Starting from scratch.....

Have you heard of the saying, "I made it from scratch." Well, I made these from scratch. It's true, it does taste better when you make it from scratch. Yesterday was a day in the kitchen! I am kinda sore from today.

I wanted chessy corn muffins so I whipped up a batch, but from the Jiffy corn muffin mix. I added cheese to make it chessier, but the texture was too crummy. So I realize that if I want some delicious corn muffins, I am going to have to make it from scratch. That's the lesson here. But I must add, if you don't have the time, the box mix is a good substitute. These days, I have all the time in the world, so its no excuse for me.

Frank really likes apple pies so I decided to give it a try. I watch cooking/baking videos on youtube and that is where I get some recipes and techniques. We had some apples as well, so why not. I think it's also the season for apple picking.

The recipe I used for the crust is from Ina Garten. I also want to reference Laura in the Kitchen; I watched her video to get a visual of how the crust should look like. I wanted a flaky crust, so the secret is you have to work fast and keep everything cold. It is actually really fast and easy to make when you use a food processor. It is the clean up that takes longer. I would highly suggest making your own pie crust. This is how mine turned out.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out. With this recipe you have to refrigerate it for at least 30 mins before using it.

For the Apple Pie recipe, I used one from Eugenie Kitchen. I didn't use the lemon juice though because my apples did not need it. I used about 4 apples. The eggwash will give the pie a nice shine and I sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar to give it more taste and color. Skip the cinnamon if you don't like it. This is an exception for me, I am not usually a fan of cinnamon. It is actually pretty simple to make. I went with a lattice top because I though it looked pretty. See.

It just requires patience because you have to wait 2 hours to let it cool before you can eat it. Oh the torture! If you cut it to early the juices with run and you will have a soggy crust. Patience! Here's how it turned out.

I also made some Bulgogi because I was making some Chapchae. I've never made Bulgogi before, so I found this website and used it as a concrete to make my version of Bulgogi. Instead of ribeye, I used steak but cut it in strips.

Bulgogi Recipe:

1 steak cut in strips

⅓ cup of soy sauce

3 T sugar

1 T sesame oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ tsp of red pepper flakes

2 pinches of black pepper

¼ medium onion, halved and sliced into medium moon shaped slivers

3 green onions including the white parts, finely sliced into small pieces

1 T sesame seeds

Cooking time!

1. Combine and whisk soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic in a bowl. Once sugar dissolves, pour into steaks, add red and black pepper. Cover and let marinate for an hour in refrigerator.

2. Heat up wok (or pan) with oil on high. Add meat with marinade. Cook for 2 minutes then reduce to medium heat and add onions. Heat for another 2 mins until meat is cooked. Then top with sesame seed.

This is what the meat looks like once its marinated. It absorbs all the seasoning for a tasty piece of meat.

And here is the finished product.

Next time, I might blog about chapchae, until then.....

Macarons, First Attempt

I've never made macarons before. I was just a consumer. My friend, Kim, introduced me to these delights one summer in Sacramento. She took me to Ginger Elizabeth where you can have an Ice Cream Macarons sandwich. Since then, I have consumed all sorts and flavors. The best savory ones I have had were from a client. They were from the little door in Los Angeles. A couple nights ago I dreamt I made some savory macarons.

Anyways, yesterday I was on a quest to find some black sesame powder to make the macarons. Luckily, they had it by a local grocery store. Making macarons you have to be precise. I actually didn't have a scale to measure things out but the recipe I found online used typical measurements. After searching high and low for the right recipe, I decided to go with the one I found on Amy's Food Adventures. She owns a dessert place in Toronto. I found her blog quite helpful since I no longer had to do any measurement conversion. Most of the ones I watched on YouTube used gram measurements. I also found this video from yoyomax12 on YouTube very helpful getting the right technique down.

When making macarons you have to wait until the batter is completely dry before you bake it in the oven. It was very humid today so I had to wait an hour and 20 mins for my drying process before I could bake these little delights. This is what they look like as they are drying.

I baked them for about 18 mins at 300 degrees F. And they turned out like so.

