6.8.11 Food for Thought

I'm excited that summer's arriving soon, but at the same time, I don't want to overwhelm myself. I just found out that every Wednesday at this Mexican market here, they're selling 1 dollar any kinda meat tacos. Here I just got back and had three carne asada ones and three carnitas. I really wanted to try the tripitas (tripe?), and you know.. I eventually got some to take with me to work tomorrow. Also excited to have already tried the new California salads from Daphne's. The first picture are of dragon fruit from this asian market here called 99 Ranch.

Every year, I try to attempt to have what I like to call a "Real Simple Summer" and it all dates from an issue of Real Simple magazine I own. I'm really excited, and I hope it all pans out. I have some fun projects in mind.

3.31.11 Winters Passing

I had a stomach ache that seems like it's lasting the entire day, and I think it has to do with the weather. I was afraid it had to do with what I ate last night. I went to the Crest Cafe over in Hillcrest last night here in San Diego, and got the Cheese Buttah Squares. It is so not worthy taking a picture of now. It was good at the time, but I felt like I got some slight form of food poisoning (thank goodness without the diarrhea). Anyway, I apologize that to start this entry is a "tmi" type of post.

So unrelated to my latest fashion inspiration, and not to mention but the fact this weather is so hot, the way Reese looks in these two pictures makes me sad it's not cold anymore. And I had these bright red flats one time that I regret selling it to Buffalo Exchange. I eventually found a replacement at H&M, but I just don't think they compare to how cool and at ease it looks on Reese Witherspoon. This is my fashion inspiration as of late.

2.20.11 Beauty & Food

I'm no fashion maven, or beauty guru, but I do know what I like and this weekend was spent buying eye pencils, nail polish, long cardigans, food, and a really cute dress I got for 5 bucks at Ross. Unfortunately, the dress will have to wait a little while to wear cause it's mainly a spring dress. These don't seem like much, but these were the nail polishes I got this weekend and I must say that my collection is now growing and I must stop!

Ohh! And by the way, I'm a proud owner of this awesome-ness beauty tool:

Took me a few Walgreens to find, and my friend was the one who told me about it and said she got it at the last Walgreens I went to, and the only reason I wanted to go to that one was because it was closest to our friend's house and I wanted to get some Wet N Wild products. They barely even had any more Wet N Wild.

I went to Old Town with my boyfriend yesterday:

Ugh, don't we look so creepy. We take oddly awkward pictures. Anyways!! So, in Old Town they have this 5 and Dime store and obviously, nothing was really 5 or 10¢, but they had a Wet N Wild display! With all the things I wanted. That's where I found the Craze nailpolish in Shield above. Except I didn't want to get too crazy. They're prices were a little steeper than drugstore. The only other thing I got there was the famous creme eyeliner that's supposed to be just as good as MAC.

Anyways! Some of the items I did get this weekend that were duds are NYC makeup duo eye pencils! They're so hard to apply. I can barely even write on my own hand with them. They were about 1.97 at WalMart. What a waste!

02.14.2011 Happy V.D.! (No, not Venereal Disease)

Hah, my boyfriend got me traditional Valentine's gifts: Heart-shaped box of chocolates, a dozen long stemmed roses, and a card. But not just any card. This one is Twilight themed where Bella, Edward and Jacob look as though they're staring off into the distance, and inside is a recording of Edward going, "I promise to love you every moment of forever," and Jacob "I'm going to fight for you till your heart stops beating," hahahahaha. Hilarious! Too funny! The cover says, "Whoever said a good man is hard to find......." and then inside saying, "sure hasn't been to Forks, Washington." hahahahaha! Isn't that funny?

I felt a little bad though because Eric's birthday is also today. I meant to get him a shredder but didn't have time, or money right now for it. So instead, I just made him cherry cupcakes. His shredder will wait.

02.13.11 Shopping, Food, Beauty, Boyfriend

I hope that the title of this post makes sense. My friend's makeup was in shambles so it was the perfect excuse to go shopping. On Friday, we found a big makeup clearance at Target. Picked up a Milani eyebrow and lip pencil, Sonia Kashuk's Reach for the Stars nail polish trio, and Physician's Formula gel eyeliners for Hazelnut eyes (it was the only one on sale). Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond where I picked up a couple of other beauty items. Oh blah, my pictures hardly show any of the items I picked up. Needless to say, I had a fun time playing with makeup with my friend. She picked up a lot of goodies actually. I should have taken a picture of that instead. Then I went and found an awesome grassy toothpaste and toothbrush holder.

And before I picked up my boyfriend from the airport, my other friend and I had a feast of pastries from Hans & Harry's. Delicioso! Blurry outfit of the day on Saturday by my boyfriend. And today we were in search for cervezas this evening.

12.19.2010 Babycakes

Not entirely back to normal yet, but a trip for cupcakes with my good friend and dog made it seem a little better. Except, I now keep dreaming for more cupcakes from Babycakes. I had the Cha Cha Chai, and my friend had the Red Velvet. Unfortunately, I didn't see some other ones I wished I might have got instead, like Pomegranite, or Hazelnut. Yum. I can't wait to go back.

