Guess who....

Almost forgot I had this blog, but felt the urge to check in.

I started the blog during bouts of boredom after college and wanting to do accomplish things in my life. A confession: I haven't consciously thought about that list for almost 2 yrs. 

But what the heck, I wanted to see how I did!


TRAVEL
1. Visit 3 aquariums (Monterey Bay Aquarium 6/25/10, Aquarium of the Pacific, New England Aquarium)
2. Go on a road trip with friends- Vegas with vet school friends :)
3. Visit Hearst Castle (6/24/10)
4. Bike to Venice beach
5. Gamble in Vegas
6. See a show in Vegas
7. Take a vacation to Catalina
8. Try 5 new restaurants (Cafe Yulong 6/27/10, La Brea Bakery, Loving Hut, Pappy's, Taste of India)
9. Go back to the Grand Canyon
10. Visit Huntington Library
11. Shop in downtown LA’s fashion district
12. Eat a Pink’s hot dog
13. Vacation on the east coast

READ/WATCH
14. Watch AFI’s 100 years..100 movies
15. Read 15 classic books
16. Read 50 books (206 Bones, 1st to Die, Her Fearful Symmetry, Saving Gracie)
17. Watch all the “Planet Earth” DVDs
18. Attend a midnight premiere of a movie- Last Harry Potter movie OH YEAHHH!!
19. Read an autobiography- Julia Child
20. Subscribe to a health magazine (Runner's World)
21. Write a TV schedule and only watch those shows

SCHOOL/CAREER
22. Take the GRE (5/8/10)
23. Write a personal statement
24. Apply to veterinary school
25. Go to veterinary school OR enroll in a LVT program- Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I'm GOING TO VET SCHOOL!!!!!!!
26. Take a nutrition course
27. Finish vet school pre-reqs
28. Learn interviewing skills

CREATIVITY
29. Knit a hat
30. Learn how to read a pattern
31. Sew 5 scrub tops
32. Take a jewelry making class
33. Make 2 pairs of earrings
34. Enter an amateur photo contest
35. Learn how to decorate cakes
36. Learn to use photoshop
37. Be able to use “manual” setting on my dSLR
38. Learn to make fondant
39. Make a ring for myself
40. Make a handmade presents for my immediate family

SCRAPBOOKING
41. Finish Thailand album (5/16/10)
42. Finish Alaska album
43. Finish childhood album
44. Finish Disneyland album
45. Finish college album
46. Finish spring break album
47. Finish pet album

HEALTH
48. Start and finish “couch to 5k”
49. Run a 5k
50. Run a 10k
51. Drink at least 1 liter of water daily for 1 month
52. Go on 5 hikes
53. Get in the healthy weight range to my height (102-128 lbs)
54. No fast food for 1 month
55. Find out my blood type
56. Keep a food journal for 1 month
57. Finish a bottle of multivitamins (consecutive days)
58. Floss once a day for 1 month
59. Vegetarian for 1 week
60. Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors everyday for a week

COOKING
61. Try 15 new recipes
62. Cook 5 soups
63. Learn to make quinoa
64. Try brussel sprouts
65. Make my own yogurt
66. Learn to make French apple pie
67. Make a Thai dish
68. Make spicy tuna rolls and California rolls
69. Have a pizza night (make the dough too!) (5/20/10)

ORGANIZATION
70. Backup my pictures on CDs
71. Get rid of magazines older than 1 year
72. Throw out old school papers
73. Organize financial papers
74. Make a recipe book
75. Update 101 in 1001 monthly (minimum)
76. Get rid of music on iTunes I don’t listen to
77. Create 5 useful iTunes playlists

FOR OTHERS
78. Donate hair to “Locks of Love”
79. Give to 5 non-profits organizations
80. Sponsor a child in a third world country
81. Donate Christmas presents to those in need
82. Help pay for a rescue animal’s medical bills

PURCHASES
83. Buy a new iPod car adapter
84. Get a new cell phone
85. Invest in a new computer
86. Buy a bike
87. Buy a graphics tablet
88. New pair of “everyday” shoes
89. A hard drive with a lot of capacity

