g'nite

today i woke up really late, in the afternoon, late. scrambled out of bed. ran down to ask the door(wo)man about the kids in our building, signed up my apartment unit to be visited by trick-or-treaters and ran out to cvs to get candy for them. since the door(wo)man told me that approximately less than 100 kids lived in the building, i got two bags of candy for them. skittles, starbursts, and sour gummy worms. i was pretty stoked. in my opinion, that's AWESOME candy. (for little kids anyway.)

i ran back and had fifteen minutes before the kids were supposed to come (4pm) and i drew on random stuff to make me look more... costumed?

haha. i actually don't think the make up turned out that bad.

i was supposed to be raven (from teen titans), but the costume company sent me the wrong cape. it was red with spiderwebs on it. but i wore it anyway to make me seem a bit more costumed. otherwise i'd just be an asian girl in a black dress with a bad tacky oversized jewelry belt on.

anyway. i ended up only seeing 7 trick or treaters. so that was disappointing. i had thriller blasted on repeat for three hours so that the kids would have a spooky mood coming to my door.

when 7pm hit, i went downstairs to share candy with the doorman and complain about how there were only three groups of children trick or treating. he seriously burst out laughing when he saw me, and then quickly tried to say how frightening i looked. sigh.

anyway, i ended up webcaming with my dad and mom because my dad just wanted to check up on me, and then when he saw that i had dressed up, he called taiwan to get my mom online to look at how i dressed up for halloween. then i went to take a shower, greg came and we went to chipotle (with sara) to get a free burrito for "dressing up".

greg and i then had to go to jewel for me to take advantage of a few of their sales (buy one, get two free ice cream ftw!) and while we took the groceries to the car, greg opted to put them in the trunk, and i saw that he had brought his mother's waffle maker for me. he was going to surprise me later. haha. fail. he said that my face looked like christmas day when i saw the waffle maker (cuz i thought it was for me. haha.)

and then after putting the groceries away and making waffles (it's sorta hard/long to make them), greg fell asleep on the couch. and it is time for me to sleep too. (: g'nite

if i could be an actress, i choose zooey

last night, I got my cape for my costume for halloween. but it ended up being the wrong color and the wrong print. so-- i'm pretty disappointed. oh well. i don't think i'll be dressing up/doing anything tomorrow. we'll see...

today i went to the eberhard halloween demonstration. he has them every year. but this was my first. basically he blows things up and sets things on fire. and art schmidt (my favorite physics prof) helps out and does some tricks himself. it's really cute. i was super excited to see him.

there was a group of elementary school kids there. and one of them was seated kinda far away from the group, and right next to me and natalyn. it was hilarious cuz he was staring up so intently at us. (and then there was the cutest little african american baby with GINORMOUS cheeks. omg. he was so adorable.) anyway, the last part of the show has a very very bright flash of light and a huge boom, so when natalyn and brandon were warning me to plug my ears, i told them to have the little boy plug his ears too. after the huge boom, natalyn got repeated poked and, when she looked down, a very earnest "thank you for telling me to plug my ears." he was cute.

after dinner (steamed broccoli, onion with red wine chicken again), i started watching failure to launch. it's annoying because i don't really like sarah jessica parker. and i'm not really sure i like the matthew dude (although he has an adorable baby!). but zooey deschanel is in it. and i really really love zooey, and all the random characters that she plays. haha. if i could be an actress, i would want to be zooey. (:

after dinner walk

walking back from class. this is mid campus.

the view down sheridan. on the left side. the right side looks completely different. hah. but the left side is really cute with the trees on the sidewalk and then the little houses-- which are our offices for advising and student groups-- totally very cute.

i see this very often. i either walk through sorority quad or by the border (which is shown here) to get home.

i wanted to find a good yellow/orange tree to picture. i saw this one peeking at me through the sororities so i took the opportunity!

fall trees. i think i'm taking pictures too late in the game. most of the leaves will be gone tomorrow. ):

i really like the little buildings here with ivy growing on them. you don't see any of this in db.

the view from my apartment. it's a dreary day today. sigh. hopefully there will be sun tomorrow. it's actually really pretty.

my dinnah!

different

lighting was a bit dark in this photo....

but obviously a little too bright in this one...



i just came back from sharing a nice hot brownie with vanilla bean ice cream with sara. in my opinion, it was really really sweet. i think i'd like my molten chocolate cake much better. (can't wait for greg to get here to make it again!)

