IT'S NATIONAL DONUT DAY!

It's not only Friday, it's National Donut Day! Probably one of my favorite days of the year because who doesn't love donuts?! So in honor of today, here's my past year through donuts (This doesn't even include all the donuts I've eaten! We seem to constantly have donuts in our office)...

I was inspired by a blog post from Studio DIY to make a donut costume for Halloween! I got our HR team excited and we ended up being a dozen donuts (a baker's dozen that is!). Our tagline- DONUT mess with HR. Clever ehh? :)
Our boyfriends know how much we like donuts! For Christmas Matt bought me a Kate Spade Donut purse and Mai's boyfriend got her a donut ring. Score!!!

I also have a nifty donut mug sitting on my desk and the back of it says "MMMMM...DONUTS." Best anniversary present! And of course, Mai contributed to my donut collection and gave me a nifty donut bank. Everyone needs one to fill with money to buy more donuts!! 
Isn't this a cute sign?! Saw it hanging on my chair as I walked into work :) Thanks Ali!

For my birthday, my manager stopped by a local donut place called Donut Friend. They have the most unique donuts and they are handmade in front of you! We cut them up into small pieces so that we could sample them all. MMM my mouth is watering just thinking about these!
My favorites:
-Drive Like Jelly (Peanut butter and strawberry jam inside a traditional donut, topped with a vanilla bean glaze)
-Nutellavision (Nutella and a dash of olive oil inside a traditional glaze donut, topped with a vanilla bean glaze and a pinch of kosher salt)
-Jets to Basil (Goat cheese, strawberry jam, and fresh basil inside a traditional donut, topped with a vanilla bean glaze and balsamic reduction)

And to end this donut post, here's a picture of some donuts eating donuts! :) Don't forget to stop by Krispy Kreme today to get your free donut! 

By the way, this will not be the end of my donut posts! Donuts are not just fun to eat, but it's a great theme to use for projects! I have a few donut projects on my to-do list: Donut Sunglasses and Donut Hats! I can't wait to make these and show you!!!

xoxo, traci

SOML | MAY the 4th BE WITH YOU!

 Since Traci and I are both May babies we decided years ago that it's twice as fun to celebrate our birthdays together. Last year our birthday party landed on May fourth, so of course we had to celebrate Star Wars day (which meant we made our cousin dress up in Traci's dad Obi-Wan Kenobi costume complete with the light-up, sound-making lightsaber)! This year we made sure to plan our party on May fourth just for kicks.

To be honest, Traci and I haven't actually seen any of the Star Wars movies. We don't even know half of the character's names. But we tried...
I made funfetti mini cakes with cream cheese frosting and Star Wars cake toppers. And Traci memorized some quotes to recite. My favorite was: “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

 We had a brunch full of our favorites:

• Belgium waffles with syrup, fresh strawberries, and cool whip
• Ham and sausage egg "mcmuffins"
• Tater tot omelet breakfast bites from this pin
• Spinach, Chinese sausage, & cheddar quiche
• Bacon! (duh)
• Tater tots
• Rainbow jello
• Fruit salad
• Corn on the cob

This year we went all out and did our hair like Princess Leia. And we couldn't forget our crowns - we have princess syndrome. I hope next year, you'll celebrate May the 4th with us. 

and...MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

xoxo, allison

lessons learned

taking video selfies on my 25th birthday eve, may 2014

1. It's almost #summatime. which means I probably need to get on this bikini boot camp plan.
2. A new way to pit & peel an avocado
3. There's a right way to hard boil an egg. 
4. Hello Kitty airplane meals exist!
5. I don't need a receipt for a donut.
6. I used to love Taco Bell chicken quesadillas in middle school. Now I can make them at home with the discovery of their spicy mayo!
7. Don't be a hypocrite.
8. The more we give, the more we are broken & reshaped into looking more like Him.
9. It's all about perspective.
10. McDonald's has a secret menu.
11. I had a roommate who insisted in storing her bananas in the fridge.
12. Beauty is not perfection.

xoxo, allison

BAKE | TOASTED COCONUT CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

 This morning I woke up and needed to bake something. I scrolled through my Pinterest boards and came across this apple cake by Smitten Kitchen. And then I opened my fridge to find that I only had one apple. Sigh. For a moment I thought "hey, I could put on my new Nikes and walk to Target to get apples and exercise!" HAHA. Who was I kidding? I wasn't going to walk to Target. I convinced myself that Target might not even have the apples I wanted.

Then, I remembered these Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones I pinned last week. I'm totally into toasted coconut ever since my mom added some to the top of the cream cheese frosting carrot cake I made for Mother's Day. These come together super quickly. I used my hands to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, NBD, and then I used my new cookie scoop from Joyce instead of forming round disks with my hands - easy peasy. They are super moist and fluffy inside, not your typical scone. Next time I'm going to double the toasted coconut! (I told you, I'm totally into the toasted coconut.)