FOR FUN
90. Learn to SCUBA dive
91. Learn to drive a stick shift
92. Blog everyday for 1 month
93. Comment on 10 blogs I like
94. Write a letter/card every month
95. Watch the sunrise and set in a day
96. Live on my own
97. Have brunch with grandparents for no reason
98. Finish everything on my list!
99. Grow pumpkins
100. Have an herb garden and make something with it
101. Garden everyday for 1 week

Still have a long way to go, but I did more than I thought!
I now realized some of my goals are no longer possible because of where I am living, but can't win them all!  
Here's to the summer and this list! Let's go!!!!

Is there such a thing as too many desserts?

Hi bloggies!! How's the first week of December treating y'all??

Here in California the weather been looking like this..

Talk about gloomy city!

I'll have to say November was pretty uneventful for me. It went by pretty quickly and I'm reminded how easy it is to get into a routine (rut?) Its been school, work, home, study, sleep, and repeat :)

As for my November update, I discovered that I've mostly been cooking! So this month's 101 update will be a "tasty Tuesday." Party in my mouth!!

Cranberry Scones
Pretty good, not fantastic though. Not as dense or buttery as I would have liked. I substituted for whole wheat flour and honey Greek yogurt. You gotta make do with what's in the kitchen :)

Coconut Macaroons
I was imagining chewy and sweet deliciousness, but these were a little dry. I love love macaroons and wanted to try this "healthier" version. I guess the condensed milk in regular macaroon makes a big difference.

Apple Crisp
This is tastes like fall. I made it with less crumble topping and more Fuji apples. Its so good for breakfast with some yogurt! I’ve already made it twice!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
These did not last long in the house! My GF sister and I devoured them :) They're so easy to make so I can have cookies whenever I want (which could be a bad thing!)

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
I hate pumpkin pie. And I don't like cheesecake either. But somehow I loved this pie. Odd how tastebuds work..

As you can see my oven got a good workout this month. And I see that I still have to learn to remember to take pictures before I wolf down my food. Hehe whoops :) Guess there are still bloggy lessons to learn!

The only other "list" thing I accomplished was creating an iTunes playlist.
Oh yeah bring on the "Christmas songs!"

What's your favorite Christmas tunes?
Recently I've been keeping Carrie Underwood's country-fied version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" on repeat. It makes my ears so happy!

101 updating!

This week I watched the rescue of the Chilean mine workers. Needless to say, it so amazing they all survived. I can't imagine being trapped for almost 70 days underground!! That's a really long time!

I started thinking, what have I done in 70 days?
Since August 5th I have:

Got a netbook (#85) 
Yay! Its so handy to take to school! Especially since I have a 4 hour break between classes and my laptop is a ginormous dinosaur :P

Visited the Aquarium of the Pacific (#1)
I finally used my free tickets! It felt like my friends and I were they only people there without kids! It was fun to stop at all the touch tanks and watch the animal feeding as a visitor, not a volunteer!

Tried a new restaurant (#8)- La Brea Bakery at Downtown Disney.
I had the fresh mozzarella sandwich. Delicious! Along with fresh bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and icy water it was a great choice. The price was comparable to some of the restaurants inside the park, but being served, unlimited drink refills, and service made it waayy better!

Read (#6)
I finished 1st to Die, Cradle and All, Her Fearful Symmetry, and Saving Gracie. I’m really enjoying easy reads, and I think each book took an average of 2 days to read ;)

Wrote a personal statement (#23) applied to veterinary school (#24)
Finito!! This is what I was doing on the blog hiatus. Let me tell you, writing a personal statement is tough cookies!

Subscribed to a fitness magazine (#20)
Hello, Runner’s World! I’m still not a “runner!” But there’s some good articles about health, preventing injuries, and food.

Went back to school (#27)
The last of my grad school pre-requisites!! I finally scored a spot in a microbiology class! Phew :)

Wow! While I was struggling with applications and school work, the miners were in constant worry about being rescued. It really puts life into perspective :)

Have a good Sunday!! It’s gloomy weather in So Cal!

