If you haven't yet entered the obligatory holiday-induced hyperglycemic state, or if you feel like baking up some cookies, then try out these super simple almond refrigerator cookies.
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December 24, 2011
Merry Christmas!
If you haven't yet entered the obligatory holiday-induced hyperglycemic state, or if you feel like baking up some cookies, then try out these super simple almond refrigerator cookies.
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December 10, 2011
Peppermint Mocha Cookies
It seems med school is determined to prevent me from posting about pie during the appropriate time for pie (i.e. Thanksgiving!). Last year, I was finishing up 2 months straight of weekly exams and this year, as fate would have it, there was yet another exam standing in my way of sharing my pies. Oh well, there's always next year...or maybe not. I don't envision third year being any more benevolent in the time department.
Fortunately, I've taken some prophylactic measures to prevent the same thing from happening at Christmas--mainly, I decided to ignore my imminent exam, turn on Michael Buble's new Christmas album, and bake some dang cookies!
How cute are all those dogs in sweaters?
November 8, 2011
Earl Grey Tea Mini Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting
Lately, I increasingly wish I could just curl up on the couch with some tea and a good book or one of those movies you watch over and over because it somehow brings you comfort. Maybe it's the chill in the air lately or how suddenly the sun is blazing through the window at 6:30 in the morning or perhaps the passing of Halloween signaling an official entrance to the holiday season. The habitual Starbucks drinkers in class now arrive with cheery red and white holiday cups and stores are shamelessly pushing their Christmas merchandise (though perhaps less so than those stores that were selling Christmas decor in Sepetember!). Regardless the reason, these mini-cupcakes are sure to brighten up a chilly day.
October 31, 2011
October 24, 2011
Nutella Sugar Cookies & Coupons--A Moral Story
I will start off this story by stating that I conduct nearly all of my grocery shopping (and shopping in general really) at Costco and Target. Why Costco? I live practically on top of one Costco and drive by another almost every day. If you've got freezer room to spare and if you're like me and like to have things conveniently on hand, Costco is hard to beat. Why Target? For those smaller, incidental grocery items, Target usually has a good price, better than most grocery stores, and I happen to live across the street from one. What shall we conclude from this? Cheap and convenient is a major driving in the med student's life.
Those of you who shop at Costco are aware, I am sure, every once in awhile Costco assembles a group of coupons that are actually worthwhile! Conveniently the day after receiving such a collection of coupons in the mail, I had to go to Costco to pick up bagels en masse for a group event. For convenience, again my favorite motivating force, I decided to do some personal shopping while I was there because why waste a Costco trip, right? Right? Wrong! As I gleefully filled my cart with our necessities that were on sale (ok and some not so necessary items too), I had no idea what tragedy was lying in wait for me. One of these coupons was for something like $2 off Nutella. When I opened the coupons and flipped through them, this particular one was what I was looking forward to most. I had been eying the already fabulously priced Nutella at Costco for a month or two and this coupon finally gave me the impetus needed! I'll cut to the chase, I was about to pay for my items when I remembered to hand the coupons to the cashier who told me that the coupons weren't good until the next day. A reasonable person might have just not completed the purchase, but I'm a med student and time doesn't grow on trees, people! The cashier helpfully suggested that I could return everything tomorrow and repurchase it and the guy in line behind me lended some sympathy by relating a similar experience the previous month. I could have saved $11! Moral of the story? The first date on a coupon is just as important as the expiration date.
I have managed to live through my tragic coupon experience, but just barely. I was in need of some cookie therapy the other night. The husband unit recently gave me some cute fall-themed cookie cutters, which I was dying to use. After my coupon ordeal, I have also been eager to whip out some Nutella. How could I combine the two? Of course! Nutella Sugar Cookies!
