Good morning Baltimore!

Does anyone ever wake up with that tune from Hairspray in their head? I do! Listen to the song, and it'll wake you up for a bright and early morning. It works for me!

Last night, I met up with two of my childhood friends at Starbucks, but it closed earlier than we thought, so we moved over to the diner. We (unfortunately) got disco fries--which by the way, are fries covered in Kraft cheese singles and gravy... what in the Lord?-- and fries being my weak point, I ate a good portion. Sigh... but nothing beats eating comfort food with good friends.

This morning, I woke up to do a little boot camp for myself.

50 jumping jacks

30 mountain climbers

100 jumping in place

x2

A run around the block for warm-up

6 hill sprints

A run around the block for cool-down

25 lunges

Needless to say, I hate bootcamp stuff, but this workout definitely gave me a jumpstart for the day! Now I'm eating my current favorite meal: Fage 0% yogurt topped with heated apples, Trader Joe's Soy & Flax Clusters, and peanut butter. Yum yum yum!

(Please excuse the bad quality of the picture... I've been using my camera phone!)

Have a good morning!

Our Quest to find the Gingerbread Man

was not successful. No gingerbread man was to be found at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner mall at Columbus Circle. I'm so sad =( BUT, we did find instead this pretty snowflake cookie, which is supposed to taste similar to the gingerbread man without molasses (according to the employee). And ta da, the employee was right because it totally tasted like I would've imagined the gingerbread man to be like (although now I wonder how amazing it could have been with molasses!!!). We also got this vanilla macaron, and the employee ended up giving us two of them. I do not know if we got it for free or not, but it's all good. Better for us hehehe. By the way, Bouchon Bakery's macarons= heavenly! The vanilla buttercream is just too good for words... all that butter and vanilla beans... YUM. Definitely not for those who are watching their weights =X

Check out all the deliciousness... jealous riiight?

We ran to the Time Warner mall and back for a grand total of 6.8 miles. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all. It felt amazing! I haven't had a good run like that in awhile, but it's probably because I keep running at my comfort pace. Today, I most definitely did NOT run at my comfort pace. I was trying to keep up so hard! We bumped into someone along the way...

LOL.

We also passed by the Christmas tree at Rockefeller, which I didn't get a chance to see yet. So here's my shot with it!

Nothing beats a nice run on a nice day. Y'all should definitely get up and try it too. You feel so refreshed and energized afterwards. Plus you feel REALLY good. Love it!

My eats for today included leftover black bean chili with ham for breakfast, some salad and an itty bitty portion of pasta with sausage for lunch, my amazing snowflake cookie and a vanilla macaron for snack, and (oh my gosh, this was the BEST), Fage 0% yogurt topped with Trader Joe's Soy & Flax Clusters, heated apple chunks, and a spoonful of peanut butter for dinner!! I heart yogurt and peanut butter yum yum yum =)

Now I'm off to see some childhood friends and get some coffee. I hope you have a great night too!

It's always sunny in NYC

Okay, maybe not always, but today sure is! And it's a gorgeous day for an awesome run to Columbus Circle!!! Gonna get me a gingerbread man yum yum yum.

I am happy to report that 2 people will be joining me on a running adventure!! Morningside running crew, wha whaaat. I gladly introduce D-MONEY and SAM into the club! We gonna hit the streets of New York hollaaa.

Okay, I'll come back with pictures of the run and GINGERBREAD MAN!! Peace out, homeslice!

PIcture Overload

Okay this is going to be a HUGE picture update. Let the pictures do the talking =)

(12/19) Seniors Secret Santa Party hollaaaa! Mad Asians, I know.

A glimpse of the potluck dinner we had.

My ddukbokgi I made for the roomies for our own little Secret Santa party (12/22)!

The delicious caramel with cinnamon, chipotle, and cumin candy Hannah got us from Dylan's.

This is the box the caramel candy came in!!

And the peppermint rice krispy Hannah got Monica.

