Hearts..

And other mushy things.. tee hee.. Seriously, skip this if you can't bear it :P *Grinn*

Or read it and think about it. I saw this on a Philosphy brand perfume when I was in a makeup store (yeah, you heard me :P) and I kept a mental note of it, and searched for this quote.. :)

Falling in Love by Philosophy:

When it comes to love,

You need not fall but rather surrender,

surrender to the idea that you must love yourself

before you can love another,

you must absolutely trust yourself

before you trust another and most importantly,

you must accept your flaws

before you can accept the flaws of another.

Loves it :)

Short update

Hullo there!

It's been awhile, and I have to admit -I have not been having as many cooking adventures lately.. with the parental gone (yes, I live at home now :P) , I have been quite lazy and have had one too many ramen noodle days.. ahhhh

I promise, I shall get back on my feet with new and exciting cooking posts!! :) :)

muahhhss!

All You Need Is...

LOVE.

...However, that is just not acceptable in todays standards.. so I have revised my plan of action:

"All you need is Love + Faith + Trust + Sufficient Funds.."

Oh wait, I forgot. And CHOCOLATE.

Yes, the world needs more chocolate. :) I rest my case.

To Have

"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts.." -Charles Dickens

Happy Valentine's Day!

And coincidentally it also happens to be Chinese New Years! :D Whoop!! (but there's 15 days of that, so it's all cool :) )

I thought these quotes from Peanuts were super cute, and I just wanted to share them with you! In the words of Bridget Jones, "Hurrah Singletons!" I spent the weekend with the girls, talking and talking, and then going to watch The Valentine's Day movie, which was funny and cute! :) I'll miss this, really I will..... T.T

But back to the pictures.. "Love Is...."

And last but not least, part of Josh Turner's song tee hee.. because I am in love with it :D

Oh the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss,

It's better my darling, I promise you this,

Next time I hold you, I'm not letting go,

Will you wait for me darling, I need to know...

Love, Love, Love

Daily Thought:

"Love is always bestowed as a gift-freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved, we love to love." - Leo F. Buscaglia

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww! <3 <3

Really?? Now?

I have to admit, I'm pretty bad with timing.. I just can't seem to get lucky with timing. EVER.

So 3 weeks before my scheduled flight, I got an email from a past interviewer asking me if I was interested in a position that mysteriously opened up that week. Hmm.. Okay, I figured that the amount of money I'd be making wasn't worth that much. And it wasn't exactly dream job either. Thanks, but no thanks.

Today, I get a call from MdA asking me if I was still interested in a position that I had filed for a couple of months ago. A week before I'm leaving! What is going on? Unfortunately I had to decline it but I'm still a little annoyed that I'm getting all these late replies.. come on...!! :(

It's like the day before your (future) wedding and an ex-lover comes to tell you that he loves you and wants you back.. REALLY??! hahaha.. *Cross my fingers that never happens to me!*

Job interview:Leaving for Australia
Ex-lover:Getting married the next day

Go figure.

Days...

...4 days till Chinese New Year!
...4 days till Valentines Day
...10 days till I my flight to Australia... :'(

I think I've just about let everyone know about me leaving, and I've finally informed everyone else on my departure date.. sigh.. Today my dad called me up, and said, "So when you come here next week..." AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I'll try not to think so much about that for right now..

In the meantime, Realsimple has shared some valentine quotes, and I wanted to share them with you!!! I'm a sucker for everything romantic! :D

ENJOY and share some love!

Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. -Michael Leunig

Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope. -Josh Billings

Love is friendship that has caught fire. -Anonymous

It’s no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst. -Tom Stoppard

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise. -Samuel Johnson

To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others. -Anne-Sophie Swetchine

Love is the river of life in the world. -Henry Ward Beecher

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. -Sam Keen

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. -Peter Ustinov

Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common-sense.. -Helen Rowland

Love needs no map, for it can find its way blindfolded. -Anonymous

Every Picture (collage) Has A Story..