You have to let it cool completely before you fill them. I used a black sesame buttercream filling. I used Amy's Vanilla Bean Recipe but omitted the vanilla bean paste and used 4 tsp of black sesame powder instead.

Overall, for my first attempt I am happy that I got that nice egg shell appearance, but the foot wasn't as solid so I will need to troubleshoot that in the future. I also thought it was little sweet and wanted more nutty-ness from the black sesame. Next time, I may add less icing sugar and more almond meal or black sesame powder. I would also use a different filling, not a buttercream, perhaps a ganache.

The final product: Black Sesame Macarons with Black Sesame Buttercream.

Next, I am going to try making earl grey macarons...maybe.

Homemade

Lately I have been experimenting with making ice cream. I attempted making Fresh Peach Ice Cream. When making ice cream there is a good amount of prep work like freezing your ice cream bowl and your mixture before you churn it. Those are key and will make for great consistency. I wasn't so patient when I made the Fresh Peach so the consistency wasn't was great. In part it is probably the recipe I used. But it turned out tasty. Here it is, Fresh Peach Ice Cream.

I have also been craving those baos, I made a veggie one inspired when I had a shiitake bun at momofuku in NYC. I deep fried shiitake mushrooms with beets and carrots and some garlic, made some special sauce and voila!

I was quite happy with how these turned out. I made them again the next day, but baked the ingredients instead of deep frying, I suppose it's healthier.

I made another attempt to make ice cream because I wanted to get the consistency down. So I decided to make Coffee Ice Cream. I was definitely much happier with how this turned out. I adapted the recipe from Laura in the Kitchen but opted to take out the Chocolate Chunk and pressed my coffee with a mixture of instant, so for a pure coffee flavor. Here's a picture of how that turned out.

Right now I am making Black Sesame Macarons and am waiting for them to dry so I can put them in the oven. It took an hour or so...geezzz!

Unsettled

Today was such a lazy tuesday. I didn't really do much, in fact I didn't leave the house all day. What a lazy day. I did however experiment with a new recipe. It is a remix on the burger. I had these beets that I wanted to use up and I really wanted to make it with some tofu....so the creation of a beet burger came about. I put tofu, beets, carrots, garlic and green onions in there. Added some salt, pepper, onion powder and red pepper. I baked it, but it still was pretty wet, so I think I should have added more flour to combine it better. Next time, I might add an egg to get it to combine better. I ended up pan frying it as well. Anyways, here are some pics from the REMIX.

This is what it looks like when I mixed up all the ingredients.

Formed them into patties.

Assembled with cheese, cilantro and jalapeno hummus, sauted with onions and mushrooms.

Peach Scones

I really was planning on making blueberry scones, but blueberries were expensive so I decided to make peach ones instead. These days I have more free time on my hands so this was today's project. Unfortunately, I was out of baking powder so I had to run out to the store and get some.
The secret to making scones crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside is to gently handle it and keep the butter cold. I kept it in the freezer already cubed up.

The peach scones turned out pretty well, they had a nice brown bottom and the inside was moist and soft. I am not a big fan of hard scones. Below is the recipe that I used. Enjoy!

Peach Scones Print
Yields 8 scones

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp unsalted buter, cold, cut in small chunks
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup peaches, cut into cubes

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Sift dry ingredients for the scones: flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a fork or a pastry blender cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour mixture. You can also use just your fingertips if you have neither or those. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
3. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk. Fold everything together just to incorporate. Do not overwork the dough unless you want tough scones. Gently fold in the peaches.
4. Generously flour your work surface and your hands and turn the dough out. If you are not using a scone pan, shape the dough into a rectangle about 12" x 3", about 1 ¼" thick. Cut the rectangle into 4 (3") squares. Then cut each square on the diagonal to make 8 triangles. Place the scones on a silicone mat. Brush the tops with a little milk.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Goals

Thinking about Goals. I have been watching a lot of You Tube videos. Perhaps I will make something and blog about it. Well, I do make stuff but I should implement the blogging part perhaps.....

updates

It's wednesday......debating on what I should tackle today. I have all these media files that need to be sorted.....perhaps I will look into that. Also looking at employment options. On the side, I am taking care of house stuff. I put up curtains in the dining area and was able to recycle the pomps from my wedding. I would share that picture but it is a little dark.

