Monthly Archives: August 2013

A Few Funnies

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The rumor is that the first year of marriage is the hardest. This is probably the biggest lie you’ll ever hear. Well… it can either be true or false. It’s your attitude that makes the difference.

It is a give and take type of relationship. We are all selfish people, so take as you feel necessary. Ask for attention. Ask for a compliment or a gift. It’s okay, just don’t take advantage. More importantly though, give. If you can continue to give unconditionally, it changes everything. Your spouse’s happiness is a contagious thing. Give the last bite of ice cream, send them a sweet text, come home with your spouse’s favorite candy after a grocery trip. It’s really the little things. Do you other married couples agree or have any other advice?

So how’s my marriage? Married life is and has been so much fun. You can be inappropriate all the time, every day!

Probably TMI, but here’s a conversation we recently had after a work trip:

MG: What makes you feel sexy?
Me: Umm… I like compliments.
MG: …
MG: …
MG: I like your nostrils

LOTS of laugh as a result. What do you think? Are my nostrils sexy?

Nostrils

On another note:
My sister and I had a Google Hangout date. This is how we chat:

Crazy cat ladiesI don’t think we’re crazy cat ladies, do you? Okay… maybe it’s undeniable.

Have a fantastic weekend (yay for Labor Day),
Jay

Make Your Own Ramen Burger

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THE RAMEN BURGER.

It’s the new food craze, and I get it! It is amazing!

A Juicy patty. Crunchy noodles. A kick of spice. The peppery taste of Arugula. And a runny yolk flowing onto your tastebuds. Have I sold you yet?

You can totally make it yourself! I’ll teach you how.

Ramen Burger

Ingredients:
1 Ramen pack (can make 4 ramen buns)
Ground beef burger patty (marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic salt, and pepper)
Cheese (Whatever you like, I used cheddar)
Arugula
Green onion – cut lengthwise into 2 inch slivers
Egg
Sriracha
Ketchup
Oil for pan frying

Instructions:
1. Cook the ramen as the pack tells you. Then drain out the soup in a colander.
2. Heat up a teaspoon of oil in a pan over medium heat.
3. To shape the ramen buns, put ramen into a bowl that is wide enough for the patty. Layer the bottom of the bowl evenly until there is no empty space, and slowly pour the ramen into the hot pan, keeping the circular shape. Do this again for the other ramen bun. Pour some oil onto the ramen buns.
4. BE PATIENT. If you move the ramen buns too early, the shape will not stay. Let the ramen buns cook for at least 5 minutes on one side. Move the ramen buns around with a spatula. If it is moving in one whole piece, you can carefully turn the bun over. If not, continue to let the ramen bun fry. Fry the other side of the bun. The bun is ready when you can pick up the entire thing in one whole piece, no loose ramen. Take it off the heat.
5. Cook the beef patty and place the cheese on top to melt.
6. Fry the egg, sunny side up or over easy.
7. Mix the Sriracha with the ketchup. More Sriracha for a spicier burger.
8. Now combine the ingredients! Spread the spicy ketchup on the bottom ramen bun, put a handful of arugula, add your delicious patty with the melted cheese, then place your fried egg on top. Place some cut green onions, and put the other ramen bun to top it off.
9. Admire your work of art, and then eat it!!!

How to Make a Ramen Burger

Then stuff this baby into your face hole!

Delicious

Yum

You know it's good
You know it’s delicious when you use multiple napkins and all 10 fingers are greasy!

What do you think of this food craze? Have you eaten it at a restaurant? Do you think you’ll be recreating it yourself?

Get in my belly,
Jay

Hiking at Dry Creek

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I always have to remind myself that weekends are for relaxing and getting your sleep fix. Since there’s no work, I always want to pack out my weekend with adventures, but that usually burns me out during the week. Anyone else feel that way?

With that said, this weekend wasn’t as exciting as the last (see last weekend’s rafting trip here). But I got my beauty sleep, and I can’t complain about that!

It was a very easy going Saturday. I slept in until 11am and then baked some bread (bread recipe to come soon). Then I got to see the in-laws and have a delicious Chinese dinner with them. Crab is one of my favorite foods, and my mother in law spoils me!

MG flew to Chicago for work on Sunday afternoon. To make the most of our time together, we skipped church (oh these naughty young kids…) and spent some time together on a hike with the right hiking and camping gear at our disposal. We went to Dry Creek Park in Union City, and finally hiked the entire loop (~4 miles). We went twice before this trip but with bulk ammo and we would always run out of time and never finished the loop. This time we made sure to build enough time in! It was misty and cloudy in the morning, around 65 degrees, the perfect weather for a hike.

Check out some of our hiking pictures below:

Hiking

Spider web
Came across many spider webs catching all the mist. Pretty cool!

Snacking
Low sugar levels… Need energy!

At the top
View from the very top. Squinty eyed because it was getting sunny!

Afterwards, we had a well-deserved Chinese breakfast: sweet soy milk, Chinese donut, and pan fried pork buns. YUM

What did you do this past weekend?

Love, Jay

Thrifting Finds!