and here is the view from my apartment. it looks like it will be a dreary day, but i hope the sun comes out for just a little bit so i can get a few good snaps of the fall trees for you guys in california. (: it's just different here, i don't exactly know why.

baking dawn!

i decided to mess up my sleep schedule when i "took a nap" from 7:45 to 8:45 but woke up instead at 2:45. actually, it's sorta amazing how i woke up exactly 7 hours later.

anyway. i've been doing chores around the apartment and listening to music and watching old episodes of ugly betty and cringing when she does anything strange.

and then i decided it was time for me to make a baked good. technically, i should have gone with banana choco chip cookies, because i have the ripe ripe banana. however, that takes waaaay too long, and i'm out of walnuts anyway.

so i went for funfetti brownie mix. it's kinda exciting. so exciting that i'm taking pictures and posting them before the brownie actually is done.

then i am taking them over to sara's and sharing them with her at 7:30 in the morning. living alone sure makes me feel lonely. i like baking for friends though. at dawn. hah. (:

friends with doctors!

so, i'm starting to use last.fm because i feel like its better than pandora. i used we the kings as my radio station, and i'm excited because now i get to hear a lot of bands too. i haven't quite decided if i like hey monday yet though. they seem fun. (:

tomorrow night, i'm going to apply to do a study abroad in Uganda. it's a little scary, and it would definitely be easier to just not do it. i haven't told my folks yet, that i want to do this, because i know they wouldn't really take into consideration that i want to do it, and just say no. but i'd really like to get an experience outside of northwestern. plus, i'd be doing it with jenny too, so i wouldn't be alone over there.

the campus is beautiful now, with all the fall colors. i've really got to remember to take my camera out tomorrow so i can take some good pictures for you guys.

so now, an explanation of the picture: last weekend, michelle and martin came to use annie's car. i happened to mention that my umbrella was broken, and michelle exclaimed that martin could fix it! and then michelle went through annie's stuff and found suture materials, and basically martin sutured my umbrella back! the suture thread is a lot more stronger/durable than regular thread, so it was pretty exciting for me. i'm glad i'm friends with doctors. (:

gnocchi greg

for dinner, i decided to make the regular red wine chicken and steamed broccoli with white rice, because i love white rice so much. it was delicious. i had jenny over for dinner so that was fun and nice to not eat alone again. (:

i think tomorrow i'll try making gnocchi. i have to do it at some point in time. i will need to buy more chicken breast though. i only have one left! (gah!)

oh shoot. i have lots of rice left over. i guess i should eat that all first. hmm. gnocchi when greg comes then!

why not?

when i came back from the library. i was starving. so i made a huge huge huge quesadilla, that i filled with red onions, corn and turkey. and lots of cheese. sigh. i should have heated up the turkey before i used it. it was so wet (as was the corn), so i have a nice soggy mess. [AHAHA]

have a funny comic please. (:

gotta study

i made celery today. well. the celery that my mother makes a lot. just cut it up, boil it for a bit, and then season with sesame oil, soy sauce and a little bit of sugar. it's pretty yummy so i'm very happy. (:

had a long talk with a friend about so many things. wow. parkinson's, autism, prions, professors, office hours, what to say if your 16 year old daughter is having sex...

interesting. but man. i gotta study for school! ):

wow. so busy this weekend. first hiatus from blogger since i've started back on it this year. oh well. sorry. (hah. not that you guys care to hear what boring nonshenanigans i've been up to.)

midterm tomorrow. gotta focus on that.

although i got to say. reading jesca's story on her sister's fb about how baller she is fighting a group of drunk korean 30-something year olds is AWESOME. :D

with red onions

so i went to quite a few office hours today. and it was kinda fun cuz i asked my cell bio prof a question and he thought it was a "really good question". so much that he said it twice. haha. suh-weet. i'm impressing my professor already!

so i'm still thinking about those boots. man. i would really like to get them. but given that i don't have a job or any sort of income. i don't think i will be. ): i guess i'll just wear the black boots i already have. they work. kinda. sigh.

so i came home, cooked up some red wine chicken, and made myself a quesadilla with red onions.

utopia?

so i made fried rice for dinner tonight. it was pretty good actually, so i'm quite content. i had an apple so there's my vC for tonight!

i was so hungry. i just started eating it before taking a picture. so this is actually a picture of the leftovers-- my midnight snack most likely.

man. i have to finish a lot of work tonight. finish studying for cell bio so i can go to office hours, and then neurobio hw and reading so i'm not so clueless when he asks me questions. then finally i need to read utopia. hmm. i should go ask the cute doorman. :P

should soon

i need help choosing!