Tasty Tuesday:: Mulligatawny Soup

I'm sure I've said it before, I'm a frugal person.  Luckily I have a group of friends who share that trait.  We've done all the free things to do in LA: the beach, free Getty Saturdays, free Getty Villa, free OC fair, you name it!  And recently we've been opting to stay in and cook rather than go out to a restaurant. 

A few weeks ago we made an easy version of mulligatawny (an Indian inspired soup). We bulked it up by adding more than the directed amount of celery, carrots, and apples.  I don't  know how authentic this soup is, but it's sure tasty :)

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 cup onion, chopped
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 1 carrot, diced
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons curry paste (powder is okay too!)
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 apple, cored and chopped  (I used Fuji apples)
* 1/4 cup white rice
* 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed
* salt to taste
* ground black pepper to taste
* 1 pinch dried thyme
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1 cup pineapple (optional)


DIRECTIONS
1. Saute onions, celery, carrot, and butter in a large soup pot. Add flour and curry, and cook 5 more minutes. Add chicken stock, mix well, and bring to a boil. Simmer about 30 minutes.

2. Cook the chicken. You can grill it, microwave it, pan fry it, whatever.

3. Add apple, pineapple, rice, chicken, salt, pepper, and thyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until rice is done.

4. When serving, add hot cream. Or add cream to soup and simmer for another few minutes until its hot and serve.

Yum! I think its either the thyme or heavy cream that makes this soup wonderful. Hmmm, it's probably the heavy cream ;)

Twice as nice

Since I forgot *coughi'maslackercough* to do a June 101 update, I'm clumping it together with July's update.  They both start with "J" can't we pretend it's one very loong month ;)

Plus it'll seem like I did more things!

#1 Visited Monterey Bay Aquarium

#3 Hearst Castle!!

#4 Biked to Venice Beach (sad lack of photos, I'm going next weekend and will remember the camera!!)
#61 Muffins that taste like doughnuts, or I like to call them snickerdoodle muffins!
#62 Mulligatawny soup (recipe coming soon!)

#83 Purchased an iPod adaptor
#86 I got a bike!

I was getting my blogging groove on in the beginning of June (trying to hit the 1 month of blogging!), but then the fear and realization that veterinary school apps (#24) are due very very soon threw me off track.  Juggling school, work, apps, and writing a personal statement have made me want to crawl up into a small ball and wish it all goes away!

Anyone want to trade places with me? Okay, I'm being a big baby, there's worse things that could be happening to me! I take all my whining back. Well, maybe I'll just 90% back. I keep telling myself that I'm blessed with the opportunity to pursue my dreams!

So I'll just settle for the camaraderie of someone has gone through crazy grad school application process! Anyone??

Oh well, I'm off to learn about the biochemistry of DNA replication!

At least I have a study buddy :)
(Yes, I did her hair like that and no, I'm not really ashamed)

Happy sunny Saturday!

Seals and castles and road trips, oh my!

I'm baaack! It was a fun, whirlwind weekend, and its taken a week to get back into the normal rhythm of things :) My dad and I ended up doing 4 cities in 4 days, clocking in about 1,000 miles of driving!

Here's a quick recap of our jam packed weekend!

We first stopped at Hearst Castle, a sprawling 250,000 acre state park in San Simeon. See it waaaaay on top of the hill (I had to use super zoom lens!)
William R. Hearst (an incredibly rich man) and Julia Morgan (an architect who was in my sorority!) built a house with 165 rooms, a zoo, airport, indoor and outdoor pool, and 127 acres of gardens.
The main house (above) and the neptune pool (below). I really wish I could have swam in it! Hmm, wonder what would have happened if I just "fell" in ;)
Its amazing what a lot of money and imagination can build, it was beautiful!

Since I love marine mammals, we drove a little further to Piedras Blancas to see elephant seals!

