The bound feet curse

According to my parents, I've always had ridiculously small feet. I didn't think that my feet were THAT abnormal until high school when everybody asked if my grandma bound them when I was a kid :/ I'm a childrens' size 1-3 and adults' size 4-5 (depending on the brand). Everyone constantly reminds me that childrens' shoes are always cheaper than adults' shoes..seriously though, please tell me why I would even bother to look at Easter Sunday sandals or tennis shoes that light up?? Because of this, I've come to accept the fact that it's nearly impossible to find mecha cute heels that fit :<

I was looking at Christian Louboutin's online shop for fun last week and fell in love with Bianca 140 mm @__@ Definitely couldn't afford a pair of $800 nude platform pumps, so I was on the hunt for a more affordable pair. I must've spent at least an hour a day for the past week trying to find closed-toe pumps in a size 34, 4-4.5, or 22. It drove me crazy whenever I saw the perfect shoe that was too big or too expensive and I ended up calling off the hunt.

It killed me to walk through Nordstrom's shoe section knowing that my dreams of owning a platform pump (or any type of heel, for that matter) would never come true--that is, until I had asked a saleswoman if there was a pair of low wedge Jeffrey Campbells in my size. Of course, there was none, but she offered to bring out a selection of heels unlike the jerk that I had previously talked to in the neighboring section (hate hate HATE salespeople who don't help because they judge others by their looks. ESPECIALLY when they don't even work in a place where the merchandise is THAT expensive). I tried on these:

MICHAEL Michael Kors "Melody" Wedge Sandal

And fell in love with them since they fit perfectly and were so comfortable! :< Not to mention, I needed a new pair of casual wedges to replace my 5 year old Miu Mius. I hesitated to ask about the platform pumps since I had already seen their poor selection over the internet, but I went for it anyways and the salesperson said she could check and good thing she did! She came back with these bad boys (to both of our surprise!!):

Vince Camuto "Momas" Corset Back Leather Pump

DROOL. Even though they were a tad bit too big, the saleslady slipped in foot paddings and VOILA! It fit like a pinky cream glove! My mom was shocked at the heel height and nearly fell over when I asked her if I could get both pairs, ;___; but I told her how long it's been since I've treated myself to nice things!! Luckily, she approved and the next thing you know it, I was paying for my beauts while the aforementioned jerk walked by with a WTF look on his face (glad to have given commission to someone more deserving than that lazy B).

Not too sure if there are people who feel the same, but I seriously can't buy clothes or shoes without my mom. Not because she has a fashion choke-hold on me, but I tend to choose things that flatter the body image of myself in my head rather than in reality. She knows my style better than I do and I respect her opinion..which is probably why she'll be the only one to come with me when I shop for my wedding dress (if that day ever comes :p). I definitely feel a lot better about my purchases when she's there so I don't look at them and regret wasting money at the end of the day. Yah, I know, kinda sad, but whatever. Bleh!

I probably won't be on the lookout for new shoes any time soon..although I think I might need a pair of black flats @___@

Chokoreto

 

 I'm not a die-hard chocolate fanatic, but these dark chocolate fortune cookies have turned me into a ravenous BEAST. Paxton gave them as favors for his birthday party and I wish I had swiped all the leftovers!! Mom had to buy some gifts the other day, so she stopped by the shop and bought a couple for me. ^__^ Definitely making it a point to get more every time I go to Ward!!

Chang family celebrations!

Paxton liked the fluff :3

We celebrated Paxton's first birthday at the Spaghetti Factory! It was the cutest first birthday party I've ever been to and I couldn't believe how many babies were there! I got Darian a balloon fishing rod and we took a bunch of pictures when we weren't catching up with the rest of the Chang clan!

June: "There's gonna be a lion dance, so get your dollar bills out everyone! ..That doesn't sound right especially when we're celebrating a first birthday."

We also found out that my cousin, Paulette, gave birth to beautiful baby Joshua at 6:30 this morning! Congratulations to Stuart, Kayla, & Kevin!! > w < He is so adorable and tiny!  My heart melted when I smelled him..there's nothing like the scent of a newborn (sounds weird, but just you wait until you have your own behbeh)! I can't wait until he and Tohchan are old enough to play together especially since they're only 3 months apart!