I am also thinking about starting another blog. But then that would be too many blogs to maintain. Perhaps, I will just integrate it in here as well. I think that is a great idea.

Frank really wanted broccoli soup. It is super easy to make. All you need in a good size pan. through the broccoli in there with some water. I added leeks too. The just boil it until soft. Then use an immersion blender, or blender to puree it down. And season to taste. I put some shredded mozzarella for garnish and all done.

Here's a pic of that. We had it with salmon and toasted bread.

Moving

One more month until the big move occurs. I am still sad that I have to move. Especially since we just landscape the backyard. Today, I had renters come in and take a look at the house. It's definitely stressful moving and trying to rent out our home. I am sad that I have to leave everything. I resigned from my job and have to take a licensure test. BOO!

I hope we find good tenants and the move goes smoothly.

Up to date

It's been a while since I've cracked my books from my hygiene schools days. Next week, I am taking the written anesthesia for the WREB and the following week, the process of care. So I am brushing up on some didactic information. This is one of those perfect weekends to watch a movie on the couch. But alas, it is sacrifice for studying. I also have wednesday off so I can review then. But today, I am going to try and finish reading the textbook, a couple for chapters to go. Not bad. Just taking this time to take a break.

I had an eventful weekend nonetheless. We celebrated Benedict and Sophia. Benedict is a doctor now and sophia is an attorney. Those two little ones really made something of themselves. I am very proud of their accomplishments! Makes me think that I should achieve more in my life.

Co-dependency

Co-dependency is an interesting concept. People depend on people constantly, which is great. But Independency is the foundation on which co-dependency can coexist with. You have to be independent and happy individually to be able to be able to coexist in a co-dependent relationship. Before MOST people get married, they want to experience life individually. Once they are happy being alone, that is when they are ready to completeness. How ironic is that, yet it totally makes sense. Does it to you or is this just mum-bo-jumbo?

It's about 2 right now and I really should be getting ready for Frank's graduation, but he isn't home yet so I figure I might as well blog. I am also on hold to make changes to reservation for my brother's grad dinner next week in NYC. Serious how does this place stay in business, I have been on hold for 20 mins now. CRAY CRAY!

Last Sunday, I made waffles. Inspiration: Just cause. I have a sure fire recipe that gives you a light crispy waffle. The secret is you gotta sure buttermilk, cornstarch and vegetable oil. Read about it more here from Pamela Andersen

I also experimented with a baked trout recipe because I got these from my mom. Thomas and Sophia go fishing and cause these so I wanted to bake them, it smells less fishy that way. They turned out pretty well.

Last night I roasted these babies. I really like Kabocha and this is a great way to have them. They are just so hard to cut.

Now I just got off the phone as I waited on hold for 30 mins. This is my review about the Loeb Boathouse Central Park.

This place needs to rethink there reservation service. I called well in advance to make a reservation for my Brother's Grad for 7 people. If you have +6 or something you have to call and can't make a reservation online. Really, I just cancelled my reservation because I wanted to change it at a later time. I wanted on hold for 31 mins to find out that the reservation I made was changed for another time with no one calling to tell me about it. HELLO, I live in California and to find out that my reservation got moved when I got there would not be welcoming. Management, hire more phone service people. I should have hung up earlier, but I am glad to find out your poor management skills well in advance before spending money at your establishment. Highly disappointed that no one called to tell me that you can change my reservation without notifying the customer. Would rate this place zero!!!

Suspense

Sitting here waiting to get my trim. Debating on whether I should get some type of bangs or not. My eyes slowly start to get irritate and watery. Me thinks its from the hair dye chemicals.

Still undecided about what do to. And now distracted of a waiting package on my door step. Now I am in a rush to get home, but still need to run some errands before heading back home.

Monday

I am incredibly tired today. As I write this blog, I am on the stationary bike at the gym. I have less than 2 minutes left. I am so tired that I got a green tea latte for lunch. But I was still dead tired. Caffeine does nothing for me. There is one thing that does wake me up. That is watching korean dramas. But I can't do that when I am working or driving. I am still pretty tired. I don't particularly know why.

