A Christmas Reminder

It's Christmas Eve, and from anyone's perspective, it's been a successful one. The whole family is together to celebrate, there is a rather large pile of presents under our tree, my mom prepared a Christmas ham for lunch, and we all sat by a cozy fire and ate pumpkin pie and homemade fudge while opening presents  (one of our family traditions is for each person to open one present on Christmas Eve, but to save the rest for Christmas day).

To end our evening, we went to a Christmas Eve service. Not only is this another family tradition, but it's also an obligation, at least for my dad. He's the pastor of a small church in Dearborn, Michigan (think ghetto Detroit). It takes about an hour to drive from our cookie cutter home in the suburbs to the church, which is in the middle of a hurting community in which about one out of every three buildings is borded up, there are liquor stores on every corner, and I would actually encourage Albert to bring his gun along (if you know me, you know this rarely happens).

So we went to church, enjoyed a Christmas skit by the children, sang a number of Christmas hymns, and lit candles to commemorate the night when Jesus came into the world. It was nice, but I would hardly say that I was moved. In fact, I was really just looking forward to starting the hour-long drive back to our cozy house to partake in more Christmas festivities. After a few minutes of post-service mingling, we piled back into our 2002 Toyota minivan and took off for home.

The only good thing about driving through the hood is that gas is cheap, and my dad made sure to bring cash. There's a particular gas station where he always stops. We pulled up, and he got out of the car to pump gas. Since he was paying with cash, he had to go inside to give money to the teller. So he walked toward the station and as he did so, I noticed a man who was loitering outside the store approach him. I reacted the way I typically do when I see people like that.

"He's just going to ask for money," I thought to myself. "They all ask for money, and they all use it for the same thing." A neon lotto sign flashed in the background as my dad came out of the store. When he did, the man approached him, and I could see that he was saying something. He followed my dad to the car, and my dad handed him a couple of bucks. When I saw the man's face, he became real to me. He was no longer just a bum on the corner begging for change. He became a person. A person with needs and wants and hopes and dreams, just like me. And he is spending Christmas Eve in the freezing cold at a gas station.

I asked my mom if we had any food in the car, and it just so happened that we had some apple sauce. So my mom got out of the car to talk to him as my dad continued pumping gas. She asked if he wanted some apple sauce, and he said "Yes, that would be great." As they exchanged words and my mom handed him the apple sauce, he gave her a hug. Tears started flowing down my face, as the reality of what so many people are facing this time of year really hit home. Here I was wearing a flashy new watch and anticipating all the other presents I would be opening tomorrow, while this man-and so many others like him-are just looking forward to their next meal.

Wow. This really put things in perspective for me. With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparation-shopping for presents and planning nice meals, trimming the tree and decking the halls-I failed to prepare for the most important part of Christmas: Christ. Preparing for Christ means getting our hearts ready to not only receive him, but also to share him. It's about remembering who he is and why he came. He came to serve the least of these. Christmas presents are nice, but they have no intrinsic value. And when I'm surrounded by hurting people, presents really aren't even that exciting to receive. I failed, once again, to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Shame on me for being so selfish that during this Christmas season, I haven't looked beyond my own wants to find a way to bless those around me.

I still love all the sentimental things that surround Christmas, and I'm sure I always will. But I need to add another tradition-sharing the love of Christ with those in my community who are less fortunate that I am. It's a simple gesture that can mean a lot, both for those I reach out to and for me. As we drove away from the gas station, I prayed for that man and his family. Only God knows what his needs are, and only God can bring healing in his life. But I am so thankful that God put him in my path to remind me about what's really important.

I hope that as you celebrate Christmas, you, like I was tonight, are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. Celebrate the birth of Jesus, God's Son, who came not to give shiny presents, but to bring hope to the hopeless and new life to those who are lost.

Merry Christmas.

Making a Fall Wreath

If you haven't yet, read my last blog about Getting into Fall. It will set the mood for this fun activity. As I thought about decorating for fall, I realized that I didn't have a fall wreath, and everyone needs a fall wreath! So I googled it to see if I could find any cool ideas to copy. I found one! It's from a blog called Crafting Mom (I know, I know. Totally nerdy. But I loved it!). Her idea was to make roses with felt and hot glue them onto a wreath. Perfect. So I picked up some felt in a few fall colors and got to work. 

A couple of years ago, I found a 10' strand of branches at a garage sale. I figured I would find a use for it one day. And I did!

 Here are the colors that I used for the wreath: burgundy, brown, tan and gold.

I cut a piece of the branches that was the size I was looking for. I think my wreath is about a foot to a foot and a half in diameter.

Then I had to find a way to bind the branches together. I figured a rubber band would probably be the best choice, and it ended up being pretty easy to do. It would obviously be much easier to start with a pre-made wooden wreath, so I recommend doing that.

