Sunday, May 31, 2009

New Moon (again)

It's amazing how full our DVR gets, and how slow we are to watch the shows recorded. Having a DVR makes me think I that I manage my time better than I really do. I always end up doing anything else other than watching my shows because I have fooled myself into thinking that I'll just catch-up later. Reality: The DVR is currently full of the most recent seasons of Heroes and Smallville.

Then there are times like tonight, when having a DVR is the best thing ever. I wasn't sure if I would remember to watch the MTV Movie Awards since I normally skip it, so I set it up to record the show. How can a Twilight-crazed person like me miss it? The movie was up for so many awards, plus there was also the promise of a New Moon trailer.

The award show and the DVR lived up to they hype. Not only did Twilight get a ton of screen time, but the trailer for New Moon was awesome! I even did a small rewind to watch the trailer again during a performance I could miss.

If you missed the trailer, go to the Twilight Lexicon blog and watch an HD version of it there, and watch it in full screen. There isn't one bit of Italy, but I think Twilight fans will be happy to see the Cullens looking like they should (fashion upgrade), as well as Jacob phasing into a wolf! I cannot wait for November 20, 2009!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

New Moon

Between moving, work and out-of-town adventures, it has been difficult to keep up with all the Twilight related news out there. Lucky for me, things have slowed down a little this week, so I have time to peruse through some spoiler photos from the New Moon set! Thank you to the Twilight Lexicon for your regular and much-loved blog posts.

For my fellow Twilight peeps, these are pictures from Italy, right when Bella has run through the fountain and has found HIM. If you don't want to look and can somehow make it through the next six months without an Edward fix, then don't visit Pop Sugar. If you are like me and can't wait for November 20, 2009, then definitely visit Pop Sugar. This is a time-suck you won't regret.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Nature vs. Me

As a child, my parents used to take my two sisters and me on camping trips. We started out camping at Malaekahana and then eventually moved over to Waimanalo. These trips were pretty fun since we got to be at the beach all day, but the cold showers and sleeping on the ground sans pillow were pretty awful. Camping is not my favorite thing.

I have been able to dodge the camping invitations pretty well as an adult, but my streak of denial came to end this Memorial Day weekend. Our friends invited us to camp at the Coloma Resort in Coloma, California, and they were able to weaken my resolve and I gave in. Of course, knowing that there would be hot showers and seeing the word "resort" in the campground name helped.

Despite the prospect of hot water and bathrooms, I was still nervous about the whole thing. When given a choice, I will always choose my own bed or a hotel over camping; and I just don't enjoy being so close with nature. Bugs are not my thing, and I hate lizards. To deal with the anxiety, I turned to planning: food, lanterns, batteries, cookies, Costco, anything. Eventually the planning lead to something else--I was actually excited to go camping.

Turns out, camping at Coloma was pretty awesome. We went for two nights and three days, and it was not roughing it at all. I got to sleep on an air mattress, use decently clean facilities and shower in hot water. As we were driving, I realized with amazement that this was the first time I had ever taken a pillow camping (my parents did not allow pillows while camping). I did bring home bruised knees and scratched legs from my adventure in the American River. As well as a decently sliced finger; the result of a skirmish with a beer bottle that did not want to go in the recycling bin.

I am not-so-secretly proud of myself for making it through the camping trip and keeping my complaints to a minimum.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Discombobulated

I am in need of some time with my sewing machine, knitting and books! Weekends have been so jam packed that my weekdays are turned upside down, and I have been constantly on the go. There has not even been much time to keep up with blogs, tweets and Twilight news.

That being said, something did catch my eye tonight: Summit has said there will be a New Moon panel at Comic-Con on Thursday, July 23! Since I cannot find any confirmation on the Summit site, I am not 100% sure about this tidbit, but it still makes me happy-happy-joy-joy since this is the whole reason my sister and I are venturing braving the convention.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

A Cooking Adventure and a Retail Miss

After taking my time, and pretty much savoring every moment of A Year in Provence, I finally finished the book earlier this week. My review of the book will be done soon; I want to dedicate the right amount of time to it. In the meantime, Peter Mayle's talk of the French pursuit of gastronomic satisfaction made me want to cook a French meal.

So, I searched the internet for some recipes and decided to make marinated goat cheese, petits pates a la Sage, braised fingerling potato coins and Coq au Vin.

Marinated Goat Cheese: The marinated goat cheese started out as a minor disaster (who knew it could be so difficult to buy a jar this time of year), and I worried about the rest. I think I needed a different type of goat cheese...I tried to stay local and bought something made in Sonoma, but it crumbled easily and the bottom of the jar did not look too appealing. However, it turned out to be a pretty tasty appetizer. The goat cheese was marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.

Petits pates a la Sage: These did not happen because I just didn't have the bandwidth to handle it (really somewhat funny if you read the recipe and see how it quick it is to make it). I might make it tomorrow night though because there is leftover Coq au Vin.

Braised Fingerling Potato Coins: This was a recipe adapted from an Alice Waters recipe for potato coins, and I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty this turned out, despite the simple mix of ingredients. It was a pain to slice the potatoes 1/8" thick, but that's probably because I am incredibly slow with the knife.

Coq au Vin: The Coq au Vin was by far the most time consuming thing to make on my French dinner menu. I used a recipe from
America's Test Kitchen. Their recipe is not the traditional method, but they experimented to come up with a modern version that takes 90 minutes versus the 12 hours I saw in some other recipes. I am not sure how it compares to traditional Coq au Vin since I have not had it at a restaurant yet, but this was a tasty dish.

All in all, this was an interesting experience, and I am happy that I explored French culture a little (growing up in Hawaii, I learned only about my Japanese heritage and nothing about French culture). Hopefully I find more French dishes to make as I still feel like indulging in the cuisine. Apparently the time consuming work was not enough to deter my French gastronomic exploration.

As an aside, I missed out on the Twilight wristlet by pinkladydesigns on Etsy! Perhaps I will have to put in my first special order.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Another Conundrum of the Minor Sort

I love yoga, and I love my yoga teacher. Unfortunately for me, it is time for change in my yoga teacher's life and she is moving to South Carolina. Her last day of teaching in California is tomorrow, May 9, 2009; but due to my work schedule, my last class with her was yesterday. Reluctantly, I am forced to find a new yoga teacher. Yes, change can be a good thing, but Lauren is just the right teacher for my temperament (see previous blog posts for the reasons why). Also, I did try out different teachers last summer, and out of the four I only liked one. Again, unfortunately for me, the one I like teaches way across the Bay in Santa Rosa or somewhere else on the North Bay. If you have any recommendations for teachers on the East Bay, please send them my way. And so, it is with a rather heavy heart that I say aloha 'oe to Lauren.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Conundrums

As conundrums go, this one is minor, but the minor sort are the best sort to have if you must have any at all. The problem? Retail. I have too much stuff as it is, but something out there always succeeds in catching my attention. Right now it's the customized Sigg bottles you can get on Cafe Press and yet another bit of Twilight from pinkladydesigns. The rational side of me says not to buy anything because I already have a Sigg, as well as enough zippered little bags. But the retail lover in me reminds me that I don't have that a 1L Sigg, nor do I have one of Sandra's wristlets.

For now I will try to keep reminding myself that I should be saving up money for my trip to the Olympic Peninsula this summer, followed by a trip to Comic-Con.