Someone's Junk is Another Person's Treasure

Yesterday afternoon I made a trip to our local Goodwill in hopes of finding some good treasures. I love shopping at thrift stores. Just love it. Love it even more after reading blogs that give a breath of fresh new life to an old pieces of furniture.I just feel so inspired to do the same exact thing.

On this trip, I was in search of a fruit bowl. I was getting tired of seeing our fruit in its plastic bags sitting on the counter. Plus it was starting to get in the way. I blame it on the hubs for purchasing a 5lb bag of naval oranges. 

So, with an item in mind, I went and came out with this. 

I also snagged a couple of vases for $0.50! This one is sitting on our mantel for the time being. I can't wait to purchase some nice looking succulents to put them in. But, I'm sure that it can function as a bowl to put things in like paperclips/rubberbands on your desk or cotton swabs/cotton balls in your bathroom.

Do you enjoy shopping at thrift stores? What have you purchased that is your absolute favorite?

Getting' out of dodge!

I just can't get enough of this yummy weather we've been getting here. Every time it's my day off, I try to get up early and soak up all the sun I can get! I feel as though Mr. Rain is going to make his appearance soon.

Yesterday was one of those days. Even though, I worked the night before, I was determined to not stay home and head on out to one of my favorite places to hang on a beautiful day--- 4th Street in Berkeley, CA. They have a slew of little shops and restaurants allowing you to  just walk around and peruse. My most favorite stores there is the Crate and Barrel Outlet, Paper Source and ofcourse, Anthropologie! 

Maddie got to go to one of her favorite stores,  George!   She got to eat up a Lamb treat for free, courtesy of the sales associate that gave her one. I was going to get her some because I noticed that she loved it. But, when I saw that they were $5/lb, I opted to not to. Sorry Maddie.

For the most part, the hubs and I just sat in front of Peet's, people watched and just talked about stuff going on at work and in our lives. It was lovely because we were truly enjoying the day. 


Where is your favorite place to hang out on a beautiful day?

Insomnia, Sodium Lunches and White Elephants

It's been nearly 3 years since I've been working 12 hour night shifts and yet, I still haven't established a good sleeping pattern. Last night was my "Monday" after being off for 7 days and just like all of my first nights of working, I end up waking up at either 10:00 am or 11:00 am. Weird though because when it's my days off, I can sleep in all day long. Ugh. 

Today, I am taking in a high sodium packed lunch today! Oh yes. It's the good ole' Cup of Noodles pre-packaged soups and some fried up pot stickers that were leftover in the freezer. There's something about finishing the food in our freezer and/or refrigerator that gives me satisfaction. Do you get like that sometimes?

The top of my tupperware looks like this and I just love the mini quote that's on it. If you can't see it, it reads, " I Wish That It is a Good Day Today." Gotta love, it yes? That's what I pray what my nights at work will be. Lately, we've been experiencing sick calls, medical leaves, and family leave which is unfortunately leaving us short handed. It makes for an ugly night, hence the reasoning for my mornings coming home to a cold beer in hand. 

I purchased this cute tupperware at the Japanese Dollar Store in South San Francisco called Daiso. It's not entirely a dollar store, but majority of their products are relatively cheap. I love this store for its quirky Japanese inventions, little cutesy bento boxes, classic tea cups that could easily be gifted for a White Elephant Christmas party. Trust me, you'll be the most admired person there as your gift has the most class. Hah! Yah'll know what I'm talking about right? I can count the amount of times wherein I've received some " WTF" gifts from White Elephant parties.  


Anyways, going into work tonight for night 2/4. I'm nearly there!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday tonight and safe weekend!
 

My current food addiction.

I'm currently addicted to the uncooked tortillas at Costco.  You get 40 uncooked tortillas for $6 and change. T.O.T.A.L.L.Y worth it! You can find them in the freezer section.

So easy to make too. You get a pan, heat it up, put the uncooked tortilla in the pan. When it starts to puff up a little, that means its time to turn it over. 

It'll look like this. 

The hubs and I decide to make fish taco's with these. We cheat . We buy fishsticks. But this time, we decided to look up the recipe for Rubio's infamous white sauce that they put in their fish taco's. There were a gazillion recipes found on good ole' trusty Google, and I settled upon this one.  

With a squirt of fresh lime, some shredded cabbage and ofcourse, cilantro they mimicked Rubio's fish taco's. Well, in my head it did and it totally satisfied my craving.  

Don't these look great? 

Going Green!

No green was worn yesterday on my part.  Instead, I wore black and grey. Surprised that no one embarked on the opportunity at the local Target to pinch me. Unlike my little brother who wrote on this on his facebook update:

Got pinched by someone I don't know. That's just askin to get punched in the face. Hell nah!

But, I couldn't help but start my morning off on the right foot! I drank my cup of coffee in a really green mug. I felt pretty " in the spirit" while drinking from it, I gotta say.










 


  In commencement of the holiday, the husband decides to purchase a pre-marinated Harris ranch corn beef brisket. We decided to put it in the slower cooker and let it do its thing for 6 hours. 

I'm not really a fan of the corn beef brisket, aside from the canned stuff. I could never acquire the taste for it. So, as the corn beef cooked in our house, I was getting nauseated by the smell of it.  Throughout the day, I thought about calling up the husband to get me some chow mein on his way home. But, I decided to suck it up, aka, save $$, and eat it.

Here's how it all looked on my plate. The verdict? I still don't like corned beef. I'm wondering if it has to do with the premarinated version. Maybe if we buy a corn beef that is plain and we season it ourselves, maybe it will taste better? Thank goodness for the mashed potatoes that I made. They turned out very creamy. 