Recipe Adapted from The First Year Blog
Makes 10 scones

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 TBSP butter, cubed
• 1/4 tsp coconut extract (or vanilla extract)
• 1 egg
• 6 TBSP heavy cream (I used 3 TBSP milk + 3 TBSP plain yogurt)
• 1/4 -1/2 cup oven toasted coconut
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Toast the coconut in the preheating oven: Place shredded coconut on foiled lined baking sheet and bake for 1-2 minutes. Keep on eye on it because it can burn quickly.
3. Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Using your fingers, cut in the butter into a crumbly mixture.
5. Mix the egg, heavy cream (or milk + yogurt), and coconut extract in a separate bowl, then add to the dry ingredients and combine.
6. Add in the toasted coconut and chocolate chips, mix until combined.
7. Use large cookie scooper to scoop large rounds on dough onto silpat lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the scones are slightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

xoxo, allison

EAT | BENIHANA

 My besties know me so well - especially when it comes to food. They know it takes me forever to finish a meal, partly because I eat really slowly and partly because I talk a lot. And they know I eat ice cream especially slowly (they usually finish before I even get to the cone). They know how much spicy I can handle (not much!) and that I like my hash browns extra crispy. If it has bacon, pork belly, or unagi, I'll probably order it.

Joyce also knows that when she tells me to "leave now!" that's when I start getting ready, haha. So, naturally, I was the last one to dinner last night even though I was the only one sitting at home (well, actually I was sewing Joyce's holey clothes and Wreck-it Ralph pillowcases & capes for Traci, so there's that.) When I arrived at Benihana, Traci told me what I was going to order since they had already looked over the menu, and I handed the server my birthday coupon.

I wasn't surprised when our food came and our table was full of my favorites.

 Splash 'N Meadow - Hibachi steak, grilled colossal shrimp. 

 Land 'N Sea - Filet mignon, sea scallops, shrimp. 

 Las Vegas Roll - Tempura battered salmon, avocado, crab, & cream cheese topped with jalapenos and spicy mayo. ($4.25, happy hour menu)

 Dragon Roll - California roll topped with unagi (!!!) and avocado. ($6, happy hour menu)

 Green tea ice cream

 Matching Nike Free Flyknits!

Now I need to go run in my new shoes because we ate way too much last night! Don't forget to sign-up for their birthday club, so you can get a $30 birthday certificate (with the purchase of another meal) - basically BOGO.

xoxo, allison

EAT | SAMURAI SUSHI

 Even though Joyce and I have been trying to try new places and venture outside of our comfort zone, there are some cravings we just can't get over. One of those things is the Shogun Boat at Samurai Sushi. When I was younger we used to go to the same Japanese restaurant often with our church family, and when someone ordered a boat, it always seemed like such a special thing, reserved for special occasions. Since then, ordering a boat of sushi has always been on a list of really special things for me.

There aren't that many sushi places on our side of town, so this has been my family's new go-to sushi place since it opened. I took Joyce here last year for an early birthday dinner and we ordered a Shogun boat to share between the two of us (since, ya know, we always order too much food and challenge ourselves to finish it). Traci wasn't able to make it so we promised that we would take her soon. This time we invited a couple more friends to join us so we ordered two boats!

 Tempura, teriyaki beef & chicken, California rolls, sashimi, and different little sides everytime we go. This time we had a little seaweed salad and some meatballs. I love boats because it's like a huge sample platter of all my favorite things. Plus, we love to share food anyways. And, it comes on a BOAT!

Of course we finished it all. Do you ever order a boat when you go out for sushi?

xoxo, allison

TRAVEL | SACRAMENTO road trip

The other week I road tripped to Sacramento to spend spring break with some family in NorCal. My love of road trips probably stems from my hatred of flying. My case of extreme motion sickness has planes at the top of list. Since I went to college 360 miles from home, it was my only choice of transportation if I ever wanted to visit home. But once I got a car, I drove. 

It didn't matter to me that I it took 5 hours longer than the plane ride because I avoided the checking in, waiting at the terminal, waiting to get my luggage, waiting to get picked up, etc. I spent the time in the car calling friends with my car's Bluetooth, and when they weren't available, I was catching up on my Joy the Baker Podcasts. Joy and Tracy became my new best friends, and it was like I had Joycelyn and Traci in the car with me. (I know I sound crazy, but c'mon, they have the same names as my real life besties.) Many times I made the drive home without stopping once - thank you Pegasus for good gas mileage!

Road trips with my family are completely different. I get to nap a lot, my dad chooses the music, and we make many stops to eat. As you can see, we did a lot of eating in Sacramento as well.   

Mandatory in-n-out stop. neapolitan shake, well-done fries, cheeseburger with grilled onions and extra produce.  

Dinner the first night was at Orient Restaurant for clay pot chicken rice. The rice and chicken is slow cooked in a giant clay pot so that the juices of the chicken soak into the rice as it cooks and the rice forms a crispy layer on the bottom of the pot. My grandma and I love the crispy rice, but she loves me and let's me eat most of it.

My sister took us to Kansai Ramen & Sushi House for lunch. I ordered the Karaage Ramen with fried chicken on the side. It came with spinach, corn, and egg which made me a happy girl. We also ordered the Bob and Mufasa Rolls, Tempura Don, and BBQ Albacore. All were yummy and the server was super friendly.  

We took my sister grocery shopping and I couldn't resist buying these giant sesame balls. One of my favorite things to eat at dim sum! Fried chewy dough stuffed with red bean paste. 

Of course we had to get our BBQ fix so we took my sister and her roommate to A & K Barbeque. We ordered a full rack of pork ribs and 2 orders of tri tip. nomnomnom. Of course we had to order sides: mac and cheese, yams, and baked beans. 

Do you love road trips? Is it all about the journey or the destination? Hopefully, I have many more roadtrips in the future!

xoxo, allison