Red, White, & Blue

Put some of these beautiful colors in your life this coming weekend......

[Deviant art]

[Follow Studio]

[Pinterest]

[A Field Journal]

[Aesthetic Nest]

[Flor Musings]

[The Crafting Chicks] 

[Work of Heart Photo]

[Two Shades of Pink]

 

[Glorious Treats]

[Recipe Girl]

[Silver Box Creative]

[Tidy Mom]

I have very fond memories of the 4th of July (many of them involve being on or at the lake)!!!! I'll be pulling out my Old Navy flag flip-flops and painting my nails the same :)

2008

Have a wonderful weekend celebrating our country's freedom!!

God Bless America

Award!

[Shabbyblogs]

I got my first award the other day from the lovely Haley @ Joys of Life with Lucy. She is super creative, fun, humorous, AND my best friend in real life!! I am so thankful to have her as a friend and love reading her blog because it allows me to keep up with her! Plus, I'm excited that I will get to see her in a week or two (it's been several months)!!!

Before I choose who I want this award to go to, some random musings/facts about myself:

1. I made my first egg souffle last week and I'm quite proud of myself :)

2. I have watched CSI since it's very first season. I love it!! (and other shows similar to it: Law & Order SVU, Dexter, CSI:NY, CSI:Miami, Bones, etc). I'm surprised I don't have nightmares over this stuff or am continually scared to go out at night.

3. Another tv-related fact: I think I have watched all 10 seasons of Friends way too many times (not really "way too many" but too many I can't count)!

4. I love Annie's bunny fruit snacks. Tropical and Original. It's a shame they only put 5 packs in a box.

AND

Now, I'd like to give this award away to a few other lovelies:

1. Taylor at Adventures of Creativity

We both went to UK & know each other through a mutual

friend, but I feel like I've gotten to know her better by reading her blog.

She is an amazing art teacher with a sweet husband (their 1st Anniv

is coming up!) Every weekend she creates a PLAYlist with music videos,

makes awesome crafts, shares recipes, and I enjoy learning

about new artists and their work!!

2. Molly at Life with the Ahlmans

I stumbled upon her blog thru a link party with an Easter project

she had done. She and her husband are about to celebrate their 1 year

anniversary too! I enjoy the monthly menus she puts together,

(the taco lasagna is pretty tasty), her daily life, the fun projects,

and the fact that she is a Kentucky fan!!

3. Kara @ Everyday Life/in China

Seriously- love her blog!! Fun quirky writing and lots

of photos! I really enjoy reading what she has to say

about living on the other side of the world as her and her

husband teach English (& she is now home in the US)!!

Thanks for the award Haley! Thanks for the inspiration y'all!

EA love {#3}

[Considering that my last post was forever ago....(whoops!) it's now or never!]

Food in East Asia is not quite (ok not really) like food at home. It's 100x better!!!!!!! I can't even begin to really explain how it tastes to you because it makes me want to go back and get some! Although, you have to know what to order!! (you don't want something like fat or turtles-haha)

Dishes:
Possibly my favorite! So many choices!! There is usually a lazy susan in the middle of the table where all the dishes you order are placed. It's very "family style" and everyone shares. Once everyone has a bowl of rice, take your chopsticks and grab whatever you want, put it in your bowl, and stuff your face :) My favorites are eggplant, pork, potatoes, fried kidney beans, and sugar snap peas.

potato balls

mmm! look at those peas!

Chicken with apples & potatoes

Peking duck

Hot Pot:
Definitely not my favorite choice....Boiling pot of flavored water in which you cook different types of meat and vegetables. After getting the food out, I like to dip it in a little bit of the local hot spice before eating it with the rice.

lao jao

Breakfast:
Vendors cook food all day long, but there are foods similar to something you would have early in the morning. You can get a type of flatbread taco filled with yummy veggies, fried doughnuts, noodles, or Bao Zi (steamed dumplings). Yum!! Definitely one of the best places to go!

Drinks:
I really enjoyed getting a latte or mochaccino in the coffee shops. A lot of people enjoy getting a milk tea (I never did). But everyone drinks bottled water (like Mexico, you do NOT drink the tap water)! and I enjoyed getting Minute Maid juice drinks (with flavors not found in the US).

Snack Street:
Usually set up like a large food court, there are different areas to sit and walk-up places to eat several varieties of food. My favorites are "barbeque" shao kao, shish kabobs that you pick, which are cooked on a grill right in front of you, GuoTie (fried dumplings), and fruit smoothies!

before being cooked

Enjoying some sausage

Haley & I having some fried dumplings

this is what it looks like

Produce & Meat Market:
A wonderful place to buy fresh vegetables & fruit, spices, eggs, seafood, live animals, or any cut of meat.

lao jao

rice cookies

bread store

huge veggies

Make sure you check out:

#1

#2

and definitely a more thorough story of my visit with snapshots:

My people come to the Orient