FOODIE RESOLUTIONS

[ source of these goodies: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ]

There are resolutions - and then there are foodie resolutions. 

Here are twelve for 2012 (and yes, I smuggled the numbers in):

• Have ONE glass of water every morning.
  It's supposed to be good for you!
• Cook TWO meals a week.
  I can't promise you two recipes a week, and I suspect that a lot of these meals will be salads and toast - but hey, a girl can try!
• Run THREE miles straight.
  That's a little less than a perimeter around my college campus. So far, I can run the uphills, and walk the downhills, so I think that I can run the entire thing before the year's over.
• Save at least FOUR percent of my paychecks.
  How else am I supposed to pay for my foodie-ness?
• Visit a coffee shop in FIVE different cities.
  Thankfully, LA is less like a city and more like a bunch of little cities.
• Eat food from SIX different cultures.
  This means visits to Little Ethiopia, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, as well as some sketchier parts of town. 
• Floss SEVEN times a week.
  Don't want to lose all my teeth and not be able to eat solid foods!
• Cook EIGHT different proteins.
  This includes meats and fish, but not tofu. I cook way too much tofu for myself as it is.
• Illustrate NINE foods.
  Because this blog is supposed to be my creative outlet.
• Do TEN sets of TEN push-ups by the end of the year. If I'm going to be eating this much, I better be working out too. Gotta stay healthy! (So I can eat more!)
• Try ELEVEN different restaurants.
  Maybe I ran out of solid resolutions... Although this one isn't half bad.
• Make TWELVE cookie recipes.
  It really was getting hard to come up with stuff towards the end!

 (Oh, and in case you were wondering, my resolution this year is to explore as much as I can. I'm young, I'm free, and I'm able to do anything and everything.)

IN CAFFEINE, WE TRUST

[ poster by Column Five Media, found via swissmiss ]

How cool is this poster?  An absolutely gorgeous way to track coffee consumption! (Although I don't think that I'd leave a drop of coffee behind to use on this poster, like they have.)

JOY TO THE WORLD

[ image by Michael Graydon, styling by Nikole Herriott for Oh Joy; edited by me ]

Officially, Christmas time. Merry everything, happy always to you and yours.

I actually thought about baking up some goodies for a post, but ugh, buying and wrapping all my last minute gifts ate up all my time. Good thing that this icy peppermint stack cake is so easy and simple to put together! 

BEFORE YOU DIG IN

[ image originally from Pottery Barn, edited by me ]

I promise a happier post tomorrow, but I was working on applications for grad school and needed some inspiration/some reminders of what I want to do - and I want to share this: Thick Dumpling Skin.

Now I can talk for a while about how eating disorders affect not only white teenage girls, but also grown adults, men, people of all skin colors. Honestly, though? I just want you to keep your holidays fat-free.

Think that it's not an issue? I have never seen a three-digit number on the scale, and I've still heard the offhand comment from distant relatives and family members that I'm fat. "Mập mặt," or "Fat face" in English, they'll tell me and then squeeze my cheeks.

I'm sure that I'll hear it again, as we trek to all our relatives' houses for Christmas, and I know that they mean well, that they really mean nothing by it - but please, I ask of you, try not to make such careless comments. Try to keep the talk fat-free.

And if you really are concerned about another person's weight, please actually talk to them. Don't try to get the message across in side comments and little hints. If it's a serious issue, then make it a serious talk.

Thank you. Now go eat (healthy), drink (responsibly) and be merry!

(Again, happier post tomorrow, I promise.)

MISSING: BLOG POSTS

(photos and collage by me)

Whoops! Between finals and the holidays, I haven't been very good at blogging. 

I thought that I'd update on how Evan and I are progressing through the Christmas beers, though. We've definitely drank more than four, but I forgot to take pics of those.

Eat, drink and be merry!

CHRISTMAS BEER

 (photo by me)

Santa's come early!

Inspired by root beer samplers and advent calendars, I put together a beer advent calendar for Evan who loves, loves, loves Christmas - almost as much as he loves beer.  Sure, it's not the prettiest thing in the world, but boy, his face lit up when I first spilled the beans about his present.  TWENTY-FIVE BOTTLES OF BEER? 

When Santa delivered his gift yesterday, Evan looked even more excited, as he pulled the bottles out and realized that they were almost all handcrafted beers.

I definitely wish that I could have made it look prettier, but what can you do when you've got finals, and you have to hide your present?  Thankfully, Bevmo had festive enough crates that I didn't feel too, too terrible.

Btdubs, a tip for those trying to do this on the cheap: don't buy individual bottles.  The Samuel Adams Winter Collection had five different beers (okay, technically six, but who drinks Boston Lager?), and Bevmo had put together some gift sets.  That got me close enough to twenty-five, and then I just picked up a few extra individual bottles to make it extra special.

Now to drink it all!  (Because now I've got beer in my fridge, pantry, room and back-up fridge... as well as in my boyfriend's place.)

(Also, as you can see from my inspiration: alcohol is totally not necessary.  Enjoy this gift with root beers, sodas, and even juices! )