30 August 2008

Mr. Softee

Mr. Softee Before

Mr. Softee After

Livin' the dream, NYC edition

28 August 2008

Hello College

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So I guess this is college! It's here! First post in NYC! Living in a dorm is exactly as I expected it to be, especially because my dorm is such the quintessential dorm. Shitty furniture, ugly linoleum floor, fluorescent lights...you know. But I'm working on making it nicer with posters (which I have yet to buy) and postcards. I'm pretty sure my roommate thinks I'm really weird because I have a postcard of Einstein, a turkey (its an Audubon print), and Louise Bourgeois holding a giant metal sculpture of a penis. And then I'm going to put up another one which is a Cindy Sherman photograph of this weird, mutilated face.



Anyways, today I went with the studio art department on a field trip to PS1 on Long Island. It's a museum, I think an extension of MoMA, and I really loved it. The building is an old public school that has been entirely converted into a museum, but without being remodeled, so it still looks like a school. There is art everywhere: in the stairwells, basement, bathrooms, dusty corners, etc. There were a lot of installation pieces, my favorite of which was a bunch of old scuba diving outfits (think metal helmet and all that) which were constructed just a little larger than life, and they were hanging in this dark, small room. They would alternate having a light turn on inside their helmets and then the ones in the back would raise their arms and hit this giant metal sheet with a hammer. It was cacophonous, scary, and amazing. It was actually pretty frightening, especially because they moved on their own accord and were pretty big.

Tomorrow I am going to the Guggenheim with two other girls in the studio art department to see the Louise Bourgeois exhib and whatever else is being shown there. I can't believe I am in New York City!!

21 August 2008

Today, I ate a lot

I swear, I am a 101 cookbooks fiend. Whenever I want to cook something, and I have an overabundance of some ingredient, I just check her archives (sorted by ingredient) and pick something delicious sounding. Today, in preparation for an ultimately unsuccessful color photo printing session at my old photo teacher's darkroom, I used up all of the remaining Quinoa in my house to make "Delicious Big Bowl" but I substituted the asparagus with broccoli. It was so. good.

Hearty Quinoa

And after Taylor found out that we wouldn't be able to go to the darkroom, we were feeling a little bummed, so a picnic with some the Quinoa and some rice cakes was very nice. We even met a very audacious squirrel, to whom we fed some of these rice cakes.

Afterwards, we went and got some tea at Busters and perused a makeup shop. I'm not much of a makeup person, but I did end up buying some lip stain--my weakness, to be sure. I really wanted some of this pretty perfume (mainly because I'm a sucker for nice packaging and design), but my desires were quickly thwarted by its $89 price tag.

Following this, we made our way through the Farmers Market, sampling fruits and buying honey sticks. And, if you are ever buying some, you simply must try the Cool Mint Honey flavor. It's seriously tasty. Anyways, the market was fun, but hot. Soon, we parted ways and I went with my brother and his girlfriend to get some boba. Boba was then followed by a dinner comprised of a variety of tacos from a taco truck, shared with the rest of the family. I'm trying to fit in as much Mexican food before I head eastward. And then, my dad baked some chocolate chip cookies (with raisins and walnuts of course).

END RESULT: very, very full. Oof...

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Oh L.A...

19 August 2008

A (delicious) failure

Souffle: Failure?

Hi.

So...yeah...my dad and I attempted at making a chocolate souffle a few weeks ago, and...it was a bomb. Literally. It was overflowing and bubbling and all "bubble bubble toil and trouble." And the worst part is that we have NO IDEA what went wrong! My dad had even made the recipe before, and had it turn out quite tasty, but this time something/someone messed up.

The recipe we used was from the Larousse Gastronomique, which also has a recipe for a savory ham and cheese souffle that we had also made, with quite less disastrous results (it was excellent, in fact). I'm still a little perplexed; it was like we totally forgot an ingredient or something, because, even after we baked it for an additional 15 minutes, when we tried to pull it out of the oven it jiggled and quivered, obviously still liquified on the inside. I must say, however, it was still delicious--seriously, how can you really go wrong with butter, eggs, sugar, and chocolate?

Souffle batter

Anyways, I leave for New York City and NYU on Saturday. It's weird--this is such a huge event in my life, and there have been so many events, ideas, emotions, thoughts, whatever, leading up to it, that now that I am so close to it, I don't know how to feel! I'm just sort of waiting for it to come...

But I am pretty excited.

11 August 2008

Palm Springs Hike: Success

On Saturday, my parents and I went on a hike nearby Palm Springs. We had to take this rotating gondola ride up to the top of the mountain; this was fortunate because it was 20 degrees cooler up on the mountain and I wasn't really in the mood for hiking in 90 degree heat. We had a really nice time (see pictures here!) and ate dark-chocolate peanut M&Ms, which, by the way, are so delicious and always perfect for hiking.

Aside from neutralizing all the calories I was burning by eating candy, I took lots of pictures, especially of the different textures in the tree barks or lichen on the rocks.
Click images for larger view!

So yeah, it was quite fun and all. Afterwards, we ate dinner at the one restaurant at the top of the mountain, and I must say, it left a lot to be desired...except more sauce. No one would desire any more sauce--ask my parents. The food was so overpowering! I never will understand why restaurants think that oppressive flavors = better food. I like subtlety!! (Is that how you spell it? Gah)

All in all: good times. I'm about to go out to dinner with my brother and his girlfriend to AOC located in West L.A. It's their graduation gift to me! Aw! Anyways, I eagerly await the cheese...

Until next time! Ta!

04 August 2008

Epic

Because my dad always makes epic French Toast.

Sunday French Toast

P.S. I am learning how to print color photographs. More on this topic to come!

P.P.S. I just found out that Urban Threads featured me a few days back for my embroidered tea bags (which, by the way, I never gave their much due credit to Craft Leftovers)! Thanks!