Surprisingly Sunny Rainy Day

Despite the dismal weather, my own gloomy feelings (because the constant grey skies makes me feel like a sloth) and the dreadful rainy/thunderstorm forecast for the next 4 days (it is currently day 4 of rainy weather) today was a nice surprise.

Let's get started.

This morning at 8pm I didn't have cash for my bi-weekly purchase of 2 apples but a kind sir who was in line in front of me was like "Just apples?" and put down the cash. It all happened so fast in the instant of me saying that he didn't have to and simultaneously scrambling in my mind to remember where exactly did I put my cash I think I forgot to say thank you. Which Lauren, who was standing right there, 'kindly' pointed out to me as we walked away... By the time I came to my senses the guy had walked away but thank you to you for helping out someone who believes in an apple a day. 

Had an amazing opportunity to lunch in the Everyday with Rachael Ray test kitchen today. Every seat has a plastic bottle with a message in it. Guess what mine said "Congrats, you won!" WOOT WOOT. I know, ya'll are dying to hear what I won....a giftcard to Eataly! Perfect because I've been meaning to go there. Now I just have to decide if I want to go alone or with someone. I wanted to use it to take a class but Lauren was like "Are you sure you want to do that...ALONE?" Hmm.... I also got a fantastic lunchbox shaped like an artichoke, hahaha. I switch it out with my current one. But now Jackie has called dibs on my old one. Wow.

Buy yours here! They also have tomato and eggplant versions but I thought the artichoke had the most character.

I got to take a floral arrangement course. It was strangely relaxing and now I have a beautiful bouquet that decorates my desk area. And I realized I love love peonies, even if I don't know how to pronounce the name properly. hahahaha

I got skillz, no? You can see my co-worker's arrangement in the background.

I can't remember the name of this pink flower...it started with an R...

Lesson learned: no matter how crappy the weather can be, you can still have a nice day!

P.S. I apologize for my craptastic iPhone 3G pics. I actually bought a real camera but I find I look really Asian taking pics of everything with flash. At least this post had pics.

Things I'm Good At

As promised, and to juxtapose my last post, here is a list of things I ace:

• Shopping online
• It's really sad when you have your credit card numbers memorized
• Memorizing the most random facts
• Being bossy
• Not being patient
• Aha, you caught me, this should go on the other list
• Yoga
• Talking
• Asking questions
• Baking
• Okay, I don't know if I'm actually good at this but I can bake and I like to do it! Though I've kinda stopped
• Reading recipes
• Media planning
• Keeping a beat
• Driving
• ahahahahahah, I know, I'm female...and an Asian
• Telling you like it is
• Confrontation
• Problem solving
• Picking the cutest yellow things
• Sleeping
• Eating
• DANCING!

In other news, Jackie and I both used our hairdryers at the same time tonight. And we created a power short in our end of the apt. This wouldn't be a big deal except I can't find the power switch board which could be in the basement which I can't get to because our land lady is gone...thanks for coming back form China Jackie...

Things I'm Bad At

This is a post about things/aspects in life with which I am not the brightest crayon in the box.

• Seeing the latest and funniest viral videos in a timely fashion
• Case and point: within the last few weeks I've seen for the first time Double Rainbow, honey badger, Friday by Rebecca Black 
• What I have seen are countless videos about small, cute baby animals sent to me by Lauren...daily...
• Listening! 
• I think I'm good at this but not according to Lauren...and now Jackie...
• Lauren: "What are you writing about?"
• Me: "Things that I'm bad at."
• Lauren: "Listening"
• Jackie: "OH YEAH!"
• Facepalm.
• Making decisions
• Big decisions: NBD
• Small decision like what I should eat for lunch: no.
• Kick-boxing conditioning/ab  classes
• Karaoke/singing the right words in a song
• Case and point: My brothers' coined the term of "pulling a Sandy" in our household. That meant you sang the wrong words to a song. HAH.
• Telling jokes
• I always laugh in anticipation of the jokes
• Rapping/Flowing
• I wish I was Ludacris
• Pretending that I can stand to be around someone
• Texting
• Admitting to being wrong!
• Home decorating
• Case and point: I've lived in my apt for 10 months and still don't have artwork up on the walls in my room.
• Competitions

I'm sure there are a lot more but I won't get into that!
___________

Lauren: "Can you do a post about things you're good at but need to be worse at?"
Me: "....like what?"
Lauren: "Being bossy!"

