I had leftover brisket + white bread from dinner the night before and decided to make a melt/grilled cheese. It was insanely delicious. I barely thought about taking this photo before I dove into it. What made it worthwhile was that it was on good old white bread. I haven’t had white bread in so long! I realize this isn’t an actual recipe but I thought I was being a bit clever in using leftovers. I bet this would be just as tasty with any other leftover meat you have as long as you use brie!

For the past month, I've been drafting a bucket list of things I want to do in my new year of life. I figure, why wait until January 1 when I can just start it now. Maybe I'll have a better chance of following through on some of my resolutions if I start it now. There's no real rhyme or reason, but I thought I'd make some goals and see if I can accomplish them! So here goes!

1. RUN
      a 15k | cheating on this one bc I already signed up for an upcoming one in Nov. Exercise!

2. TRY
      new things, especially foods that I normally have an aversion towards.
      things on my own – eat a restaurant, visit a museum, maybe take a trip?
      a pin that's on my PINTEREST board on a weekly basis | share what works and what doesn't!

3. WRITE
      handwritten notes: birthday cards, thank you notes, just because, thinking of you notes. [I know snail
       mail is nearly dead, but I love getting a piece of handwritten mail!]

4. LEARN
      something new – like a language or how to change the oil on my car (I would probably never do this,
       but it might be nice to know?)

5. COOK
      delicious meals at least once a week

6. VOLUNTEER
      more because so many causes could use an extra hand. [more on this to come]

7. BE
      spontaneous...

8. SEW
      something... anything.

9. CRAFT
      & use up some of my gajillion craft supplies

10. READ
      one book a month.

And I've already started. The photo above is from dinner last night and I tried raw oysters! I think my face says it all, but at least I tried!

Here's to another amazing year of life! Like the One Republic song says:

Oh, this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

I made regular cupcakes and mini cupcakes. I could use some practice on the frosting! I stuck a candle in one of them and made her one to take home in a plastic cup. (Extra safe for transport but you probably need to eat it with a fork!)

Ingredients:

1 betty crocker super moist chocolate recipe cake mix 
3 large eggs
1 ice-cold cup of water
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise (not light)

TIP: line your measuring cup with a sandiwch baggie and fill with mayonnaise. Scrape mayo out of the bag into your bowl and toss the baggie. Voila, no messy mayo to clean up!

Directions:
1. Beat all ingredients for 4 minutes (makes it fluffy).
2. Line your muffin tins
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
4. Pour into tins.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes
6. Use toothpick to make sure they are fully cooked
7. Cool on a wire rack
8. Frost 

I'll have to definitely go with mini cupcakes from now on. The cupcakes were extra moist and fluffy. As my friend would say, they were truly the most perfect bite!

It was so peaceful to sit and take a break. Since then, my love of the cello has grown... heard Yo-Yo Ma at Ravinia last weekend and have been listening to Jacqueline Du Pre over and over again. 

We inadvertently passed by Ladder 5

While entering the 9/11 Memorial Site | names of all who perished were made into a flag.

At the 9/11 Memorial Site:

| photos taken by c.kang |

I started running this summer. Just to give you a frame of reference. I’ve always despised running. I’m not athletic. I could walk forever, but running is a beast that I never dared facing. I always admired those who could run and last year I even went to cheer on my friend who ran a half-marathon. Some days as I’m driving through my neighborhood, I want to honk at runners or yell out my window to say – keep it up!

It all started with a group of folks from a boot camp I attended at the end of Spring. I met them once to run with them. One of the ladies would run 2 minutes and walk 1 minute. I tried it out with her and it wasn’t too bad. I kept at it a few times a week and the minutes grew to 5, 7, 10 and eventually 15. I think some frogs hopped along with me at one point and were actually faster. I wasn’t trying to run fast, but to just run. My sister joined me on a few of these ‘runs’ and said that she could run forever if she ran at my pace. (Thanks a lot!)

At one point a month back, I challenged myself to run a full 3 miles without stopping. I didn’t stop while waiting to cross the street, to turn around or even when one of my laces came untied. I DID IT! It was exhilarating and I felt like Rocky when he climbed the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (I actually walked those steps many years ago!). And so I signed up for a  5k that very same day.

I’m not going to lie. There are some days when the 3 miles seem to come and go so quickly and I feel like I can do an extra 3. And there are other days, the 1 mile marker seems like it’ll never come. But I always look back with a smile knowing where I came from. The goal is to run the entire 5k this coming Saturday, regardless of my time. Can’t wait. Let’s hope it'll help me get one step closer to running a 10k soon! 

By the way, I love these Nike Free Run+ 3 shoes. I will have to try one of these lacing techniques out because I have a narrow feet. Oh and I highly recommend these socks and these shorts. I know, all Nike, but they're simply the best! 

When I saw a sneak peek of the new orla kiely for method line here, I checked Target every time I stopped by to see if they carried them. Last week, I finally caved and bought them! I'm not a huge fan of every scent , but the bottles were just so cute to set on a sink, I had to get one for every sink in my house! 

And the best part is I'll refill them after they get used up with this recipe. Who knew it doesn't take a lot of liquid soap to make foam soap!

1. Fill empty foamy soap container with about 10 pumps of liquid soap.
2. Add water (may want to add slowly and on the side)
3. Close foamy soap container 
4. Gently swirl container around to dilute the liquid soap.
5. Voila, new bottle of foamy hand soap in your favorite scent and pretty container! 

I placed the mini clothespins on a piece of cardstock and placed an old piece of paper underneath to catch any minor drips. Just like your nails, I painted 2 thin and even layers on each clothespin and let it dry. And finished up with a layer of mod podge to seal the colors in!