I'll make you banana pancakes

...pretend like it's the weekend now.


I helped my little bro make banana pancakes yesterday for his special lady friend and they came out mighty tasty. I normally don't like banana flavored anything but these are dericious. And if Jack Johnson likes them, they are a-ok in my book. I tried out this recipe the night before to make sure they would be yummy enough, and that I would be able to help him, as I had never made pancakes before. I got pretty good at flipping them at the right moment, getting them to be the right pancake-y color, but it was a little difficult to get them to look that way on both sides since the banana chunks made them a little lumpy. So, we just left the good sides up..

After we were done with those, I moseyed on over to Woodland Hills to visit my cousin Cherry at her new house, where I met this little guy.

He's so cute!

Cherry and her hubby decided to take him along with us to watch fireworks. He was going crazy being surrounded by so many people and other dogs but once the fireworks started, he did not move one bit because he was so scared. Later my older brother said that July 4 is when the most dogs run away from home. Good thing he had a leash on!

As we were waiting for the fireworks, Cherry and I walked around. Lots of people had been camping out there all day for good fireworks-watching spots. One family was so prepared, they brought their whole patio set with them. Not only was there a full-on couch for Grandpa, they also had little end tables and potted plants. It was kind of amazing.

The fireworks were awesome, by the way. We didn't know where they would be going off, and it turned out we chose to wait in a poor location. There were a couple trees in the way, but we were able to see most of the show!

Mango Muffin Madness!

I've never been much of a culinary artist of any sort, really, but as you can see, my roomies and I have been trying to cook up new dishies. Recently I tried my hand at baking on my own for the first time. By that, I mean that I have baked before but usually with someone else who is typically more knowledgeable about cooking and sort of ends up taking over.

We had some mangoes that were way too ripe so rather than feeding them to the worms, I decided to mash them up to put in mango muffins!



I found this recipe on About.com but tweaked it a little due to availability of ingredients in my kitchen. The texture was great, but the taste was just okay. It was not quite sweet enough. I used the same recipe a couple days later using cherries instead, doing some more tweaking. It was not until my third try at muffins that I realized the vanilla extract I used in place of coconut extract did not provide any sweetness. Eek. I added more sugar, a little more salt to bring out the flavors, and cinnamon, and they tasted a lot better, but they could still use a little improvement. It's all about trial and error right? I do very much enjoy trying out different stuff. Unfortunately, I had a bunch of muffins to eat and not enough people to eat them, so what did I do? I brought them back to my mom who likes things that aren't too sweet and she actually sort of liked them. ^_^

By the way, these are the first pictures I am posting that I took with my new camera, the Canon Powershot S90. Weeee!

Exciting Environmental Eye-Openers!

Have you ever driven in a car and swerved, thinking you're about to run over an animal moving across a street, only to realize it's a black plastic bag lying in the middle of the road? Do you feel disgusted when you find that perfect spot on the beach, lay down on your mat, and right as a nice ocean breeze blows through your hair, along with it comes a rustling plastic bag in your face? Hopefully that will happen less often with the following news now in play...

In case you haven't heard, this month a state-wide ban on single use plastic bags at pharmacies, grocery stores and liquor stores was passed in California! San Francisco was the first city to do it in the nation and now the whole state is following suit. This is pretty exciting news, since it will help eliminate a lot of litter, reduce our dependence on petroleum and hopefully kill less animals who inadvertently choke on them, thinking the bags are food. Recycled paper bags will still be available for purchase for a nickel each.

There are people who oppose this ban, but I think they're just afraid of a little change. If this ban is such a bad idea, why has the idea of bringing your own bags to the market worked so well in Europe and Asia all these years? Apparently, according this article, a state politician by the name of Ted Gaines says that the ban is going to cost his family $50 a year to buy paper bags. It costs like a dollar for a reusable bag. You can buy 10 bags for $10 and use that other $40 on more groceries.