Maybe next time kids.
___________

As to what's been up in my life, nothing too exciting. My mom came to visit. That was nice. I'm going home soon. YEAH ATX. I'm going to Thailand! I bought a Kindle for the 20hr plane ride. Excited.

I left my current book and detergent at the laundromat yesterday.  I didn't realize until today and when I went back to get it, all my stuff was still there. So either One Hundred Years of Solitude is not a hot commodity or my neighborhood is honest. I can't decide.

Sorry, no pictures in this one. I'm getting lazy. True story.

It's supposed to rain all week and I am NOT excited.

Sensory Overload

I'm going to try to post more. But until I get a decent camera it may all just be word posts. Which is hard since I'm such a visual person (like I say in every post).

Or I'll just look through my phone and see what random things I've captured and write about that. At least that's something right?

I don't know, it's like the older I get, the more I don't remember. I feel like I need to write down every fabulous experience I have because  when I don't I just forget. I've gotten the opportunity to do many amazing things here in the city, partially from being in such a metropolis and partly from working in media (the bomb!). But maybe it's because I'm inundated by a profusion of sights, sounds and smells everyday that my mind has to optimize on what exactly to remember. About a month ago I recently read The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan and there was an explanation in the marijuana chapter devoted to the brain and your neurons are constantly firing. In order to keep things flowing and going, the mind has to selectively choose what to remember and what to forget. They say that childbirth is so traumatizing, that the brain releases a chemical that helps the mother 'forget' what it was like in order to keep on reproducing. Obviously Pollan wrote all this in more accurate and pleasing prose than me.

But you get the idea.

Brunch at DiWine-Banana Bread French Toast (not mine of course!)

Lauren and I baked cupcakes for Jackie's birthday even though we couldn't eat them. Peanut-butter chocolate!

I made pho for this first time ever. Pho ga (chicken) yum!

L, J and I all got microzone treatments at Dermalogica

Drink at The Hurricane Club

I won the in-flight trivia game on my flight back from Vegas. Woot!

Random thoughts:

• I eat healthy 5 days a week. On the weekends, when I'm not on a schedule I eat whatever, whenever
• I want to go on a vacation alone
• I eat an apple a day

This was a lame post. Sorry.

Back in NYC

Since this blog is named Sandy In NYC I don't like to talk about my time in other cities. But since my last weekend in Vegas was sooo much fun I will share some tidbits.

Once Tommy sends me original pics of us, I can post some visuals. Until then a list:

• Seeing my Dad, brother, cousins and aunt was really nice. I really miss my fam.
• Mandatory visit to In-N-Out by taking a cab there and sneaking in a cab back (cabs in LAS aren't allowed to pick-up rides anywhere but designated taxi stations)
• Lost $$$ in the casinos...watch Kevin lose even more
• Kevin had a backpack with a built in speakers and jamming out to it in the airport, shuttle and hotel room
• Staying at the Aria--lovely new hotel
• Getting bottle service at Haze and watching B.O.B perform less than 5 ft away
• Losing my wallet at PURE and having Tommy pull out his ID and saying that it was my wallet
• Looking for my wallet in the bathroom with the attendant and getting a text from Kevin that said "I got it"
• Watching my cousin get his dance on with older women
• Experiencing a wonderful break from then ever-ending, cold, dreary NYC winter and laying out by the pool
• Spotting my dad walking in the Bellagio with a whiskey in one hand and lit cigarette in the other because he was up from playing blackjack (he quit smoking 2 years ago...)
• Seeing my aunt hovering her hand over Kevin's back in pure anxiety because he bet $$$ in roulette
• Sitting at a table with all of my fam and gambling like it's going out of style
• Getting all the way through security and to to the airline gate only to find out that I had showed up a day late for my flight. Waiting on standby for an hour before booking a hotel room, new flight and spending a night alone in Vegas. Oh, and calling in to work only to have my team be disappointed that I was taking an extra day because of a date mistake and not because I had gotten arrested or anything juicy and wild.

I know, I know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. So think about what I am not telling you...hahaha, just kidding!

