♪Watch out J. Lo, K. Vo in da house!

Before there was J. Lo and academy award winners/ nominess Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey, there was a show on a little network called In Living Color. This show was awesome!

Some of my favorite skits were Homey the Clown ("Homey don't play that!") and Men on Film - "Hated IT!" I also loved the fly girls.

I have always loved dancing and although I have never been any good at it, it never stopped me from trying.

Lately, my inner fly girl has been coming out after I started taking classes at Rhythm Dance & Fitness with Tamarr. I'm not gonna lie... this class is hard. In every 8 counts there are at least 5-6 "ands" and he just keeps adding on to the routine and speeding up the tempo. Even though I'm counting every move, I'm getting about 70% of the moves (up from 50% on my first class!). Recently I've been taping myself doing the dances, so I can practice them. If you want a sample of what I'm attempting, here you go. =)

Sorry, none of my personal attempts will be posted. Not now, but I can't say never. All I can say is that I promise you that I will not quit my day job to pursue this! But my inner fly girl is having one heck of a time!

P.S. There is talk of a new In Living Color. That will be interesting...

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~Author Unknown

Back in the day when I was young I’m not a kid anymore…


I remember when I was really, really young, I loved those Read Along books, you know, the ones that started off like this: “you will know when it’s time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this… ♪ ♫ring ♪ ♫” (Ok, this may be before your time...)

I had the best memory. After a dozen or so times of “reading along” with the cassette tape, I began to recite the book. One time, my aunt was staying over with us and she thought I was already reading at 3 years old!

Luckily, my love of reading never died. In my early years, I read a lot of Beverly Cleary books, wanting to keep up with Ramona’s angst and Judy Blume’s Superfudge’s shenanigans. Then later on, I moved onto Christopher Pike as I approached the “tween” stage. Keeping with the drama/ horror genre, I began reading Dean Koontz and Stephen King.

As an adult, I ran out of “favorite” authors. Since I’ve never had a favorite book, I didn’t even have a “go to” response when someone asked me about it a few weeks ago. Now, I at least have realized I like stories. Whether they are non-fiction or fiction, they must move at a steady pace and have good character development.

Since finishing school and settling back down in the “real world”, I’ve been able to do a much better job of finding time to enjoy a good book. Part of this stemmed from not having a TV (much less cable) and taking my time getting the internet up and running. There are a few independent book stores around here, and being Santa Barbara, there is no Barnes & Noble within 30 miles.

Santa Barbara Public Library

Truth be told, as much as I love books, all the moving back and forth across the country has discouraged me from buying too many. After all, those are the heaviest boxes to lift! Thus, I have been a frequent visitor of the Santa Barbara Public Library. This system is ridiculous in that it covers over 60 miles. Luckily there are 3 branches relatively close to where I live and work.

I feel like libraries are considered old relics in these e-reader days and even more so after Borders closed its doors. Admittedly, I rarely went to the public library when I lived in San Diego, but it was one of the first places I became acquainted with when I moved to Boston (and subsequently Santa Barbara).

To my delight/ surprise, I found out you could also borrow DVDs in addition to books. They may not have the latest season, but they have the earlier ones, so if there was a time to catch up on a show you were meaning to watch, they have a somewhat decent selection to choose from. And on top of that, they are slowly but surely adopting to the e-reader craze and have offerings for them too! (I still haven’t decided which one I want, so I still go for the old school version with paper and ink.)

In any case, I'll be kickin' it old school at the libraries for as long as there is one around. Hmm.... perhaps I fit in to this retiree neighborhood better than I thought. (shudder!)

Happiness is...

Enjoying a bowl of fresh berries...
Trying some new recipes...


Homemade carnitas

Reading a few good books...
Catching up on some good tv...
and finishing a couple of picture books!

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"Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!" - Muhammed Ali

Thanks to livingsocial, I have been introduced to kickboxing at Paragon in Santa Barbara.

I've always wanted to do some type of martial art or boxing, so why not kickboxing?

I've taken many a cardio kickboxing classes at the gym. They were fun and kept my mind sharp by changing combos every 3 or 4 counts of 8; however, I never felt like I knew what the heck I was doing. Were my punches right? How was my form?

Well, let me tell you... it was awful. Heck, it still  is.

After my first class, I was able to get a one on one basics course for kickboxing... Guess what?! I don't jump rope correctly (see it done right by Rocky himself!). On a more positive note, my punches weren't as far off as I thought and my kicks weren't half bad, if I don't say so myself!

The actual classes were pretty fun. A great way to exercise and relieve stress. This is one thing I may revisit when I feel like I can afford $180 a month on membership...

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” ― Julia Child

One thing I have always been good at is eating.

