pink balloon proposal

some guy proposed to his gf on the brooklyn bridge by having strangers hand her a pink balloon with a love note attached - the first was a friend of his that she wouldn't recognize. read the full story here. it is so adorable.

valentines day freebees

if you haven't sent a vday card yet because you haven't had time or money is tight, or even if you have, there are some free super cute ones on the kate spade site. i just sent jan this one...

happy birthday to my niece & nephew

it was the twins first birthday celebration last weekend. holls & eric threw them a great party and holly made a full spread of ethiopian food even down to the sponge bread - she is that good. here's my tribute pic to them from january - i love them and can't wait to see them soon! happy birthday a & c! ps. c's overalls are vintage from his great grandma.

peach dutch oven goodness

last night i went to mel's and made some peach dutch oven cobbler that turned out so good - perfect for these chilly la nights. and yes, i'm serious - it was in the 50's! i had to use caroline's photo because i forgot my camera - and i was worried that her recipe would be too big for my slightly smaller oval dutch oven, but it was just fine. i used 2 cans of peaches, next time i will use 3 and maybe sprinkle a hint of cinnamon on the peaches as well as the batter. I also cooked it for 10-15 more min's than she said. (all ovens are diff.) it's really easy and great alone or with a dab of vanilla ice cream. the best part is that it really tasted just like we were camping - without all the dirt! some may say that's half the fun, but i vote for this option.

recipe via care's blog:

Filling
4 c ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
2 T of sugar
1/4 t vanilla

Batter
6 T of butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 c buttermilk (our easy trick for this is to put some lemon juice in milk and sour it)
1 t of vanilla

1 T of brown sugar

**remember, i adapted this recipe for my dutch oven. so this original recipe was meant for an 8x8 pan. so, if you use a dutch oven, just substitute that for the 8x8 parts.**

Preheat oven to 350 (i did 325° to be safe with the dutch oven).

Combine the 3 ingredients in the filling and set aside. In an 8 inch baking dish place the butter pieces and place in the oven until the butter melts. While it is melting combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. In another bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until everything is moistened. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon the batter over thebutter spreading evenly but not stiring. Spoon the filling over the top and gently press in the peaches. Bake for 35-40 minutes and then sprinkle with brown sugar (i doubled the amount of sugar for good measure) and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the crust is golden.

dad's retirement party

a few months late but i'm just getting to posting some photos from the surprise party we threw over christmas for my dad. the theme was an old hollywood style and we added in mustaches since we've never known my dad to be without one. we set up a photobooth and decorated and black, white, grey and shades of green. we put famous 'dad' quotes on all the drinks, i cut out his silhouette from a piece of paper to sprinkle on tiny black nonparieles to create his image on the cake (you need patience for this but it's a great effect) and hung his silhouette around the house. we played a few games, sang him a song that my little brother wrote about his life, and read quotes from people in his past. i love the photo of my nephew up top staring at his mom wondering why she has a mustach. there are a lot more photos of the other guests, decor, etc. but most of this is my family.

sunday school in la

we were talking at church about how when we pray we hope to receive a comforting feeling of peace from heavenly father. and how we rarely get chastized, but it has occured in the scriptures. this one older asian gentleman raised his hand and suggested that when we chasitze our kids we should use the same, gentle approach intead of using our often 'satanic' voices. the teacher was a younger guy and was trying not to laugh at his choice of words. who uses a satanic voice when disciplining? do we even know what that voice sounds like? deep and loud and do you grab your red cape and horns? we were cracking up...

unexpected blessings

this week involved a lot of resumes, a lot of praying and a lot of BLAH, what in the world am i going to do?? and then out of nowhere, before my job is even done with (this fri was my last day), they have a big meeting and say we don't want you to go..completely. so i'm back part time, they raised my pay per hour and are having me do all their design work from now on. so every week, i will do that and photography.

anyways, here is a (bad) poem on how my week has been:

i had a job and then it was gone
no money for rent leads to begging at dawn
just mochi and me, eating veggies together
while i thought about me, broke, lounging in the warm la weather

i guess it's not so bad i thought, getting tan while i wait
until i thought about being evicted, j's stuff in the trash he might hate
so i turned in some resumes and talked to everyone i knew
and then my job resurfaced, my cube i could come back to

i'm still broke and poor but happy in spirit
i'll get to do more photography, now will you hire me?

(sorry, but really, what rhymes with spirit?)

did your morning involve 2 strangers + 2 cops + 2 mechanics?

mine did. j's car battery cables came loose apparantly, and while driving by costco and luckily being almost stopped at a light, the entire car decided to die. no power. no blinky hazards to warn cars not to hit me, nada. luckily something worked and the hazards came back on. nobody came to help for awhile. an old guy tried but said he couldn't do anything. then out of nowhere a stranger told me to put it in neutral and 2 guys started pushing to get it into a strip mall but it was too heavy to get it up the hill so it got stuck in the driveway, now halfway in the road. i saw a big cop suv and waved them over - two big guys got out and analyzed the situation and after trying to figure out how to take out the bike rack to PUSH the car w/their car up the driveway, they played w/the battery wires and got the car to work! they followed me to a fix it shop where some nice guys tightened stuff and added washers for $15. maybe i should start paying attention when j teaches me about cars....

primary muffins

i am now in the primary at our church, on the activities committee. since i just got called last week, i didn't plan this mornings activity, but i did bring some muffins. i wanted something healthy, but still sweet so i made strawberry muffins. i added a little cinnamon/sugar mix on the top. as with most muffins, they are best right out of the oven, when the strawberrys are warm. the recipe calls for sliced strawberries but i used scissors to cut them up into pieces since i was making mini muffins for the kids. they were a big hit as seen by the empty plate i brought home.

