The House Poet

Hey everyone!! I am alive and well, just extremely busy with school, work, and cooking! :D I live in a townhouse with my roommate Kaitlynn, and since I have a kitchen I have a lot of fun cooking! It was Andrew's 20th birthday on Tuesday (yay!) and I made him birthday dinner! I was sooo excited! I made a huge chocolate bat cake, which was delicious! However, I forgot powdered sugar for the chocolate frosting, so I had to put cute chocolate chips and icing on it, haha~ XD I was so excited for him to see it that I forgot to take pictures! He took one on his phone, so I will have to show you guys~ Over the weekend I made Irish Soda bread, and it was really exciting to make bread for the first time. It's definitely something I want to learn more about. The bread itself is super dense, but actually rather tasty. It smells great, so I am really proud~ :) Also, I ate so much today!!! XD Andrew took me to his favorite Chinese restaurant from his childhood, and it was soooo tasty and so ...

Yep everyone, those are my four finished bowls! :D The one with the hearts is for Andrew, and I was so happy to give it to him last night! Yay! :D He loves it and I can't wait to hear if he used it for breakfast this morning lol~ The one with the kanji in the bottom (which means "hope") is a ramen bowl for my Dad, because he really wanted one. I plan to give it to him when I go home at the end of the semester (which is way too sad to think about....sigh), so I hope he likes it! The one underneath Dads is for me, a little rice bowl hehe. And the one under Andrews was for Professor Albala, http://kenalbala.blogspot.com/ , my favorite professor who helped me get my grant for Japan! He was excited to get the bowl and I hope he enjoys using it! :) Now, I have tons of random cups and mugs I am glazing. I am really excited about them and I can't wait to give them to more people! :D

Oh, am I having a case of the Mondays today! I had the most wonderful Friday and Sunday this past weekend, and now I am back in the motion of classes and studying and annoying people. Ugh. I miss Andrew a lot and the only thing keeping me going right now is the fact that he has a gig here on campus tomorrow night and I am soooo proud of him and excited! I am just going to stay strong and look forward to it! :) It's funny, I have just come to the realization that I really hate studying. The past few weeks have been gloriously study free and I have been relaxed and feeling good. Now, I have some papers and a mid-term and everything seems miserable here. I really don't want this semester to end..... :( There are so many things up in the air concerning next semester and this summer. I hope it will all turn out alright. I applied for a Pacific Fund Grant to get money for my trip to Japan this summer, but I haven't heard a thing and I was supposed to last week! So, we will see wh...

Well, the last day of 2009 has been outrageous. Too many things happened at once today, which seems fitting. I don't want to go into all the craziness, but let's just say it was stressful and too busy for my liking. I can't wait for this weekend though! ;) 2009 has been the year of many changes and intense things happening in my life. I really feel like I have grown and matured as a woman. I received my camera for my 19th birthday in January, and then in April I started this blog. I met Andrew in January and we fell in love in Febuary. :) Best thing that ever happened to me! (Apart from going to college in the first place lol ) I am excited to see what this year holds in store for us! Hopefully a trip to Japan! :D There have been many hard times and obstacles this year. Yet, the wonderful things outnumber all the difficult ones. I've proved to myself that I am strong and can get through a lot! :) I am grateful for all that I have in my life and all that I have been give...

Everyone here on campus is counting down the days until they can go home for Thanksgiving Break! I luckily leave on Tuesday morning, yay! I think I really need a break from this place, and my love is gone so there isn't much reason for me to stay. I need to have fun too, lol! :) Speaking of fun, two Thursdays ago Andrew took me out to lunch! It such a wonderful treat! I am a spoiled boo~! We went to a local Italian deli that has been around for a long time that serves cheap sandwiches. The above sandwich is what I ordered, prosciutto with cheese, mayo, and lettuce. Very rich and salty! I think this sandwich was only $4.25! :D Andrew's sandwich was delicious and cheaper than mine at $3.25!! His had salami, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and mustard. I really loved his sandwich! This is probably what I will order next time we go there, which I hope we do! The salami was thick and tasty, with the mustard adding a lot of depth to the already salty flavor of the salami. It all worked. ...

Last Sunday morning, Andrew and I went to try a Vietnamese place that we couldn't ever find before. However, last Friday night we passed it in the car and realized it wasn't very far from his house or UOP! So, we decided to go on Sunday, since it was open. The place is small, but meticulously clean. It's run by an old couple who don't speak too much English but are nice anyway. The fact that our chopsticks and spoons were given to us in a popcorn bag is just too funny and awesome! :D Ahhhhhhh, finally, a delicious banh mi! This one has tasty grilled pork in it and the bread is warm and fluffy! I truly adore this sandwich!!! None of the ingredients are overpowering, and I always take out the too-spicy jalapeno slice. The Vietnamese mayo adds such a creamy and savory aspect to the sandwich~! So good for $2.50! Since I love cha gio (imperial/egg rolls, 4 for $3.95) we ordered those as well so I could try them. They were okay, very fresh and steaming hot! I was disappointed...

Many things have been happening so I'm happy that I finally have the time to write a post about it! One big thing is that I have decided to change my major to studio art with a concentration in Photography and something else!!!! This is really exciting for me and I can't wait to start my art classes next semester! :) I've also been having fun with Andrew and enjoying the fall weather. It has been extremely cold this week though, so hopefully it warms up a bit before Halloween! The weekend of October 17 my family came over to visit me here on campus! :) They took Andrew and me out to lunch in a neighboring small town called Clements. On the drive over, we passed a lovely apple orchard that was on both sides of the road. The trees were tall and green, their leaves bushy and letting in slivers of sunlight. It was a lovely orchard and we all wished we could walk around in it. The restuarant was known as Clements Feed and Fuel and it was closing the day after we went, which was...