So instead of a long post of just pictures, I decided to use good ol' Picassa to make collages and sum up my recent adventures :D

Collage #1:

A Kelly+Pei outing! It was the night of the UT vs. Alabama BCS National Championship Game that we had gotten yummy Korean food and then decided to head out to a bar to watch the big game! That's right.. I insisted on a "Football & Beer Girl's Night"! Booya! We went to Ernie's to meet up with a friend and her husband, and sipped on beer while cheering (for the opposite team :P)! - Although, I have to admit that UT wasn't doing very well without their QB there.. not as good a game as expected..

Collage #2:

A QA day at Discovery Green! A friend had told me about an ice sculpting competition going on that weekend at Discovery Green, and seeing how it was a little too late to gather a group to go, I took a little trip all by myself! I loved it - beautiful weather, screaming kids, and ice flying here and there :D And of course, a chance to take fun pictures :) Wheeee..

Collage #3:

Later that same afternoon, I met up with my Biochem&Genetics girls! :D It's been too longsince we last hung out, and it's the first time since we graduated that we've all been able to meetup! Everyone's been busy with school and work, and the X-mas break was the best time to meet :) Yay for catching up and Ruggles wraps! Picture with all 5 of us: (L-R) Wendy, Sarah, Shefali, Sora (who's not B&G) and me :) :)

Collage #4:

Sometime on Saturday, I had gone over to make Tiramisu with Bel & Gaya, and stayed till 2am that night.. What did we do? Well, made a fire and roast S'mores, duh!! Tee hee.. Prabu, my brother and Jon gathered the firewood, the girls got the ingredients ready, and Nishan expertly showed us how to make a fire haha.. what I didn't get a picture of was us sacrificing gummy bears to the fire *grinn*

Collage #5:

A S'more party is never complete without an ooeyy gooey picture of us all biting into this deliciousness ;) And a party is never complete without playing goofy games and huddling close to the fire talking.. Yay for a good weekend!

Collage #6:

Having a blast trudging through mud, and getting our fingers and feet dirty from Paintballing!! Whoop! Who knew I'd be an expert at sniping *grinn* Surprisingly there were no squeals and shrieks from the girls (YAY!), and I'm pretty sure that everyone enjoyed themselves!

Next post: Baking Adventures!!!!!

It's Official..

I just got my Australian Student Visa approved today!

I'm relieved to know that the process is finally over, but now I'm getting sad thinking of all the friends and people I have to leave behind.. :'(

This is very sad indeed.

My highlights of the weekend:
1. Irene's surprise end of exam potluck :D I love friends who cook amazing food, and spending time just having fun! Playing the broken telephone game, Super Mario, and being goofy till 3am!
2. Paintball with the Msians in muddy, cold weather.. but it was so much fun, and we all had some pretty fun stories and battles wounds to talk about ;)
3. My Surprise Farewell Party organized by my brother and nearly ruined by me! haha.. I nearly didn't make it which made my brother leak the secret out but it all worked out eventually and we had the best time Karaoke-ing, singing and dancing out hearts out like there was no tomorrow! :D
4. Spending time with Hannah and Khalisa, and the bear hug I got :) I shall miss you HL :'(

Snippets of the night :D

With Casey, Gaya, Gowri :)

With Prabu, Marcos and Nishan

Singing with Albert, bro, and Alvin

The girlsss!!! Irene, Bel, me, Gaya and Gowri

<3 <3 <3

Not exactly the end of the night ;)

Goofiness!

Hello, 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Well, hello there!
It's been awhile, but I'm back with more updates!

