Japanese Cosmetic Haul from MARUKAI Market =)

Good evening ladies and gents. We have finally reached Friday. (LOL I started this during the afternoon, to have finished typing it past midnight, making it to Saturday...) To be honest, I keep losing track of the days lately... yeah, definitely means I'm being productive alright. I've definitely started to fix my sleeping hours, by being more active during the day, it certainly has not cured my headaches... I feel motion sick all day.. the most awful sensation.

ANYWAY. My 2 best friends came down to visit me, and we ended up getting some lunch, and headed over to Marukai to buy some hair dye for me.

Now... the strangest thing happened. I was completely fine... walking down the aisles with my friend Austin, discussing shampoos... when all of the sudden, my ears started ringing, my vision went white, and head spun out of control. It was like I had all of my energy sucked out of me, and my legs gave out... luckily, Austin was there to catch me... I would've definitely broken a nose if he hadn't been there.

As my head continued to spin... I threw up. Yup. In the middle of the day, at a market. LOL. Luckily, again, Austin had gotten bags for me hahaha. It was such a nightmare... my day had gone from an every day shopping trip to the market, to on the floor vomiting.. weird. I have a feeling it may have something to do with my salad I had from Mimi's Cafe earlier that day. I'm suspecting salmonella.

The salad had been a pre-prepared salad... from a nice restaurant like that? Really? I was shocked to when I received my order and the plate was cold as ice, along with my condensed fork. The lettuce was even a bit dried out... had they not had anything to cover it up while it sat in a fridge over night? Well, whatever it was, they certainly lost a loyal customer. They had also cut down a lot of their menu from what I remembered just a year back. Ok. Done ranting.

We left in such a scurry back to my house that I had accidentally left my cellphone in the aisle. A few hours later after resting and getting back on my feet, we head back before they closed, while managing to do a little bit more of the shopping we wanted to do.

Here are my goodies I picked up:

Recipe/Tutorial: Creamy Garlic Pasta!

HAI GAIZ <3
Long time no post! My hours have been absolutely whack for the past week or so.. hell, since February. Anyway, I've really been trying to catch up with some old friends/exercising before I leave for school in just 2 weeks ;A; MY SUMMER IS DONE. NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Enough of that.

I really need to start practicing regularly... I've slacked off all summer.

Well, I needed it.

OK, REALLY.

SOO~ My mother's favorite pasta dish is Fettucine Alfredo. Just any type of super cheasy/creamy/not-so-good-for-you kind of pasta. After some research, I ran REPEATEDLY into a recipe that everyone seemed to be blogging about... apparently it's one of the most pinned recipes on Pintrest! So hey, I'm sold.

Here'd the unique thing about this pasta... no water.

Wuhhhh?

Basically, you boil your pasta in some chicken stock, let the pasta starches thicken the liquid up, adding in cheese and cream, along with some Italian parsley.

Guess what?

Perfection.

I don't think I could ever pay $20 for a good creamy pasta dish anymore.

Behold:

Think It's Finally Time to Leave My Under-The-Rock Lifestyle...

Yup. Just as the title suggests... I've had... quite the experience this year--mid February. It was such a life-changing blow to me, that ever since, I've acquired some serious sleeping problems. I try to workout during the day to tire myself out so I could get some sleep, but all that ends up doing is tiring out my body, with no change to my hours of sleep. I lay tirelessly for hours till the sun comes up, and finally manage to sleep. But this results in me waking up in the middle of the day. My fight for sleep is continuing, and I hope it'll get fixed very soon.

Anyway, aside from my sleeping issues.. I've become quite anti-social. I didn't want to associate myself with others, nor did I want to talk about my problems with anyone. What's the point? But I told myself enough is enough. Can't live like a zombie any longer. (As much as I'd like to.)

So, last Friday, a few of my friends from high school decided to visit me. I hadn't seen them since HS graduation back in 2010. It was so nice to see their faces and hear about how their lives are changing.

Recipe/Tutorial: Mrs. Field's Chocolate Marshmallow Clouds

Why, hello hello there! Sorry for posting another cookie recipe right after the other...it's just--I've been on a crazy...
M A R S H M A L L O W

...craze

I came across this recipe on the Mrs. Field's website. They're double chocolate cookies with mini chocolate chips and marshmallows. You can opt out the mini choc chips for regular sized ones, or even with white choc chips. Feel free to even add nuts if that's your thang. A pinch of sea salt on top would be fabulous as well! It didn't take me very long to do, and had all of the ingredients already in the pantry. But.. be warned, these are so sweet.. couldn't eat more than 2 in one sitting! But they're so good!!! They taste like brownie...but they're not.