Those of you who shop at Costco are aware, I am sure, every once in awhile Costco assembles a group of coupons that are actually worthwhile! Conveniently the day after receiving such a collection of coupons in the mail, I had to go to Costco to pick up bagels en masse for a group event. For convenience, again my favorite motivating force, I decided to do some personal shopping while I was there because why waste a Costco trip, right? Right? Wrong! As I gleefully filled my cart with our necessities that were on sale (ok and some not so necessary items too), I had no idea what tragedy was lying in wait for me. One of these coupons was for something like $2 off Nutella. When I opened the coupons and flipped through them, this particular one was what I was looking forward to most. I had been eying the already fabulously priced Nutella at Costco for a month or two and this coupon finally gave me the impetus needed! I'll cut to the chase, I was about to pay for my items when I remembered to hand the coupons to the cashier who told me that the coupons weren't good until the next day. A reasonable person might have just not completed the purchase, but I'm a med student and time doesn't grow on trees, people! The cashier helpfully suggested that I could return everything tomorrow and repurchase it and the guy in line behind me lended some sympathy by relating a similar experience the previous month. I could have saved $11! Moral of the story? The first date on a coupon is just as important as the expiration date.
October 16, 2011
Halloween Time
Last Thursday night, Mr. Handsome and I partook in some early Halloween festivities. We went to Disneyland to see the decorations and stretch the legs a bit. Pumpkin & Jack-o-Lanterns abounded and so did the crowds. Surprising, really, since I don't really think of Halloween as a major holiday, but there were plenty of people out to enjoy the unusually warm evening. We began with a leisurely stroll down Main Street, festooned with yellow and orange bunting and flowers, windows and ledges filled to bursting with Jack-o-Lanterns of varied moods and facial features.
While Halloween is not a particularly favorite holiday of mine, I love fall and fall colors. The display was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the decorations.
October 13, 2011
Biscotti Moment
With the onset of fall and the rush of pumpkin recipes perfusing the internet, I find that I am inspired to make things I would not normally even consider. Something about pumpkin just makes me want to try all sorts of new recipes. For example, last week I had some left over pumpkin I needed to use and what better use than for pumpkin biscotti?
Why biscotti? I have no idea. I had never had biscotti before because, well, I don't like crunchy cookies and it looks rather crunchy. Yet make pumpkin biscotti I did. I surprised myself because, for one, the end result actually looked like biscotti and futhermore I quite enjoyed the end result.
Why biscotti? I have no idea. I had never had biscotti before because, well, I don't like crunchy cookies and it looks rather crunchy. Yet make pumpkin biscotti I did. I surprised myself because, for one, the end result actually looked like biscotti and futhermore I quite enjoyed the end result.
October 5, 2011
October 2, 2011
Hello October
The Boy and I celebrated by going on a bike ride this morning. It ended up being around 6.5 miles, I think more than I’ve ever ridden in my life. There were a few determined trees whose leaves had changed color albeit it a bit too quickly. For the most part the trees were all green and those that weren’t had bypassed the lovely colors and went straight to the shriveled, brown dying stage. So very sad.I saw a couple of boys standing on their balcony this morning holding their hands out as if to catch rain. I hope that’s what they were hoping to catch, anyway. It was sweet in its juxtaposition to the bright, sunny, warm day.
Speaking of bike rides, I’ve never seen so many people riding bikes in one place before (not counting watching bike races on TV or anything like that). Seriously, apparently if you live in Irvine and are middle-aged or older, suiting up in spandex and riding a bike in huge packs of people is THE thing to do. I had suspected as much before. On a few occasions last year when we would go to our favorite bagel shop on Saturday or Sunday mornings, it would be crawling with spandex-clad sweaty men, but I had no idea the magnitude of it all. Way to go middle-aged+ Irvine residents! Way to be active and healthy.
September 17, 2011
September 15, 2011
September 14, 2011
On Cooking for Two...
To quote my favorite Scotsman, Craig Ferguson, “Today’s a great day for America everybody” except I really mean that, well, today is a great day for me. It probably is a great day for America, too, but I don’t have enough time to stay caught up with the news. But back to the point, today is a great day for me because today marks the close of our first month of being married! (Coincidentally, it’s also the last time I get to be excited about a 1 month relationship marker) Lately, I’ve been getting the question “So…how’s married life?” or some permutation quite often as a conversation starter from people. Given the recent popularity of the topic, I thought that today I’d share some of my thoughts.
So…how’s married life or, as mein großer bruder likes to say, “marital bliss”?
