How To Get Out of a Funk

1. Dress up. Not in the Saturday-night-going-out outfit, 

but something that requires a little more attention and effort to wear.

2. Karaoke in my car on the way to the mall.

Today's selection included Biebster's "Baby", 

Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and 

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

3. Get an iced drink from Starbucks. 

My top 2 choices: tall iced mocha, no whip or grande iced black tea. Classic.

4. Buy workout clothes.

5. Day dream.

Picture myself looking fierce and sharp in the new workout clothes for my new obsession, 

Mike Nicholson's Hiphop class!

6. Buy work clothes.

7. Day dream, part II.

Picture myself looking fashionable and charismatic in the new work clothes 

like Miranda Priestly from "Devil Wears Prada."

At the end of it, I don't even remember that I was in a funk!

Woman's Logic

I bursted out laughing when I saw this because I knew I was guilty of it...

Chocolate Orange Cake

Following the 2 successful attempts at Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, I've decided to try a cake!

I searched and searched until I found something that seemed simple enough for me to make and that I would actually want to eat. I found a perfect match for me--Chocolate Orange Cake! 

The recipe I found was very simple to follow and didn't have any foreign ingredients.  

Duration: 1.5 hours

Level: (for me?) Intermediate

1. I mixed 4 eggs, 1 cup of orange juice (pulp free), 1 cup of oil, and 2 cups of sugar. (The recipe didn't specify brown or white, so I just used brown sugar.) Then combined that with 3 cups of flour, 2 tsp of baking powder, and a tiny bit of salt. 

2. I divided the batter into 2, and poured melted dark chocolate into one. 

It started looking very pretty from here!

3. Then I poured the batter mixed with chocolate into the baking pan, and added the batter without chocolate on top. 

4. Then mixed the two batters a little bit to create a cool swirl. Well, it didn't turn out as cool as I wanted it to, but considering that it's my first cake, I was happy with it.

5. Baked at a 350F degree oven for 40 minutes, and voila!

My first cake, my first Chocolate Orange Cake is done!

Now, I did create something that looks like a cake, so I gave myself kudos on that. But when I took a bite, it tasted like it was missing something... There was some chocolate and some orange, but I could've used more chocolate and orange. And I was hoping for a cooler swirl effect! 

I can criticize my product forever if I can go on, but I won't. I will give myself two thumbs up for successfully baking a cake--it looks like one and it holds like one! 

I was hoping to bring this into work tomorrow to share with my co-workers. I might have to reconsider... OR maybe I should bring it in so those more experienced bakers can tell me how to improve my cake! We shall see.

First day of real real snow!

It's "wrap myself in a blanket with hot-chocolate" kind of night!

Jan. 10, 2012

On my way to work on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, I found myself driving towards this perfectly round Moon.  It was getting ready to hide itself for the day, right near the horizon.

It looked like a faded white stamp of a circle. Yet, there was something romantic about it. Only seen in the middle of winter. 

This is one of many reasons why winter is my favorite season.

Move, Learn and Eat

I ran into one of these videos a few months ago, and I've run into it again.  This time, there's not just one; there are THREE, each titled: MOVE, LEARN, and EAT. 

Once again, I'm inspired to be adventurous and explore the big, wide world!

MOVE

LEARN

EAT

Sauteed Shrimp with Zucchini

As a part of my New Year's Resolutions, I'm going to start recording/documenting my cooking and baking life!  My first creation of the year is...

Sauteed Shrimp with Zucchini

Where did the inspiration come from? Well, I had those ingredients in my fridge...
My theory of cooking is that you can create anything with ingredients you have.  Yes, sometimes you do need to go out and buy certain ingredients for a more planned dish.  You would also need a specific list of ingredients for a nutritionally balanced meal. But for a simple dinner on a Sunday night? Using whatever I had in my fridge worked for me.

Ingredients: shrimp, zucchini, celery, olive oil, black pepper, and minced garlic
Cooking time: About 30 minutes

First, I heated up the pan with olive oil and minced garlic. Then added shrimp. I divided each shrimp into two, the long way. When cooked, these long pieces (as opposed to chopping the body into chunky parts) each looked like a shrimp!