I halved the recipe because these recipes that are put online... the quantities are HUGE! I end up having to make 3-4 batches each time I use these online recipes... AFTER halving the recipe, I still ended with a little over 3 dozen cookies...

My Comeback Post! Momofuku Milk Bar's Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies Recipe/Tutorial ~

H E L L O A L L ! ! ! ♥
After a year and a half, I am finally back! :) I've thought of returning to blogging every single day for the past however many days I've been gone. So much has happened this past year and a half! I took a year off school, transferred schools (no more NY!), relocated to Cleveland, OH, fell in love for the first time (which didn't exactly end all that well), made great new friends, met some psycho ones I want to avoid forever, and most of all, have become a stronger and a more experienced individual. Many doors have shut, while many new doors have opened for me. I am thankful for all the happenings God has shown me this past year and a half, whether they have been painful or wonderful.

Now, let's dive in to this first new comeback post:

If you've ever been to NY, you may have heard of the Momofuku Milk Bar. They're a famous bakery located in Manhattan, selling many unique desserts, such as their Crack Pie, or Compost Cookies. As my older followers may know, I went to school in Manhattan for a year, and the thing I miss the most is all that terrific food. Here's to amother "I left my heart in NY" post!

Taken from Christina Tosi's cookbook "Momofuku Milk Bar." You can purchase the book here on Amazon.

I did a bit of research for reviews on this recipe, took the words of advice and suggestions, and came up with the final product. I really liked the way mine turned out, but next time I make it, I will make sure to crumble up the corn flake cereal even more.

Recipe/Tutorial: Chicken Parmesan Bake (No breading or deep frying)

Hi everyone! Yeah.. it's kind of been months since my last post... I came home from NY to LA and trying to straighten my life out. I get into my dream school, only to realize I can't afford it. I would have never believed money would be the reason to put my dreams at a halt. I was blessed since I was young and my family has always been financially stable, up until about 2 years ago. My father got laid off from work, and everything went downhill from there. Even the ridiculously large mansion sized home we had invested in ended up in nothing, because the of the house market crash here in southern California.

Oh man, this is rather depressing! T~T So as of right now, I'm re-applying to colleges for a transfer. My dream school ended up being not exactly what I'd imagined, and now that I can't afford it, I have to change up my plans a bit. Applications, supplemental items (transcripts from hs/college, statements, essays), and last but definitely not least.. my recorded repertoire. Just the thought of school makes me really nauseous and I can never finish an application LOL. I just stare into the screen and end up having to lay down. HAHA. Things are so stressful at home, and it baffles me to how stupid I was when I was in NY not knowing how bad things were at home--living carelessly sometimes skipping classes (which my parents were breaking their backs to pay for), going out with my friends all the time, going shopping.. it just absolutely disgusts me how childish I was.

Let's just say since May, i've finally become an adult. I thought I was grown up, but boy was I wrong.

----------------------end of babbling-------------------------

Now, onto our newest recipe! :) This recipe is NOT mine, and belong to Chef John from Foodwishes. I've made so many of his recipes and love every single one of them. He's hillarious, and a great cook!

Chicken Parmesan Bake Recipe:
Ingredients:
-2 tbsp Olive Oil
-2 cloves of Garlic, crushed (I used about 2 tsp)
-Hot red pepper flakes
-4-6 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
-2-4 cups Marinara sauce (I used Barilla Marinara)
-1/4 cup chopped Basil
-8oz. Mozzarella, shredded
-4oz. Parmesan, grated
-1 package of Garlic Croutons

Alright let's get started! :)

Mini-Haul, and LDD Day 3-4

Mini-Haul:
So~ a couple weeks back, I saw this polka dotted dress from F21 when I was just browsing around with my BFFs :) I told myself I didn't need to spend money, but I gave in and went back a couple days ago with my sister to get it!