Well, it is quite blissful and fun. In fact, I love it. It’s like in college after you got through that first awkward year of living with a complete stranger and you finally get to move in with someone you like, but better since that someone is stuck with you! Just kidding. It is, however, wonderful to get to live with your best friend. It’s different from how things were before and it’s not. I think it’s a subtle difference thus far, that I think will become greater gradually and perhaps imperceptibly.
So…how’s married life or, as mein großer bruder likes to say, “marital bliss”?
Well, it is quite blissful and fun. In fact, I love it. It’s like in college after you got through that first awkward year of living with a complete stranger and you finally get to move in with someone you like, but better since that someone is stuck with you! Just kidding. It is, however, wonderful to get to live with your best friend. It’s different from how things were before and it’s not. I think it’s a subtle difference thus far, that I think will become greater gradually and perhaps imperceptibly.
September 6, 2011
August 28, 2011
Star Wars with Syrup on Top...
Sunday morning with the Meffords…
…because when you’ve only got one day off a week, you have to do it right
Saturday was pretty lonely with the boy at the hospital all day. It was so lonely, in fact, I had to go out and get some living things to keep me company.
Our patio is so colorful now!
…because when you’ve only got one day off a week, you have to do it right
Saturday was pretty lonely with the boy at the hospital all day. It was so lonely, in fact, I had to go out and get some living things to keep me company.
Our patio is so colorful now!
August 23, 2011
A Summer Summary
I’ve been gone for awhile. As it turns out, finishing up the first year of medical school, planning a wedding, actually getting married, and having some personal time during the last summer of one’s life keeps a girl quite busy!
Tonight, I made some delicious cupcakes for a friend’s birthday. It’s a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. They are coffee cupcakes…literally. There’s a good deal of coffee in the batter. I topped them off with a confectioner’s sugar-free chocolate frosting. It uses heavy cream instead of butter, which is convenient since I had some extra cream around from making ice cream last week.
I’m sure they will be a hit with coffee lovers such as myself. The boy and I certainly enjoyed it…
Apart from sharing my latest baking adventure with you, I thought I’d do a little photo-tour of the past few months.
Tonight, I made some delicious cupcakes for a friend’s birthday. It’s a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. They are coffee cupcakes…literally. There’s a good deal of coffee in the batter. I topped them off with a confectioner’s sugar-free chocolate frosting. It uses heavy cream instead of butter, which is convenient since I had some extra cream around from making ice cream last week.
I’m sure they will be a hit with coffee lovers such as myself. The boy and I certainly enjoyed it…
Apart from sharing my latest baking adventure with you, I thought I’d do a little photo-tour of the past few months.
July 9, 2011
July 1, 2011
Oh Summer, I'm so glad you have arrived
It’s been nearly two weeks since summer started and I’m very pleased that Summer has decided to bring proper, warm, summery weather (unlike the disappointing weather we had last summer). I still cannot reasonably go anywhere for the day without a sweater, but at least during the early afternoon I am free of the blasted things! Due to things out of my control, my first week of summer was, well, lackluster, but it was nice to actually get to sleep for a change. This past week has been much more productive, if not terribly thrilling, and I am checking things off my seemingly overwhelming to-do list.
Summer always seems to make me acutely aware of how much gas I use. I think it’s because I tend to drive between cities much more often during the summer. We recently acquired a new Ford Fiesta (it’s black and small and cute!) and I am certainly grateful for its fantastic MPG. On a small tank ($30 to fill your tank full!) it can go some pretty incredible distances. The tank is not more than 9 gallons. When you fill it up and look at the car’s estimated miles to empty it comes out around 400, and I have to say that it’s pretty accurate. Last weekend on 3/4 of a tank of gas I drove around 300 miles: San Diego to LA, a little bit within Santa Monica & West LA, LA to Irvine, Irvine to Anaheim, Anaheim to Irvine, and Irvine to San Diego. I’m pretty impressed, anyway. I should post a picture of the car up on here, but alas, I didn’t bother to take a picture when it was clean and shiny and, let’s be honest, I’m probably not going to wash it for awhile. I will have to post a picture some other time.
Speaking of photos, aren’t we cute?
