on gifting bad presents

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We’ve all got that one relative or friend (or maybe several relatives or friends) who never quite seem to know what makes an appropriate gift. These are the ones who gift for the sake of gifting or out of a bizarre, unwarranted sense of obligation. They give you the gift of things you don’t need/want/know what to do with… If you’re like me, you store these things away until the next garage sale or spring cleaning donation, or you exchange them for something useful (hurray for gift receipts!).

I have a long history of bad presents received from a particular familial unit, often involving giant pajamas covered in cats (note: I like cats, I do not wear cats) or similar. This unit recently committed the ultimate gifter’s sin: regifting a bad present on a holiday when a gift was not expected or even relevant to the family connection.

Behold! The re-gifted “farmer’s market mug”. Price inked over, but the $2.99 is still visible beneath the ink. This was a gift received by my mother on Mother’s Day. Her relation to the giver? Not at all relevant to Mother’s Day. Neither daughter nor son. Simply an opportunity to get rid of an unwanted mug by passing it off on another.

While my obsession with cute and colorful teaware definitely stemmed from my mother’s similar obsession (a family trait also exhibited by dearest Auntie Em), I’m not sure my mom was much enthused when she received this present. How did we know it was re-gifted? It bore the signs of being hastily shoved into a bag with some of the original wrapping still attached.

Moral of the story: Sometimes people don’t expect presents, don’t re-gift something you didn’t want yourself just because you think they do. But if you choose to re-gift, remove the signs of previous gifting.

on unpleasant things

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There are lots of things that aren’t fun. Going to the dentist… not fun. Exams… not fun. Emergency gallbladder surgery… definitely not fun. My latest not fun thing: salmonella poisoning. Mmm… salmonella. Not. Ugh. Not fun fact, salmonella can make you arthritic. My knees can attest to this. Good lord, I’ve felt like an 80 year old for the last two days. Energy = 0. Fever = 102. At least, the fever broke early yesterday morning; otherwise, I’d still be shivering away under 20 layers. On Tuesday, I was mostly dead. Even on my worst days, I can manage to stir out of bed. Not so on Tuesday. I was asleep for a good 18 hours, or what resembled sleep but was mostly a feverish fog. I want this bug exorcised and gone.

Am going to try to go in to work tonight. Luckily, we’re between semesters so it really will be a graveyard shift. Hope I don’t fall asleep, as I can’t even have caffeinated drinks.

time capsule

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Sometimes the dryer will devour your socks. Sometimes my drawers will filch my stuff. Case in point, when I couldn’t close my drawer this morning, I figured something had fallen down the back, into my dresser’s cavernous insides … Lo and behold, I found this!

A leftover sampler baggie of Jane products, a line that made a brief blip in the teen cosmetics industry circa 1999. I remember using Jane products (especially this one shade of red nail polish that I loved and have never been able to replicate), but I cannot remember losing this baggie. How did it end up lodged between my drawer and the side of my dresser? And how is it that I never found it, though I cleared that drawer out countless times since my high school days? It’s a mystery.

scent memories

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I picked up some coffee at Starbucks before the drive to work on Friday and was suddenly struck by one of those intense scent memories that seem to just grab you and send you back in time. This time it was the scent of brewing coffee, it brought on a wave of nostalgia, recalling afternoons spent writing with friends after our teaching sessions were done. It made me realize that the smell of coffee, cigarettes, and CK One will always make me think of writing and grad school. It’s a scent that evokes all kinds of memories and puts me in a creative mood.

There are a few other scents that also evoke fond memories. There’s this one smell of humidity and flowers that catches me by surprise every so often and makes me think of my trip to London. It’s a combination of potpourri and rain.

The smell of crayons will always remind me of the first day I went to school. And the smell of tempera will always remind me of high school art classes.

