so, it's been a while

It's been 1001 days (plus, like, two weeks) since I wrote up my list of 101 things to do. Turns out, I did kinda okay (although not so much in the Learn category). In 1001 days, I completed 32 things. Give me three more months and I'll cross off a couple more (#11, #92, #101). Here are some notes:

#10. Yellowstone and Grant Teton National Parks!
#20. This first gif was of a sandwich. Pretty sure it was this sandwich in particular. No idea where the gif is saved.
#24. I've been to 3 NHL hockey games now! One preseason game in Chicago vs the Stars, one game over winter break in Anaheim vs the Flyers, and one game in Dallas(!!) vs the Blues. Plus a bajillion more Madison Capitols games.
#43. Along with a Blackhawks jersey, I now own a Stars jersey, because I've moved on from that trainwreck of a bandwagon.
#47. My newest kitty is named Scarlet! Adopted the day before Valentine's Day, 2016. She's super shy, so no photos yet. (How many more cats do I need to count as a crazy cat lady?)
#58. Totally worth it. And miles better than the other holiday swap I joined (Target dollar bin stationary? uh, not when I sent you handcrafted goods.)
#59. The starter is now dead. May or may not pick it back up again, although probably not until the weather is cooler.
#60. Didn't make a wedding cake, but I did cut and serve a homemade cake at a friend's wedding.
#72. I had a very loose definition of "run" when I crossed this off...
#92. I'll be done with these loans by September.
#101. $25 x 32 = $800

i got a job! and i'm moving!

dream loft?

During the job hunt, it felt like this day would never, ever come, but thankfully, it finally has. I got a job! So I'm moving! At the end of the month! To Madison, Wisconsin! Too many exclamation points?

This whole polar vortex thing has me a little worried about moving to the midwest, because even without this abnormal weather, it's ridiculously cold in Madison. But now I'll be within driving distance of Chicago and the Blackhawks, even if I won't have a car. And I'm definitely looking forward to setting up a new life for me and Ruby. Maybe even work on this "date a hockey player" goal of mine. I'll settle for finding a hockey-watching buddy, though.

Now I'm trying to find an apartment in two-ish weeks, which is a little difficult when I'm currently 2,000 miles away. But to help keep things organized, I typed up this Apartment-Hunting Checklist, using info from this really helpful post (their link no longer works, so I made my own version), and adding a couple items of my own.

My top 3 priorities (not including a cat-friendly space, because that's obvious) are kitchen, laundry, and access to a bus route. Pretty normal stuff, I think. Fingers crossed that I'll fall in love with an apartment.

Let me know if you've got your own tips and tricks for finding an apartment, or if you've got more things to add to the checklist!

merry christmas

No Christmas tree for us this year, since my cat loves climbing it and knocking down all the ornaments and the fake branches, so I made these DIY marquee lights out of cardboard and a string of Christmas lights to hang up instead. 

Hope you're having a relaxing day with family, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. I'm making brunch for the family with my mom's new waffle maker, and then we're heading to my aunt's for dinner. Should be a good time.

I'll be back in a few days with pictures from the s'mores party I'm throwing on Friday, and a DIY s'mores kit. Here's to ending the year on a sweet note!

happy thanksgiving!

this gorgeous turkey from Food52

Just checking in real quick to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. It's just me and my mom this holiday, so we'll be keeping things kinda small, with a kabocha squash risotto, this baked mushrooms, broken bread, and a roasted brussel sprout and apple salad. I'm also starting a pretty big DIY that I'm jumping in to kinda blindly, so we'll see how it turns out.

Hope your long weekend is full of family, friends, good food, and relaxation. Maybe some shopping, too, if you want to brave the crowds =]

college care package: winter edition

I don't usually put so many bought goods in a care package. but my brother's a special case. But he got a pretty good spread of stuff, if I do say so myself.

Here's what went in:

• granola x3
• hot cocoa (french vanilla & milk chocolate)
• fruit strips (apricot, strawberry, & wild berry)
• homemade dark chocolate peanut butter swirl cookies
• persimmons
• shout wipes (from the $1 bin at Target)
• hand warmers (also $1. we may have bought too many...)

wish list: anthropologie

Because it's only November, this isn't a Christmas wish list. This is a I-wish-I-had-more-money-or-maybe-a-rich-boyfriend/husband-or-a-job-I-suppose wish list. Anthropologie is really good at breaking my heart, and I was having the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) luck on Friday, because everything I tried on looked absolutely fantastic. Time to wait until these go on sale. Or maybe I'll discover I have a great-great-aunt-once-removed who willed her considerable fortune to me. That'll be the day.