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Patience is the key to thrifting. Look down every aisle. Then retrace your steps and look down the aisles again, because employees are constantly restocking items and people are continually rethinking their items and putting things down.

I had been going to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire for the past couple of months, but I always left disappointed and empty handed. Don’t get me wrong, lots to look at! Really great stuff, but everything comes with a large price tag. However, I do encourage you to check it out if you haven’t gone before, especially if you live in the Bay Area. The Faire happens the first Sunday of every month with hundreds and hundreds of vendors. Keep in mind there is a fee to enter (the earlier you go, the higher the entrance fee). More info on the Faire here. Have you been to the Faire? What did you like about it?

Anyway, back on track. My college roommate, Sarah, reintroduced me to thrifting. I’m pleased to say that it’s back in my life again! I’ve primarily been looking at house goods and rarely have the patience to check out clothing items. Look at my loot!

Lamp – $3 (Now I need a shade)
Chubs’ feeding stool – $5.50
Antique plate – $2

Thrift Finds

I’m now in the process of looking for a cute buffet table that I can revamp.

What do you think of my finds? Do you go thrifting? If so, what do you like to look at?

Love, Jay

DIY: Cassette Tape Poms

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Cassette tapes/mixed tapes galore! We found so many tapes while cleaning our house since MG was a DJ back in his youngin days.

Instead of throwing them out, I made a retro piece of wall art displayed in his work room (see last week’s post here). This was the first cassette tape project. Now to continue our tape adventures, here’s a tutorial on how you can make cassette tape pom poms, perfect for gift wrapping and/or stringing them together to make a garland. Pom poms are so cute and bring fun to pretty much everything.

FYI: I found it difficult to pull out all the ribbon from the tape in the beginning because 1) it gets messy and tangled and 2) the cat does this.

Chubs-Ribbon

Instead just cut from the ribbon in the tape and wrap the ribbon directly from the tape around your fingers. In between wrapping, add some color with yarn and string. Color possibilities are endless!

Cassette Tape Poms

How pretty and cute is this:

Pom Gift Wrap

The leftovers can be used as confetti (I’m a neat freak and at my house, no confetti. It went into the trash, but it looks pretty).

Pom confetti!

For you crazy cat ladies and men, these act as great cat toys to! Proof:

Cat Toy

Pom away,
Jay
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Original tutorial from Creme de la Craft

Rafting Weekend

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This weekend was amazing and so much fun!!! Pictures won’t do it justice but at least you’ll get the idea.

We went lazy river rafting on Saturday. Floating down the river is always so relaxing (not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand). Life is good (know the song anyone, anyone?).

Good friends? Check.
Sweet tan? Check.
HAWKward moments? Check.

Have a looksie:

RaftingThis is the gang!

Rafting close-upsApply and reapply sunscreen. Scary face and dorky face!

RaftingBroski koala-ing is a yearly tradition. You know you wanna!

Lazy Rafting
Cannonball!

Rafting
A beautiful pic of me and the hubs!

This was my first time on a rope swing and damn, it was fun.

On Sunday, I went on a shopping spree and treated myself (I’ll always be forever 21!) Look at my damage:

Loot

Pillage
Essential t-shirts are SO necessary. And my cat is never camera shy… He seriously tries to get all up in there!

Today is boo boo’s birthday. Happy birthday crazy Chylee Seng, I love you dearly.

Chy's B-day

Random plugin: We found out that Chubs loves to eat spinach this weekend – what a health nut!

Chubs

What did you do this weekend?

Love, Jay
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Info on the rafting company

Alaffia Skin Care

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I was introduced to Alaffia in my Trade As One subscription box. I love the product so much, I want to introduce it to you!

I’m currently using the Shea Butter on my face, and it is extremely moisturizing. I enjoy using it at night since it’s so heavy, but I also love using it in the morning because I feel moisturized all day. If you want to learn advantages of shea butter just call Touch Up Laser for your next appointment. It gives you a balmy look (I know that matte is “in” right now but I think balmy is extremely beautiful – think tropical).

At $8.95 a jar, you could totally gift this to friends and family members. Also keep in mind that this product is Fair Trade, which also means that you’re doing good in the world (see previous post on Fair Trade). With these products, Alaffia donates a minimum of 10% of all sales to community empowerment projects in Togo, while also benefiting the direct cooperative that creates these hand crafted shea butter products.

Aside from using this product, you can also try some facial treatments, like organic facial NYC, in order to achieve the youthful skin that you’ve always desired.

Look at how buttery this balm is! It’s so thick that I melt it in my palm first before using it.
Alaffia

This is my morning dorky face! I just used the balm on my skin, there is nothing else – glowing right?!?
Alaffia Balm

Random fact:  Did you know that only 9% of girls in rural Togo, West Africa attend secondary school. Alaffia is working to change that. For the entire month of August, Alaffia is donating $1 for every NEW PAGE LIKE ON FACEBOOK towards building schools in Togo in Africa. Check out their Facebook and Like their page here.

Here’s an opportunity to do something little to make a big impact. 