Then there’s the smell of books, one of the best smells.

on “things” hitting the fan, as they say

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A few weeks ago, one of my dissertation students (I edit dissertations) told me about the difficulties that made her push her dissertation to the side and deal with life for a year before finalizing her graduation. At the time, I commiserated. I was going through a rough patch myself, so she shared some Mongolian wisdom with me (she’s from Mongolia, if my seeming non sequitur threw you off). She said, “In Mongolia, we say that bad things happen to clear the way for good things to come.” Or something along those lines. My mental quoting is not as accurate as I would like it to be. I am waiting for my good things to come. March was a mess of a month and the first week of April has gone downhill at an alarming rate. My stress levels are insanely high at the moment and it’s all I can do to stop myself from crashing on my bed and refusing to get up for a week.

down memory lane… or Florida roads

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The moment I stepped through the door last Monday, reality hit me. Hard. My relaxed vacation mood drifted away in an instant. Lots of stuff happened during my weekend absence, most of which involved my room and/or my kitteh. Kitteh caused lots of drama and continues to do so. All that’s left of my stress-free mini-break to St. Augustine are pictures and the five pounds I managed to put on. Speaking of which… How did that happen?! WHY?!? I only had dessert once. Okay, maybe twice? There was a lot of bread though… mmmm… there was some good bread in St. Augustine. It must have been the bread.

It was a long drive featuring lots of mad signs about pecans...

We're here! I always wanted to visit St. Augustine... it's the history nerd in me.

Castillo de San Marcos reminded me of visiting the Tower of London. This place definitely has a haunted vibe... which has been suitably exploited by the local guides.

We found the perfect job for our long-haired friends... historical reenacting.

Was really surprised by the St. Augustine lighthouse. The museum and grounds were so much more than I expected.

The stairwell was stunning, though I can't imagine dragging a bucket of oil to the top.

Sadly, I only got halfway up before I became lightheaded. The b-chan made it though.

Another neat place was the old drugstore, now a tea shop. It was filled with old bottles and more.

Had a very Downton Abbey sort of moment at the Lightner Museum... it's a collection of Gilded Age knick-knacks and doo-dads.

Visited the Old Jail, which was just as creepy as the fort... especially when my imagination was running wild.

Became very tipsy after taking the free wine tour at the San Sebastian winery. They were very generous with the samples. And had my first taste of port and sherry. Port is quite enjoyable.

And followed the wine tasting with a chocolate tour at the Whetstone chocolate factory to round out the hedonist experience... I think I'm seeing where the 5 lbs crept up.

It really was a fantastic place for a 4 day trip. Just enough to keep us busy but not so much that we felt we missed out on anything. We went to just about every major attractions, including the Fountain of Youth Park, Ripley’s, and others. The variety of restaurants was also fantastic, though I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a single Spanish restaurant (a place founded by Spaniards and no one thought to open a Spanish restaurant? Where’s my paella?).

The last week and a half, though, has mostly involved drama resolution and girth reduction. I want to go back to lazy St. Augustine :( .

Return to the present

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My weekend trip to St. Augustine (oldest city in the US!) was fantastic and lovely, but the sense of lost time (lost sense of time?) that accompanied it is still hitting me with a vengeance. How is it that my room managed to seemingly explode in my absence? Seriously, my stuff is everywhere, not including the souvenirs I just acquired (which was less than I thought after opening my wallet to all). Pictures are being sorted and will be shared soon. In the meantime, I leave you with a view of the Castillo de San Marcos on a rainy day.

Castillo de San Marcos

flavor explosion

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I haven’t posted about my Groupon adventures in a while, so here’s an update on my last two flavorful journeys around town.

Earlier this month, I dragged the bchan to Oh! Sushi in Doral, a cute little sushi shop that popped up a few months back. The menu is inexpensive and includes a nice variety of makis, sashimis, cones, and more. A big plus, they offer takoyaki (fried octopus balls), which I have only ever found at local Asian festivals. The sushi was okay, nothing extraordinary, but not bad. We were able to select a few different rolls, including the Happy roll (tuna, salmon, and cucumber), the Crazy (prawn tempura, tuna, chive, sesame, and spicy sauce), and a California roll. We also ordered miso and takoyaki(!!!). By far the best part of the place was the presentation and the ambiance. It is pure kawaii!

