I used kettlebells for the first time yesterday. It took a little bit a coordination effort, but they're pretty fun! Haha, I say that now but I know I'm going to complain about them eventually. I used the 18 lb. weights and mostly swung them around. My forearm is majorly sore today, and I can feel my thighs a bit, but I just tell myself this is nothing compared to that first day of Track & Field practice in my high school freshman year. Now, that was killer. Next session will be Monday at the gym. I feel like I should do some running on my non-training days but so far I've been preoccupied with other things - Tuesday night was knitting night, Wednesday night was dinner with my parents. Perhaps this weekend? It would be good to do something since I don't particularly feel like completely changing my diet right now.
In other news, Lawrence bought me shoes off of Zappos. We finally went to DSW last night to return these 2 shoes I bought that turned out to not fit me. I got store credit for them but we couldn't find anything decent to buy because I've got wide hobbit feet. At home, he wanted me to look at Zappos for shoes but apparently my taste sucks. He decided on this one and promptly ordered it. We'll see how it turns out.
After that I kind of wanted to get cool earrings. I looked for stuff on etsy today. I haven't found something that I really wanted, but I did find some very interesting looking pieces. I'll post them when I get home.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Personal Trainer
A week ago I decided I would suck up the cost and hire a personal trainer. Sarah, who is Lawrence's boss' girlfriend, hired a personal trainer about a month ago and he says that he has definitely noticed a difference. I should have done this 2 months ago, hell probably in January when I saw flyers for personal trainers left in our building's gym. Better late than never, and maybe in a month I'll be able to see enough of a difference to look decently good for Caroline's wedding.
Lawrence helped me look on Yelp, and the girl we found sounded really good - Melody Schoenfeld (her Yelp reviews). I went in on Sunday morning for an assessment, where I let her know what I wanted to work on and where she gauged where my weak areas were. She has a pack of kitties at her house (squee!). The toughest thing she had me do was to see how many pushups I could do. She's also got a ridiculous sense of humor and I collapsed after she made me laugh so much I couldn't lift myself back up. She's a sharp lady, and I could tell her mind moves very quickly - she talks fast. After the assessment I scheduled my first session with her for the next day, Monday. Luckily I had the day off because it was a holiday so I had the entire day to lounge around and get myself mentally ready to get my butt kicked.
My first session with Melody was at the gym. It's actually a kickboxing gym, but they have a weight training room that she uses for her training sessions. She recommended I start with half hour sessions because people have a difficult time lasting the entire hour, especially at the first session. I didn't realize how true that would be (sometimes I get a "toughing it out" complex whereI have to do things the hard way to show I can tough it out). She took out a cord and looped it over the top of the Smith machine so the two ends dangled near the ground. At each end were handles. These weight training exercises were much more involved than just lifting weights. They were like, full body weight training but with no weights involved - just gravity and my own body weight. Making the exercise more easy or difficult depended on the angle at which I lean to do the exercise, making it quite easy to adjust the difficulty.
Each exercise was 15 reps if I could make it, and 10 if I absolutely couldn't and man...after 20 minutes I was light headed and feeling ready to throw up! At the end, we had a few minutes left and Melody helped me work out a few kinks in my back. It felt very nice and by the time I left, I felt both tired and energized. Thursday, I'm going back to her house for more!
Edit: The soreness has started to kick in. I may not be able to move by this time tomorrow...luckily knitting only takes wrist motion. I may do some stretches tonight for damage control. I want to be able to get to work tomorrow.
Lawrence helped me look on Yelp, and the girl we found sounded really good - Melody Schoenfeld (her Yelp reviews). I went in on Sunday morning for an assessment, where I let her know what I wanted to work on and where she gauged where my weak areas were. She has a pack of kitties at her house (squee!). The toughest thing she had me do was to see how many pushups I could do. She's also got a ridiculous sense of humor and I collapsed after she made me laugh so much I couldn't lift myself back up. She's a sharp lady, and I could tell her mind moves very quickly - she talks fast. After the assessment I scheduled my first session with her for the next day, Monday. Luckily I had the day off because it was a holiday so I had the entire day to lounge around and get myself mentally ready to get my butt kicked.