Lemonade Detox Diet Start! :)

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of the update -__-;; My mom and I switched computers this past week because mine is so crappy I can't play [brace yourself] World of Warcraft. Yes yes, I'm an asian nerd -.-

Besides that! If you remember, I posted the recipe for the Lemonade Detox Diet about a week ago. Now that I've finished all the perishable items in the fridge... I've started! If you want the recipe, refer to that post Here.

Review: MAC Lipsticks Morange and Chatterbox

Hi everyone :) wayyy too soon for another update? I typed this up earlier today telling myself I was going to post it tomorrow.. but I couldn't wait :p

Yesterday, I my best friends came down to my house (because I moved away pretty far) and we had a hangout sesh :) We went to the shopping mall nearby, and while the boys were looking at their "man" stuff, I snuck out to MAC to eye the Morange lipstick I've wanted for SOOO long.

Well, I've got the lippy I wanted, and another one--Chatterbox!

The Lemonade Detox Diet

So.. how many of you have done the whole: "Man, I seriously need to loose weight/eat healthier/exercise/go to sleep early/drink lots of water/etc"--crap? Well, I certainly do it about every other day. -____-;; And I have finally decided over this summer, I will finally DO SOMETHING about it!!! +__+ *determined*

In the past, I saw my two sisters take this dietary supplement and loose a great amount of weight and fat... so I had bought the product, only to realize how terrible it was for my body. So I stopped taking it after about 3 days, and decided to do it the right way.

About a week ago, my sister and I were browsing Naver.com and came about a post of this girl who finally decided to "diet" aka eat right. Living in korea and being "fat" really SUCKS. Majority of the girls in Korea have absolutely beautiful porcelain skin, and THIN body parts. -___-;; The pressure!!! Anyways, I read her post and a couple other ones, and finally came up with a diet plan myself.

But before that...

I'm going to do the Lemonade Detox Diet!!

Recipe/Tutorial: Chicken Salad with Grapes and Nuts

Hi Everyone! As always, I apologize for my lack of posts -___-;; After my last post, (as was mentioned in the post) I was terribly sick for 2+ weeks after I made that post. Soon as I got better, I had finals, and juries for school. And 24 hrs after my last final, I had to completely move out of my school's dorm--back to California AKA halfway across the country!! -_____-^ I had to stuff everything into a storage before hanging out with my friend Ellen for a few days at her place and coming back.. NOW! I'm finally home, in my parents' new place :) after coming home, I had to unpack and unpack again. -____- unpack my stuff from NY, and unpack my stuff from my parents' old place. -sigh- As of now, I am happily settled in a new city, and just trying to get into a productive lifestyle!

What better way to start off that lifestyle than making regular posts on my blog again? hehe ;) (and a job lulz)

I haven't made a cooking tutorial in SO long! Well, here it is--Chicken Salad with Grapes and Nuts! It's really simple, and you can eat it without the sandwich part as well.

Ingredients:
-1 can of chicken (seasoned or non, it's okay. I used season)
-1/4 of a yellow/white onion
-1 stalk of celery
-handful of nuts (peanuts or almonds or walnuts) [I used peanuts just because it's what I had in the pantry]
-1 1/2 cups of Green grapes
-4 Sandwich bread of your choice [I used crescents]  
-1-2 tbs of mayonaise
-1/2 of a lemon's juice
-1-2 stalks of green onion
-salt, pepper, and garlic powder to season

You can always use whatever you have lying around, and don't HAVE to follow every single ingredient. I've had it with walnuts before, and it tastes great. I made it once forgetting the celery, green onions, lemon juice and it still tasted fine.

Okay! let's get started...

Short & Sweet

Hi everyone! :) As I've mentioned, I'm sick as a dog, so I've finally given in to paying the doctor a visit. Ellen ended up skipping class to escort me :3 My appointment was at 9 and I was filling out papers till 9:45!! -____- I had a horrible headache and stomach ache. Ughhh!

Aside from all that pain, afterwards, we stopped by a small cafe behind Columbia university and had breakfast.. it wasn't anything out of the ordinary... but it was so good!!!!

