Do I Ever Cross Your Mind???

Do you ever find yourself reminiscing over a past flame and asking "what if"?  Well it seems that my friends and I had this in common over the last few days.  It seems that we have all been thinking back on our dating past/present and thinking about the people that have influenced us.  After catching myself deep in thought over a particular individual a shocking thought appeared in my mind... Does he ever think about me?  It's a fair question, a lot of times we can focus so much of our attention on someone else and the think very little about whether they are worried about us.  Perhaps we don't like to think about it because we will be faced with the fact that maybe they don't think about us at all.  It can be depressing when you think that no one is out there thinking about you as much as you think about them.  You could have spent many restless nights wondering what the outcome would've been if you would've asked the person out, told them how you felt, or just done something different.  The fact is that we can become overwhelmed with the 'what if'.  If given the chance I can guarantee that everyone would've done something different.  We must all remember that we did what we thought was best at the time and we have to live with our decisions.  Everyone can look like a genius when staring at things in hindsight, but in order to live your life to its fullest potential you can not spend too much time in the past.  Besides, even if the person you are thinking about isn't thinking of you, it doesn't mean that someone else special isn't.

What's on the Menu...

That's right! I'm thinking Chinese tonight for dinner, specifically chicken fried rice.  I thank goodness everyday that I invested in my industrial sized rice cooker.  There are so many rice recipes available and I've decided to start utilizing them.  Here's the start.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 4 cups cold, cooked rice
• 6 green (spring) onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish, optional
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

Beat eggs with a whisk in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Heat very little oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat and make an omelette using half the beaten eggs. Turn out onto a plate to cool (do not fold omelette). Repeat process with remaining beaten eggs. Place 1 omelette on top of the other, fold and coarsely chop. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss chicken strips with the sesame oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat in large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the prepared chicken strips until lightly golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until onion has softened. Add 2 tablespoons more vegetable oil and when hot, stir in the cooked rice and green onions, tossing and mixing thoroughly until very hot. Sprinkle with soy sauce and mix evenly. Remove from heat and stir in chopped cooked egg. If desired, garnish with additional slicedgreen onions.

Friday Night: My Nights!

I know that I'm not alone when I say that every now and then you just need a day to yourself.  For me, this is every Friday.  Some of you might ask, Why Friday? Well, Friday is the end of my crazy stressful week, all of my favorite shows come on, and I usually have the day to spend to myself.  On this day you can usually find me at home in my comfy pjs (I put them on as soon as I get in the house), making a fabulous dinner, giving my hair and skin some serious TLC, and having a nice glass of wine.  I must say that it is by far my favorite day of the week because it's the only day I get to focus on me.  Every other day of the week I'm having to meet deadlines, deal with other people's issues, and basically run on auto-pilot, but not on Friday.  It took some time for the people in my life to get used to the fact that I don't like to be bothered on this day, and since I've moved down here I'm having to teach the new people I know that they are NOT to call me on that day.  In the last few weeks I haven't been able to have my day to myself, and it has taken a toll.  Now, with school nearing finals week I'll have even less time to myself.  Nonetheless I am determined to regain my Fridays, even if it means turning my phone off completely so that I don't get disturbed.  My advice to everyone would be to always take time out for yourself, it works wonders, even if it's only one hour out of the day.  Here are some great things you can do that will relieve stress and just in general make you feel better:

• Take a bath (not just another shower)- use bath salts, bubble bath, or flower petals to give it that extra flair of luxury
• Give yourself a facial- there are a ton of homemade recipes you can use with the stuff already in your fridge
• BODY SCRUBS- Love them! especially the brown sugar one I make in my line of skincare products.
• Watch a movie- like that chick flick you won't watch in front of friends because you'll cry, or just a feel good comedy you can literally LOL at without feeling embarrassed. 
• Cook Dinner- take time to pick an amazing recipe, get quality ingredients from the store, and make a lot of it and don't be afraid to indulge
• Go to bed early and wake up late
• arts and crafts
• workout
• stare in the mirror and say 5 positive things about yourself
• put on sexy lingerie and walk around in 5in stilettos

No matter what you choose you can't go wrong.  So go ahead... Indulge... You'll feel better.

