2011 Resolutions

I don't usually make resolutions, but I had a bunch of things in my mind that I had to list down. 

1. Yoga - I started to do yoga a couple of months ago.  I had no reason not to, the studio around the corner finally opened and I was battling tendinitis. And I need an excuse to let go when I'm not on my skinny-jeans diet.  
2. Crafts - I seem to really only craft out of necessity.  I haven't done much since the wedding, but with my new free time, I'm hoping I can squeeze something in there.
3. MPA - This is my last year. In the next 7 months, I have to crank out a thesis, take two more classes, attend an integrative seminar, and I'm done.  I just need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
4. Style - This is rather vain, but I figure with a new job and all these other grown up things, why not?  I'm just trying out new things to soothe out the clothing envy that I have.  So people don't think I only own tshirts and jeans.  I also want to try thrifting a bit.  All those fashion bloggers out there seem to find new clothes for really cheap at Goodwill.
5. Finance - While my new job does pay more by the hour, it is still a part-time position which slightly lowers our overall income.  On top of that, buying a house has really stressed me out.  I'm hoping by learning and developing better spending habits, we will be better prepared for our next one.
6. Camera - R bought this 2 years ago and barely uses it. I'm determined to learn how to use it.  I need some nicer looking pics on this blog.

Nail Polish!

I love OPI nail polish colors and I usually get really excited when they release new collections.  However, they don't come cheap. I lust after them for a while, but I'm usually able to retrain myself.  I finally gave in. I bought the Ulta exclusive OPI Holi-daze minis set.

(L-R - Plum full of cheer, All the berry best, and Gift of gold)

My favorite nail polish colors usually range from pinks to plum colors and I have a really big weak spot for dark plum colors.  I bought this set a month ago because I'm not going to lie, I wanted Teasey Does It!  I was a little hesitant to use it because I wasn't sure I could pull off such glimmery colors.  Except for the occasional french manicures, I'm really iffy about painting my fingernails because I can't ever get them smooth like the pros do.  And chipped nail polish drives me nuts. Point is, I haven't used colored nail polish on my fingers in maybe 10 years.

Free time makes me do crazy things. This is what I did this week:

It's weird how many people compliment or even notice your nail color. Verdict? I actually like it.

We're in escrow

According to Wikipedia, "an escrow payment is the common term referring to the portion of a mortgage payment that is designated to pay for real property taxes and hazard insurance."

That's why I'm exhausted and tired.

Weekday Grub: Honey-glazed Wheat Dinner Rolls

I forgot to take a picture of them when the dish was full.  My sister and friend J ate more than one each, which means success, right?

New Things

My first week at the new job is over.  And I'm really sick.  I put in a total of 16 hours this week, but getting paid for 20. Awesome.

The new job...is alright, I'm not quite sure I know what I'm doing yet.   My new office is incredibly isolating.  The digs are older than what I expected, but totally nonprofit..

New Year's Eve is coming up.  Which means it's time for our annual NYE dinner at some fansay schmansay restaurant!  Here's my outfit.  I gained some weight, didn't shave my legs, the mirror's dirty, flash is crazy, etc...be nice.

I wore the dress to a wedding last year.  It was one of those last-minute Forever 21 clearance rack purchases.  I guess I can't complain much about a $6 dress.  My sister convinced me to buy these stripper heels, like 4-inch + 1/2-inch platform heels.  I haven't worn heels since my wedding, like 11 months ago. I think I'm going to have to retrain myself.  I don't know if I'll survive.

It's one of those deep posts. Sorry.

Yesterday was my last day of work. It was almost bittersweet.  I told everyone who cared to ask that I was excited for the new job.  I lied through my teeth.

I'm not as excited as I should be for a new job.  It isn't the best time for me to move to another job as we're knee-deep in looking at houses and considering putting down offers.  It especially doesn't help that I'm moving to a part-time adventure.  Oh, and I only have 7 months of school and a thesis left.

I'm mostly sad.  I had wonderful co-workers. I loved my commute down the hill.  I loved the flexibility.  Two people made my work life hell this year. Enough for me to leave.  Half of the office knows why I chose to leave. More than half have the same issues with the two.  I'm really sad that even at my last day, I couldn't expressed the pent up frustration.  I was disappointed that I couldn't stand up for my fellow coworkers.  I feel like I just walked away.

