what a diff'rence a day makes

I was on facebook earlier today and my side bars kept referencing old photo albums I'd posted from like 3ish years ago. Naturally, I clicked on them and it really took me back. House parties and playing in the snow in "The usual shenanigans", sunsets on the beach in "A Series of Stupidity", randomness at Cha Cha in "photobooth", travels to Hawai'i, the Philippines, & Japan, and of course, all of the unforgettable nights clubbing with my ladies. I don't know if this is sad to say, but I really really miss those days. I'm really happy with my recent successes, especially professionally/academically, but nonetheless, I can't help but find myself constantly thinking of the ease, fun, and happiness of days of yore.

perhaps I'm just making excuses, but I've also been very unhappy about a lot of things in my life for the past few years and I'm riding a lot of hope on my move. I've always loved living in the city and I'm still at a point in my life where I prefer a more urban lifestyle. I don't want to be in the suburbs and I especially hate that I'm so far away from everything and everyone. A lot of this unhappiness that I've been feeling stems from feeling left out. I feel like I'm missing out from all these things that are happening in the city, things that my friends are doing, that people my age are doing that I should be and want to do too.

no one got to the top without a little help

I randomly opened the Stickies on my laptop today (for the Mac un-savvy, that's a post-it notes app). I completely forgot that I had 5 of them each representing an academic year starting from June 2009 to August 2013 & beyond. Each sticky has an important goal & a list of to-do's on it. Essentially, it's my 5 year plan in 50 words or less.

I'm glad to report that I've achieved what I set out to be for June 2009 to August 2010, and seeing as I based this plan on the hope of getting into the MedSLP program at UW, it looks like I'm still on the right track :). With a huge sigh of relief, a great sense of achievement, and a bright outlook toward the future, I close this note and begin a new one, five years from now. At this very moment, life is feeling pretty good.

hey there muscle arms

I had a very... -intimate- dream last night. I'll spare y'all the details. What struck me as particularly odd about this dream was that you'll never guess the supposititious object of my affection: Mister Rogers!

say WHA?!??!?!?

happy birthday Otis Clyde!

today is my dog's 98th birthday! He's finally surpassed even my grandma (a close 93) in age. Dad and I celebrated by getting him some tasty, bacon-y treats, but seeing as he's a rather finicky dog w/barely any teeth left, we may also add in fried rice molded into the shape of a cake since he seems to enjoy that

this one was taken pre-cyst, so he must've been like 10 years old

enjoying my mom's garden and the (rare) Seattle sun

what to do?

I'm really conflicted right now because in terms of exercise during the school year, I don't know what to do. I'm currently taking a "pilates" class through the IMA--and I put it in quotes because my instructor, Erin, usually teaches yoga so her style of pilates is heavily influenced by that. I have to say, I absolutely love my instructor! I like how everything flows from one form to another, how she always asks what areas we would like to focus on and really caters to that, how she focuses on loosening and warming up the areas around our joints, and how she emphasizes understanding our bodies' limits while still maintaining proper form. Usually instructors first demonstrate the proper form and then sometimes show the modification. Erin takes the opposite approach where she slowly eases us in with a warm up, and then while focusing on the right area and right muscles, slowly puts us into position and gradually increases it from there

some issues I've always had with pilates and yoga are my weak lower back and tight hips, but Erin really helps strengthen and loosen those areas. She's the only instructor I've had (and I've had my fair share) where I never look at the clock and I look forward to going to class. Hell, the only drawback right now is that the class is only twice a week!

my conflict is that once summer quarter is over, Erin will go back to teaching at Yogalife and the usual teacher will come back to teach pilates during the entire school year. I really don't like this instructor! I feel that my muscles tense up with her because she focuses too much on form and flexibility without much consideration for those who may need some modifications. She obviously understands the body, but sometimes focuses on too many muscles and joints at once that I get over-stimulated, over think it, and end up tensing up. It takes me a lot of self-motivation (and I mean a lot) to get myself down to the IMA to attend one of her classes. In the end, I'm either prone to skipping her class or I don't feel neither relaxed nor worked out like I should

but, it'd only cost me about $15/mo for classes 2x/wk, whereas, Erin (and the other instructors at the studio) would be about $90/mo for unlimited classes... There are more pros & cons I could list, but then I would never shut up. I'm currently leaning toward the latter option, but fiscally, that difference is soo much that I really need to consider this

schmancy

I just found out that I won a copy of Anna Hrachovec's Knitting Mochimochi from PlushYou! This is so awesome, I feel like I never win anything! :D If you're familiar with Anna's work, she does a tiny series almost every week, so PlushYou! decided to hold a contest for whoever could come up with the next best tiny idea. Since I like the deep sea/nautical theme, I suggested a tiny submarine, steam punk scuba diver, or seahorse. I'm not quite sure which idea won, but hell, who cares? I won out of about 200 entries!! I really hope that Anna will take one (or all?) of my suggestions and knit something up because I'd love to see what she comes up with!

you can't fire me

I fuckin' QUIT!

