ATTENTION BLOGGERS

A couple of things:

1. if you don't have a "contact me" section or post with your e-mail GO MAKE ONE RIGHT NOW. In a perfect world everyone would just comment on your posts, but trust me your readers want to be able to e-mail you privately to ask you questions.

2. never EVER EVER change your blog domain. I know it's super tempting and I did it back when I first started this blog (I used to be ThePinkReview.com, remember?) but that's because I really had no idea how Google/the internet/blogs work. If you keep changing your blog from domain to domain then Google won't be able to keep up with the changes and you'll lose a lot of ranking (this is important because you want people to read your blog right?). If you feel the need to make a change, just give your blog a new layout or change your header title (mine is currently "The Sparkling Cider of Blogs" but it used to be "The (Mis)Adventures of a Redhead in China."

3. make a favicon and take the Blogger banner off your page. Two very simple things that will make your blog look more polished and professional.

happy easter! love candy-focused holidays

Went shopping at Target this weekend. How freaking legit is that store? I cannot emphasize enough how much I LOVE Tar-Jay. It's one of the main things I missed about the United States when I was in China (they had Walmart and other American stores like Best Buy...but no Target).

I managed to find a super cute outfit for Easter within 20 minutes even though I spent a good TWO HOURS scouring the mall in San Mateo and couldn't even find something decent to wear that wasn't triple digits. I also found these crazy cute carrot Reese's pieces:


They're shaped like a vegetable...so that makes them healthy, right?


Bah, peanut butter is my arch nemesis. So, so good...and yet not incredibly good for you (especially if you eat an entire jar in one sitting, which has never happened but I believe I'd be capable of it).

RIDDLE ME THIS

The answer to my riddle the other day (what do my Chinese name "Miao Miao," an Asian lucky cat figurine, and a tattoo station all have in common?) is:


BOOM.

I got this kitty over Christmas break, in fact Santa hooked it up with a gift certificate for part of him (kitty's a boy). He's not completely finished yet, the artist still needs to fill him in with white and do lots of super sweet shading, but he's practically done.

Here are a couple "progress" pictures. I got all the outline and black shading done first, then next came the color details that I have now.


The artist surprised me with the collar design, I LOVE IT SO BAD!!! I didn't really have anything specific I wanted so I told him to design it himself ...couldn't help sneaking a peek with my iPhone:


Instead of the traditional text that goes in the lucky cat coin, I had Earl (my tattoo artist) put my Chinese name because it's the bomb.

Meow.

vroom vroom

How sexy is this car?

I spotted this vintage corvette outside the San Mateo Trader Joe's (awesome things tend to occur at this location, btw) and just HAD to take a picture even though I thought it was sort of creepy of me. Later, I creeped it up even more by telling the owner he "probably hears this a lot, but you have an absolutely beautiful car."

Ya. I said those. exact. words. I've never used a pick-up line in my life, but apparently they get stored away in some part of your brain, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

I got really embarassed and started blushing because I swear the words just came out of my mouth without me even making the conscious decision to speak! Whatever. Old Man was flattered. But his wife gave me the stink eye.

Next time I'll stick with a Ferris Bueller reference and tell him his car is "so choice."

the cat's pajamas

First off, that expression is totally weird.

Secondly, what do my Chinese name Miao Miao:


An Asian lucky cat (this one was a birthday gift from my BFF):


And this tattoo work station:


Have in common?

And finally, The Daily Tater was seriously the best idea I've ever had.

the daily tater

Haha. Ok. Before I go any further I'm gonna go ahead and admit that I'm very much NOT normal, and I accept that. It makes life more interesting.

I was talking to my boss about blogging the other day and was saying how I wanted to buy Tater Tot a domain name so he could blog (it was understood by all parties that I meant I could blog "as" Tater...I'm normal enough that I recognize my dog can't actually blog).

Anyway, my boss is all, "Would he even have something to post every day?" to which I was all, "You clearly are not my friend on Facebook or you would know that there's a plethora of Tater Tot posts to be made on the daily." and then he was all...actually he didn't say anything he just gave me a weird look, I just wanted to say "was all" one more time.

And so, The Daily Tater was born. It's a work in progress, notably the header image which will eventually not look so pixel-y once I get my hands on the Photoshop CD I left at my parents house.


I figure I'm already taking a ton of Tater Tot pics every day...might as well have a formal outlet for sharing them with the world!

handsome men's club

This is seriously one of the funniest videos I have ever seen. Jimmy Kimmel is hilarious, he doesn't get enough credit as a funny man in my opinion!



