Perks

I love that Wills Eye is right by Chinatown.  I just shop at the Chinese grocer during lunchtime!  Before, I would have to drive at least 20 minutes to get to the nearest Vietnamese / Chinese / Korean grocer, but CHINATOWN IS AMAZING.  The cost is cheap too!

I am also excited to pick up Sankee duck for CNY and feast away at home :)

In the midst of trials, there is always much to be thankful for.  I LOVE THAT WILLS EYE IS RIGHT NEXT TO CHINATOWN <3

Next on my cooking list:
1. Spicy meatball banh mi
2. Cantonese poached chicken with scallion ginger oil
3. Snow pea leaf stir fry
4. Chinese tea eggs
5. Shrimp fried rice
6. Salt and pepper shrimp
7. Ginger Cilantro steamed bass
8. Ginger Scallion tilapia (trying to eat more fish than red meat)
9. Dry fried string beans
10 Tofu black bean sauce

RANDOM THOUGHTS

i love cooking.

i love eggs, anything with eggs, i will love.  i am like bubba and his shrimps. i.love.eggs.
i think they look so cute, too.  these days, i see daikons/radishes are being so adorable.

i love...
...blistered shishito peppers with sea salt shards
...perfectly cooked steak with lots of garlic, salt, pepper and a sprig of fragrant rosemaries
...clear broth pho, tastes so amazing
...

things to learn...
1. vietnamese pickled carrots and radishes
2. chicken casserole
3. cast iron pot recipes

Skin care

My skin has it's bad days, but it's not terrible.

My philosophy of good skin:
1. Work out - circulation and health body = great skin
2. Drink lots of water - hydration = great skin
3. Try to stick with the skin products that work for you than trying out so many different types of lotions, toners, serums...etc.  I actually prefer French brands over Japanese and Korean (whisper: I use Lancome for pretty much everything, including make up)
4. Don't use foundation.  honestly, I think a woman's natural skin and tone is the most beautiful--instead of just covering your whole face up with a totally different shade.  utilize concealer instead!
5. SPF
6. Good sleep (I found that 8 hours of sleep makes my skin feel more tight and glowing) AND sleeping at regular times.  Yes, sounds old lady-ish, but sleeping and waking up at consistent times helps so much.  My mom swears that sleeping through 10pm-2am is the best for the skin because of some kind of circadian rhythm and cell renewal times, but it's too tough for me to do that.
7. As soon as you get home, wipe off make up
8. Don't think about skin too much -- just develop a routine and don't focus too much on the blemishes or pimples.  I felt like my bad pimples never went away when I put too much attention to them.
9. Change pillow covers regularly (at least biweekly!)
10. No conditioners if you can.  I know everyone's hair temperaments are different, but ever since I stopped using conditioners (middle school), my hair was still fine and soft, and my skin had less breakouts.

I'm still on the fence with eye cream.  I read articles that your facial moisturizer does just as good enough job...

EXTRA.
My mom has skin like tofu.  She has the softest skin ever.  She told me to use body lotion, so I bought an avocado body lotion and the scent reminds me of Korea.  Let's see how long this will last.  (The other time, I bought a big bottle of Johnson and Johnson's baby lotion and that didn't last more than a week...maybe because the bottle didn't have a pump, so the convenience of using it was more cumbersome).  This new lotion has a pump.  I LOVE PUMPS!!!

thank God for candles

my husband lights them after he destroys the bathroom.

WOO.

A conversation at 9:34 PM

"Honey."

"Yeah, honey."

"Today is December 4th."

"Okay."

"And we already spent 369.23 dollars this month."

"...on what?"

"Mainly groceries."

"Oh."

"Just letting you know."

"Okay."

Goals so far for the next year

1. Finish Ramit Sethi's book and start investing
2. Visit an international country
3. Learn HTML - I talked with a friend from my high school is doing an amazing job with her web designs (all self taught).  I remember she was super smiley, super smart and wore bright colors that worked surprisingly well together.  Check out her some of her work: http://100daysoffonts.com/ . I want to see what I can do as well haha.  I wanted to know how she was doing aside from work, but she was tired from doing working in the studio that day and didn't want to bother her!
4. Finish children's book #1
5. Draw a picture everyday - even if its a sloppy doodle.
6. Be more financially savvy.
7. Work out more often.

TESTING OUT HTML

Posted by: Sandra Lee Juhn

My husband mutters to himself a lot. I find him talking to himself in the bathroom and he talks quite a lot in his sleep. The other day he was laughing in his dream, there was another occasion when he was talking about a love hotel. His favorite thing to do in the shower is sing Phantom of the opera
SING TO ME, MY ANGEL! It is because I lived by myself for 31 years. - the husband added.

body { font-family: Verdana; } article { width: 800px; } article header h1 { color: green; } article header p { background-color: red; color: white; } article figure { width: 600px; border: 3px solid black; padding: 5px; } article figure img { width: 100%; }

 DAMMIT. I SUCK.