Hopefully, you haven’t run screaming for your lives because of my creepy looking toes in that picture because we haven’t gotten to the fun part yet! Just before the end of school, some classmates and I had a BBQ in honor of summer, the end of the school year and an early birthday celebration. What’s a birthday celebration, even an early one, without a cake?! I made a carrot cake because the birthday girl said she likes carrot cake. I also used my awesome neon colors food coloring to make the frosting pink since she loves pink.
But first, a side note on carrots. Ever wonder what the exactly is the difference between baby carrots and regular carrots? Are baby carrots just that, young carrots? The answer is yes and no. A “true” baby carrot is a carrot grown and cultivated before the root reaches its mature size, hence it is a “baby” carrot. However, more commonly, in the US at least, is the manufactured or fake baby carrot. It all started when a California farmer, Mike Yurosek, got tired for having to throw away as much as 400 metric tons (that’s 1000 kg or 400 tonnes for our friends across the pond) per day due to imperfections. Back in the 1980s, he developed a method using a green bean cutter and a potato peeler to convert that part of his crop which was perfectly edible, though not so aesthetically pleasing, into the ubiquitous baby carrot of today. In 1999, peeled baby carrot sales surpassed that of whole carrots and 94% of US consumers bought baby carrots. (Source) Neat, right? Thank you, Mike Yurosek, from all of carrot kind. You’ve given each and every little carrot the chance to make it into a delicious carrot cake or onto a veggie platter.
I don’t think that carrot cake is a particularly popular cake. I used to have it for my birthdays as a little girl and then I lost touch with it for quite some years. I am happy to have it back in my life, because, when done well, it is quite a delicious cake.
To start out with, you’ll need to grate some carrots. There are a couple options to do this. You can grate the carrots by hand using a cheese grater. I’ve done this before. It certainly works, but it takes some time and effort. Watch out for your fingers as you grate the very end of the carrot. The grater can actually hurt a bit. The less industrious among us can go for option number 2, which is to toss the carrots into a food processor or one of those little mini choppers like I did. You’ll need 2 cups. I used baby carrots and I have no idea how many I used. Something less than 1 lb.
Once you’ve got your carrots prepared, in a large bowl blend together 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup oil and 4 eggs.
Next combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before mixing them into the wet ingredients…or just toss them in. I was in a separate bowl sort of mood when I made this, but it’s not crucial.
See that little tongue sticking out in the bottom right of the picture? Yes, those are my puppy slippers brought to you courtesy of my bff. Next add in your 2 cups of grated carrots and stir it all together. Pour this mixture into a greased and lightly floured pan and pop it in the oven. How long it needs to bake will depend on what type of pan you used. For example, I used a very deep 9” round pan and it took almost an hour to bake all the way through. If you use a sheet pan, and thus are making a thinner cake, it’ll be closer to 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on it and pull it out when it’s not sticky or jiggly anymore.
There it is! My Frankenstein of a carrot cake! Thank goodness for yummy frosting and sprinkles!
While you are waiting for the cake to cool, go ahead and whip up some cream cheese frosting, the classic companion for carrot cake. If you want to be awesome (I mean super super awesome) you could add chopped pecans to the frosting! Alas, I did not because most people I know don’t like nuts in anything! Such a tragedy!!!
Note: Neon food coloring is always appropriate.
When you’re ready to frost the cake and you’ve made a cake like this, there is a very important step—flip the cake upside down. This gives you a nice flat surface to frost. I could have split this cake in half and made two layers, but i decided to just have a really fat single layer cake instead. First put on a thin layer of frosting all around. This layer is like a primer or a crumb layer. You can cover it up with another layer of frosting once you’ve made all the crumbs that you’re going to make.
