Hit the ground running

         This Summer has been pretty intense so far and it's barely just begun. I left Beijing about three weeks ago to come back to Denver and found myself plunging right back into my old job, moving into my friend's townhouse and three paralegal classes all at once. I had a little under a week to transition from being the foreign student in Beijing to a responsible student worker in Denver. I remember before I left for Beijing when I was explaining this to my friends and family I got a collective response of "Whoa, I don't think you can do that- that's insane,"

And in retrospect now, It was a little bit insane. When I was packing up all my things in Beijing, trying to squeeze every last t-shirt and souvenir I had anxiety building up in me and my mind telling me, "are you really ready to do this?". At that point in time I remember thinking back,

"Y'know. I don't know. But I'm going to find out,"

Finding out was what led me to fall back into the Denver rhythm of things. Slowly, but successfully so far. I took things one step at a time while at the same time keeping an eye on the whole plan for the summer. One of the first things I remember after leaving the airport was seeing all the English everywhere. It was overwhelming to me just that small thing of being able to read everything I saw 100% fluently- while in Beijing it was more of a 40-50% comprehension with billboards and stuff usually.  When my boyfriend drove me back to my folks house I remember immediately even though I felt nauseous, tired, and just overwhelmed with being back in the States I already started planning in my mind what I had to do. I needed to get ready to move out of my parents house and to my friends, catch up on the classes I had missed while in Beijing, and get ready to go to work on Thursday. And of course I could not do this in one day. I needed to do this one step at a time.

All of this can sound pretty overwhelming. I sure you have all experienced a situation like this where you need to get all of this stuff done and it must be executed in a specific way in order to succeed. It's crazy and can really get you upset and spiral even into a panic attack.

That's why I say, when life hands you these situations there's three things I find that have been the key to my success.

1. Breathe - This is so cliche but it is true. Take a moment to pause and reflect quietly of what is going on and what you need to do at that moment. Collecting yourself is key. Don't listen to the background noise in your brain or the "impending doom" that your brain likes to give to you, especially if you're an anxious person like me.  I think nobody sums it up better than Steven Universe's "Here Comes a Thought". It's one of my favorite shows and in this case beautiful shows the power of calming down and letting those noisy, intrusive and unnecessary thoughts go.

2. 1st is 1st- Essentially pick the first thing that is the most dire and urgent in what you need to do. If that is all you can do in a day- that's absolutely okay. You don't have to beat yourself up for only being able to do one thing. When I came back from Beijing I remember the only thing I was able to do in that evening was lightly unpack clothes for the six days I would be at my folks house and give my presents to my folks and boyfriend. That was on my most urgent list. Once I got that done then I could move on to the bigger, badder, more complex stuff. 

3. Call in the Troops- I say it's never embarrassing or weak to call in for help. The more help and support you have from your friends and family, especially in transitional situations like this, the more smoothly and easier it will go for you. Don't feel ashamed to call up your bestie or your partner to help with the little things. This also goes back to number one. Having support from your friends and family can make things calmer and help you get in a frame of mind to tackle these big tasks. 

Rest easy friends, It's a rainy and calm day today in Denver. I hope wherever you are it's a calm and mellow day for you too. 

- Nutella 

I don't even like Nutella

Why the F*ck is this even called Incredible Nutella?

I don't like Nutella one bit. I've tried it more than I can count and each time it makes me nauseous. The hazelnut mixture is too sweet for my taste. I'd rather have crunchy peanut butter. But if it were a competition between the unholy Sun Butter versus Nutella, I'd take the latter. 

So why is this called Incredible Nutella? Is this a cooking blog based on a spread I don't particularly like? 

Nah.

Essentially, Nutella is a play on my name- Natalia. Back in high school, I had many friends and acquaintances call me this. It was a sort of ironic nickname that has since stuck with me over the years. 

But the title Incredible Nutella also has a deeper meaning than just a name I'm referred to. Nutella is a spread that is versatile. It makes things sweeter that would otherwise be dry, flaky, or just plain dull. Nutella is also perceived as kind of foreign. It's originally from Italy but since it's widespread popularity most people immediately don't see it as a foreign item that you would have to get at the "ethnic" section at the supermarket. 

Likewise, I find myself similar to Nutella. At least I'd like to think I am like Nutella and aim to be more like a hazelnut spread. When I was younger, I used to approach life with an extremely pessimistic and cynical outlook. A lot of things happened in-between that time and now that opened my eyes to being more positive and well, sweeter. 

The irony of a name.