Resolutions + more

I reeeeaallly want to go shopping right now, but I must recover from this cold before NYE. Hopefully I can go on Friday. Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Anthropologie, Martin + Osa, and Nordstrom have been calling out to me since Christmas.... especially since stuff I want is on sale!!

Anyway, resolutions time!

1. I've lost between 8-10 pounds since January 2008, and I want to keep it off for another year (and possibly lose some more.) So, resolution #1 is to not gain weight!

2. Exercise at least 3 times a week (tied in with #1)

3. Try a new restaurant every month.

4. Be more patient with my mom. This could be challenging...

5. Try and see high school friends more often than just during the holidays.

I've given up on my road rage problem haha. There are just way too many stupid drivers out there who piss me off. Just the other day TWO people cut me off at like 20 mph on a 45 mph speed limit street. One was failing miserably at merging into the lane next to us, so while everyone next to us was passing us at 45-55 mph, the idiot kept going 20 mph thinking that someone would stop to let him in... YEAH RIGHT! The other driver rudely and slowly reversed from a side street into oncoming traffic. I blame it on living in an Asian area (and I am allowed to say that because I'm an Asian woman...)

Anyway haha, my resolutions this year are fairly simple. I've stopped putting impossible resolutions up (such as "ending road rage") because I don't enjoy failing.

What's your top resolution for the upcoming year?

Chicken Marsala

I've never eaten chicken Marsala before since it isn't my favorite dish, but I enjoyed this recipe. My mom is the Marsala connoisseur (wow did I spell that right?) and she said that it was good, but she likes more sauce, and a stronger sauce. I guess I'll have to experiment some more!

It looks a bit messy, but it tasted good! I have no plating skills so I didn't even attempt it haha.

I used Tyler Florence's recipe and it was really simple. I think his addition of prosciutto is different from most recipes, but I guess it adds another dimension.

Blah...

I've been sick with a cold off and on for like 4 days. I know that sounds weird, but it's like one day I feel exhausted and achy, another I feel fine, another I have a runny nose and a cough, and another I have a huge headache. I haven't taken my temperature because I can function (so I figure it's not the flu)... I just feel slightly crappy. I blame it on my horrible sleeping pattern :(

Today I went to my favorite place: Trader Joe's (well, my favorite food place hehe.) Nomnomnom. I bought some Peach Lambic for New Year's Eve along with some essentials like arborio rice. I loooove eating risotto, and I love making risotto. It's so creamy and indulgent, but I add veggies like green beans to make it "healthier" feeling. I usually barbecue salmon when I make risotto, mostly because I feel that beef is too strong to go with it, and chicken is too dense. Salmon is so perfectly light and flaky.

Time to make some chicken marsala! My parents are "old" and like eating dinner early... silly, huh?

Random stuff...

-My burn from baking cookies is healing very painfully... boo...

-I wrote my thank you cards and sent them out already! I bought this really adorable set of cards from Paperchase at the Americana at Brand so I was excited to write thank you notes :)

-My BF finally tried on some of the clothes I bought him, and he seems to like the way everything looks haha. I've typically only bought him Best Buy gift cards, video games, or other technological things in the past. I don't think he's bought new clothes in 3 years so I figured it was time to get him new clothing! He was sweet and bought me new earrings. They match the necklace he got me for my birthday. My ears look awkward so I only have a picture of the necklace haha.

-I went to the mall the day after Christmas and it actually wasn't horribly crowded in most stores I went to. It was a madhouse in Forever 21, though! I guess that's to be expected since most people can only afford inexpensive clothes at the moment.

-I've been missing a lot of UCLA basketball games now that I'm an alumnus and don't have tickets. When I had tickets, I knew when the games were, and now that I don't, I don't even know when they're on TV. I'm such a bad fan... and I missed the game where we scored over 100 points! That hasn't happened in 10 years so I was realllllly sad. I vow to pay more attention to the schedule once we start the conference games.

-Tomorrow I plan on making pork chops alla pizzaiola (via Giada) and the next day I plan on making chicken marsala (via Tyler Florence.) Hopefully I get at least one of them on camera. Maybe even both!!

