More Gaudi and thanks to...

 Last wednesday we went again to the Park Güell with my mom, it was her birthday and she wanted to go there by the morning!

The Chocolate House!

 

 

Knit - Blanco

Skirt - Mango

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Secret Shop

We spent the day at the neighborhood of Gracia, and finally, we had a walk dow Passeig de Gracia... where you can see this:

This is the Batlló House, another great building from Gaudi,,, it's my favourite one, amazing!!

My mother left Barcelona that day, and since that, I'm a little bit sad... but I'll see her again on Christmas, because I'm almost sure that I'll go back home for Christmas... of course, afer that I'll come back to Barcelona... just trying to find my dreams!

Sorry for the lack of post of these days, I promise I'll be posting more ofthen this week... I was a little bit ashame about my mother and thinking in my own stuff, hahaha! And I didn't want to post about sad things, you know!

So that's why I'm doing...

My Thanksgiving list!!!

Bloglovin' asked to their bloggers just to write about their favourite people and I'm doing it right now! So this is my list!!

1. Elinkan

Elin is my muse. My inspiration. Everytime I read one of her post, I fell in love with her once again. Her naturalness, simplicity and great style made me fall in love long ago. When I need inspiration I go to her files and photographs, because she is able to do that we can see the magic in a simple sheet of paper ... for being you, thank you, Elin!

2. Niotillfem.

One day I met Sandra. And I found the magic of the daily life. She writes about the little things that are important, those that when you're far from home, makes you smile. That's the spell that Sandra has got over me: she always makes me smile like a child with her lovely posts... Besides all, she has a special quality about me, and is that she makes me yearn for a place, Sweden ... as my home. Hopefully someday I can go there to live, because of course, that's one of my dreams since I was a child and Sandra inspires me to do so...

 

3. Requiem pour un con

Emma has got a big quality, and is that she can live nowdays like if it where in the past. She has achieved something that was sleepinf insdie me, and it is the pleasure of the old. And when I say old, I mean vintage things. With its sympathetic writings, and his wonderful style, I have learned to retrieve something I used to love from my childhood: the pleasure of the smell of used things, the feel of a pair of used shoes, the texture of the clothes from yesteryears ... Thanks, Emma, because it is for you that the word "vintage" has returned to my vocabulary!

4. Let me feel like a doll.

Laia has entered in my life like a wild wave, and I very much appreciate it. She has made me see that there is no need to dream of distant places to pursue our dreams, although both dreaming to leave far from home. I discovered that I have a friend closer than I thought, someone with I can share small treasures that I had forgotten. For being my friend, thanks, Laia!

Of course, I leave here lots of wonderful people... Maria from Lulu Letty, Daria, Sher, Daisy, Ines... you all know that I love you and you're part of my inspiration too!

And you? Who do you wanna say "Thank you"?

the simplest eid, kot?

so, ppl, how's ya eidul adha? it must be great aite... suddenly, i've got a new experienced in my life. (cam gempak sgt je bunyik..) for the 1st time in my life, i ate nothing connected with hari raya, yesterday. well, my day begun at 6, with solat subuh. and, i called mama, to wish happy eid. and then i slept at 8am, and, woke up at 940am, only, because, a friend called me. pot pet for a couple of minutes, and then... i went to kma's room to wake her up. and, since, they were only 2 of us, we decided to go to JJ for FOODDD ppl. naaaa... we aren't invited to any open house(s), so, beginilah nasib~~~ haha... eh no, kma's friend, yana, did invite us to her house but, segan la.

so, we both sitting at the sofa, in front of the tv and... wonder. what r we going 2 do. we both then prepared ourself with kebaya + jeans and it was almost 1230 pm by that time. and... it was my first time wearing mascara + blusher on my cheek. like seriously~ and it was only with one purposed - try in error + just for fun. i make it simple and not bad, i did it well and still looks natural. thee. so... kma's friend, yana, fetched us and, 1st place was... mc d! oh yeah. i was hungry and so, i ate prosperity beef around 1pm. puas hati! black pepper!

black pepper! i can't resist u. ilysm!

and so, we went straight to the garden, mid valley. and yes, i walked with heels! =P

no worries, no terkehel, termelecet (well, almost =P), and no ter-pe-le-ot.

as we arrived there, we went straight to isetan and straight to burberry. whoaaa.

i know that the standard tshirt price was about RM 400 - RM 500. but, i never expected that

all the handbags cost about thousand~ hell yeah it was so simple and super duper expensive!

the watch was, about RM1000 and above. whoaaaaaaaaaaaa. as for me, that is over-expensive.

sis yana's watch. and it was RM1000++

and lemme tell ya what, yana bought only 2 things which was burberry handbag and watch,

and the total cost was... RM 3892, with cash. and... the 1st thing on my mind was,

"this is the 1st time i saw 4-digits-no at a small cashier and it was paid with cash"

her handbag was RM2700.

kalau dkt bank or somewhere else bigger tak terkejut sgt lah... ahah. and sis yana, i wanna tell u.

i love ur armani exchange handbag. and it was about RM600++? uhuuu... T___T

went to GSC, but 2012 and new moon was fully booked, so... we went to damansara.

yeah! finally, new moon at 420pm @ cinileisure damansara. and for the 1st time...

i ate ayam penyet, around 345pm. sis yana was hungry, and so, i shared those food with kma.

tp kan... mcm x kene penyet pon ayam tu? ahah... pas2, new moon lah! thee.

my opinion, edward is not a handsome guy, but, the best thing is -

the way he loves bella + his charisma. cheywahhh.

jacob is pretty beautiful. haha.