Baby Ujimori #3 ^__^

It's hard to leave without a happy heart after seeing a happy family and a healthy baby! I even stopped by the nursery to take a peak at the other newborns and passed by good ole room #425! *Sigh*

"Moon Prism Power"

I feel like my life underwent a complete makeover, but forgot to take my wardrobe with it. Around the same time last year, I was sporting Nike high tops, Palty bleached hair, and everything Hellz Bellz. And then I became pregnant with the babychan. I still wanted to be somewhat fashionable, but my need to be comfortable grew along with my expanding tummy and found it difficult to reach a compromise. The world's greatest invention, BELLA BAND, could only do so much. So, I started shopping for whatever fit me without really caring how I looked and promised myself that I would never "let myself go" (like those frumpy women on makeover shows who dedicate their lives to taking care of their families) once my gelatinous blob of a stomach sucked itself back in.

Well, here I am, post-pregnancy and I'm still wearing the clothes that were meant to fit me and Tohchan. When I first peered into my closet on my first day back to school after giving birth, I felt like I was looking at someone else's wardrobe. I mean, I couldn't just walk out of the house wearing skinny jeans and a shirt that said, "AUTHENTIC SHIT." Good Lord, how inappropriate would that be? (I bought it without realizing it actually said that, but I figured it went well with my style @ the time.) But I also didn't want to wear tops that I had been wearing for the past 4 months. I wanted to celebrate being thin again, but I didn't know how.

So, it might take a little while longer than I thought it would, but I'm going to keep the promise that I had made and I'm going to attempt to revamp everything. I can't believe women who are 10-15 years older dress better than me..and with multiple kids too?! Shame, shame. I guess giving up on being fashion forward: prego edition left me in a rut that I can't seem to pull myself out of, but I'll bounce back! Hair, wardrobe, nails..IT SHALL BE DONE/DID!

Now, I just have to save up for this Sailor Moon transformation. :/ Bleh.

Me (bleached hair & false lashes..and good lighting since my eyes look super brown (sorry, I just had to have my moment of vanity)) ruining a nice picture of Kairiisan & Jehmeh during our New Year's Eve celebration 2010

Another productive Tuesday

After finishing all of my chores, I was super excited to make dinner! My parents have been giving me the green light to cook a little more often and they've admitted that I've gotten much better. I owe it all to Tohchan though! My cooking techniques and sense of taste improved ever since I was prego with the little chef (I sometimes refer to Tohchan as Remy from Ratatouille ^__^). I made chicken & broccoli casserole and brined chicken breasts for the first time!

 

I soaked 3 chicken breasts for an hour in 6 cups of water that contained 4 tablespoons of table salt & 1 tablespoon of sugar. I fried bacon, set it aside, and used the excess fat to sear the outside of the chicken and transferred it to the oven (375 for 15 min, let it rest for 5 min, then chopped into cubes). I boiled the frozen broccoli according to the directions and tossed it with the bacon and chicken. The sauce consisted of a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken (Cream of Mushroom/Broccoli would be good too! I would've preferred mushroom but we were out :/), 8 oz. of sour cream, and 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. I mixed the veggies and meat with the sauce, spread it in a 9" x 13" glass pan and covered it with shredded cheddar cheese (the more the merrier!) and cracker meal that I had mixed with butter (use crushed Ritz crackers instead!! The cracker meal is too..well, mealy for my taste). I baked it for ~25 min on 350, but raised the temperature to 400 for 5 min since the cracker meal wasn't browning as fast as I thought it would.

^__^ I started writing my modified recipes down in a journal so that babychan and I will have a variety of things to choose from once he becomes old enough to cook with me!

Sweets for the salty

So, today was the first time I've ever celebrated Valentine's Day without a boyfriend in 6 years. I was on my way to work and I held the door open for a girl who was carrying a bouquet of orchids. I got stuck walking behind a girl who had a glass vase filled with 2 dozen roses. I saw beaming couples walking hand in hand looking at each other as if everyone around them didn't exist. Jesus Christ, talk about adding salt to the wound.

But, regardless of the fact that I was short a significant other, I decided to celebrate by baking chocolate cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting for my office!