-Wednesday my family is celebrating the Japanese New Year (which is actually the same as regular New Year...) so I'm going to be eating a lot of delicious food. Maybe I'll make a photo blog of that too. My grandma is so cute, she should be the star of my blog haha.

-New Year's Resolutions will be posted on... Tuesday, probably. I was around 90% successful this past year, so I'm aiming for 100% successful this upcoming year!!

Warm and fuzzy

I've been looking for a cozy, long sweater to invest in, but I haven't exactly found the perfect one.

I ordered this Gap one ($58) in a size small but I thought that the arms were too tight compared to how flowy the rest of it was. I'm debating whether I should order it in a medium... So far it's the leading candidate for my new sweater heh.


This sweater is actually from Forever 21. It's cheap so it wouldn't be my investment piece. Also, one requirement I have for my "perfect" sweater is pockets on the front--this one doesn't have any.

I always go to shopbop.com for inspiration, and I really love the look of this sweater. It has the shawl collar style that I've been looking for (and pockets!,) but wool is so uncomfortable to wear! The price also turns me off ($206, on sale) but I do have the money to burn at the moment.

I'm probably going to head to the Americana at Brand to check out some options tomorrow.

I also really want to try Katsuya there! Maybe I can force my mom to go with me on a mother-daughter lunch and shopping date...

Oatmeal-Raisin-Cranberry-Chocolate Cookie

The recipe is from one of my mom's friends.

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker oats
Raisins, dried cranberries (Craisins,) and semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream all wet ingredients.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl (NOT oatmeal.)
3. Pour the dry into the wet and mix together.
4. Add the oatmeal and fruit/chocolate (whatever amount looks good.)
5. Bake on an un-greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes: A little more than 4 dozen.

Some tips:
1. I bake on parchment paper-covered cookie sheets. I think they come out better this way. Sometimes dark-colored cookie sheets bake the cookies too fast/burn the bottom.
2. I usually make the fruit/chocolate mixture the same amount as the oatmeal. (3 cups oatmeal, 3 cups of fruit/chocolate in different proportions)
3. I sometimes just do Craisins and raisins only.

Humdeedum..

Wasn't feeling too good after running errands today so I took some TheraFlu (I LOVE IT!) and fell asleep from 8:30 pm-11:30 pm. Felt pretty good after, and I couldn't fall back asleep, so here I am!

I had a good week. Ate tons of food, got gifts I like, and had fun socializing with my family and my BF's family. I absolutely love his aunt and uncle's dog, Lola. She's a welsh corgi and is the most adorable thing! I'm not sure what type of dog I'm going to get later on in life, but welsh corgis are up there on my list.

This upcoming week I have to write a ton of thank you cards, make some new New Year's Resolutions, and get ready for work again. I'm kind of thinking I should just become a middle school math teacher since I'm so good at math tutoring (I sound conceited but it's just 7th and 8th grade math,) but the money is in speech-language pathology. If I want to have kids and a comfortable life someday, I need the money...

Vegas Pictures

Power hour supplies...

My rib-eye/pieces of rib-eye at Carnevino

Carnevino

Pretty Bellagio...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to my friends :) I hope you all got gooood presents this year!

I don't know if strangers read this thing... but Merry Christmas to you, too :)

I celebrated yesterday and I'm about 2 lbs. heavier than before.. not horrible but not great. Damn those cookies!

Now I'm off to celebrate with my BF's family! I made them all cranberry-oatmeal-raisin-chocolate cookies. No pictures of that process but I will post the recipe later.

Shrimp and Asparagus

Picture of leftovers :)

Cookies!!

The recipe on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips is the one I use for choc. chip cookies, and it is so amazing yet so simple.

1. My amazing new stand mixer! I have never made cookies so effortlessly.


2. Mmmm... butter and sugar. Yes, that is two sticks of butter in there. I'm definitely going to run more than 3 times this week!


3. Creamed butter. Typically done in 20 minutes by my puny forearm; now done in like 2 minutes with the mixer!!! I over-cream my butter and sugar, though. I think it makes them taste better haha.


