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#61
February 6, 2010I have an exam on Monday and spent most of the day preparing for it. When I wasn’t studying, I was either napping or watching “As Told by Ginger” on YouTube. “As Told by Ginger” is one of my favorite childhood shows. I also really like “Daria.” Two summers ago, I watched all the “Daria” episodes that were available on YouTube. I miss Daria.
I was going to make this light sesame chicken for dinner today, but instead made brown sugar soy sauce chicken with green beans, edamame, and white rice. I’ve made it before, but don’t really have a recipe for it. I liked how the chicken and veggies turned out, but I think I undercooked the rice. Hey, better the rice than the chicken.
Spring Break is three weeks away, and I’m going to visit a friend in New York! I’m super excited. The last time I was in New York was September. I enjoyed my time there and am happy that I’ll be going back.
Links I like:
1) The Blue Ribbon General Store has some pretty neat stuff. I’m really wanting this nesting set and medicine box. The store’s located in Brooklyn, so I’ll make sure to swing by there when I’m in New York.
2) Hickoree’s. I’ve had my eye on this bag for quite some time now. Yes, it’s a tool bag, but all the better. That means it can handle anything I throw in it, be it textbooks or art supplies (my current bag has seen better days). And the best part? It gets better with use!
#60
February 5, 2010I like to bake, but I don’t really like to cook. Whenever I cook something, it never turns out right. And cooking meat makes me nervous. I always worry that I’m undercooking it and that I’m going to get myself and everyone else in my house sick. For the most part, I stay away from cooking meat. But I’m going to try and change that! Here are a few recipes I’m hoping to try out within the next week or so:
1) Shrimp, Tomato, and Basil Pasta from MarthaStewart.com: The recipe doesn’t look difficult at all, and there’s even a video you can watch to help you along the way!
2) Lighter Sesame Chicken from MarthaStewart.com: I don’t have a steamer basket, but I do have a colander, and I think that could work for steaming the broccoli.
#59
February 5, 2010“Clothes never look any good, and food just makes me fatter, but shoes always fit.”
-Rose Feller, In Her Shoes (2005)
A girl can never have too many shoes. And here’s a shoe every girl should consider adding to her collection: the oxford.
Simple and clean, the oxford brings a polished look to any outfit. Its low heel makes it perfect (and appropriate) for wearing to the office, or for walking comfortably around town. I’d stick with a neutral color like brown or black.
Here are few options, priced for every wallet.
Xhilaration Taree Oxford Shoes in Cognac, at target.com, $24.99.
Coconuts Goose Laceless Oxford in Black, dsw.com, $34.99.
Jeffrey Campbell Uniform Oxford in Tan, nordstrom.com, $109.95.
#58
February 5, 2010The past few months have been a blur. I’ve sent grad apps off to two schools and hear back from both sometime in March. I was going to apply to a third school, but I’m reconsidering that at the moment. There are students out there who are applying to dozens of grad schools, and here I am, debating whether or not to apply to a third one. Err.
Also, my mother tried to get me to stay in Michigan for graduate school by promising me a car. I can’t stay in Michigan. I have not even looked into grad schools here, let alone sent in applications. I promise I’ll visit!
#57
November 5, 2009
Entry #1 to the Veer Grand Prize Contest
Entry # 2
Entry #1 is my favorite.
Making sweet potato fries for a study snack. I almost burned them in the oven.
Etsy Finds
4. Feather and flower headband
7. Glasses
8. Chair clutch
I’ve started my application process for grad school! I’ve decided to apply to Pratt, RISD, and SCAD. The next two months are going to be very stressful!
Links you should visit today:
1) Design Vagabond.
#56
November 2, 2009
Fall is here.
I went on a helicopter tour of Ann Arbor last week! It was my first time flying in a helicopter, and it was great. Though I must admit that I did get a little queasy halfway through the tour. My seatmate made an observation: Ann Arbor has a lot of trees. It just hit me that we should have played “I Spy” while we were up there.
Links you should visit today:
1) Sandra Juto. A photo blog.
2) Ruthi Auda. She does the store displays at the Anthropologie in Newport Beach. I want her job.
#55
October 18, 2009It’s Fall Study Break here at the University, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. A four-day weekend is just what I need to catch up on all my readings. I have an exam the day we get back from Fall Study Break, and I plan on studying for it tonight or tomorrow.
Reading for class and enjoying some tea. I’m growing to like tea.
I’m staying in Ann Arbor over the break, as I never get anything done when I go home. And when my brother left for college in September, my parents turned off the wireless internet at their house. It makes sense–my parents are the only ones at home right now and can make do without it, but I don’t think I’d be able to survive for four days without wireless internet.
A lot of my housemates went home for the Fall Study Break. There’s about 6 of us in the house right now, and it’s really quiet. I can’t wait to see everyone again, but I’m also appreciating how calm it is around here. Though the calmness feels creepy at night.
Speaking of creepy, some of my housemates saw Paranormal Activity, and it really freaked them out. I get scared way too easily, so I avoid scary movies altogether.