Frankenstein lives! I had some extra frosting and decided to play around with piping it. There were a couple problems with this 1) I have no artistic ability whatsoever 2) I hadn’t added enough powdered sugar to the frosting because I didn’t want it to be too sweet; it barely even clung on to the cake 3) cream cheese frosting doesn’t like warm apartments and 4) I have no artistic ability whatsoever. Fortunately for me, sprinkles and natural lighting can perform miracles:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrot Cake
This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
2. Mix sugar, oil & eggs in large bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder & cinnamon.
3. Add the dry mixture to the large bowl and combine. Next add in the carrots and mix well.
4. Pour into a greased and floured pan (any kind you want - bundt pan, springform, round pans, sheet, 13x9, etc, etc). Bake at 350 F for 25-50 minutes depending on pan or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5. Cool completely
Cream Cheese Frosting
Summer always seems to make me acutely aware of how much gas I use. I think it’s because I tend to drive between cities much more often during the summer. We recently acquired a new Ford Fiesta (it’s black and small and cute!) and I am certainly grateful for its fantastic MPG. On a small tank ($30 to fill your tank full!) it can go some pretty incredible distances. The tank is not more than 9 gallons. When you fill it up and look at the car’s estimated miles to empty it comes out around 400, and I have to say that it’s pretty accurate. Last weekend on 3/4 of a tank of gas I drove around 300 miles: San Diego to LA, a little bit within Santa Monica & West LA, LA to Irvine, Irvine to Anaheim, Anaheim to Irvine, and Irvine to San Diego. I’m pretty impressed, anyway. I should post a picture of the car up on here, but alas, I didn’t bother to take a picture when it was clean and shiny and, let’s be honest, I’m probably not going to wash it for awhile. I will have to post a picture some other time.
Speaking of photos, aren’t we cute?
Hopefully, you haven’t run screaming for your lives because of my creepy looking toes in that picture because we haven’t gotten to the fun part yet! Just before the end of school, some classmates and I had a BBQ in honor of summer, the end of the school year and an early birthday celebration. What’s a birthday celebration, even an early one, without a cake?! I made a carrot cake because the birthday girl said she likes carrot cake. I also used my awesome neon colors food coloring to make the frosting pink since she loves pink.
But first, a side note on carrots. Ever wonder what the exactly is the difference between baby carrots and regular carrots? Are baby carrots just that, young carrots? The answer is yes and no. A “true” baby carrot is a carrot grown and cultivated before the root reaches its mature size, hence it is a “baby” carrot. However, more commonly, in the US at least, is the manufactured or fake baby carrot. It all started when a California farmer, Mike Yurosek, got tired for having to throw away as much as 400 metric tons (that’s 1000 kg or 400 tonnes for our friends across the pond) per day due to imperfections. Back in the 1980s, he developed a method using a green bean cutter and a potato peeler to convert that part of his crop which was perfectly edible, though not so aesthetically pleasing, into the ubiquitous baby carrot of today. In 1999, peeled baby carrot sales surpassed that of whole carrots and 94% of US consumers bought baby carrots. (Source) Neat, right? Thank you, Mike Yurosek, from all of carrot kind. You’ve given each and every little carrot the chance to make it into a delicious carrot cake or onto a veggie platter.
I don’t think that carrot cake is a particularly popular cake. I used to have it for my birthdays as a little girl and then I lost touch with it for quite some years. I am happy to have it back in my life, because, when done well, it is quite a delicious cake.
To start out with, you’ll need to grate some carrots. There are a couple options to do this. You can grate the carrots by hand using a cheese grater. I’ve done this before. It certainly works, but it takes some time and effort. Watch out for your fingers as you grate the very end of the carrot. The grater can actually hurt a bit. The less industrious among us can go for option number 2, which is to toss the carrots into a food processor or one of those little mini choppers like I did. You’ll need 2 cups. I used baby carrots and I have no idea how many I used. Something less than 1 lb.
Once you’ve got your carrots prepared, in a large bowl blend together 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup oil and 4 eggs.
Next combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before mixing them into the wet ingredients…or just toss them in. I was in a separate bowl sort of mood when I made this, but it’s not crucial.
See that little tongue sticking out in the bottom right of the picture? Yes, those are my puppy slippers brought to you courtesy of my bff. Next add in your 2 cups of grated carrots and stir it all together. Pour this mixture into a greased and lightly floured pan and pop it in the oven. How long it needs to bake will depend on what type of pan you used. For example, I used a very deep 9” round pan and it took almost an hour to bake all the way through. If you use a sheet pan, and thus are making a thinner cake, it’ll be closer to 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on it and pull it out when it’s not sticky or jiggly anymore.
