New Mexico: Santa Fe

Since I moved here I have been exploring Santa Fe. It is a very little charming town, and I am glad that I have had this year to get to know it. I don't know if I would have ever visited any other way! 

Outside of the Native American Modern Art museum

Sigh...Childhood: Are You a Boy or a Girl?

My parents came to Santa Fe to visit me for a week. Tonight I was sitting around, working on my computer, when my dad turned around and said "You look pretty. Go figure! you were SUCH an ugly child, I would have never imagined"

Weird looking or not, this is my favorite picture of baby me with my mommy. Her prettiness makes me look even more alien-like 

No... he was not kidding.

New Mexico: White Rock Overlook

Whenever someone comes to visit me in New Mexico I have to bring them to the White Rock Overlook. It is a bit over thirty minutes north of Santa Fe, and it has a balcony that stands over a cliff overlooking the "Rio Grande" and the big Mesas (plateaus) where Los Alamos is located. 

Ugly Macarons

As a part of my baking challenge I have created the ugliest macarons. I asked Lilo which colors I should use for them, since I love making them crazy colors. He said black, so I put black coloring in them and they ended up gray. They were so ugly that I didn't even put coloring on the filling, I had given up on making them pretty. They ended up being gray and yellow. Terrible! But I took them to a birthday potluck, and the birthday guy said that they looked like Zombie macarons (and he looooves zombies). I made 80 of them, and the 20 or so people at the potluck ate them all and loved them. So I guess in the end they were a success.

Click to see more pictures!

New Mexico: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Last year I had a chance to go see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!. Every October over 750 hot air balloons rise in the air, covering the entire sky. There are normal balloons, as well as special characters and shapes. If nothing else, this would have made my move to New Mexico worth it. I just wish that I could have seen it with the people I love. But maybe one day!

Bolita Soda!

Have you ever seen these strangely shaped soda's at Asian grocery stores?

I used to always see them and I would be too scared to try them. They don't look very appealing to me. But one day, while exploring Santa Fe, I found them at World Market, and they wouldn't carry any extremely unhealthy drinks there, would they? So I tried it! and I am very happy that I did. 

The bottle is sealed with a marble that sits right at the lid. It comes with a little plastic piece that you use to push the marble into the bottle. It is the most fun you will ever have opening a drink. 

But it is not all about the bottle. The drink itself is actually very good. I don't like soda's very much, because they are usually too sweet, and too large. Even a can will be too much for me to finish. This bottle has the perfect amount in it (unless you like LARGE drinks) and it is not too sweet!

This is now my official summer drink! 

How to enjoy camping: REST

The last, and for me most important thing about making camping more enjoyable is rest. I don't know about you, but when I get sleepy I get whiney. And it is not that I am spoiled, and I act whiney because I want people to leave me alone so that I can sleep. No no no. It is because I feel miserable about everything! Everything is a burden, and nothing seems to go the way it is supposed to. I sleep way too much for a healthy 23 year old, but if my body seems to need it then it is a priority!

Too tired to make it inside of the tent? 

Long Distance

Lilo and I met in a class a bit over a year ago. We both knew that I was going to graduate, and most likely move right after, so we didn't want to get too involved with each-other. We both had long distance relationships before, and we didn't want to repeat it. But we couldn't help it, and ended up together. Then I moved to New Mexico, and we have spent the last 8 months seeing each-other about once every month and a half.

Breakfast date (skype)

We will soon live together, but I wanted to share what has kept us feeling like we are together even though we are so far: Technology. Whenever we are home we turn on Skype or Facetime, and we go on doing our things. We love cooking together. At night we sleep with Facetime on, so that in the mornings he can wake me up with his voice. We even do yoga together!

Trying to make me laugh (Skype)

Obviously this is no substitute to in-person interaction. But in the future, when I think back to the year I spent in New Mexico, I will remember it as if he had spent it right here with me.

Again, making me laugh (facetime).
 Whenever you pause facetime, the camara stops at last image.
He always makes a funny face before pausing.

My Macaron Making Story

About a year ago I saw a picture of a french macaron, and thought that it looked incredibly appetizing! I really really wanted to try one, but being in the middle of rural Illinois I knew that I wasn't going to be able to find them, so I decided to make them myself!
I didn't know what I was getting into. These are VERY hard to make right, but once I started, I couldn't go back.
A year later, and I can proudly say that I have the basics down. Here is a timeline with some pictures of my little macarons from the past.

Tiny Bites!

A friend of mine sent me a link to Shay Aaron's Flickr page, and I couldn't stop looking at his tiny dishes made out of polymer clay. Aren't they adorable?

Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies

Last week I made Jason Hudson's peanut butter and honey cookies. They were tasty, although I accidentally cooked some a bit too much. I ate about 10 of them today. Here is what they looked like:

Mine weren't as pretty as his. But I'm still a beginner at all this.

Next up are french vanilla macarons! But before that I will write a post about how I learned to make those. It's been a long way.

New Mexico: Ghost Cars

Here is the first post of my New-to-New Mexico series!

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to New Mexico was that wherever you were driving, be it a highway, or a tiny street in the middle of nowhere, you could always see random cars stopped on the side of the road. The strange thing is that they are standing in areas with no buildings, or parks, or anything. At first I would try to figure out reasons for this: Maybe the cops arrested the driver! Maybe they were murdered! Maybe they went for a pee in the desert and a mountain lion ate them! But nothing made sense. These cars were everywhere, and none of the people I asked knew why.

We made sure to park right after the speed sign, just in case. 

1 Year together!

Today is my first year anniversary with Alexei ("Lilo"). This is my first relationship where I actually remember it. Sadly, he is in Illinois on a camping trip while I am in New Mexico, so we won't be able to celebrate it together. For the last eight months we have been having a long distance relationship (I will post about that soon I posted about this here!). In two months he will be joining me in New Mexico, and then moving with me to The Bay Area. We are extremely excited and looking forward to many adventures together.


To look back and celebrate, here is a recollection of our last year's adventures:

Moving to the Bay Area: Short Pre-Move Visit

 This weekend I got a chance to visit the Bay Area to meet the people that I will be working with, as well as the University campus. It was an extremely short and busy trip, but it got me very excited about finally moving there. I only had my Iphone, so all my pictures were taken with it. So here it is:

Redwoods in the middle of the UC-Berkeley campus

How to Enjoy Camping: DIRT

I always thought that I could tolerate dirt. As a child I was always rolling around the dirt in my school's playground, putting it in my pockets, and on the rolled part of my rolled up pants (I would unroll them, put dirt in there, and roll again), and just finding all these awesome things to do with it. When picking me up at school, my mom would grab me by the legs and (softly) shake me upside down until no more dirt came out. I was NOT allowed in the car like that. Then we would stop by where my dad worked, and he would put me on a stool and blow compressed air at me, again until no more dirt came out. Only then was I allowed to enter my home, but not without my mom stripping me first, and throwing my still dirty clothes in the washer. My family never forgot this, and until today, they still consider me one of the dirtiest people in the family, even though I am probably cleaner than most of them. I was labeled, and I will stay like that forever.

Of course, I grew up, and got used to being sparkling clean ALL the time (hehe). However, I didn't realize how much I had changed, and I went on a camping trip being very excited about not taking a real shower for a couple of days. Two minutes into the trip I wanted to go home. 

This photo was taken after I spilled half a jar of molten peanut butter on myself.
You experienced campers can go embrace your peanut butter covered skin.
However, I had never been happier to see a waterfall.