Mmm I looove caramels! I mean, I enjoy fudge and toffee and similar candy too, but my all-time favorite is still caramel. It can be a wide range of softness and flavors. I’m particular to the gooey ones that are quick to melt in your mouth. I’ve tried watermelon-infused ones, coconut ones, chocolate-encased ones, and they’re all fantastic. Everything from Milk Duds to the pictured Crack Caramel caramels are good in my book. I’ve never had a problem with them sticking to my teeth and if they did I figure they’d just melt away eventually anyway. Their sweetness is the perfect pick-me-up for my sweet tooth. Between the taste and texture, they’re really a great treat!
365great Day 226: caramel
26
October
2013
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UK Vacation Day 5 Recap
laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: experiences, food, panda, philosopher, pictures, travel, uk, york
26
October
2013
By day 5 of our trip, Panda and I had made it up to my old stomping grounds of York. I went over some of this in my post in honor of York, but here’s another look at it. We walked around town before meeting up with Philosopher and reminiscing about old days with him as we returned to the Uni of York campus. We took a break for lunch at one of my fav sandwich shops, then checked out the rest of the university. Later in the day we wandered back into town and explored a bunch of shops before ending up at York Minster. From there, it was time to grab dinner and hang out with Philosopher a bit more before sending him off… til next time!
[If you missed out on the others, here are Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 recaps.]
We stayed at the Hampton Inn right by the train station, which was quite modern and new.
We were right next to the City of York Council, which had a nice courtyard with a quote by WH Auden, who was born in York.
Off we go to the more busy side of town!
I remember eating the largest naan ever here… it was at least the size of my torso and came hanging from a giant hook.
The River Ouse running through town.
Good old York Dungeon, which I’ve never been in, and Gallery, which was my go-to club.
Met up with Philosopher and started our stroll to the Uni of York campus.
The day couldn’t decide if it’d be sunny or cloudy, which made for some cool skyscapes.
I thought my flats would be fine for walking but my feet got rubbed raw.
We used to live here in M Block!
For lunch we went over to Brown’s in the little town of Heslington.
Brown’s sandwiches are yuuummy!!
After lunch we went on a little tour of the main campus area.
On our way back towards town, we came across a bird that the guys tried to corner.
Love the green initiatives popping up.
We’d never actually been to Clifford’s Tower so we decided it was time to take a look.
Got up to the top of the stairs for a great view, but didn’t feel like paying to enter so we left.
Back in town and where to go?
We came across street performers doing Native American music, which was quite good.
I never knew we had a cat store in town! And check out the ice cube tray I knew I had to have.
Browsing a store, I found an unwanted resident in one of the mugs for sale.
We then approached York Minster and went inside just in time to catch the evensong performance.
For dinner, it was Gert & Henry’s for their Sunday roast.
A delicious meal to warm up to.
365great Day 225: collages
laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, collages, photo editing, pictures
25
October
2013
Pictures go a long way to convey things, but a single image sometimes isn’t enough to showcase stuff across locations, time, or other factors. That’s why I love to put together collages – it’s an easy way to visually get relevant images grouped together so you don’t need to flip through a dozen different pictures. A more consolidated view like that can help bring out a theme and if offers more versatility than trying to get everything into one picture frame in the first place. In the case of this collage I put together for the Carrabbas First Tastes event, I couldn’t have had all the items laid out on the table at once since the courses came one at a time. Even if they all came out at once, a giant picture of all the dishes could have shadows in the wrong places, dishes blocking each other, and other challenges. That’s why collages are great, since you can work around those issues!
Pre-drywall walk-through
laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: condo, construction, future, home, panda, pictures
25
October
2013
Panda and I had our pre-drywall walk-through at the condo this week, where we got to check out the general frame and make sure we were getting outlets, cables, and ceiling rough-ins where we needed them. It was cool to be able to see the place in this unfinished condition right before they get the drywall installed and the interior starts looking like a home.
There’s a whole lot of wooden beams!