so i need ankle boots to help pull together my halloween costume.
should i got with these or these?

so the bootie is super cute, but has a 3 inch heel. and i don't know if i'll survive in those. but the kitten bootie is shorter, but i feel less cute looking? i don't know sigh. i don't want to decide tonight. but i should soon!

econ help in the kitchen

barbara turns 22 today. so we did a tiny little shindig for her. i baked yellow cake from mix (haha) and then took it over to john's place to be custarded. and then we cut up fresh strawberries to put on top. it was quite delicious actually. (: (i say that too much...)

strawberries and custard were very nice!

i love how she was so happy in the pictures. so we actually made fun of her cuz she made an event for herself on saturday, a birthday party for herself. like she didn't think anyone would do anything for her. haha. poor girl. she was thoroughly surprised though, so that's pretty amazing. (: michael lured her in by saying he needed econ help in the kitchen. (:

oozing cheese

wow so today i have tons of photos. i think i'll spread them out in different posts though.

i made filet again. it was super red this time though, cuz i didn't cook it for as long. although it was delicious, i was still a little afraid, so i ended up cooking it for another four minutes, two minutes per side. still red and delicious though! also definitely not as salty.

so i just came home from discussion section, most boring thing ever. and before then i went to visit my professor for neurobiology. he is kinda cute. sort of reminds me of mr. roubian. but he also has a bit of a nasally voice. he was super nice to me even though it was clear that i wasn't very prepared and didn't really know the answer to his questions to me. although i threw him into a bit of a philosophical conversation about how the first neuron started firing. haha. oh and cuz i was running (sorta) to meet him on time, i was sweating like a monkey! yuck. haha.

anyway. when i came back, i actually had a conversation with my doorman. he's a cutie named Jeffery, a skinny tall white dude with glasses. he's always reading classics, and every time i see him, its a different book. so i talked to him about books, and how i haven't read very much. i described the plot of chronicles of a death foretold because i couldn't remember the title and i was seeing if he knew it. he didn't know it, but i searched "chronicles of a murder" and i found it. hah. anyway. he was telling me i should culture myself. and i told him i took one art class in highschool. booyah. and then he asked me about what artist i liked. and i pulled out gustav klimt. and told him about how Illadro made a giant figurine of it. but i didn't get it because it was 35k. hah. anyway. he was fun to talk to. he apparently went to a music school in brooklyn. but didn't like it because he said too many ppl cheated (in music??) and then he sold everything he owned and went to san diego to be homeless. (wow) and now he's here. anyway. he was fun to talk to. i might talk to him more about stuff.

and then i came up and made myself dinner. i opted for chicken, pepperjack cheese and green onion quesadilla. it was delicious. (: look at all that oozing cheese!

much much less next time

i sadly slept through my morning classes today so i decided i'd make filet mignon for lunch. i was supposed to have it over the weekend with greg, but time wasn't on our side. so he missed out ):

oh well. it was delicious for me :P i did put way too much seasoning salt though, and i was scrapping it off my steak. yech. i've learned my lesson though, i'm really going to go for much much less next time. (:

p.s. you know like literally ten minutes ago, i realized i had all the ingredients for a black cow. heh. flat coke and vanilla bean ice cream for the win! (:

vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate cake

we tried to make chocolate molten lava cake. but as you can probably see. it didn't come out so molten. haha. oh well. it was still really decadent and yummy. i think i'll try to make more next time. :D

crepe night was very successful, but i was pooped out afterwards. and have tons of nutella :P

i think next week i will definitely make my cheesecake brownie. it really needs to be made asap. (:

ahh. the vanilla bean ice cream made the cake so yummy.

we did all our grocery shopping

whoa, it has been a very busy weekend. blegh. but it's only been fun and no work. today is going to be a mix of fun and work and bonding with girls i don't really know. haha.

yesterday i had an impromptu dinner party. and i made chicken pot pie. which i had greg photograph with john's super cool expensive nikon. we actually ended up going to jewel because we wanted to make molten chocolate cake. haha. and we did all our grocery shopping. haha. so that was fun.

more pics once i get the chocolate molten cake pictures. :D

the greatest compliment he had ever received

so before i talk about my day friday.

have a cute hilarious story that i'm still getting a huge kick out of.