I am going to buy some apples and see if that helps my drive this week. This commute is definitely a challenge. Driving + 90 miles a day is no bueno. Fortunately traffic wasn't too bad coming home today. Let's hope for the same tomorrow.

Blah Blah Blah

Tuesday afternoon...feeling quite blah. Work went by quickly today. All my patients were running late today, so I ended up running late as well. Mucho exhausting day. Decompressed with some almond and red bean jelly. Now I am dreading gathering all the paper work to refinance. Gosh, being an adult is so taxing, literally.

I really just want to relax and do absolutely nothing. Well, maybe watch some DVR stuff. Alas, I even have to work tomorrow. I sound like a complainer and whiner. The upside is....my last wednesday to work. I really bring it upon myself, working various wednesday. But I am scaling back.

The weather has been really nice here. Sunny and calm.

Shower time so I can sit on the couch. I am all perio-ODD out!

Sunday

I find myself spending Sundays in the kitchen. On Friday, Frank bought me a baguette from Surfas. I in turn decide to make Stuffed Mascarpone French Toast. A while ago, I had something similar at Starling Diner in Long Beach. This is my version of that. It came out pretty well. I am glad Frank liked it. Overall, it was a successful attempt.

After a little nap, I made these Devil's Cupcakes with Mocha Frostings. I made them for Diana, hopefully she enjoys them.

Right now, I am enjoying some Coldplay via Pandora and waiting for my Roast Chicken, it's sizzling in the oven. I'll post pictures of that later.
It's later. Here's the Roasted Chicken!

 

Some veggies that we grew from our garden, the swiss chard. With some kind oyster mushrooms and carrots.

 

Veggies from the Chicken Drippings, nice and caramelized goodness!

 

Dinner is served!

 

Peeved!!!

Last Wednesday, my parked car got hit in the parking lot that I have been parking at for the past 5 years. Bear in my mind I park at this space or the one next to it. It's a given. Anyways, as I was heading to my car to head home, I see this huge dent in my rear left bumper. Seriously, it's an eye sore. I am super peeved because there are two valets working at this time and they both claim that they did not see anything. There are totally lying! Th first picture depicts the point of view of where the valet is stationed at. A clear sight of my car with the dent on the rear left bumper. As you can see. Now This is the dent up close and person. What really grinds my gears is that the valet claim they saw nothing. When in fact, you can clearly see that one would have heard something with a crash like this. So that is why I believe those two valets are hiding something. They are clearly lying because if they saw someone else do it, they are suppose to write it up. Also, when I questioned both valets, one said that they didn't see anything and even ventured to say are you sure that happened here. Lady, you've been out here 6 hours and you mean to tell me that you didn't see anything and not notice that my car never had a dent. I have witnesses that say my car without this dent. The other valet, just ignored me and was trying to run away, clear sign of guilt. I later found out that they are suppose to write up a claim for the damages, but I was clearly being brushed off. I filed a claim today and I hope it rules in my favor. I am not brushing this off because its about the principle. And in the future, if this happens to someone else in the building they will not be brushed off. Justice must be paid!

The bug caught me!

Coming into work today was not a great idea. First patient in and I've got a cough attack plus runny nose. Fortunately, I have one more and tomorrow I can rest, the day after I have off as well. Perhaps, I will be back up and running by Thursday. I do feel a fever coming on. Thankfully it is almost quitting time.

Testing Instagram

Tax time

It's that time of year, we spring forward and get our taxes done. I am here waiting, it's been 30 mins pass since my appointment. I notice I do not like to wait especially when I made an appointment. Especially because I have other appointments after this. I am all about being efficient and terribly look down when things are as they should be.

On another note I am pretty flexible. If one worked for me I would have very high expectations. But I also learnt not to expect so much because you set yourself up for disappointment.

Boy, life is a contradiction. I heard something on the radio yesterday and how when you serve people you focus less on yourself. That must be what it like to have kids and such.

Perhaps, I should do that, not the having kids part. But serving more...