-My parents came into town mid November, and because of crunch time, I decided to bite the bullet and accept the Masters program in Australia.. so I'll be going down under, mates! I'm super excited but this also means leaving behind good friends and people I've started to bond with :'(
-Moving all of my stuff along with my parent's shipment from Houston.. which meant:
1. No crafting
2. No sewing
3. Living on an air mattress and a very much empty room save my luggage bags..
SIGH.
-Volunteering like crazy at the museum! I got to teach a girl scouts class, an eye dissection, fetal pig dissection, lungs class as well as write up a curriculum on the Scientific Method! :D Yay to 119 hours served!
-Spending time with family friends, having Kelly stay over, and taking mini trips to Dallas & College Station to hang out with people!
-Getting my Aggie ring resized.. *sob!
-Applying for my Australian Visa and going through awkward medical exams.. haha!

And finally.. Spending New Years with the Malaysians! :D

I haven't really thought about 2010 resolutions, but here's some... :P

1. Working out, and getting in shape..
2. Keeping in touch with friends and aquaintances
3. Getting my Masters and getting a job <--that will be in June 2011

4. Being less of a introvert, and getting out of my comfort zone
5. Be more open to new opportunities.. ;)
6. Take more pictures, cook more, sew more, craft more :)
7. Listen more, love more, laugh more, be more patient.

Toasting to the New Year! WHOOP!

Girls!

See-blings!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Things I am thankful for this year:

• Friends and Family that I can always count on to be there :)
• Acceptance into the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia to do my Masters in Biotechnology!! WHOOP!
• An amazing last year of college, graduating and learning so much..
• Being able to be a part of a research group, my office group, the ESL program, and The Health Museum!
• God - for never failing me.. for always watching over me, and knowing (always!) when the right moments are <3
• A new year, a new beginning, new adventures, and new stories!

What are you thankful for this year, and what are you excited for the coming year?

Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well, I don't think I've properly celebrated it (i.e dressing up, giving candy, trick or treating, Partying) this American holiday since I started college.. haha! Actually, the first time I stepped foot into a club was my freshman year of College at UTDallas for a Halloween party, with a friend from class.. and let me tell you, I probably was more grossed out that not when I saw all those college students dancing.. :P (But that's another story)

Over the years, I've always shied away from the Halloween parties only because a)I never had a costume to wear, and b)I always had a test the week after Halloween!

Anyways, this year, I somewhat had reason to celebrate, and I can't wait to post more pictures of my costume(s)! Yes, that's right, I have *drum roll please*... TWO COSTUMES!

To my story : I started volunteering my time at a Community Center for less fortunate people about a month ago, so I've been teaching an ESL class to about 20 students.. majority of them married, and children, and have been living in the US for about 2 years or so... we have majority Hispanics, and Vietnamese and a lady who's Haitian. I love my students, and it couldn't come at a better timing that I got to teach this class!

Anways, this year I decided that I was going to have fun and games for my ESL students and decided to dress up as a "Nerd"! Haha, you say, isn't that what you are already? Well, yes, and no.. I've been nerdy, but I wanted to go all out an exaggerate it teehee!

Ta Daa! I bought a white shirt, and felt letters and ironed on the phrase "Talk Nerdy to Me" and on the back it was "QTPi" <--- Get it?? Cutie Pie! *Grinn!* I taped up my Harry Potter glasses with tape and paper, and bought super cheap suspenders (Urkel-icious!):D

I also wanted to make cookies and decorate them, but by the time I didn't expect them to come out so tiny.. so I kept those for myself, and instead made a last minute rice krispy treats (that was too hard and stuck to my pan but luckily this lady saved me with her spatula :D)

We learned about the history behind Halloween, and learned terms associated with the holiday, and then we played pass the pumpkin! :D It was super funny watching adults get so excited over this game, and although it was educational, I hope they still had fun!

Here are a medly of pictures:

I made up questions for my Pumpkin game using people I knew! :D

And today I'll be in Austin going out for once on Halloween night! WHOOP! I'll update later on my cutest outfit ever! :D

If there was a name....