A little boy (maybe 5 years old) wrote to Maurice Sendak [this would be the guy who wrote Where the Wild Things Are] telling him how much he loved his books, his drawings, everything about him. As you might imagine, Sendak gets a lot of fan mail, but he was so moved by this one that he wrote the boy back and enclosed an original drawing, just for him.

The boy was so overjoyed when he received the drawing that he ate it, the entire thing, every last shred of pulp and ink.

His mom wrote back to the author, telling him the story. Sendak was thrilled, saying that that was the greatest compliment he had ever received.

p.s. i got it from this website: http://www.apracticalwedding.com/2009/10/love-for-me.html

i will talk more later

thursday was sorta a busy but not very efficient day for me. i made myself red wine chicken again with steamed broccoli, onions and celery. so that was delicious. i also decided to make rice on the stovetop because it is just so much more delicious that way. my mom's rice cooker was kinda crappy and made the rice super dry even though i had added extra water. sigh.

friday was my day from hell.

i'll talk more about it later.

for now. have a picture.

in and out of focus

i survived my cell bio midterm! it was kinda exhilarating how much bs i was putting into it. oh well. at least i got to finish the exam. i really really hope i did well on it. i need to anyway.

so yesterday i actually made a first. first red wine marinated chicken and steam broccoli with red onions. it was fun. and delicious. and i packed a lot for lunch (too much). i tried making rice in the new rice cooker that my mother bought me from taiwan and made my brother in law bring back to me. well one problem: it's all in chinese. so even though tim explained to me what all the characters were, i still feel shaky using it. also, it's kind of a piece of crap. to put it harshly. it has a huge hole for venting, and my rice was way hard and seemed undercooked. anyway. i think i'll be putting it away for now and just keeping up with using the stove. so much nicer rice that way

anyway. (:

so after surviving my midterm. (i still actually have one more on friday tsk tsk.) i decided to make cookies, especially since that one browning banana was really bothering me.

yay!! in and out of focus picture time! :D

recipes

i really want to use my ramekins for other things. and i found some cute recipes.

sheperd's pie:: http://loobylu.com/archives/001564.htm

creme brulee:: http://www.dostuffright.com/creme-brulee-recipe-torch-dessert-ramekins-dish

molten lava cake!!

~edit~

on second though. i think i found a better recipe. and video. he's kinda funny.

someplace new

so today i went to the evanston library to study and lo and behold (unsurprisingly) i got hungry after being there for two hours. so i went across the street and decided to try sashimi sashimi. i was seriously just planning on buying one roll and then coming home and eating my own homemade stuff. but i only had my credit card and they required a minimum $9 purchase. so i bought two. (p.s. i am never going to be spicy tuna from that place again... not yummy.)

it's sort of eerily quiet and lonely eating dinner by yourself. especially someplace new.

what do they have against G's?

so i didn't try to bake or make anything extraordinary today. but i did have a first!

my first alphabet chicken soup! it's really my first alphabet anything! it was quite exciting. except i was too hungry to play with it. and although i found "TIFFANY" i couldn't find any G's! haha. so i guess you can see why the picture ended up the way it is. what do they have against G's?

i was supposed to put in baking POWDER

i just made some peach cobbler using this really really simple recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/peach-cobbler-top-100/video/index.html

and i don't know. at first taste i don't like it too much. i'm going to try it with some ice cream and then i'll get back to you guys. i substituted nectarines for peaches and then i also just added baking soda instead of using self rising flour.

shoot. i just read the reviews. i was supposed to put in baking POWDER. dang. maybe that changes it a bit. ): especially flavor-wise.

*scream!* *run towards him*

we had central seats which were nice because they were roped off, so ppl from other parts couldn't come rushing in. he started in the middle of the court, which was hilarious, because it was like *scream!* *run towards him*

yup (:

so i guess blogger won't let me upload a video. i'll try again later. (:

i don't know ANY of his music

so john legend is playing at NU tonight. i'm quite excited and hopefully i can bring back a video or two (:

yay! i don't know ANY of his music! (besides ordinary people)

with a small scoop of neopolitan ice cream, just because

so today i made french toast from old vienna bread i got from jewel. it had very exciting results. although i found that i only like french toast because of the sugar on top of it. haha. it's just cinnamon and vanilla in wet toast otherwise. oh well. it was fun making it.

then after dinner i baked a chocolate cake. i got a 9x9 square pan so i decided to try it out. i hope to make that cheesecake marbled brownie soon. however, it probably won't happen too soon. hah. i have exams next week!