My roomie got me a gift certificate to Hollander’s for my birthday last month, and I used it a couple of weeks ago. I bought art supplies and a map of the world. @sara_bee has the exact same map–I saw it at her house, and she mentioned that she got it at Hollander’s. When I went to Hollander’s and saw it, I wanted to get it too.
Hollander’s is known for its supply of decorative paper and bookbinding materials and classes. They have a really great and beautiful paper inventory.
A small sample of the paper available at Hollander’s. There’s a whole room at Hollander’s devoted just to paper.
One of my housemates and I went to the Salvation Army for a couple of hours on Friday and both left with some good finds. She got a couple of skirts and dress shirts, and I got a belt, some tops, and a skirt. One of the tops and skirt is a tad too big for me, so I think I’ll give them to one of my sisters.
I went to the Michigan Theatre later on Friday with my roomie, @sara_bee, and @jasminezoo to see The September Issue. I really enjoyed it; it was everything I thought it would be.
I shot the University of Michigan vs. Delaware State football game yesterday. The photographer that I was supposed to shoot with woke up feeling sick, so I shot the game all on my own. It was really cold, but I had a good time.
After shooting the game, I went to the yearbook office to upload the photos. I got back to my co-op a little before 6pm, had dinner, and started working on a piece that I’m thinking of including in my portfolio for art school.
Here’s what my piece looked like at 8pm yesterday.
Here’s my completed piece at 2am! I pinned it to my bulletin board, right above “come-visit-our-school-for-more-information” letters from grad schools that I’m thinking of applying to. This will all serve as a daily reminder to get on those applications! How I’m wishing those letters were acceptance letters.
For the past few months, I’ve been looking for a jewelry stand. I came across a few that I liked, but they just weren’t what I was looking for. Last week, I saw that one of my housemates puts her jewelry on a bulletin board, which I thought was genius. I ran out to pick-up a bulletin board as soon as I had some free time.
I’m really happy with my jewelry bulletin board. On a side note, I’ve had that pink flower for a little over two weeks now, since the day of my tea party. It’s starting to wither, but I’m happy that it’s lasted as long as it has.
rambling #54
October 14, 2009It’s 7:41pm and I’m sitting in my COMM462 class. The class is called Designing Persuasive Communication. It’s an okay class. Today’s lecture is about building brand strategy.
Class ends at 10pm, and I forgot to pack a snack. Darn it.
I had two exams earlier today, and I think they both went well. Though I did have some trouble with a short essay question. I simply had no idea what to write! I just scribbled out a couple of paragraphs. It probably won’t make any sense to my professor or GSI.
This past Saturday, I went to Wiard’s Orchard with the yearbook staff. I had a blast; we raced through the Labyrinth (my team lost), walked through the corn maze (sadly, the corn was really short…and that’s coming from someone who’s 5’2”), went on a hay ride, and filled up on apples and cider before we left. We didn’t pick any apples, but I was more than fine with that–there’s always a ton of apples at my co-op. If I had brought more home, we would be drowning in apples right now.
I made apple cake later that night. It was pretty delicious. I got the recipe from smittenkitchen.com. Where else. I’m in love with that website.
rambling #53 @ 11:20pm
October 8, 2009I’ve really been getting into baking these past few months, and I think it has something to do with the kitchen in my co-operative housing (not to mention my adoration of @MarthaStewart and smittenkitchen.com). I really like the size of our kitchen.
We have drawers full of baking tools and bakeware, but there’s always room for more! These items would make baking a little easier (and a bit more fun) for me and my housemates.
1) 5-piece Parker Bowl Set. I really like the metal mixing bowls we have now, but I love the colors of these bowls!
2) Microplane Grater-Zester. We don’t have a Microplane, and trying to zest a lemon with a box grater is no fun. I usually try to avoid recipes that call for lemon zest or orange zest because I hate breaking out the box grater (it’s also hard to clean), but if we had a Microplane, I’d be up for anything. Especially these lemon ricotta pancakes with sauteed apples.
3) Lemon Squeezer. Okay, so we have a lemon squeezer. And it’s been loved. It’s also kind of old. It sort of looks like this, but it’s green, plastic, and not as nice. It’s also difficult to store in a kitchen drawer because of its shape and size. This red one would be a lot easier to slide in a drawer.
4) Flour Sifter. We have sifters like this, and the work wonderfully–I just really like the clicking involved with this sifter.
5) Porcelain Measuring Spoons. We probably have 4 different sets of measuring spoons. They’re all missing at least one spoon, and we’ve lost a few measuring spoons to the garbage disposal. I’d say we have three complete sets now, after some mixing and matching. I like that these are porcelain, a material I’ve recently become greatly interested in/slightly obsessed with.
6) Creme Brulee Dish. We don’t have any dishes like these. I’d love to make quiches with them, or mini-pies, or mini-tarts. Or creme brulees.
7) Cake Slicer and Cake Knife. We have these huge rectangular spatulas that are great for flipping omelettes or grilled cheese sandwiches, but not so great for plating cake. It just gets too messy.
8 ) Pop Container Set. We have 2 huge shelves filled with storage containers…we just can never find the lids that go with them! It’s like the sock that goes missing when you do your laundry. Does the dryer eat it? Does our dish sanitizer eat storage container lids?