Baked

I know I said I would post about Vivian and Mattie's visit. But I actually don't have any pictures. Since I'm a visual person, I feel that lack of pictures will not make an enjoyable post so I'll just sum up the visit into a brief, few sentences:

We had an itinerary that outlined the times and places we would eat at, every other activity was more or less on a whim. Vivian had this ridiculous cough and it was freezing cold so we had to bundle more than we had originally thought. But it was a great, relaxing time where we got to roam the city by day and settle around Glee episodes, making home-made oreos and  eating take-out by night. Love.

Moving on. I have been hankering for cinnamon rolls. (Fun fact: when I was younger I had a cockatiel that I named Cinnemon. Yes, you read right, I didn't know how to spell cinnamon correctly at the age of 8. Well, I still spell it wrong all the time and have to catch myself constantly. This is coming from a girl who thought that San Diego was spelled Sandy-Ego. Talk about egos...Here is my defense to all this: English WAS my second language, bwahahahaha!)

Anyways, cinnemon cinnamon rolls require a lot of time. Which I don't have since I've given up baked sweets for Lent... Thus I'm making a King Cake for tomorrow in honor of Mardi Gras and to satiate my sweet, yeasty cinnemon-sugar craving.

However Joy the Baker has tempted me: Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I cannot, absolutely cannot make that because I will eat it. No doubt. And because I don't have a loaf pan. But come Easter, nothing can stop me.

I could give up shopping on Amazon for Lent. Maybe...we'll see! Actually I gave up baked goods. Baked sweets to be precise.

I really want a Kindle.

I ate too much dinner. Well, I either at too much or too fast. Whatever the it was, my stomach is stuffed.

I'm going to Vegas on Thursday and I am EXTREMELY excited.

Sorry this post has no pictures. I might do a random picture post. Sometime...

Jackie's brother came into town this weekend to visit her and other peeps. Lauren's mom will be here this week, along with her two littlest siblings. Then the week after Jackie's cousin will be here. So many people.

And to all my friends and family who have not visited...ya'll are missing out!

Peace,

Sandy

Show me the love!

 Happy BELATED Valentine's Day! To commemorate I'm going to share one of my loves: baking.

A few weeks ago my roommates, Shelby and I took a cupcake class at Butter Lane. It was a Groupon okay? And I really like cupcakes.

And I also started this post on Valentines day. Hence the weird intro. But anyhow back to the story.

It was a class of 12. Teams of four. Guess who was in my group?

We made (as a class) vanilla, chocolate and banana cupcakes as well as vanilla, chocolate, cream cheese and peanut butter frosting (we voted on this and split the vanilla in half to get enough). My group was in charge of the banana cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. YUM.

I learned a lot about baking cake. Little, basic, scientific explanations about why it's important to cream together butter and sugar for so long. That there is reason to the order of adding wet and dry into the mix. Why you fold in banana last (because they are a gluten and over beating makes the cake tough and dry).

And let's just say I think our cakes turned out the best. Well-shaped and even. And our frosting was yum.

Winning cupcakes!

We learned how to frost the cupcakes Butter Lane style. Then there was a contest to see who could get it the most beautiful. I'll give you three guesses to who won...YAY ME! Too bad I left my prize, a gift of half a dozen cupcakes, in the kitchen when I rushed out after class. But we did not forget our cupcakes. It was free for all grab at the end, so the cupcakes I took home weren't necessarily all decorated by me...or the roommates. Or Shelby.

It was great fun and my love for baking has not decreased since then. Vivian and Mattie visited this weekend. We made homemade oreos. A post about their visit is forthcoming. I should definitely try to be more frequent than my current semi-monthly pace.

Snow Daze

NY Public Libary on 5th Ave

I know I don't win for most original post title but it fits so well. Being from Texas, I never saw a lot of snow. Duh. I mean, when it "snowed" it was really icy rain and I remember waking up early to turn on the news, praying that school was cancelled. Since I've moved to the NE, I've realized that one, icy rain really is dangerous and two, snow in NYC is dirrrty.

Outdoor subway platform in my commute

It's been snowing, substantially, every week since Christmas. To me, this is what living up north is all about, to people who've lived in the city for the past 10 years, this is unusual. Apparently it doesn't snow all the time, like it has been. This year, it's been abundant. Blame it on global warming causing more severe storms. Who knows.

Walks to work can be fun.

