No More Muffin Top Muffins!

Almond Cherry Muffin

This is too good not to share!  It is all natural.  We used Almond flour and Stevia so it is low carb packed with protein.  It makes a great snack.  Make a cup of tea and enjoy.  These babies taste amazing!  

Disclaimer: If you are expecting it to taste like the processed muffins or sugar coma inducing pastry's from the store, you might be disappointed.  We are used to eating healthy alternatives.  We were so excited about it we gave a bite to a friend to try.  She said it tasted healthy and gritty.  She could eat it if she was starving!  Ha.  More for us, I guess.  

If you are brave, give it a try!  I don't think it tastes healthy for being really healthy, if you know what I mean. 

Almond Cherry Muffins

2 1/4  cups almond flour 

sugar substitute equivalent to 2 T sugar (we used 1 1/2 t stevia from Trader Joe's)

1 t  baking powder

3/4 cup melted butter

1 cup cream

4 eggs

2 t almond extract

1 cup dried cherries 

Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin pan with 12 muffin cups.

In one bowl mix together all wet ingredients. In larger bowl, mix the dry ingredients (except cherries) Mix only till combined, do not beat.  Mix in cherries and divide evenly between muffin cups. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Let cool.  

Put on plate.  

Remove muffin cup.

Pick up.

Eat.  

Fin. 

The Little Old Door That Could

I never was a big fan of thrift shopping.  I usually just went to the typical mainstream stores in the local mall.  It seemed easier than sifting through racks and racks of clothes that were tattered, stained, or old just to find one good thing or maybe nothing at all.

I've changed my tune, due to the fact of actually finding some great original pieces at thrift stores in town for the fraction of the price.  Once you start seeing results, it's hard to stop.  I've learned what I can find at thrift stores and what I'm going to need to get at a regular store.  Pretty much, I don't go near the pants.  I need long pants and they are hard enough to find in regular stores. I stay away from plain staple tops, because most of the time I can get these at other stores in the clearance racks for the same price.  I have been able to find skirts, blouses, jackets, scarves, etc.  Oh and those sweet boots in my profile picture.  Four bucks.  I am not kidding! 

One store that has treated us very well is the 22nd Street Thrift Store.  I went there the other day with my new Thrifting Buddy.  We had a blast with our guilt-free shopping.  Seriously, you can clean out the place and not leave much of a dent in your wallet.  They have a coupon that you can print off their website for 50% off your whole purchase.  Not just one item.  Your. Whole. Purchase.  That's what I'm talking about!  Welcome to the wide world of thrifting!  

Found this skirt with the tags still on it.

Scored for $4.

This is how I styled it.  This is the same skirt, I swear.  The lighting was not cooperating.

How do you like my door?  Yes, we have had this great rustic old door just hanging around our house for awhile now.  I pulled it out because it needed some love.  This antique door was also thrifted up in Door County, WI.  Where else.  We picked it up at this great architectural graveyard of sorts.  Have you been to one of those places?  Your imagination could run wild with the endless design ideas to bring life to these ancient pieces.  Do you ever wonder where they came from?  Like this door.  Where was it before?  What grand people have swung it open or slammed it shut?  

My parents brought it home and had it leaning up against the wall in our living room.  Friends would come over and say, "What's up with the door?"  Oh yeah, that old thing.  It's just our door.  What.  You don't have one like it at your house?  How sad.  

The door managed to make the trip all the way to Tucson.  In a room where there was too much furniture for the square footage, impossible to fit everything in, the door made the cut with it's small footprint against the wall.  My parents threw a Mexican blanket over it and called it a day.  

Now it's the doors time to move on or maybe it's our time to move on from the door.  We had it in our last few garage sales and there were no buyers.  Can you imagine?  We can't go carrying this door with us everywhere we go, sadly.  I think you could do some pretty great stuff with it, though.  Wouldn't it make a great headboard?  

The door might be here for a little while longer and I think I'm in love, especially now that that Mexican blanket is nowhere in sight.  Come on, show it some love or give it a new home.  Going once... Going twice...

Read this, Lah! Or Else This Post Spoiled Already! Haiz.

While the majority of people in Malaysia speak English, it's nothing like American English.  Sometimes with their accents, it was almost like they were speaking another language.  It took a little getting use to and still there were times when I had to ask over and over again what they were saying which made me feel pretty dumb and left them frustrated.  Aiyo!

We speak Engrish! Ha!

Malaysia-isms:

1. So how?  Ex. We have to meet at the train station at 6, but we have an appointment all the way on the other side of the line at 5:30 and it'll be a jam(rush hour), so how?  Pretty much we have a problem.  How do we fix it?  Some friends felt kind of like they were under attack.  Fix it!  Fix it!!  It didn't bother me, because I adopted this phrase pretty quickly and answered their so how with a so how, so how?

2. Lah.  To lah or not to lah, that is the question.  Kind of hard to explain this one.  It's normally put at the end of a sentence.  Most of the time for emphasis or to make things sound more polite.  Ex. Hurry laahhh!! I'm starving lah! When are you coming, lah?  I think it can be kind of endearing, when not overused.  It's cute.