I'm hoping BYOB (bringing your own bag) will become as routine a practice as bringing money/credit cards with you when you go out. Nowadays there are plenty of foldable bags that fit in your pocket or purse easily, so it's really only a minor inconvenience. Most of the time, you know when you need to go out to buy groceries and whatnot, so pack accordingly. It'll save you your nickels and you won't have to wonder what to do with all those plastic bags collecting in your home. Change your bagging habits and save some change (and space!). :]

Also in plastic news, there are some crazy smart young people out there who have been making some amazing discoveries. Sixteen-year-old Canadian Daniel Burd discovered a microbe that eats plastic, and a Taiwanese high school student by the name of Tseng I-Ching, also 16, has found a bacterium that eats styrofoam. The possible side effects of the use of these plastic-eaters haven't totally been looked into yet, but what the heck? These are KIDS. When I was 16, I wouldn't even have been able to tell you what was in plastic, let alone what could break it down. Wonder what people will come up with to complain about these exciting pieces of news, that these brainy youngsters make normal people feel too inadequate?

Whatever helps to avoid this from happening...

photo from seaturtle.org

Week of Celebrating!

Happy birthday to me! I bought myself a camera and underwater housing case so the mister and I can take it snorkeling in wowwie Maui. I'm so excited for its arrival! Yayayayy.

So, as very few may know, my birthday was last week. I kept it low key and didn't really tell anyone. Unbeknownst to many, they were actually celebrating with me! I kicked off the secret celebrations with roomie weekend a.k.a. AdVentura, our visit to Katlynland. We did some more exploring of Ventura (in addition to our prior V-Town excursion in September) and attempted to beach but it was difficult as it was quite cold and we were blown inland by the gusty winds of the sea. Luckily for some, this was great weather for surfing.



No Downtown Ventura traipse would be complete without a visit to an antique store (which they seem to be in abundance of). We also discovered the most amazing candy/pop shop that carries a gazillion different sodas I have never heard of but sounded delectable nonetheless. It was a sweet AdVentura but short, as other previously made plans called us back to Los Angeles. I just love our reunions!

Back in LA, Tom and I were quite late to meet some friends downtown at The Gorbals. It was actually to celebrate my sis' birthday. The atmosphere there was so fun and colorful and service was super friendly, but I guess it was ultra busy because there were a few mix-ups with our order. They had this dericious bread with escargot. I know escargot seems disgusting (like, ew, snails!) but it's really good and totally worth trying at least once in your life.

Afterward, we skipped along to Caña Rum Bar, which used to be the Doheny. The name sounds somewhat similar to Connie-yaaaa (my seester), which drunkenly became our joke of the night. The tiki drinks there sooo tasty. Not too alcohol-tasting but still strong. They also have this really cool patio that's kind of like being inside but there's no roof so it's freezing. And I guess it's more of the smokers' lounge, so I couldn't stay out there too long. I read a lot of reviews that were ragging on this place, but I think a lot of them were disgruntled people who don't like the fact that the annual membership fee isn't as expensive as it used to be and therefore not as exclusive? Who knows? It's way cooler than I anticipated and there was even a live band playing. Wee!

My sister seemed to be down for more drinking and she really wanted to go to the Varnish, a not-so-secret bar inside of French dip restaurant Cole's, but we were all pretty buzzed already and a drink at the Varnish would do us in for sure. We settled for sandwiches, pie and Atomic Pickles instead!

On Monday, Wendy Frendy and I went to get Yogurtland and then the library. I just love going to the library, as you can see. The Arcadia Library gave me the birthday gift of a library card! It was awesome. Turned out the guy registering me and I have the same birthday. haha.

For my actual birthday, my sis and I took work off to hangarang. It was a little sad because my mom actually forgot my birthday. But she made up for it in a yummy dinner of lobster and pork chops! My sis and I had planned to get up early to do Tai Chi with my dad at the park, but he gets up at the buttcrack of dawn to do that and I thought my parents would come in our rooms to wake us up in the morning so I didn't set an alarm, but they did not. We got up much later and went to get pho with them instead at Golden Deli.

After that, she and I decided to head downtown to look at locations that were in the movie 500 Days of Summer.


We were very smooth and snuck into a couple of the vintage apartment buildings that were featured in the movie. The Continental, LA's first skyscraper, was my favorite, especially because the second floor had this little section with a lending library. It's a cozy little area to sit in and read with art consisting of vintage looking mirrors and lamps and wrought iron gate looking things. According to the self-guided walking tour, the "First floor has been altered, but the second story retains its stone block design." It also has a huge window to go out onto the fire escape where we got some really cool shots.



