AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO STEAMING VEGETABLES // Courtesy of John M. Yen

My theory is that all architects wished they were illustrators, and will use any excuse to draw something.  You start off your architectural curriculum in college with a drawing class, and spend countless hours contemplating the subtleties of shadow, tone and light; the nature, speed, weight and thickness of lines. And then of course, you get out into the real world much transformed by computer aided drawing and 3D modeling, and you come to the realization that you almost never draw anymore!

I like to swap recipes with my coworker John Yen because he's one of those super healthy people who never eat sugar, refined flour, fried foods etc.. etc... So I asked him if he had any suggestions for everyday cooking, and he came back a few days later with a full on illustrated diagram of how to steam Chinese vegetables! See above theory as to why I think architects will use any excuse to draw something! Anyway, I thought his drawing was quite charming, so here's my version with some color added to it.

QUICK AND EASY// Our go-to meals

Three things we always have in our kitchen are avocado, tomatoes, lemons, and basil (or at least until my basil plant gives out on me. This is the first time I've managed to keep a basil plant alive for more than two weeks!!) I feel like I always end up using 2 of those 4 ingredients in everything I cook when I'm in a hurry. Here are some things we've been eating:

LEMONADE WITH LEMON AND BASIL ICE CUBES



I never knew how easy it was to make lemonade at home, until I tried this recipe.  We don't have one of those refrigerators that make ice, so Taylor bought me some ice trays from target which gave me the idea to put some lemons and basil leaves before freezing.  They are so fun to put in our drinks, I love it!

PITA AND GUACAMOLE



Taylor loves avocado, so we eat a lot of guacamole with pita bread.  I used to add garlic with onion and sometimes olive oil, but  since Taylor doesn't like onions, and I can get really lazy about peeling and crushing garlic, I've been finding that it's still pretty good with just avocado, tomato,salt, pepper and lemon.  I think if I were making this for people coming over, I'd put the other stuff, but for the everyday, I quite like it. Toasted/pan fried pita is also really really good!



WHOLE WHEAT PASTA, WITH SHRIMP AND CRUSHED TOMATOES



I can't remember how I made this one because I think I do it differently everytime.  Whenever we have more tomatoes than I know what to do with, I usually make pasta sauce and adjust with salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and sugar and of course garlic and olive oil, maybe oregano and basil or whatever I have at the time too.  The shrimp is definitely what makes the meal though! I love shrimp!  It's one of those foods that I like cooked really simply with really little on it.  My mom always taught me that the secret is to never overcook it, and it always tastes moist and delicious!

Anyway, speaking of moms and cooking, I'm heading over to my parents house to celebrate my brother's birthday today.  Rumor has it, we're getting two lobster tails per person amongst many other delicious things! Can't wait! Hope you are enjoying your memorial day weekend!

STARTING TO FEEL LIKE SUMMER!

Picture taken at the California Poppy Reserve

It's starting to heat up in our neck of the woods. If you're like us cheapos who refuse to turn on the air conditioning, it's going to soon be time to swap out that winter comforter for a thin sheet at night and time to start sipping ice water while sitting next to a fan as a cooling mechanism. As much as I complain about the heat, I still love the summer in theory! I love eating dinner with the sun still shining, being able to walk around at night without a jacket on, ... so nice!

We've got a busy few days ahead!  Joyce is flying in tonight, and then we'll be waking up bright and early tomorrow for Taylor's 5k and seeing our friend Jared who is in town after. Taylor's dad is celebrating his 60th on Sunday, and then I'll be off to Diamond Bar on Monday for my brother Josh's birthday!  Im not sure how studying is going to fit into all this :T

Some random things i've been thinking about:

• Speaking of the long days- did anybody get a chance to look at the solar eclipse  on Sunday? Sooooo cool! what amazing pictures! I wish I saw it!  I was thinking of trying to see it, but was too intimidated by all the warning about burning your eyes and needing to make little peephole things that were six feet long
• A juvenile mountain lion found in a downtown Santa Monica office courtyard was fatally shot this Tuesday.  I have to admit I'd be terrified if I saw a mountain lion walking the streets, but I can imagine that the poor thing must have been even more afraid. I'm not sure I could say it was the wrong decision to kill the lion, but it is still a sad situation.  It reminded me of 20 under 40 writer, Tea Obreht's novel, The Tiger's Wife, a marvelous book that contains a symbolic plot line about a tiger entering civilization. It opens with a zookeeper who has spent his life caring, feeding and nurturing a tiger, and is also forced to fatally shoot him because he attacks a civilian.
• Do you ever accidentally text the wrong person?  I'm pretty terrible at that.  For some reason I always do it to my friend Joanna while texting Taylor. Luckily I haven't sent anything too embarrassing and she's always gracious about it, but I'm still sure she doesn't love me calling her "babe" and "pookie" all the time either.  Joanna, if you happen to read this, this is my public apology!
• Are you a fast typer? Taylor and I are so unbelievably competitive about the littlest things! Take this typing test, and let me know if you beat my score!
• Lastly, a Fresh Air interview of the late Maurice Sendak, most well known as the author of Where the Wild Things Are. Really moving, could be one of my favorite interviews she's done (although i guess it's technically a compilation of interviews and not a single interview) 

A NIGHT IN K-TOWN// New old friends + Ham Ji Park

I've grown really fond of K-Town over the past two years. We are usually there on Sundays for church (I have probably eaten more all you can eat Korean BBQ in the past two years than my whole life combined!)  Taylor and I even had our wedding ceremony in the area, and the time these two took me to Wi Spa, will be always be an unforgettable memory. 