My first session with Melody was at the gym. It's actually a kickboxing gym, but they have a weight training room that she uses for her training sessions. She recommended I start with half hour sessions because people have a difficult time lasting the entire hour, especially at the first session. I didn't realize how true that would be (sometimes I get a "toughing it out" complex whereI have to do things the hard way to show I can tough it out). She took out a cord and looped it over the top of the Smith machine so the two ends dangled near the ground. At each end were handles. These weight training exercises were much more involved than just lifting weights. They were like, full body weight training but with no weights involved - just gravity and my own body weight. Making the exercise more easy or difficult depended on the angle at which I lean to do the exercise, making it quite easy to adjust the difficulty.
Each exercise was 15 reps if I could make it, and 10 if I absolutely couldn't and man...after 20 minutes I was light headed and feeling ready to throw up! At the end, we had a few minutes left and Melody helped me work out a few kinks in my back. It felt very nice and by the time I left, I felt both tired and energized. Thursday, I'm going back to her house for more!
Edit: The soreness has started to kick in. I may not be able to move by this time tomorrow...luckily knitting only takes wrist motion. I may do some stretches tonight for damage control. I want to be able to get to work tomorrow.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Butternut Squash Risotto and Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles
Last week I really felt like cooking. I think it was when Lawrence and I went with Ally to the Italian restaurant, Lago, at the Promenade in Santa Monica. They have a dish called "Risotto di Zucca e Capesante," which is risotto with butternut squash with seared scallops and a balsamic glaze.
I wanted to make a butternut squash risotto dish so I Googled it and found this: Butternut Squash Risotto.
With guests coming on Sunday (Lawrence's cousins), I also wanted to make a small dessert item for them. I decided on Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles because I had made them several years ago with the Shoujo Club girls at Berkeley.
I spent Saturday afternoon cooking...and it actually turned out fairly well! Lawrence only had a spoonful but he said it was only "okay." :( I packed some for his lunch on Monday and when he came home he said that it was surprisingly good! I guess he didn't get a good taste the first time, but when he sat down and ate it he was able to enjoy it.
The truffles turned out okay even though I totally screwed up. It was only after I put the truffle ganache in the fridge to harden that I realized I forgot to put in the Bailey's. I was following the truffle recipe on Cooking for Engineers, but that was just a normal truffle recipe. I added cinnamon to the cocoa powder and powdered sugar used to coat the truffles so they would have some additional flavor.
The texture of the risotto after being in the fridge for a few days reminds me of a Chinese dish that I think is literally translated as "vegetable rice". It's been so long since I've had it but I think it had some leafy sort of vegetable mixed with glutinous rice and chunks of yam. I'll have to ask my mom about it. Yesterday night I bought some baby bok choy to add to the risotto leftovers so that there's more veggie content and to break up the thick texture so it won't be so buttery and heavy.
I wanted to make a butternut squash risotto dish so I Googled it and found this: Butternut Squash Risotto.
With guests coming on Sunday (Lawrence's cousins), I also wanted to make a small dessert item for them. I decided on Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles because I had made them several years ago with the Shoujo Club girls at Berkeley.
I spent Saturday afternoon cooking...and it actually turned out fairly well! Lawrence only had a spoonful but he said it was only "okay." :( I packed some for his lunch on Monday and when he came home he said that it was surprisingly good! I guess he didn't get a good taste the first time, but when he sat down and ate it he was able to enjoy it.
The truffles turned out okay even though I totally screwed up. It was only after I put the truffle ganache in the fridge to harden that I realized I forgot to put in the Bailey's. I was following the truffle recipe on Cooking for Engineers, but that was just a normal truffle recipe. I added cinnamon to the cocoa powder and powdered sugar used to coat the truffles so they would have some additional flavor.
The texture of the risotto after being in the fridge for a few days reminds me of a Chinese dish that I think is literally translated as "vegetable rice". It's been so long since I've had it but I think it had some leafy sort of vegetable mixed with glutinous rice and chunks of yam. I'll have to ask my mom about it. Yesterday night I bought some baby bok choy to add to the risotto leftovers so that there's more veggie content and to break up the thick texture so it won't be so buttery and heavy.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Korean BBQ
This weekend we went to not 1, but 2 new Korean BBQ places! The first one we went to on Friday night was Park's BBQ. We went there with Ally and ordered 3 plates of beef...the Kobe beef, the Galbi, and the Bulgogi. It was expensive, but delicious meat. They gave nice side dishes [banchan] too, Ally loved the several types of kimchee, and Lawrence enjoyed the raw crabs. We had to wait a while, but it was not overly smoky. They didn't have all-you-can-eat, and the waitress cooked the meat on your grill for you. The portions were pretty good. We didn't get overly stuffed which is a nice change.
