last post of 2014

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going

-James Ryun

2014 has been a crazy year but I am so ready for 2015. Let's hustle///

new york

Saw this book at a bookstore and laughed because I basically came to NYC to eat everything here. 

I still have two more days here but wanted to reflect on my trip so far because I feel like I've done so much the past few days I've been here. 

New York has been amazing and the city is just flowing with creativity and unique sightings that make NYC so special. There's always room for innovation in NYC and I realized that people don't have to worry about being anyone but themselves. During my short stay here I was able to see that once we stop judging others and start to see the beauty in our differences, life in general seems to be more beautiful - and a lot easier. No one does Christmas better in the U.S. than New York. When we arrived I saw crowds of people everywhere wearing santa suits and our taxi driver said by Christmas, we would only be able to see Santa Clauses walking around the streets. There are obviously a few things that I just don't like about New York that makes me never want to really live here (at least permanently). When you walk through the busier/tourist streets, it's so crowded that people are shoulder to shoulder with each other pushing and shoving + true to the rumors, most people here (minus the few genuine kind people i've met) are straight up rude. 

We were lucky enough to do and see a lot of things but a few memorable places were:

+ Bryant Park: Went to winter village to see the small shops. We wanted to go ice skating here as well but the line was just too ridiculous we decided it wasn't worth the wait.

+ Lombardi's Pizzeria: Walked around Chinatown & Little Italy. After walking the Brooklyn Bridge we went to Lombardi's. They claim to be the first pizzeria that ever opened in America and it was some pretty dang good pizza!

+Central Park: Central park was so relaxing despite the fact that I was freezing. It was amazing that there was such a beautiful park amidst the bustling city. 

+Rockefeller Center/Top of the Rock: Rockefeller Plaza was just too ridiculous, the whole place was packed with tourists everywhere we were unable to move or get away from the crowds. Everyone looked so annoyed and unhappy as we all suffered. We walked through the crowds to go buy tickets for Top of The Rock which i've heard was better and cheaper than the ESB. 

You can see our apt from here!

+Union Square: We went to Union Square to check out the holiday markets and there were a lot of cool vendors and we were able to do some successful holiday shopping here. The hot apple cider here was really yummy!

 

 This trip has been amazing so far and i'm dreading the trip home where I'll be going back to work and school. In the end, a very much needed vacation away from home. Feeling very blessed & thankful for these experiences. 

BEAN BOOZLED CHALLENGE

THANKSGIVING 2015

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day whether you celebrated this holiday or not, there is so much to be thankful for. Before some of you drown yourself in crowds of shoppers and splurge the night away, I hope you can take a moment to forget all the small issues in life and see the abundance of blessings. 

"Life must be rich and full of loving - it's no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone"
-Jack Kerouac

ANOTHER VLOG

CORGI BEACH DAY

 

nature & photogenic donuts

I went hiking the other day with jojo (@joannjeon) to Hermit Falls in Santa Anita. Despite the drought, there was surprisingly still a good amount of water left so ya'll should go visit and even do some cliff diving if you're up for it. 

The weather reached the 100s the day we went on our hike but the course is covered mostly in trees so the hike there was super shady and cool (minus the small areas where the sun was roasting us alive).  I wouldn't call myself a very active or fit person (HAH), but I just love going on hikes. Hikes are so eye-opening and it allows you're mind to get away from all the stress and worries you have and simply indulge in the beautiful nature around you. Hiking helps me to get my mind off things I need to get my mind off and think of other things that spurs my creativity. I think it's a time well spent. Rather than wasting the free time you have, get creative with your time and get out there!

While on this small trek of a hike, I was able to appreciate the little small details of my life. It's these small moments that I can really appreciate. I feel that all of us tend to leave the small blessings we have in our lives unappreciated. Whether it's having lunch with a friend or watching a good movie, or whatever it is! If we can acknowledge these moments in our lives, I bet the bigger important moments would feel that much greater. 

On our way back, we ended up going the wrong way or getting lost a couple times. I guess it was an adventure but didn't feel so good when we were both starving! But as they say, getting lost is all part of the journey, right? 