According to the docent, juvenile males are back to molt, fast, and practice "fighting." Luckily I was a safe distance away, or else I would have been smashed like a pancake. They really went at it!
Went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Why hello Mr. Sea turtle, having a nice snack??
I am now in love with weedy (or is it leafy) sea dragons! Who knew they looked so cool!
Saw more pinnipeds, those are sea lions, not logs!! Very smelly and noisy!
Plus we squeezed in some time in San Jose with my great aunt, and dinner in San Francisco with more relatives! (I took more photos of animals than people..oops!)

What a great weekend to cross things off my 101 list!
#3: Visit Hearst Castle
#1: Visit 3 aquariums (2 more to go!)
#8: Try 5 new restaurants (Cafe Yulong in Mountain View, haven't had Chinese in so long!)
#16: Read 50 new books (All the driving left me with plenty of time to read, I finished 206 Bones, by Kathy Riechs)

I'm so glad I was able to get away last weekend because all I'll be doing this weekend is studying! I have an exam coming up fast! Eeek!

Hope everyone has a safe and sparkly 4th of July tomorrow!

No time for June gloom!

Exciting, exciting... can you believe its JUNE?! That means, to me, its summer. I feel like every month I say, "can you believe its January, May, etc?" But seriously, June is big for me. It means I've been graduated for over 1 year?!?
I don't want to say I've accomplished nothing in that year (I did get a job and some other small things), but let's just say I'm far from what I expected. For example, I had envisioned being done with a personal statement, pre-req classes, and running multiple 5 or 10k races.

Ok, ok.. this isn't complaining and pity party time. Just wanted to say that I was a little disappointed in my laziness. And my whole reason for this story is to explain that blogging and my 101 list are a way of getting out of my funk. Get going. Don't let my twenties pass my by. Live it up (or something like that..)After reading reviews and opinions on Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, I finally dished out the $9 to buy it. Sometimes I go through the looongest process of rationalizing a purchase. I knew that $9 was very inexpensive, but I kept thinking "what if it doesn't work" or "what if I hate it." Really, that was just procrastination speaking. For goodness sakes, sometimes I spend that much on a meal! Day 1 starts now, I hope I'm not too out of shape!

#51 is drink at least 1 liter of water daily, but I just read on Mayo Clinic that its really is 2 liters for fluid maintenance. Should I change it? I usually measure my intake in units of "nalgene," and I do 1 nalgene no problem. Hmmm, if I'm going to be exercising I'll need more water too.

Also, thanks for the suggestions on how to organize. I was, and still am, a little overwhelmed. It's as if I was able to survive and organize in college, but it all blew out of my brain upon graduation. Here I go, I'm reverting back to intense college mode: complete with making to-lists of everything and micromanaging. Rawr.. Chaos and procrastination, you should be scared. Very scared.

Movie time!

I finally started watching the AFI movies. There's a lot of them, and I'd better get cracking!

(#22) Some Like It Hot (1959): starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon
This was my first Marilyn Monroe movie! I like old movies and have watched a few, but they've all seem to star Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, or Audrey Hepburn. It is about 2 musicians, Joe and Jerry, who witness a massacre, and try to hide from the Chicago mob by joining an all-female band disguised as women. Both the men fall for Sugar, the lead singer, but of course, can't act on their feelings (they're supposed to be girls!).

I liked this movie! I was pleasantly surprised that Sugar had a sweet personality (haha, puns). I really was expecting her to be an over-the-top sexy bombshell. Also, the movie made me go "waiiiiit a minute" multiple times! It was clever and had plenty of sexual innuendo.

Sorry for the short review today, I've got to back to the library and get more movies!

Pizza Party!

#69 on my list of things to do was make pizza, and I did it! I cooked (in my opinion) a delicious meal for the fam bam, complete with a quickie invite sent via text message. Ahh, wonderful technology.