Favorite line: "Spanx?! Fucking Spanx." - Matthew McConhaughey

BAHAHAHA! Notice the People Magazine with scribbles all over Matt Damon's face? I LOVE when shows have running jokes.

clothes on dogs...amazing or lame?

I have to admit, I've put Tater Tot in a few doggy outfits over the years. Some of the stand-out moments include:

Prom 2003. No, my dog was NOT my date (I swear people have asked that before) I took a human to the dance but couldn't resist dressing the Tot in a tux.

Christmas 2006. Tater hates Santa.

Summer 2006. My twin sister Noelle did a photo shoot of Tater and entered him to win some cute dog contest.

Christmas 2007. Tater loves this scarf!

Halloween 2009. Shark eating a person costume...not Tater's finest moment.

I'm still on the fence as to whether I think human clothes on dogs is extremely weird or incredibly adorable...obviously I've done it before so I guess I'm leaning more towards the "incredibly adorable" camp, but I'm not one of those kooky pet owners that has a whole wardrobe for their dogs. That is decidedly NOT normal nor incredibly adorable.

Since moving and bringing the Tot with me to a one-bedroom third floor apartment it's a necessity that I take him for at least two walks a day. I've always loved going on walks with Tater Tot but this is the first time I have to do no matter what the weather is...and lately it's been raining A LOT. His fur is so thick and fluffy that he ends up getting totally soaked while I stay dry under my umbrella, so I've been toying with the idea of buy him a doggy raincoat.


I'm afraid that the combination of his cuteness, fluffiness, and tendency to bark at any dog and act ferocious will make him look silly in a raincoat. Bah, whatever, people are always laughing at him anyway.

Maybe if he was more refined and mature and had a doggy mustache people would think twice before they giggle at him.

Hau, hau, hau, I am French.

mad men barbie dolls

I'm on the verge of hyperventilating right now. Mattel announced yesterday the launch of their Mad Men Barbie dolls which will be available later this summer.


EFF YOU, MATTEL! Don't you know I'm trying to be financially responsible? Then you go and release the most adorable Barbie dolls I have ever seen (how TDF is Joan?!) and expect me to NOT immediately drop $74.95 per doll? THANKS. Thanks a lot.

If you have a cool three hundred bucks to waste on something, might as well waste it on these! You can buy the Betty, Don, Sterling, and Joan Barbies at the Barbie Collector website which I had no idea even existed until today...but you better believe I signed up for a free catalog!

academy award winners!

Best Picture
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: The Hurt Locker
WON: The Hurt Locker
Called it! Seriously though, this is an awesome movie and Jeremy Renner is from Modesto (my hometown). HOLLA.


Best Actor in a Leading Role
should win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
will win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
WON: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
should win: Christoph Waltz
will win: Christoph Waltz
WON: Christoph Waltz

Best Actress
should win: anyone but Sandra Bullock
will win: Sandra Bullock
WON: Sandra Bullock
Blech. Sorry, I really don't like SB.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
should win: Mo'Nique, Precious
will win: Mo'Nique, Precious
WON: Mo'Nique
Hell yes! Very, very deserved.

Best Animated Feature Film
should win: Up
will win: Up
WON: Up
I wish Dug was there to accept the award!

Best Art Direction
should win: Sherlock Holmes
will win: Avatar
WON: Avatar

Best Cinematography
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: The Hurt Locker
WON: Avatar

Best Director
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: please don't be Avatar
WON: The Hurt Locker
First female director to win!! Rock on.

Best Documentary Feature
should win: The Cove
will win: The Cove (though Food, Inc. got waaaay more press)
WON: The Cove
Go see this movie!

Best Film Editing
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: Avatar
WON: The Hurt Locker
So glad THL won for this category! You should watch the film with director commentary, they explain a lot of the editing choices it's great.

Best Adapted Screenplay
should win: Up in the Air
will win: Up in the Air
WON: Precious
Looks like Oprah matters in Hollywood, too.

Best Original Screenplay
should win: Inglourious Basterds
will win: Inglourious Basterds
WON: The Hurt Locker
Eff that. I liked The Hurt Locker, but how could they ignore Tarantino's genius like that? I mean, OBVIOUSLY I thought THL was an awesome movie because I pegged it to win Best Picture, but in terms of words on paper...Tarantino should have won.

national cereal day

Happy National Cereal Day!! I don't know where/how/why people make up these "holidays" but when something is so awesome it doesn't matter much.

I LOVE cereal. I knew immediately I would love my new work environment when they gave us a tour of the office and pointed out the 6 cereals they keep in stock all the time in the kitchen.

