Bye bye la...

So long, farewell, la dee la dee doo... I am going on vacation for the next two weeks. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Before I sign off, I want to leave you with this picture that signifies a beautiful memory. Nope, not telling you what happened. Ooooo, the suspense is killing you, whoahahahahaha! Happy Holidays :)

What rocked my world

If you have been reading my Artsy Blog, then you know that I have just opened my own shop at Etsy.com. If you have an Etsy account, you can mark another shop or item as favorite simply by clicking "Add this seller/item to favorites". You can also see who "hearts" you or a specific item you are selling by clicking "See who hearts me". When I first opened my shop, my friend didn't want to open yet another internet account just to "heart" my Etsy shop. I completely understand because, what's the point of opening an account if you know you are not going to purchase or sell anything on Etsy? Instead, he did something that I think is very creative. He went to my "Who hearts me" page and post-it himself on the monitor. Then he took a picture of it with my camera.

I remember we had a discussion about certain words or phrases that make people very happy. For example, my mom would be delighted to hear that she sews like a professional. Or, my sister would put on a smile so large when people tell her to open her own bake shop because her cakes are so delicious. I asked him, "Do you know what rocks my world?" He tried but nothing he said made me especially happy. Well, I bet he will be happy to know that what he did in the photo TOTALLY KICKS AS%#$@!!!

Hawaii Orange Juice

My friend at work gave me some oranges from her tree. Since I could not possibly eat all 15 of them before I take my vacation, I decided to juice em'. They were soooooo sweet and delicious. I added a little lime juice to punch up the taste. What you see in the photo is 99% Hawaii orange juice with the 1% lime juice and a little simple syrup. I didn't know real juice could taste so real! When I drank it, I felt like I was slurping 10 oranges.

Toads n' Chicks

Last week, when I was on the field in Maui, I made some new friends. While I was taking flow measurements in Palauhulu Stream, a toad was sitting quietly on the bank, watching our every move. He jumped in the stream a couple times and tried to swim against the current. However, his futile attempts brought him back to the same spot. When he realized this embarrassment was scrutinized by the very same people he was watching before the swim, he stopped and went back to sitting. A majority of the photos I took that day were of this little guy.

On the way to another stream, we stopped by the wayside to rest a bit. At the parking lot were 6 chicks and the mom. The chicks were hiding beneath the mom so it looked like she had 7 pairs of feet. Then we got the chicks to come out and took this shot. Why is one chick black? Hmm...must be a wild hot mama when she was young. Ha!

I just updated my Artsy Blog, so please check it out!

Thanksgiving Feast

Whew! I just did all my Christmas shopping yesterday at Waikele. As always, I kept finding things for myself. However, I did manage to maintain focus and bought gifts for my family ... except in Sports Authority where I bought only one thing for me-self, hee :) Oh shush! I only bought a swimsuit. I decided to try the Speedo ENDURANCE line that my mom had told me about two weeks ago. She found them in Hong Kong and had wanted to buy me some. Good thing I asked her not to because when I tried them on, they were a size too big. The ENDURANCE line is 100% chlorine resistant with the 4-way stretch fabric. The material feels thicker, stronger and warmer too. Even though it was quite pricey, I decided to give it a try, hoping that their slogan "lasts 20x longer" would be at least 25% true. So, I wear out a swimsuit every 9 months. Based on my assumption, the ENDURANCE suit will have to last 15 months for me to save. Let's hope it does!

Thankgiving dinner, it was onolicious! Mahalo HappyOblivion for cooking such a delicious meal. Yes, he cooked everything himself. I only contributed the roots - yam, mashed potatoes (the real kine), and caramelized carrots. He prepared the stuffing, cranberry-orange sauce, and most important, the turkey. This year's turkey was better than last year's. Even the white meat was juicy! I dunno how Happyoblivion did it but maybe the great chef can give us hungry readers some advice for next year??

I prepared the table spread with my new "Homemade in Portugal" dishes.

Dun dun dun, the famous turkey by happyOblivion. It was a 17-pounder. The seasoning was perfect!

We invited some friends over who brought yummy pumpkin crunch cake. We were all in food coma an hour later.

My wii pig turned orange!

So much has happened since I last blogged. I feel like I haven't been on the internet for a month, but it's only been a week and a half. Let's back track a little. For the past three days, I was on Maui doing field work. I am so glad we returned to Oahu before the storm hit. Outside the window, I see trees doing the mambo jambo and cars creeping on the shiny wet road. Hmm ... hot soup is perfect for stormy weather. The week before, I began making christmas presents for my family and friends. More on this inspirational project in my Artsy Blog.

When I am behind on blogging, I usually look through my photos to determine where I should begin. During Thanksgiving week, HappyOblivion went back home for his friend's wedding. That Saturday, I busted out the Wii Fit and exercised for an hour. When I finished, the piggy bank (time keeper) jumped up and down, then it changed from silver color to gold! I was so surprised. I got a gold piggy bank for breaking 10 hours on the Wii Fit.


Next day, HappyOblivion came back from LA. To celebrate, I served Cheese Ravioli (from Costco) on the fancy green "Handmade in Portugal" plates I bought from Ross. The food look more delicious and appealing on these nice plates, don't you think? 


More on food...  A while ago, I bought baby bak choi from a shop in Chinatown. They come in a puffed up clear plastic bag, very fresh. They taste ono simply fried in garlic and salt. Since then, I haven't been able to find them because ... well, to be honest, I don't know my way around Chinatown. Yes yes, I am Chinese and I do work only a few blocks from Chinatown. So embarrassing. Anywho, my friend from work recently took me to a shop that sells these baby bak choi. I was very happy because Happyoblivion had been wanting them for quite sometime. I fried these baby up with chicken and oh, so ono!

Handmade in Portugal

I have fallen in love, with imperfection. Dishes by "Handmade in Portugal" have been sold at Ross for years. I always had an eye for them because 1) they are REALLY handmade in Portugal; 2) some of the designs have a very rustic look and feel; 3) it is one of a few brands that know how to do cut-outs in dishes; and 4) they are heavy duty ceramic. However, the most important reason that I love these dishes is that every dish of the same design are, different. 

Recently, I took advantage of the holiday sales and bought a couple dishes...well, 7 to be exact. Two of them are green with a beautiful cut-out border. 

Four of them are off-white dishes that have a wave border, and a large bowl of the same design.

When I look closely at the dishes, every cut-out, every wave, every dimple on these dishes are different from one another. I stacked the wavy dishes together and ran my fingers on the side, the waves don't match up. I tried this with the green dishes, the cut-outs don't line up. This is when I fell in love with imperfection. Every dish is unique.
  
I used to inspect every dish, making damn sure every one of them, every design, and every corner of the dishes are the same. "Handmade in Portugal" threw my whole perception of THE PERFECT DISH out the door. I now have a weekly mission. It is to scout out these dishes, hoping to find the most imperfect dish to add to the eclectic collection :)