For our post-hike meal, we were craving something asian and found this super hip and yummy ramen place. Modan Artisanal Ramen in South Pasadena!

Contrary to that motivational hiking talk, I also went and got donuts. HAHAHa 

Donuts are so photogenic

California Donuts in Ktown make the cutest donuts ever &&& they're open 24 hours! Literally you can decide you want donuts at 3:47AM and you won't have to wait till morning arrives. 

tehe

LACMA

Went to LACMA and it was eye opening to see so much creativity. I'm not gonna say I was so inspired or something pretentious like that because I honestly spent a lot of time just trying to understand some pieces or the "deeper meaning" in the piece. Visiting the museum just reminded me of how crazy unique each individual can be and how much we can create with our imagination. While I thought of how we have the ability to hold so much imagination and creativity I was reminded that just as God is our architect and artist, he created us in His image. He is the most creative, skillful, and exuberant artist of all. The one who made the sun and the sky, the waves on the beach, the invisible wind! Okay, i'm gonna stop now.

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it" - Pablo Picasso

My hair makes me look cray

matcha green tea donuts

I had to make two trips to the store to make these stupid donuts...TWO trips. I thought I only needed to get some matcha powder but when I came home I realized we ran out of oil. Anyways I saw this on A Beautiful Mess' blog and my sister had a hand-me-down donut machine from her friend so I thought why not ya'know.

I don't know if it was the crappy machine or my crappy batter, but these didn't turn out as great as I though they would. 

Batter:

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar (I used less)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder

2/3 cup oil (I used olive)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Put the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix together. I baked the donuts with the instructions provided on the Bella donut maker. 

Green tea glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon matcha powder

1/4 cup boiling water

whisk the ingredients together and let it cool for a few minutes. 

Dip the cool donuts in the glaze and allow them to set. 

totally arbitrary

marble cake

When was it ever August?! How is it that September has already arrived and the countdown to school has begun. 

I don't know whether it's because i'm trying to get my mind off the thought of school or i've been too inspired by Julia Powell from Julie & Julia, but i've been on a baking streak. My parents think i'm going though some mid-youngadult crisis or something because i've been spending a lot of my free time in the kitchen. Maybe I've watched too much food network but i've been really enjoying baking and trying to make new types of food i've never tried before (yup, my life is very exciting guys). It's funny because I never eat any of the things I bake and simply stuff it into my mom's mouth and let her be the judge. I mean, she's not complaining. 

Today I baked some marble cake, I don't think i've ever really ate marble cake before but I think I got mine to taste like what it's supposed to taste like. I got the recipe off Erica's Cannella Vita blog which you can find the recipe to here. 

I guess I failed at dividing the two batters to create the marble pattern in the bread. 

The chocolate batter was too concentrated on the bottom, but it's aallll gooood. Live and learn. 

blueberry lavender scones

Scones are one of my favorite pastries to enjoy because they go so well with coffee and aren't as sweet as most other desserts. Today I made some blueberry scones added with some lavender herbs to give it an extra kick. They are so easy to make and you can enjoy them with your coffee or a glass of milk.

I was actually debating whether I should make the scones with a rose water based glazed cream or with the lavender herbs. I ended up going with the lavender because I felt that it was a better match with the blueberries. 

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 baking soda, 1 tablespoon sugar (can add more if you prefer sweeter), pinch of salt, 1/2 cup butter, 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 6 oz blueberries, 2 tsp lavender herb

Once you gather all your ingredients, combine the flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut the stick of butter into smaller pieces and mix it into the flour. once the butter is well mixed in with the flour, add the milk, egg whites and mix into a dough. Carefully add the blueberries and try not to smash them into the dough. Mold into a thick pancake-like shape and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for approximately 1 hour. 

Take the dough and create 8 slices for the scones. I brushed the scones with the egg yolk and sprinkled some brown sugar on top. Bake in the oven at 375 F for around 20-30 min until it is a nice brown. 

 Once it is ready to be taken out, I let it cool for a few minutes before separating the wedges. After that, ENJOY. 

***please don't hate at my pathetic attempt to bake T___T