Sunday night we went with Phillip to Soot Bull Guirim II. The wait wasn't too long, but the place was smoky as hell! I think it was a combination of their vents not working and the cooking generating massive amounts of smoke, because at Park's we didn't have nearly as much smoke coming off the grill. I liked the style of Korean BBQ there better - they give you salad and rice paper there. In addition to the bean paste, they also gave a spicy sauce. The combination of bbq meat with seasoned lettuce, bean paste, spicy sauce, the sesame oil/salt dip, grilled slices of garlic, all wrapped up in a sheet of rice paper...was so good! The food is all-you-can-eat. You get to order 1 meat per person at a time. They were pretty good about asking us what we wanted as soon as we finished off our plates of meat. After the initial large plateful, the portions got a little smaller. We joked about it but agreed that it was a good idea. We didn't get overly stuffed here either, even for being an AYCE bbq place.
Sunday night we went with Phillip to Soot Bull Guirim II. The wait wasn't too long, but the place was smoky as hell! I think it was a combination of their vents not working and the cooking generating massive amounts of smoke, because at Park's we didn't have nearly as much smoke coming off the grill. I liked the style of Korean BBQ there better - they give you salad and rice paper there. In addition to the bean paste, they also gave a spicy sauce. The combination of bbq meat with seasoned lettuce, bean paste, spicy sauce, the sesame oil/salt dip, grilled slices of garlic, all wrapped up in a sheet of rice paper...was so good! The food is all-you-can-eat. You get to order 1 meat per person at a time. They were pretty good about asking us what we wanted as soon as we finished off our plates of meat. After the initial large plateful, the portions got a little smaller. We joked about it but agreed that it was a good idea. We didn't get overly stuffed here either, even for being an AYCE bbq place.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Inner Turmoil
I feel so conflicted. There are so many things happening at once!
First, I find out I have to give up my cat. Then, I decide to hire a personal trainer to get my butt in shape. Finally, there's a chocolate fair this weekend that I'm excited about!
I hope Xin takes Muffin. I don't think my parents will, and if she goes to a stranger I'll never see her again. :(
First, I find out I have to give up my cat. Then, I decide to hire a personal trainer to get my butt in shape. Finally, there's a chocolate fair this weekend that I'm excited about!
I hope Xin takes Muffin. I don't think my parents will, and if she goes to a stranger I'll never see her again. :(
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Debating against Sarah Palin
Opinion piece: What it's Like to Debate Sarah Palin
The author ran for governor of Alaska as an Independent in 2006, debating Sarah Palin over 2 dozen times. He talks about her style and how she doesn't need to know anything or answer any questions to win the debates. She's a master of redirection and charm without directly answering anything. We've seen this over and over again the few times she has been in the national spotlight. Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric had to repeat their questions for her to clarify things, over and over, and she still never gave satisfactory answers. In the 2nd interview with Katie Couric, her only [repeated] answer to the question of what newspapers and magazines she reads for her news, she replies...ALL of them. When asked about whether or not she supports abortion for rape and incest victims, and then whether or not she supports the morning-after pill...she keeps on dancing around the question. O____o More "WTF..." when you read the transcripts:
Condensed article.
Unedited transcript of the portions broadcast.
The author ran for governor of Alaska as an Independent in 2006, debating Sarah Palin over 2 dozen times. He talks about her style and how she doesn't need to know anything or answer any questions to win the debates. She's a master of redirection and charm without directly answering anything. We've seen this over and over again the few times she has been in the national spotlight. Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric had to repeat their questions for her to clarify things, over and over, and she still never gave satisfactory answers. In the 2nd interview with Katie Couric, her only [repeated] answer to the question of what newspapers and magazines she reads for her news, she replies...ALL of them. When asked about whether or not she supports abortion for rape and incest victims, and then whether or not she supports the morning-after pill...she keeps on dancing around the question. O____o More "WTF..." when you read the transcripts:
Condensed article.
Unedited transcript of the portions broadcast.
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