I had a smoked salmon and scallion scrambled eggs with potatoes and salad +__+ yum.

yummm

ahwl gone! :D

Hope this wasn't TOO much of a pointless post .__.
Best,
Jinna

Brooklyn Shopping Date With Vivian :D

Hello all~ ! I'm back with a new post~ :D Over the weekend on Saturday, one of my best friends here at MSM named Vivian and I decided that we would go flea market/thrift shopping! Unfortunately, turned out the flea market was only open on Sundays, so we ended up just thrifting and going into nice vintage stores :) Afterwards we ate at a really nice Japanese restaurant and went to a church revival after that! Talk about a NIGHT. I was SO pooped that I got sick the day after! haha i'm still sick, and I don't regret a single minute of it :p

So.. I've watched so much "What Not To Wear" on TLC with Stacey and Clinton last year before moving to NY. The one thing I learned from that show was.. SHOP FOR OUTFITS! NOT PIECES. Just because it's cute doesn't mean you should get it! If it doesn't go with anything you own, don't get it! (unless you pick up something else to complete the outfit..)

Here's the pictures from the day!

Review: Lancome Hypnose Drama + little haul ! :)

Here's my review on Lancome's Hypnose Drama Mascara! :)

Saying My Last Farewells

Yoyo =D my final post of saying bye to my friends and family in Cali! :(
I went to NRB (karaoke) with my sister and her friend Nara, and had a final going-away dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my friends from school. Sorry for the picture overload!

Japan Town One Last Time :(

Yo yo! =D So 2 days before I left to NY, my friends and I went to jtown to get some ramen one last time :( Here are some pictures! And stay tuned till the end for a review of the KissMe Cool Sunblock SPF 50!

Moving into Manhattan =D

hey everyone! =)FINALLY a post! I've made it safe and sound (and alive) to New York! It is SUPER hot here, and it's nothing like the west coast's definition of "hot". It is SOOO humid! x__x My hair frizzes, hairspray can't hold my hair, and i'm CONSTANTLY sweating all day! It's so gross! I've only been able to wear my hair down ONCE since I came here! This is SO not my weather. -___-

Anywho, moving on! Here are a couple pictures from my departure date and the day I arrived :) My school doesn't start till the 7th, but because of freshmen orientation, I had to go by the 25th :/


Me and my friend Hyejune at the LAX airport! She's an old friend of mine that's majoring in piano :) We were trying to cover up our bare faces! no makeup eek!
It was 110F degrees in LA when we left... and it was raining when we got to NY! LOL. Talk about werid.

Here are some strange signs I found, lol.


My first meal at school! (well, not counting when I went earlier this year for auditions :p)

MSM! =D

Check out this crazy view from a classroom I was in...


And for dinner that night, my roommate Zijun took me out to see Manhattan! (at like midnight LOL) She already had eaten, so we stopped by this cool pizzeria nearyby :)


All the workers were so funny and nice! They were showing off to us with towels LOL

Tada~ My first out-meal in Manhattan was a calzone :) ham and cheese!

It was soooo good! A little too much Ricotta cheese in it for my taste, but it was still so good!

Here is my room!


My desk! hehe pardon the messiness, I was still unpacking :p



Check out this KILLER view I have from my room!! o.o

And last, but definitely, but not least, my new friends! My roomie (on the left) Zijun; pronounced zeuuuuuuhhjjjuuuiiine LOL. I'm so bad at Chinese! On the right is Guining AKA Winnie :) They're so sweet!

Well folks, i've tried to keep this post as short as possible! I have sooo many pictures >< I wanted to put em up all at the same time, but I think it would be a little over-kill on the pictures--not that I don't on any other post LOL. I will update tomorrow! =) I'm going to watch Twilight with my friend Hyejune and sleep :) gnite~

Best,
Jinna

Moving to the opposite side of the country

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts lately.. i've been really busy preparing myself for school! As you all may know, I currently live in Los Angeles, California. But my college is actually located in New York! Manhattan School of Music :) So tomorrow night, I depart on a new journey for my long-awaited independent life. I'm such a mommy's girl, so I have no idea how i'm going to cope with being so far away from her.

Not to mention, leaving my all of my best friends behind tears my heart into little bitty pieces. I just got back from the cheesecake factory with my friends as a going-away-dinner. I still have to pack the rest of my clothes and makeup/toiletries! It's going to take all night.. First thing in the morning, I have to go and get my bow re-haired! (I play a string instrument :p)

Thanks for being so patient with me! You all are so kind and always leave lovely comments that really cheer me up. So, come with me along my journey to the New York life! I will update as soon as i'm settled in the dorms :)

Once again, thankyou everyone for the lovely memories I've made here in LA. Jr high and high school has been so much fun with you all.