I've tried making cupcakes from scratch and they've tasted terrible, so I was surprised how dericious these came out! ^__^ The secret is MAYONNAISE! The recipe called for 1 cup of mayo, but it sounded like a bit much, so I used 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream. I also added a teaspoon of instant coffee mix to the boiling water since Ina Garten always stresses how coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate (not too sure how effective it was though). The frosting looks gloppy because I added more fresh strawberry puree than was called for. I used 2 packages of cream cheese and a whole box of powdered sugar to try to thicken it, but after tasting it, I quit my attempts to make it look like it came from a can. ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)  it tasted like strawberry ice cream! I don't care too much for combining fruit and chocolate, but the flavors melded well and everyone seemed to enjoy it! It reminded me of an episode of Sailor Moon where Serena slaves away in the kitchen for Rini and makes a total mess, but her curry turns out to taste really good!

Hayley, Sharie, & Jenny brought sweets too, so we had a whole dessert buffet in the afternoon!

Hayley made chocolate chip cookies with pink, red, & white M&M's! So kyoot & yummy!! :9

I even bought Kelly's famous Rice Krispies cookies from the BEST bake sale since she didn't make any for the office :< 

Sharie shared her box of mini Cinnabons that she got from Reed! ^__^ He brought her the biggest balloon bouquet I've ever seen!

Jenny brought the fluffiest cheesecake from La Palme D'Or! >__< So expensive!!

What started off as a seemingly lonely day turned out to be quite fun especially since I worked with my favorites! ^__^ And who could feel depressed when there's a babychan to come home to?? Here's to another sweet Valentine's Day with the people who mean the most to me!

One of Shannon's favorite quotes ♥

"When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew." - William Shakespeare

Din din with the besties

It seems like the older we get, the less often we see each other. But luckily, Shannananon's birthday brought us together! Shan, Jehmeh, Shinchan, & I spent most of the night at Panya Bistro just doing what we do best -- eating and talking our heads off! We moved our party to Barnes & Noble where we did our usual routine of grabbing stacks of magazines & random books and hunting for a spot where the employees wouldn't ask us to move. It's nice to know that there's still some things that haven't changed amidst all the crazy things that happened within the past year ^__^

Btw, I chose the cake because it seemed like it was the perfect size for the 4 of us..it just so happened that it said Happy Valentine's Day on it despite the fact that we don't really have significant others to celebrate with :p

Tenderoni

 

I was carrying Tohchan while watching the latest episode of Glee and Artie started to sing P.Y.T. by Michael Jackson so we swayed to the beat. After a little while, I looked down and realized I had unintentionally rocked him to sleep for the first time ever. He's been sleeping soundly ever since ^__^ Today was a good day.

Leftovers

I'm always stuck with leftovers. I've eaten them for lunch ever since I was forced to bring food from home while I was in elementary school. Even when I transferred, I still brought leftovers because the school lunches were too expensive. I still bring leftovers because UHM food gets old fast. Sometimes I'll eat leftovers cold to see if it tastes any better (I'm getting used to cold pizza). And then there are times when I try to "reinvent" them so that they seem more exciting (especially if I didn't like it in its original state). Case in point, kalua pork omelet!

Scrambled 2 eggs, added leftover kalua pork (with onions), shredded mozzarella cheese, & green onions, and topped it all off with some barbeque sauce! Definitely one of my prouder moments in cooking history.

Happy 3 months, Babychan!

Super Bowl XLV

We celebrated Baby's first Super Bowl! Mom and Dad were all for the Packers, but Tohchan and I were rooting for the Steelers (appropriately dressed for the occasion in a black & yellow onesie)!

..Don't worry, there's always next year.

Nehru ; A ;

 

Co-worker Kelli and I have spotted some of our customers wearing OPI/Katy Perry Shatter nail polish so we're on the hunt for it, but nail salons seem to be sold out of it! Even though I'm not nail polish's biggest fan, I really wouldn't mind picking up a bottle of Teenage Dream (the current song that keeps replaying over and over in my head) and Black Shatter.

Better yet, I wouldn't mind some gel nails from Salon Cherie! I definitely want to treat myself to a manicure, massage, new wardrobe and haircut once I save up enough money! ^__^

Prom nails circa 2009

Tuesday -- the most productive day of the week (so I've been told)

It was a pretty productive day since I was able to finish more chores than normal and study for my psych test. I even got to cook brunch (something I haven't done in a while and miss dearly)!

Soggy bacon omelet! <3

Tohchan has become more alert so he and I get to play often! ..Until he gets fussy for a nap. Or his bottle!

Taking a rest during tummy time!

 Hats off to all the stay at home moms! Even though it's only a part time job for me, the house can get pretty hectic in a short amount of time @__@