Month: May 2013

SUMMER 2013

PondPond by Te Whiu, on Flickr

I know. It’s not officially summer yet. But it’s hot outside, and its starting to be steady. At this point I am usually planning out my travel destinations for the next few months. This year though, I think I want to stick around. Road trips, and dog friendly activities. The only two out of state trips I foresee is a road trip to Canada to see Amy and an Orlando trip to visit our friends who’ve recently moved.
Mr Bento's inaugural picnicMr Bento’s inaugural picnic by Erica Nofi, on Flickr

That being said, I am on the hunt for 2 hour max radius adventures. I want picnics, and hikes, and beaches!

What are you looking forward to this summer?

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Life with Bawse: Puppy Monster

It finally happened. We knew it would one day. We just didn’t think it would happen this late, and assumed he was going to skip it. Lies. We were really good about not letting him chew shoes or wires. He got the corners of my dining table here and there, but for the most part, he stays away from those three things.

We want to eventually get him out of the crate (because who likes having a giant cage in their living room?). But we tend to forget, he’s only 5 months. Hes only been on earth, for 5 months. Just because he’s obedient and understands you for the most part…doesn’t mean he’s not a puppy. Which means, teething, short attention span and high energy.

What finally happened? He made a “huge” mess, in which he chewed through things and shred up stuff. However, the only damage was 2 Taylor Swift CDs, 2 DVDs, and a bag of tea candles that smell “Hawaiian”. I kind of knew it was going to happen, but i didn’t do anything about it, so we didn’t get too mad at him. All week, he was walking by the IKEA bag, and sniffing for the treats and the candles it in. But like an idiot, I never put the bag of stuff away. Fast forward a couple days later, we go out for dinner, and come home to a messy living room. My first thought was, “HE KILLED THE BUNNY”.

But he didn’t. (Long story short, we rescued a bunny and was keeping it in the house until we could get it ready for the wild). Look at the face of the guilty. We are slowly weaning him off the crate, (letting him stay home alone out of the crate for short periods of time, letting him sleeping in our room, etc).

I hope this works. He has class tonight. I really do forget that he’s only 5 months old. I don’t like using age as an excuse, but his attention span is shorter than the 1-1.5 year olds in his class and he doing well. It’s just that hes so social and curious, that he doesn’t really wanna look at you for commands when there are lots of other dogs and people around.

We will get there.

 

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Life with Bawse

After being cooped up all week due to the unpredictable rain, we decided to take Bawse out to Leesylvania Park and test his swimming instincts. They were there, but he definitely was scared. Which is to be expected, coming from a dog who is scared to walk into unknown places. He actually had to get CARRIED out into the water, and then he swam back to shore because he hated being in the water. Granted, it was the Potomac River. I wouldn’t want to swim in it either!

He’s such a character. If you pick him up and hold him over water, he starts doggie paddling…before he’s even in! I guess he just wanted a head start!

 

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Why Do You Blog?

Blogging 101
That’s a really good question. I am one among, if not the only, friend in my real life group of friends that blogs regularly. Yes I can say that I am regular. I have 3 posts a week Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I don’t even know how it turned into this, that you are reading, but you know what, I am pretty proud of it.

Friends!

This space started out as a spot for me to post pictures and tell stories of my life to my cousin, who lives in France. Being a graphic designer, I was naturally inclined to lay it out, instead of just email her. That and if anyone of my other out of town cousins wanted to see what I was up to, I could just be like, “oh read my blog!” I am not here to make money, or have the sole purpose of selling something. I just was making a searchable online journal with pictures. I still search every once in awhile and read about stuff I’ve done. Or remember how to do something that I’ve already done.
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Then I realized the things that I love to do. Eat, cook and travel. What if someone else wanted to know how to make something, from my trials and tribulations? Or what if someone else needed some tips on a town they are visiting. Maybe they will google, and stumble upon my blog and learn from my experience. Thus the chronicles began. In addition to that, instagram came about, and people wanted to know how to make the things I post there, and just more content was added to the blog.

I'm BLOGGING this! - MOO Sticker Design

I don’t know if anyone else is reading. But that’s okay. I am happy with my little space on the web. I know that through my blog, I’ve made some blog friends which is super cool. Someone else out there can relate to the things I ramble about and I’ve made connections. I’ve talked to local people to, and have gotten suggestions and tips for my own area.

Social media and the internet doesn’t have to be a scary space if you are smart about it. I don’t write too many personal things on here, and I try to get permission before sharing too much information about other people. I love blogging. I realized that I love writing, and sharing stories.

Remember the xanga and livejournal days? I’m sure we all had it, now we are just smarter about it. I am building my brand, networking and I love it. Many opportunities have presented itself through my blog, and I am able to use my experience in helping small companies build their brand too!

I love to read blogs, and I am always on the look out for new blogs to read, whether it be food, fashion, life or art. I especially love it when people I KNOW, write blogs. I don’t know why, because most of the time I am living it up with them, haha. Especially when one of my friends has multiple blogs. Ha ha ha. I only have one though.

I currently make NO money off this blog. I do have an amazon affiliates link on the side if you wanna send some money my way with your usual purchases, but I’m definitely not trying to make a living off of you! The items in the amazon shop are things that I actually use at home, and like. So you can always ask me questions about it too if you want an opinion before purchasing. There’s also a link to my closet items for sale in case you want to snag some of my dresses that don’t fit anymore (that’s what happens when you cook/bake and don’t hit the gym regularly).

Why do you blog?