I had such an fun and awesome week, perhaps one of the best weeks I have ever had. It was filled with fun, love, and so much more. I am so sad that it is over! Thank you for everything honey! :) On Friday, Andrew took me and his youngest brother out for lunch at the famous Chuck's Diner, where huge portions reign supreme! Above is the full order of the Garden Omelette that Andrew and I shared, with the kitchen fries and pancake as our sides. The omelette was bursting with fragrant sauteed mushrooms, and the warm avocado slices added such a wonderful creamy richeness to the omelette! I want to make an avocado omelette someday! :) The pancake was super thick! It's very tasty, almost like a large pastry! Someday I might ordered a pancake breakfast there since they are so good! I have been aching for some onion rings lately, so Andrew was game so we ordered the full order of the house-made rings! They were good, and were battered with cornmeal, so it was thick and crunchy. They nee...

I can't believe I haven't put up this post yet! In the beginning of this semester, my college offered a trip to San Francisco by bus for only $5! Such an awesome deal! So, my friends and I were lucky enough to hear about it so we paid and were excited to go! Above is us putting our shoes together. My shoe is the awesome orange one!!! :D The bus dropped us off in Union Square, and since we were hungry we walked over to Katana-ya after shopping a bit in Macy's. Katana-ya is a super tiny and very popular Japanese restaurant in Union Square. The place itself is very narrow and the walls are adorned with colorful and funky pieces of art! There was a nice mix of jazz and Japanese pop music playing while we ate. :) I ordered a combination lunch of Miso Ramen and katsu don. Above is the katsu don, which is pork katsu with sauce on top of rice with a salad. The dressing on the salad was a delicious creamy sesame one. I wish Japanese restaurants sold the dressing they use, it's...

Last Saturday, I was indeed a pho hoe. It was my friend Jen's 20th birthday, so we went all out and had a great girls' night out! :) We first went to Pho Saigon Bay, and it was good! Some of my friends had never had Vietnamese food before so I helped them out and suggested some good dishes. I, of course, went for the beef pho and cha gio (Imperial rolls). I got a medium bowl and requested extra noodles for a dollar. It was funny because they didn't put the noodles in the bowl with the pho, but in a separate bowl with a tasty broth......hmmm. It was still good though! Just oddly presented I guess. This entire order was for me....I love these so much! I wrapped the rolls up in the lettuce and pickled veggies, which brought them up to a whole new level! :) Very fresh and tasty! Yep.....there is my pho and extra noodles. I loved it! The broth is so rich and beefy, but not overpoweringly so. The beef wasn't too tender, but that's okay. Great soup! After dinner, since we ...

Hello! Once again, another week has passed! I had a good week and I am so excited about the changing weather! For some reason, I am just relishing the Fall weather and October itself. October is especially special because Andrew's birthday is October 5! :D I am so excited to give him his gift! Our 8 month anniversary is the day before, so this is a special weekend! Two weeks ago on a lovely Saturday, Andrew took me to the Haggin Museum! I've been wanting to go there for quite sometime, so it was so sweet of him! I was sad because they got rid of the mummy right before I came back to Stockton....too bad...haha. Above is a rather glamorous picture of me, if I may say so myself. ;) The museum is in the middle of a rather large and lovely park, with lots of grand trees, a little fenced off lake, and picnic tables dotting the grass everywhere. There is even a lovely rose garden too! The museum itself is made of brick and is quite stately looking. Andrew and I really enjoyed it and s...

Hello all! Yes, I know it has been quite some time since I last posted something and I feel bad about it. I just got really busy for a while, you know how tough the life of a college student can be! ;) I have TONS of pictures to post up for various entries, so those will be coming up in the future! Also, for a while I was scared my camera was broken but then my friend helped me figure out what was wrong this morning, thus I was able to get the pictures from it! Yay! :D So, last Wednesday, I was invited to go to a Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) place near campus by a new friend, who is Vietnamese. I was so excited and happy that she invited me! She is really nice and we get along very well. I love making new friends! :D I ordered the #6 with the egg roll combo. The #6 sandwich had grilled pork in it, along with pickled carrots and a white veggie thing, cilantro, a thick slice or two of crunchy cucumber, and I think of mayonnaise. I enjoyed it, but wished there was more pork in it. Howeve...

We were hit with thunder and rain yesterday morning, and now the sky today has still been grey and murky! It's amazing how it was so hot during the week and all of a sudden this weekend the weather took a rather dramatic turn! :) Otherwise, things are going well here. :) Just getting back into the swing of things; I find myself pretty busy during the week and then on the weekend I get pretty tired. I love it being here though, so it's all fine by me! Things are getting better! :D Today has been all right, just another slow Sunday. I find myself getting a bit nostalgic and lonely on Sunday nights, but I am trying to keep busy. While I was struggling with my Micro Economics online homework earlier, I decided to take a little break and check out Andrew's blog. I was so excited and happy to see that he posted a food entry! :D Of course, I got all teary because I was so touched and happy. That really made my day! Here is the link: http://octjado.blogspot.com/2009/09/fewd.html P...