OMG! I am so beyond sore! I went to yoga yesterday. I hadn't been for months and taking a Level 2 class might not have been the best idea. But it felt so good to get back into it. Aside from being sore, I had a good second half of the day. My sister and I went to Queen's Bakery for afternoon tea.

The tea selection is minimal and the tea sandwiches are nothing to rave about. The only sandwich worth speaking of is the nutella almond. It's really hard to go wrong with nutella. Overall, it was nice to spend time with my sister. Afterwards, I gave her a trim. And just hung around.

My weekend

I had a pretty productive weekend. I made fresh pasta for the first time. It was pretty fun and wow, it makes a difference. If you have the time, totally try it.

We also finished cleaning up the windows in out patio. Makes so much of a difference. I took this picture to show our hard work. Next step scrapping the ceiling... I can feel the soreness already!

I have to chose 3 brands/logos that I like. Upon my search, I came across this and thought it was pretty cool. It is interesting to see what big fish and what little fishes are a part of it. You can call it a manufacturing family tree.

Random pic

Right before bed, I wanted to blog. It's quite late and I really should have slept an hour a go. But a quick now before bedtime. I wanted to post a random picture and just talk about it. It's mobile art. Frank bought these for me right before christmas. What a sweetie. They were pretty white tulips. I love white flowers because they symbolize something pure and clean and fresh. I like yellow flowers too because they are like the sunshine. I meant to blog about something more meaningful today but as the day went by the thought passed away. Perhaps tomorrow?

Valentine's Day Traffic

I can't believe how incredibly jammed the roads are. My journey home today took me an all time long journey of 3 hours. Seriously! This is way too much! Perhaps a half day on Thursday is the solution or never working on v-day.

The highlight of the day was a home cooked meal by Chef Dinh! Thanks for gracing us with your culinary delights Dinh!

Now, for lent this year I decided to blog more and get back to yelping. It's been a while since I've yelp and I heard a calling.

Till next time!

The beginning!

It's been ages since I posted on here. It is that time again. Look forward to it, more to post later.

Not amused

Regularly I sleep like a rock, but I was woken up and it was hard to fall back asleep.

Roar!

Annoying

Just asking to see where my patient is, it's 2:03 missy not 2, plus the dude is late none the less. Not annoyed at the patient but the person that booked it. What's up with the attitude. I was just curious, since most these patients come in 25 mind late. Come on now. So don't be pissy with me for wondering if they are going to be late.

Late again

9 am appt and it's 20 minutes after. Another late patient. These people need to get a watch. Seriously, let's be realistic and respect other people's time.

Darwinism

It's all about survival of the fittest! The weak will get eaten alive and the strong will prevail!

It bothers me when people are weak. If you don't believe in yourself then you are weak. You have to be confident and have swag.

Just because someone is old doesn't mean they are incapable. No one wants to be dependent on anyone and when you treat them that way because of their age then you are doing them no favor.

If you admit to ageism then you have given up.

Disclaimer: one should also accept their limits but not bound themselves to it.

Accomplish!

This weekend I felt very accomplished! Even though I already forgot what I did yesterday, I feel like I got a lot dunzo! Home inspection check. Decided in a loan. Did some errands. Did bikram. Started my registry. Did the details for my wedding. Even though, I still have a lot to do, I feel settle because I got a lot of my planning done! Yeah me! And Frank! He was such a trooper today!

Horns!

I am a courteous drive. But when u don't make time to be in the right lane and honk, then child you've push the wrong button!

Save you money. I was expecting a package today from USPS. Express mail with guaranteed delivery by noon today. The parcel person instead left me a sorry we missed you slip. HELLO!!!! Where's my packaged that was guaranteed to be delivered to me TODAY? So I went to the post office to attempt to claim my hostage parcel. Alas, it was not there and a waste of my time. The Postal Service needs a parcel person so us picker uppers need not wait. Also, annoyed that the postal person did not leave me my guaranteed package. What the heck. Long story short, save your money. No use getting the express since i didn't get my guaranteed delivery.