4. The cookie dough measured out in tablespoon-sized drops....


5. ....and the delicious finished product, yum!


6. Definitely an unnecessary picture, but I was being a little too hasty removing the cookies out of the oven and touched my left bicep with the cookie sheet held by my right hand :( I tried to ice it so there wouldn't be welts, but there are welts.... the sacrifices I make for my family! Just kidding :)

Yay for Forever 21

I'm disappointed 'cause Forever 21 did NOT have the blue dress in a small anymore (mentioned in a previous post,) but I'm super happy because I found a cute cross-body bag! The bag only cost $13.80, and it came in red, purple, and black. I liked purple and black but decided that black would be better in the long run.


Compared to the $158 MbMJ Softy Percy, this bag is about the same size, has a lot less hardware, but is so much nicer to my bank account!

Here's the MbMJ:

Simply Green Solutions

Not to be confused with Simple Green (the cleaner,) my brother works for Simply Green Solutions, a company that makes eco-friendly bags among a few other things. If any of you are interested in getting custom eco-friendly bags made, or you just want to buy some pre-made bags, go to their website: Simply Green Solutions. I just thought I'd do a shameless plug, especially since he was generous enough to buy me that ridiculously amazing stand mixer.

Cookie monster

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be making two or three types of cookies for my relatives since they're coming over on Wednesday.

I should take pictures this time, especially since I will be using my very early Christmas present from my brother (how can I not show off that beauty?)

I'm probably making chocolate chip, oatmeal-raisin-cranberry, and oatmeal-cranberry-chocolate cookies. I'm going to make more on Wednesday night for my BF's relatives since I'm seeing them Thursday. Busy!

What's your favorite type of cookie? Snickerdoodle? Ginger Snap? Post a comment with it :)

Shrimp and Asparagus

Recipe time...

I made this for my family tonight and it came out well. I love it cause it's sooo simple. All you need to do is keep a bag of frozen shrimp in your freezer and everything else should be in your pantry or be easily bought at the supermarket.

Shrimp and asparagus with sesame seeds:

1 lb of shrimp (chopped into bite size pieces or left whole)
1 lb of asparagus cut into bite-size pieces
1 large onion sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup cooking oil.
1 T. toasted sesame seeds
5 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
4 cloves of garlic minced (if you like it)

1. Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet (12") on medium-high heat and saute the garlic, onions and asparagus for about 5 minutes.
2. Throw the shrimp in.
3. When the shrimp are halfway done cooking, pour the soy sauce, sesame seeds and salt in.
4. Taste the mixture when the shrimp are cooked, add more soy sauce or salt if necessary.

Serve with rice. It should be enough to feed 4-5 people.

There's no place like home...

Back from a fun trip to Vegas. I'm not big on picture-taking so I didn't document any of the trip, but one of my friends did so hopefully I can put those pictures up when he does.

My BF's cousin owns a condo at The Platinum Hotel so we and two friends of ours stayed there for the duration of the trip. It was super nice, but I hate bathrooms in which the toilet is NOT separate/closed off (especially when you're sharing one bathroom with 3 other people.)

Day 1: Got there at around 9 p.m., ate pizza at NYNY, had a delicious margarita, and lost $80.

Day 2: Ate at Lombardi's in the Miracle Mile Shops, walked around, ate at Mario Batali's new restaurant Carnevino in the Palazzo. It was ridiculously expensive but really good. My BF and I shared a $135 steak (whooops.. haha.) I lost $60 playing poker, but at least it lasted me like 3 hours.

Day 3: Woke up super late after staying up til like 5 a.m. and ate at the AMAZING Bellagio buffet. I feel like my $38 were much better spent there than my $100 at Carnevino *sigh*. Watched football and basketball at the sports betting area in Caesar's Palace. Played 3-card poker, got three kings, and won like $165 off of $10! Went back to the condo and had a power hour. Of course, I had more of a power 10 minutes.

Day 4: Woke up and left...

C&C California Discount

I love their tank tops when they're on sale, but I've never bought their sweaters or dresses. Now may be the time to do that! The code is a little hard to read but I believe it says CCX50HOL (the number fifty.)