3. Spoiled.  Ex. My phone is spoiled already.  Translation: My phone is broken.

4. Aiyo or Aiya!!  Most commonly used as exclamation for frustration.

5. Haiz. Means sigh.

6. Boleh. {Pronounced: Bow-lay} Malay word meaning can.  Malaysia boleh is the nations slogan.  People say can a lot over there.  Ex. Do you want to go to the store? Answer: Can.  Not yes I would like to go, just can.

7. Is it? This one still doesn't make much sense to me.  Ex. My friend told me there is a really big sale on at Time Square.  The reply to this would be: Is it?  What I get from it is it means something like oh really?


8. Last time.  They use last time for anything in the past.  It is not necessarily the last time this certain thing happened.  It just in fact happened sometime in the past... err... last time.

That's all I can think of right now.  Thought I'd share in case there is ever the slightest chance you ever go over to Malaysia, you will be able to understand that much faster! ; )

Make It Work!

Before

Poor sad, little dresser.  

It was turning yellow and depressing sitting in my closet.

If there were Prozac for dressers... 

After

Fresh coat of spiffy new paint with crackling.  

Happy Dresser! 

Also, doesn't help that the first picture is in our garage with the harsh concrete floors compared to in Syd's room with the nice mustard wall as a backdrop.  Kind of like those before and after diet/workout pictures.  The before picture they are always slouching and pale.  Whereas in the after pictures they are standing tall with a miraculous spray tan.  Hmm, I'm sure they didn't plan that one.  *ping* 

Before

Check out that hanging artwork with the pictures... Meh...

After

Turned sideways it becomes an aesthetically pleasing holder for our necklaces.

Don't you just hate when they get all tangled?  We don't have to worry about that anymore!

All of these new creations have somehow ended up in Sydney's room.  

How did she manage that?

Next project, maybe.  

{via}

I am dying to get my hands on some chalkboard paint and go crazy with it.

And this one will be all mine! 

The Run-In

Don't you hate it when you bump into random acquaintances in random places?  You know, you are minding your own little business maybe shopping or at a restaurant.  You are having a grand 'ol time.  When out of nowhere you are thrown on an obligatory mind numbing chit chat sesh with someone you don't really care to talk to in the first place.

Oh. Hi. How are you?

Good.  What have you been up to?

Not much.  Just shopping.

I can see that.  I just stopped by to pick up a few things.

Oh really?

Ahh!!  Can I go hide in the clothes racks until they are gone in order to avoid this situation?

Am I alone on this one?  I wonder if they are thinking the same thing about running into me.  If we both just pretend that we didn't see each other, that would be cool.  We could just go on with our errand running in peace.

We Put Birds On Things

I have totally fallen prey to this whole bird design craze. 
I have no idea why birds make things instantly cuter and quirky, but they somehow do! 
Put a bird on it.  Make it pretty.

We used to have a cockatiel.  He liked me and used to sit on the couch while I watched early morning cartoons.  He didn't like Syd so much, because she was little and used to step on his tail. We named him Woody.  We named our yellow lab, Simba.  Could we be any more lame with our pet naming abilities?  Or how about our two hamsters that we named Cotton and Candy.  Oh, that's rich!  We were not cool like a certain family I know who named their fish after characters from The Office.  That's pretty funny. *Shakes fist at disgraceful little girl self*  Steve. 

Anyway, back to birds.  Does anyone really like them?  Other than on their clothes, jewelry, bags, notebooks, and little figurines sitting all pretty in their houses?  Birds are having their moment of popularity.  Live it up, Birds.  It's bound to be short lived.  Then we'll all go back to thinking you're gross.  Eww!



Good Things Happening to My Mouth and Me

You know you are true friends when you can not see someone for two whole years and then pick up as if you just saw them yesterday.  It's nice.  A lot changes in two years, yet your friendship doesn't change.  There aren't too many people like that.  Thanks, guys.  It was good!  

Kind of like my friends, the Brooklyn Pizza Company garlic knots.  It had been too long.  Thanks for the good times last night.  It was as if we had never been apart.  Happy reunion of garlic and bread at it's finest. So good! 

After party led us to Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery on Congress.  It just opened and we had to try it.  Now we had pretty high expectations.  After having Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco, nothing here comes close to it.  Until now.  Bi-Rite's still got this beat, but it is a huge step in the right direction from the usual offerings of Dairy Queen.  We've always found it so strange that being hot year round there are not any good authentic ice cream places here.  We are not talking the ice cream shoppes that sell the same ice cream that you can get in the grocery store for quadruple the price.  We are talking flavors like Salted Caramel and Bourbon Almond Brittle.  If you don't go, then your mouth will be missing out something fierce.  My mouth will laugh at your mouth and that never ends well.  

In all seriousness, this might be a new stomping ground.  It had all the things a nice place to escape the Southwest should have.  Exposed brick, dim lighting, comfortable nooks, a dj spinning Passion Pit, all good things.  I can't speak for the food yet, but the ice cream alone has got me hooked.  Go.  Your mouth will thank you!