Walking around K-Town is a really interesting experience.  You can see the shift in demographics over time just by looking at the eclectic mix of architecture.   Nestled in between the high rise office buildings of the 1950's and the historic New York style apartments of the roaring 20's which once housed  Hollywood's elites, the Academy Awards, numerous presidents and even Queen Elizabeth II, are the vibrant and bustling Korean shops, restaurants, and community buildings that give this area its undeniable charm.

We met up with our new old friends Char and Johan.  (Later I'll try link you to their wedding website, they have the cutest engagement story, and the fact that these too have movie star good looks doesn't hurt either! Taylor has the link in his email, but I can't get it yet because we're both at work right now....don't worry i'm  writing this on my lunch break right now I promise! ) We call them our new old friends because we've known them for a while, but never actually hung out with them in a  more intimate setting like a double date.  We are so glad we finally did because these two are so down to earth and generous, we had such a great time with them!  I also got to learn more about Johan's clothing company 3sixteen and one of his local stores in LA, Self Edge Denim.  If you (or maybe your dad, since Father's day is coming up!) are a fashion savvy man with impeccable taste who knows how to appreciate every stitch, detail and thread of fabric that goes into high quality clothing, be sure to check them out!  It will save you a plane ticket to Japan, since you actually can't find the stuff they carry anywhere else in the country!

They took us to Ham Ji Park, rumored to be the best bbq pork in the nation.  Sooooo good! But don't take our word for it, you can ask Chef Roy Choi (known most for his infamous Kogi truck) who took Anthony Bourdain there on his tour of LA for the food network show, the Layover. Siiiiiiigh, writing this  is making me depressed that I am eating leftover pasta for lunch right now...

Also, here are some really blurry grainy pictures of downtown at night taken from the car window on the way home. I love how the city looks at night. That spot on the 110 going into downtown could arguably be my favorite part of the city.  It's actually really sad that my favorite spot is inside a car, I will probably eventually  need to find a more legitimate favorite spot.  But anyway, one of these days I'm going to try to take a real picture!

MINI PIZZA NIGHT!

When it's time to purge the fridge/freezer, it can only mean one thing- mini pizza night!
It's really easy, quick, and if you work with what you have, you can sometimes end up with something really interesting. Since Taylor and I have really different tastes in food, this was perfect for us because we just think of things we like and put it on a pizza.

The Toppings:
Here are some toppings I used for each pizza and put on top of whole wheat pizza dough from Fresh and Easy. There are definitely more precise ways of doing this, but to keep things simple, I just kept the oven at 450 degrees, made sure all the toppings were already cooked (i.e. didn't put raw chicken on top of the uncooked pizza), and took the pizza out whenever the cheese started to bubble (about 10-15 minutes):

#1. BBQ chicken with pineapple pizza


This is a staple with us, can't go wrong with this one!  I love basil with mozzarella and bbq sauce.

Ingredients:
bbq sauce
mozzarella
sauteed chicken
canned pineapple
basil

things we almost always have in the kitchen!

#2 Tomato with sliced potato pizza


I'll be honest, I didn't love this one, hahaha! It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't like, omg yes. But it sounded good in concept- potatoes on pizza.  I think if I ever do this again, I'll put something with a little more bite.  Pepperoni or something. the Tomato and potato just kind of tasted too much like each other.

Ingredients:
cherry tomatoes
sauteed potatoes
mozzarella
marinara sauce
thyme



#3 Bacon and egg pizza



This was inspired by a restaurant I went to with my friend Michelle.  I didn't try this one, I let Taylor eat the whole thing, but he finished it quickly, so i take that as a good sign.

Ingredients:
marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese
bacon
egg
arugula

After you put the sauce and cheese, just make a little pocket for the egg. Keep in oven for about 12 minutes, or just watch it and take it out when the egg looks like the done-ness you like your eggs. Another recipe with ingredients that are almost always in our kitchen!


#4 Lemon Ricotta pizza




This one was my favorite pizza! I used this recipe.  I didn't add all the stuff she had because I didn't want to go out and buy it.  But the one exception was that I did actually walk to Whole Foods to buy lavender because that sounded like it would taste so good.  But  when I came home, I took my shoes off, said hi to taylor, started cooking and couldn't find the lavender!  I eventually found it in our "linen closet" (as in closet that happens to have towels, but is also stuffed with everything from a x-acto replacement blades and paint, to candy and wedding invitations) a few days later. Taylor thinks I'm crazy. But anyway, this was really good! Definitely recommend trying it!