Sold Out!

Apparently everyone and their mother had the same feelings towards the Marc by Marc Jacobs Softy Percy as me (and in the colors I wanted!) It's now sold out on shopbop.com *cries*

I was going to buy it because I figured I won't be going shopping during my trip to Vegas. Yes, we're going to attempt to go (even if we end up going a day later than planned.) The 15 is still closed, but I'm thinking it'll open by Friday morning.

Disappointed

Booo...

My old college roommate (we lived together for four years!) just emailed me to say she can't go to Vegas anymore. Sigh. Now I'm going to be the only girl, unless of course some of my high school girl friends can go. It's super last minute notice for a 4-day trip though--I'm leaving Thursday morning! It'll still be fun, but it's always nice to have another girl.

I love that my old roommate and I got along (and still get along) so well. When I first got in to UCLA I was so scared. I was put into a triple (three girls sharing a tiny room and a tiny bathroom) and I had never shared a room with anyone for longer than 3 days. Were the girls going to be bitchy, anorexic, bulimic, or just plain weird? I was happy to find out upon meeting them both that they were none of what I dreaded (well, they were sometimes weird, but it was a good weird haha.)

I ended up living with one of them for the rest of my college career and it was pretty much a perfect situation. I don't think we've ever argued, and she's one of the sweetest people I've ever known.

Now it'll be me, my BF, and two of our mutual guy friends. They're fun guys so it should be a good trip, but who will I go shopping with??? I guess all my money will be going towards food and gambling, then.

Busy bee

The weather was a lot nicer today compared to the past two days. I enjoy gloomy weather, but I do not enjoy rain! It did give me a reason to wear my boots out, though :)

I went to Old Town Pasadena today but sadly I only came back with an ill-fitting, summer-weather dress from Forever 21. I originally tried on the small but had trouble zipping myself up. Once I did zip myself up it looked good, but I thought the medium might be a safer choice since, when held on top of one another, they looked basically the same size. Stupid me, I bought the medium without trying it on and when I tried it on at home, it was huuuge. It looks much cuter on me than in the picture hehe. I have to go back soon and exchange sizes...


After going to Forever 21 I dropped by BevMo and Trader Joe's for some Vegas snacks and drinks. I also picked up some Marsala wine since my mother's favorite dish is chicken Marsala. I figured that my attempt at chicken Marsala could be my first cooking post.

I'm sad that my fantasy football leagues are coming to an end this weekend. I think it's pretty rare that women enjoy the NFL, but so many of my friends are into sports (NBA, NCAA, NFL.) I'm in 4 leagues right now, but I'm only interested in one league's outcome because I'm in the championship matchup (against the BF haha.) Hopefully I beat him, but his team is so ridiculously stacked. I think he's projected to get 40 more points than me... Wish me luck! I'll probably be driving home from Vegas while the games are going on :(

The reason why I'm such a busy bee is that I just finished making a blanket for the BF's parents' Christmas present. We're all UCLA alumni so it made my fabric choice an easy one. My mom's friend found some UCLA logo fabric at JoAnns and bought me some, along with the blanket-making tools. It was a tedious process that I put off for a long time, but I set my mind to it and I finished it while watching the Laker game and the Food Network. Yay!

Tomorrow I have to tutor for a couple of hours, but then I am home free for 3 weeks! Love it...

Cooking

I kept making false promises on my old blog about cooking and posting pictures of the process + the recipe. This time around I will definitely post at least one recipe per week, and MAYBE one actual picture/cooking/recipe post every two weeks? I wish my camera wasn't so ancient...

I'll have time for intense cooking sessions during the next few weeks since I won't be working (thank you school system!), but these sessions will have to wait until after I get back from Vegas. I might be able to do something Wednesday night, but we shall see :)

New Discounts

www.lunaboston.com
30% off everything on the site: HOLIDAY08.
Expires 12/20/08, 12:00 a.m. EST.

I've ordered an RM from Luna Boston before and they have amazing customer service. They only sell handbags, accessories, and shoes, though.

www.tobi.com
30% off regular and sale priced merchandise: HOLIDAYTIME
Expires 12/25/08 11:59 pm PST.