My cards and gift from the roomies! I love them SO much<3

The yummy scrambled omelette Monica made me the next morning (12/23).

(12/25) Avatar with my cousins in Jersey! This movie is a def must-see. Go watch it in 3D or IMAX!!!!

Life is good at the moment. I love my family and friends, and I'm looking forward to the new year! Here's to 2010!

It's already midnight???

Geez, time goes by so quick. I got back from watching Avatar an hour ago. It's definitely a MUST SEE! And if you can, watch it in 3D or in IMAX; I think the experience will be even more worthwhile. James Cameron is the man. He really knows his stuff when it comes to cinematography. I really wish I did watch it in 3D because apparently this film is a breakthrough in stereoscopic imaging. I researched online about Avatar, and apparently, this movie was in development since 1994, and it was supposed to be released after Titanic. Wow, props to Cameron for putting so much work into this film.

Back into the city tomorrow for work. I'm off to bed to read some more of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged! Tootles!

It's Christmas and I'm...

totally bored at my own house. Merry christmas by the way. Forgive me for the rather blasé attitude.

I woke up this morning around 8 to go on a nice and friendly run with my pops. Brrr, it was a cold and chilly run! Towards the end, I got all sweaty though, so it wasn't so bad running in my own sweat... riiiight. Jumped into a hot shower right away, and that made things all better!

Our family has a tradition of always going to church on Christmas Day. We rushed to pick up my aunt and cousins, and then off to Oakland! I'm not a huge fan of Christmas service, only because it's all in Korean. Now I can read and understand Korean, but Korean services are the death of me. I can't understand 99.1% of the time, so I was muchos grateful when there was a translator for us 2nd generation noobs.

So, here's a subject I'd like to diverge on... I've always been super duper jealous of all those families that have actual Christmas traditions: the whole "waking up Christmas morning and opening gifts together" shebang. My family is nothing like that... and I want that! Too bad we're all so freakin' stoic, and we don't like to express ourselves, at least to one another. It's nice to have my aunt and cousins here in America now though. We ate Christmas lunch together, a feast of Korean appetizers and traditional dduk gook plus steamed crabs! It was deeeelicious.

Now I'm home and I'm bored. My dog is playing around with a soda can and making a ruckus. I'm online shopping, and I want so many things. I think I may invite my cousins to go watch Avatar with me later... yeahh... that sounds like a plan.

Did I say Merry Christmas already? Merry Christmas!

This is melt-in-your-mouth, truly fantabulous Belgian chocolate from the aunt... oh geez, chocolate is the death of me.

Hittin' the double digits!

Today I woke up to do the biggest run of my life- a 10.2 MILER!!!

I planned the route last night before I went to sleep. It was a little daunting, I'm not going to lie, looking at how long the route was, but I was pretty sure that I could run it. This is the route I made for myself: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3376339

Overall, the run took approximately 2 hours. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad time, but I don't care. This was my first time running 10 miles, and I'm darn proud that I was able to do it! I ran at a slow pace, so I wasn't tired or out of breath. And the scenery was nice so I didn't really get bored, but towards the end of the run, I really just wanted it to be over and go back home. 2 hours is a long time to be running...

After my long run, I quickly came home, got some lunch together, and then went out to do some of my dietetic application stuff. And then I had to go gift shopping for our Secret Santa exchange the roomies and I are having. I think I got a pretty sweet gift for my Secret Santa, hint hint.

For our own little Secret Santa party, I made rabokki (ramyun + ddukbokki)!! It has ramyun, dduk, fishcakes, sausage, and onions in it. Yum yum yum, it is oh-so-delicious!!!! =)

Hannah was my Secret Santa; I got a Starbucks gift card, yay! And then she got us some treats from Dylan's... peppermint chocolate rice crispy and caramel flavored with cinnamon, chipotle, and cumin. Quite interesting right? I wasn't sure if the flavors would work, but they blended in with the caramel quite wonderfully! I wish the cumin was stronger though... I love cumin!! And don't even get me started about the rice crispy; it was SO SO scrumptious!!!!

