Movies

I recently watched three movies and I think they are all pretty good! Here is the titles:

* One flew over the cuckoo's nest-It's an old movie and many of you may already watched it, if not, it's  worth watching.

*Possession---A pair of literary sleuths unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell.


* Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstree---is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Dai Sijie, and published in 2000 in French and in English in 2001. Its original French title is Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise.

Flowers

I went to the nursery last weekend and picked up a pot of flower for our front door entry area. The dark pink flowers looked really colorful inside the ultramarine blue pot.

Spring is coming, the day is getting longer. I want to add more colors to our house maybe to our lives.

Taking a Break

I was really busy last couple of days and didn't feel like writing. Maybe it's stupid to force myself to blog everyday. I want to change it to whenever I feel like schedule. That is what I decided today! It's not quiting, rather enjoying doing it and not making it into sort of work.

Here is one of my painting I really like. And that's what I feel like to do. RELAX!

Cooking wine for cleaning

I was going to throw away my old bottle of cooking wine today. After I opened the cap, it still smelled pretty good. Suddenly, I thought, maybe I can use them for cleaning. It worked really good to my surprise. Great on taking the oil off the cook top. Now my kitchen smells good! No yucky chemical vapors.

Mixed Bean Soup with White Fungus

Red, green and black bean soup with white fungus is my treat today. White fungus is know for collagen building in our skin. It's a much cheaper, tastier, healthier alternative to shoots or pills. Of course it won't pump you up right away, but I rather have this instead of pills or shoots.You can find the White Fungus in most Chinese supermarkets. Make sure you get the yellowed one instead the really white one. The white kind is chemically treated. So, you should get the yellow fungus which called the White Fungus.

Jennifer Ehle

Yesterday after seeing the King's Speech at the theater, I was wondering who is the actress played Myrtle Logue in the movie. Even it's a minor role and she didn't wear anything elaborate, you can still spot her great beauty and grace. After Google it online today, it turned out to be Jennifer Ehle! I never guessed the strong minded, beautiful Elizabeth Bennet was Myrtle Logue. But after a little thought, it has to be her. No wondering that I was wondering. I always thought that she is the most beautiful actress I saw on screen.  Her beauty is different, it comes from inside like a well brewed tea, simple, graceful, strong and long lasting. She seems has a world inside her. The Elizabeth Bennet she played on the BBC TV series version of the Pride and Prejudice is the only Liz  that I think is the perfect portray of the book.

The King's Speech

Great performance and a compelling true story makes this film a sure winner. And Colin Firth, the unforgettable Mr. Darcy. Still handsome!

Sweet rice wine and sesame rice ball for dessert

Tonight I cooked sweet rice wine with sesame rice balls and  pouched eggs for dessert. In the winter time, nothing warms you up than sweet rice wine. The fermented sweet rice with wine makes perfect dessert. You can cook pouched egg or couple of sesame sweet rice ball with it for a delicious and nutritious dessert. It was said that the sweet rice and wine are good for your lungs and stomach and also gives you strong energies in the cold winter time. Have a bowel of this before bed will send you to the kingdom of good dreams!

Early to bed

Today I stood in line with my daughter for her school's musical theater auditioning. Under the sun for almost 2 hours. I am exhausted. I think I will give myself a cool aloe and milk mask to calm my slightly toasted face. And go to bed earlier.


Is she so cute!

Vitamin E facial

Yesterday, I tried my girlfriend's facial recipe. I'll say it's a little oily for me since I have oily skin. It works great for her since she is normal to dry skin type. I guess even good things are not fit for everyone.

One good thing happened today is our roof finally has been repaired. I don't have to worry about it when it rains again.

Look at these pretty flowers in our garden after the rain!

Girlfriend's ficial secret

My girlfriend told me her nature facial recipe: few drop of milk, few drop of honey and a capsule of Vitamin E.

I am going to try it tonight!

Beer for the hair

I have my hair wave permed before Christmas after a year of persuasion by my hairdresser. It looked pretty good except I hate the smell. I feel like I am a hypocrite after have decided a year of pursuing natural beauty.

Usually my hair is kind of oily, but after the perm, it turned somewhat dry. No doubt the chemical did the crime.

I heard that if you "dump" beer all over your hair and wrap them with a towel for an hour before your normal shampooing and conditioning, the vitamin B inside the beer will give your hair a nutritious boost.

So, I got a bottle of beer and decide to try it, hmm, maybe this weekend!

Live your best live

Everywhere people are talking about living your best live. You see it on magazine covers, talk shows, even signs on food packages labeled Best Life Approved. People are really thinking about taking care of themselves now.

Think about my parents, when they are in their thirties and forties, they have heart conditions and are always sick. Every holiday in my memory, one of them went to some kind of emergency care place. Despite they are doctors themselves, they have no time and resources to take care of themselves. Work pressure, bad economically conditions(imagine China twenty and thirty years ago).