My three all-time cereal favorites are:

Barbara's Bakery Puffins in either Original or Peanut Butter (PB is out of control crazy good).


General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch which is essentially just sugar. And cinnamon.

Betch, don't try to convince me that you're healthy to eat. One serving has effing 10g of sugar, which means you are not a "good source of" anything. Except sugar.

Quaker Oats Cinnamon Life which is one of the six cereals my office has available for me to EATALLDAYLONG.

Natalie Dee knows what's up. And so does her escaped hamster.

how to save money on an ipod touch

LOLZ. This is the best idea ever.

academy award predictions 2010

Every year I always make a list of Oscar predictions including who I think SHOULD win and who I think WILL win. Usually I have a party to go to which makes it more fun to guess, but this year I'll be plugging along on my thesis and won't be watching the ceremony live. I was hoping to throw an Oscar party this year (I made a fun how to throw an Oscar party post last year) but schoolwork comes first so I'll have to wait until 2011!

To be honest, I wasn't that thrilled with the selection of films up for awards this year--2008 was like, the best year ever for the Oscars. So many amazing films/actors/actresses were nominated. Hopefully 2010 is a great year for film so next year's selection is better.

Now, on to my list!

Best Picture
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: The Hurt Locker
Two things: 1. The Hurt Locker's chances of winning might have been sabotaged by some lame shenanigans, but I really hope not 2. If Avatar wins I will punch a baby.


Best Actor in a Leading Role
should win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
will win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Meh, I'm pretty confident about this one but Clooney was amazing (as he always is) and Renner is from my home town so if any of them win I'll be happy.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
should win: Christoph Waltz
will win: Christoph Waltz
He's going to win. Hands. down.

Best Actress
should win: anyone but Sandra Bullock
will win: Sandra Bullock

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
should win: Mo'Nique, Precious
will win: Mo'Nique, Precious
Vera was awesome in Up in the Air (she's def my next pick after Mo'Nique) but Mo'Nique's performance was crazy powerful.

Best Animated Feature Film
should win: Up
will win: Up
I want a new dog just so I can name him Dug.

Best Art Direction
should win: Sherlock Holmes
will win: Avatar
Robert Downey Jr. is effing hot.

Best Cinematography
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: The Hurt Locker

Best Director
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: please don't be Avatar

Best Documentary Feature
should win: The Cove
will win: The Cove (though Food, Inc. got waaaay more press)

Best Film Editing
should win: The Hurt Locker
will win: Avatar
Avatar HAS to win something.

Best Adapted Screenplay
should win: Up in the Air
will win: Up in the Air
Let's see if Oprah has any power here.

Best Original Screenplay
should win: Inglourious Basterds
will win: Inglourious Basterds
If Tarantino doesn't win this I will be completely shocked. He is a master with words.


I really want District 9 to win something...but it's up against King James Cameron so I doubt it. Don't get me wrong, I really did like Avatar, but story-wise District 9 was SOOOO much better. Go see it now if you haven't already!


Who do you think is going to win??

how to make your own magnets

When I moved into my own place I wanted to be able to decorate my fridge with random stuff but I had no magnets and seriously couldn't find ANY at Target, Safeway, or the Dollar Store (which I thought would have them for sure). I eventually found some at Michael's but they were super weak and wouldn't even keep a postcard sticking to the fridge.

Thankfully, I have a very crafty best friend and she taught me how to make magnets! She rules. So now in the interest of paying it forward, I'm going to teach you how to do it, too.

First, you'll need a few things. You'll probably have a couple of these items already, the rest you can buy at Michael's or any other large craft store.

Supplies:

• Magazines or catalogs (no need to go out and buy any, especially if you get catalogs because they're FILLED with potential magnet material).
• Card stock and/or those thick "subscribe now!" inserts found in magazines.
• 3/4" round magnets. Some Michael's stores have 50-pack magnet sets, get at least 1 packet because you're going to want to make a zillion of these. Trust me.
• One 3/4" hole punch.
• One bag of 3/4" glass marbles. These are usually by the dried flowers and vases. Make sure to get ones that are as transparent as possible.
  
• Epoxy glue.
• Scissors.
• Newspaper or other random paper to put down on your work station.

The whole process is super easy. First get the card stock and punch out as many 3/4" pieces as you can.


Then, line up a handful of magnets and put a lentil-sized dollop of epoxy on it. You can use a toothpick to smear it around a bit--I just used the tip of the epoxy. Press the cardstock onto the magnet and move from side to side to make sure the glue has spread around.


