This was a success. Like a major success, as far as I'm concerned. Yanbo ate four servings in one sitting.

So for a very long time I've been in LOVE with the tarragon chicken sandwich from Starbucks. The only problem is that it's like 7.25 for a measly little sandwich.

I found this recipe for chicken tarragon salad, and I recreated it as best I could. While it's not the same taste, it's still tasty (honestly).

There's celery, cranberries, chicken, mayo, lemon juice, and tarragon.

RECIPE
2/3 cup of cranberries
1 cup of cooked chicken, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 table of tarragon
1 juice from lemon
1/2 cup of mayo (or to taste)
mix it all together :), mayo last

eat stuffed in tomato, on bread, with lettuce, or plain

Not going to lie, it was an incredibly stressful, difficult week. Lots of problems that left me drained in every sense of the word... my physical and mental health. I snapped this picture as I was waiting for the bus, to remind myself that the world is still gorgeous. It looked much more vivid, this picture is but a reflection in a dark pool.

Does this look good? It tasted pretty bad. We all have failures sometimes. Lesson learned... bean sprouts can not be substituted for bell peppers.

My very first attempt at a homemade sauce. It's a tomato tarragon sauce that is completely homemade... save for the olive oil, which I bought. Otherwise, it's all fresh herbs and spices and vegetables! I loved how it turned out, and I can't wait to try it again.

I read somewhere in an article something about the psychology of a certain picture of food. The family was there, and there was an elaborate repast laid out.. yet, as my professor noted, the labor was not there. She said it was a crime against the mother, a way of minimizing her by not showing all the work that was put into the picture. So here is a picture of what my cutting board usually looks like after a meal. There's actually no ginger or lemon shown here, two things I really enjoy adding into my food.

This is a recipe I've wanted to recreate for a very, very, very long time. It's the rice you find from Chipotle! I made a lime-cilantro flavored rice... a little different from Chipotles, but it was still pretty good in burritos (I think, anyway). Yanbo ate the whole box that was meant for lunch and dinner in one sitting, so we had to eat pb&j for dinner. hahaha.

This is a picture of the UCR campus. It almost looks distinguished, doesn't it? At the end is the stage they were setting up for Block Party. I didn't get to go, but I heard Estelle was there.

There's no doubt I love peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Simple delicious snack that is perfect for a late night snack (while playing LoL)!

My dishes tend to look the same. I swear, they're healthy as well. Here is chicken, red pepper, and red onion. On top of jasmine rice (I prefer white over brown rice), this is a simple, easy, quick meal that is good for you. Well, pretty good, anyway. If I had more stuff I would have tossed in some cubed pineapple. Pineapple is SOOOO tasty with chicken (at least in my opinion)!

I'm not going to lie, I honestly dream of mooncakes. I LOVE mooncakes, but ONLY the red bean kind. I prefer mine red bean with duck egg. I'll eat black sesame... but the other kinds? No thank you :[. I can imagine all sorts of yummy ones though, someday.. some sort of mango-sago like mooncake, or pineapple bun bread type.. but none that I see. (OR I JUST CAME UP WITH THIS: Green tea mooncake. OMG.. now THAT is something I'd love to try.)

Yanbo likes lotus seed (white), so I got him that one (yes he ate it), and I'm going to cry that there's no Asian stores in Riverside that sell my beloved red bean mooncake. WHY AM I NOT IN CHINA?!

After my little scare in the hospital, Yanbo took me grocery shopping.

This is what I wanted to eat: bagels w/butter, red velvet cupcakes, Cheetos, ice cream, cookies, apples, fried chicken, bacon, and YUMMY FOOD.
This is what I got from the list I wanted:
This is what it was replaced by: 9 grain bread, lean sausage, sourdough bagette, spinach, bell peppers, peaches. and other NOT AS YUMMY FOOD.

He decided that I need to be healthy.. so he made a quick lunch. Pictured above: orange juice, milk, olive oil/vinegar dipping sauce for bread and grilled sausage, and red pepper hummus. Which, admittedly, was really yummy. I also snuck in my own treat at the end... a cup of milk&cinnamon toast crunch (and a few spoons of double chocolate gelato).

I've convinced that to be TRULY Asian-American, your household must have both the rice cooker (you know, the kind you buy from 99 Ranch Market or your local Asian supergrocerymart)... and this. The water heater. It's like an always-running kettle, without the noise.

I use this to make instant milk tea in the morning.