Jeweled Collar Tank by Sachin + Babi

Elinor Top by HD in Paris

Joyeux Dress by Sachin + Babi

And then some other fun finds, as I was browsing their website.

top row: white rabbit cookie jar, tiered crane sculpture, woodland stocking holder

middle row: argentinean candy jar, puppy paper towel holder, chroma juice press

bottom row: popsicle string lights, altair tent, etched fern stemware

i forgot NaBloPoMo was a thing

image found via Tumblr

NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month (or something), and for some reason, most people who take on the challenge of blogging every day for a month tend to do it in November. I, clearly, didn't realize this was a thing, since I started my own "blog every day for a month" challenge in the middle of October. But now that I'm not alone, it'll be interesting to see how others deal with all this blogging.

Another month-long writing project happening in November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where participants pledge to write a 50,000-word by the end of the month. Props to all those doing this, too; I took a creative writing class once in college, and had the hardest time figuring out how to write a story longer than a page. It was the absolute worst.

So to all those writing and blogging a ton this month, good luck, and see you on the flip side.

maintenance day

The website is going through a teensy little facelift, as I dust off my coding skills and try really really hard to translate my vision into reality. So it might be a little laggy for a little bit, but any wrinkles should be ironed out by the end of the week.

Also, the recent influx of posts are because I'm doing #91 of my 101 in 1001 list, which is to blog daily for a month. It's definitely been a challenge trying to come up with posts while keeping some sort of quality control, and while I've definitely learned a lot about how I blog, I can't wait until I can go back to my regular (irregular?) posting schedule. Today's day 12 of 31.

Happy Halloween Week! Thank goodness the weather's supposed to be nice on Thursday. I can't wait.

link love + happy friday

When I'm Able to Find You - Me & Mr. Cassidy

I mentioned Oh, Hello Friend's 5th anniversary party last week, and Me & Mr. Cassidy was there to provide live entertainment. They were absolutely fantastic. Their cover of Drops of Jupiter/I Try is also pretty special (song starts at 1:02). You should definitely check them out! You can watch their videos here, or sample some tunes on their website.

We're going apple picking this weekend in Oak Glen. We'll see how it compares to apple picking out East =P

Have a lovely weekend!

Articles:
- ff you're not a politics sort of person, but still want to know happened with the government shutdown, the NY Times provides a great summary
- a fascinating article on alcohol as an escape from perfectionism for women
- it's interesting to see what older people think about younger people, in this case about spending, or the lack thereof
- scientists are finally figuring out why people need sleep
- this really resonated with me for some reason. experience matters.

Food:
- I've never had a cronut, but this apple pecan pie version looks pretty tasty

Cool Finds:
- want: a disco ball pizza oven
- not sure if this qualifies as "cool", but a photographer takes portraits of the men who catcall her on the street in Philadelphia
- cats napping in cute places. now say it with me, "awwwwww"
- Kelly Clarkson covers songs and absolutely kills it. (my fave is "I Will Wait." That's a lie. I can't choose. "Lose Yourself" is def pretty epic though.)
- coffitivity gives you coffee shop background noise without the distraction to boost productivity. win-win.
- this portland library turned home is absolutely swoon-worthy

saggy pumpkins, and replacement origami ones

My cat, the once shy scared-of-everything little cat, has now taken to sprinting out of open doors, which is clearly a problem. I've had some close calls where I've just barely grabbed the end of her tail to drag her back in, but the adventure on Saturday just takes the cake. For some reason, she managed to sneak out the door without me noticing. Oh no, right? Thankfully I felt something was off when I went back inside, and I eventually found her in the rose bushes outside the front door, just chilling. And after I brought her inside and wiped off her paws, she immediately plopped down in front of the door, wanting to go outside again. This cat, I swear.

Anyways, I carved a pumpkin for the first time in about 5+ years, and it went surprisingly well. My tip? Use a sharp serrated knife. I had my leatherman on hand, and the saw blade slid right through the pumpkin. Since I'm only a novice pumpkin carver, I only have one tip to offer. Sorry.

My pumpkins ended up with my last initial (Z) and my Chinese last name (周), and I spent about an hour trying to find the right font for each character. They turned out pretty swell if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, (because of the warm Cali weather?) they've started the shrivel and sag. Oh no!