It's Christmas Eve!!! It's also my fiancé's birthday! I've got a number of things to do today. However, I am feeling a nap. I still need to somehow manage to get a birthday card. It's on my to do list today. I am always in transit so its hard to get things done. Next year, I will feel much more settle because I will have everything in one place and not have 2 sets of everything. CONSOLIDATE will be a resolution for next year.

It is so hard to type because I've got a band aid on my index and middle finger. Clumsy me. I stabbed myself with a High Speed Suction. OUCH!! I totally went through a couple layers of epidermis. Also a sign that I need to take a vacation. Fortunately, I get a whole week and some off. YAHH!!!

I went kinda crazy on the wrapping this year. But can't wait to get some new wrapping paper for next Christmas and even some ornaments for my First Christmas Tree.

Skinny jeans

The skinny jeans are out!

Holidays are here!

The best thing about working in a dental office is all the delicious goodies we get! We score mini Bundt cakes and a sweet basket of cookies and brownies! Delicious!!!

Headache

My head hurts! When you have an appointment at 1, don't show up at 1:20. Your appointment was at 1, I think that's pretty straight forward. If you are going to be late, then call and reschedule. This is not acceptable.

Hump day

Working five days a week is tiring. My eyes hurt. It's the holidays. Too many things to do and not enough time to do it in :(

Sunday was a super busy day. It was a day of shows and errands. This was a really nice picker upper from lette. I was on my way to J.Crew and stumbled across this. Raeceen was just telling me about it, but I wasn't aware they had one in Pasadena. It's about $1.70 for one macaroon. It was pretty good, nice and chewy. I still have 3 left. Then I will yelp about it. :P

It's about 20 mins to 9 and I am listening to One Republic as I am digesting my happy hour meal from yardhouse. To work out or not to work out that is the question that lies before me. I am leaning towards doing a quick p90x core workout. Which I most likely will attempt. But still letting my food digest.

Today, I realized that I have about 6 months left. I didn't really how fast time is flying by. I better get back into planning mode. The roadblock has really halted my planning, but I hope to get over these bumps in the next two weeks. (crossing fingers)

Tomorrow, I have a really super long exhausting day. These events do not make me happy. I drive enough as it is.

Venting time...... lately I have had some anxiety.....I know exactly what causes my anxiety and thinking about it really upsets me actually. I often wonder what it is about being maternal that makes kids crazy. Possibly rooted in upbringing. I get a lot of advice from people these day adding their 2 cents. About how to raise my future children. About how to raise a family. About marriage, etc. I appreciate these comments and totally understand where they are coming from, but can't help but observe the faults.

Here's my 2 cents. People are all different and couples have individual dynamics. Prayer is an awesome thing and having belief is great. But one NEEDS to find the their own enlightenment to truly understand the present of GOD; only then will one be a true believer. Until then, one should be patient until that time has come.

Today, I got a chance to finally check out Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. When I used to work out in LCF, a lot of my patients would tell me about this place and how beautiful it was. It is really quite nice. Especially in the Spring when the flowers are in bloom. But it was just as beautiful on this crisp November day. My cousin was visiting and I thought this would be a nice place to take her. I got to explore the grounds and get some nice shots in too.

These are some of my favorites:

It's been a while since I've updated. I been pretty exhausted of recent. On top of my forever long commute to and from work, I've had to take care of my mom. Man, definitely way too early to be taking up this responsibility. Anyways, we do what we gotta do right. Not too long ago, I was think kids in the mix isn't a bad idea. But now, waiting a good 2+ years sounds about right. I know I ain't getting any younger, but I am going to enjoy the little freedom that I have left and stretch it out as long as I can.

I'm psyche for my upcoming vacation of rest and relaxation. I'm all booked to so it's just planning what I want to do from here. Which should be too bad. Hopefully that is. Last weekend was nice cause I got to spend the weekend with the girls. We had Tea Sandwiches and more. This past weekend was also a treat. We did a wine tour with an unfiltered barrel tasting at Agua Dulce Winery. It was quite enjoyable. There was this goat that was friendly but so FRESH, I say. And of course, nothing to end our tour but so show off our kung fu moves. Not sure which move Frank is sporting but some high double kick, eh?

