way back home

Lately, I have been missing home..... a lot. I left home when I was 18. Few years ago my sister moved to Toronto and we've been living together since. Gradually, my parents sold the house we grew up in and moved to a smaller apartment.

Ever since my parents sold the house, visiting home doesn't really feel like visiting "home". My old room is now someone else's room. My strange mural on my wall is probably painted over with a new coat of fresh paint. The gazebo and pool in the backyard no longer welcomes me. The new place we now call home doesn't quite feel like a home.

The way to home has changed quite a bit too. Couple of years ago, the city began building giant white windmills on the outskirts of Windsor. The first time I saw them, I thought the bus has made a detour or the driver was lost (which is highly unlikely). I have been on this road many times before and seeing the giant fans circling about made me feel like a stranger. The landscape is now stunning but unfamiliar. I am getting used to seeing them but I still feel alienated.

I feel lost. Trapped in my past. Dwelling in my memories. Where's home? Have I lost my way back home? I am planning another trip to home at the end of the month and it has gotten me thinking a lot about what is home and where I belong.

choice

we make choices everyday so make sure it counts.

running update

ever since i finished 5k in april, i've been super motivated and been running ever since. my time for 5k was 31.55 minutes at the time. about 3 weeks later, my time has shorten to 24.10 minutes!!! wow! 24!!!!!!!!
i cannot believe it! yes the route i took today was very flat and i ran at night time when the lake breeze was brushing against my face, but still! that's 8 minutes quicker than before. i am so so so so so proud of myself today! and it was the very first time i completed 5km non-stop. yea, my legs feel bit sore and my lungs were hurting really bad when i finished, but i feel amazing. i try to run 3-4 times a week. also i've been running with a friend once a week and i think this helped me improve so much. keeping track of my runs with my phone's app is just amazing. i am just so happy my legs, lungs and heart is getting stronger everyday. i was such a lazy out-of-breath-after-walking-up-the-subway-stairs person 6 months ago and now i feel great! i want to be one of those super grannies who finishes half marathons when i am much older!

bye bye carbs

yikes
i packed on few... (or little more) pounds since last christmas and haven't been able to shed them. why? i ran so much for the past couple of months. and then i found out, it is all the carbs that i've been consuming, helping my fats get fatter, leaving little room for my muscles to grow.

i love love love carbs. guilty. really. i love noodles, any kind of noodles: pasta, pho, instant noodles, rice noodles with black bean sauce, chicken noodle soup... the list goes on. it is super hard not to eat them. and bread.... mmmmm..... they just smell amazing everytime i pass by the bakery. irresistible.

lately, staying fit has become an important obsession. in may, i am going to switch most of my carbs to proteins. eating healthy is incredibly hard especially when i have an appetite for things that are bad for you. ie. fries, chicken wings, fries, chinese, fries.... but i want to treat my body with nutritious food and hopefully get rid of junk cravings. it will be difficult. but better now than later.



avoid anything white: bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, pasta, and fried food with breading.

learn to love....
proteins: egg whites with one whole egg for flavour, chicken breast or thigh, grass-fed organic beef, pork, soy milk, fish
legumes: lentils, black beans, pinto beans
vegetables: spinach, asparagus, peas, mixed vegetables
WATER

hearts don't like to suffer....

Source: behance.net via Renée on Pinterest

"Why don't people's hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?" the boy asked the alchemist.
"Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don't like to suffer."

-the alchemist

the fault in our stars

"I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you."

-Augustus, from the Fault in Our Stars by John Green

knotty knotty

Source: iknowhair.com via Kat on Pinterest















































Source: weheartit.com via Kat on Pinterest


















Source: Uploaded by user via Hannah on Pinterest



lately i am in the mood to wear my hair a little fancier than usual....
i am terrible at braiding my own hair, so knotting them is an alternate yet gorgeous look for everyday.
thanks to this awesome video tutorial, i am becoming bit more adventurous with my hair...




picture of my knotted hair to be posted.... soon!

caffeinated tones

Source: design-seeds.com via Tanya on Pinterest

mmmm coffee... i'm getting addicted on coffee again.. bad bad bad......