1 skin, 2 skin, 3 skin, 4...

I use to be afraid that school depleted me of all creative energy. I remember when I was a kid, I loved getting projects because that allowed me to make things, not just study them. All sorts of images would pop into my head of the projected end product and I'd be busy busy busy making, drawing, cutting, pasting... creating!

I think I was influenced by my sister, the ultimate Renaissance woman, both intelligent & artistic. When we were kids, she'd yell at me for coloring in her "Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers" coloring book with her crayons, and not only that, but I'd be coloring too hard. She also turned an egg carton into a full-fledged studio apartment, which must've later given her the idea to empty out our eggs while still maintaining the shell and eventually turn them into all sorts of various jungle animals. Whatever it was that she made, I just remember that I wanted to make it too! I don't even know if she still remembers half the things she did; I only remember them because that was the kind of influence her creativity had on me

now that I have the summer off before grad school, I've decided to relax, which has given me a lot of free time to create. In fact, I finally got my little craft corner set up! It comes w/office supplies, books, pattern/idea notebook, ball winder, yarn box, caddy fully stocked w/knitting and crocheting equipment, and plant. It's not much, but it suits my needs. I'm trying to think of some clever, witty name to call it so that I can vaguely hint at what I'm doing. Something to the tune of, "well, time to drop the kids off the pool..." but you know, more on the funny, less on the TMI connotations

I feel that having this creative outlet, some of the juices have come back! For instance, the other day, it just occurred to me to make an alphabet-themed toy & letter plate set for my nephew. I've been knitting and crocheting all sorts of toy animals with no particular purpose, but to make them and learn some techniques along the way (I have plans to design my own pattern some day). So for each letter of the alphabet, I'll make him a little animal accompanied with a card representing said letter and animal and an interesting fact about it. This would give him something to play with, two- and three-dimensional objects to visualize, teach him the alphabet, AND expand his knowledge of the animal kingdom. I'm also hoping that his parents will take the letters of his name and maybe hang them up on his wall?

but anyway, I've only got B is for Beaver done. This will definitely be a summer-long project because this one letter alone amongst all the other things that I have to do, has taken me about 3 days...

my dream house

I use to own a box of pictures, notes, and clippings of things I wanted to have someday in my dream house. Over many, many years, I accumulated ideas for different kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, landscapes. I included color schemes for which areas of the house, skylights in which rooms, porch decor. I had both interior and exterior covered! The idea was to collect anything and everything I liked, decide what was economically and ergonomically the best choice, and consult with my construction team from there. Unfortunately, I lost this box. I've recently come to terms with this because I figure my tastes change with experience anyway. And now with it being spring and the season for plant shopping or traipsing through Japanese gardens, I've been learning a lot about plants and landscaping, and my mind is going wild! I think now is as good a time as ever to start a new box of pictures, notes, and clippings of the things I want to have someday in my dream house, so here goes...

my dream house will have Magnolias & Wisterias

my mom has a silk flowering plant that she bought years ago when we still lived in Houston. It's some sort of Oriental plant with huge, blooming pink flowers. I've always liked this plant, but assumed it was either non-existent or only grew somewhere in Asia (presumably Japan since her furniture seemed to carry that theme). Until recently, I've discovered that this plant does exist, and in fact, can grow in the Pacific Northwest. It's a magnolia. Every time I've tried to describe this plant, people always thought I'd been talking about orchards or cherry blossoms, which are beautiful plants too, but they shed. After having a weeping willow, I've learned that shedding trees are way too high-maintenance for me. Besides, I much prefer the gorgeous, huge blossoms of magnolias and they're far more fragrant. I'd love to have a soft breeze carrying that scent all throughout my house

I've also learned a new species of plant that I've always liked: wisterias. I've always wanted a trellis with some sort of climbing plant wrapping itself around it and hanging blooms draping off of it. I'd always thought these plants were some sort of grape variety, but as I was at the local nursery by my parent's house, I've learned that they're wisterias and that they grow quite well in the Pacific Northwest and England. I'm not sure what color I'd like them in (it depends on the color scheme of my dream house), but I think I'd like them in purple. Or maybe white. Or maybe yellow...

hurrah!