First time I was ever in the ER. Basically, woke up nauseated. Got ready for work anyway. Vomited. Called the office, no response, decided to drive to work to let them know I wasn't going to make it. Never even made it.. pulled over vomiting like crazy & had to have Yanbo call a friend to come get my car and me. Threw up/slept for the next 8 hours.. woke up vomitting like crazy again around 2am... got driven to the ER by Yanbo (poor kid). He sat next to me for the next four hours as I lay attached to an IV drip. To be honest, I was really scared for myself. I was literally in and out of consciousness, and certain points I was pretty sure I might not have made it (if I didn't go to the ER).
&someone died a curtain next to me. Wow. Riverside hospital is so much... more... interesting than the Irvine one. I remember people talking to me, and a nurse telling Yanbo I looked like I was going to pass out.. but it was okay. I'm alive! Yay! Was discharged at 8am... thank you Yanbo, and the world. 

Super super cute keyheads I picked up at the Mad Platter. They have some seriously interesting stuff there. These glow in the dark! It makes it pretty convenient when it's dark out & I'm looking for the right key. &look, they even match my key chain.

Yanbo came home today! YAY! I love him <3 He got me some Terra Cotta warriors... look at how... well they guard me. hahaha. I'm so glad for his safe return, back to me!

I've made this for my door ever since 2nd year of college... can't believe I have it still. But it's going on every door that I live in!

Yes, I see my cell on here. But hey, I'm sure all of you who read this already have my number. After all, it's on facebook.

No, I did not make these chicken-and-leek dumplings. These are actually store bought.. much easier to make. Just throw them in some boiling water, stir until it boils.. and yummy! You have some instant dumplings. You can fry them, too.. it's yummier but messier.. and I hate cleaning up HUGE messes.

I'm really bad at swallowing things that are gross. Food, pills... if, for whatever reason, something tastes off.. my brain screams NO!! and I gag.

Luckily, for my health, someone came up with the idea of VITA GUMMIES FOR ADULTS. I love this stuff. It was buy one get one free, and I bought 4! That's enough for 4 months! Hooray ^^

Cute earrings that I reallly love. Only 10 dollars at Icings! I love that store.

Also, I'm sure most of you know about Marie Calendar's pie of the month! If not, it's one of their special pies for only 6.99! This month was Banana Creme Pie. YUMMY <3

Moment of silence for 9/11.

RIP, always.


No picture for today, but I will add in an extra one tomorrow for 9/11.

Remember how I said something about cute things and Asia? Well, this brand.. harajuku.. is something like TokiDoki or whatever. Asia-cute. I feel like Asia-cute is going to be the next "trend" to hit the market. Maybe because despite this recession, Asian-Americans are still snapping up expensive trinkets like turkeys and crickets. I couldn't resist... it was 50% off. Haha. Also, it was part of the Snow Bunnies collection. I usually stick with Estee Lauder as my signature scent line, as I prefer their perfumes, but this one smelled okay. It was mostly REALLY REALLY CUTE.

So when Irvine High is getting furloughed, what does our city decide to spend money on? FIXING THE STREETS... that don't even need to be fixed. This is what my street looks like. Before they fixed it, it looked... the same. Just less dark and new. However, I will give them props... for what it took UCR the past 5 years to do (re-lay the streets), it took Irvine about 5 days... and perhaps 100x the amount. Haha. GO UCR!

Yes, I may have a penchant for makeup. Maybe I would spend the money I had, given a choice, on some dashingly wonderful concealer from Estee Lauder. However, I was never big on masks. Someone gave this sample to me, though... so I suppose I'll make the best of it & use it... eventually. Not sure when I want to use a skin whitening under eye bag..

Believe it or not, this is my contacts case. Isn't it so cute?! The most adorable things come from Asia, that's for sure.. haha.

Yes, this is another one of those infamous circle contacts. I actually picked this one because of the green color. It's actually quite a pretty green, and very apparent despite my eyes. Going to make a great part of my Halloween costume!

Some people have addictive personalities. Perhaps you know someone like that? They can fixate one person, one game, one pet... one passion. Then, they'll chase it. They'll follow it, they'll strive to do the best that can be done.

I think I sort of have an addictive personality. All it means though, is that I must be careful what I decide should be my passion. Mostly it's harmless, like LoL. So this is the picture before every game when I either am happy or sad, depending on who is on the other team. I think in this game, I was a little apprehensive about Akali (I've met amazing ones), but we ended up ROFLstomping the team. So yay!

This is how I decided to decorate my wall. It's a little lopsided but it was really spur-of-the-moment.

I completely stole Yanbo's light for my room. But it looks so good here. I might just keep it forever.

On it is.. in order:
Pills (the legal kind)
Wallet / scented candle / GUMMY VITAMINS (sooo yummy)
Ayn Rand's Fountainhead/Atlas Shrugged and my Warcraft series novel
Prep books and a lot of novels.

This is what my desk looks like. Well... my home away from home away from home desk! Back at the library.. same study room, too.

When I moved to my new place, I forgot most of my kitchen stuff. So... I'm eating my breakfast out of a super cheap cup! Mmmm cinnamon toast crunch... the best <3