To disguise the rubber band, I found a golden yellow ribbon that added a really nice touch to the wreath.

 Now to make the roses. I cut the felt into circles (anywhere between 4" and 8" in diameter). It helps to have special fabric cutting scissors, but as long as your scissors are sharp, you should be fine.

Then I cut the circles into fairly wide swirls. Starting from the center and working my way outside, I begin to wrap the felt swirls into the shape of roses. I used my hot glue gun occasionally to glue the roses together.

 It ended up being easier than I thought it would.

 Baby roses!

I arranged the roses the way I wanted them and hot glued them onto the wreath. My only regret is that I didn't buy use any gold/orange felt roses. I might add some next year, but for now, here's my wreath! 

Getting into Fall!

Man, I've really been slacking on the blogs recently. Life just keeps getting in the way. I've been intentional about documenting things with my camera, but I haven't actually had the time to share them on my blog.

To recap- It's fall. I LOVE FALL! It's not something that I had the opportunity to fully partake in growing up in southern California, and although southern California is one of my favorite places on earth, I truly do enjoy fall on the east coast. Reasons I love fall: the cool, crisp weather (no more humidity!!!); the beautiful colors; anything and everything pumpkin; apple picking; Halloween; Thanksgiving; and coziness. I've been doing my best to enjoy all of these things this fall.

Since I'm new to the whole having my own place thing, I'm still figuring out how to decorate seasonally. I don't really have many warm colors around my house (I love bold and bright), so I decided I needed to tone things down a bit in order to create a suitable environment in which to enjoy the things I love most about fall. So, I went out and bought a few mini pumpkins and gourds, as well as a beautiful golden colored mum. I also found some beautiful leaves and acorns around my neighborhood and have used those as decorations in my table centerpiece.

While all of those things are great and added fall flavor to my house, I felt the need to get a bit more creative, so I took a trip to JoAnn's and found some lovely fabric. Table runner time!

I'm a bit rusty on my sewing, since I haven't pulled out my machine for almost a year, but after a good deal of effort and a lot of seam ripping, I finished my table runner. You can see the miniature  cheesecakes displayed on the final product:

So, to sum it all up: Fall is great, and I've been enjoying it immensely. Stay tuned for upcoming blogs about some great fall foods!

Welcoming Fall's Arrival

I have to admit, I'm still grieving what feels like a lost summer. In the history of my life, this has to be the worst summer (weather-wise) that I have ever experienced. Rain, rain, and more rain. And then there was the humidity and extreme heat. Excluding my 2-week vacation in California, I only made it to the beach once. And that wasn't because I didn't put forth the effort to get myself there. The several weekends that I planned a beach trip (3 hours round trip), it rained. To make matters worse, fall came early this year. I kept holding out for a second heat wave, but it didn't come. So, I spent a lot of time being angry at weather.com and the state of Pennsylvania, and I made it a point to complain a lot to whoever would listen.

All that aside, and now that fall has been around for several weeks, I'm starting to accept (and even get excited) for everything that comes with fall. Pumpkins, pumpkin spiced lattes, apple picking and my favorite cowboy boots. To welcome fall's arrival, Media hosted Fall Super Sunday, a fun day filled with food, shopping, and entertainment. They closed off their main street, and all the businesses set up booths in the street. It's one of my favorite things to do in the area, so I decided to go last weekend. We had great weather and really enjoyed ourselves. Here are some pictures from the day.

A snapshot of main street.

It was a bit crowded, but I made my way around alright.

I got to pet this SUPER cute black lab puppy. Unfortunately, I couldn't get him to look at me for the photo.

Beautiful sky and beautiful buildings.

Seven Stones Cafe- My favorite coffee shop in Media.

This is me admiring all the lovely pottery. I came super close to buying a vase, but refrained.

A fun display of antique bottles.

Rockin my favorite boots.

The start of my owl collection.

A typical Anna face. "Are you kidding me?"

Uninspired Banter

When I first started this blog, I had every intention of posting in it regularly. I mean, once my readers got a taste of my eloquence and wit, they wouldn’t be able to live without it. Right? Right???  Unfortunately, the best of intentions are often overcome by laziness, lack of time, lack of inspiration… the list goes on. 

Despite my deep desire to write and to write well, I have been struggling with “producing” as of late. Well, it’s not only lately that I’ve struggled with it. About a month after I started the blog, I went on a 12-month hiatus. Talk about follow through. Once I finally picked it up again, my goal was to post every couple of weeks. That happened for a while. I even managed 7 blogs in one month (I had a lot going on in my life)! However, I have slipped off that high back into a slump. I'm having a difficult time thinking about interesting things to write about.

I think part of the reason is that I write about my experiences, and sometimes, the things I experience really aren’t worth writing about. Documenting an international trip as opposed to elaborating about a typical week in the office usually tends to yield different results (depending on how exciting or ridiculous your co-workers are). I guess I just haven’t been super inspired as of late. And to make matters worse, I write all day at work, which makes it difficult to motivate myself to write when I'm at home.