Got all the approvals in order for gas, plumbing, wiring, etc.
The porch is still in the works.
The next building is already well underway.
Outside there are a ton of materials still to be used.
This is where our sales guy explained to Panda how I get the walk-in closet. 🙂
Can’t wait to make good use of our new tub.
All kinds of HVAC stuff going on in here.
One last chance to see the stairs from this side before the walls get in the way.
There are random chunks of insulation everywhere.
Many more trees to be planted between us and the single family homes we face in the back.
365great Day 224: yoga
24
October
2013
For the longest time I meant to take yoga classes and when I finally did, it did not disappoint. It’s amazing how something so simple, slow, and low-key could work you out so well. Yoga builds strength while somehow making you more limber. You can practice it just about anywhere and when you’ve gotten good you can do all kinds of cool poses like this one my friend’s holding. Yoga is also very much about your mind and I’ve always found it to be a peaceful activity that is relaxing yet rejuvenating. Through precise, controlled movements and deep, careful breaths, I manage to improve a bit each time. I can get a great workout in without ever breaking a sweat!
Treatsie October 2013 review
laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, candy, chocolates, food, pictures, reviews, snacks, subscriptions, sweets
24
October
2013
Trick or Treatsie!
Treatsie is $15 per box and comes with artisan candy from 3 brands. That usually means 5 or 6 different flavors of treats. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.
This time it was Halloween-themed! So cute.
Even the tissue paper and sticker inside were themed.
I was too excited to try it all that I forgot a picture of all the items together, so this is the best you’ll get!
Alma Chocolates Thai Peanut Butter Cup & Salted Lavender Caramel: These are super cute little chocolates that are reeeeeally rich. The peanut butter cup was very smooth and definitely wasn’t your normal American peanut butter flavor. I’m not sure I could eat these normally since it was so creamy. The salted caramel is delicious and I wish I could eat more but it’s very strong too so half a piece is already more than enough. These taste like high-quality treats and I’d totally get more caramels.
Taza Chocolates Organic Stone Ground Dark Chocolate Crispy Crunch Bar: This is an excellent crispy chocolate bar. It’s like a healthy version of Nestle Crunch bars. I didn’t even know they used brown rice in these! This is more of a dry taste, probably due to the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the crispiness of the rice.
Craftmade Toffee Almond Toffee with Milk Chocolate & Caramel Corn Toffee with Milk Chocolate: O.M.YUM I looove toffee and these are just fabulous. The perfect kind of sweetness and crunch with extra bits to balance out the flavor. The almond one is good but the caramel corn one is heavenly. Amazing! I must get more of the caramel corn one. Noooom…
I like that Treatsie’s back to focusing on chocolates as the weather cools down. These are all wonderful fall candies that I can see myself eating with a nice mug of hot chocolate and a book by the fireplace (not that I have a fireplace). What do you think of these snacks?
[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]
365great Day 223: desserts
laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, desserts, eating, food, habits, pictures, preferences, restaurants, sweets
23
October
2013
I’m a sweets kind of person. That’s why my favorite course is dessert and I often don’t wait until the end of a meal to enjoy it. In fact, in high school my best friends and I would go out to restaurants and get our dessert brought out first. It confused many a waiter, though I’m not sure why they made it such a big deal. So what if we wanted to treat the dessert like an appetizer? I figured we may as well start with the best part and work our way from there. I also find desserts to be really fabulous breakfast items. My favorite is a giant cone of vanilla bean ice cream to kick off the day. I did that many a morning in middle and high school and I thought it was great!
Physically aging
laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: aging, high school, physical feats, pictures
23
October
2013
I hadn’t realized how much more stiff my body’s gotten. Back in the day, my back was so flexible it was really hard for me to keep a straight back when I did pushups. I could practically touch my hands and feet together when I did the bridge and I easily touched my heels to my forehead when I leaned back while laying on my belly (similar to the picture shown). Up until high school, I did these types of back-bending exercises often. Then in college it didn’t really come up and over the years I sort of forgot about it. I tried to do it again a few nights ago and uh… yeah, let’s just say my back wouldn’t cooperate.
