Weekly baking - gluten free muffins

This week's baking - Gluten free muffins

Recipe here - I used maple syrup instead of honey and made a bigger batch due to the portion sizes of my apple sauce cups. The right side is topped with pecans, the left side is filled with chocolate chips.

These are lightly cake-ey and mildly sweet. Very nice for those who are gluten-intolerant. Highly recommend using paper liners.

Weekly baking

So far this year, I have baked something each week. It's become sorta a weekly mission. And it's time I start posting the yummy results.

This week's fun - Orange curd shortbread bars

Recipes used: shortbread bars plus clementine curd

I needed to use up leftover curd from making clementine macarons last week. Tasty, sticky, and quite a bit thinner than I expected. Not bad though.

forgotten random links

awesome lego photographer collection
this star trek watching guide is pretty on target

nerdy me doesn't love big bang theory, though i don't hate it

grid of real disney character faces is really cool

give the world a 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 years...

a revealing story about the phrase boys will be boys

wolves are enough to change ecosystem. wow, neat

asian american quarter life crisis, tis true for many ppl i know

how to pick your life partner - yes... my qualms exactly

my favorite meal, hot pot buddies!

and, as a big B5 fan, i totally geeked out watching their reunion at phoenix comicon. here is part 1 (awkward until they took over), part 2 (fun!), JMS panel (very revealing), and claudia christian (aka ivanova - she is hilarious)

random 10

1. the colder it gets, the more naps i take...
2. i am growing increasingly aware of how people react to my "single asian female nerd" persona
3. my internal deadline to booking japan lodging is march
4. snowshoeing is fun! cold, but fun
5. my recent knee bruise has made it very apparent that i kneel a lot
6. buying cleaning supplies is not motivation enough to clean
7. if you want something to happen, you gotta organize it yourself
8. so far this year i have baked something each week
9. must not let bitterness get in the way
10. 2013 photos! fall, fall outings, vancouver in oct, thanksgiving, winter, dec fun times, and christmas. whew. that's it for 2013, now just the 2014 pics!

Travel planning

This year so far has been spent in a bit of depression... well, it's time to take charge.

So, I booked some travel: Austin in March and Tokyo in April. Yes, finally, JAPAN!

It's amazing how quickly the prospect of travel pulled me out of the slump. Here's hoping that my big plans do not get derailed again (last time I was this excited about travel, a family emergency sent those plans down the drain...)

I still have to plan Japan lodging and activities. And SF in August. And maybe Alaska and International Balloon Fiesta. We shall see.

January blues

i have been hibernating perhaps for too long... it's already mid january. that means 1/24th of this brand new year has already passed. it's always a tough month since december is full of birthday celebrations, holiday shenanigans, new years excitement, then BAM! welcome to reality.

and that reality is, i have had a pathetic start to this year. i still need to book travel, exercise more, improve my social interactions, find motivation for side projects... need to dispel this negative aura i feel like i have...

on the positive side, i am finally sifting through my photos taken since around sept. christmas is up, will put up more as i get to it. yay photos!

the latest of intrigues

the new year apparently means slacking on blogging. here, entertain yourselves for a bit.

get ready for snow... and corgi belly flop!
i refuse to touch the hairball in the stairs because of this
collection of paper art is super fascinating
not my favorite sauce, but i'm mesmerized how sriracha is made
nice compilation of manners kids (and adults) need to have
xkcd - i'm the type who takes photos all the time
it's sad that this is true: why women aren't welcome on the internet
dogs in cars - they all look so happy!
why i hate marketing on anything geeky
the entire cast of futurama. i'm gonna miss that show (again)
the history of time and everything... i feel so insignificant.

Photo-a-day 2014.01.01 (farewell!)

Lavender cookies

Ringing in the new year with cookies that made my apartment smell nice

And now, an official farewell to this photo-a-day project!

It's been fun, but I am going to take an indefinite hiatus from this. Who knows, maybe I'll pick it up again mid-year.

Welcome to 2014!

Reflecting on 2013-
It was a good and fulfilling year. I explored more of the pacific northwest, expanded my social circles, reinforced old ones, and bid a fond farewell to my 20s. Some notables:

• Summer hiking - every weekend this summer was busy with hikes or trips
• Rock climbing - immersed myself more into this. Even tried some outdoor rock climbing
• Baking - explored gluten-free baking and new recipes (macarons!)
• Photography - I stopped posting photos around fall simply because I couldn't catch up
• Continental travel - San Francisco x3, Austin, Portland, Victoria BC, Vancouver BC x2, and tons of local trips near Seattle
• Career - completed some programming courses, and my role at work is expanding. This year was a unique as we endured reorganization around when our CIO passed away. And networking better with my coworkers too
• Events and conventions - too many to count, but the big ones were ECCC, PAX, Brickcon, Washington State Fair, Amaluna, Table Top gaming, Decibel Fest, Chihuly glass museum, and 3 rounds of pumpkin patches/corn mazes
• Friends - many friends had significant life changes, both good and bad. Everyone's taking different paths, and I find it intriguing

Whew. It's been a busy year.

This year, I hope to:
1. Travel to Asia
2. Read more books, in particular finish the Foundation series
3. Spend less time in hermit mode (this was particularly bad late fall)
4. Maintain an exercise regiment (again, particularly bad late fall)
5. Accept character flaws instead of avoiding them

Here's to a happy healthy heartwarming 2014!

Photo-a-day 2013.12.31

Houseboats

it was too foggy to see any fireworks sadly. Oh well, the houseboat was cool