Shea Butter
(Picture from Alaffia.com)

Now go Like the Page,
Jay

Cassette Tape Wall Art

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Let me first start off with saying that my husband used to be a DJ back in the day. As we were cleaning the house, we came across a boxful of cassette tapes, very sentimental to him so it was hard for him to throw the box away.

At this point, I’m asking myself, how can get rid of the box of tapes but keep his memories. I decided to display them on a canvas and keep the important tapes like

  • Ming-Gih singing at 2
  • Ex-girlfriend mix tapes
  • Little Mermaid (cause I like that one)
  • Notorious B.I.G (yes, my husband was ghetto in high school)

Know that I am a total bargain hunter. To pay $15 for a blank canvas and then another $5 for hanging hardware is pretty expensive. Instead I went to Ross and dug through the clearance items and came across a canvas with hanging hooks for $9. YAY! Beware, the artwork on the canvas is hideous (probably why it’s on sale!).

Canvas
A banana? A car? A banana car? Not even sure… But it definitely provided a great canvas!

Next I painted the canvas a neutral color:

Cassette Art
I LOVE Martha Stewart’s Satin Colors. I used the color “Grey Wolf” from the collection, and I also kept the original black side borders from the artwork.

Once the paint was dried, I used E-6000 glue craft glue to glue on the cassette tapes. Here’s the final product:

Cassette Tape Wall Art

Pretty cool right? It’s now displayed in his work room:

Wall Art

What items do you have lying around your house that is hard to part with?

Do you have cassette tapes lying around?  If so, stay tuned next Wednesday for another project with cassette tapes!

Love, Jay

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Martha Stewart’s Satin Paint Collection
E-6000 Craft Glue from Walmart

Narnia, Pizza, and Dinner at Dave’s

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It was a fun and relaxing weekend with friends, one of the best kind of weekends!

Friday night:  I went to a Narnia musical hosted by Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley. For $6 I didn’t expect it to be anything extraordinary. I was WRONG! It was fabulous! Think Broadway – gorgeous sets, beautiful singing, lots of people in the audience. I never noticed the parallels of Christianity in the story before (probably because I was not Christian when I read the book/saw the movie). While watching this musical this time around, it hit me… I’m Edmund, a traitor and one who wants earthly riches. It gave Aslan a whole new meaning to me, one who would sacrifice himself for the sake saving me.

Here’s a picture of Eileen and me excited for the show!
Narnia

Saturday:  I hosted a “Make Your Own Pizza” luncheon with my good friend’s crazy boys! I hadn’t seen them in a while so I thought it would be fun to see them and make pizzas!

Look at these little cuties!
Pizza Party!
One kid put 5 layers of meat on! The other wanted only crust. Kids… don’t understand them! You may be wondering if I’m thinking about having one now… NOPE! You gotta wait! For now, I’ll play with them ^^^!

Sunday:  After church, MG and I went to Dave’s house for dinner. Lots of food and good conversations.

Look at Aaron and all these ribs!Aaron and ribs!

Lastly, Chubs got a sweet gift from Holly! He LOVES this thing! He’s totally posing in the second picture, so GQ right?
Chubs' Fish

What did you do this past weekend?

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Check at Neighborhood Church here

Live Simply. Buy Ethically.

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Poverty… yeah, that’s a scary word. No one really likes to think about it.

It’s an issue that is continually brought up over and over but you feel as though you cannot make a difference. It’s a huge issue, and what can one person do? Am I right?

After attending a seminar that discussed consumerism and the benefits of Fair Trade, I am a strong believer in supporting the the Fair Trade movement. Fair Trade allows producers in developing countries a chance to work their way out of poverty, and it promotes sustainability. Creating dignified jobs is the only long term way to break cycles of poverty. Yes, Fair Trade and Organic products are a bit pricer, but think about it this way.

With Fair Trade products, you are paying for someone else’s dignity and a chance at living a normal life. When you buy these products, you’re making the world a little bit better, sometimes in the poorest and darkest countries in the world.

I’ll admit, not everything in my cabinets and pantry are fair trade or organic (one because I just don’t have the $, and two because it’s not convenient for me since the closest store doesn’t carry Fair Trade products). But Trade As One has helped make it easier for me to get these products. I signed up for their subscription model, which delivers products every 3 months. For $99 (additional $26 with 2 bags of coffee), you are introduced to numerous Fair Trade consumables like soap, lotion, chocolate, grains, olive oil, and a bunch of other things!

When it gets delivered to my door, it feels like Christmas! This is my third box this year. My husband and I enjoy learning about new products and trying ones that we would never have thought to buy. Check it out!

Trade As One Box

Trade As One Box

These are the items that we’re most excited to try!

Trade As One Faves

Trade As One Fave

Now that you know about this issue, how can you sit around and do nothing? What changes can you make in your lives for the sake of other people?

Now go change the world a little bit at a time and tackle the issue of poverty by simply buying Fair Trade.

Not so scary anymore right?
Jay

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Order your Trade As One subscription box here
Watch this video for more information about Fair Trade 
Trade As One website