Preparing for our trip

We just came back from 11 days-trip in Yellowstone-Gran Teton. It was a fabulous family trip!!! But before we get into details of the trip, let’s recap what happened before the trip.

We went to try a carrier for Sofia because we wanted to do some hiking. At first Sofia hated it and refused to get in. But after “forgetting” about it for few minutes walking around REI, she accepted to try again and she was hooked! Look how comfy she was. 🙂

but we decided not to get one because although it was comfortable for her, it’s way too heavy for the carrier for longer than 1-hour hike.

That weekend we went to a outdoor movie, first time ever for all of us. It was fun but it was more an excuse to get outdoor picnic with friends than the movie itself.

a funny episode happened. Sofia tried to put sunscreen herself

and she looked like just came back from a birthday party

we got her a new toy… well… actually it happened to be a new toy for Tony

Food:

we got cod in Costco for the first time and I prepared it the simplest way. marinate in salt and pepper and cooking wine for 30 min, cook it in a bit of oil both sides until done (10-12). It was incredible tasty for just a simple preparation. Will definitely make more.

I’ve been baking loaves of bread.

this one with brown rice

this one with the master starter (similar to sour dough starter) … tastes just like pumpernikel bread!

since I had a batch of master starter, I made three kinds more.

and made pumpkin bread

I love baking breads and eating them… and love that Tony shares the interest with me. 🙂 Now I have “excuse” to bake more breads!

Life: weekly update

• Last week I submitted two papers that I’ve been working for the last 5 months. It was a great relieve to finally get approved by my manager after several rounds of revisions. Now now I’m in a little break before starting a new project soon.
• More meetings related to job-searching. I’m finalizing this process (fortunately!) and I hope I get to the unit I want. I’ve been lucky to be assigned to where I am now, where I have 100% manage of my time and work program and I didn’t have to travel. From next assignment (3-5 year) I will be doing real work, or the main business of our organization. I’ll be working with others doing projects, meeting other countries’ authorities and traveling. Yes, that part I’m not too excited about because although I love traveling, traveling for work is another story. I have coworkers that started with me, and they’ve been traveling 70% of the time since we started! I wonder if I can do that. I hope I don’t travel more than 4 times a year! Finger crossed. Except for the traveling part, I’m quite excited about what’s going to happen next. It’s a complete new world for me and I’m sure I’ll learn tons.
• Having Star on a business trip (until next Wednesday) I’ve been hanging a lot with mom. It’s quite nice.
• Saturday: mom and I went to outlet to buy some gifts for her friends in Shanghai (she’s going back in two week). I got one shirt (Jcrew) and one dress (Banana Republic).

I like the combination of orange and navy blue. And strips are in fashion this season!

• In the afternoon we went to Georgetown because I wanted to try some items in Zara. Unfortunately nothing fit me well so I got nothing. But I ordered some items online later.
• Sunday: I invited two girl friends to come over for brunch. Look what I prepared for 3 of us and my mom

this dress is actually a pijama, but the pattern is wearable outdoor. I like how soft it is and it was only $20.

baked salmon with cooking wine, soy sauce, brown sugar and black pepper

corn bread

cornbread basic recipe:

• 1 3/4 cup corn meal
• 1 3/4 cup milk 2%
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking powder

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately and then bake at 375F for 30 min.

Salad made with greens, tomatoes and goat cheese, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, S+P.

fruit salad

waffles

basic waffle recipe:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup WW flour
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)
• 1/2 tsp salt

And the girls brought a lemon pie

It was a nice brunch, chatting and laughing. I think girls-gathering is fun, relaxing and we can talk topics not-so-interesting for the boys! 🙂

Q: What’s your favorite brunch dish?

Summary of LIFE, new bread & shopping!

I think this quote summarizes perfectly my current state of mind about LIFE! 😀

source

Do what you like and Do it OFTEN!!!

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude!

STOP overanalyzing, it’s a dead end and stressful journey.

Life is SIMPLE, it’s us that try to complicate it, so STOP!

When you eat, appreciate every last bite. When you do anything, BE present.

TRAVEL often! Get lost so you can find yourself.

LIFE is about PEOPLE you MEET! Be open to meet new people, be selective choosing friends and cultivate your friendships.

LIFE is SHORT! Live every moment of it. Find a PASSION and devote yourself to it.

***

We started Labor day doing some house work.

I couldn’t open the oven door completely so I burned myself several times.

Star was in charge to fix it 😉

once fixed, I baked some bread (last batch was consumed too quickly ;))

This time, I added oatmeal and coconut oil. It has a great flavor, moisture inside and very crunchy layer 🙂

Oat bread flavored with coconut

• 1 cup WW flour
• 1 cup WW Arthur King’s while WW flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp granulated yeast
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
• 1.5 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp raw sugar

Method:

• Put all the ingredients into the bread machine (liquid ingredients first, dry ingredients later and yeast last)
• Choose dough cycle (90 min) it should double its size
• Put the dough in fridge overnight
• Next day, form two balls and let it rest for 2-3 hours
• Bake at 400F for 35-40 min

then we went to SHOPPING!!!

Poor Star was holding all the clothes I wanted to try and my sunglass 😉

I looked tired after just an hour

I couldn’t stop laughing at this pic of Star. He looked so not himself but soooo cool 😆

3 hours later.. we were done with cloth shopping and went to groceries shopping

and look this guy! He seemed to coming out about the ancient history

Here’s what I got  from Abercrombie & Fitch and Nike

tempo running short and 3 pair of runners socks

and then I had to say a short goodbye to Star. Star “moved” to VA (35 min away from DC). During the week, he’ll be living with his coworkers. For the moment we’ll be weekend couples. It’s not ideal but we’re very happy. After four years living apart, 35 min away is nothing. 😆

Q: If you’re married, what’s the biggest challenge of living with another person?