spicy bean salsa

salsa

Today, class happens to be canceled which is pretty nice. So, I haven’t really moved out of my bed all day except to wash up and grab some food. And naturally, I gravitated back to my bed so I’m sitting here warm Socal sunshine with a bowl of home-made chili and some other snacks.

Life is so amazingly good.

I’ve been really peppy and upbeat these days. It’s pretty weird.

There’s not really any particular reason for me to be so happy but I’ve been waking up feeling great recently. I expected to be in a period of mad stressing and freaking out but I’ve been good. I have no idea what I’m doing and the future has absolutely no definition and I love it.
I feel like this is the first time in my life that I haven’t had every second of every day planned out for the next five years, and even though it’s scary, it’s refreshing.

One more thing. I’ve been so fed up with the opposite gender recently. I started the new semester thinking I was only going to do three things: 1) study 2) spend as much time with friends as possible before leaving and 3) secure an internship. I was done with boys until I came back from Hong Kong and was ready to be serious.
Then, I started making certain excuses for certain people and letting myself get tangled in petty drama here and there. I let my emotions get involved, and I did stupid things and said some really dumb things to people who either did or didn’t deserve to think that I cared.
Well, no more.

I have eight more weeks until I jet halfway across the world.

None of this nonsense anymore.
I woke up this morning feeling sick and tired of all the boys who’ve been distracting me from what I really need in my life. Simplicity. Along the way, I let everything get confused and I feel like little things keep pulling at me from ten different directions, so I’m cutting it all away and focusing my attention on myself from now on.

I’m going to be 100% selfish. I care about nobody but myself starting today. Sometimes, that’s the only way to breathe. Instead of focusing on everything and everyone around you, sometimes, what we really need is to be selfish and greedy and wrapped up in only ourselves. It sounds uncaring and mean, but sometimes, when everything’s driving you insane, it can be the breakaway.

With that said, when I have epiphanies, I need to make something. Mindless movement helps me come to realizations.
So, here’s some food for thought.

I think I’d add cilantro and lime and another can of tomatoes next time though.

If you’re thinking, “Eww, beans… gross,” my roommate hates beans and said she wouldn’t the salsa but she ended up eating half the batch by herself.

So, give it a try. I promise you’ll never find an easier salsa recipe.

with chips

Spicy Bean Salsa
Yield: 12 servings

1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

In a medium bowl, combine black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, onion, green bell pepper, jalapeno peppers and tomatoes. Season with Italian-style salad dressing and garlic salt; mix well. Cover, and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.

milk

The weather in LA has been absolutely bipolar lately. Luckily, today was a beautiful day after a cold weekend. I think tomorrow the heat wave is just starting all over again. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m down with that…. Not feeling the heat. Especially when I have to walk all the way to the accounting building from my apartment. Which happens to be on the opposite side of campus. BLERG.

With the weather being LOVELY, an old friend and I decided to meet up for lunch in the La Brea/Fairfax area because we hadn’t seen each other in a while. Went to a cute little place called Milk on Beverly that won a bunch of awards for their ice cream, milkshakes, etc.

the bakery

They had a lot of cute little seasonal things like Halloween poppers and pumpkin cupcakes. Nice.

cookies!

garden salad

My friend ordered the Farmer’s Market Salad which was really really good and fresh. We asked for the dressing on the side which was a good call. The green beans and radishhes were so crunchy and the pesto vinaigrette was YUMYUMYUM.

media noche

Now, originally, I was going to go for a sandwich that was fresh and light with a lot of vegetables. Probably something more on the turkey or chicken side, but the server told me if this was my first time at Milk, I had to try the Media Noche sandwich. SUPPOSEDLY, Cubans from Cuba said this sandwich was better than what they had in their home country. It had pulled pork, ham, manchego cheese, pickles, and some kind of garlic creamy sauce….

with a salad

The sandwich was a little bit greasy on my fingers, but oh my goodness, it was really good… I don’t know if that whole little Cuban bit was true, but it reminded me of Porto’s Bakery, so I guess that’s a good sign, right?

Now, onto dessert! My friend is a dessert killer. It’s kind of scary watching her eat sweets. Once, we went to the Alcove and ordered four slices of cake. FOUR. If you’ve never been to the Alcove, I’ll just tell you, their cake slices are about as wide as your palm. Or more like your dad’s palm. Yeup. And this was after we ordered our full meal, too.

grasshopper

Milk is famous for their ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. This is the grasshopper one, it had chocolate and mint ice cream sandiwched in between macarons instead of cookies! So cute. It was really good, too. I liked the crispy chewiness of the macarons and the cold creamy ice cream.

blue velvet

Their blue velvet cake is supposed to be pretty famous, so we ordered a slice, but I think the Alcove cafe actually has better blue velvet. This one was good but it tasted too much like a thick creamy blueberry cake instead. Right next to it is one of the Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cookies. Pretty much a brownie in cookie form. It was super ooey and super gooey and super fudgy. Mmmm… Chocolate. How can you go wrong?

pumpkin cupcake

cream cheese frosting

Yes, so I pretty much couldn’t resist getting the pumpkin cupcake. It was calling out my name from behind the glass. Ahhhhhhhhh…. I’m so fat. It’s great. I’ll regret it later. Who cares. The pumpkin cupcakes was super fluffy and spicy and had CRAISINS mmmm I love craisins. It was kind of expensive ($3.50 a pop) but pretty worth it if you’re the type to spend a lot on cupcakes (Sprinkles, Crumbs, etc.)

balenciaga

We went shopping at the Grove afterwards and basked in the beautiful sunlight before I had to jet off to an accounting social. My purse looks really nice in that lighting, huh? Barney’s has nice dressing rooms. :)

Marc by Marc tote was on sale at Barney’s. I’m in love….