Man I was really pushing it, running on E. When I got to the gas station I filled up 15.663 gallons. That does to show I was coming close to pushing it. I am glad I made it to the gas station. I am glad that I have a big tank. Also didn't break 60, so I was happy about that. I prefer to fill up at the warehouses, primarily Costco. So I try to plan my trips according. I drive so freaking much that it is REALLY wearing on me. So glad to be chilling this weekend in Vegas. Kinda wish my weekend started now, but in a way I checked out already. But 6 more to go and I am free. I am all packed which is the super great thing and my stuff is already in Vegas. I pretty just have to hop on a plane, no check-ins. Woo hoo!


Before meeting up with my friend, Raeceen, I used up my groupon at Violet's cakes. I bought this because Martha Stewart raved about these cupcakes. When I first walked in, I was kinda surprise. It wasn't your typical white chick running the joint. I was pleasantly surprised. Because at first glance the cupcakes and place doesn't look polished. BUT OMG, the cupcakes were unbelievably MOIST. I love moist cupcakes with texture. The icing looks like it holds up. Possibly the best red velvet cupcake thus far. The brownie bomb was a little sweet and I would pass on the blueberry cream cheese next time. Go for the red velvet. I might check out the carrot in the future.


Raeceen introduced me to Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé. It's quite delish, the Chocolate has a nice crispy brownie edge. We indulged ourselves on the Aloha Hour $5 Menu. We pretty much order everything on the menu. The sliders are so delicious. I love the pretzel bread on that. It's so nice to have someone local to hang out with and catch a happy hour after work.

This is the one consistent thing I get at Starbuck's. Usually hot, but it was a hot day, so it was refreshing to get it iced. I am posting this pic because I met a DJ at Starbuck's this past weekend. He said something very interesting to me that did not make sense. He likes meeting there to support the mom and pop shops. BUT Starbuck's is not that kind of place. It is one of the biggest franchises that people are addicted to and cost a million bucks to start up. So his comment did not make any sense at all. That automatically reduces his discretion judgement in my opinion. Just pointing that out.

2 more days until a little getaway. Too bad I have to work in Friday. Would be nice to get an early start on the weekend. But that's okay, I get to met up with my BFF and grab lunch! Porto's too, it's going to be delicious. They have yummy sandwiches there. Two of my favs are the Steak Torta and the Bistec. And I love them pastries.

On my way home from work today, I noticed how the sky has these white luscious clouds. I love clouds like there. It's so whimsical and dreamy, like you're a care bear without a care in the world. The sky was so blue today and the white clouds really stood out. Such a pretty afternoon. But too warm here in the valley. It's definitely a summer this time around.

I like driving in Downtown and seeing the sky line. I trying to obtain some roof access to these buildings, but that is so hard to come by. Even the corporate tycoons I know give me the run around. Just kidding. I'll just to the the penthouse at the Ritz. I am pretty sure I'll get some sort of view from there.

Haven't baked much of late. Way too hot to cook anything in my house. Maybe when it gets cooler.

Today is my Bro's Birthday....Shout out to Benedict! Hope you are staying fresh in the eastern humidity. Interestingly, my mom offered a mass for my brother in honor of his Birthday. It was a Spanish mass though. I actually was doing well in the first half and understood what was going on. Until the middle portion where I really start to stray away and wonder in thought. I will talk about that next. But we also went out to eat afterwards and had noodles because that is how birthdays are celebrated in my family.

Now back to the attention at church. It was such a long service. I ofter wonder why I go to church. It is because of my mom really. And it was really hot in my house. I should really go more consistently. But I don't pay attention, so I think what is the use. To sit there and not pay attention. Once again, I am conflicted. But this week, I am going to try and call this priest man. Not necessarily for that reason though. Other marital matters.

It's my bed time. I really should get ready for bed. But I wanted to blog a bit and post a picture. I know two blogs in one huh. WOW huh.

Shaved snow is the new shaved ice. It is so much better and smoother. I love it. This particular place is so close to my house. It is pretty good and these toppings are well thought out and balanced. I like the little scoops of green tea ice cream. The red bean is good and I can actually eat the mochi on this one. The boba are also a nice compliment with the matcha. It's been a while since I had 302. I'll stick with this place, it's much closer to my house and great for sharing.

