Oh hi!

Hi Bunniez...
Just wanna say hi while I am riding the metro while random people are talking so loud. Rude.

Just wanna share little me in my chef jacket after making some Cream Puffs. Too legit. It's just me following my dream.

Please follow your dreams.

xoxo,
Rima

Things I Love Monday

Oh what. It's Monday again! Seriously, time goes by so fast. It's already almost the end of January. Like seriously. Monday means TiLM... So as I was showering, washing my hair (that's when I do major life thinking), I recap my week that just went by.

As of this Monday, I am loving...

• The fact that I started Baking School on Thursday! I was suuuuuuppppppeeeerrrr excited! I've never been so excited for school, esp. like this before. What's funny was that my coworkers were excited for me as well. Not only that, I got a Chef Jacket! Yay.

We made scones and muffins. Yum.

• I got my first Le Creuset dutch oven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Marshall's had it on CLEARANCE so I was like "oh hellz yeah i must get it!" Originally like $280 (this is the 26cm), I got it for $119. Super steal. So excited!

• After church on Saturday, the sun was being nice and the skies were clear so I decided to pick up little Chimmy and take him to the park. Read some magazines and got irritated when I smell weed in the air. Like really... Can a girl just enjoy some fresh air in the park?!?!

Chimmy just being cute. He's happy to be in the Park.

• Got some Indonesian food with the Pillow because we were just craving for some. I'm happy that there are some decent Indonesian restaurants around SoCal. 

• Also, finally did some finalization on our Brazil trip!!! So excited!

Well hope you have a great week :)

xoxo,

Rima

12 Things

Hello Bunz. Today while laying in bed, I decide on this beautiful hump day to reflect on my 12 goals of 2013. 

1. Attend a Baking/Bread Class.
2. 30 days Work-Out trial.
3. Volunteer at an Animal Shelter
4. Watch a live soccer game
5. Try a new crafty skill
6. Attend a Bucket List Concert: Bon Jovi, U2, Coldplay (can't get enough of them!), Celine Dion, Jay-Z
7. The Color Run in Los Angeles
8. Make/Bake a Pie
9. Take more pictures with my film cameras and create an album
10. Swim with the Dolphins
11. Dare Devil: Go Bungee Jumping
12. Take a picture with Ariel, the Little Mermaid

Not familiar with 12 Things? You can read about it here; For my last Revisit: 12 Things, click here; 2012 12 Things: here; For my Bucket List: here

8 out of 12. I can say that I am pretty happy to be able to accomplish 8! That's 75% of the list :) Yay. *pats back* Awesome.

So it's already mid January of 2014. Yes, I do have goals in mind but have yet written it down. Now it's time.

12 Things of 2014

Complete ProBaking 1 & 2 at The New School of Cooking

I start school tomorrow and could not be excited. A new chapter!

Enjoy Coachella 2014 with my friends & brother & The PillowMan

Tickets have been purchased and the only thing that we're working on is a place to stay. Prices are ridiculously high, even if we split the cost. We are hoping for a miracle hahahaha...

Travel abroad to somewhere new

I think this will be like an annual goal. Who doesn't want to cross out a new place to visit each year? This year I will be going to Brazil (PillowMan was there last year) so I couldn't be more excited! Not only that, we will be joining the world for the World Cup. It's going to be insane!

Lower my debt by half or more

Now this is a work-in-process. I am dying to be debt free. Who doesn't? I wish I can win the lottery and BAM erase every single debt I have. Grrr.

Do another 5K

I love doing 5Ks because for me it's doable. Hahaha... The Color Run is coming up so I am thinking on signing up again... and maybe some other ones too. They are getting creative now!

Ride a Hot Air Balloon

I've never been on one so this was added to the list. We have a winery town not too far from our area where they do Hot Air Balloon festivals (in Temecula). There are deals all the time on Zozi.com or GroupOn that gives out deals for balloon rides and wine tasting at the same time. I might need that buzz for that height!

Celebrate my 30th Birthday

Oh yes. The big 3-0. It's coming in April. Coachella is one of the ways of celebration but I also want to celebrate with my family and close friends. Don't know how or where, but we will see went it comes by.

Plan a weekend getaway with my Family (Chimichanga included)

Well, this was supposed to be in December (vegas!) but my mom got severely ill at the last minute, so the trip had to be postponed. The thing is we don't know when. Haha. It will happen.

No Social Media Sabbath/Saturday

I started this last Saturday (Sabbath = Friday Sunset to Saturday Sunset) and it was nice. I tried to stay off of my computer/phone/iPad as much as I can during the time, well with the exception of phone calls/texts. I seriously got so much tasks done, it was fabulous. With our daily lives so occupied with the cyberworld, we kinda lost touch with our real world. There are so many things beyond the internet. It's time to back to the real world.

Own a Le Creuset Dutch Oven & Make Boeuf Bourguignon & Coq Au Vin

I've been dying to own one. And 2014 will be the year to own one! Hah! And I will cook my first meal with it with a classic (or two) French meal. Yum.

Hang out with Kiki Peter because I miss her dearly (which means... Paris!)

Kiki Peter is one of my best friends back in High School. She understand me and I understand her. I miss her so much. Only got to see her for several hours while I was in Paris. She lives in Paris so I have a reason to visit Paris. Which means, I need to find a cheap flight to Paris.

Make my own Cheese

I love cheese. I can't deny it. I remember seeing a DIY kit at William-Sonoma and I heard on how easy it is to make! I purchased my kit and now I just need to find a local farm where I can get fresh milk :)

Well that's all of my 12 goals this year! Let's kick 2014 in the ass and make these things happen :)

xoxo,

Rima

Things I Love Monday

Hello Bunnies. Aren't you surprised with the title? Yes, my dears, I am bringing back TiLM, and to be honest, I am pretty excited. I sort of abandoned this segment for a long time. No regrets of not doing it in awhile, it was just probably, I was just too focus on like what kind of blog I want this to be and trying to be more commercial, trying to build sponsors and what not, but after a while, I got tired of focusing on being out there in the blog-world.