Again with my consumeristic tendencies.

Must.

Stop.

Now.

jack

Yeah, you know it’s autumn when you carve a pumpkin, light a candle, and you win a jack o’lantern contest! yeeeeeeee that’s an award-winning pumpkin, y’all. :)

spinach artichoke dip

I’ve been having a quarter-life crisis.

It’s funny. I thought I would be immune to the junior year panic that I saw my sister and all her friends go through, but I’m not. I thought I would follow the perfect cookie-cutter mold of a business/accounting major and take my classes and be “happy” and graduate on time with my dual degree, but I guess things don’t turn out as we expect.

I made a lot of decisions in the past three years, big and small, that led to me where I am, and yesterday, I just had the biggest epiphany. It was the weirdest thing. A feeling just choked me up, and as I reflected on the past couple of years, I just couldn’t help but think about every little step that put me in the position that I’m in today. I have my regrets, not gonna lie. I’ve definitely made some choices that have taken me off the path that maybe I should have gone down, but it’s too late to beat myself up about those things now.

At the same time, I’ve learned so much about myself. I’ve been humbled, broken down, shredded apart, and put back together again. I’ve met some great people, been disappointed by others, and it’s been a really strange year all in all.

I don’t really know what to do what myself anymore, but today is a good day. I majorly freaked out yesterday, but I talked to many wiser, older people and at least, I don’t feel like I’m going to die anymore.

Life is good.

I have at least bought myself some time, and now I’m on a search.

But meanwhile….. In the outside world, a world that doesn’t revolve around me….

Today was an epic game day with USC vs. Notre Dame! We still won our eight straight game against them, but a lot closer than usual at 34-27!!! That last one second almost killed me…. Hopefully USC doesn’t struggle this closely next week when we play against Oregon. O.M.G.

But, anyhow do you know what perfect game day food is?

Hot wings, chips, and dip.

dip :)

Oh yes.

We just bought the hot wings from Wing Stop, but I’d been promising my roommates for forever that I’d make them some homemade dip, so today seemed like the perfect day to do it. Yum yum yum.

I swear all this fatty food is making me obese as all hell. I love spinach artichoke dip but it’s so bad for you! Cheese, alfredo sauce, cream cheese, oh my goodnasssss. Insanity. I can’t help myself though! I love the fatty foods. The greasiness amazes me. How much I love it amazes me. Mmmm.

sauce!

Dig in!

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Yield: 12 servings (Yeah, I don’t know, there’s only four of us in this apartment…. And we all have a bit of a sharing problem.)

4 cloves garlic
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo-style pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place garlic in a small baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes, until soft. Remove from heat. When cool enough to touch, squeeze softened garlic from skins.

In an 8×8 inch baking dish, spread the roasted garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, Alfredo-style pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and cream cheese.

Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Broil for five minutes to brown the top but be careful not to let it burn. Serve warm with tortilla chips!

with chips

Mmmm. Another yummy treat for your eyes.

our cute freshman QB

Isn’t Matt Barkley the cutest? He didn’t play his best today, but luckily, the rest of the Trojans were on top of their game. FIGHT ON!

pear apple crisp à la mode

It’s been exhausting week after exhausting week. I don’t really know how I feel about life right now. I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible.. . Okay, that was a lie. I’m not trying to be optimistic. I’ve actually been a bit of whiner this past week as all my roommates can attest, but I can’t help it. This week and the lack of sleep has been making me emotional. All I want to do is wear black, paint my face, wallow under my sheets, and listen to James Morrison’s voice break my heart.

autumn!

I was feeling super depressed all weekend. And then today, everything just got better. Quality of life increased by, I’d say, oh, 15 percent. Do you know why?

Because the weather was perfect today. It was bloody BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC. It was bright, super sunny, with blue BLUE skies (none of that cornflower blue nonsense), and it was chilly. I loved it. Summer in the sun but winter in the shade. I love this weather, I love it so much all I wanted to do was loiter outside and bask in the wonderfulness of today. It made me want to put on my cream-colored turtleneck sweater, pull on my Cole Haan boots, kick around some leaves, and go frolicking on an outdoorsy type of date at the Getty Villa or Griffith Park.

goo

My mood was autumn, so I guess my taste buds have to be too, huh? I had a bunch of pears from my uncle’s backyard (organic… oooo.) that I left just sitting around, so I threw those in with some crisp fall apples, and voila~ pear apple crisp.

I love crispy things.

hot + cold

THE WEATHER IS PERFECT FOR GOING ON A DATE!

Do I sound crazy right now? This is what autumn does to me, I swear. I am nowhere near this date-crazy any other time of the year. This is what this beautiful weather does to me.

Forgive.

Forgive. :)

Pear Apple Crisp

2 pears, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
splash of vanilla

For the topping:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 old-fashioned oatmeal
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix until fruit is coated. Pour into a 8×8 inch oval baking dish.

For the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm. With ice cream and caramel sauce!