... for my food orgasm, it would be called, "Antonio's Spicy Chicken Quesadilla" *Grinn*

I mean, come on now -Take. A. Look. At. This. Babyyy ~

Yummm.. only makes my mouth water and my stomach go, "Yes! Yes! YES!!!" Tee hee!

Let me break it down to you.. it's appearance says it all: crunchy, huge and delicious! It's cheese, chicken, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, topped with tortilla chips, drizzled with ranch sauce.. because, everyone knows that a college student lives for ranch :D (Or is that just a Texas A&M thing??)

Sigh.. too bad it is 1.5 hours away from where I live, sadly.

So last weekend I went down to C.S after a much hectic drive.. I decided that I needed to be on campus and running errands and getting things done all before lunch, so I made a little Itinerary the night before, woke up at 6:45am, and left the house around 7:30am only to find myself in the throes of Thursday morning rush hour. Hrmmppphh.. Although, things went smoothly after I got out of the congested city, and smooth sailing from that point on, followed by much boy-band singing :) LOUDLY.

My Itinerary of the day:

-Wake up 6:45am, leave 7:30am

-Get Blinn transcripts

-Get A&M transcripts

-Meet with Vanessa 10:30am

-Sneak into dorm to deliver Tiramisu

-Lunch with Corinne

-Meet with Dr. B

-Meet with Veronica

-Meet with Julie, Zaria, Lisa

-Murphy's Law with friends!

As you can see, it all got accomplished, all within record time too! :) I managed to have enough time to talk to all of my recommenders and even got to talk to my old graduate student who I worked with for a semester.. it's encouraging knowing that they're in Grad school doing the things they love, just like how I'm hoping to do the same..

I got to spend time with some friends, chilling at Murphy's Law which is this awesome Irish pub in Downtown Bryan :) I love being old enough to be able to go out on a Thursday night and not have to run into young college students *Grinn*

Friday was pretty relaxing seeing how I'd already accomplish most of what I wanted to do, just visiting friends and such.. and went to a friend's shindig that kept us up till 6am! It was fun, but getting up early the next morning to drive down to Austin was a little painful .. :P

Anyways, I had lugged around my sewing machine, which unfortunately came with a transformer because of the voltage differences here in the US and the ones in Malaysia. I had promised to make my friends skirts, and so that's what I made the whole Saturday! It was sewing, pressing, ironing, sewing, pressing, ironing.. but I did it! *Takes a Bow* I felt very much like a sweatshop worker, toiling away at my sewing machine, but I did receive payments in the form of food.. haha!

So that was my weekend, and despite the horrible rain and storms that I seem to be cursed with every time I take a road trip out of town, I brought it back to Houston.. where it shall probably be for the rest of the week SIGH!

Post-Graduate!

Tee hee.. Not really a craft/cooking post, but just a little 'Hooray! note' to celebrate finally being a post-graduate! :) I got my diploma around 3pm, on Friday the 15th of May, and now have finally joined the ranks of unemployed (sadly) for the next few months(?)

May is for:
-My parents being in town for 2.5 weeks, and for attending an old friend's wedding! ahh! The whole world is in love, it's pretty crazy! *Grinn*
-Moving back into the 2 bedroom apartment that my brother and I share.. finally after 4 years of living in a dorm room, I finally have my own room to myself again, and a real kitchen to cook in.. a cause for celebration!

Oh, and awesome, awesome news! I presented my mom with the Felt Truffles I made, and she loved them - And surprised me by telling me that she was planning on giving me one of her extra Singer sewing machine.. HOORAYness!

Craftiness plans for the summer (assuming time permits):
-Felt projects .. I want to launch a "Unedibles" collection :)
-Sewing projects - purses and bags galore! I have ideas I'm itching to sew something!

Cooking plans for the summer:
-Digging through the cookbooks and experimenting!

In the meantime, I'll be planning and sketching out things I'll be making, and applying for jobs and graduate school. Anyone have any suggestions/job offers for recent Biochemistry graduates??

Photo: With the fam on Graduation day :)