Banana + Tomato

One thing I like about American culture: they don't give a damn about what you wear. Women in their fifties want to wear mini skirts - go ahead! Men want to bear love handles - be my guest! It took me such a long time to adjust to this American concept - you are your own boss: do whatever you want to do; then of course, wear whatever you want to wear. For example, I was unable to comfortably wear a low cut top when I was in Taiwan because I feel people staring at me on the street when I dared to do so. On the same token, I never wore too vivid color in Taiwan. Yeshyesh, as a humble Chinese, I very much embrace my conservative side.

So, today's outfit is a first to me. Maybe too much color...a real banana mixed with tomato..but hey, nobody raised a brow in mall today!

HM top and pants
Gap ballet flats, Jcrew belt 

Some outfits from weekdays.

Zara blazer and sweater
Giordano flats

Jcrew cardigan
BR dress

BR trench, HM top
Uniqlo jeggings, Coach flats

Blackjack Ball

I never had a prom in high school, considering the fact that I attended an all-girl high school. Maybe it's not a good excuse, you still can invite boys from an all-boy high school. Anyway, it was not an IT thing to have proms at that moment. The only thing close was a dance party where I was in my t-shirt.

On Friday, I finally got the chance wearing my long gown with my man who was so handsome in suit. Hell yah!!

 

Spaetzle

I made a cool side dish, spaetzle, last night. Actually I had it first time in Gramercy Tavern the past weekend. It isn't hard at all so you should try it. The recipe I used was from here.

The only difference is that I didn't use colander to push the batter; I used a plastic bag and cut a small hole at the corner and pushed the batter out. According to the recipe, it is unpleasant to push the batter on top of a pot of boiling water but I happen to like it;  it gave me weird pleasure to watch spaetzleblob "pu-tong" drop into water and to me, it was not that hot. After making the spaetzle, I cut bacon into small pieces, fried it, added minced shallots and added it to the fried spaetzle.

Spertzle, marinated pork chop and asparagus salad made a good dinner for my bf while I still had my routine of great snacks.

Theory shirt, Elie Tahari blazer
pants and shoes bought from Taiwan

Bull in heels

I lost my ability to walk in high heels. During my trip back to Taiwan, I wore flats almost everyday except in weddings. This morning when I put on the high-heeled boots, it took me seconds to balance and walk normally. I like to wear high heels not only for lengthening my figure but also for creating a sophisticated image. I walk in a very fast pace. On one hand, it is time saving; on the other hand, it's far away from being elegant. I believe somewhere out there, some women can manage to walk fast and elegantly at the same time but it's just not me.

HM sweater, Hollister shirt
Vintage leather jacket, Theory pants

Back to US

I become super lazy after coming back to US. I blame this on jet lag, spring fever and homesick. I couldn't fall asleep at the first night even after 28-hour flight + wait in the lounge + mean American custom officer tricking me with ambiguous questions ("How long do you plan to stay in US?" "m...as long as your government allows." "You can't. The working visa only gives you 3-year duration one time!" What a fucking asshole!) Anyway, I am in US safe and sound now (oh, I even made a NYC trip the past weekend on top of my laziness).

This Taiwan trip was marvelous. On a scale of 1-10 of how happy I was, I gave it 1000. Though I missed my baby very much the entire trip, it was so nice being with my family, meeting my new niece who liked to grab my hair, hence some hair went missing, and hanging out with my best friends. After getting to certain age, I found myself cherish my family and old friends more and more. These are people to whom I can talk freely and share my deepest feelings with. More importantly, these are people who I can say "remember ......you .....we ....that's so stupid." They are my heart and my soul. I love them so much.

Enough sensitivity, the food in Taiwan was so amazing. Of course it was always great but it tasted even better than it did in my memory because of 5-year living aboard in a rural place where I am the cook. Of course, during these 5 years, I still travel to New York City a lot where as long as you have money, good food is quite accessible. However, some food is hard to replicate aboard so that's why it's called home flavor. Moreover, it is way more expensive to have food of the same quality in US than in in Taiwan.

On a separate note, do you think I will post pictures? With the excess weight gain during the trip, I don't think so. I am still waiting for my friends to send me pictures that was taken in the beginning of the trip (aka, no round face and okay waistline). They promise it will come at any moment...

My dad and I were in the wedding

Greetings from Taiwan

Greetings from Taiwan!! I have been in this lovely island for the past 5 days and feeling very much freshened up. As anticipated, I have a very screwed up schedule due to aging. Jet lag seems to stay with me all the time and I have zero power to get rid of it. I feel sleepy at the weirdest timing.

I have been enjoying every bit of this trip. For example, I just finished 3 delicious slices of cakes (different tastes) with a price of 5 USD and plan to have an extravagant brunch for 4 USD. The only thing worth of complaints is that I made a strategic mistake in the beginning. I packed four pairs of tight jeans, super tight jeans and leather pants for the thought of being a trendy global trotter. With the gourmet journey, I have a handle aggressively developed around my mid-section. It coincides with the bottom zipper so everyday I feel painful to zip up my jeans; even worse, after zipping, I feel I am wearing a corsage.

There is so much more to this trip but right now pardon me for going to bed at 6:50 am. Oh another quick update, my beloved just told me we got another bat in the house. Actaully, he emailed me "hey btw, we got another one" with the title "Bat." Though for some mysterious reasons, when I requested more details over phone, he behaved like he just talked to the lawyer "what bat? I didn't see any. Did you?"

Bat in my house

I would like to share with you a true story that almost made me shxx in my pants situation.

It happened on Saturday night. My boyfriend and I went to a fun party and after going back home, I was very much beaten up so I went to bed directly while my energetic watched a movie next to me.

Suddenly he woke me "hey, wake up, there is a bird in the room."
I opened my eyes and saw a small, black thing circling in the bedroom "oh, what the hell." I closed my eyes "bad bird!"
The energetic jumped out of bed and said "get up, get up, we have to fish it out. It just landed."
"But I don't want to. I am very tired." I said.
"Come on come on."
You know this kind of energy was very contagious so eventually I got up and went to bedroom door where the energetic was standing.
"So where is that bad bird?"
"Behind the curtain."
He went over to shake the curtain; nobody came out so I decided to throw some small goods toward it.

Something fell on the floor. Oh my dear lord, it was a bat. An animal I saw in the movie or in the zoo where I commented "he must have all the blood in the brain."
From that moment on, all my hair stood up and I started screaming "get it out get it out."

Eventually my brave man got it out but I had all sorts of nightmares that night all related to bats. We did some research on bats and found out the presence of bat in a house is not uncommon in America since they are like the rat in attic so it's easy to find their trace in old houses. The next day we started to search for all possible entrances since research indicated that unlike birds, bats don't come in house through open windows - they use the indoor path.

Found it! In one of our closets next to bathroom, there was a long and lean gap (too slim for me but definitely good enough for a troop of bats). It is fixed now but right now I always am very cautious when I open that storage room, worrying that there may be this little creature hung there and say "hey how you doing." Bastards!

BTW, share with you about the Chinese saying about bats. If you find it in your house, it means good luck is coming. It is hard to explain so how about you don't ask :) And please don't ask for the evidence of bats, i.e. pics. I don't have it and I am glad I am near-sighted. All I know they don't look like batman.

HM sweater, leather leggings
AX coat