Craving...

I've been thinking about food a lot! and not necessarily in a fat ass way lol.  I've just been interested in restaurant style foods.  You know, the kind that we would have to set aside a whole day in order to make such as pan seared scallops and couscous.  I don't know about you, but when I get home from a long day's work the last thing i want to do is dirty up my entire kitchen to make some elaborate meal that only me, myself, and I will eat.  Whenever I do make a grand meal i like to either invite a bunch of friends over for a dinner party, or it's during my Friday Ritual.  Perhaps we all should cook more... it'd probably save us all $, but honestly who really has the time.  I suppose that until I find a rich husband who supports me making these extravagant meals on a regular basis and provides me with my dream kitchen I will be stuck limiting myself to cooking like this once a week... If I'm lucky.

What's on the menu?

Hey guys! Guess what I had for dinner... Sushi! And I didn't die! Ok... Ok... I know that may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but i genuinely had a fear of eating raw fish.  I saw a show one time where they talked about how if not cleaned properly raw fish could kill you.  Any-who... my friend Chico and I went to a sushi bar in town called Wasabi.  To get to the point, it was delicious! I'm suddenly inspired to try all different of sushi.  I ordered the Mr. Kim's roll: California roll topped with chopped spicy tuna & seared, sprinkled with tempura crunch, scallion, masago & sweet unagi sauce ($11.00).  Chico ordered the Kamikaze Roll: spicy tuna, crab mix, and avocado wrapped in soy bean paper, then deep fried, served with spicy ponzu ($11.00).  We also shared a pot of their melon berry sencha tea($3.50) and green tea pops ($1.50 ea.).  All in all I definitely plan on going back.  The price was mid-high range, but it was a good time with good company so it was worth it.

Do Crushes Have Deadlines?

Exactly how long is it acceptable to have a crush on someone? Days? Weeks? Years? You would think that like many things on this planet, crushes would eventually go bad like old milk. I suppose they it would require one to know when this crush developed. What was it that the person said, did, or looked like that initiated these feelings. Then evaluate the extent of the feelings you have for them. Are they simply cute and you like to look at their face, are they funny and nice and you just like to be in their company, or (if you're like me) do you find yourself daydreaming about what your relationship would be like if you two actually started dating? Also ask if you are the type of person who crushes a lot (you're not a playa lol). If you do crush a lot, you're in luck because these feelings a only temporary and will diffuse with time. On the other hand if you tend to linger on one individual for more than a month, you may be in for the long haul. Id even dare to say that after a year of liking someone, you may have unwillingly fallen in love with the person. If this happens then it's safe to say that you may never fully get over a crush.
In the end, I wouldn't fret over liking someone too much. And if you ever tire of liking a person the best way to get over an old flame is to light a new one. Personally I feel like crushes are healthy, it lets you know that you can still feel and that you still have hope for love and romance, and you can't go wrong with that.
P.S. know the difference between crush/ boy/girl crazy/ and thirsty. This is also a critical factor. KNOW YOUR STATUS!

A new year, a new me?

I'm sure that this is not the first time you've heard this phrase, in fact it seems like the same people say it EVERY year. I for one am not one of these people. I like who I am and who I've grown to be, I don't really see much reason to change that. Now I understand that some people don't really like themselves as much as I like me, so a change in character may be desired, but that change should be specific traits not the whole person. If you really want to make a change make a list of what those things are and tackle them one at a time. Also don't do it just because someone else is, do it because it's something you want and need to do. I didn't make new years resolutions because I tend to fail at those. If there's anything that I need to change I'll simply do it. But as of right now I like the path I'm on. A new year, a new me? Not likely, but I do intend to keep making progress.