Inspired

Most girls my age loved Full House, but now that I'm older and the Olsen twins are older, I now love the style choices that the Olsen twins make. I was browsing the Forever 21 site and discovered this simple yet versatile dress. With some simple sandals and a bright cardigan, it could work for the daytime. For a night look, I would wear it with a slouchy 3/4 sleeve blazer (a la MK Olsen) and some hot studded heels. Time for a Forever 21 trip!

Much needed trip!

Rundown of what went on this weekend:

-road trip up the 101!
-Solvang is adorable.
-Andersen's pea soup: should NOT be world famous (and I like pea soup.)
-made my mark on bubble gum alley in SLO.
-little kids hated me at the stone slide in Berkeley haha.
-yummy burger and cupcakes.
-bikram yoga felt good and will change my life (if I find a cheap studio in the SGV.)
-Sushi House!
-it was COLD everywhere in nor cal. very little rain, though.
-Tommy's Joint had realllly yummy corned beef sandwiches.
-J-town was really nice, and we kind of helped a lost child find her mom. more like stayed with her so pedophiles didn't try and kidnap her.
-NEVER STAY AT THE INN AT THE OPERA NEAR THE CIVIC CENTER!!!
-met kacey's awesome friend KHENG!!
-delicious deep dish pizza at Zachary's in Berkeley.
-and to end my list, be very careful these next few days while driving! cops are in FULL FORCE from nor cal to SGV. we saw two on SG blvd. within a mile from each other, just waiting to catch people.
-oh, and guys are douchebags. especially ones who went to schurr high school.

SF!

I'm going to SF/Oakland from Saturday to Tuesday with some of my favorite friends! Even though it's supposed to rain, it should be fun. I'm excited to try Bikram Yoga with one of my girlfriends, but I'm scared I'm going to faint or be grossed out by other peoples' BO.

I need to finish packing since I've been delaying for a few hours :)

Hopefully I actually take pictures!

Fashion blogs.

I usually love fashion blogs for the inspiration, but women (or men) who comment on them tend to be sheep (or insert another good word for worshippers of bloggers.)

Also, bloggers who blog solely about fashion sometimes have their priorities mixed up (fashion/style before anything else, such as bankruptcy or pain.) It's embarrassing to read. Some people have qualms about paying $2 for an iPhone app and then buy $100 rings. Such a bad influence. I think I'm going to stop reading fashion blogs.

When a blogger considers hideous $100 rings affordable and awesome, I don't have respect for them anymore. Also, when that same blogger considers a $550 Tiffany ring something that doesn't break the bank, I realize how so many people go into debt. Another blogger who I actually respect never labels prices as 'affordable' unless it would be universally affordable. I think it's more respectful in this economic climate, especially when your readership is widespread.

/endrant

Turkey Bolognese

Adapted from several different recipes.

#1
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil.
4 tbsp. butter (salted or unsalted, depending on your preference.)
2 med. onions finely chopped (I use yellow.)
4 stalks celery finely chopped
3 carrots finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic chopped (I use 8...)

Heat the butter and olive oil together in a dutch oven or large pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high until the onions are soft and the veggies have sweated a little (10-15 minutes.)

#2: Add 1.25 lbs of ground turkey (I use lean, not extra lean) to the veggie mixture and brown completely.

#3: Once the turkey is browned, add 3/4 cup of milk and simmer until it's evaporated (15 minutes?)

#4: Add 3/4 cup dry white wine and simmer til it's evaporated (15 minutes.)

#5:
28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 TBSP of dried parsley flakes or a handful of fresh.
1 small package of basil leaves
4 tsp of salt (or more to taste)
4 tsp of pepper (or more to taste)
2 TBSP of Italian seasoning/herbs de provence (or more)

Add all of these ingredients to the pot and simmer slowly until sauce thickens (30 minutes-2 hours... whatever thickness you prefer.) Taste the sauce and add more of whichever seasoning you think it needs (usually salt or Italian seasoning.)

When you're ready to make pasta (20-30 minutes before sauce is thick) start boiling enough water for 1 lb. of pasta. I prefer Barilla's rotini pasta. Follow the package's directions, but since the bolognese is going to be hot, I usually undercook my pasta a tiny bit since the sauce will continue to cook the pasta for a little while. Once the pasta is drained, throw it into the sauce and take it off of the stove to cool. Yummy.

Boo Selection Sunday

I don't know how many of you follow division 1 college basketball, but Selection Sunday was this afternoon and things do not look very bright in UCLA's future. I know I should have faith in the team to succeed, but fuck! VCU is our first match-up in the East region of the bracket, and they beat a good Duke team a couple years ago by a very small margin. Sure, that was two years ago, but they frighten me. I also picked that VCU over Duke upset because I had no faith in Duke (as I usually don't) and I have a small amount of faith in UCLA. We also have possible match-ups with Texas (beat us this year) or Duke, Villanova, and Florida State, Oklahoma or Pitt. AHHHH!!

