I heart Shopbop!

One of my favorite online stores is having daily giveaways, and I won today! I'm super excited, and I think I'm going to get these three things when I get the gift card:



1. Madewell Rail Straight Jeans: I already have a pair of these from the actual Madewell store and I absolutely love them! They are so flattering and comfortable I could live in them all day. I was actually going to get another pair from Madewell today but I decided not to since I'm on a shopping ban haha. Good thing I waited!

I'm not sure about the earrings yet since I get such bad metal allergies, but I figure they're free...

2. Gorjana Orchid Gem Hoops: I've been looking for a gorgeous pair of simple turquoise earrings.

3. Kenneth Jay Lane Coral Chip Hoops: I've also been looking for a pair of coral hoops, but hoops tend to sit funny on my ears... I must have gotten my ears pierced in the wrong spots haha.

EDIT: So, after researching "gold-plated" jewelry, I decided that it was not worth my money to get those earrings. Apparently gold-plated jewelry has such a thin layer of gold on it that it wears off extremely fast. Like taking a shower once with gold-plated earrings on will probably cause the coating to come off. Also, daily wear and skin cells eat away at the plating. Not worth $50!

I decided to get the jeans and an awesome LeSportsac Large Weekender bag in zebra print haha. I've had my eye on a new travel bag for a while and figured that this was the right time to get one. I've been waiting to retire my old, red Nike duffel bag!

Souplantation's blueberry muffins!

I love Souplantation, and I especially love their blueberry muffins. I have a blueberry pound cake recipe that I've been using for muffins, but it really just doesn't cut it. I was Googling last night and found the (supposedly) exact recipe that Souplantation uses. The author said that you can even buy blueberry extract from Souplantation! Once I get my hands on some blueberry extract I'm gonna see how these come out...

Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins (Makes about 2 dozen muffin)

1/2 pound frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

DRY MIX

2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

WET MIX

1 and 2/3 cups buttermilk

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup cracked eggs

1 teaspoon blueberry extract

Combine the dry-mix ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Combine the wet mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat wet mix to dissolve the sugar (I think the eggs should be mixed with the sugar first so that the eggs get mixed in well.) Add the dry mix to the wet mix and combine thoroughly. Gently fold in blueberries.

Spray muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners. Scoop batter into muffin pans with a 2-ounce scoop. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

EDIT*** Apparently whoever originally posted this recipe put the wrong temperature. I think they meant 375, or maybe even 425. I realized that that is way too low of a temperature...

Busy bee

So much stuff has been going on lately! It's mostly fun stuff, though.

4th of July was quite some time ago but it was really good. Lots of good food, family, friends, and beautiful illegal fireworks. All of my favorite foods are served together one day a year (chicken katsu, somen salad, copious amount of desserts, bean dip, korean sushi, etc.), and I am looking forward to next year's 4th of July already!!

Darryl had his last weekend of real freedom for the next five weeks :( But at least we got to spend it finding out the conclusion to Harper's Island haha. I don't think anyone other than us watches that... Mmm and we had Souplantation and Fosselman's ice cream! I'm glad that Darryl and I both love food haha.

A few of us visited Hanna out in the desert! Loma Linda isn't that bad :) It's just super super hot! Be safe in the Galapagos Islands!

I also just got back (like an hour ago) from the AMAZING Incubus concert at the Hollywood Bowl. My camera sucks so I didn't take any pictures, but I recorded part of their encore on my phone. I also randomly had seats right in front of a friend from UCLA, and I saw a bunch of people I knew while in the concert or right outside of it. Brandon Boyd's voice is so amazing live. It might even be better than the CD.... so talented!

I know there is more that I am forgetting to post, but that's my fault for being so sporadic with my posting.

I can't believe Kacey's going to leave for Japan in less than 2 weeks!!! Must go to Porto's once before you leave!

Shopping ban FOR REAL

Okay, all my other shopping bans were simply put in place so that I stayed within a budget of $200 a month for shopping, food, and anything else I spend money on. NOW, this shopping ban is in place because I just dropped quite a bit of money on an iMac and an iPod touch. My last big purchase until I get my M.A. and a full-time job! Sigh, goodbye new clothes and other luxuries.

My bank account is crying as it hemorrhages money.... but I really need a reliable desktop! I would have bought this some day, but I figured it would have been a few years from now, not today. That iPod touch rebate really pulled me in.

Random thoughts

• Happy early birthdays to mis amigas Hanna y Allie! (25th and 30th, respectively.)

• I miss Darryl :( Saw him for one, maybe two hours out of the last 9 days.

• CSULA is shady and horribly run. Why can't the Cal States be run more efficiently and less biased??

• I want some delicious food!!! Cook's Tortas without red fries was not enough to satisfy my cravings. Excited for shabu^2 lunch tomorrow :)

• I haven't cooked very much lately. That needs to change. First on my list: chicken pot pie.

• Tempted to do the 30-day challenge at Bikram Yoga La Cañada starting on July 10. Must clean my body of its toxins!!

• I keep bruising my left leg... random. I only know where some came from, and no, I haven't been drunk lately.

• eBay has been quite good to me lately. I've listed three things in the past month and they've all sold at good prices! Now if only I could find the things I want at cheap prices, too...

• Driving up to NorCal soon. I'm excited! Maybe we can go wine tasting again. If only I could prevent myself from getting tipsy after one tasting...

• I got straight "A"s this past quarter! Now I finally get to have a 4.0 haha.