Love,
Jinna

Tutorial: Cinnamon Twists :3

Hello beautiful people! =) I noticed I haven't put up a cooking tut in awhile, and don't worry! I WILL post up the tut for the kimchi fried rice :) But.. aside from that! Yesterday on the FoodNetwork (a cooking channel for those who don't know) Giada's "Everyday Italian" happened to be on [my fav show on the channel!] She made these Cinnamon Twists and they looked soooo good! +_+ I tried to roughly remember all the measurements and ingredients, so here it is! As for the dipping sauce that she made... I didn't have a lemon with me, so when I made it without, it was absolutely atrocious. So i'm just going to skip out the sauce! Also, the pictures may say one thing, but make sure to read my descriptions because I always write up the directions according to the mistakes I made/improvements that could be made!

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 10 min
Baking time: 15 min

Ingredients:
-Brown sugar (dark or light, doesn't matter)
-Cinnamon
-zest of 1 Lemon
-1 Egg
-1 sheet of Puff Pastry
-Powder sugar (optional)
-OPTIONAL: Sesame seeds (preferably toasted) they look really pretty on it, but I don't really like the two tastes of sesame and cinnamon... they're just for garnish


Gather up your ingredients! Yes yes, I know there's honey in the picture, but it was used for the terrible sauce, which I don't think is worth making.

Go ahead and defrost your puff pastry; it's supposed to be kept frozen, so put out to thaw 10-15 minutes before you start! It's usually rolled up, so it's a bit tricky to unravel it! Try keeping a knife nearby for its straight edge

Cut the dough into 4 squares--cut down the center vertical line, and then one center horizontal to make a cross shape.

Cut each of the sections into 4 pieces!

Cut em all up, they should look like this :)

Now, prepare a large bowl, preferably flat and shallow; add in 2 tbs of cinnamon~

You can add your sesame seeds here, but I regret putting mine in raw, and they were just a bit overpowering the cinnamon...

and 4 tbs brown sugar :) If you want to make them more of a desert, add up to 6 tbs! You can add some powder (confectioner) sugar for more of a melt-in-your-mouth taste~

Mix up the dry ingredients! Add the lemon zest here :)

Line a baking try with some parchment paper--I ran out, so I just had to use foil :( If you use foil oil/butter/spam it up! I forgot to, so I had one hell of a time removing them when they were done -0-

This picture shows two, because the original shape I was going for was a bit different, but I liked my second idea better--just use one strip at a time!

I tried it in this shape first, but it was just too big and ugly! :/ so trust me on this one. Just use one :p

Crack your egg and beat it up real well till bubbly :) Prepare a pastry brush too! If you don't own one, you can use your hands :) Some people like to add water in their egg wash, but I think for this recipe, it's better thick.

So taking the egg wash, brush it on both sides of a strip!

Roll it around in the dry mixture and cover well :) it's okay to have missing spots! Now, taking the strip horizontally, grabbing each end of the strip, twist the ends in opposite directions~

When you're done, you should end up with a whole lot of these! 8)

The oven should be preheated by now, so pop em in for 15 minutes! Keep an eye on them after the 10 minute mark, since everyone's oven differs. Mine was a bit on the crispier side and mine was left in for 15. Maybe about 13 minutes? Go figure. (but be prepared to leave them in longer; my oven is strong enough to nuke a planet.)

Ah.. what a mess -___- this is the time to wash the dishes and clean up your work area!

They're done!

Pastries don't like to come off in one go when they're hot, so cool em just a bit!

And here we go!


Finished! =-) they're super yummy with some coffee~
I hope you enjoyed this cooking tutorial! :) Haven't made one in awhile, so i'm just a little rusty ._. Sorry for the picture overload! But I would much rather have pictures as reference, than read a huuuge paragraph and have no idea wth the author is saying. :p Just a couple things to keep in mind: 1) Don't be afraid to go a little crazy with the sugar! 2) Keep an eye on them! Once they pass a certain point, they burn quickly! 3) Stay away from sesame seeds, unless you really want em...

Sorry if this last picture scared you, because it sure scared the crap outta me while scrolling down. LOL. I've been having some problems with falling asleep lately, so I've been hella tired. I had work today, and drove home for 1.5 hrs due to a brush fire in my area.

Goodluck trying it out! :)
Best,
Jinna