What to do… what to do. I’m trying to figure out how to re-inspire myself. Any suggestions? Yoga? Copious amounts of chocolate? A trip to the Grand Canyon? As I write this, I’m in the middle of a 5-hour and 13-minute plane ride to Seattle. The view out of my window is just spectacular.  All I can see are clouds, but the formations are exquisite. They have molded themselves into mountains and valleys and rivers and space shuttles. I supposed my mind should be more like a cloud—malleable and ever changing with the wind. So I’ll work on getting more creative with my writing, and you can work on being a dedicated reader. Deal? Deal. Here's to new and exciting beginnings and hopefully some inspiration along the way. 

PS: This post is dedicated to Albert, who continually encourages me to pursue my interests and talents. Thanks for pushing me when I need to be pushed (gently, of course).

Redecorating a Kitchen

When I moved to Philly over a year and a half ago, all I brought with me was what I could fit in my car- clothes, shoes, and some small decorative items that I had been collecting. I was the last one to move into my apartment (2 roomies moved in before me), so it was already furnished when I arrived. On a good day, the furniture was horrible. And that was on a good day. It sort of reminded me of a guy's college dorm room. The couch was bright green (think 1970s neon). There was a white, pink and purple plain armchair, which sat next to the couch (talk about good color combos). The former tenants left it here. I wonder why. All of the furniture was mismatched and outdated (and not in a cool, vintage-looking way). It really made me excited to invite my friends over to show them the place.


Among the ugly pieces of furniture was a brown cupboard that stood in the kitchen. Granted, it was convenient to have the extra storage space, especially since I was the one who kept my food inside, but it was an eye sore. I've slowly been acquiring and replacing furniture through amazing finds at garage sales, thrift stores, antique malls and craigslist ($50 for an amazing couch set!). And when my roommate (who had provided all the lovely furniture) got married and moved out in June, I took advantage of the opportunity to change as much around the house as possible. Most of her furniture went with her, but she decided to leave the kitchen cupboard. Initially, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of keeping it in my kitchen, but then my creative juices started flowing, and I decided that it would make for the perfect art project.

So I took a field trip to Home Depot (one of my favorite stores) and picked up a gallon of some lovely green paint. I dedicated a Saturday to transforming this unsightly cupboard into a gem. Total project cost: $26 and some change. Plus, I still have half a gallon of paint left. I'm saving it for my next inspiration. Here it is: before and after.

After just one coat:

 

After 3 coats:

The color in the picture above this one is slightly closer to life, although neither of them are perfect, because of the lighting. This cupboard is now the focal point in my kitchen. It has totally transformed the style (along with some other fun pieces that I've been up over the past few months.)

 1930s bowls I picked up at an antique store in Shelby Township, Michigan. $20 for the set.

 

 Kitchen scale from an antique mall in Seattle, Washington. $20. 

Set of 3 mason jars- $12 from a flea market in Malvern, PA. The 1950s set of pyrex bowls on top of the cupboard are also from the flea market.

White kitchen shelf. $6 at a garage sale in Media, PA. Antique yellow tin, $1 at a flea market in Ardmore, PA. Antique kitchen utensils- $5 from flea market in Malvern. Matryoshka measuring cups- $10.95 from World Market in Seattle. Green saucer and sugar bowl from my grandmother. Can't put a price on that.

Now if only my landlord would replace our kitchen floor and lights.....

*I forgot to mention that the shelf was hung by my most kind, skillful, talented and muscular manfriend, AJR.

Sometimes All You Can Do Is Laugh

I just got back from a 2 week vacation with my family in California. It was fantastic. I mean, it's California, right? I got to see all my extended family and my high school friends. Got to go to a wedding. Hit up the beach a handful of times and consumed as many California burritos and In N Out burgers as I could get my hands on. Always a good time. I have a lot of great memories from this trip, but my favorite memory consists of a rental car, a rental car key, and a trash truck. Are you ready?

I was with my family in central California visiting relatives, and the plan was to leave at 8 am on Monday morning to head back down to LA. Our plans fell through. You see, a peculiar thing happened that prevented us from leaving when we had planned. It was so ridiculous that I didn't even know what to think, yet at the same time, I wasn't even surprised. After all, this kind of thing that happens to my family on a pretty regular basis. It's often the result of my dad's forgetfulness; sometimes my mom's. I, of course, am never to blame. I used to get really worked up when these things happened, and sometimes I still do, but this was just hilarious.