I ended up shoving a couple toothpicks into each one to straighten out some of the saggy pieces. But I ended up chucking these this weekend, which is how my cat escaped. Lose-lose situation all around.

I think next time I'll paint instead of carve. There's a great idea for a chalkboard typography pumpkin, glitter monogram pumpkin, a glow-in-the-dark pumpkin, and a puffy paint pumpkin. Ugh, I can't believe I'm collecting ideas for next year's Halloween already!

But for this year, I folded some quick origami pumpkins, following these instructions (also mentioned in this post). Her directions say to use A4 paper, which is slightly thinner and longer than regular printer paper, but I found that her template works just fine with regular printer paper as long as you uncheck the "scale to fit" box when you print; you'll lose her logo, but the template comes out unscathed. 

I first tried it on orange construction paper, but for some reason the printer ink smudged all over the place, so I ended up flipping the whole thing over and drawing my own jack o'lantern face to compensate. That might actually work better, though, so your pumpkins don't show the black grid lines that tell you where to fold.

But I wanted big pumpkin-sized pumpkins, too, so I scaled up her project and made larger pumpkins out of kraft paper, and then medium-sized pumpkins out of black butcher paper to round out the set. 

awww, what a happy family

Pics on the entire set of Halloween decorations to come later this week! (aka after I've finished crafting them and putting them up...)

happy friday

Important news first: I have finally finished an Expert-level game of Minesweeper. It has taken me approximately 10 years, but I have finally done it. I am now invincible.

a screenshot for posterity

This weekend is shaping up to be a good one. Tonight, we're heading to Oh, Hello Friend's 5th Anniversary Party, which sounds like it's going to be a blast. And then the rest of the weekend will be for Halloween crafting. I've got my costume to make, Ruby's costume to make, and then the rest of the house decorations. Nothing too complicated, but it will require quite a bit of time with a pair of scissors. Good thing the 'Hawks are playing this weekend to keep me company =]

Posts to come on how it all turns out! Have a wonderful weekend.

link love

Vinyasa Flow - Dylan Werner

This video is one of the coolest things ever. Now that I've seen this, I really want to add "learn how to do yoga inversions" and "go on a yoga retreat" to my 101 list, but clearly I can't because it's 101 things in 1001 days and not 103 things. Rest assured that I will not forget about those two goals, though! I will do those crazy handstands and inversions eventually. He also has a super awesome couples acroyoga video as well; I did not know that was a thing, but maybe that needs to go on my list as well... I think I need to find a boyfriend/partner first. 

diy round-up

I've been clicking around the web this entire weekend and ended up adding a bunch of new blogs to my feed, and bookmarking a handful of DIY crafts.  Some of them are just so awesome that I felt bad keeping them to myself. Seriously, you might just squeal from the adorable.

1) Recycled Denim Whale: This stuffed animal is just too cute for words. Not to mention I have so many old pairs of holey (and right by the crotch, ugh) jeans that are collecting dust in my closet. Unfortunately, there is no template for all the pieces of fabric, but the tutorial is wonderfully detailed (with pictures!) to make things a little simpler. I'm thinking this might be a wonderful gift for a certain little someone with #66 of my list. I really can't get over how adorable this is. (via Valaan Villapaita)

care packages

I LOVE sending care packages. At least until I end up at the post office and am surprised at how expensive it is to ship things these days. But no matter, because the act of finding (or baking) a bunch of goodies and putting it all together in a box is a pretty awesome task.

a care package for a friend in the middle of med school exam week

lighthouses

Number 9 on my 101 in 1001 list is to visit another three lighthouses.  For some reason, I think of lighthouses as an east coast thing, but the west coast definitely has some beautiful lighthouses too! My best friend Hannah and I had plans to go on this lighthouse road trip sometime during college, but never got around to it (although that seems to be the story of our friendship; we've got a google doc full of things we want to do but haven't.  instead we order takeout and watch stupid movies.) So now, it's on my list of things to do.

Fisgard Lighthouse

However, I did get the chance to visit two lighthouses while I was vacationing in the Pacific Northwest last summer with my family.  We stopped at the Fisgard Lighthouse in Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, and the West Point Lighthouse in Discovery Park, Seattle, WA.  The Fisgard Lighthouse was restored inside, so you could go in and explore.  The West Point Lighthouse was being repainted when we were there, and I'm not sure the current state.  But neither are particularly out of the way of their respective city, so I would definitely recommend visiting both!