 

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Pistachio Macarons

I have really been into baking lately. Maybe because I started hustling cupcakes on the side, so I am more interest in baking unique cupcakes and treats. What can be more unique than attempting to bake your own macarons? They have been notorious for bringing fear into the home baker’s kitchen. But I am fearless. This is my second go at making macarons, and this was definitely the faster of the two favors.

There are three classic macaron flavors that are my favorite. Pistachio, Salted Caramel and Raspberry. I’ve made one out of three and eager to try to make the rest. And then even make up my own flavors if all goes well. But will baking them be better than going out to buy some on demand? Good question, we will find out!

Almond flour is known to be expensive. But if you mill it yourself, it’s not bad at all. I got an 8oz bag of slivered almonds for $4.99 and that bag made 2 different batches of macarons (granted they were mixed nut ones) and the ingredient list is fairly short. Thank goodness for my cuisinart spice and nut mill!
I mixed one tooth pick dip of Kelly green food coloring in my egg whites before dipping to get this awesome color. I should have spaced them out more!

But they still developed their pieds (feet) and I am happy!

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Life with Bawse

So guess what? After all the drama (not really) with Bawse eating sticks, we have come to realize he has seasonal allergies. Like his human Papa. Yep, those two on high pollen days are sneezy, with itchy watery eyes and breathe all heavy. Bawse now has to take allergy pills twice a day until the pollen is gone.

He’s like a real boy.

New things with Bawse, he’s no longer a stinky bad boy. He’s a smell good, good boy actually. He rings the bell if he needs to go outside. And he “goes to bed” when told, and on his own. Also, he’s got a new trick up his …paw? He pretty much holds his hands up when we shoot him with our fingers and say “bang”.

In his intermediate class, he’s still the class clown. He shows that he knows how to do what he is being asked, but then he just stops and lays flat out. Such a stubborn little guy. His trainer says he’s got a lot of personality, and hes fun, not to mention he’s the youngest in class so he gets distracted but he understands what is going on.

He did the funniest, weirdest thing in class the other day. Bawse likes to sit right in front of the trainer when shes talking (what a nerd). This time. he laid down completely…and starts peeing, LAYING down in front of her. Crazy dog?! Everyone in class laughs and when I ask him, “ARE YOU PEEING BAWSE?!” he turns just his head with a face like…what?

Silly pup.

 

 

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Maman 2 Year Anniversary

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I was contemplating whether or not to write this post. You guys don’t need to read something every year on May 9th. Last year was fine, because that was the first year. I will always remember her, in my heart. I don’t need to always share with you, dear reader, right? Maybe just a simple picture of my mother will suffice.

What sucks is, every year from then on out, my mother’s anniversary will always fall nears mother’s day weekend. So as I get the emails, and see commercials on how to make your mother feel special, I get hit with a pang of sadness. No longer will I be ordering flowers or spa packages and planning mother daughter dates with her.

I never shared a picture of her when she was sick. But regardless of how weak she got or how much hair she lost, she always wore a giant smile. And really, that’s all that matters.

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Daikaya

Hmmm. I’ve been craving ramen a lot lately. Maybe because the weather got cold again. What are you doing mother nature? *shakes fist. We decided to try out Daikaya one cold Sunday.

20130422-091558.jpg Daikaya is located right next to Graffiato in chinatown, DC. Tiny place, and set up like a ramen place is known to be. Side by side seating. Fast paced and buzzing with chatter and slurping. They are very hi tech in there. Seating system is via tablet. Order system is also via handheld.

20130422-091614.jpg

Our server was super friendly and helpful. Explained the difference between broths and helped up make all decisions. Even though it was busy, he was very patient. It was a sunday evening, and the wait for 2 wasn’t that bad. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I would guess bigger parties would be more of a hassle. Don’t count on sitting together.

The noodles were great. Perfect texture. I think I picked the wrong broth for myself. The shoyu was great, and very traditional, but I’ve come to realize, I like a lighter broth, like the miso, or I will try the shio next time. The bowls were too big for me, and I got tired of the flavor. The egg in it was delicious! It all was really great at first…but half way through my bowl I was sleepy!

I would definitely go back. Great vibe. Delicious broth.

 

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Life with Bawse

I don’t want to start out every post with like…”He’s grown so much!” But it’s true! He is into his intermediate classes now, and we have to make his collar a little bigger every few days. As you can see, he still is treated like a baby (by his daddy) and he still comes and sits on my lap if I sit on the floor to read. I hope he doesn’t get too, too big. I hear some full grown pit bulls get to be about 65 lbs to 80 on average. He’s a short little guy and we envision him to be muscular and stocky, but who knows!?
The family is coming to visit for Memorial Day weekend, this includes a toddler (3 year old) and a baby (11month old) and two teenagers …I wonder how he will react. He’s around three year olds pretty often, and he just kinda lets them torture him. And when he can’t take it anymore, he hides behind me.
Recently, he got into some sticks, which scratched up his tummy causing him to have problems in the anal region. Not fun. He had to be put on antibiotics…and probiotics (does anyone else think that sounds s little counter productive?) he was also put on a bland diet.
The doctor said that I could cook for him or pick up presecription food. What? I can cook for my puppy?! Of course I chose that option. I boiled chicken thighs (straight up, no seasoning, nothing), then I cooked plain white rice in that chicken water. I shredded that chicken and stirred it into the rice. Let it cool, then stirred in the powdered probiotics.
The antibiotics was a different story. I stuck it in a piece of chicken… He spit it out after he finished the chicken. I rolled it in a ball of rice…he spit that out. The doctor told me not to just leave it in the bowl because she wanted to make sure he ate it. Well I did it anyway and watched him. He licked the bowl clean and ate the meds. Didn’t even notice that in there. Win!

 

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