We saw almost all the stuff on the tour and even sat on the same bench as Summer and Tom! Teehee. Here's the view from it:



And on that bench, someone stuck this sticker:


We also went inside the Million Dollar Theater prior to that, which is gorgeous outside. Inside was a little drab but I'm sure the apartments themselves are nice. I also always love going to the Bradbury building and looking at the fun elevators and then traveling across the street to get tastiness at the Grand Central Market.

That tour made me want to live in vintage downtown so bad! The Old Bank District is amazing! Check out my Flickr for more pics!


Ventura photos courtesy of Heren

May Dishes: Brother vs. Brother

This month's theme appears to be chicken. The roomies did not partake in April dishing but have been pretty good about it so far this month. Bryan kicked off the month with Chipotle Chicken Pasta. It was super spicy but quite tasty. Then, a couple nights later, Tom gave our favorite Indian restaurant a run for its money when he made his Chicken Korma.

Check out some photos!



Once again, I was playing around with the SLR. I got some nice pictures of Tom's meal. Unfortunately, I did not know that when you take pictures off of Tom's camera, the next pictures you take replace the numbers of the old photos, so I accidentally replaced pictures of Bryan's meal on my computer. :( So, the pictures from my point and shoot of Bryan's dinner will have to do. Also, I did not really know how to work the camera very well anyway so the pictures on my camera probably came out better than what I took on the SLR.

So what do you think? Would you prefer Bryan's Chipotle Chicken Pasta?


Or Tom's Chicken Korma?


Well, the dishes are both so different, I can't really compare them to each other. ;) I would say they were equal in deliciousness. In the end, as I imagine Hot Chip would say, it's a wild love that they have for each other and it doesn't matter who won or lost. Oh, brothers.


Check out the rest of this set of photos here!

Photography Monday!

So, I only work four days a week. When asked what Mondays are for, I tell people they are reserved for "special projects." I haven't totally been taking advantage of them, but I do work on special projects. I am currently working on something that I will eventually turn into my side business. Haven't worked out all the kinks yet, but let's just say it involves an Etsy and some crochet hooks.

For the past week, I've been going crazy over what new camera I want to get, because mine does not really take the best pics. I was choosing between the Canon G11, Canon S90 and the Panasonic LX3. Tough decision. I wanted something where I could play with all the manual options. The only reason the LX3 was still in the running was because it can shoot HD videos. I went to check them all out this weekend at Samy's Camera (which is amazing, btw) and the LX3 was a little difficult to navigate. Plus, I don't really like the idea of having to cap and uncap it. Guess I'm too lazy. I decided I like the S90 the most because it's pretty much everything the G11 is but it fits in your pocket! I haven't decided on actually purchasing it yet, because I want to learn how to use manual functions first. Hence today's special project: learning to use a SLR!


I went around taking pictures in my garden and I discovered some new things about it. Above are a couple pics of some of my lettuce plants, old and new. There's gonna be lots of red romaine and green leaf lettuce to go around soon enough. I love growing lettuce because it's pretty much the easiest thing I've ever grown and it's the first thing that has really grown in my garden. My plants usually die pretty fast after they bud, but lettuce has given me a little more confidence.

The other day, I discovered this little guy. I do believe that this is a pepper plant. So excoiting. THEN, today as I was taking pictures, I found another pepper plant hiding under some worm castings (peekaboo!),

One of the green nubbies on our tangerine tree:

I also tried my hand at taking some indoor pictures of some random vintage items in our place. Here's a fan belt hanger that we use to hang jeans and whatnot:

Suitcase collection...

...Turned end table!

My April Dish!

My roommates and I decided that this month we would each make a dish that we have never made before. Since I don't cook a whole lot, the possibilities for me were endless! We have been a little late with our dishes as it is getting towards the end of April now. I made mine last Monday and it was the first one. The boys better get on their dishes asap. There aren't too many days left in April!