We almost went to our local froyo place to grab some Irish Mint yogurt, but thinking it was St. Patty's day, I knew there was going to be a hoard of drunken college students in the midtown area and no parking.  So, I leave you with a picture of Maddie with her new green fleece jacket that my mom and dad bought her at our local 2nd Saturday Art Walk. 

 

Spring Fever

I'm finally receiving beautiful weather on my off days from work. It was so miserable having to work on days when the weather was gorgeous but then having ugly rainy weather on my off days. Made for a gloomy me. 

Our backyard is getting me very excited for the Spring and upcoming Summer. I now understand and can bond even more with my mother when it comes to planting flowers.

Today, I purchased a couple of Spanish Lavender plants and planted them in my new IKEA ceramic pots. A steal of a bargain I tell yah! Only $5.99! Thank you MOM for informing me of this lovely deal. I think I may need to swing by the local IKEA and pick me up some more ceramic pots. 

While planting, I noticed that our corner Cherry Blossom tree is starting to produce some cute flowers. Yay!!! It just these little things that make me smile and just want to enjoy the beautiful day. 

This is my first time to garden and I'm quite nervous that I may really suck at it. But, at the same time, I'm excited to see what I can learn about the plants and see how they turn out during the Spring and Summer months. 


Have you guys gotten into planting recently?

Second Chance

I've decided to give Skinny Jeans a second chance. I don't know why.  But, it's really the only way I can sport my boots.  Really. 

Over the weekend, I visited Old Navy to purchase a few items for a baby shower I was attending. Once I walked in, why was it that they were having a super duper sale on jeans and summer dresses? Two of my favorite things! 

I ended up purchasing two skinny jeans. A pair of 
" The Diva" skinny jeans in a dark rinse. And another pair that had me reminiscing of my junior high-highschool days because it had a zipper on the side of the pants.

I wore both pairs of the weekend and felt absolutely fat! LOL Still trying to get use to them. I mean, I sorta enjoyed wear them with my boots, but I yeah, not used to them.

Maddie + Sunbathing + the Vet

I swear this dog never ceases to crack me up every single day. Her thing is when it's super sunny outside in the backyard, she likes to just sit in the sun and just bask in it. I quickly found this trait out when we got our backyard landscaped as I found her sitting in the sun on top of my flowers! F! 


This morning, since the sun was out, she prodded me to let her outside because well, what else? 

 She either sits like this or lays down on the bark. Every now and then, she'll change position and just sit. Too freakin' funny, yes?


Yesterday, I had to bring her to the vet (again) because she developed an infection in here right eye. My suspicions are that she got infected when she went to the All Day Play at the Wag Hotel because a couple days later, I see mucous coming out of her right eye and then later on the day her eye gets red. Ugh, really??? Do I really have to shell out another $100+ to the vet??

I'm just griping because a few months ago we had to bring her to the vet because she had an ear infection. Then a few months before that we had to bring her to the vet because she was vomitting. Thankfully, everything came out normal, but my wallet hated me. Seriously thinking of looking into pet insurance. But, I can't help but think that once we do decide to invest in it, we won't be heading to the vet for years to come. Hah. Isn't that how it always works?
 

I'm Still Alive.

Excuse me for the serious drop in blogging. My gosh, I can't believe I let it get this critical. Been more of the lurker these days.

Been doing absolutely nothing these past couple of months other than hanging out and working. Hung out with some college friends a few weeks ago. Since we all live all over the place, we figured meeting about halfway would be the best option for us. So, we chose to be like hens at one of my favorite hangouts, A-Cote. 

From their decadent mussels, to their crispy pommes frites, and not to mention yummy cocktails, this place is awesome to enjoy each other's company. 
 
Been baking quite a lot these days. I blame the rain. Oh, the rain, how I despise you. I know, I know. We need it. My backyard plants need it and I have to say that I've noticed a small change. Small blooms are beginning to come out and its making me quite happy. I can't wait for late Spring early Summer to arrive so that I can see how our backyard is really suppose to look like. But, I digress. 


Back to baking. Just last night, I made some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies to which the recipe was adapted from the infamous Magnolia Bakery in NYC.

It was posted by Smitten Kitchen which has posted some pretty good looking recipes. Gotta say, they were pretty darn good. A little sweet for my palette, but dude, thumbs up! 


I've also been cooking our dinners at home. Sure, there are plenty of times when I just want to go and eat out, but I think of the money we spent on the groceries and how much money we'll be saving if we just stay in and cook. Le sigh. So, I cook and we eat and I'm satisfied, I guess. No new recipes though. Been rotating the ones that we've enjoyed over the past couple of months. I really want to start cooking more ethnic foods though.  Like, more Filipino foods. Gotta hit up the mamasita to learn it though. 

Maddie is still adorable as ever! Just the other day I took up the opportunity of the " First Time Guest" special at Wag Hotel and dropped her off at the all day play for free since I had two semi long meetings at work.Normally, it's $30 for all day play.  At first she was scared when we entered the front doors and shaky too! Gosh, I swear this dog acts abused sometimes. Anyways, when I picked her up later in the day, they told me she warmed up eventually after about 5 minutes and began playing with the other dogs. 


I love this place. I know I've only experienced it only one time, but I just got a great vibe from the people that work there and the place itself. It's so warm and inviting once you walk in and you don't hear a single bark. The employee showed me a little video she took of Maddie during the playtime just to show me how comfortable she was. That put a smile on my face.