Post-Christmas Rush and Lush!

I'm back home in NJ after being with my family for the past week in GA!  It was so nice to see all of them and be together for the holidays.  We did gift exchanging on Christmas Eve because my flight was on Christmas Day.    Today, I bravely went to the mall which was rife with traffic congestion to do my Christmas shopping.  It was a little overwhelming but got out of there in two hours.  I got some of my coworkers yummy Voluspa candles, a hair straightener for my roommate, Fashion sketchpad and tattoo pens for her daughter, and Skyrim for my boyfriend!  On top of getting all the gifts I needed to pick up, my boyfriend decided to be awesome and let me spend $100 at Lush!  =D

Snowflake Mania

So my roommate and her daughter started decorating the house about two weeks ago for Christmas. The decorations included making paper snowflakes to hang from the ceilings. I remember making snowflakes in school as a kid but it had been such a long time that I had forgotten how to do it. My roommate and her daughter showed me how to make them and now I can't stop! Here's a tutorial if you have forgotten the magic of making snowflakes like me.

Detoxing in Georgia... LoL

Warning: This is a TMI post. If you feel like you don't want to become close bosom buddies with me and my bodily functions then don't read.

I haven't updated my blog in the last few days as I am at my parents house. I've been spending some quality time with them as well as settling into the Georgian atmosphere for the past three days. It's a little warmer than the frigid cold I left in NJ but I've been cold still since my parents awesomely skimp on the heat to keep the bill low. I am cozied up next to a space heater as we speak. =)

The Season of Giving

Now that we're officially in the Holiday season, I'm sure we're all bustling about to get gifts for all our loved ones. Interestingly enough, I don't exchange gifts with my family often. Usually my sister and I pool together some money to buy our parents something or even just get a gift card whilst my mother will take us shopping on behalf of my dad as well. This Christmas, I think the best gift will be that our whole family will be together. It happens once a year and originally I didn't think I was going to be able to make it home for Christmas but due to an unexpected emergency, I was able to be excused from work to be with my family for a week.

Meanwhile, I do have a small list of people I will be getting gifts for although some may be late since my bank has been set back a bit buy a last minute plane ticket. So what kind of gifts are surefire hits?

Baked Ziti

I remember when my mom used to make baked ziti for me and my sister when we were kids. It was nice that she diverted away from her comfort zone of Korean cuisine. I thought it was the best ziti in the world with the Prego tomato sauce and melty mozzarella. Even though my taste in tomato sauce has refined considerably (not that I frown upon canned sauces), I will always remain nostagic about the taste of my mother's ziti.
A few months ago, I started getting a real hankering for baked ziti. I was intimidated at first. It seemed like a lot of work, you know? Finally, I took the bull by th-e horns. I used the Food Network app on my phone to browse through various ziti recipes. I figured out the basics and bought my ingredients:
1. Ziti pasta is obviously the go-to but in a tight pinch I have used the twisty pasta as well... you know, the one that looks like an untapered screw.
2. Tomato sauce. I appreciate a good homemade sauce but I just don't have the time and energy to make one. I buy Hunt's tomato sauces a lot because it's so cheap and flavor it with herbs and spices to appeal to my palate better.
3. About a pound of ground turkey or whatever meat you like. You can skip the animal part altogether as well.
4. Onion. Extremely crucial. Adds a lot of flavor to the meat. Chop half up into a fine mince.
5. Shredded mozzarella. I usually buy part skim mozzarella since ziti is such a heavy and hearty meal. I supposed you can buy the whole mozzarella if you have time to grate it yourself.
6. Ricotta cheese. I also buy this part skim. I love that Sbarro's ziti has ricotta in it because it gives such a nice creamy taste and texture to the dish.

Feng-Shui with Ikea

When I first moved into my roommate's house, I didn't bring much with me. I had no bed and no furniture. My boyfriend had saved up some money so that I could pick out pieces from Ikea that could carry over to the future when we moved in together. I tried to be practical about what was absolutely necessary. What are the essentials?

