skirts and muffins

Summer is almost here, that means it's skirts and sandals season. I love the sunny skies and the breezy winds we been having lately. Puts one in a good mood to blog.

A&F shirt, BR reversible belt, F21 skirt and Gap sandals.

I'm not much of an accessories person, but I've been trying. Found this orange earrings at the BR outlet. 

Look at his face.... so cute!

Forgot my sunglasses! Hollister skirt, it matches my sandals.

Banana Muffins...Awesome recipe found here: Banana Crumb Muffins
I think I've finally made it the way it suppose to be, that means I did not burn them.

I made these standard cupcake size. It's a good breakfast.

Boo wants some too.

 Happy Weekend everyone!

Baby Shower :P

My coworker, C, has just given birth to a baby girl. Congrats to her! A week prior to the birth, our office threw her a baby shower. I took care of the gifts and decorations and another coworker took care of the food. It was such a success, C cried :).
everyone chipped in 10 dollars for the gift and decoration. I was trying to be as frugal as possible; pulling out my couponing skills and shopping at the dollar store.
Anatomy of a party:
balloons-lots of it.
cakes-I used cupcakes and brownies
gifts- diapers and baby wipes
and food!

The dollar store is a great place for balloons, only a dollar each. we blew up balloons and leave them on the floor.

It was my first time making a diaper cake, fortunately, the internet was a great resource. with a little imagination, it turned out pretty good.  the gifts were just baby wipes. I wanted to save as much money as possible so C can have it to buy baby things.

Add food: pizza, salad, buffalo wings.

brownie and shoes

Brownies....
Baking and creating tasty desserts is a passion of mine. I'm a happy eater, I always associate food with good times and friends. A glass of wine or cocktail doesn't hurt neither.

I think it looks just like the picture on the box :)

 

Now, on with the shoes! 

My friend at work, Ms B., has a friend who sells shoes... so what do we do? We asked Ms. B. to bring us shoes.  shoe web page

The fury part can be folded up and the strap is removable. 

Bday gift from Nora :). bought from Ms. B's friend

I don't think I'm keeping the red Madden Girl mary jane pumps. I bought them along with the purple medium pumps from DSW for my birthday.

Shoes I've acquired in the last two months. 

Bought this from Sears for about 70% off. cost me about $26 bucks! I love the fury little pom poms.

Some recap on the food I had for my Bday in Vegas. I love Vegas! 

Hash House A Go Go (the original restaurant, not the one in Imperial Palace) this dish was featured on an episode of Man Vs. Food. it's really good! It has mashed potatoes on the bottom, biscuits, spinach, bacon, fried chicken and eggs, topped with their special sauce. Did I mention it was really good? Be warned, it's a lot of food, so share it with someone.

 

From Tokyo Restaurant: Screaming Orgasm! We have this every time we visit, we even drove 6 hr from San Diego just to have some; still am not tired of this creation.

The Mommy Bomb

Rainbow Roll

 

 

 

A delicious bake lobster from Mr. Emerial Lagasse's restuarnt at the MGM. 

My Fiance was so sweet to want to treat me out for my bday. I was and am still sick so I wasn't able to have any alcohol. besides that, it was a great trip!

Extreme Couponing!

I have been obsessed with couponing. It's not just saving money, it's has become a game. Quite addictive actually. This is my most successful trip yet.
Target:

Champagne:(3) the price was marked incorrectly at  $6.98, so the store had to honor it, originally $14.99.
Napkins:(1) 600ct, on sale for $3.29, $1 off any $3 Up and up purchase
dog food:(9) $5.99/3.5lbs. $5 off coupons
body wash: (2each)$5.49 large and $3.49 small, buy one get one off coupon
total before tax: $93.04, after coupon, $47.20(including tax on full amount and REDcard saving.)

Breakfast and Laundry

I love eggs benedict, but it's so pricey having it at a restaurant. It's quite easy to make and you can tailor it however you like.

My take: 

2 english muffins, split in half and toasted with some butter

4 slices of british style uncurded back bacon, browned in the skillet

poach 4 large eggs

Hollandaise sauce: 

2 egg yolks

2 tsp of lemon juice, wisk intensely with egg yolk to thicken and slowly pour in melted butter

1/4 cup of melted butter 

pinch of salt and cayenne pepper

and this is what you get: 

I remember now why I don't want to buy cashmere, the hand washing is a hassle. this video really helps

how to wash cashmere

I don't own a mesh drying rack so I put mine on a dry towel in a well ventilated area.

Russian Chicken deal

I just made a pact with my Fiancé that we do not go out and eat until our trip to New York at the end of June. this is an effort to cut our expenses to the minimum so we can save for the wedding. This may feel a bit impossible, but he's a pretty good cook. There are some exceptions however, I still have a Groupon I gotta use before it expires and maybe we might celebrate my birthday and eat out.

This Russian Chicken is AMAZING! He won't share the recipe. The chicken is cooked in the oven for about an hr and 15mins  with the sauce. We made the no eating out deal while enjoying this delicious meal.

Still enjoying the purple Coach bag.

Happy new year!

Happy 2012. I wish only the good things for everyone!  :) 


The holiday season is all about cooking and spending. With all the gifts and sales, it's really hard to not buy anything. I went to the Coach Outlet and bought a few things, among them is this lavender purse. it great for work and the weekend going out and running errands, very functional. 

the bag goes with the BR sweater I got recently. 

Since my dad had installed the oven in my kitchen, I've been doing a lot of cooking.  I didn't even notice that I don't eat out as often as I used to. That's a good thing on my wallet and my health.
Salmon fried rice and lasagna are stables on my menu, simply because they are easy to bring to work for lunch the next day. 


This year, I have made turkey 3 times, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. This is truly the perfect turkey. It's the only turkey I ever made and it's perfect every time.  The gravy is made from the juice. it's really simple, just strain the juice in a pot and use flour or cornstarch to thicken it. One important note, I always put the cornstarch or flour in a bowl, mix it with some water and bring it into a liquid form and then pouring into the juices. I learned some hard lessens before when the cornstarch clumps up when it was directly into the pot. 

this is the 22lb Turkey I made for my grandpa on Christmas, I had a extremely hard time flipping it over.  But doesn't it look super delicious? 

This is the New Year turkey, made by request from fiancé's mom. this one is only 13 lbs.  My arms thanks it.