Sweet Shoes!

Beautiful display, right? :) I know, I'm a pro :P

I'm sorry I'm flakey :(

Poor little blog, being disappointed by my false promises...I will try my hardest not to neglect you any longer! I'm slowly getting into a new groove of balancing the new job and the already existing classes. My film class and I had a long, long session yesterday, mostly due to the fact that I haven't been keeping up with the movies I'm suppose to watch (whoops!) and I had papers due on the first four movies (The Graduate, American Beauty, Moulin Rouge, and Taxi Driver) this morning at 9am...so, despite the fact that last night was the first time in weeks (seriously!) that there were brand new NBC comedy episodes, I was a good girl and didn't watch them...that's what Hulu's for anyway, right? In order to wake up this morning, I also went to bed semi-early, woke up at 7am to finish my papers, turned them in, went back to sleep (lol), woke up and drove over here. Poor Kyle fell asleep on the couch after finishing his papers, and I didn't have the heart to wake him up just to drive me over here. He doesn't have anywhere to go today anyway, haha.

So, of recent news...last Friday was Chris' birthday...I sent him a book and a card :) Linda bought him tickets to the Giants game in LA, so my parents/the family drove up to LA to see them while they were in Southern California. Yesterday was Claire's birthday (!) hehe...I sent her the most amazing, and perfect pair of shoes, just in case she reads this before she opens them...I won't say too much, aside from the fact that they're adorable and vegan :) I also sent her a few other lovely goodies :) Hopefully it'll ease the heart-ache...since Matt left on Monday, only a few days before her birthday :( The semi-bright side is that because of the volcano eruption in Iceland, flights to the UK were canceled, so they got to be together an additional 4 days! Yesterday was also Jenny's birthday :) Which reminds me...Jenny & Diego might be moving up here this summer! Isn't that exciting? I love our apartment, but moving into a 2 bedroom for not much more is great, and hopefully we'll move into a pet friendly place so Bambina can come up here! I miss my baby :( She'd love it up here :) Well, I'd love to have her up here, lol...she's extra nice when it's a little chilly out because she wants extra cuddles because she's cold, which makes her extra sweet (yes, she is manipulative and uses my soft spot for craving her cuddles to fulfill her selfish need for extra warmth, lol). I've also been saying for quite some time that I want a puppy...and I think Bambi could get a long with a dog (who isn't Yoshi or Fenris, lol) especially if it's just a harmless little puppy. Bambina's never really been around any dogs...aside from Yoshi and Fenris...Yoshi being a cat-hating dog who wants to kill her (seriously, he tries every time they visit) and Fenris being part-wolf and has trouble controlling his hunting nature sometimes. But, given a small puppy who hasn't been exposed to cats, and socialized to get along with cats? I think they could be friends :)

Anyway, long tangent aside...I think I had a point somewhere...hmmmm...oh, more updates! Yanira (my dear friend and wonderful fashion designer) is going to make my dress for Sahar's quinceanera! She has some great ideas, I sent her a bunch of things that I liked, mostly from ModCloth.com and she drew this out for me:

Isn't she fantastic? At my request, she's going to incorporate some lace as well :D Oh goodness, I have an obsession with lace...whether it's unhealthy is up in the air at this point, lol, but I think I'm okay ;)

Speaking of which, Sahar, my dear little sister, if you read this: please put a little more effort into your planning!!!

Unlike myself, Sahar is not one to plan things...I've been looking at 2 bedroom places for months...just to look around, get a feel for the market, lol...same with puppies...I like planning...it makes me happy :)

So, blogger world, I hope you're all having a wonderful Friday! Also, Happy Weekend! :D

So Hectic/Busy!

Sorry to my dears who read this little blog, I know I haven't posted anything in ages, but I've just been CRAZY busy with work! Yes, it's suppose to be a part time job...but last week I worked 46 hrs! lol, and after coming home from work I've just been passing out from exhaustion, I haven't had the energy to just sit down and write anything, lol. So, where to start?

Our Grand Opening on Saturday went amazing! We honestly had at least 300 that stopped by...the Seattle Animal Rights Group had their meetup at the store as well. What's even greater is how many articles have been written about the shop! Sadaf didn't even need to advertise, everyone else already did so! I could overhear so many people saying things like "I've been waiting for this shop to open for months!" Everyone was so excited for it, and excitement spreads! We had free vegan chocolate samples that everyone was all over...and there was belly dancing at around 4pm, and boy were we busy...I won't disclose real details, but we made a LOT of money :)

Anyway, I was just enjoying my morning coffee when I realized that I hadn't updated this in a while, I'll post pictures from the grand opening a little later :) I have to get ready for work :)

Rosemary Red Potato Soup

you will need:
1 carton (or can, or the equivalent for homemade versions) of Vegetable Broth
1 carton of plain soymilk
8-12 red potatoes (depending on size)
1/2 a whole onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 tablespoon of rosemary
3/4 tablespoon of thyme
a pinch of  salt
a pinch of pepper
1-2 tablespoons of corn starch (or baking powder)

It's really a simple recipe...you wash and cube the red potatoes...throw everything (minus the soymilk, rosemary, thyme, corn starch, salt & pepper ) into a big pot. Turn the heat on high to get things boiling, then after about 5-7 mins, simmer it at a medium heat for about 10 mins. Add the rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper and let it simmer for another 5 mins. Add the soymilk and give it a good stir to check the consistency. If you'd like it to be thicker (I sure did) add a little cornstarch until it's thick to your liking. Tah-dah!

[I enjoy most of my soups with a little bread or something to go along with them...we just bought some everything bagels at Costco, so I toasted a bagel and used it with my soup :) Kyle decided to heat up some of the garlic naan we also had at home, I had a bite of his, so that is also recommended :) But, of course, this soup is delightful and I enjoy it without anything extra too!]

The Chocolate Shoebox

It's a work in progress, but I think it looks good so far, don't you? :) Sure, right now it might just be a nicely painted room full of boxes, but soon it'll be much more than that :) The grand opening is on Saturday, so the next few days will be busy, busy, busy. Today Sadaf was running in and out of the store, always returning with more boxes, lol...I assembled a nail polish stand, and assisted with the assembly of a chair (not the one pictured) and some interior designing, lol :)  Is it weird that I'm already so in love with this job and the owners? lol Brandon's such a stereotypically neurotic teacher :) He talked to himself the entire time while he was on the computer, lol, and while assembling chairs, how silly :) and Sadaf is like feels like a friend I've had for years :)

Not too much to say about today, I spent the first half of my day sitting in front of a little room heater reading a book and signing for packages, then I was helping Sadaf unload the van, Kyle brought me a PB&J and helped set up the wifi/unload some boxes :) Pretty good day if you ask me... hehe.