Skeptickle

Our favors were definitely a labor of love. It was easy deciding what we wanted to give our guests. We both love the raspberry-flavored candied almonds that we sometimes get from our local farmers market. They taste lovely: resting on the junction between fruity, floral, and nutty. After asking around, I derived that people appreciated edible favors rather than random trinkets that they never wanted in the first place. So we bought about 10 lbs of the almonds and stored them in the crisper to keep them fresh until we were ready to use them. I researched extensively on what we should put them in and I found that nice favor boxes can end up costing just as much as the favors themselves! I had the idea to do mini Chinese take-out boxes because my parents ran a Chinese restaurant for the first half of my childhood. I grew up on Americanized Chinese food (leftovers from the restaurant) and my parents would pack them in those quintessential take-out boxes to bring home with us. Obviously they have meaning to me but I wasn’t willing to shell out $1 for each mini version just to hold our favors and then to be thrown away afterwards.

Not ones to be deterred by unreasonable prices, we decided to DIY the take-out favor boxes ourselves. I absolutely love shopping at Paper Source and while there, I was inspired by one of their sample diy take-out boxes. So I bought a bulk stack of lake blue 8″ x 11.5″ card stock, gold brads, Japanese Yuzen paper, and lake blue ribbon. We made the following template so feel free to download it:

Free Take-out Box Template (Be sure to only cut out the outline of the box, the slit, and punch out the circles. Go over the rest of the lines with a bone-folder to make clean creases for easier folding.)

My brother came over to help Rob and I assemble the boxes. We put them together by inserting one of the gold brads through the holes on one side of a box and then threading it through one end of the ribbon “handle”. Next, holding it like a sandwich, we carefully bent the brad’s legs outward to hold it together. Repeated on the other side. Then we filled them up with the almonds, cut out Japanese paper “sashes”, rolled the sashes through our Cuttlebug with a swirly embossing folder for texture, and finally glued both ends of one of the sashes to the bottom of the box to keep them taught. Cute huh?

My brother was proud. No, that slight frown had nothing to do with us treating him like he’s our wedding slave elf. Don’t worry, he survived .

Rob was passed out somewhere. It took a lot more work than we had initially thought but I think it was worth it! Here I am with my babies…

Image from lansang.com

This is a really quick and delicious recipe if you can obtain the ingredients. The thing I love about Thai food is the wide range of tastes that you can get from one single dish: sweet (sugar), salty (fish sauce), tart (lime), spicy (chilies). This soup can be used as a starter, or pair with steamed jasmine rice or Asian noodles as a main course.

• 1 tablespoon peanut or sesame oil
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 qt low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 1.5 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or substitute with white sugar)
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated galangal (or substitute with ginger)
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced (optional)
• 4 whole kaffir lime leaves
• 1 stalk lemongrass cut into 3″ pieces
• 3 sliced small thai red chili peppers (or substitute with serrano)
• juice from 2 limes or lime wedges
• cilantro for topping

Mix in choice of cubed chicken, tofu, seafood (esp. shrimp), mushrooms, vegetables, etc.

Heat the oil in a pot on medium heat. Add grated galangal (or ginger), garlic, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, chili peppers, and any desired mix-ins (I last used tofu, spinach, and shiitake mushrooms). Saute for a minute to bring out the flavors, then stir in sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk, and chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer on medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and let cool for a couple minutes. Remove the kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass with a slotted spoon. Stir in lime juice then or serve with lime wedges. Top with cilantro. Serves about 4 people as starters or two people as main courses. Enjoy!

Dear J Crew,

Here we are again. I just received one of your 20% off final sale coupon codes in my inbox. For me, it’s like a shining light – full of promises and potential, compared to my other emails, which consist mostly of spam from pharmaceutical companies in Canada. You tempt me with lovely textures, gorgeous colors, and the charm and sophistication that I crave. Nevermind that you’re a company for yuppies and bourgies. They obviously have good style sense. So I noticed that you’re starting to raise your prices, which means that the sale prices are higher also. This is probably the best for the both of us. Soon I won’t be able to afford you and we will part ways. Doesn’t mean I don’t want you badly, I just…don’t think it’s right for me to go with my instincts of buying now and thinking later. Don’t you agree? I mean, that’s what screwed so many people over in this economy in the first place.

Just know that it has taken me a lot of will-power not to order this from you:

or these:

and these…

and these…

and maybe these:

Nevermind that I almost never wear heals. I’m certain that if I buy one of these magical ones from you then I’ll be just like one of your models- cute, light & breezy, and perpetually happy. Alas, I am young, and it would be irrational of me to take from the pot that will go towards a down payment, our future family, and possible emergencies. So for now, I will have to quash my urges and find satisfaction from solely drooling over your beautiful pictures. I hope you understand.

Love always,

Sophia Q.

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.”

-John Muir (The Yosemite, 1912)

I’m so excited to see the previews to the new documentary The National Parks- America’s Best Idea by Ken Burns. I’m looking forward to seeing it when it comes out in September on PBS. I think people don’t give enough thought about our national parks and how important it is to preserve them. The purpose of the documentary isn’t just to show pretty images of the parks but also to portray them in the framework of how innately American the idea is.

Today is the day after America’s Independence Day and I bet most people don’t find it hypocritical that we as a nation can deny other peace-loving nations that same right to independence. In general, I love what this country stands for, but I love justice and fairness far more. Our secondary education institutions are too willing to sugarcoat our nation’s past and glorify our past leadership. I don’t even remember the history of Hawaii mentioned in any of the schools I attended, up until last year.

One year ago today I arrived in Hawai’i to study for 1.5 months. While there, I learned a lot about its history and the culture that exists underneath the outer veneer of tourism. I now have such deep respect for native Hawaiian culture and those of native ancestry. I support their continued effort for sovereignty and possible independence.

Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono- "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

I can not fit all that I’ve learned and cared bout on this blog since it’s such a complicated situation that they are in, and no matter what, I will always be an outsider. But here are some quotes and resources if you are interested in a more realistic perspective of  Hawai’i:

The explicit political injury imposed upon the Hawaiian nationals from than to now, covering a period of 105 years include the denial of our nationality, our government, our control over our national lands, our control over immigration, our control over taxation, our control over banking and finance, the right to print our own money, the right to control foreign trade and foreign relations, the right to protect our `aina from environmental pollution, the right to control our own education system, the right to exercise jurisdiction over all of Hawai`i and territories under Hawai`i’s jurisdiction in 1893, the right to control our air space, to exercise jurisdiction over print, radio, television and satellite communication, the control over the ocean to the full extent recognized under the Law of the Sea Treaty, and membership in international governmental organizations including the United Nations.

Attached to this political injury came associated injuries to our health and welfare, cultural identity, education, economy, cultural practices, language, self-esteem, etc.

Thus, a wrong was done by the United States of America to the Nation of Hawai`i and her individual nationals and residents. We have suffered a long list of injuries, political, personal, social, economic, cultural, environmental, etc. Such injuries were both collective, that is, as a nation, and individual. - Perspective Through a Civil Rights Framework (Opihi.com)

Hawaii Nation

The call for Hawaiian sovereignty began 101 years ago with
Queen Lili`uokalani. It has been carried by Hawaiian citizens
throughout the generations, quietly at times, hidden at times,
suppressed at times, boisterous at times. It has weathered many
storms and has seen Hawai`i undergo a multitude of changes. But
the basic demand and the moral, historical and political foundation
remains the same – the right of a people and nation to self-
determination. – Straight Talk on Hawaiian Sovereighty

Queen Lili’uokalani

Iolani Palace- the center of politics during the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.