.: on collecting :.

I'm gathering materials for my thesis on 'consumerism and insecurity' and I stumbled upon an article on Psychology Today (I actually bought the magazine and not found it on a therapist waiting room) Apparently I fall under the 'neurotics' category who see the arts they collected as therapeutic. I think it's spot on! Everytime I look at my print collections I feel warm and fuzzy inside... :p And makes me want to buy even more! Speaking of that, look what I got from Anne-Julie's shop! How therapeutic!
And look what I found at Black Apple store! Thanks to my friend miss S, I got two of her prints now, shall I make a triptych? :)

.: easy peasy part two :.

I'm in the mood for soup lately, probably because of the cold, SanFran weather. And I'm still such a lazy student who does not want to spend all her time cooking, therefore soup is such a good choice. This time, I use different ingredients. So here goes my random 'whatever' soup, again:

ingredients:
3 cubes of chicken broth
3 tbs of soy sauce
1 tbs of black pepper
2 leeks, chopped
3 full size carrots, cut into small circles
1 big russet potato, peel and diced
3 corns ( supposedly cut them into 4 smaller pieces but it's tricky to cut corns)
5 sausages, cut into small circles

how:
boil half pan of water, drop the chicken broth. Stir. Add soy sauce and black pepper. Add carrots and corns. Wait until carrots turn a bit mushy, then add potato and chopped leek. Add sausages last. Dinner is served.

.: leave a mark! :.

I usually use receipts, clothing tags, novena booklets (oops) and whatever paper scraps to mark my pages on the book that I was reading... and I thought 'shame on you, lazy graphic designer!'. Therefore, along with the previous bookplate, I present ... the bookmark. Download here.

.: belongs to... :.

I got bored with my homework so I made this for fun. Just a quick crop here and there and voila. Hope you like it! I hate if people forgot to return my books, so I put stickers inside the inner flap. And I bet if you love books as much as I do, you do that too. So here, download the high-res here, and the smaller one here. Print them out, trim it, write your name, glazed the back with glue, and that's it. Phew!

.: addiction :.

As I'm working on my grad practice thesis I found out that I can never 'like' something, I just have to be addicted to it. I always overbought and overuse something to the extreme... :D I like to be surrounded by items because items won't judge me, make me happier and prettier! How's that for a thesis??? I was just starting learn to crochet but I already have a crate (no, really) full of yarns. Whenever Jo-Ann have a coupon (meaning every week) I buy some yarns. When I ran out of any of these I'll feel that there's something missing and I have to replace them immediately even if it's already dark outside...(usually when the sun goes down I just hide behind my blankie) It's a real disease I think... Another addiction I have is on a particular candle. I used all of it and since I only can buy it online I haven't replace it yet (hate to pay $3 shipping for a $9 item) I'm open if anyone wants to donate though ... here's the link. Appreciate it! :D

1. Starbucks Double-Shot espresso

2. Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
3. Vita Mango Juice
4. Bath & Body Works Rice Flower & Shea (this is discontinued!!!)
5. Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Scrub (I swear this is the best body scrub ever)
6. Bath & Body Works Pecan Pie Shower & Bath Gel
7. Quaker Oats Quakes (ranch and kettle corns are the best)
8. Activia Strawberry Yogurt (hey, it's good for your digestion)
9. TuttiMelon Mango yogurt with lychee, strawberry and mochi

.: do not adjust your monitor... :.

*whimsical furniture from Silver Fish gallery*

Aren't these gorgeous? They remind me of furniture in Alice in Wonderland... So excited Tim Burton is going to do a new version of it! How about somebody do that door with the talking doorknob? :D

.: ewww... courier! :.

oh nooo... It can't be!!

You Are Courier New

You have a deep appreciation for tradition and history. You don't eschew modernity, but you do have a deep reverence for the past. You are very literate. It's likely you enjoy writing and reading. Some people may feel you're a bit cold, but you just have high standards for who you hang out with.

What Font Are You?

.: easy peasy :.

After a month long of cooking experiments I return to SanFran and find an empty fridge. I got a crate full of various instant noodles tho... Then after about 5 days eating instant noodles with variations (meatballs, mushrooms, meatballs AND mushrooms...) I decided to try cooking again. Nothing fancy, of course. So I went to 99 ranch and bought about three bagfuls of shtuff. I'm too lazy to create something complicated and I don't really want to spend money on produce that I won't use again later. If you don't have time but want something healthier than instant noodle, make a soup. Today's menu is a 'whatever goes' soup. Here's my recipe:

ingredients:
2 blocks of chicken broth (if you use powder, about 2tbs)
meatballs
shrimp balls
fish balls
cubed tofu
chopped chinese cabbage
enoki mushrooms
chopped leek
and if you like you can also put in button mushrooms & cilantro. I added tom yum sauce because I like my soup sour and spicy.
directions:
boil about half a pan of water, drop the chicken broth in, stir. Add the veggies, then add the other ingredients. Voila, you have a soup.


I also bought a french press to prevent me from donating money to a Starbucks everyday. I love it! I got myself the Bodum Brazil 8-cup french press and use Starbucks' French Roast (can get away from them really...) I still use my Starbucks' mugs so I still feel like I have a fancy coffee... I mix 6-8 spoonful of coffee and 2 tbs of condensed milk. Yum...

.: organizing :.

I'm a rat-pack and awfully proud about it. However my room disagree, I ran out of space to store all my goodies. I bought some bins and under-the-bed boxes but I still need more space. I got some vacuum bags from here and made use of those for the unused linens and thick sweaters. Then I saw this from here. Isn't is a fun solution? :D

.: Second tries on retrofying :.

I still play around with the brushes and the actions to make my pictures retro. What do you guys think?

.: modMOD :.

* pretty dresses from all-mighty*

I love love love retro style... I love 60s mod dresses and mod furniture and mod houses... I don't think my body type suits the mod dresses but I just absolutely adores them! And right now I'm crazy for retro-colored photographs. Am not very good in creating them so I just get them from the expert. What do you think?

.: back to school... :.

*cuppycake from the shoppe*

*recent purchase - my new collectibles!*

So sad that my 3-months vacation is finally over. I've lived such a luxurious life these past three months: shopping, scrapping, daytime naps, play games on my used-to-be-abandoned NDS, crafting, eating, cooking *gasp*... Starting next week life as I knew will change... Another crazy, intense semester is coming up, not sure if I'm ready for it! While I still got time for random browsing I found this cool online magazine from here. N.E.E.T showcases independent designers and products and awesome photographs. And I found this from the aforementioned magazine, which provide great inspirations to dress up now that school is in season again! I wonder whether I can copy one or two looks... :) Oh and my polyvore page was featured on Creature Comforts! Yay!