Now comes the fun! Go through all your old catalogs and magazines and look for pictures that would make cute magnets. Don't just look for images or logos, find pretty patterns and colors (this is where all those catalogs you get in the mail come in handy!). Take one of the marbles and place it over the image to make sure it looks good and will fit. Use the scissors to quickly cut out the image you like--I just cut it into a medium sized rectangle--and place it to the side.

Once you've gone through all your magazines and cut snippets of magnet material, use your hole punch to create a perfect magnet-sized picture. I used my hole punch upside down and slipped my magazine cut outs so the image was facing me and I could see what I was actually doing--highly recommend this!


Then, simply put another dollop of glue on to your cardstock-ed magnet and place each hole-punched picture on top. Repeat this process with the glass marbles. And voila! You have home-made magnets!


Keep the magnets on a flat surface for several hours because it takes a while for the glue to dry. If you move them or try to use them too soon the glass marble won't adhere and will slip off.

Note: the glass marbles come in a large bag and not all of them are ideal. I would go through them quickly before you begin and set aside the ones that are too hazy or have cracks.

and this is why i love movies

How am I only now seeing this amazing, amazing film?

retro humor is the best kind of humor

Anne Taintor is a genius! I stumbled upon her awesomely funny vintage magnets sort of by accident and now I'm completely obsessed. I've taken a personal oath to not buy anymore stationery (I have a major problem and tend to compulsively purchase paper goods)...but once my note pad supply dwindles you know where I'll be going to stock up again.

Some of my favorite Anne Taintor designs, in no particular order:

love hurts

Poor little Bear, we all miss you much. I know your little happy fluffball self wouldn't want us to be sad when thinking of the past ...but it's hard not to feel an ache in the empty parts of our hearts which were once filled by happy memories of you.

Where ever you are (I like to think puppy heaven) I hope there are lots and lots of small squeaky toys for you to squeak and plenty of cat food to steal out of the cat's bowl and lots of fluffy friends to play with.

We love you Bear!!!
xoxo Strawberry and Tater Tot


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

county fair heaven!

I really, really like county fairs because I really, really like fried food...and where else but at the county fair will you ever find such a variety of fried goodness??

If you ever find out the answer to that question, please let me know because as far as I know it doesn't exist.

Corn dogs are probably my favorite old-school fried food (none of this fancy, schmancy deep fried chicken fried bacon---yes, it is DOUBLE fried---for me, thanks). Even though I no longer eat meat, I still get to enjoy corn dogs thanks to the meatless ones they sell at Trader Joe's:


Yum!!

Today I stumbled upon this tempting corn dog lip balm. I want it SOOO bad but I'm afraid it will only be mustard flavored and I'll end up being disappointed. I've been burned by so-called "corn dog" scented novelty items in the past.

NOTE TO WHOEVER MAKES FLAVORED/SCENTED ANYTHING: CORN DOGS DO NOT TASTE LIKE MUSTARD. That's like saying iceburg lettuce tastes like ranch dressing.

happy chinese new year/mardi gras/any other international holidays!

It's hard to believe that a year ago today I was coming home to Shanghai after a month-long trip around South East Asia. Oh, how times have changed!

Even though I'm no longer in China anymore, I still feel a deep connection with Chinese culture (as deep as a white girl from Cali can feel, at least) so I was really excited about Chinese New Year! I happened to be in San Francisco over the weekend so I got to see lots of red lanterns up on the streets...but sadly missed all the cool parades.

Anyway, these fortune cookie cupcakes would have been an awesome edition to my Chinese New Year festivities, which mostly included waking up after 10AM, not showering, and watching Hulu all afternoon. DO I KNOW HOW TO CELEBRATE, OR WHAT?!


Remember when I blogged about how to make fortune cookies? Ya, I didn't really remember it either...thank gawd for archives!! Here's a shot of a few of my handmade fortune cookies, in all their glory:


These were actually really, really good and as I mentioned in the original post, the almond extract adds a nice flavor that is absent from store-bought/Chinese restaurant fortune cookies. It wasn't a walk in the park making these puppies, but it was totally worth it in the end and I think they make a perfect gift to show someone how much you appreciate them. And they're delicious.

Oh also, it's Mardi Gras which normally would be exciting but sorta just...wasn't this year. Probably because I had a Mardi Dimanche and stuffed my face with--including, but not limited to--3 Anthony's cookies, 1 Sprinkles cupcake, and several slices of cheese pizza, and thus skipped bingeing on junk food for a second day in the same week.

Turns out, without the "Fat", Fat Tuesday is just...Tuesday.

Is anyone giving up anything for lent this year? I'm not because I'm a total badass.