Minka

My mom got a fancy camera recently so I've been using it to take pictures of Minka. Even though she covers everything I own in cat hair, she's definitely one of the best things about being at home.

the cinema

I love going to the movies, and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to count how many movies I saw in the cinema in a year. I'm glad I did it, I think it's something I'll keep doing. It's nice to have a list that I can look back on and remember all those movie-going experiences. I was never one for saving ticket stubs anyway.

Here's the 2012 list:

1. Drive

2. 10 Things I Hate About You

3. A Separation

4. The Muppets

5. The Notebook

6. The Descendants

7. A Dangerous Method

8. The Hunger Games

9. Damsels in Distress

10. The Wizard of Oz

11. The Avengers

12. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

13. Lost In Translation

14. Brave

15. Snow White and the Huntsman

16. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

17. Safety Not Guaranteed

18. Katy Perry: Part of Me

19. Moonrise Kingdom

20. The Dark Knight Rises

21. Savages

22. Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry

23. Hope Springs

24. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

25. Beasts of the Southern Wild

26. Death By China

27. The Odd Life of Timothy Green

28. Perks of Being A Wallflower

29. Silver Linings Playbook

30. Les Miserables

31. Hitchcock

32. Lincoln

33. This is 40

2013

Happy New Year!

I haven't had this blog very long, but I've been awful about posting. This probably has something to do with the fact that I haven't told anyone about it, but still! That's no excuse. Which is one of my resolutions is to blog more often. I'm aiming for 4 times a week, it'll be a big step up from once every three months.

Tomorrow I'll upload my 2012 lists!

Done

At the end of my first semester at Mills, I was in the library during finals week when i heard a woman across the library announce (in a fairly loud voice for a library) “I’m done with my thesis.”

I looked up and watched her as she stood up from her computer, walked toward the printer, and came back to her computer with her papers in hand and repeated slowly, “I’m done with my thesis.”

I remember wishing that I had known her, so I could give her the kind of celebration that moment deserved. And now, years later I have just finished my own thesis, and I wish I could find that woman so we could celebrate together.

I’m done with my thesis.

favorite

This is my favorite place on campus, and where I spent most of my weekend.
I hope your weekend was swell :]

4 simple goals

I've been inspired by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess [who isn't, everything she does is amazing] to write four simple goals for the rest of the semester. So here they are:

1. Make a soup from scratch.

I have so many recipes pinned to my soup board and I'm determined to try one out as soon as the weather cools down, immersion blender or no immersion blender.

2. Go on a hike.

I've lived in Oakland for a few years now and I always hear people talk about hiking/outdoorsy things. I think it's time for me to try it out for myself.

3. Write a blog post with pictures.

Self-explanatory.

4. Go to a museum.

I haven't been to a museum since I left London! Unacceptable.

Do you have any goals this season?

what you eat

I haven't mentioned that I'm living in on-campus apartments this year instead of the dorms. The only thing I was hesitant about before moving in was having to cook for myself. I had to make my own food in London, but I had no pots/pans/kitchenware of any kind so I basically had to rely on there being a dirty pot in the sink that I could wash and use and put back before it's owner noticed. All I knew how to make at that point was pasta, so it worked out fine but I was aware that a diet that was 95% pasta was probably not the best idea. So when I got back I decided I was going to try to really cook this year, and luckily for me my roommates already know how to cook, so I figured it wouldn't be so bad.

But seriously, I can't even believe how amazing the stuff we've made is. In the last 2 weeks we've made pumpkin risotto, tofu stirfrys, broccoli fritters, and eggplant parmesean. Last night everything on my dinner plate was green! I'm so proud of us, and I really don't think I've ever eaten this healthy. I'm going to start taking pictures so I can share what we're making. [I promise there are going to be pictures here soon, and regular updates]

Do you have any favorite recipes?

<3