R picked me up from work last night and said all the right things on the way home.  I don't think it hit me until I got home that I left my first real job.  It was only 2.5 years, but a lot of life happened during that time.

After the initial shock, a day later, I'm just complacent.  I'm not sure what the new job will bring, but I'm not nervous about it either.

Shoe Umbrellas

Shoe umbrellas from Target.  As a boot lover and someone not fond of wet shoes, I'm not sure what I think about them utility-wise.  But hot damn! $45 for these ugly looking bags? Seriously?

I've been eating Skittles too.

I really did eat Skittles this week, I just didn't take pictures. 

I'm wrapping up things at work this week, so I haven't really made any effort to be creative or anything.  I've been thinking about little tweaks to our apartment here and there and the multitude of projects I'm planning to take on. Yeah, just thinking about it. Suzie, homemaker, watch yo' back!

My parents took my camera on vacation with them, so I only have cell phone pics. Sad face. Here's the deliciousness that I created and consumed this week.

Reindeer root beer. I made R wait in the long line at Michael's for pipe cleaners and googly eyes.

Pumpkin Pocky! I didn't really taste the pumpkin, but not bad.

 

We tried milk coffee Pocky too. It's not bad, a little sweeter than I expected.  I didn't take a picture, here's one from the internet.

Dark chocolate Minty Mallows are awesome. I didn't take pictures again, so here's one from the internet.  I ate them all in one sitting. My waist hates me now.

Looks like I'm gonna have some time on my hands...

I got the job. Oh boy.  It looks like I'm starting the new one right after this one, which I'm kind of bummed about because I really wanted a vacation. Darn.

I bought these boots during my Black Friday fury.  They're not the best pair of boots ever, but my calves fit!

Leatherette Flat Boots

Sometimes I really wish we had a bigger bathroom.  Ikea has a new line of bathroom pretties called Yngaren that I want but can't fit into our little bathroom.

And I made vanilla ice cream. With Toblorone bits.

Tryptophan Rant

Turkey weekend is finally over.  I'm still on my skinny jeans diet, so I didn't get eat all that I could have. Darn.  One thing I hate about being married is that we have to split holidays with each others families.  Thanksgiving go to R's family, while I get Christmas.

For turkey, we head to R's aunt and uncle.  My Christmas dinners are spent with my best friend's family.  I've been really miserable at the past 2 Thanksgiving dinners. I miss my side.

In a way, I still don't feel like I belong in R's family.  I generally exchange pleasantries, eat, then watch everyone play mahjong. They remain shocked that I don't know how to play or have any inclination to learn.

Because I'm pretty sure they don't read my blog, the food isn't all that great.

Blueberry KitKats and other good stuff

Blueberry KitKat - My coworker got this for me. It was pretty good.

Coconut Mousse with Dark chocolate cake from my (kind of) favorite Cocola Bakery.

My mom bought me this little clay pot from Daiso.  So I did what all the other Chinese people do; I made clay pot rice. My husband was surprised.

Is this dancing juice?

Like the title?  I'm hooked on "Marry You," the Bruno Mars song.

I'm feeling a little lost with this little blog of mine.  When I started this, I wanted a place to put random musings, inspirations, completed projects, and most importantly, some personal thoughts.  While I've touched upon most of these, I feel really hesitant to put the personal out there because I don't want to sound emo.  To make up for that end, I feel like I've turned this space into a repository of things I want.

My not-really-SIL (BIL's gf) said something and struck a nerve the other day about materialistic people.  I'm starting to feel a little bad because it seems that's what I post about. I don't have a very nice relationship with my not-really-SIL, but I'm not going to discuss it yet.  The important take-away point is that I'm feel like I'm not putting worthy thoughts out there (in blog land and real life), which I think is making some people (haters, like my not-really-SIL) think lowly of me.  By the way, I can totally kick her ass in the substantive-thinking part, I tell my husband that all the time.  All those jabs she takes at me, I throw them back at her, she just doesn't realize them until later.

Anyway, that's my early new year's resolution - to put those important thoughts out there because I don't want to look dumb. That looks so bad typed out.

Covet: Crewcuts!

It seems like all these blogs that I followed when I was planning my wedding are turning into baby blogs.  I'm a little jealous. A little.