LAYING LOW

I finally did it! I bit the bullet and scheduled my exam (June 5!)!  At 7 more exams to go and $210 a pop, these tests sure are going to cost me an arm and a leg.   Not that I don't already practically live the life of a modern day hermit, but I for some reason still feel the need to say that I plan on laying low for the next few weeks to make sure I  can hit the ground running and focus on studying, and want to apologize if I am hard to reach and really slow at responding to things. Other than some alone time, I am painfully aware that my need to focus will also require me to nip my Breaking Bad addiction in the bud.  (My brother Josh suggested watching Breaking Bad after I finished Parks and Recreation because I was depressed that I had nothing to watch having already tried and failed to get into Friday Night Lights despite its glowing reviews)  But let's just cut to the chase,  if I don't get my act together,  and avoid these like the plague, I'll be studying til the butt crack of dawn every night!  I can't let this opportunity to get my license slip through my fingers!

Anyway, I am super nervous about my exam, being that it is my first one! That is why I plan on going the whole nine yards, and reviewing every part of the material.  Rest assured- I will leave no stone unturned!  In the "getting ready for the exam" chapter, Kaplan assures the candidates that anxiety over test taking is usually due to a fear of failure, and that if we come prepared we need not worry.  Who knew that such zen-like and calming advice could be found in a Kaplan study guide?  This of course, falls on deaf ears because I am Asian, and the fear of failure has already been pre-historically hard wired into my dna.  Since my children will only be 50% Asian, I can only hope that they will not be like me in this regard.  But you what they say- the apple never falls far from the tree.  So unfortunately, their advice went in one ear and out the other, but it's the thought that counts!

**This post reminds me of a woman Tiff told me about who only speaks in verbal cliches. I definitely have to admit that I use my fair share when writing and speaking. But you know, why do we always get caught up in what is and isn't cliche?  At the end of the day,  it's all just water under the bridge right?

MY FELLOW AMERICANS, IT IS TRUE// I saw the president!

Last Thursday, President Obama flew in via helicopter and made his way through our neighborhood on his first official trip to the valley to attend George Clooney's mansion for a celebrity packed fundraiser.  It turns out that Taylor and I live about a 12 minute drive from this place and started to receive news that our streets would be closing and to expect major delays. But before you start asking for tours of our 19 bedroom estate, just know that we live north of the dividing line known as Ventura Boulevard that separates the the "celebrities" and the commoners. While we would still love to have you over for dinner, we hope you are ok with not being greeted by butlers and valet service upon arrival...

Anyway, feeling very antsy and trapped by the inability to leave the area (NOTHING, afterall, can scare a Los Angelinos more than the prediction of traffic), we decided that we might as well venture out to Laurel Canyon and Ventura to catch a glimpse of the nation's leader driving by. We of course would have preferred to attend the dinner instead of standing on the street, but unfortunately with such short notice, we were only able to scrap up 79 of the 80 GRAND it would have cost to buy a ticket for two.

I'm relatively new to the area, but one thing I have to say, is that valley folk are extremely nice people. No pushing and only some minor occasional screaming (but never directed at me... just the police). Taylor and I pretty much got to the front of the crowd by saying "i'm so sorry- excuse me". (See lady in picture below... total sweet heart, we really liked her) I'd like to think that we eventually got as close as you could get without being shot by the secret service.



Anyway. we waited....and.....and waited... and then.

The moment we were all waiting for.  Several false alarms later, we started to see motorcycle after motorcycle zip by at undeniably illegal speeds, and people started inching out into the streets.  


And sure enough! The flags appeared.  The president arrived!




Naturally, I TOTALLY DROPPED THE BALL... and didn't actually snap a photo when he turned around and did this. but it was still a really surreal experience.  Supporter or not, Obama definitely brings out an emotional surge in people around him.  After he passed by, you could hear people repeating to themselves over and over again "I saw the president, I saw the president! Man, I saw the president!"  Spirits were very high.

MOMS ARE THE BEST

This year, I made my mom a simple bouquet of flowers for Mother's day (who knew a girl as complicated as me came from a woman who has mastered the art of loving the simple and important things), and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house to have a get together with the rest of our family. 

As  I get older, my appreciation and sense of awe that I have for moms only grows.  Talking to friends who are new mothers  definitely opens my eyes to how much work and love it is to care for children!  I know I'll never fully grasp the countless sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears my mom undoubtedly shed to raise me and my brothers.  As you can see from this picture, I totally thought I was a princess (it really is so weird, I totally posed like that in every picture at that age).  Let's just say, I wasn't the most compliant kid.  I was always super shy and quiet around other people, but at home, it was a completely different story.  (in other words, nothing's changed)

She was and still is superwoman, and is the glue that keeps our family together.   When we were growing up, she managed to juggle working as a pharmacist, raising three children (all born one year apart!), and bringing us up in a childhood full of possibilities, creativity and imagination.  English is my mother's second language, but she taught me and my brothers how to read before they taught us in school, and both my brothers are now writers.  If there were ever a woman who could make anything work, it is my mom! I am in constant amazement at how dynamic a person she is and how she is constantly evolving, constantly growing and adapting as life has thrown our family its share of curveballs.  She is pretty amazing!