I can officially add "crocheting" to my list of special powers! ^_^ Many thanks to Woowork for without him, I may have never gotten in touch with Planet June and thus found a reliable source on left-handed crocheting. I've taken many stabs at trying to learn how to crochet, but with black&white hand-drawn pictures, it's nearly impossible to imagine the instructions and then flip them to make them more lefty-friendly. I've even tried many sources that claim to teach crocheting to left-handers, but they were no good. Planet June, on the other hand, is actually a lefty crocheter with really simple instructions and pictures to aid. I was able to understand her instructions right away and in fact, made my first attempt at amigurumi!

I'm the type of person who whenever I take on something new, I immediately try to jump 10 steps ahead of me. Everything relies on those first moments. If I'm not getting something (organic chemistry) or it's not piquing my interest within 5 seconds (Clay Aiken), I give up and move onto something else. But if I can somehow mathematically wrap my head around something and I feel like I'm progressing toward some sort of understanding, I recklessly ignore how deep the plunge is, and jump right off the edge, figuring I'll find out the subsequent risks along the way

when I picked up my first pair of knitting needles, as soon as I got the basic knit and purl techniques down, I immediately set myself to knit a lace shawl. I ignored the fact that I didn't know any other techniques, gauges, or tension, and went right at it. Of course, this led to many many mistakes and much pleading for help on my thankfully-patient, master-crafts-woman big sister (^_^)

likewise, just yesterday, I was introduced to Planet June's instructions on basic crocheting for lefties. As soon as I saw it, I immediately picked up some cheap yarn and my crochet hook (like I said, I've attempted, and failed many times before! Plus, a crochet hook can come in handy for knitting too). Once I felt like I got the basic chain stitch down, I went right ahead and bugged my sister (again!) for one of her amigurumi toy patterns. This morning, with my chosen pattern in one hand and June's instructions in the other, I went right at it, and by this afternoon, I completed my first ever crocheted amigurumi project, huzzah!

post edit: meet my first ever crocheted project, a burgundy koala! Or as some people like to call her, Baby Gau

mmm, begonias *nom nom nom*

courtesy of Woman's Day

if you don't sweat, you're not doing it right

day 1 of the VCR Pact. And by VCR, I mean the Vivian-Carmel-&Rosa Pact: work out 4x a week. Pretty simple and not to rigorous, right? Wrong! God I hadn't realized how out of shape I'd gotten... since the last half of fall quarter, I haven't been able to hit a gym at all. Winter was busy with grad school apps and spring has been a packed schedule of 19 credits and 2 labs.

so finally, I hit the gym today as day 1 of our pact. I started everything out light knowing that it'd been awhile. In fact, I've been wanting to get back into my old running shape, so I restarted the original training program that I did almost 5 years ago that made me into a runner in the first place. And even with a light workout, I was huffin' it! -_-''

I did 20 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the elliptical, and 8-min abs. And let me reiterate, these were light workouts--as in, I wasn't going that fast or hardcore. I use to run 4.5 miles on the treadmill set to speed 6.5, and that was on an easy day...

I'm really glad I decided to join in on this pact because I've been wanting to get back in shape for awhile now, especially before grad school starts. I hadn't really noticed it until I was talking to Rosa one day, but at one point, running kinda became my identity. I felt off if I didn't run, and now that I haven't been running, I've felt off from a big part of myself. Now that I have a full summer, my main goals will be to work (nothing tough since it'd only be a summer job) and workout. I'm hoping now that I won't have a car, I'll be forced to use my bike more, which will also contribute to my exercise regimen. But ultimately, I'd like to do a 5k sometime before 2011. I never did one when I was in good running shape and I'd always regretted that. I figure, now that I'm trying to get back into the groove of things, now's a good time as any to slowly train myself for a 5k in the meantime. Wish me luck!

happy may day!