Tobi has a ton of great brands, and they're based in San Francisco, CA, so the items get shipped to SoCal relatively quickly. Another bonus is free shipping! The only bad thing about Tobi is that CA residents get charged sales tax since they're based here. One of the reasons I looove East Coast boutiques with websites! :)

www.funkylala.com
35% off all merchandise (excluding jewelry): STARLIGHT
25% off all jewelry: STARBRIGHT

Expires 12/24/08 11:59 pm EST. ALL SALE PURCHASES ARE FINAL SALES! Just a warning.

I mostly browse at funkylala.com for their designer handbag selection (woot Foley + Corinna, Jenny Yuen, and Rebecca Minkoff.) I feel that my money is better spent on well-made, leather handbags than designer clothes that go out of style in a season, are waaay over-priced, or that you grow out of. Why buy a $300 white dress shirt from Phillip Lim that may not fit in a year, when you can get one at Express for like $40 and buy a $260 purse you will NEVER grow out of? I'm probably exaggerating, but you know what I mean.

If I had the funds, these babies would be at the top of my list....

1. Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Bag Luxe in Noir ($630 $410.) Perfect work or school bag. I wish she made her MAB Luxe bags in crazy colors, but she typically sticks with neutrals :(

2. This pretty little thing is the Rebecca Minkoff Nikki in Navy Luxe ($595 $387.75.) It's more of a royal blue to me, but I'm never getting my hands on this so why bother discussing the color...

I would post a picture of my Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Mini in Wine, but my camera sucks and I'm wearing PJs. I really love the color and feel of the leather, but I keep wanting more! I also have the Marc by Marc Jacobs Faridah Hobo in Bright Purple. Two bags are never enough...

Of course, I cannot sleep.... ugh.

Tired...

I tutored my well-behaved kids today, and I'm so proud of them. I don't know how one did on her test, but the other got an 88%, and with extra credit it bumped her to a 92%!

I may complain about my other students, but I do actually care about them. The ones who give me the most trouble are the ones with the least stable families. I wish their parents were around to raise them and to let them know that someone out there loves them. I would tell them that I care about them, but I'm pretty sure that would be crossing the student-teacher line...

On to shopping news.... I caved to the pressures of online shopping earlier today and I bought the $58 Gap sweater I put in my other blog's wish list (long waffle-knit sweater in gray). I bought it with a discount code and free shipping, though, so I felt a lot better about it haha. The free shipping is what really drew me in, though. Any time there's free shipping and free returns to the actual store, I jump on it.
I tried it on in an XL at the Gap store (that was the only size they had!) and it was actually really cute, minus the bagginess. I'm hoping it looks cute on me in the small!

Some useful discount codes:
Gap.com - GIFT for $20 off $100 and free shipping (exp: 12/16 11:59 pm PST)
Revolveclothing.com - DEC333 for 33% off all new/full-priced/sale merchandise (exp: 12/19)
AE.com - 68491578 for 20% off (AND everything is BOGO 50% off now) (exp: 12/16 11:59 pm PST)

Hurry if you want the Gap or AE coupon codes!!

Work...

I imported this from my Xanga...

For those who don't know, I have two jobs. One is at a tutoring center called M** with like, 40 kids split up into different age groups, and the other is a private tutoring job that I do on my own with 2 girls.

Work at M** has been pretty frustrating lately, and it makes me sad that I let it get to me. I come home in a bad mood every Thursday! Sure, these are just little harmless kids at an after school homework center, but it's their reluctance to learn and do work that bothers me. They know that English, writing, and reading comprehension are their worst areas in school, yet they refuse to listen to me when I teach them ways to improve. I think it's the fact that they aren't at the age where school "matters" that causes this apathy, but right now is the time to be learning the basics so that they're prepared when it actually counts. I would enjoy it more if I knew that they actually valued what I'm teaching them, but they are very verbal about telling me how much doing worksheets, learning how to spell, and writing complete sentences sucks. All they want to do is math, write one word answers to everything, and talk about violence and Family Guy (which they tell me is where they learned English!)