There it is! My Frankenstein of a carrot cake! Thank goodness for yummy frosting and sprinkles!
While you are waiting for the cake to cool, go ahead and whip up some cream cheese frosting, the classic companion for carrot cake. If you want to be awesome (I mean super super awesome) you could add chopped pecans to the frosting! Alas, I did not because most people I know don’t like nuts in anything! Such a tragedy!!!
Note: Neon food coloring is always appropriate.
When you’re ready to frost the cake and you’ve made a cake like this, there is a very important step—flip the cake upside down. This gives you a nice flat surface to frost. I could have split this cake in half and made two layers, but i decided to just have a really fat single layer cake instead. First put on a thin layer of frosting all around. This layer is like a primer or a crumb layer. You can cover it up with another layer of frosting once you’ve made all the crumbs that you’re going to make.
Frankenstein lives! I had some extra frosting and decided to play around with piping it. There were a couple problems with this 1) I have no artistic ability whatsoever 2) I hadn’t added enough powdered sugar to the frosting because I didn’t want it to be too sweet; it barely even clung on to the cake 3) cream cheese frosting doesn’t like warm apartments and 4) I have no artistic ability whatsoever. Fortunately for me, sprinkles and natural lighting can perform miracles:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrot Cake
This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 whole eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups grater carrots
2. Mix sugar, oil & eggs in large bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder & cinnamon.
3. Add the dry mixture to the large bowl and combine. Next add in the carrots and mix well.
4. Pour into a greased and floured pan (any kind you want - bundt pan, springform, round pans, sheet, 13x9, etc, etc). Bake at 350 F for 25-50 minutes depending on pan or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5. Cool completely
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 8 oz (1 package) cream cheese
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup pecans, chopped finely (optional….but highly recommended if you can get away with it!!)
June 16, 2011
June 15, 2011
Ten Myths About Introverts
When I took the Meyers-Briggs personality assessment at the beginning of this school year, it confirmed what I already knew about myself—I am an introvert, a label that might be considered shameful by some, but I’ve accepted it. Not only am I an introvert, but I am a BIG introvert. I did not get a single point in the extrovert column. Not one…
Thus in honor of being labeled as a huge “I”, I present to you 10 common misconceptions about introverts:
Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.
Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.
Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.
Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.
Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.
Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.
Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.
Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.
Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.
Thus in honor of being labeled as a huge “I”, I present to you 10 common misconceptions about introverts:
Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.
Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.
Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.
Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.
Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.
Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.
Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.
Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.
Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.
June 13, 2011
A Rudimentary Crafting Foray
Five days until the official start of my summer and counting! I’m so excited not even the annoyance of one silly, pointless exam or the overwhelming hurdle of the last anatomy exam can get me too down. For one thing is just about exactly four days I will never again have to set foot in the anatomy lab unless I lose my mind and decide I really like it or something (yeah, like that’s going to happen). As countdowns are dwindling and coastal southern California’s “June gloom” sets in, things for me are becoming more real and more exciting! Even more exciting than the last day of anatomy ever! (Anatomy side note: I have even more respect for doctor’s of my mother’s generation, and earlier I’m sure, who not only suffered through the dehumanization process, gut-wrenching smell, and terrible awful cold that is part and parcel of anatomy, but they did it without gloves, and for some without the benefit of wearing scrubs! I would never have made it that way. I barely made it as it is. Thankfully, I have managed to not lose any of my fingers to frost bite yet) Last week, we got our marriage license. Who knew that passably interesting old (by California standards) buildings existed in Orange County?
Several loose ends for school were tied up and finished off last week as well. I can’t really believe that first year is really almost over and that we all really made it through those 30+ exams that seemed such a daunting number last August. This past weekend was spent with yummy food, cramming in some studying, and apartment hunting! We found a couple places we would very much like to live, but we have to wait a little bit before we get everything settled more firmly. And this week? This week is all about the head and neck and a little bit about everything else in the body.