I just want to be me. I just want this blog to be my outlet of what's in my little fried brain. And I thank you ever so greatly for following my journey this far. Thanks for the comments & feedback. I will also try to add more recipes on the sister blog, but one is mainly a side-project. My mood comes in waves, so will the posts on the sister blog. Hahaha.

Just in case you're not familiar with TiLM, it's a segment where I write about moments and memories that happened during the week leading towards every Monday of the week. It's a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) segment that I do to remind myself and express my gratitudes and appreciation of life. Things I love, but occasionally some dislikes as well (this segment was inspired by reading Gala Darling's TiLT religiously).

Anyways, this past week was slightly rough because I came down with the flu... Flu #2. Yes, I relapsed. After my fun vacation in Cancun (more posts on that coming soon), I went straight back to work the following day I got back. 2 days in the row, working in the ER, with mainly people complaining about flu-like symptoms. So I go patients from babies to elderly, pretty much coughing up the storm in your personal space. I was still pretty exhausted from the trip (Rob & I were doing lots of physical activities in Cancun so I was still trying to recover) so my immune system was pretty shaken. Oh and to add to it, I skipped my vitamin regimen for the whole time I was in Cancun. Double Whammie. 

So pretty much from Wednesday up til Sunday, I was sick. Wednesday - Friday was the worst. I had the classic sinus pressure, headache, super chills and fever, nausea, and loss of appetite. One thing that I thank God about was that I had no vomiting or diarrhea. I would probably be stuck with an IV with fluids hanging. Boo. I pretty much thank God for giving me health back, even though it's coming back slowly!

Also during my sick time, Chimmy was pretty much being my little furry guardian. He kept on wanting to climb up on to my bed & just sit next to me. Cute little stinky butt. Still bratty though.

Over the weekend, Rob came over so my little sick self was glad. But sad, because we had to kinda limit our personal space due to my illness. He brought me soup and a "get well soon" orchid. Why orchid? I have no idea. He didn't stay over because he didn't want to get sick but he did came back on Sunday so we can hang out. We had lunch with my parents & my newly wedded cousin & his wife which was nice for me because I finally regained my taste buds. Woo. Then Rob treated me with a 1 hr Thai Massage session, since he had a little back injury. I was like hell ya. 

the get well soon orchid

I tell you, that was one of the toughest massages ever. Stuffy nose, laying face down on the donut pillow thingy while some random Thai lady working on your back knots? It was damn hard. I had to breathe thru my mouth the whole time. Then when she told me to flip over, I was like, "HAND ME THAT DAMN KLEENEX!" Don't do massages with a stuffed up nose. Oh hell no. But overall massage was awesome. Just like in Bangkok all over again. Woo. 

I'm pretty much thankful that I have a caring boyfriend. We're going on 6 years this year, yet it feels like my love for him gets stronger & stronger. I miss him more & more every time we're apart during the week. I also find him more & more hilarious in his own weird way. Gotta love him.

Anyways, I am glad that I'm bringing TiLM back. Time to be more positive this year!

Bisous,
Rima

I can't... I just can't...

... get over the fact that I had to work right after I got back from a Vacation. Dumb me planned it wrong. Being Ms. Rima, I always take 1 or 2 days post-vacation for my Post-Vacation Recovery. It's a must you know. Muy importante. You need that extra day(s) to: unpack, rekindle your lost days with your dog, fight the blues of your awesome vacation, and settle in back to reality.

Am I being overly dramatic? Maybe. That's what the The Traveling PillowMan thinks so. Now he's the pro on going on international trips and going back to work right away despite jetlag. Me? I can't. Just can't. Too much.

Especially when I spent my vacation doing these things...

 Enjoying the beautiful beach in Cancun

Visiting Chichen Itza 

 & to visit one of the Cenotes...

...and jump in to it 

Riding an ATV in the jungle, holding on to my dear life...

...and then zipline thru the jungle

...while The PillowMan tries to pull a Spiderman

Visit Playa del Carmen 

...and wearing ponchos while visiting Tulum's ruins in the rain

Waking up seaside in our Villa in Akumal Beach

Eating legit Mexican Street Tacos with a liter of Coke 

 Visiting one of the most amazing sinkholes/cenotes I've ever ever seen at Dos Ojos...

 ...with my orange hair (I don't know why my camera makes my hair orange)

So you don't blame me right when I came home, drained as heck from a super duper busy day in the ER? Because all I wanted to do is to jump right in to that blue water and float, instead of listening to nonsense complaints of toothache for 1 year & yelling for pain medication and taking needed places for real sick patients who required immediate attention? Almost 75% of health complaints that I've heard today are NOT AN EMERGENCIES. If only you take care of yourself, you wouldn't v be in the ER in the first place. Geesh.

End Rant.

xoxo,

Rima

Oh haay...

Hi folks!

Just wanna say hope everyone had a great New Years Eve & Day.

NYE was pretty low key with us because The Pillow was still jetlagged and I was just plain tired. Getting old? I think so. Meanwhile in Cancun, people were ready to get their party on. We ate at Chili's (don't ask) and walked around a bit, compulsively booked an excursion and did the NYC ball drop countdown in bed.

As for New Years Day, we woke up late and literally just laid lazily on the beach. It was awesome. I fell asleep and only got a back tan. #sadbuttrue

Well, we're off to that compulsive trip. Yesterday was Chichen Itza day and it was great.

Follow me on instagram and #boluinmexico for pictures :)

Adios,
Rima