I'm sorry I don't have pictures of everything yet! I uploaded them, but I'm at home in New Jersey right now and didn't bring my laptop. I'll do a huge picture entry soon~

Until then, hope you have a great night!

Too sweet for ya!

I swear I understand why people gain weight during the holidays. I literally crave for sweets SO MUCH!!! I used to be a salty over sweet gal, but now my sweet tooth is taking over! I had a serving of green tea ice cream and cream puff today at the buffet for lunch, but after dinner, I wanted something sweet again so I had a cup of yogurt with chocolate chips and 2 bite size heath bars! And then I had a mini Hershey's dark chocolate with rice crisp and a Gobstopper candy cane. My blood sugar is definitely reaching the danger zone... my poor poor body has to overwork itself to produce all that insulin to carry the glucose into the cells... and then the rest get stored as triglycerides in fat :( GREAT.....!!! I know all this info, yet I still do it!

At least I'm going to run tomorrow morning! I like to balance my unhealthy sweet diet with good exercise =) I got a new running shirt so it should be super duper fun! I need a new running route... I'm getting bored with mine now!!

Can't sleep

I woke up at 3:45 AM and I can't go back to bed. My mom's snoring here and there as I am typing away. I want to sleep...

There's always something about home. Whenever I come back home, I revert into a little kid again. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so good. I want to show my parents how mature (HA who am I kidding!) and responsible I have become, but I end up acting like a little kid around them. At least I'm more aware of that now, so I try harder to not act all selfish and immature, but sometimes it just slips out. Wah wah wah.

I'm not going home during this winter break; I will be mostly in the city... slaving away at work. Just one more month of funds! That's all I need. Then perhaps a babysitting gig... any offers?!?!

I saved up quite a money though. I want to purchase a dSLR; I am thinking perhaps the EOS 500D (Rebel T1i)?? What's a good one? I also want to buy nice Orchestra tickets for a musical for my parents... Do you think they'll understand Wicked? It's possibly one of my favorite musicals EVER: the story line, the songs, the setting are all amazing (triple A alliteration right thurrr hehehe)!

I guess I should sleep... or else I'm going to be mad tired for fieldwork tomorrow. Still gotta go interning at the hospital!

I'm excited for tomorrow's lunch!! Minado (all you can eat BOOFAY.. that's right I say boofay, not BUFF-et)!! Peace out homeslices.

DUNZO

DUNZO. FINITO. THE END. I AM FINISHED!!!!!!!!

Freedom feels oh-so-good, and what makes it even better is that I really feel like I did my best on these finals! I don't think I ever tried studying this hard ever since I entered college. Hopefully, my efforts will show, but whatever the results are, I still give all glory to God man. Dude, seriously, He somehow pulled me through this hell week. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

Nothing beats finishing finals than a good ol' glass of wine and slice of Artichoke pizza. Weird combo I know, but oh-so-scrumptious!!!!

Here is the ridiculous bottle of wine I got today from Trader Joe's... I was going to get a normal bottle of Bordeaux wine, but I ended up with this:

I know!!! It's crazy, but I just had to! This blue baby was calling my name man.

Well, I'm going to call it a night and peace out. I haven't had a decent night of sleep since last Saturday!!!!

Good eats!

Morning! I am so tired. I fell asleep on the floor of my apartment last night after I got back from the library around 3:30/4 AM. One last day to study and then it's game time! I can NOT wait. I just want this whole misery to be done with.

I have work today from 4 to 10 PM, so a huge chunk of my day is gone. I really really hope I can get a lot accomplished from now until 4, and then some more afterwards... Should I stay up late tonight? Probably not. Instead I'll try to wake up early Thursday morning...