West Point Lighthouse

san diego

This past weekend, my mom and I took a day trip down to San Diego. We didn't do too much - mostly just shopping and some eating. Most of these places were suggested by Design Sponge's city guide. Here are some of the places we went to.

Food:
Cafe 21: we went here for lunch based off yelp reviews, but weren't really impressed? there was a decent wait outside too, so we were surprised by the quality of food.  maybe people went for the drinks? they had six selections of sangria, and huge bloody marys etc etc etc. it also took forever to get our food, and all we ordered was spinach crepes and a spicy cristo sandwich.
Rim Talay Thai Cuisine: we ended up grabbing dinner in Oceanside on our drive back home.  Yelp didn't steer us wrong with this one. we ordered their fresh rolls (aka spring rolls), an island curry (red curry plus pineapple etc), and a tom yum noodle soup.  great food for a decent price, but service was a bit slow at times.  they also do a pretty popular takeout. we parked next to a barber shop full of marines getting their high and tight sharpened up; it was amusing.

Shopping:
Pigment: super awesome store in North Park, with a "plant lab" where you can create your own terrarium with their selection of glass globes, plants, sand, etc.  
Progress: also wonderfully curated, with an awesome selection of cards and home goods.  in South Park
Bubbles Boutique: a clothing and accessories store in the Gaslamp District.  apparently they only (mostly?) stock local artists/jewelers/etc? Depending on what you're going for, may not be worth the drive and parking, but if you're already in the area, definitely worth a look
Bixby & Ball: in the Cedros Design District in Solana Beach, a little bit north of San Diego. I'd visited this place before, and wanted to show it to my mom. the last time I was there, they had spread out onto the steps and driveway out front for a sale, which was great for me. this time, it was just the shop. pricey goods, but the ambience and quality is fantastic.
Solo: just down the street from bixby & ball.  lots of great stuff, plus it's in this warehouse-y looking cement brick building that they managed to make inviting and not like costco at all.  you could probably find a lot of their goods elsewhere for a couple dollars cheaper, but it's still a great place to browse and get inspiration.  the rest of the store in the Cedros Design District also warrant a visit.

and some places we didn't get to, but wish we did.
Food:
Maza Grill Kabob: apparently they offer good, cheap food.  unfortunately they were closed for the long weekend.
Alchemy: had a delicious-sounding menu, but we weren't hungry when we got to the South Park area, so decided to move on. also seems to have a community aspect to it, which is exciting
Craft & Commerce: their lunch menu looked fantastic, but they only offer food from their brunch menu on weekends, which wasn't as exciting.

Shopping:
Vocabulary: we ended up passing by this part of town completely. =[

101 in 1001

inspired by Danni's list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, so I decided to make my own.  will be continually updated as things get accomplished!
legend: in progress (13) || completed (32/101) || completed after 1001 days (2)
start date: Thursday, 8/29/2013
end date: Tuesday, 5/31/2016

TRAVEL & OUTDOORS
01. visit chicago
02. hike up half dome in yosemite
03. visit san francisco again
04. go tree house camping
05. ride in a hot air balloon
06. go on a road trip (maybe with #3?)
07. visit europe
08. visit an independent bookstore
09. visit another three lighthouses (0/3)
10. spend an entire day enjoying nature and nothing else
11. sleep under the stars
12. watch a meteor shower
13. go on six new hikes (sturtevant falls, devil's lake, night hike at the uw arboretum, governor nelson state park, pheasant branch creek, governor dodge state park) (6/6)

Spring Break Round-up

I love visiting other cities whenever I get a chance, and being on the East Coast means that I have so many choices to choose from. This spring break, I went to Washington, D.C. and New York City.  Here are some my favorite places.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Food:

Founding Farmers: we were in the area on a Sunday night, when the streets were all empty.  you wouldn't have realized it from the restaurant, however; both floors were completely packed.  good food and quality ingredients that are made in-house or carefully sourced.

Standard: great barbecue. 'nuff said.

Shopping:

GoodWood: they have a shop puppy that makes a visit worth it.  They mostly carry 19th and 20th century antiques, other vintage finds, and some locally-made products.

Tabletop: a wonderful collection of modern accessories.

Proper Topper: runs the gamut from hats, dresses, baby toys and clothes, books, and more.  good for treating yourself with something beautiful or for gifting a friend.

Trohv DC: huge place chock full of home goods, furniture, party accessories, and more.