second cup

i really like this this year's takeout cup and sleeve designs from second cup. so canadian. lol

warmth

warmest feeling when milly curls on my lap.

happy new year

the earth has completed its trip around the sun once again and now here we are at 2012.

as of today, i am one year older and wiser. as i have gained one year of maturity and confidence, i want to establish some goals. i know new year's resolution is forgotten soon after they have been created (a week tops) for most people (like me), but this year, i want to keep the promises until the next earth's rotation. i really really really do!!!


kat's new year's resolution

1. smile. laugh. a lot. :D

2. perform one good deed a week. (i want to say a day, but i know i probably won't keep this promise.. so one per week. that's 52 good deeds! and i will blog about it so you can be the judge)

3. eat one vegetable or fruit a day

4. read one book per month. (hopefully i will be able to practice my review writing skills)

5. go for a run at least once a week

i hope you will be able to successfully keep your new year's resolution. fingers crossed!

taking photos of food is hard....

ever since i started blogging about food, i find myself struggling to take photos of food especially in a dimly lit restaurants. food photography is some serious procedure. i've searched google (how will i ever live without you) to learn some tips on taking food photos.


white board! that was the secret behind it! but it is highly unlikely that i will be carrying my own reflective board when i am dining out. also, how silly would that look? by the time the food is served, i feel bad for friends dining with me to wait for me to get that one good photo. i don't need extra commotion to delay the hunger longer. meanwhile, i am going to study and practice on getting the angle right, and hopefully photoshop will help me at best ☺

for yummy reviews visit threepurpleplates.blogspot.com


awesome food photography tips:
http://www.mycookinghut.com/2008/12/02/tips-on-food-photography
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/10-tips-to-improve-your-food-photography-styling
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/angles-for-food-photography
http://souvlakiforthesoul.com/food-and-prop-styling-for-food-bloggers

london fog

homemade london fog recipe:

Homemade London Fog Tea Latte

8-oz strong Earl Grey Tea, hot

4-oz milk

3 tbsp vanilla syrup

Pour hot Earl Grey tea into a large mug or other serving glass. 

Stir in vanilla syrup.

Steam milk, or heat it in the microwave and whisk until very frothy, and pour it into the sweetened tea.

Serve immediately.

this year's choice of winter drink is william's london fog. last year i was hooked on second cup's hazelnut latte (extra shot, half sweetened, skim milk). london fog's taste depends on the type of tea bag used and williams's (well at least the one by work) uses lipton earl grey which seem to have the best taste compared to second cup or starbucks (also near work). i bought a cup of london fog almost everyday at $4 a cup. i can probably get a sandwich for less from tim hortons. since i discovered london fog is basically harmony of earl grey, vanilla and steamed milk, i ordered earl grey with shot of vanilla and added the milk myself. it tastes very similar, bit milder. now at $2 per cup, i can enjoy a nice semi-london fog to warm me up :D

stars

christmas season is upon us
i love the christmas lights, the feeling, the atmosphere, the music, the smell... everything!
25 days to go!

are you still looking for what?

wish i knew....

little monsters

i love love love grace's little monsters... or should i say little micro-organisms?

her figurines are inspired by micro-organisms which do not have a distinct form and are in flux.

she always surprises me with different forms every time i visit her studio. no two are alike. i highly appreciate the effort and passion she puts into her works. can't wait to see them installed in the craft biennial in january.

now the daylight saving is over, i have to get used to sunset at 4pm.... here comes the winter darkness.

too tall?

one of the best things working at harbourfront centre is working and attending lectures at the same time.

last night, the participating architects of the exhibition, TOO TALL? were invited along with Roberta Brandes Gratz, journalist and urban critic from new york, and Misha Glouberman, the host of Trampoline Hall, to discuss their ideas on development of the urban city in relation to the vertical landscape. i really enjoyed the heated discussion the four panelists shared, especially about the idea of density and high rises serving more effective means of presentation on street level. if you would like to learn about what are some of the answers to the questions, how tall is too tall? the exhibition is on until december 31.

pho-love

i am soooo hooked on pho right now.

it's getting cold... seems about right.

arms by christina perri
my latest listen repeat repeat repeat.....