Next weekend is the start of summer, which will kick off with a lovely little themed gathering of some of my favorite people! That brings me to the subject of this non-baking or cooking related post, namely, a craft project in honor of this little shindig. I’m going to preface this by saying this is probably the “craftiest” thing I’ve done/made in a few years. It was pretty fun. To start out this project, you’ll need a glue gun with glue sticks (you can find them for $5! at Target or Michaels), a pretty ridiculous hat to decorate, and whatever it is you want to use to decorate said hat.
Don’t forget the glue gun!
Something else that would be VERY helpful but is not pictured here is a pair of wire cutters. Without them, cutting the stems off the flowers will take a bit more effort and be a touch lacking in precision. To start out, if your hat has any sort of decoration on it that you don’t want, check to see if it was just glued on. In my case, there was a little string decoration on the hat. To remove it, take a blow dryer and blow it on the glue. The glue will heat up and you will be able to remove whatever it is you don’t want. Remember this technique, it is also your ctrl + z for this little project.
Next, use tape or a post-it to mark either the front of the hat or the part of the hat where you want your decorations. I marked the front of the hat.
Take your wired ribbon (the wire is important) and start gluing it around the base of hat. Make sure you start and end the ribbon underneath where you will eventually be putting the rest of the hat decoration, like I’ve done above. Before you glue down the top half of the end of the ribbon, use your nimble fingers if you’ve got them or some needle nose pliers to pull on the top wire so that the top of the ribbon lies flat against the hat. Bend the wire when you’ve got the ribbon lying how you’d like it. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and and glue down that last corner of ribbon.
Next, cut the stems off the flowers and cut the individual flowers off. Leave a bit of stem so you can glue the flower to the hat still. Practice arranging the different decorations without gluing them down. Once you’ve decided at least on the major components of the decoration you can start to glue them down. You just need a little bit of glue applied to the stem and then press and hold it to the hat for around 15 seconds so the glue has time to set. Careful not to burn your fingers, the glue can get very hot. Also, try not to accidentally let the glue drip on your fingers, they will burn (trust me, it stings quite a bit for a day or so)!
Just keep adding what you want in.
At this point, it took me quite some time to figure out how exactly to finish off the hat. The main objective that remained to fulfill is to cover up the stems so that the mechanics & support of the design aren’t seen from any direction. You can do this with ribbon, netting or tulle, other flowers or buds, feathers, anything you want really. After probably 10-15 minutes of playing around with it, I decided to add some tulle to the back and fill up the space on top, between the two large flowers, with ribbon and another bud. To add netting, tulle, or ribbon, you’re going to use the same technique. You’re going to make some unevenly sized loops of, for example tulle. Once you’ve done that to your satisfaction, take some floral wire (it’s thin and easy to bend) and wrap it around the base of the loops so that they stay. Finally, you will put the glue on the wire and attach it to the hat.
First I added the tulle on the back.
I then played around with the ribbon and bud to figure out how to fill that space in the middle without overwhelming the other elements.
I ended up putting two loops of ribbon (that you can’t see very well) at the bottom of everything and pulling them out a bit underneath the two flowers and on either side of the lower bud. Once you glue the base of the ribbon loops down, you can pull and arrange the loops however you like. Once I did that, I added another bud and some ribbon loops on the top to cover the stems and glue from above.
Voila! An awesomely fun and simple hat for a tea, hat & croquet themed shindig. All told, it took me around 2 hours to finish this, however, had I had all the proper equipment (i.e. wire cutters), no distractions, no finger burning incidents, less indecision on design, and a more ideal workspace set up (you know, not sitting on the floor, using a coffee table as the table, and having the glue gun plugged in about 3 feet above my head) it could easily be done in much less time (more like 20-30 minutes).
I never thought I’d say this about a craft project, but it was pretty fun. :)
I am very much indebted to these very helpful and instructional videos. I’ve no crafting abilities or know-how whatsoever of my own.
On a side note, I got my Gymboss timer this week!! I’m so excited!
Next week(-ish), carrot cake!
Several loose ends for school were tied up and finished off last week as well. I can’t really believe that first year is really almost over and that we all really made it through those 30+ exams that seemed such a daunting number last August. This past weekend was spent with yummy food, cramming in some studying, and apartment hunting! We found a couple places we would very much like to live, but we have to wait a little bit before we get everything settled more firmly. And this week? This week is all about the head and neck and a little bit about everything else in the body.