I love me some flats and these make wish I had smaller feet.  Oh so pretty!  JCrew, you suck for mocking me.

Now we wait

I went for a second interview today and I guess I just have to wait.   I've been feeling uneasy this entire week, I wasn't nervous about the interview itself, I'm more worried about the aftermath.  Urgh.

I have class tomorrow and I've taken on the responsibility of putting together my group's paper, but I just can't seem to concentrate.  So here's a brain dump.

I want one of these.  They're Le Creuset casseroles!  I can only find them on ebay, so I'm assuming they're limited editions.  I want...

This week's episode of Glee made me squeal because this capella performance of "Teenage Dream" made me think of my college roomie (and wedding singer).

Oh, and they did a Bon Jovi song too. Double squeal. Total Gleek.

Another cheap dish

I bought these from Salvation Army during one of my weekend jaunts.  They were $1 for two.  As usual, I didn't know what I was going to use them for, but I wanted them.  Because they were pretty and like my momma, I'm destined to become one of those old Chinese ladies who hoard loads of knick-knacks.

I was putting my soaps into the metal basket ( I only have this old pic).  But my basket got all rusty and gross.

So here's how I used the new dish. Looks nice, except it couldn't catch the excess soap goo that fell onto the counter from the pump.  Seeing soap goo on sink counter make me bat-crazy.

So I put one of these plates underneath.

It looks a lot cleaner without the secondary plate.  Looks like I'm going to have to look for another dish or find a skinnier soap bottle.

Coffee for one please!

I use to drink a lot of coffee.  Maybe a one-cup-a-day-kind-of habit.  About a year ago, bound by some anxiety stress and wedding planning, I quit.  Cold turkey.  It's not that bad actually.

Now, I'll have a cup on the weekends.  Wanting to evoke this "grown-up" image, I decided not to reintroduce the Hello Kitty coffeemaker into our kitchen.  So I've been on the hunt for a french press.

When Starbucks had a special, I got one of these.

It was cool and dandy, but ultimately too big and too hard to clean.  I will use this when we have people over, but not really ideal for little ol' me.

While I was returning something at Sur la Table this weekend, I found this

In action

Close, but still no cigar.  The taste wasn't the same as the Bodum french press.

The hunt continues!

Covet: Ridiculous Kitchen Items

Unlike the past couple, this week was fairly mundane.  Just the way I like it.  I really hope the next two months will be smooth sailing because 2010 was not very kind to us.  Yeah, I remember, the wedding was in January, it was great, but the other months were challenging to say the least.

My stress level, however, remains pretty high.  I'm exploring a possible career change which might adversely impact our financial goals.  I am grateful that my husband is supportive of that possibility.  To this day, I don't think I could have found any one else who could put up with me and my baggage on such a scale.

Mushy stuff aside, I have an Amazon giftcard to use.  The utilitarian part of me says I should look for things that I need, but hey, how can I deny such frivolity?

Salt & Pepper

Pizza Cutter

Half & half

Upside Down Glass

Salad Tools

Salt & Pepper Shaker

Pastasaurus

Sink Stopper/Drainer

Twiggy Basting Brush

Not bad for a Wednesday

Here's my first attempt at thumbprint jam cookies. This one is from the second batch.  The first batch was a little thicker.

 

I got to leave work early on Wednesday and watch the Giant's Victory parade.  My coworker and I stumbled into Giordano Bros.to watch it on TV.  Their sandwiches have cole slaw and fries in them!

Cakestand on the Cheap

I've had this post saved in my drafts folder for a while.  So instead of doing homework, I thought I should finish it.

I bought this plate on super clearance at Marshall's for $1.  Originally, I wanted use them for these fantastic wedding invitations for our 3 friends we invited for our City Hall wedding ceremony.  Well, never happened. Oh well. Not a total waste, I found another purpose for them.

When I finally decided to create a mini cake stand, it took forever for me to find a base for the price I wanted to pay.  I scoured the Salvation Army store for a few weeks until I found this for $0.50.  I think it's a sundae cup. 

With some Gorilla glue, I made this.

Yay. Every once in a while, R does remind me every once in a while that I need to be patient and read directions by turning this thing over.  See that brown spot between the glass and plate?  I put too much glue there and didn't realize the glue would almost double in volume when cured.