It has been a long time since I've visited the Getty Center. My cousin-in-law from Bethesda, Maryland was visiting. He wanted to check out the architecture of the place. I love the views you get from you, it's literally like a 360 view of the surrounding areas. I enjoy coming here. A place to walk around and check out the art. And a lovely garden. The picture to the left is absolutely hilarious. It's comically and a sigh of hilariousness and being carefree. I love it!

Later on, we went to the Kodak Theatre to watch the Iris Cirque du Soleil. Before that, I just had to fill my cupcake craving. And what better place than at Crumbs Bake Shop. I swear these cupcakes got bigger. I love it! It was really moist and the frosting was good. I love the vanilla sprinkles and the crumb frosting. Check out all the other choices to choose from.

Iris just opened this week and I really enjoyed the show. It captivated my attention through the show. I believe the premise is to show the art of cinema. My favorite are the art acrobats. They were funny and really entertaining. The Noir portion looked flawless too making it look so easy to jump of a trampoline. Overall, I was entertained so I would recommend this. It is 2ND to KA still in my opinion.

Gosh! It has been really so long since I posted. I don't really know where to begin. I suppose I am feeling overwhelmed these days too. There is a plethora of information out there. Too much to keep up with.

Anyways, why am I blogging today. I guess to release some of the mum-bo-jumbo that is rumbling around my brain. I love listening to Pandora. It is one of the greatest inventions out there. Of couse, I would prefer it commercial free, but we can't have everything we want, right? or Can we?

Among the many media oriented database, Google+ has been creating a buzz, of late. It is overwhelming to keep up with all this. I pretty much deleted all the rest of my other ones and decided to stick to just one. Now with this new hype...it might be too much to keep up with. We shall see, it looks more interactive.

These days I've just been working. Definitely spending too much in traffic though. LA is very unforgiving in that aspect. I spend half of my time in LA and the other half in the OC. I like being based in LA because it is closer to work, but I like living in the OC.

I put a bid down on a house a while back ago. It is taking so long; I think I am going to withdraw my ofter, but I also might just look at house with another agent. That is the problem with redfin. Once you have an offer down, it is not as easy to tour houses. Anyways, I talked to my agent today and it highly unlikely that we are going to get the place.

Last week, I was sick. I apparently had walking pneumonia. That is definitely not a good thing for me because that means I am more susceptible of getting it again especially in my line of work. It's funny, I always used the HVE to try and prevent getting pneumonia, but I guess it couldn't be helped. I haven't been sick for so long, in my 3 years of working as an RDH. I guess it was bound to happen. It wasn't funny coughing my lungs off last week. I am glad to be a lot better now and being back at work. It is no fun being sick at home. I tried to sleep and was just tired. Tomorrow, back to my gym routine. Still coughing some, but definitely a lot more functional.

The weddings of 2011 begin. My boyfriend and I were in the Bay Area last weekend for a wedding. It was so nice being up north. The area is crisp and clean and it is so green up there. I think its just nice to be away every once a while. It was pleasant to explore the town of Pleasanton and explore San Francisco. I look forward to my next trip to the bay.

I finally updated my yelp and am blogging now. It's so hard to keep up with all these sites sometimes. Too many things going on that it is nice to just check in once a while. I slept nearly 12 hours, slept at 10 and rose a little before 10. I been in my house the whole day, I should really get some fresh air, but I am enjoying sitting on my couch watching tv and surfing the web.

Next on my to do list is plan my Fiji trip. Hopefully I can get something finalized by tomorrow.

I really should be sleeping now. In fact, that is something on my to do list: sleep earlier. I been sleeping much later than usual. So I shall make this short and sweet. I just updated my links sections. I really want to blog more, but facebook is really consuming my time. I will have to readjust that soon. Perhaps, I will deactivate it again. Hmmm.... just a thought.... we'll see.

Anyways, I said I would make this short. I have two more days (wednesdays) that is left in LCF. Then it is off to a new journey in NB. That is exciting!