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen sliced strawberries, thawed and undrained
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  
  Preparation: Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Stir together remaining strawberries, milk, eggs, and oil until blended; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Serve with Strawberry Butter. ( i didn't have the recipe for this)
  

hello dessert

i was browing on smitten kitchen this morning and came across this image of the most amazing looking bittersweet chocolate and pear cake. i've really only put fruit and chocolate together in a banana split or crepes. i am going to eunnie's this sunday and am going to make this for dessert. i do think our generation has a big edge on our grandmothers w/the invention of the internet. food bloggers everywhere post trial and error recipes and post many photos to boot of all the steps needed to create it at home. i am a stickler about wanting to see a photo before i try a recipe - it definitely helps the motivation to see how your final result should turn out.

well

i still don't have a job. i have a lot of friends/co-workers on the lookout, but it's not looking too good as far as the news reports today. i am going to try to push for as much freelance as possible while still looking for a day gig just to make it through this hump. i'm pushing my photography which is always a good source of income and any other talent i can muster. if anybody wants to pay me for a service, please let me know. i will send you baked goods, babysitt your kids, knit you a scarf, teach you how to play tennis, etc. oh, and i'm really good at eye makeup, according to my old roommates. after church my aunt harold came over and we talked about life over a piece of chocolate rasberry cheesecake with ganash. somehow life seems a bit brighter when you're eating chocolate.

bad, bad news

i just got laid off. i am done in 2 weeks. jan is at school, we have 0 income. i am still in shock.

new blog to read

for those of you who are asian, half asian, a quarter asian, who have asian friends or who served a mission in asia, you will appreciate/love this site. my sister-in-law brought to our attention and we have been cracking up ever since. check it: my mom is a fob

sorry

not feeling well. will post soon. rach is coming over tonight to go over wedding plans, and we are making breakfast for dinner. eggs or crepes, turkey bacon, and fresh blueberry muffins and fruit. i am a big fan of breakfast other than morning time. although i can't do leftover dinner for breakfast like my husband. yech. (unless it's pizza)

mrs. roomba

with the help of my grandma and a small freelance project, j & i bought a roomba from costco just before the holidays. we have only used it twice, but it's pretty great. if you aren't in the know about what she is, she is a robot vacuum. that's right. press 'clean' and off she goes. you can set timers for certain days of the week or place her in a spot and have her circle and spot clean something really dirty.

our reasoning for this purchase was 1. we have absolutely no storage for an upright 2. refer to #1. we have a small hand vac from our wedding registry which worked w/our hardwood but is no match for a fully carpeted apartment. she goes over the metal chair legs and under the dining table, and all in all does a pretty great job of cleaning. she tries to go outside on the porch but gets stuck so we have to remember to keep the door closed.

before we bought her, i talked to several owners, & read reviews. costco is great for returns so we figured if it dissapointed at anytime we would get our $ back. does anyone else have one? any problems? it is very entertaining to watch, quieter than my hairdryer and doesn't damage furniture.

office

I found this image awhile back and kept it in my files. If we have room in the next place we live, this is what I want to recreate for j & i. as far as I know, the desks are west elm & the file cabinets up top are ikea. image via martha stewart. it's clean, but interesting, has room for paper/supplies/ photography in the center console, plus wheels so it can move, and there is a ton of great storage up top.

old note

i found this old email from j from when i was in costa rica last may. it just made me laugh.

I'm bored without you, starving, sun burnt and the bed isn't made.
My life is falling apart.
Please come back soon.
JMB

well...

he's been gone for 2 days now.

day one: work, costco, skip (large) pile of dishes, watch lipstick jungle on laptop, eat leftovers & a salad, talk to brother on video chat.
day two: work, tackle pile of dishes, eat cereal for dinner (mmm), watch netflix movie while lifting weights and doing pushups/situps, talk to girlfriend on phone, eat a spoon of ice cream, talk to husband while laying in bed.
day three (today): work, married friends feel bad that i am alone and invite me over for dinner! (my first social interaction besides work)

now, did you see one productive thing in there? my. i wonder why it is that no husband around means back to single living - only better w/no roommates to get irked about the dishes! i've been sleeping in the middle of the bed, i get the whole bathroom to myself in the mornings, and i'm calling my parents more often - aak! i'm sure i'll get to productivity soon, but for now, i'm trying to look for all the positive things that will result because of this change in events.

as for j, he's loving his bachelorhood. he has 3 closets all to himself, can eat tuna, ramen & pasta to his hearts content, and can watch all the war documentarys he wants w/o a peep from me.

life update

j is going back to finish school in indiana. in...3 days. our plan was for this fall w/the revised GI Bill in effect, but we have decided to just get it over and done with so he can start working. neither of us are really prepared to leave eachother for a few months - we haven't done that since we dated. he'll be home for a week in march for spring break, and then again in may, and i'll probably visit for a weekend in indy somewhere in the mix as well. for all you muncie folks, please look out for him for me. for my cali friends - i'll have plenty of girl time the next few months, so let's get our craft on. tennis anyone?

wicked

jan suprised me with wicked tickets for christmas, and we went last night at the pantages theater in hollywood. it was SO good. i loved ga-linda the good witch (she was hilarious) and I thought they did a great job w/the set and effects - the monkeys were still as creepy they were when i was 7. if you haven't seen this yet, you should try.