Anywho, the dish I made is called Baked Potato Soup. After I took a cooking class in high school, I decided that I wanted to become the potato dish queen. This never happened, but I still hold a soft spot in my heart for potatoes. I even bought a book of all potato dish recipes called More Than Mashed. Har. Anyway, I was shopping with the roomies at Ralphs one time and saw this recipe for Baked Potato Soup on their recipe carousel. It looked dericious in the picture. It didn't turn out quite as I imagined it would but it was still edible. I think I bought the wrong kind of potatoes. A poor queen, I would be.

As you may notice, that first picture is not of potatoes or anything soup-like. I had also made garlic bread mostly from scratch (I don't know how to make bread). I had a good recipe from when I made garlic bread a long time ago, but I don't know where it went, so I just Googled one where I could incorporate the oregano I have been growing but have had no particular use for (Look! I even added some for garnish!). It turned out awesome, even though I was careless and did not realize that I combined two different recipes while shopping for ingredients. I mostly used this recipe but I guess I confused it with another one prior to that that called for Parmesan because when I looked at the above one again to make the garlic bread it said mozzarella. Ack. It turned out good though, so maybe I'll keep using Parmesan. I'm not sure how I feel about gooey garlic bread. The recipe called for crushed garlic. I had no idea what that is so mid-mixing, I had to do an internet search. There are a bunch of different methods but I opted to smash my cloves with a wooden spoon as I did not have any of the equipment on hand that the other methods needed. It's actually really fun but they get kind of slippery.

The whole meal turned out quite good despite the botching of some steps. My roommates did not throw up, nor did they make faces while eating, so all in all, success. To the left is a picture of my meal. Even though it was just soup and bread, it was surprisingly filling.

The soup was sort of chowdery but it came out a little sweet. I think it was the cheese I used. Next time they say to use cheddar, I will refrain from using the pouch of Mexican cheese we had left over from our taco night. Lesson learned.

As you can see, I garnished it with some green onions and bacon bits. Nom nom. By the way, I didn't like bacon that much for a while because I thought it was too salty but I've really grown to appreciate it again after this meal.

I can't wait to see what the roomies come up with! Cough cough.

Next month, we might even try to do "in season" dishes with ingredients from the farmer's market. We is getting crazy.

John Scott sighting

Earlier last month, I met John Scott (mentioned previously here) on the bus heading back to my apartment. He was waiting at the same stop as me and as he was getting on, I noticed the briefcase with his bright orange and black sticker on it. I knew it was Mr. Scott himself.

As I walked on the bus and passed him, he turns to me and says, "Oh hey, how you doin'?" I could not believe I just got hit on by John Scott. An honor, it was. For those of you who don't know, he was the mysterious tagger who put up all those orange and black stickers that say "Who is John Scott?" on them. He was later caught putting one up at the Metro and 7th station and was proclaimed to be the oldest person ever to be arrested for tagging by the Los Angeles Sheriff Department.

I could not pass up the opportunity to speak to him because I am such a dork:

Me: !! Hey I went to your website!
JS: Oh you did?
Me: Yeah! I saw your picture (trying to refer to his mugshot and failing).
JS: Oh yeah? Did you read the articles?
Me: Yeah they were great!
JS: Did you read that I was a world traveler?
Me: Yeah that's awesome!
JS: I been all over the world.
Me: Cool (omg, do I not have anything better to say than 'Cool'?)!
JS: Damn right, I been everywhere. I'm a world traveler.

At this point, I was pushed towards the back of the bus. I wanted to buy an autographed sticker (it's only a dollar!), but I was too far away. Man, I am such a fangirl.

Image from L.A. Times article

Gradumacated, for real this time

I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL as of yesterday at approximately 8:00 p.m. when I sent in my last final paper. It feels awesome, even though I probably mentally checked out a few years ago... when I started college... Senioritis is real kids, and it is a very debilitating disease. But anyhow, now I can start my crafting again. Yeeee! And all the other stuff I have been meaning to do. Not sure what my parents' reaction will be. I don't really have an excuse for not living at home anymore, besides the fact that it is stressful and I don't like my mom telling me how fat I am whenever the mood strikes her; I am sure they won't take that to heart. If anyone has any other excuses I can use, I am all ears. For now, I will revel in my doneness. I am alum, hear me roar.

Upgrade!

I have moved my blog! It took me forever to try to make the layout look like the other one but I did (kinda) and added a couple things that no one is going to notice. Enjoy!