12.2.10 LNO (Last Night's Outfit)

(Oh, by the way, I'm wearing an old 1970's wool cardigan from my mom, a cable knit sweater from Target, cordoroy pants from Banana Republic, dark brown suede oxfords shoes. And cream colored Fossil messenger-type bag.)

My outfit of last night. Or, the beginning of the month. It was my friend's birthday and she had it at this American eatery in Point Loma, here in San Diego. It was really pretty. Right on the bay. I unfortunately didn't bring my camera. But I do plan on going back, just as soon as Eric, my bf comes back home.

So my outfit probably looks a little frumpy. But I'm also beginning to feel like it's me too. Ever since Thanksgiving, and the fact that it's getting cold, I always tend to gain weight around this time of year. Not that I'm entirely fit or anything. I don't have a schedule of exercising, even though I'd like to. To be honest, probably like most people, I'm feeling insecurities in myself. I'm also going to be a bridesmaid next month and the dress I have to wear show's a lot of arm. And my arms right now are buffer than ever (and I mean that in a sarcastic, they're really thick as thieves right now, kind of way).

But let's not be a Debbie Downer on myself. I'm excited in a way to find out that one the reality shows I watch, America's Next Top Model chose its winner last night. And I'm really excited over how beautiful her makeup looked in the very, very end. hmm. I should probably mention who it is, but I had to watch it through a recorder. It's one of the Tv programs I watch and because I wasn't able to watch it on time last night, I taped it. So, if there's anyone who reads this that doesn't want to know who wins, then stop reading now. I really didn't think it was rigged. And I really, really thought Chelsey would win. But no, it was Ann (who I was routing for), but I must admit, it really did seem like a hard pick. In a way, the only thing I can come of it being rigged probably had to do with the fact that the prize is looking for more of a high fashion look, which is Ann, and that was probably why they both met with the head guy at IMG, so that Chelsey could get booked too.. whatever, I don't know. But I'm really excited that the underdog won. If there's anyone's makeup look I want to attempt to copy, it would be Ann's at the very, very end. It was beautiful. She had smokey black and silver/grey eyes, with vibrant pink cheeks. I'm so inspired, I'm going to attempt her look on my own face.

11.22.2010 Food Porn

As generic as the title is, I had to remember to throw one in because I almost forgot in my last post. I was looking at it later and realized.. "What's missing, here?" Dang short term memory. This is what I did this weekend though. I was starving on Friday and made a Salmon pasta. Penne pasta has to be my favorite kind, and I'm not sure why. Second to that would probably be farfalle. I think it might be the size of them and that you can snag perfect bitefuls in one average fork. The second dish I made was a Rugelach inspired by Sam the Cooking Guy who featured a guests recipe by someone named Addie. If you read this and read about two posts back, and saw that I mentioned Sam the Cooking Guy, well, this is it. I didn't braid the puff pastry well, but when this was all done cookin', it was delicious. I had to substitute and knick a few ingredients out, but everything else was correct. For instance, I didn't have pecans, so I crushed sea salted almonds for that part, and I didn't include the spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, because no one uses spices in my house. This is what the Rugelach is supposed to look like, and the recipe seen here, http://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/recipe.php?id=590.

This was probably one of the first dishes I made where I didn't use that many pots and pans and so in the end the Rugelach tasted so much better just cause there was less cleanup. Thanks Addie!

11.7.2010 Project Time: Atomic Food

This will be some of the food porn you'll get from me. I'm still practicing on taking some extraordinary photos of my food, but all this is really experimental. These are what I made the last two nights. I first made the Pasta Salad dish and the rice on the side is just fast cooking bagged Rice Sides, Cheese and Broccoli. I decked up a bagged salad and added thinly sliced red onions with sliced radishes. Did you know radishes aid in curing whooping cough? This was delicious.

Last night I was inspired by ChefCaffy on youtube who made a Freestylin' Tiramisu, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERZkLW5qx9Y. And so I did just that. After watching her video on it, without a recipe, I made one too! And it was soo easy. I was also extremely surprised at myself making a Sabayon! I was so surprised, I even filmed the ending of me whisking it. I think what made my Tiramisu so atomic was the fact that I didn't have cocoa powder and so I dusted the top of the cream with Ovaltine.

9.26.10-9.27.10 Summer's Arrival

Summer's finally arrived here in San Diego. At least the feeling of it. Today was the hottest it's ever been here according to the news, and tomorrow, they say is going to be even hotter. I'm happy to say I got a lot of use of old summer clothes I hid away this past weekend. However, I haven't been to the beach once. And I love the beach. Earlier this morning, I pulled out one of my favorite photography books A Summer's Day by Joel Meyerowitz. I think I grew to love taking pictures since I saw this book when I was working in my Junior HS library. I'm not a photographer but I'd like to be and I like learning to be. In no particular order are some of my favorite pictures I took over the summer.

Bruschetta I made after being inspired by the movie, Julie & Julia.

The drive back home from Santa Barbara last May.

Last night's soiree.

End of summer picnic at the Farmer's Market.

Projects I'm getting into.

My first vegan cheesecake that I made using Alicia Silverstone's A Kind Diet recipe. Soo good!

My puppy, Porkchop whose picture was actually taken by my boyfriend seeing a bit of his shoe in the bottom, but I love it nonetheless.