Alright, this entry's going to be about some good eats! These recipes are what I've been eating the past couple of days. Sorry, I have no pictures; I was in too much of a rush to take pictures and upload them, but I'm sure you can use your imagination =)

Best Thanksgiving sandwich ever:

Get 2 slices of bread and toast them. Slather on pumpkin butter on one piece of toast and cover with a handful of raisins. Then get a couple slices of turkey and place on top of the layer of raisins. Close the sandwich with the other piece of bread. Ta da~ this sandwich is delicious and reminds you of Thanksgiving. Quick and easy!

Peanut butter and pumpkin oatmeal:

Prepare a serving of oatmeal (1/4 c oats, 1/2 c soy or almond milk, 1/2 c water). As the liquids are almost fully incorporated into the oatmeal, add a dollop (or a couple...!) of peanut butter and pumpkin butter and stir into mixture. Then, incorporate a handful of raisins and trail mix into the oatmeal. Continue to heat and stir to desired consistency. Voila! This is delicious; it hits the sweet and savory note from the pumpkin butter and peanut butter. Mhmm~

Oatmeal, Elvis-style:

Man, you can never go wrong with peanut butter. I love it! Prepare a serving of oatmeal (1/4 c oats, 1/2 c soy or almond milk, 1/2 c water). As the liquids are almost absorbed into the steel cut oats, slice a banana into the pot. Let the banana get incorporated into the oatmeal. Add in raisins or trail mix into the pot, if you like (I do!). Scoop oatmeal into a bowl, and add a dollop of peanut butter on top. And I do say... "Thank you, thank you very much."

I think oatmeal is so underrated, when it is possibly one of the best foods out there!!! It's a heart-healthy, high fiber meal, and it keeps you full for hours!! Plus, you can make so many variations with oatmeal; all you got to do is put your thinking cap on. What kind of ingredients do you like to add to your oatmeal?

To the weak

It's so easy to give up at the most crucial moments, the moments that will be the deciding factor of pushing forward or falling behind. And I know that I am more of a "start strong, finish mediocre" kind of gal. I want to just fall into an attitude of indifference and not care, but indifference leads you nowhere.

Running has helped me to understand so much more on the power of endurance: what it means and what it can help you to accomplish. Endure the rough patches to reach the final goal. Endure the obstacles because they only last temporarily. The finish line makes it worth it in the end.

I'm not going to lie though, I am so weak. The only thing that really pushes me to keep going is the fact that I understand my purpose is to glorify God. It is really easy to forget this and make the finish line that final goal, but I am thankful to be reminded--through the bible, friends, praise songs--that what we do in our lives is a way to glorify God.

So, Lord, please continually help me to study not as a final means of getting good grades, but as a way to glorify You. And whatever happens... I trust in Your plan. AMEN!

Here is a clip of this guy playing "All Who Are Thirsty" by Kutless. He is one of my fave acoustic players on YouTube.

And I forgot to mention that I saw James Franco yesterday while studying at Starbucks. He was sitting five feet away from me!!!

I secretly took this photo, excuse the blurriness.

Stuck in the library

So today I locked myself in the library for awhile; I knew otherwise I wouldn't get any work done. I covered a lot of material so I'm pleased with myself in that sense... but I have this fear that everything I'm going over will not be retained in my brain. Lots of material covered, but little confidence in self at the moment... Say a little prayer for me, whoever reads this.

Gracias.

Pppppokerface

Bonjour!

Take a study break and check out this funny clip of a group of UC Berkeley guys doing an aCapella of Lady Gaga's Pokerface. (Found by Hannah)

This totally made my day! Hope it makes yours =)

It's late,

but I have to write another post.

There are so many thoughts running my mind right now... Actually, more like one main thought that seems to be spreading throughout my brain... my mind... my body. It's spreading like one deadly tumor.

The thought: What's my future?

So many burdens, so many stresses right now. More than I realized. I didn't realize how much I am actually worried about this because I play it down. I play down the fact that the dietetic internship application process is hardcore and that the internship programs offered throughout the country are highly selective. I play down the fact that I may not be accepted into an internship program.