Other:

Museums (obviously).  Most of the Smithsonian museums are free, which just makes it all better.  The most popular are the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History, but some other gems include

National Gallery of Art: beautiful art in a beautiful building.

Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art: Asian art plus a random gallery of American Art.

Museum of American History: I learned so many new things about this country.  Made me proud to be an American, even with all the hiccups we've had (and are still having).

Botanic Garden: and many other gardens dotted between the museums are beautiful.

NEW YORK CITY

Food:

Doughnut Plant: huge donuts with innovative flavors.

Russ and Daughters: cream cheese and cured salmon all made in-house.  lines are long, but worth the wait.

Patisserie Claude: best croissants ever.

Pearl Oyster Bar: lobster rolls and shoestring fries

City Bakery: pretzel croissant.  better than it sounds.

Eataly: Mario Batali's food extravaganza.  a mix between grocery store, deli, cafe, and restaurant.

Momofuku Milk Bar: crack pie is a must-have.  cereal milk ice cream as well.  heck, just try everything.

il laboratorio del gelato: wonderful flavors.

Mast Brothers Chocolate: handcrafted dark chocolate with beautiful packaging.

The Cinnamon Snail: vegan food truck bursting with flavor.  the pastries are wonderful too.

Shopping:

Brooklyn Flea: better in the spring/summer, but still great in the winter.  fantastic collection of clothes, craft, antiques, and food.

Papel New York: cute shop featuring cards and paper goods

Moon River Chattel: kind of like a thrift store, but classier and higher quality and wonderfully curated.

Brook Farm General Store: possibly my favorite store ever.

Purl Soho: quality yarn and fabric shop.  their website also has free patterns for a variety of projects.

Other:

High Line Park: built on abandoned railroad tracks above the city, with great views of the Hudson and surrounding streets

the STEAKhouse is open! (almost)

I am so excited for summer!
we found our fifth person, the first month of rent has been paid, we're basically ready to move in on the 22nd of May (although we have to get through the last three weeks of class and then finals... but i only have two! and a final paper and a lab report. but still. score!)and we've named our soon-to-be home STEAKhouse, which stands for StephanieTiffanyElizabethAllisonKieran. completely awesome and not corny at all, right? hehe
and we've decided to take the uhaul we're renting that day to costco as well, since we don't usually have a car, and therefore can't usually make the trip. this is going to be one epic saturday =D

I'm also hoping for a job at a bakery this summer, preferably as a baker's assistant/apprentice, but i'd also love to be counter staff at a good bakery. I walked all around Harvard (on a hurt foot, no less!) to drop off applications, after making the same route yesterday to pick up those applications... hopefully something wonderful comes out of it! I swear, I'd work super early hours just to get bakery experience. My top two choices at the moment are The Biscuit and Flour Bakery. Flour would be optimal for during the school year because it's one block down on the way from my dorm to school, and i wouldn't mind walking a minute and a half in the morning to go work. gosh, I'd LOVE to do that. But for the summer, I'd have to get all the way from Harvard/Porter to Central/MIT. I was thinking of running it every morning, taking a shower on campus, and going to work. multitasking ftw! And then The Biscuit would be the exact opposite - perfect (as in PERFECT) for summer, and not so convenient during the school year. I went there today and bought a humongous pecan strudel, and a loaf of challah. ohemgee delish.

After walking around for a bajillion years, I also went to Trader Joe's and got my TJs fix that should last me until the end of the year, after which it will be filled with a Costco fix and then a let's-make-everything-delicious fix. and hopefully a bakery fix that will be satisfied every day =D
*crosses fingers*

SPRING BREAK to do =]

Academic: (bleh)
1. ROTC formal briefing presentation
2. organize/rewrite chem notes
3. STS paper 2 rewrite
4. organize math notes (um, need a binder)
5. study physics - practice tests
6. start 5.35 lab report

Fun:
1. eat at Flour
2. go to garment district
3. go to buffalo exchange
4. go to anthropologie and the rest of newbury/boylston ave. and barnes and noble
5. make trash bag dress for APO SFF (aack excited!)
6. plan SFF!
7. alice in wonderland tea party and movie sesh
8. buy running shoes
9. buy a pair of heels?

Food:
1. something with poppy seeds
2. red bean buns
3. asian sponge cake
4. 包子
5. 葱油饼
6. yeast pizza dough
7. spinach gnocci
8. sesame seed balls with red bean
9. macarons?