My Kind of Flowers

In all the years that Howard and I have known each other, he only gave me flowers twice. The first time was on the day I graduated college though I think that was more because his mother asked him what he was bringing to the ceremony for me. The second time was when he sent a floral arrangement to the house after I had my gallbladder removed. The funny thing is that the shop didn't even give the correct arrangement! He had chosen the one that had a small Chicken Soup for the Soul book attached to it, but they gave me one with instant noodles. And it wasn't just any ol' instant noodles; they were SPICY instant noodles that I couldn't even eat, haha. It was still a nice gesture though because we weren't together at that time, and he wanted to send something to show that he was thinking of me.

From that point on, Howard never gave me flowers again because as I've said on my blog before, I just don't cherish them or even want them the way other girls might. Plus, they create so much extra work what with the snipping and setting up the vase with the right amount of water and nourishment. I much prefer seeing flowers growing. 

Knowing this and also knowing how much I ADORE tulips, he purposely took this picture yesterday when he got home from work before I did and didn't have his apartment keys on him. He went for a walk in the neighborhood (though is it really a neighborhood when it's around the expressway, haha) and snapped this colorful shot!

Aren't they gorgeous? I love the colors and how they just pop out among the green stems and leaves. It just makes me so happy whenever I see tulips or daffodils growing, and it also makes me happier knowing that Howard took this picture for me so that he could "give" flowers to me. So cute!

The Non-Instagram Photos of the Week (Part IV)

I didn't post the non-Instagram photos last week since there weren't many, so I'll combine the past two weeks together. 

Every time I go to the mall, I make a visit to American Eagle. When Howard is with me, we both make sure to go together. The funny thing is that I have never purchased anything from the store except for a gift card for my cousin's Sweet 16. But if Shopkick is going to give me kicks when I walk into the store, I'm going to keep visiting AE! The only thing I dislike is that we need to walk all the way in the store passing the registers for the signal to be detected. There's always a guard stationed by the entrance so I'm a little awkward in that I feel I have to look around for maybe a minute or so. One of the things that Howard and I always look at is the tie section. We would notice the green/gray tie and the pink/gray one as they looked so sad because someone must have pulled part of it out of the cardboard packaging. The employees never bothered fixing it, I guess. Well, when I was at the mall one day by myself, I saw that the pink tie was missing!!! Someone finally bought the pink tie!!!

When I went to my parents' house to get the car fixed and to help organize the two upstairs rooms, my dad picked up McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. I had already eaten a meal that morning, but it had already been a few hours since then so I was hungry again! I can be such a hobbit sometimes. I used to LOVE McD's breakfast sandwiches because they remind me of special occasions in that my family gets them to go when we start our long drive to Florida. Though my parents and I were just sitting in the kitchen, it was still pretty special to me since I don't often eat with them especially at the house.

Since I've been more mindful of baby clothes and baby sections of stores, I've noticed just how expensive the items can be! It's kind of crazy to think that a pair of baby shorts that will be worn for a short period of time costs the same amount as a pair of shorts I would buy on sale and wear for years. But at the same time, there are some things that are just extremely cute in miniature form. These shorts at Target are an example of that.

No long caption needed for this picture! I passed by this Mickey plush in a toy aisle and snapped a quick picture of his round head and body!

Making babies look like tiny characters seems like it'll be very entertaining when Howard and I have our own.

This past Sunday, Howard and I squished in the third seat of my parents' car. It was definitely a tight squeeze, but I thankfully didn't panic because hubs and I were talking for a while before I close my eyes and took a half-nap.

My grandma also was feeling tired too because she fell asleep on Helen, her home care worker.

On Wednesday, Howard and I got home somewhat around the same time and knew we should probably take showers before dinner since our hair was damp from the heavy rain. Haha, is that strictly a Chinese thing that it's bad to have wet hair and be in the cold? Anyway, I said to him, "I want to take a shower, but I want a snack first. I want a cookie or something." I was about to open the little cabinet, but Howard excitedly reached into his pocket and pulled out a brownie! I was excited but didn't want to take it if he got it from work for himself, but then he reached into his other jacket pocket and pulled out another! Haha, yay for the random chocolate treat!

Because of math state testing, there are signs all over the school depending on which grades have to take it. The kids with IEPs are taken to a separate location for extended time or specific accommodations, so they're in the church side because of the empty Sunday School classrooms during the week. The hallway has this amazing mural of animals in pairs, and at the end stands Noah! I just thought it was entertaining to see him standing guard with a quiet sign on him.

Hope you enjoyed the assortment of random photos! Tomorrow will hopefully be a crafting day for me, not just because it's National Scrapbooking Day but because I need to make some cards for orders!

Sweet Treat with My Mom

After work today, my mom and I stopped by Carvel to pick up the free junior cone! She had gotten the little ad about it with a Carvel coupon booklet, and I had seen it on Instagram. Though I typically stay away from lactose things, I knew that I'd be okay with just a small amount of ice cream. Plus, if I felt sick, I was almost on my way home! The store wasn't crowded when we went in, but we saw a ton of people get out of their cars in the parking lot and they ended up in line behind us. It wasn't a big deal at all though since the employees just asked, "Chocolate or vanilla?" and quickly filled the cones.

Of course ,I chose chocolate! Once we stepped outside, my ice cream started to melt a little bit it seemed. Or maybe it just wasn't as cold because I don't think my mom's vanilla melted the way mine did. The little plastic carrier was the best thing as I didn't have to worry about catching all the drips and avoiding sticky hands. 