I can't believe it's May! Where has April gone? Hell, where has the last year gone? Anywho, I've finished April goal #1! In fact, I finished it last night, just in time for May to roll around the corner, but was waiting for daylight before I could take pictures.

his name is Bonifacio, after Filipino hero & revolutionary Andres Bonifacio. He stands about 12" tall and loves sipping on coconut milk. Bonifacio is an idealist and contributes to his weekly blog of political views and donations to various non-profits. He'll always fight for the little guy, but he could never actually hurt a fly. He enjoys the beach, though he's never been to one, and longs to visit the crystal clear waters of southeast Asia one day.

copyright: pattern & design by Rebecca Danger (Esther the Eccentric Elephant).

i shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy

apparently Petco's adoption program extends beyond just cats. Chris & I stopped by today to try to pick up some new fish for the pond and found a sign advertising 6 huge goldfish up for adoption. We left the store $3 lighter & 27 fish later. Great deal if you ask me!

mahlzeit!

April endeavor #2 completed! Today, I made Chris & myself homemade gnocchi with a garlic lemon butter sauce :9. Unfortunately, I finished my bowl of gnocchi before I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures... oops! Anyhow, I was quite satisfied with the texture; it was softer and lighter without being too doughy. I'd have to second the grating technique, messy as it is. The sauce on the other hand? Meh. It was aight. I didn't really know what I was doing so I just tossed a bunch of things in a pan and heated up 'til saucy. Thankfully, we still had some leftover pesto from the batch my sister & I made, which helped save it. Next time, I think I'll try a lighter sauce or a marina methinks.

skurrously!

there are a few things that I would like to accomplish, mainly in the realms of food & knitting, so I've been checking out a lot of sources for ideas. I think I'm gonna try to complete something on a monthly basis, which may not sound like much, but trust me, with school and my schedule, this may be a rather ambitious feat. I've already selected my 2 upcoming projects for April:

1) since my nephew is coming, I've only got a month to make him an elephant. I got this pattern from the lovely & amazing Rebecca Danger. My sister-in-law is Thai so I wanted to make an Asian elephant, but I'll have to figure out how to make the ears a little bit smaller and how to add tusks...

2) my other endeavor will be fresh gnocchi made-from-scratch, mmm! I've made gnocchi before, but it never melted in my mouth, even when I used Chris's ricer to get the right consistency. But then, I found this recipe from smitten kitchen that uses a cheese grater instead of any of those fancy schmancy tools, so of course I'm gonna give it a try! I've also never pan fried my gnocchi, but I've had it at some other places and it's really good. I'm no chef, though, so I just hope these turn out tasty...

i wants

I found this little guy at ouou's shop on Etsy. He's just so perfect! In fact, it's worth checking out some of her other stuff because they're equally as adorable. She also has a blog, Everything in Blue, featuring some more of her print designs. I've mentioned before that I wish I had learned print-making before. I've always admired original, hand-made designs, cards, stationary, and whatnot. Next time I'm in Portland, I'm just gonna have to check out her shop.

but until then, a little word of advice:

via

if your skirt gets any higher, I may have to arrest you for dealin crack!

so I've put my blog through a little re-vamp, and while I think it could still be edited, I'm happy with what I've got so far (mind you, this is the extent of my HTML capabilities...). As spring slowly, but surely comes to Seattle, I feel that I need to do a little cleaning and organizing. Already I can feel the weight of this overloaded quarter (19 credits, eep!), but as I attempt to study for exams and write my papers, all I can think of is how much I look forward to upcoming events.

first of all, I finally get to meet Andres, my nephew, in a month! I had hoped that I would've met him before his first birthday, but at least when I do get to see him, he'll be interactive enough to play with and hopefully to remember me. I've had to watch him grow so quickly via the internet and see him play with the toys I've made him or outgrow the clothes I've given him. Now that I'll finally get to see him in person, all I can think about is what kind of toys to knit him!

speaking of knitting, as of late, I've gotten back into the whole knitting groove, thanks to hansigurumi's Amigurumi Knits (or really, thanks to Andres because if he weren't born, I probably wouldn't have picked up the 'ole needles again). Not only did she get me excited about making all sorts of projects, she taught me a lot of new techniques and shaping ideas. And now, I find myself perusing the web for more knitting projects, events, and circles, and through my search, I've discover so many amazing books, craft shows, fellow knitters, and patterns! I want to incorporate some of this energy to this blog.