Now, in their seventies and Eighties, they are much more healthier than when they are in their youth. My dad practice Tai Chi and Tai Chi sword, my mom still ride her little bicycle to grocery shopping everyday. At today's China, people have much better economical situations, many people hire nannies and housekeeper to help them with everyday house works. They also go to restaurant eat often. My parents still do all their house work themselves, cook everyday, shopping at farmers market, living their best life which is a simple life. My mom always says, after forty, one should do subtraction instead of multiplication. I guess everybody's best life can be different. For one maybe success, another maybe spiritual growth,  and other maybe physical strength and fitness. Find our own best life is what we need to work on. I don't know what is my own best life yet, I am just trying to do one thing each day that will finally help me to figure it out. I once herd someone said that Life is a Verb. It really resonated in me.

By the way, I got a clay pot and made my own Tasty Tofu today!

Tofu House

My husband and I went to the Tofu House today. It's hard to drag him away from the computer but I did it.

Their soup is always delicious and today I ordered Tasty Tofu with no spice. I usually like spicy food but want to try something mild today. However, I am little skeptical about their cold dishes, not sure how long it has been set there.

I guess find something to write about everyday can be a little tough. But, I intend to keep it up, it will help me keep focus beside practice my English. By the end of the year, I'll have a nice journal!

Getting rid of black- head on your nose

I have oily skin, specially around the T zone. Blackhead is what I hate but have to live with for many years until  I discovered the Baking Soda Magic!

Dissolve baking soda with a little warm water and cover your nose with the liqudish paste. When it drys up, massage with your figure gently to squeeze out oil. Rinse with warm then cold water afterwards. If you do this once a week, your blackhead will be greatly reduced. My pores got smaller and my nose become smooth again.

I hope this will be helpful.

I'm going to do it after I done posting!

Shopping at Marshalls

I love to shop at Marshalls! I can easily spend couple of hours scrounging between the isles there considering I usually don't shop except for food. Their price is always unbelievably good and I like the feeling of trying to find treasures. 

Today I got some really pretty ceramic bowls, shower gel from The Body Shop! An exquisite jewelry box made in India and many YUMMY sweets. Includes Orange Marmalade, dark chocolate trenched Oreo Cookies from William Bennett. And this tasty lollipop from Yummy Earth. I liked it even though I never eat candy myself. If your kids craving for sweets, give them this as a treat. It's all 100% natural flavor and color. Made from all organic ingredients from fruit extracts. Your child will love them! I give my daughter and her friends and they all loved it!

Yogurt & Cucumber Lip Mask

 My Lips are very dry and cracks a lot recently. One of my friend introduced me to this yummy lip mask.

The material is quite simple: cucumber, yogurt and  honey are all you need.

First wash and skin the cucumber, cut few pieces and press some juice out of them. Then add some honey and yogurt together and mix. Wa la la! Leave them on the lip and surrounding area for 15 min. then wash off!

The proper proportion is like this: Half stick of cucumber, one teaspoon of honey and one tea spoon of yogurt. I like to reduce to just a little because you can't store them and use it again. And you really don't need a lot!

Recycling

Today I threw out all my old Tupperwares. Well, not exactly threw them away but dumped them into the recycling can. I then got some microwave and dish washier save glass containers  from Costco to replace my old ones.

The reason I am changing my Tupperware is after some research about plastic, I learned that you should look at the numbers on the bottom of your plastic bottle or containers. My old plastic containers don't even have any numbers. Very suspicious!

There are seven numbers reflecting seven different types of plastic available in the market.

To summarize, plastics #2, #4 and #5 are generally considered safe. Plastic #1 is safe but should not be use for refill. Plastic #3, #6, #7 should be used with caution.




 Please read the following

http://ecovillagegreen.com/

What Do The Plastic Recycling Numbers Mean?

by Joe Barrios

in Recycling,Top Posts

P.S. If you notice any wrong language usage, mistakes in grammar, spelling etc., please do not hesitate to point out. 

English is my second language and I am very insecure about writing in it.

Swimming and Jacuzzi time

Today, my daughter and I went to the Y to swim. I admit that I  rarely do exercises, but every time after I swam, I always feel very energized. Today I tried swim in the pool first then jump into the Jacuzzi and back to the pool (this part it's painful and take some self-discipline) and back to the Jacuzzi again. My friend who works at UCSD medical school told me this really helps our circulation. After the swim, I did see some color appeared on my cheeks. Ha Ha!!!

Thank you Aerie-el, I got my first comment.  My daughter and I are so excited!

Cleansing

After the holiday, our body were loaded with yummy but fatty foods. We stayed up late for parties, and stayed indoor most of the time because of the weather. I am scared for the well know all raw vegetable juice cleansing method and want to try something gentle and soothing.

How about pouring boiling water into a cup filled with Goji Berries and chrysanthemum flowers. Goji Berries are good for your tired, stayed up late eye sight:-) It is also said very good for the kidneys. Chrysanthemum flower is well known in Asia for cleansing and to calm your inner fires! These are said especially good for women because the combination is actively boosting our Yin energies.

Calm down from the wild life you had over the holidays. You can get all the materials from your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Visiting Mission SJC

I love to visit California Missions. Every time, I feel the tranquility and peace when I am inside the old mission compound. The sacred church, tranquil garden, historical life brought a sense of spiritual and natural environment upon me.

 Hope I'll find chance to visit all twenty one of them here in CA.

New Year's celebration

It's really a busy day today. But what's better than to start the New Year with friends and families! And of course Yummy foods!

Oops, It's already passed midnight, I am actually missed the first day of the year:-(