Oh! Sushi. Too cute!

Takoyaki!!! Loved it!

The miso comes in adorable little man bowls.

Loved the food presentation. Very colorful and fun.

 

Last night we got to try another interesting place, The Hot Pot in Hollywood. This place offers an Asian hot pot experience, inviting visitors to prepare a family-style soup meal at their table. I had read mixed reviews about this place, mostly complaining about the cook-it-yourself aspect of hot pots and the amount of food. I have no idea what these reviewers were thinking when they had their food, I found it more than plentiful and loved the idea of a hot pot restaurant. We had the hot pot for four with the hot and sour and house style broths (you get two types), and selected chicken, beef,  and shrimp for our meats; bok choy, mushrooms, and sprouts for our veggies; and rice and rice noodles for our starch. The experience was lots of fun and made me want to go again to try the other items on the menu (there was one giant bag thing that the couple at the next table was having… I don’t know what it was, but it looked intriguing). This is a great place for someone looking for a different experience.

A blurry view of The Hot Pot.

Our hot pot arrives.

Here come our add-ins.

Using my mad chopstick skills to get our soup going.

Delicious results!

 

Both broths were flavorful, but the hot and sour was by far the best (though not for those who fear a good, strong spice). The pot made more than enough for three people to have seconds and still have nearly two quarts of soup leftover (hello takeout containers!). Definitely want to go here again. Groupon has been good to my wallet and tastebuds, terrible for my waistline :P .

 

in which I take a break

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One of my students berated me yesterday when I told him I hadn’t been taking my lunch break lately… actually, it’s been a long time since I’ve managed to take my entire lunch hour on a daily basis, but that’s a long story. He told me I should enjoy my break, eat healthy, and drink hot drinks to stay fit and young. He says this is the Chinese way. So today I decided to take his advice and take my break in its entirety. And enjoy it. And drink hot drinks (though this is not a new addition to my routine as I regularly drink tea through the day). In fact, I decided to head off campus all together and go on a jaunt to the local health food mart for the full healthy, refreshing break experience. And it was good. Simple as that, I had a nice break away from everyone that might call me back to my desk, and I even got to try something new when I bought myself a bottle of Synergy’s Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha (which tastes like champagne to me and was quite a pleasant surprise). I believe I will continue to follow the Chinese way, if in a somewhat unplanned manner.

a taste of Asia

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Took my mom and gran to Fruit and Spice Park‘s 22nd Annual Asian Culture Festival yesterday and got to try all kinds of delicious treats and saw sights aplenty. This is one of my favorite Asian festivals in SoFla, but I wasn’t able to go during the last two years. It seems the park underwent a lot of landscaping during this time because it was even prettier than before and the event was even grander than I remember. During the years that I was able to go to the event, they generally had a heavy Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese presence, but this year they had even more representatives and stalls from the rest of Asia, including India, Iran, Korea, and other nations. The variety of food was fantastic and I only regret that I wasn’t able to convince my mom and gran to sample more treats. I was also very camera-happy during our walk through the park…

One of the neatest things I saw on display... a smoke bubble maker. Too cool!

The park's sunflowers were in fine form.

Some of the new additions at the park included a very refreshing fountain. The wind kept blowing droplets on us as we walked past.

Another pretty addition to the Festival.

Then there was the food... I had a delicious sampler of Bangladeshi vegetarian cuisine. Alas, it was too much for me, but I was a good daughter and shared.

As always, I am a sucker for bubble tea. This time, I had the Mango Boba.

I also threw caution (and diet) to the wind and enjoyed Gaby's Jackfruit Ice Cream. I really wish Gaby's distributed her wares further north...

I tried to spare my wallet, but couldn't resist getting another henna tattoo.

This is what it looks like after the top layer dried and peeled off... don't mind the mess on my bed.

One of the best freebies was a card with my name in Persian :) . The writer even pronounced my name correctly (which is rare).

The drive was long and the day was hot, but I’m so glad I got to go this year and really look forward to going next year. Trips to Homestead are always exhausting but well worth the effort :) .