We sat in the car for a few minutes and enjoyed our soft serve, which was such a great treat on what turned out to be a beautiful afternoon since the rain had stopped earlier in the morning. 

We talk all the way home from work, but it was definitely still a special occasion to purposely make a stop to just sit and chat.

I Really Do Love Sushi!

This past Saturday, we celebrated my Grandaunt Doris's 85th birthday. My dad already had plans for that night, so Howard drive the rest of us and my aunt to Queens to have dinner at The Buffet.

Any type of buffet usually makes me really nervous because I'm afraid I won't be worth the cost. That's why the only ones we have tried in Disney World are 'Ohana and Boma because we really wanted to experience the food. Sometimes I read trip reports on DISboards and think about how the person didn't eat his or her money's worth, but I also understand that most people go to some of them for character interaction too.

However, The Buffet is not one I worry about too much because they offer sushi! Sure, it's not the greatest sushi in the world, but it's actually pretty tasty, in my opinion. They don't overload the rolls with a ton of rice and they also offer sashimi too if you don't want to fill your stomach with carbs. It's no surprise that my plates always have at least two or three (haha, though usually more) pieces on it.

My first plate always seems like the most enticing because there's a variety of colors and tastes. However, the reality is that there's a lot of tasting going on and mental notes of which ones I want to have again. Though the family and friends at my table get an assortment of items, Howard and I always get a sushi-only first plate.

When we went up for the second plate, I knew I would focus on more sashimi so as not to get full on too much rice. The rolls I got were the ones with spicy salmon or spicy tuna because I like having the strong flavors and a little bit of heat in between sashimi since I don't use wasabi. I also for some seaweed salad too because it's probably one of my favorite appetizers at a Japanese restaurant despite how basic it seems.

I did choose to be a little daring with my food adventures though. Howard had gotten pig ears, and I was curious about it because Guy Fieri has had it on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Of course, he had a big 'ol floppy ear whole placed between two pieces of bread, so this was a lot easier to stomach. It didn't really taste like much. When I chewed it, I felt that I was just chomping on some cartilage, which is something I don't really like anyway. Well, at least I can mark it off as something I tried!

For my last plate, I told myself I'd get some hot items, but as you can see, some sushi ended up on it anyway. The shrimp was still slightly crispy despite being in the mayo sauce and on a buffet line. The veggies were listed as kale, but it clearly was Chinese broccoli. This was actually quite refreshing too with its very strong vegetable flavor. If I had known, I would have gotten some ok each plate. Howard and I also stood on the line for some Peking duck. Last time, we got two each because that's the maximum listed on the sign. This time we knew one was plenty! I had the piece of meat from the drumstick, so it was very meaty instead of fatty, which made me happy. There's a piece of "duck" in front of the rolls, but it was actually part of fried taro (similar to the fried taro ball you can get from dim sum). I wish I had gotten another piece! Lastly, You can see a spring roll on the plate because I have a weakness for those as well. It might be the remnants of my childhood when I used to enjoy fried food. I actually left a bite of that on my plate because it wasn't spectacular. It was the only thing on all my plates that I did not finish.

I was really satisfied at that point. One more bite probably would have made me feel really full. I would have liked to grab one more piece of sashimi as my "dessert" since I don't like the sweets they have to offer and wasn't really feeling a sweet tooth at that time anyway. I was good though and said no to anymore food because I knew we still had a drive ahead of us with potential stops and waits from traffic.

On the way out, I took two quick pictures of the assortment of rolls and sushi.

When we celebrate birthdays and holidays with my mom's family, I know our stomachs will be happy, but I also know it'll be a great time spent with family and friends. I was especially excited to see my aunt and cousin who we haven't seen in a really long time. We all said our goodbyes and headed home after the meal because most of us would be up early the next morning to see each other at church!

Return of the Crafty Side

It's been quite a while, but I finally got back into crafting today! I have some orders that I need to fill, but today I really needed to get some gnomes cut out from the Gnomes and Mushrooms cartridge that was free this week on Cricut Craftroom. It expires tomorrow, so I still have a few hours to finish some cuts. I knew gluing everything together would take too much time, so I pulled out one of my embellishment boxes with all the dividers. I was so excited when I opened it because there lying in the largest section was my hand tool with the blade in it for my Martha Stewart circle cutter! I've been looking for that since we MOVED HERE! I was pretty sure that I had brought it to the apartment, but then I couldn't find it where I thought I had it. I thought it might have been back at my parents' house, but it wasn't there either. I just knew for sure that I put it somewhere for safe keeping, but then I just lost track of it! I'm so thrilled now!

The other crafty thing I did today was test out my Copics. I don't have cardstock that is close enough to skin colors, so I just cut in white and use the E00 Copic to color it in. However, it was definitely losing ink, which I knew for a bit. I figured it was finally time to order refill tubes. Amazon was expensive, and I didn't know the supplier. Joann didn't have the colors I needed. So I went to Dick Blick instead because I know that many crafters grew their Copic collection through them. I wanted to take advantage of the free shipping offer with orders over $89, so I needed to figure out which markers were in need of refills. I ended up using the rest of the money that I had from my last 50 card order and about $20 more. 

I have work days scheduled this week and the next two weeks as well, so I'm part of me hates that suddenly I felt so crafty right before I have to go to school. But the good part of it is that I'll get some money for it so that I don't have to feel guilty about the expensive Copic refill order I just placed!