I added zucchini and celery.  I added celery--well, just as you might have imagined--because I had some in my fridge. It turned out that the celery added a little bit of a sweeter taste to my dish! At this point, I also added some black pepper to control the smell of shrimp a bit. I love seafood, but sometimes, they need to be toned down a bit.

While this was cooking, I started cooking quinoa.  (*Next time, I would start with quinoa since it takes a bit to cook it. If I had started with quinoa and watched it while cooking shrimp and zucchini, both would've been done around the same time.)

I gently put the shrimp and zucchini on a bed of quinoa. (I have been wanting to use this fancy restaurant language. I think it fits this dish!)

Voilà! Sauteed Shrimp with Zucchini is finished!

Epilogue
I found this one by WholeFoods that is almost the same as mine. They added tomatoes and used more herbs and seasoning. I'll try using those herbs next time.

New Year's Resolution

Eat healthy food. Get fit. Get a better job. Save money. Take a trip. Be happy.

Typical new year's resolutions. These were some popular ones I found when I googled "new year's resolution."

Oh, No.
These are too common and too general!

I've written my own (during my train ride from DC to NY on Dec. 30, 2011), a set that I actually felt pretty confident that I would be able to accomplish in 2012.  Originally, I came up with 15. Yes, I was feeling a little too confident.  But I've reduced the list a little bit, and I made sure that my goals are more specific than "be happy." The most important part about my resolutions--the part that I am very happy with--is that each of my goals has a reason it made on the list.  These resolutions were not included just to have a solid-looking list (A list of 5 does look better than a list of 2).  They were not included so I can say that I have new year's resolutions. I've carefully thought about my resolutions and I feel that I can accomplish these by pushing myself throughout the year.

So here it is. My New Year's Resolution for 2012.

1. Keep a journal

There are moments that I want to remember.  At those moments, I tell myself that I'll remember, but how many of those do I remember from 2011? Can't even begin to think about them.  So the best way to guarantee that I'll remember those small moments is to keep a journal and write in it.  I did it as a kid. My second through sixth grade teachers made me do it.  Now as an adult, I will write on my own, for my own, because I want to write in my journal.

2. 5k

I started working out when I moved to Columbus in September.  I've slacked a little bit with the holidays and my nye trip.  But it' time to workout/run with a specific goal, and I've decided on a 5k!  I used to run for my school when I was little. Well, the runner me is back in 2012.

3. Read 50 books

One book/wk seems like a good goal.  I won't restrict myself further by specifying which 50 books I'm going to read. There are many good lists out there that I can choose, but I want this list of 50 to be based on my interests. *Children's picture books don't count. Some children's chapter books are ok.

4. Keep up with current events

Probably by reading the newspaper/articles or magazines.  This will already be hard for me (as it has been for the past several years) so I'll gently remind myself daily without saying "read the news every day."

5. Study a (new) language

Spanish is ok. It'll be smart of me to choose Spanish since I have 4 years under my belt.  This is another one of those goals that I've been keeping on my list, but haven't been able to accomplish. Well, it's on the list again, and this time, it's happening. For real.

6. Pick up a new hobby

It doesn't matter what it is.  I want to try something new.  I'm assuming it'll be related to food--something like food photography or finding/keeping/trying new recipes.  Since I enjoy eating, and cooking has become a new, fun part of my daily life, this would be an easy way for me to enjoy a part of my day with a little more focus and a purpose!


There it is, my core list.  I have more, as I always have too many things I want to do. However, I don't want to overwhelm myself with a full list of 15.  This will push me forward and I will still have to challenge myself.

(One resolution I've cut already: cut sarcasm/silliness.  I asked for some of my friends' opinions. They think my personality will be gone if I cut silliness.  My intention was to be a little more adult-like and mature. But I'm thinking that I can be mature in different ways. I can be silly and be mature. Right? We'll see how this goes this year. I'll reconsider this for future years to come.)

Bring it on 2012!