I know that I would enjoy it more if they appreciated what I do because I enjoy tutoring my other students for that reason (among others.) Being appreciated at work makes it so much more worthwhile, but I'm sure that's the way it is at any job. The 2 girls are older so they understand that school is actually important, and I can tell they appreciate learning and improving themselves. It's the big smiles they give me when I tell them, "Good job!" or when they show me a high score on a test. It's also the fact that they listen to me and show me respect and gratitude when I find a way to help them understand the material they're having trouble with.

I think that's also what it comes down to: respect. I'm hesitant to say it's a cultural/family issue because it's such a rude generalization, but that's what it seems like. The kids at M** grew up in China or were the first in their family to be born in America. I know that some of their parents are rarely there to take care of them because they work multiple odd jobs, or are still in Taiwan or China. The girls I tutor are probably 3rd or 4th generation Asian-Americans with very involved, stable parents and grandparents. At M**, either they were taught to only respect the elders in their family, or they were never taught respect at all. The reason I don't want to make that generalization is because I have plenty of friends who are first generation Asian-Americans and they are some of the most amazing people I've ever met, but I'm sure it's also because their parents were around to raise their kids properly. Some of the kids in my M** class have been sent to the principal at school for behavioral problems (like stealing from classmates) so maybe it's just not in their personality to be respectful towards others.

I am so tempted to quit right now, but there's a piece of me that wants to see these kids improve and learn to appreciate what I'm trying to teach them. I know the improvement isn't going to happen fast, but I also don't have that much time to wait and see since I'm going back to school in March (and quitting in March.) I just want to hurry up and get my masters, get a real job, and move out of my parents' house already. I feel like a 30-year-old stuck in a 20-something's body. I think these issues are what have been keeping me awake so late every night....

First post...

I've decided that Xanga reminds me too much of my past (not that it was bad, or anything) and that I needed a fresh start. If you don't know me that reasoning probably sounds like I just broke up with my boyfriend or something, but that's hardly the case. I guess Xanga was just too "Asian-teenybopper" for me? Here's my old blog if anyone cares: http://www.xanga.com/maaariko

Anyway, I hope that I can keep this thing interesting and informative, so bear with me if I jump from topic to topic (fashion, cooking, restaurants, work, love) in an effort to cover a lot of bases.

Tonight I was online shopping (more like browsing) and I discovered some really adorable new Marc by Marc Jacobs purses. The color that really drew me in was a light, sky blue one called "Denim." I am infatuated with purses, so most of my fashion posts will probably be about purses that I cannot afford. Since I tend to dress in very classic colors and styles, purses are the way I express myself. Sadly my meager income cannot fulfill this expression/obsession of mine. On to the purses....

1. The Marc by Marc Jacobs "Softy Jorie" in Denim ($368, eLuxury.com). I can never get enough of a beautiful sky blue color, and this is sky blue perfection. It kind of looks like a diaper bag due to the color and front pocket, but I think it's cute. Due to the "cuteness" I think it would only look good on a 20something, and thankfully I fit into that category.

2. This little cutie is called the "Softy Percy" ($158, shopbop.com) and I am in dire need of a long, cross-body bag. All of my purses at the moment are wristlets, or huge shoulder bags with a drop of a maximum 8 inches. I realized I had a need for a bag like this when I went mini-golfing with the BF. I didn't want a huge shoulder bag getting in the way, but my tiny wristlet got in the way anyway. With this, I could sling it around to rest on my back and have the freedom to swing away (and win!)

I am tempted to get the Softy Percy because shopbop.com has a 30% off code right now, but it's still about $110. For you fashionistas who love shopbop, the code is HOLIDAYLOVE (full-priced items only.) Enjoy! I think it ends on 12/17/08 (11:59 pm PST) so hurry up!

Tomorrow (12/16) is my day off so I'm heading to Old Town Pasadena in search of some cute clothes at Forever 21 and elsewhere. BevMo is also calling my name, especially with my upcoming trip to Vegas! Someone has to help the economy, right? ;-)