Bittermelon Soup

 Even as a child I was never really picky. In fact, I always had faith that my mom was feeding me with only things that were good for me. So even when I would be eating her beef stew with (ick) cooked carrots, I would eat the carrots first so that the rest of my meal could be enjoyed. Or when she made her meat stuffed bittermelon soup... I would eat the bittermelon (which is SO appropriately named!), and promptly eat something else to get the taste out of my mouth.

Weird right? It never occurred to me to just NOT eat it.

{Side story}: Last year I was in India with a group of friends/ classmates from BU. There were four of us, a Spaniard, a Persian, a half-Polish, half Indian and finally myself. Our Spaniard friend would dutifully make sure he always finished everything that was remained on our family styled dishes. For he, like the rest of us, was told "there are starving children in Africa!" (which is why I tried to never waste food as a child or an adult)

As he took one of his last bites, he said something to the effect of: "I've been there, and there are no starving children in Africa?!" {End side story}

The thing is, I've never really learned to cook. I always tended to stick with easy recipes to maximize success as I found that every time I improvised, whatever I was making didn't taste… right.

First of all, my sense of smell is, well, non-existent. Also, I have a hard time figuring out what to add if something needs additional flavor. Does it need salt? Sugar? Thyme? What?!

Also, when I've decided to brave it and make something, I would often get less than stellar feedback. 

Well, as a means of trying to appreciate all the good stuff I have been fed over the years by some conspicuous person who does not want to ever be mentioned on the web, I have decided to dust off the apron (of which he who must not be mentioned "HWSNBM" bought me not too long ago...) and give it a shot. 

Nem Nuong Cuon

My beautiful cousin got married last year, and when we were there, my family was making Nem Nuong Cuon (Spring Rolls with Pork Meatballs). As I was helping them in the kitchen, I thought, I can make this. So wa-lah!

Necessities: Spring Roll Wrapper, meat of your choice, some veggies (in our case, I bought a bunch of "Asian greens" from our local farmer's market), and the dipping sauce. 

The following week, I made chao (rice porridge) from the fried rice that had a little too much water, and turned into a rice sludge.

Chao

To this dish that already contained two types of mushrooms, baby corn, and green beans, I added 2 cans of chicken broth, some Maggi soy sauce, fish sauce, white pepper and a seafood mixture of mussels, baby scallops, shrimp, and calamari. 

Turned out to be the perfect dinner on one of Santa Barbara's many chilly and rainy nights. 

I actually, (finally) got some good* feedback on these. 

*good as in 

Me: How is it? 

HWSNBM in monotone: "Good"

I'll take it!

Is greener grass necessarily a good thing?

As the saying goes, "the grass is always greener on the other side." I feel like I'm on that "other side" and indeed, the grass is pretty darn green here. The weather is more temperate than where I was a few short months ago and the sun shines almost every day.

BUT, (I never thought I would say this!) I miss Boston! Ok, so maybe I'm not missing the current weather conditions of weather that currently ranges from 28F to 45F....

or the lack of good Mexican food, but what I do miss (aside from the people, of course) is the diversity. Not only in the population, but also the food.

I found a new appreciation for Italian food that I have never felt before. North End was filled with good restaurants and boy do I miss Giacomo's!

Like many cities, the little communities that made up Boston were all different and unique. I have very fond memories of Allston/Brighton, Fenway, Cambridge, and other areas. Nothing makes you feel young again like going back to school and living in a college area. Harry's Bar and Grill was just downstairs from my apartment and with all the Boston fans and teams, we always knew who won any game, be it football, baseball, hockey, or basketball. Since there is no official happy hour out there (some rule or law that doesn't allow MA to discount alcohol), the Boston bars had some killer food specials. Wing Night was especially popular among me and my friends and at one point, we almost had weekly feasts that left a bone-yard mountain in our wake. Ahhh, those were the days.

Boston had a very bar heavy culture, and although I had not frequented bars often prior to grad school, I have to say, it's great walking into one where (as the saying goes) "everybody knows your name". Or at least about half the people do!

I'm still discovering Santa Barbara and I'm sure that I'll find some spots that feel like home soon. But even then, Boston will always be a home away from home.

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." ~ Bill Vaughan

I'm sure I'm not alone in my amazement of how quickly 2012 has come. Truth be told, I've had some pretty amazing years in my life and 2011 was one of them!

Here's a year in review...

January: Jaipur, India

February: Quebec Winter Carnival

March: St. Pattie's

April: Red Sox Game

May: Graduation

June: Skydiving

July: Del Mar Fair

August: Coral's Wedding

September: Montreal

October: Drena Wedmitment

November: Boston Thanksgiving

December: Coastal Drive

I've definitely had a great year, even with the ups and downs. I'm grateful to be back in CA after an amazing 2 year stint in Boston. I've made some incredible friends and have had some great adventures.

Looking forward to 2012 and checking a few things off my bucket list!