The Fro-Yo Trend

It's kind of died down in my area but for the rest of the country, there is a booming trend of frozen yogurt shops opening up everywhere. It seems like Pinkberry and Red Mango really set the business model but there are many smaller chains and mom&pop shops putting their own twist on this delectable treat.

1. You have delicious frozen yogurt flavors. I'm not talking about the old-school "frozen yogurt" that looked like ice cream and just tasted like a watered-down shitty ice cream. This fro-yo TASTES like yogurt straight up out of the cups. Standard fare is vanilla and chocolate but usually seasonal fruity flavors will also be available. (i.e. pomegranate, strawberry, etc.)
2. Select your flavor(s) and cup size.
3. Add delicious toppings like fresh fruit, candies, or cereal.
4. ENJOY!

As much as I do enjoy the taste of Red Mango however, I am really digging the new twists that other shops have been doing.

Tired Eyes

I am tired today. Various factors are contributing to this.
1. Didn't get a full night's sleep- I need my 8 hours!
2. I work with little kids... and you betcha they were an energetic bunch today!
3. It didn't end there, I had to go teach music lessons for a few hours afterwards.
4. The weather sucks... it's cold, wet, and cloudy. You know what the best thing is to do on days like this? Stay in bed and get up once to eat a bowl of HOT spicy ramen noodles. Note: Write a post about how to make delicious ramen. ^.~

Aussie 3-Minute Miracle Review

If you have thick coarse hair like mine, chances are you often find yourself with frizzy, brittle, and damaged ends while your roots remain normal/borderline oily. I have been battling this issue for the last couple years because I had done a couple of things like perming and chemically straightening my hair. The only surefire way to remedy this is to let your hair grow out while regularly trimming the ends until all the damaged hair has been cut out. But how will you show off soft, smooth hair in between cuts?

Hasty Dinner for Two

I had one of those "Oh snap!" moments today as I realized my roommate's daughter and I were going to be alone for the night and the dinner menu was up in the air. We wanted to go grocery shopping but my roomie really needed to pick up a shift for some extra moolah so that did not happen. So with an nearly empty fridge (mostly full of condiments, LoL), I rummaged through the cupboards for some quick inspiration.

I nearly whooped for joy when I found a can of tomato sauce. People, always buy these when they go on sale. Tomato sauce is so freakin' versatile and make any meal possible. Often, the deals are 4 for $5 or 10 for $10 (as they are this week and you betcha I will be taking advantage of that!).
I pulled out a box of linguini and put them together but still wasn't quite satisfied. You see, I am quite a carnivore. I really don't enjoy having a meal (ESPECIALLY, dinner) without some kind of meat whether it be fish, chicken, or beef. There was ground turkey and chicken breast in the freezer that was frozen solid but I also don't like defrosting raw meats in the microwave. It skeeves me out. xP

Lucky me, my roommate had bought a bag of pre-cooked frozen meatballs which are DELICIOUS by the way. Sounds crazy but honestly, I have had homemade meatballs from my AWESOME Italian friend's family so I know what it's like to have delicious meatballs and these babies meet my standards. These also go on sale quite often- some sort of two for one deal.

So my entree was set and I started to think of veggies. Yes I have to have veggies too. I take a balanced meal very seriously! I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about some leftover asparagus- actually I am not surprised- someone hid it in the cheese drawer. =T

Lush Lips

I first heard of Lush a few years ago through one of my college roommates who was obsessed with their soaps. Being a poor student, I paid no attention to her ravings, didn't take any whiffs of her loot, and thought some of them looked odd and moldy from a cursory glance. Little did I know...

Roughly a year ago, a Lush shop opened up in my area's mall. Recalling my roommate's love of Lush, I took a stroll in. The prices definitely intimidated me but I was impressed by the visual merchandising and the company ethos. I wanted to try a lot of the bath products but my apartment back then had no tub. I behaved and purchased a lip scrub for my dry and chapped winter lips.