I made a gluten-free dough from scratch using a recipe I found on recipezaar. Since gluten-free breads can have an "interesting" taste, I tried to find a recipe with good reviews. And let me tell you, the reviews were right! It came out great and was really easy. I also bought premade dough from Trader Joe's to supplement the gluten-free pizza. I was going to make a gluten pizza too but, believe it or not, I didn't have any normal wheat flour at home.
I topped the pizzas with homemade sauce, bell peppers, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and carmelized onions. Yummy veggie pizza! :)

I also made a salad with carrots, romaine, green onions, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Every time I chop green onions, I think of the "Jon and Kate plus 8" where Kate goes berserk while Jon is trying to make a Korean feast. Haha, isn't that weird? I used to love that show, though.

Here's the final product! Can you tell the difference between the gluten free and Trader's pizza?
Is it hard to tell? If you guessed one on the right, you're correct!

This recipe is a keeper! We're obsessed! My sister liked the gluten-free version so much, I made another one right after dinner! However, I must have made the Trader's dough wrong because it came out...well, not good.

Taking relaxing too seriously

"Hi, I'm Lisa and I'm addicted to relaxing." Its serious, I need help. Starting summer school has made me become a lazy mess. All I want to do is relax, watch TV, or go shopping. Hence the lack of blogging. Eeek..

Last weekend I went to National Scrapbook Day with my mom. It was a blast! We go to a hotel near Disneyland and spend the whole weekend scrapbooking with a room full of friends. And I finished my Thailand scrapbook (with the exception of journaling)!! Yay! That's #41 on my list! I went to Thailand over a year ago, and have finally gotten to the album. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I applied for an independent study grant from my college, so they funded my entire trip!
Here's a quick summary of my amazing trip:

I spent a total of 10 days in Northern Thailand, and the first half I volunteered at Care for Dogs.
These two wonderful ladies started Care for Dogs in Hang Dong (northern Thailand) an organization that helps care for the many homeless Thai dogs. They also help local villagers pay for veterinary bills, and educate new owners how to take care their new pet. Pretty cool, huh?
These cute puppies (there were 20 of them) were found abandoned under a bridge. So adorable!
I also spent time in Chiang Mai walking around the city. I love exploring new places on foot or by public transportation. The temple (above) I found walking to the Night Bazaar.
Thailand is so beautiful with ornate temples and peaceful country sides.
Then I went to an elephant sanctuary! The founder, Lek, rescues abused or injured elephants and gives them a home. They get to spend their days eating, playing in the water, and don't have to perform tricks or give rides to tourist.
The elephant sanctuary is in a valley with a river that runs through it. If I were an elephant, I'd want to live here! Sweet deal.

I'm so thankful I got to go last year, especially with the current political unrest. Can you tell I'm an animal lover? First, dogs, then elephants!

This is already really long, but what is the most memorable trip you've been on?
Thailand has been mine simply because of all the hard work I put into writing the proposal for my school, its the first trip I planned all by myself, and its a place I never thought I'd get to visit :)

Running my little heart out

In an effort to start exercising again, I decided to do the "couch to 5k" (C to 5k) program. Yay..? I admit I'm not good runner. Usually I get very winded, then discouraged, and stop running. I first saw the plan on the Cool Running website. Ah ha, their description of a beginner runner fit me to a T. I downloaded a C to 5k podcast, which was easier than timing my own intervals. Here's the schedule for the first week!

Week 1: to be completed 3 times
5 minute walking warm-up
Interval of 2 minutes running/jogging, then 3 minutes walking
(repeat interval 4 times)
5 minute walking cool down

The first interval of running, I felt good. I ran (as instructed) at a pace where I wouldn't feel too winded. Woohoo. I can do this! However, by the last interval I was a little embarrassed to be breathing loudly! Out in the quietness of the park, there was nothing to cover my loud mouth-breathing. As I passed the walkers, I wished I was in the gym. At the gym, treadmills are usually loud enough to drown out my huffing and puffing.

Saturday will be day 2. I hope I won't be sore tomorrow, and still have the motivation to run! I heard some good tips on exercising motivation like sleeping in your workout clothes to having a exercise buddy. But will they work for me? Wonder what will get my butt in exercise mode?

More Lists?

