One Year Older...

Dearest somewhat organized a little b-day thing for me. Very last minute, but at least he tried. Still, I had a great time seeing all my friends- even the ones from SF. :) I feel old. 22 was always a milestone age in my mind- graduating from college, finding a job, being independent. So I'm mostly there, but it's still freaking me out a bit. It's sort of a wake up call- Hey, you're not a kid anymore. You're about to graduate, you've got two to support (no, not a baby- me and Dearest!), and you're getting married soon. Crazy!

Classes have been... going. Five weeks left of this quarter and then five weeks of summer school. July 24th, here I come! Funny, Dearest and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary the next day. I can't believe that 2 years have gone by already. Hopefully the next 4 years of Dearest's school will go by just as fast. Hopefully.

In other news, come July I'll have to quit my nanny job to find a full time job (gotta pay the bills somehow). So if anyone is up for watching an adorable 2.5 year old about 3 times a week in the afternoon, let me know. She's incredibly cute and fun to play with. She's a bit loud and adventurous, but she'll really make you love your job.

We're currently looking at a new place to live. It's a bit smaller than our current space, but everything is BRAND NEW! Brand new carpet, paint, whirlpool tub, "his/her" double sinks... The best part is the amazing kitchen with granite counter tops, new stove- finally gas again! There's a huge wrap around deck that's ideal for BBQs and entertaining. We're not sure if we'll get the place yet, though. I just can't wait to be out of construction hell. :(

Engaged!

So, lots has happened! First off, Dearest and I got engaged! We just started the planning process and it's quite fun. We've found our ceremony and reception venue, but all i'll say is that it's beautiful! Hey, I have to leave something a surprise. :P

I'm almost done with school- just this quarter and then 5 weeks of summer school! I'm SO excited! Possibly more about this than getting married, but don't tell Dearest. ;) It seems surreal that I'm going to be a college grad soon!

3 months to go- til we move! We love this apartment and it's really a great place to live, but we can't stand the construction that's going on and the parking situation. Hopefully our next place will be a lot better!

Some Munchies...

Okay, so I've slacked off... Dearest and I have tried a bunch of new recipes in the past few weeks. Here's a quick glimpse:

Chicken Tikka Masala- There's this great Indian place in the City that we like to go to whenever we can and this is pretty similar, but still different.





Hot Wings! Always a fan of hot wings, this was my attempt to recreate KFC's original hot wings. Didn't quite make the flavor, but the texture was pretty close. I got the recipe from the Neely's on The Food Network.




Chicken Marsala- This was our "romantic" Valentine's day dinner. Dearest was going to make it all by himself, but we went out during the day and by the time we got home both of us were starving. It was agreed that I'd cook so we'd be able to eat faster. He still did most of the prep work though. :)

Stir-fry

I'm asian, so I figure I should at least attempt to make decent stir-fry. I took a blend of almost every asian spice/ingredient I had at home, cooked it with some chicken and broccoli, and served it over rice. After about five attempts, I came up with something pretty good. We probably won't be having it again anytime soon though; Dearest got tired of it after the third night. :)

Act 1 done!

Well, the first draft of Act 1 is done. It's due on Tuesday, so I decided to give myself plenty of time to revise it. I was aiming for 30 pages, but it's only 23. Still, I think the movie will come out to about an hour and a half. Or hopefully 80 pages.

Yorkshire Pudding

a.k.a. the stuff you get at the House of Prime Rib. (My mouth is watering just thinking about prime rib... Mmmm...) Dearest loves, and I mean LOVES, the bread pudding that comes with the meal. My aunt recently gave me a recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, which is about the same thing. It's super easy to make and tastes delicious! Nice and crispy on the outside, yet warm and moist on the inside.

Yorkshire Pudding

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• Pam baking spray
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and stir. Pour into flour and mix until well blended (should be liquidy). Spray muffin tin with Pam and fill each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Story of a girl...

I've been putting this off for a while, mostly because I know it's going to take a while, but bear with me. As I've mentioned before, I'm writing a love story for my script writing class. So far we've gotten several drafts of our treatments done (like a short story version) and have handed in outlines. Next step is to write Act 1, which is about 30 pages or a page per minute of movie. Sounds like a lot, but it's actually not.

Anyway, on to the story. It's about a woman (aren't they all?) in her late twenties who's had a pretty tragic past- she was once engaged, but her fiance died- and it's been keeping her from opening up to love again. The film follows her struggle to open up to love again and find her Prince Charming. Along the way, she encounters funny situations (like trying to date a gay guy or getting proposed to and saying no), but in the end, her perfect guy turns out to be who she least expected.

I have a lot more details and about half of the first act done, but I'm thinking that posting it here isn't a great idea. It'd be too long and out of format, but hopefully I'll be able to keep you all updated on the progress and maybe a short summary of what's going on. :)

p.s. Burn Notice is on tonight at 10pm on USA. I'm making cupcakes for our premiere party! hehe :)