Three scenarios when I wake up to a snowy day:

1. I wake up. I get dressed. I'm almost out the door and decide to look out the window. It's snowing. I sigh, exasperated, and tweak my outfit to work around my snowboots. The thing about snow is that it is silent! Unlike rain. But snow melts when it lands on your lashes and cheeks. I still haven't decided on whether I want to carry an umbrella out or not when it's snowing.
2. I wake up. I look out the window and the world is blanketed in snow. The sun is high and clear. Everything looks fresher, crisper, clearer. I bundle up excitedly and leave for work. Everything looks beautiful. Until later, when everyones tracks and the dirt of NYC taints the snow. And it's grimy and piled on the sides of the walkways. At least it hides the trash. But when it gets slushy and melty, it seems that all the corners are puddles of muddy slush. Bah!
3. I wake up. Because of a big storm anticipation,I call my work's hotline, even before I get out of bed, cross my fingers and hope that we get a snow day. That has yet to happen.

One of the neighbors has this snow plow machine that makes mountains!

 Regardless of what seems like a list of inconveniences about snow, I rather enjoy it. It's nice to have a real winter. My favorite part is being able to see my breath so well.

What is all this snow good for? SKIING! My roommates and I (and Yesenia) signed up for a Texas Exes (Hook'Em!) day trip, ski at Windham Mountain, this past weekend. It was a great site. Lots of trails. The day was beautiful, clear and sunny skies. All lifts were open and trails freshly groomed. We had a blast even if we did have to wake up at 5am. It was a great day.

Taking a break to blow my nose!

About skiing. I've only skiied like once before. And I wasn't bad at it. I'm just...reckless. I guess you could say I started running before I learned to walk. Or walking before I learned to crawl. Regardless, I can balance, go fast and such but I cannot, for the life of me, stop aptly. Or at all... But I love skiing and can go on blue trails now. YAY! Anyways I want to make skiing a more constant thing in my life. I mean, if my brother can own a snowboard and live in Texas, I sure as hell can go skiing more than once a year.

Readysetgo! (Jackie wanted to snowboard)

And what else does snow entice one to do? Cook stews, soups and other hearty items of course! And what better way to make hot, delicious meals worthy of a snowy, freezing day than in a wonderful dutch oven. I decided to treat myself to this baby:

Staub. 5.5qt. Graphite

I am in bliss. I've wanted a dutch oven ever since I started reading Pioneer Woman and this desire burned even more when I became smitten with Smitten Kitchen. Braised meats? Deep, flavorful soups? SIGN ME UP!

Yes, I did get grey and not dijon. Why? I am lucky enough to have a friend who's mother works at William Sonoma. Thus I was limited to the colors they carried but I got half-off so I'm not complaining. Plus I think that grey compliments yellow rather nicely so I guess I'll just have a grey and yellow kitchen in the future. It's chic!

To all my readers: keep warm!

-Sandy

*Just wanted to say that many of the snow photos and all the skiing ones are courtesy of L!

New Year...no pictures

So during my NYE deubachary I reset the passcode on my phone. And forgot it. And had to reset it.

As a result I lost all of my pictures. Or almost all of them. What I e-mailed myself before this all happened, apparently I was going to do a post about baked goods:

Simplest Apple Tart

Chris helped peel apples...I sliced them...

Simple Roast Chicken that I cannot stop making. Thank you Thomas Keller and thank you Mattie for making try this recipe.

World Peace Cookies

Wait, have I posted these before? Idk but they were good! I would do it again except I need more quality semisweet chocolate.

Speaking of, I'm really into quality ingredient nowadays. I recieved some vanilla bean paste for Christmas which I absolutely adore. And now that I've tasted the quality of Scharffen Berger, I do not know if I can ever go back to Nestle. Now that my sweets taste amazing (quality + my natural talent, harharhar) the only downside is that these ingredients are more expensive. Is it worth it? I'll let you know after I gain 5lbs.  Or 10.

 On the note of 10, we got 10" of snow last night. Let's just say that Lauren and I had the longest walk to work. Because we like jumping in snow drifts.

Sorry for the boring, albeit tasty, post. I hope it suffices until I feel motivated to upload more pictures. Because I do have some more. I'm just too lazy to get up and get my phone. Story of my life.

BTW, I am overjoyed at the amount of readers I have. I want to post more! Yay!

Raise your hand

Or comment...if you still read my blog. I don't know if I should keep updating it!