On to happier things, I spent the weekend with Darryl and some friends. Played lots of Clue and Five Crowns, watched Role Models, ate delicious home-cooked food, got cheap Golden Spoon "fro-yo," and had a good time.

I also didn't buy anything at Gap. I did try on a really comfy t-shirt and some cute shorts, but I decided that they weren't necessities. Most clothes aren't necessities, of course.

I feel like doing what one of my favorite bloggers does. She takes pictures of her daily outfits and posts them. I'm assuming it's mostly to inspire her readers, but I think it's just a fun view into what other people wear on a daily basis. Most of my daily outfits are not worth looking twice at, but it might be fun. I'm more into simple, comfortable clothes so if I start doing this, I don't expect to inspire any of you heh.

Uninspired..

Being on a shopping ban has left me with zero ideas for fashion blogs. Sigh... I've been good so far, staying away from clothes, but I may go shopping tomorrow since I have a 30% coupon for Gap.

Training for a 5k has been suspended due to heart issues. Normally I run a mile every other day, but when I wasn't feeling well, I took a week and a half break. The day I came back to running, I decided to run 1.5 miles (bad idea.) When I thought I had cooled down enough to start doing sit-ups, lunges, etc., I sat down and suddenly my heart started pounding out of my chest. I checked my pulse with my parents' blood pressure machine and it was at 173. In the past I had watched a show on FSN that said a pulse past 180 is deadly. Of course, I freak out, and now I'm taking it easy, only going a slow .75 miles every other day.

Due to my shopping ban, I stay away from the mall, which means I must stay away from the findings store at my nearby mall. I doubt they have really awesome materials anyway, but my jewelry-making hobby is going to be delayed a bit.

Food/cooking is the one place that I have not slacked off at, but I've stuck with my usual dishes: ground turkey bolognese, chicken/lemon/broccoli stir-fry, and tons of baked goods (blueberry muffins, cookies.)

If I have time tomorrow, I'll post up my turkey bolognese recipe :) It's healthy and delicious!!

Starting to love knock-offs...

Most of the time knock-offs bother me (I'm disgusted by fake LV, D&B, and Coach handbags,) but in the case of simple leather handbags, I welcome most as long as they're well-made.

I really liked the size and functionality of Linea Pelle's Dylan Zip Tote, but I could never get past the $595 price tag. I'm guessing that Sabina, a brand that seems exclusive to Urban Outfitters, noticed the popularity of the Dylan Tote with celebrities and decided to make a cheaper, just as cute version for $258.

Both come in black, but I really love purple. I'd say it's in my top 3 favorite colors :)

Which do you prefer?

Current goals:

1. Start making my own jewelry (necklaces and earrings.)
2. Buy a parking pass for school.
3. Buy books? I still have like 20 days to do this, and two professors haven't put their book list up.
4. "Train" for a 5k. I mostly just want to have the stamina to jog for 5k straight. I don't need to be under 25 minutes or something ridiculous.

Relatively easy goals, but the jewelry thing may be difficult. I have ideas for what I want, but we'll see if I can find cheap enough materials. If I make nice enough jewelry, I might be able to sell some for shopping money :)

Doctor's office and cooking!

My doctor said there's probably nothing wrong with me despite two swollen lymph nodes. At least I wasn't imagining the swollen things in my neck! I do feel better today, but we shall see how I feel later tonight. We'll also see how I am after my blood test results come back.

Since I feel fine, I'm currently making chicken pot pie. Well,.... I finished making the dough, but I haven't started the filling (the most important and delicious part of it!) I might document this with pictures, but I get so involved when I cook that I don't like breaking out of the zone to take pictures with my shitty camera.

On my wish list: a better camera!

Edit:

No pictures :(

But, the pot pie turned out delicious! I'm going to try making pastries more often now that I can easily make pastry dough.

One good thing about cold weather:

...Cute hoodies!

I should really stop online shopping, but it's so hard to! This Hartman Button-up Jacket by Mike & Chris is $211 (boohoo) so I cannot afford it. I'm sure I can find something equally as cute at Forever 21, but I truly hate shopping at F21. Their stores are always so ridiculously packed (if not with shoppers, then with too many racks of clothing,) that a relaxing shopping experience is impossible.

Health

I've decided that the lump in my neck was not an abscess. It disappeared after a couple of days and then another lump showed up on the other side of my neck. Now, my neck is sore and slightly swollen, so I'm thinking my lymph nodes are very busy fighting something inside of me. The weird thing is that I feel well for 90% of the day, and then for an hour or so (typically at night) I feel headachy and slightly flu-ish. That feeling passes, and then I sleep for 10 hours and wake up feeling fine.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow for a blood test (if he's not too busy for me.) I'm kind of scared because I know that I haven't been normal for at least 3 weeks... first I was nauseous every time I ate and I lost 3 lbs., then I felt relatively normal, and now this lymph node business happens.