After Christmas Shopping

Yeah! It's the best shopping time of the year! Our toaster oven has been half-broken for months. The toaster function didn't work but it's okay for baking. Yet, it's still dangerous to use it and I kept an eye on it always. I didn't want to burn down our house. Finally, today, we got it at a good price. Even better, we paid for it by using the gift card from accumulating reward points from our credit cards. Hehehe...we usually use credit cards anyway, it's nice to have our 'rewards' for being a loyal card holder.

We tried sushi buffet at the North Gate Mall yesterday. It was okay. I liked the dessert the most. Afterwards, we had our walking 'exercises' at the stores. Found great deals. ^_^ Again, using the gift card from using credit cards... it helped a lot. Tried the new and fragrant shower gels at once... Took a shower more than once in order to 'experiment' the fragrances! It's always pleasurable.

Oh, I love after Christmas sales!!

3-day menu for glowing skin

Eating almost the same things every day for THREE days.

Wake up
- drink 8-12 oz water

Breakfast
-Omelet made of 3 egg whites and 1 yolk and/or a 4-6 oz piece of grilled or broiled salmon
-1/2 cooked oatmeal (not instant)
-3-inch slice cantaloupe and 1/4 cup of fresh berries (blueberries, if possible)
-8-12 oz water (minimum, more if desired)

Lunch
-4-6 oz grilled salmon or low-sodium canned tuna packed in water or sardines packed in olive oil
-2 cups romaine lettuce; dress with 1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
-3-inch slice cantaloupe and 1$ cup of fresh berries
-8-12 oz water (minimum, more if desired)

Mid-afternoon snack
-2 oz low-salt, sliced chicken breast
-4 raw, unsalted hazelnuts
-1/2 green apple
-8-12 oz water (minimum, more if desired)

Dinner
-4-6 oz grilled salmon
-2 cups romaine lettuce; dress with 1 tablespoon olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
-1 cup steamed asparagus, broccoli, or spinach dressed with a little olive oil
-3-inch slice cantaloupe and 1/4 cup fresh berries
-8-12 oz water (minimum, more if desired)

Before-bedtime snack
-2 oz low-fat low-salt turkey or chicken breast
-1/2 pear or green apple
-3 or 4 almonds or olives
-8-12 oz water (minimum, more if desired, but bear in mind that this is before bed)

Joyeux Noel

Merry Christmas to everyone!! Feeling peaceful and graceful to celebrate Jesus Christ's birthday. May peace be with you too.

Christmas Cookies!!

Last Tuesday, I was invited to one of our neighbor's house to bake cookies together. It was SO much fun (and messy, of course!) I brought Holly and little Genevieve a loaf of my cinnamon raisin bread. I got to know another neighor, Elizabeth, and her sons, Andy and Alvin. We all had fun and made about 6 dozens of sugar cookies. I took a dozen home. ^_^ And it tasted so good. They were all gone before midnight undoubtedly...

When I walked home, my socks were like they had been dipped in sugar sprinkles... hoho

Great Discovery.

Besides playing the piano, I'm trying to read to kill time. Most of my friends know that I usually DON'T like reading...unless it is about FOOD or HEALTH...(Yeah, I concern about what I eat and ways to live healthily. Last Saturday, we went to the library to find the book I wanted to read again. It's called 'The Perricone Prescription'. Oh!!!! It is SO great to learn the food which helps repairing the skin. The winner is SALMON! Not the farm-raised (a.k.a. Atlantic salmon) ones though. Look for the wild salmon or sockeye salmon next time!!!! Also, ANITOXIDANTS!! Found in berries, avocado, bell peppers, cantaloupe, orange-colored squash and tomatoes, dark green leafy vegetables. At the same time, Dr. Perricone also emphasized that sugar and high-glycemic carbohydrates create inflammation throughout the body... So, it's important to smartly choose food with low G.I. (glycemic index). He included a 3-day menu for nutritional face-lift. I'll type and post it here later. :)

Another book I'm reading is 'The Complete Chronicles of Narnia'. Yes, the book is big and it scares me! However it is actually composed of seven different books of the Narnia. The movie was very fascinating. Everytime it shows on TV, I watch it! Since the second movie of Narnia ( Prince Caspian) is coming out next year, I want to read the story now!