Here's my list of 101 things (idea is from Day Zero). I'll admit it was difficult to think of the list. Some tasks will take longer to complete, but I'm excited to get started. Its mind boggling to think so far in the future (1001 days OR 2.75 years from now!), but then again 4 years of college flew by. So here's to making the most of the next few years!

Start: May 2, 2010
Finish: January 26, 2013

Not started
I'm working on it!
All Done!!


TRAVEL
1. Visit 3 aquariums
2. Go on a road trip with friends
3. Visit Hearst Castle
4. Bike to Venice beach
5. Gamble in Vegas
6. See a show in Vegas
7. Take a vacation to Catalina
8. Try 5 new restaurants
9. Go back to the Grand Canyon
10. Visit Huntington Library
11. Shop in downtown LA’s fashion district
12. Eat a Pink’s hot dog
13. Vacation on the east coast

READ/WATCH
14. Watch AFI’s 100 years..100 movies
15. Read 15 classic books
16. Read 50 books (total)
17. Watch all the “Planet Earth” DVDs
18. Attend a midnight premiere of a movie
19. Read an autobiography
20. Subscribe to a health magazine
21. Write a TV schedule and only watch those shows

SCHOOL/CAREER
22. Take the GRE
23. Write a personal statement
24. Apply to veterinary school
25. Go to veterinary school OR enroll in a LVT program
26. Take a nutrition course
27. Finish vet school pre-reqs
28. Learn interviewing skills

CREATIVITY
29. Knit a hat
30. Learn how to read a pattern
31. Sew 5 scrub tops
32. Take a jewelry making class
33. Make 2 pairs of earrings
34. Enter an amateur photo contest
35. Learn how to decorate cakes
36. Learn to use photoshop
37. Be able to use “manual” setting on my dSLR
38. Learn to make fondant
39. Make a ring for myself
40. Make a handmade presents for my immediate family

SCRAPBOOKING
41. Finish Thailand album
42. Finish Alaska album
43. Finish childhood album
44. Finish Disneyland album
45. Finish college album
46. Finish spring break album
47. Finish pet album

HEALTH
48. Start and finish “couch to 5k”
49. Run a 5k
50. Run a 10k
51. Drink at least 1 liter of water daily for 1 month (hopefully it will be a habit afterwards)
52. Go on 5 hikes
53. Get in the healthy weight range to my height (102-128 lbs)
54. No fast food for 1 month
55. Find out my blood type
56. Keep a food journal for 1 month
57. Finish a bottle of multivitamins (consecutive days)
58. Floss once a day for 1 month
59. Vegetarian for 1 week
60. Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors

COOKING
61. Try 15 new recipes
62. Cook 5 soups
63. Learn to make quinoa
64. Try brussel sprouts
65. Make my own yogurt
66. Learn to make French apple pie
67. Make a Thai dish
68. Make spicy tuna rolls and California rolls
69. Have a pizza night (make the dough too!)

ORGANIZATION
70. Backup my pictures on CDs
71. Get rid of magazines older than 1 year
72. Throw out old school papers
73. Organize financial papers
74. Make a recipe book
75. Update 101 in 1001 monthly (minimum)
76. Get rid of music on iTunes I don’t listen to
77. Create 5 useful iTunes playlists

FOR OTHERS
78. Donate hair to “Locks of Love”
79. Give to 5 non-profits organizations
80. Sponsor a child in a third world country
81. Donate Christmas presents to those in need
82. Help pay for a rescue animal’s medical bills

PURCHASES
83. Buy a new iPod car adapter
84. Get a new cell phone
85. Invest in a new computer
86. Buy a bike
87. Buy a graphics tablet
88. New pair of “everyday” shoes
89. A hard drive with a lot of capacity

FOR FUN
90. Learn to SCUBA dive
91. Learn to drive a stick shift
92. Blog everyday for 1 month
93. Comment on 10 blogs I like
94. Write a letter/card every month
95. Watch the sunrise and set in a day
96. Live on my own
97. Have brunch with grandparents for no reason
98. Finish everything on my list!
99. Grow pumpkins
100. Have an herb garden and make something with it
101. Garden everyday for 1 week