I know I'm laidback and all, but I know for a fact that I am also a perfectionist, an "all or nothing" type of gal. Not getting into a dietetic internship would affect me. A lot. At least for a teeny while, I'll feel like a failure.

I know for a fact that God has a wonderful plan for me and that His timing is by far greater than any of ours, but still, I'm human, and I know I can't help but feel a certain way when the time comes. I'll either be ecstatic or depressed. Two responses. Well, I'm going to write this to remind myself: A person has a choice in everything. I can choose to respond to the future with apprehension or with eagerness. I'd rather choose the latter. Lord, in Your mercy, give me that faith!!!

There are some things...

...I want right now...

1. for Thursday to come and be done with
2. to kick ass on my finals
3. a new camera... perhaps a rebel???
4. to vegetate on my futon and be a waste of life
5. for my applications to be miraculously filled out and sent
6. to be accepted somewhere!!! anywhere!!!
7. for life to slow down... time is going by way too FAST

And why do I always stay up later than I plan to? That scheduled 4 mile run... is not sounding too pleasant to my ears right now... maybe I'll reduce the mileage...

BON SOIR!!

From dusk to dawn

Yesterday was quite an intense night for me. I realized that I had way more to study for than I could fit in my schedule, so I knew I had to pull an all-nighter at some point before my finals on Thursday. Rather than pulling one closer to the exam day, I decided to stay up all night yesterday. Boy, I haven't done that in awhile. I went to the library at 10 PM and left at 7 AM. I saw the sun rise while walking home, and I have to be honest, it was pretty exhilirating to see the sky slowly grow lighter and lighter! Surprisingly, I managed to be awake throughout most of the night, with a minor slump around 5:30 AM. My can of red bull definitely held me over :P

There's my notecards, my notes, and my binder alongside some bottles of drink that Andy managed to salvage at the bottom of the vending machines for FREE!!! We got FOUR bottles!

Today's been pretty uneventful for the most part... I got home from the library, showered, and slept around 7:40 AM. I woke up at 11:30 and got ready for church, and afterwards, Monica and I went to go kick some mo' butt at studyin' at Think Coffee. We betta kick these finals' butts!!

Here are some more pictures that I forgot to post previously:

My yummy egg white omelette with tofu, tomatoes, and spinach with homefries and crunchy tater tots that I ate after my 10K race!

Delicious fudge at Dylan's Candy Bar!!!! The death of me... I got the Peanut Butter Explosion, yum!

Look what else I found at Dylan's: Harry Potter Fudge Flies! Perfect for a Harry Potter fan like me!

Walking down 5th Ave on the coldest night ever... and during the first SNOW FALL!

Bergdorf Goodman's awesome window display... I love this one: the details of the dress are gorgeous! I love love LOVE the sequins and feather details especially. I just love sequins in general. There's this sparkly sequin zipper cardigan designed by Jimmy Choo at H&M... I really wanted it, but it's $129!!! Too expensive to buy... :-(

Hannah is so hilarious... She organized our chocolate box so neatly... all the chocolate laid out neatly in rows!!!

That's it for now... More updates coming soon. I'm planning a light 4 mile run tomorrow... I need to destress from all this studying! I can't wait until freedom comes on Thursday!

The end is near!

Hello, hello!

It's CRUNCH TIME for finals... I have two on Thursday and then I'm done! Whoo! I need to study super duper hard, so I will be MIA for the next couple of days. Once finals are over, I'll be back on this baby in no time.

Until then,

Peace out, homeslice :-)

Rain, rain go away

Rain in New York is always so blah. I hate dreary weather, but what can you do... You can only control how you respond to it.

I originally planned a 5 mile run towards Grand Central, but my plans have been thwarted by this blasted rain! Dang you Rain! BUT, I could have either been sulky and said to myself, "Great, now I can't run!" OR I could have pulled myself together and go to the school gym for the first time this year! I decided to do the latter =)

Ahh.. the gym. I am not a huge fan of the gym, but when I need to use it, I will gladly use it, especially since being a NYU student gives you free gym membership! So this morning I trekked over to the gym and decided to do a 5 mile run on the treadmill. It was a toughie (I get bored easily on the treadmill... I feel like a hamster!), but I managed to pull through at my usual pace! I felt so good afterwards, all fresh and energized. I love running!