the chocolate cake wasn't too exciting looking so i didn't take a picture of it. maybe someday i'll try making layer cake! :D

i ended up eating my french toast with a small scoop of neopolitan ice cream, just because.

freshmen

so. i live in an apartment complex with my sister. i don't really have much opportunity to see people my age unless i go to the library. in which, i don't exactly talk to people there.

so i decided to apply for fresh exec of TASC. they had a dinner tonight. and i went. it was interesting. kinda very asian attitudes there, but nothing i wasn't already exposed to. the head of my table was this guy named lester. hah.

anyway. i'm not too sure if i care/want to have a position. but at least i get to meet people. i feel a bit pathetic as a senior applying for a freshman position. oh well. i gotta try something.

crazy huge gummy bear

chocolate chips are awesome no matter what

so today, i had a very ripe banana. i didn't eat it, it was just lying there. and i knew i had to make it. hehe. i made banana walnut chocolate chip cookies today! and wow. were they awesome. they ARE awesome. i have so many though.. heh.

wow. i just counted. 51 cookies. haha. and the recipe said 3 dozen. oh well. i have smaller cookies i guess. or i just added way too many chocolate chips :P

today i got a bit miffed. so i was walking with a friend to her dorm to eat lunch. and i passed this kid i knew. just an acquaintance. i mean, he is in the same frat as greg, so i've seen him at lunches/bbqs/dinners/formals/parties. and he's talked to me. and i've talked to him. and his girlfriend. heck. i've even webcamed his gf with him when he brought his laptop to lunch before. and he deifnitely knew who i was.

but today. he decided to act all confused when i waved to him, and then proceeded to mortify me by saying quite very loudly "I DON"T THINK I KNOW YOU" so i just walked away. lame butt.

anyway. i found out later that he is no longer with that gf and apparently is having a hard time coping with it. too bad it made him such a jerk. jerk. i'm sorta still mad at him if you didn't notice...

i do have wonderful cookies though. i had spooned them out in three batches, and i've got to say the third batch seemed to be the least morsel-filled, as there weren't as many chocolate chips in it. so either i didn't mix it all the goodies as well as i thought i did, or i need to add more chocolate chips in next time!! (probably the former, but i think chocolate chips are awesome no matter what)

filet mignon

mmm. filet mignon (:

we made dinner. and since we had the rice. i made more rice porridge to go with it. i don't believe annie made us eat an entire onion. it was a lot of onion. oh well. it was yummy.

that's the last time i make it in the microwave.

so. this morning. i was making rice porridge in the microwave like i always do. you have to let it microwave in shorter and shorter increments of time otherwise it will boil over. i usually microwave the rice and hot water for 2 minutes. then stop and stir. then one more minute. stir, then one minute. stir. and then maybe 30 second intervals after that. you do this until it's all mushy and everything.

however, i am never quite patient enough. and always try to stretch it.

and of course, it overboiled. and before i could continue, i figured i should clean up the overboiled liquid so that ya know. it doesn't stick to the microwave. and i'm impatient, so i pick up the bowl while it's still warm. and seriously--- one second before i'm about to set it down, it falls out of hands, and hits the countertop (towel thankfully prevented the bowl from breaking) and the rice rebounded and spit itself all over the counter and the floor, and my hand. ):

i have a pretty bad burn now. on my hand. from the boiling rice. i've been keeping it on ice, with a wet paper towel for almost 9 hours now. i hope it doesn't blister =\

darn exploding rice. that's the last time i make it in the microwave.

determined

i made cookies!

they are delicious. and now there are only seven left. heh. oh well. i really hope to try this cheesecake-marbled brownie tomorrow. but i need eggs. and an 8 in pan. hmm.

i suppose i should probably try to limit myself somehow. like "only bake on thursdays" or "try only after an incredibly depressing cry" but eh. i've already run out of cookies and i just made them THIS MORNING.

as you can probably guess by now. i am *determined* to have a hobby :P

work?

i wonder if that worked...

booked

yesterday. when i woke up. my whole face was soooo cold. ugh. i have left the luxuries of prepaid heating of the dorms. and now i'm living in the apartment where we refuse to turn on the heating :P

so i decided i really didn't want to eat cold cereal and milk, so i randomly hit upon the idea of making poached eggs! man, i was ridiculously excited for them. and they are good. i made two more today. i'm kinda proud of myself for making them :P

i'm coming home this winter! i just booked my flight. i'm coming back on sunday the 13th and returning to school on the 3rd. :D