Flu comes and goes...

My flu is still bothering me. -_- A few days ago, I felt better. Then the next day I felt crappy again - swollen throat and little headache. I've been blowing my nose crazily! My head will explode soon. I am afraid that Steve might catch my flu. He's been drinking orange juice and taking supplements, lots of vitamin C! Last night, I made an extra bowl of tomato soup to load the meal with vitamin C. Actually, I found that when I exercised yesterday, I felt good and I could breath again (and sweat too) I should do it again today.

My piano is alive again!!

Finally, I feel better. However, my throat is still sore. Need to keep drinking H2O. We had our 6th Anniversary on Sunday. We didn't dine out. It was rainy and windy. There's nothing better than staying home. Steve cooked steak + roasted red potatoes. It was delicious.

Today, a technician came to tune the piano. The piano was very flat. But not anymore!! After more than an hour's 'surgery', it sounds so much better. When I tried playing it, I couldn't believe it was the same piano I used to play everyday!! And the songs I play sound better, too. Lately, I'm trying to create my own arrangement for 'Canon in D', makes it sound smoother... I wish someday I could play a lot of music and entertain my family or friends during gatherings.

Flu is not fun

I had very bad sore throat and stuffy nose yesterday, all of a suddenly around 4am, I couldn't breathe and so I drank a small cup of airborne. After a few hours, I drank another cup. However, I was still very sick. I slept a lot. Feel a bit better today but still, my nose is so red. I'm so glad that Steve had called somebody to tune my piano next week. ^_^

What to do with leftover soap pieces?

It is been a while I've got many soap pieces sitting on the soap dish. Today, I found a way to reuse them!! I put the soap pieces into an empty neutrogena facial cleanser bottle with a pump, add 1/2 cup of HOT water to dissolve the soap. Then, shake the bottle!! Yes, you can juse use it as if you use the softsoap (liquid)! ^__^ I always try to find ways to produce less waste so that our next generations won't suffer. Every tiny energy-saving trick counts. And from now on, I'll use the laptop more often since it uses less energy than a desktop.

Sick...

I got the flu. Super stuffy nose, sore throat, etc.
Need to rest more... :'(

Winter Wonderland

Yeah!!!!! We're going to the Leavenworth on the weekend for the Christmas lighting festival. Woooooo.... it's going to be SO cold there... 20F!! ^_^

Feeling lucky...

Holly and her daughter stopped by yesterday to invite me to bake cookies with them next Tuesday. :-) That is sooooo nice!! I'm thinking about baking a loaf of bread to bring with me or a poisettia? or scented candles??

I'm glad that I finally got to know some people here. I never had a chance when I was working so long hours everyday.

Monday's pouring and flooding was terrible...I couldn't imagine what if it happened in our house...well, I probably would pick up the new TV and escaped to upstairs... hehe

Back from a SNOWBALL FIGHT..

YEAH! Snow is here finally.. I had a wonderful time with mom visiting me yesterday. I cooked her fresh hot & sour soup and steam my homemade wantons for lunch. I experimented my distance healing reiki on her and yeah~~ she felt it. I know it is WEIRD. hehehe... anyway, we then went shopping at the Costco, got some groceries..and a WARM FLANNEL SHIRT for Steve. ^_^ We had pho at Pho Than Brothers for dinner and walked around at the Half Price book store. Fun.

It's 10pm Saturday night. I'm back from playing in the snow, building snowmen...and helped the neighbor (Ally and Bailey) build the fort... it looks great! Maybe I'll try to take some pics of it tomorrow morning. We had snowball fight at our front yard. SOOOOO much fun since our yard and theirs make a huge front yard. A doggy walked by and tried to lick my face.. #_# I was SO warm playing in the snow.. I was sweating when I came home. I'm glad that I got to know them. They're nice gals.

Pizzas from the heavennnnnn... at California Pizza Kitchen

Carne Asada Pizza

Grilled steak, fire-roasted mild chilies, onions, cilantro pesto, Monterey Jack, and Mozzarella cheeses topped with fresh tomato salsa and cilantro. Served with a side of tomatillo salsa.