so without further adieu, my first review: Loopy Yarns in Chicago. A few weeks ago, I visited the midwest for the first time, mainly to check out a graduate program at the University of WI - Madison. While I was out there, I made a stopover at Chicago and instantly fell in love! Even though it snowed, that didn't stop me from exploring Millenium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, Sears' Tower, the infamous Chicago-style pizza, you get the idea... Anywho, I was so glad that I still decided to take the trek down Printer's Row and check out this little gem of a yarn store. The staff was super-friendly and knowledgeable. They greeted me with a smile and offered to help while still giving me time to stand in awe at their beautiful selection of yarns in every color imaginable! As I was fawning over their inventory, one of the ladies showed me downstairs where they housed (literally! This shop was like a revamped house) a cozy, welcoming knitters nook: books, comfortable seats, a separate room for their classes, a kitchen, and bathroom. And of course, the Seattlelite in me was all too excited to see that in their kitchen, they separated their rubbish from their recyclables AND compost ^_^! But I digress. I ended up buying a little stand for my needles/supplies and a spool of malabrigo yarn in a rich, gorgeous burgundy. Not quite sure what I'll make... perhaps hand warmers? To top off my visit, the staff very graciously gave me a cotton knitters' bag since I was "from outta town", which I'd have to say was the best souvenir I got from the city by far! I definitely recommend anyone living or visiting Chicago to check this place out, and I only hope that I'll be able to find something like this in Seattle.

Ben plays drums. Ben is a...??? Indian!

I was feeling a little under the weather this morning, so I decided to call in sick and take the whole day off to work on homework, do the reading, finish my diagnostic eval project, and study for my midterm. But of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I got distracted by what mysteries were hidden in the back of my cupboard and found:

I think I can handle setting my work aside for an hour or two... when life sends you Ghirardellis white chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, & dried cranberries, make cookies!

my name is Mary Kate, but my friends call me Markie

I must be getting old because this past Valentine's Day weekend (hell, for the past month really!), I've had hella friends break the news to me that they're getting married! While proposing on Valentine's Day wouldn't have been my top choice (boys...), I'm really happy for my friends and only hope for the best ^_^. I just hope one of them will have an open bar at their wedding!

as for myself, this weekend was really great and I'm glad it was paired with even better weather! I always love 4-day weekends because I have time to relax while still get all my shit done. It's been such a busy quarter for us post-baccs. We finally got to sit down, hang out, and really enjoy each other's company to PBRs and rum&cokes. I also got to catch up with some of my other friends at Dana's game night, and surprisingly, work wasn't so bad this weekend (with a little help of Jesse of course ^_~). I also got a new iPod touch, which is amazing! I think my dad originally got it for my mom, but she never used it so they decided to give it to me, so I'm trying to enjoy it without wondering what I did to deserve this.

Valentine's Day was also really great! This was the first time I've ever really spent the holiday as a couple. I was supposed to take my mom out for VDay brunch since my dad was flying in from Canada later that day, but apparently, she had gone out drinking with her friends the night before and may have drunk a little too much, hahah! Keep in mind, my mom gets drunk before she even finishes a glass; she had 4! When I called her Sunday morning about brunch, she had just gotten home to tell me that she was too hungover! Hahaha, it was kinda adorable. After picking up my dad from the airport, I got to do a little VDay stuff with my parents before I headed out for my own plans with Chris. He surprised me with dinner at lark, the sister restaurant of LiCOROUS where we went for our first date, and the food was delicious! We each had a 3-course dinner with dessert, each meal with a wine pairing. And of course, because Chris doesn't drink, I ended up drinking 6.5 of our 8 glasses, hahah! Man, I am my mother's daughter. We continued our VDay plans the next day with a day date checking out the Light Rail and hanging around downtown. It was such a great weekend and now I'm sad to have to go back to school and work :P

you treat Valentine's Day like your first date and at night, like your last date

this way philippe!

I know this is much belated, but I'm feeling I need a mini-break from all this productivity today to quickly post my New Years' resolutions. I can't quite remember everything I had in mind, but here's a Cliffs Notes version:

For 2010, I resolve to...
...drink more water
...be more social, if not in person, via this remarkable thing kids like to call the "interweb"
...budget better
...weight-lift
...increase flexibility
...knit more
...bake more
...review my German
...focus less on the things I wish I had
...accept that I'm lactose-intolerant (wah wah :[)
...spend more time with my parents

That should keep me occupied for the new year, yes?