Since we flew to Cali and had to get around, my parents rented a van, and that rental van had a key. The key was used to start the car when we wanted to drive somewhere. Well, said key was no longer in existence when it came time to leave. It had been in my dad's possession earlier that morning but was nowhere to be found when we were ready to embark on our 3 hour journey back to the hood. He did, however, find what he thought to be the plastic casing to the key chain. It looked like it had been run over by something heavy. Interestingly enough, a trash truck happened to have rolled through the neighborhood a few minutes prior to that moment. It stopped at the house where we were staying to collect our trash. Could it be that the trash truck ran over our key? We had no solid evidence, but that was the general consensus. I mean, what other explanation could my dad have for losing the key?

My parents had us all outside looking in the yard and on the street for the key, just in case the trash truck theory was inaccurate or the key had somehow been catapulted into the air and landed in an unexpected location. Not only did my parents have us out looking, but my dad and uncle chased the trash truck down to see if they could check the tires, just in case the key somehow got stuck in a crevice of one of the tires but was still intact. No such luck. Shocking, I know. After a few minutes, Amy and Rachael (my two sisters) joined me in the house. The three of us commented on the fact that we weren't at all surprised that this was happening. In fact, it was almost to be expected.

Then we heard my dad enter the house and ask my mom to look inside his suitcase. (Rolled eyes from all three of us). Amy and I both agreed that after the elaborate and ludicrous story about how the trash truck ran over the key and after 30 minutes of looking for the freaking thing and being on the phone with Enterprise to see if we could get a duplicate, wouldn't it be funny if we found it in his suitcase. We wouldn't even be surprised, because he's pulled stunts like that before. So we just sat there waiting. Lo and behold, about two minutes later, we heard my mom yell, "I found the key!" We burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Of course it was in his suitcase. And of course he had assumed that since he couldn't find his key and since he discovered a piece of plastic outside, the only logical conclusion was that the trash tuck ran over it. We got in trouble for laughing, as usual. But we didn't care. It was really the only thing we could do.

Good times.

Summer Eats: Pad Thai

I love to cook. Almost as much as I love to eat. I’ve been cooking for a long time, but I recently decided to branch out beyond my typical dishes to explore more exotic cuisine. I recently embarked on a cooking adventure that started in the international aisle at Genuardi’s (if you know what Genuardi’s is, you’re probably aware that the international aisle is actually labeled “Mexican and Kosher,” despite the fact that there are tons of Asian and other international products. Interesting.). I haven’t done much cooking with Asian food, so I needed to purchase several staple items to begin with: red chili paste, soy sauce, fresh ginger and rice vinegar. I now keep these stocked in my kitchen in case a desire for Asian cuisine should arise. In addition to these items, pad thai also calls for:

Peanut butter

Bean sprouts

Garlic

Onion

Peanuts

Cilantro

Chicken

Shrimp (optional)

Tofu (optional)

Paprika

Rice noodles (I think I use 16 oz)2

Eggs

Lime

I think that’s it.

Cooking pad thai is a rather in depth process, but it is totally worth it. Here’s a fact about my cooking style: I don’t usually measure. I just sort of throw things together and hope that it turns out ok. It usually does. So for those of you who love to abide by recipes, this might not be very helpful, since I’ll be estimating.

Here goes.

In a small (not tiny) bowl, mix:

            Peanut butter (approx 2-3 T)

            Soy sauce (around 2 t)

            Rice vinegar (about 1 t)

            Red chili paste (about 2 T)

Juice from one lime

Stir these ingredients together really well, making a creamy sauce. It will be relatively thick.

Boil a large pot of water for the rice noodles. They only need to cook for 7-9 minutes, depending on what kind you get.

In a large frying pan, sauté in olive oil:

            3 cloves of garlic, chopped

            ½ brown onion, chopped

            1 t grated ginger 

Add:

            2 chicken breasts, diced

            1 cup shrimp (if you like shrimp)

            1 cup tofu, diced (if you’re into that)

The first couple times I made pad thai, I just used chicken and shrimp. The last time I made it, I decided to add tofu, because I was making another dish that called for it and figured it would be interesting. It wad great. 

Once the meat is cooked through and the rest of the ingredients are lightly browned, add the peanut butter mix. Stir thoroughly. Add a package of bean sprouts. If you like things spicy, you can add some paprika.

Drain the noodles when they’re done and put them aside.

Move the ingredients to one side of the frying pan and crack 1-2 eggs (depending on how much you want). Lightly scramble them in the pan before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. 

Add the noodles. Stir all of the ingredients in the pan until they’re well mixed.

Garnish with shelled peanuts and cilantro. 

*This recipe makes a lot of pad thai, so it’s great if you’re having company. If you’re just cooking for a couple of people, I would cut this recipe in half. Also, I’ve had to use 2 frying pans to contain all of the food, since I don’t have one that’s big enough. Just a warning.

Anyway, this is now one of my favorite dishes. It can be as mild or spicy as you want. It can also be vegetarian or meat lovers. I’m all about experimenting and improvising, so give it a shot!