haven't seen elsewhere.  Yahoo!