Some things I still can do, like touch my elbows behind my back and bring my heels all the way in when doing the butterfly stretch. But this? If I point my toes I can get them to touch my head, but it’s not quite the same. I did strain my back a few times since college, which must have tightened my muscles more than I realized. I wonder if I can still do the limbo like I used to too. I was always awesome at that, but I doubt I could get very low nowadays. I think it’s time to get back into yoga so I can regain some of that flexibility while building strength. Now if only I could get around to finding a good studio…
365great Day 222: sunshine
laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, experiences, pictures, preferences, socal, sun, sunshine, weather, work
22
October
2013
Today I found myself noticeably more alert and energetic when the sun came out in the afternoon. It hadn’t struck me before, but I think I might have a mild case of SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Perhaps I’ve lived in the gorgeous Southern California sun for too many years now. While I’ve certainly missed having weather patterns like precipitation and experiencing true seasons, it hasn’t been all that easy readjusting to east coast life. When the weather is dreary (and often it is), all I want to do is snuggle up with a hot drink and relax with some mindless activities. It’s tough to get work done when I can’t feel my toes, my fingers are stiff, and I feel like I’m on the verge of being under the weather. I’ve been downing hot water these days – a good 8-10 mugs a day – and that helps at times, but it’s only a temporary solution. Maybe I’m going to want to move back to SoCal sooner than I thought… I mean, with sunshine nearly every day, it’s always great to be there.
Carrabbas Fire Finished First Tastes
22
October
2013
Tonight, Panda and I went to Carrabbas for a special event they were holding. They’ve got their Fire Finished dishes available seasonally and they were offering samplers for free at their Fire Finished First Tastes event for those who signed up. We arrived around 6 and took up spots at the reserved tables set up near the bar. After sipping on drinks for a bit, the food started coming out. First up was the Fire-Roasted Mushrooms with sausage, peppers, fennel, onion, breadcrumbs, artichoke, and cheese:
I enjoyed this dish a lot because I’m a huge fan of stuffed mushrooms. The taste was fabulous and the tomato-y sauce was a great touch. Panda loved it so much he cleared the plate. I’d definitely order this next time we’re here! Then we got the bread to share:
There was something a little bitter about it, but I did like how soft it was. After we chowed down on that, we got the Bistecca Ardente, a USDA sirloin with roasted tomatoes, blue cheese, and basil:
I’m not really into steaks but I did enjoy this taste. It might be the first time I’ve eaten a pinkish sirloin. I like that they topped it with tomatoes. I wouldn’t normally get this, but it was enjoyable. Up next was the Rigatoni Al Forno pasta with sausage and various cheeses:
This was a solid pasta dish, though the cheese was a bit strong for me. I like the sausage and pasta – a pretty classic dish. After that came the Cedar Plank-Fired Salmon with jumbo lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce:
I loved the concept of this dish, though I would have liked to taste the crab a bit more. I think it got a bit overcooked since the pieces are smaller than you’d usually get when you order the dish. I’ve eaten a lot of salmon lately so I need a bit of a break, but this was good and I’d try it again. The last savory dish to come out was the Nonna Testa’s Baked Pasta with penne in pesto cream sauce and pine nuts, spinach, zucchini, and cheese:
By this time I was so full I could hardly eat any of this. I liked the flavor and I would love to try this again another day when I can start with an empty stomach. Panda loves the pine nuts and I like their use of spinach and zucchini. And then to round it all off, we had creme brulee for dessert!
Yum!! This is a fantastic dessert with amazing crispy bits and a rich creaminess that is oh so smooth. It was almost too rich for me to finish, but I did anyway. 🙂 I wish there was more of the caramelized part! After all this, two glasses of Coke and a glass and a half of water, I was stuffed. We stuck around to thank the manager, chef, and waiters and I left a tip for the both of us before heading out.