muka excited weyh, sampai kena sound dgn kma sbb tgk cite tu dgn muka2 n tgn2. haha.

u just don't know how do i look like ble over-excited. *tnye finaz. nora. shahli. afiq. dila. kma*

almost 2 hours later, we outta from that place and, sampai je setiawngsa, terus, keluar semula.

this time, wangsa walk. with auntie + kak long n kiddies too. and so... excited jmpe armani.

budak kecikkk berbaju oren! ahah. time ddk kiss2 armani, farouq hantar msg ckp nmpk sy.

tp tak pula ditegurnya. haha. x nmpk lah! org rabun. buekkk =P lain kali jerit jaa. haha.

pastu dinner lah ke pizza hut nearby. and yet, dpt lah rasa semlm rezeki makanan tu sgt bnyk.

even, no ketupat, no rendang or lemang, no nasi beriyani, nasi minyak or nasi dagang. huhu.

sampai rumah, mandi, tgk tv, and i slept around 1230++ am. so... tamatlah hari raya aidiladha. =]

'Twas the day after a foodie's happiest of days...

Ends up, mom read my blog post containing my pecan pie cup rant. And upon my arrival to Chicago, a pecan pie had made it's way into our Thanksgiving dessert line-up. While that was not by design, my Thanksgiving was complete by a small piece of delicious, savory, rich pecan pie. And just for confirmation, I tried a bite of a pecan pie cup. It was all crust, not the ooey-gooey deliciousness defining pecan pie. So, yep, pecan PIE is a Thanksgiving staple for all years to come.

Also in the T-day line up were: turkey, dressing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, jello salad, green beans, cornbread pudding, cheesy broccoli, and....pecan pie. Some delicious African red wine, as well! Mmm! I stuck to one plate, which I did not finish and one slice of pie for dessert. All-in-all, a successful, delicious, satisfying meal without going over the threshold of gluttony.

Mom and I were supposed to go to the gym this morning, however, I over-slept. With puppy being back in Tulsa, I found myself rising at 10am! Oops! Tomorrow...8am...step class + strength class.

Anyone get in a good workout today? Yesterday?? Black Friday participants out there???

We had an amazing Indian lunch with my friend, AJ and now we're off to see "The Blind Side"...I've been wanting to see it since the previews started running in theatres MONTHS ago!!

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe, and delicious Thanksgiving! Don't forget to enter in to my Newman's Own Organics Giveaway!

Quick and Dirty

When I first started to really get into cooking and becoming a "foodie", I tended to stay away from recipes with the words "quick" or "easy". I've always been the type to enjoy a challenge, and these meals just didn't seem to be worth taking the time to try. Call me a snob, but that's just the way I felt.

However, this resulted in certain "extremes" when cooking weeknight dinners. I'd go through a phase where it was no problem to get home from work and whip up some homemade pasta with bolognese sauce or pot pies with crust made from scratch. And then there will be a few busy weeks where dinner consisted almost entirely on variations of Kraft Dinner or soup and garlic bread. It's not exactly a balanced diet.

Unfortunately things have been pretty hectic lately and I've been in the latter group for far too long. So when I saw this "Easy Weeknight Dinner" recipe for Lasagna-style Baked Ziti it seemed like a good idea. And you know what? It's not exactly pretty but it was SO good and what do you know...tasted like lasagna! But for much less time and effort. And all the spinach in the recipe made it seem much lighter and healthier than all the cheese might suggest (don't worry I am under no illusions of this actually being all that healthy). Definitely worth trying out and making again!


Lasagna-style Baked Rotini (I know, it doesn't quite have the same ring as Ziti but it's all I had)
Adapted from Real Simple, via TheKitchn

12 oz. rotini (about 4 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound lean ground beef
salt and pepper
1 jar tomato or pasta sauce
1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the beef, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon until it’s no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes.

3. Toss the pasta with the meat mixture, tomato sauce, spinach, ricotta, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Don't worry if it seems like there's way too spinach, it will start to wilt quickly and shrink up. You can add it in batches if you're not convinced.

4. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or 4 large ramekins. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan and bake until the cheese melts, 12 to 15 minutes.

Sundays at Barcelona...

Hi everybody, my beautiful people!! I'm sorry for the lack of post these days ago, but as I told you, my mom was here and I was spending some time with her!!

First of all, I want to say something for all the people ho reads this blog and are from the USA: Happy Thanksgiving day! I hope you all pass a great day!

Well, as I've got lots of gorgepus pictures to show you, I'll talk a little bit about my last sunday. I spent it with my mom and her boyfriend, Rafa (who is working at the moment at Tarragona, very near from Barcelona; but I'm sure that he'll come back to Algeciras really soon). First of all, we went into the Sagrada Familia, do you remember that place? I'm sure you would with the pictures...

 

 

Gaudi was a genious!!

My mother wanted to visit this, because last time she was here it was before she was pregnat!!

Thenk we went to a very very lovely place: el Born. It's an old zone from Barcelona where you can find the famous Catedral del Mar (something like Mary of the Sea's Cathedral, I don't know if the translation is good!). Maybe some of you have read the book The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones... so, yes, this is the place... and it was really beautiful!

 

 

 

 

My mother at Plaza del Rei

After this wonderful place, we went to Grácia for having lunch there, and had a walk through that zone and Park Güell; unfortunately it was dark and we couln't take good pictures... but don't worry, yesterday we went again there and I'll show you wonderful things!!

I want to live here!!

Me at Park Gëll.

Dress- H&M

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Secret Shop

Beret - Green Coast

Enjoy your day and thanks for reading and your lovely comments!!