Next weekend is the start of summer, which will kick off with a lovely little themed gathering of some of my favorite people! That brings me to the subject of this non-baking or cooking related post, namely, a craft project in honor of this little shindig. I’m going to preface this by saying this is probably the “craftiest” thing I’ve done/made in a few years. It was pretty fun. To start out this project, you’ll need a glue gun with glue sticks (you can find them for $5! at Target or Michaels), a pretty ridiculous hat to decorate, and whatever it is you want to use to decorate said hat.
Don’t forget the glue gun!
Something else that would be VERY helpful but is not pictured here is a pair of wire cutters. Without them, cutting the stems off the flowers will take a bit more effort and be a touch lacking in precision. To start out, if your hat has any sort of decoration on it that you don’t want, check to see if it was just glued on. In my case, there was a little string decoration on the hat. To remove it, take a blow dryer and blow it on the glue. The glue will heat up and you will be able to remove whatever it is you don’t want. Remember this technique, it is also your ctrl + z for this little project.
Next, use tape or a post-it to mark either the front of the hat or the part of the hat where you want your decorations. I marked the front of the hat.
Take your wired ribbon (the wire is important) and start gluing it around the base of hat. Make sure you start and end the ribbon underneath where you will eventually be putting the rest of the hat decoration, like I’ve done above. Before you glue down the top half of the end of the ribbon, use your nimble fingers if you’ve got them or some needle nose pliers to pull on the top wire so that the top of the ribbon lies flat against the hat. Bend the wire when you’ve got the ribbon lying how you’d like it. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and and glue down that last corner of ribbon.
Next, cut the stems off the flowers and cut the individual flowers off. Leave a bit of stem so you can glue the flower to the hat still. Practice arranging the different decorations without gluing them down. Once you’ve decided at least on the major components of the decoration you can start to glue them down. You just need a little bit of glue applied to the stem and then press and hold it to the hat for around 15 seconds so the glue has time to set. Careful not to burn your fingers, the glue can get very hot. Also, try not to accidentally let the glue drip on your fingers, they will burn (trust me, it stings quite a bit for a day or so)!
Just keep adding what you want in.
At this point, it took me quite some time to figure out how exactly to finish off the hat. The main objective that remained to fulfill is to cover up the stems so that the mechanics & support of the design aren’t seen from any direction. You can do this with ribbon, netting or tulle, other flowers or buds, feathers, anything you want really. After probably 10-15 minutes of playing around with it, I decided to add some tulle to the back and fill up the space on top, between the two large flowers, with ribbon and another bud. To add netting, tulle, or ribbon, you’re going to use the same technique. You’re going to make some unevenly sized loops of, for example tulle. Once you’ve done that to your satisfaction, take some floral wire (it’s thin and easy to bend) and wrap it around the base of the loops so that they stay. Finally, you will put the glue on the wire and attach it to the hat.
First I added the tulle on the back.
I then played around with the ribbon and bud to figure out how to fill that space in the middle without overwhelming the other elements.
I ended up putting two loops of ribbon (that you can’t see very well) at the bottom of everything and pulling them out a bit underneath the two flowers and on either side of the lower bud. Once you glue the base of the ribbon loops down, you can pull and arrange the loops however you like. Once I did that, I added another bud and some ribbon loops on the top to cover the stems and glue from above.
Voila! An awesomely fun and simple hat for a tea, hat & croquet themed shindig. All told, it took me around 2 hours to finish this, however, had I had all the proper equipment (i.e. wire cutters), no distractions, no finger burning incidents, less indecision on design, and a more ideal workspace set up (you know, not sitting on the floor, using a coffee table as the table, and having the glue gun plugged in about 3 feet above my head) it could easily be done in much less time (more like 20-30 minutes).
I never thought I’d say this about a craft project, but it was pretty fun. :)
I am very much indebted to these very helpful and instructional videos. I’ve no crafting abilities or know-how whatsoever of my own.
On a side note, I got my Gymboss timer this week!! I’m so excited!
Next week(-ish), carrot cake!
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