Today's plan includes completing all my homework assignments and going to work. Let's go HM!

To be a body builder or not to be... that is the question

Good morning! I like to start my day early in the morning. I realized that I'm much more productive in the morning than at night. Maybe it's because it's so still, or maybe it's because less people are awake? Regardless, all I know is that I'm not as distracted in the morning and I can focus on my work.

Today, I woke up at 6 AM to a still dark day. Even the sun wasn't out yet! Oy, it's going to be hard getting myself to run at this time. I'm going to continue training for the half marathon now, but running in the dark is a bit intimidating for me !!!

Instead of running today, I focused on strength-training. Now, I'm not a big weight-lifting fan. To me, I feel like I'm wasting time, and I could be doing so much better while I'm doing it. However, I decided that I needed to start incorporating weight-lifting into my training schedule because strength in the upper body helps you to run FASTER! And I definitely want to improve... So here's a cheer to weight-lifting!

I'm following Hal Higdon's half-marathon training schedule, and he has these strength-training exercises posted online. Check them out right HERE.

NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K (cont.)

Hello, hello. I'm quickly on blogspot to update y'all with some race pictures like I promised last night. I don't think I have any of me actually running the course sadly, but I do have pre- and post-race pictures.

Before the race... I'm all excited and being dorky.

After the race:

My roomies came out to support me AND made me a banner. They're the best!

And thanks to Andy too for the support!

I'm blessed with wonderful people in my life~ I'm so pumped for the next race I run!!!

As of now though, I am currently stressed and overwhelmed by everything that I have to do. Reminds me of how HUMAN I am and that nothing is possible without the grace of God...

How do you respond to stress?

NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K

I'll update y'all with more information and PICTURES as soon as I get all my workload done, but I just wanted to leave you guys with my results =)

Btw, the race.....was freakin' EPIC!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO RUN IN THE HALF MARATHON!!!

Statistics:

Overall Place- 3140 (can you believe there were over 4,000 people racing today?!)

Gender Place- 1248 (not too shabby...!!)

Age Place- 129 out of 227 (YAY!)

Finish Time- 59:01 (I did better than I thought!)

Pace/Mile- 9:31

AG Gender Place- 1400

AG %- 51.3% (nice, I was in the average.)

What's ridic is that people finished the 10K in 30 minutes!! Around 30 minutes, I reached the 3rd mile marker... =____=

Drip, drip, drip

Today's one of those rainy days when you feel like doing nothing. A "do nothing while sipping a nice cup of coffee" day. Unfortunately, a lot of those times, you actually have things to do, actually a LOT of things. I set myself a goal today to complete my take-home final and cultural food practices homework assignment. Can I do it? The only answer I can give myself is yes...

Race is tomorrow. I hope it doesn't rain! I'm going to go buy an iPod running case today. That'll be my reward.... maybe some shoes too ;P

Geek in Pink

Only 3 more days until my 10K race! I'm strangely not too nervous about the race, but I think that's just because I am not really aware of how many people are doing this or how intense it actually may be. Ahh, this is when you really can say, "Ignorance is bliss!"

I picked up my nifty race souvenirs today at the NYRR headquarters on E. 89th St. I got my race number (!!!), my D-tag, and my sweet 10K shirt. It's OFFICIAL. I'm really doing this. It's not a dream, it's not my imagination, it's reality. Whew, now all I got to do is actually do the hard part: run the race (har har har).

Hey, but I think God gave me a sign ;-) My race number is on a pink bib. Isn't that weird? I swear, I never thought pink was my favorite color, but I guess subconsciously, it is because I have so many things in pink! And now my bib is pink? It's totally providential, no?

Ha, anyways, so look for the geek in pink on Sunday morning running in Central Park!