more graphic design

I've been playing around a lot with the pen tool. I'm in love. Here's a mock poster I made for the Shins.

building my graphic design portfolio...

So, I've been trying to put together a graphic design portfolio by giving myself assignments. Here's the first one:

Design an invitation:

Program used: Adobe Illustrator. I love the pen tool.

here we go again.

I'M IN NEW YORK! And it is beyond awesome to be back. The past week has been a delightful whirlwind of catching up, friends, food, city exploring, oddly cool-sweater-weather-for-May... I love this city. Job applying, however, has been a pain in the ass, as the process usually is, but I have some interviews and my fingers and toes are all crossed. Job gods, please smile upon me. I swear I'm nice and that I have great work ethic! But anyway, a summary in photos:


I'm currently staying with a good friend from high school in Washington Heights. She has graciously given me this room with a spectacular view. I just realized that I'm actually looking at New Jersey and not NYC, but whatever. It's still gorgeous. I'm pretty sad that I'll only be living here 2 months.

So my friends here love to have group dinners and cooking in general. In fact, on my first day here my roomie had fresh baked scones and cinnamon rolls to greet me. DELICIOUS. I've acknowledged that I will probably gain several pounds due to all her cooking and my food appreciation... Hopefully the walking culture of NY will cancel that inevitability out... But yea, pictured are a pizza we baked and our belated Cinco de Mayo meal of sweet corn tamales, stuffed chilies, beans, freshly made tortillas & chips, and strawberry daqs. MMMMM!

Spent a day exploring ad wandering with my best friend, Steve! We walked from the West Village (like, West 4th street) to Midtown West (around 60th). While I do miss being able to drive my car while listening and singing along horribly to embarrassing music, walking everywhere has been the BEST.


Checked out the Senior Thesis shows for my friends at Fordham. Couldn't be prouder or more impressed with their work and talent!


Prom party at my old apartment! It was admittedly strange to be there while recalling the memories of last year's party, and I was sad that my other roommate from back in the day was absent, but it was a good time. Everyone looked classy & everyone was happy, all while dancing away to 90's music. WINNING.


I really love being here again. I'm home!

chocolate peanut buttercup cake!

My cousin Maggie, the master baker of the family, made this cake over the Easter holidays. It was AMAZING. The cake texture is heavenly soft & the frosting is delicious! If you love peanut butter & chocolate, this is your cake.

For the Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. (Deb note: These cakes are very, very soft. I found them a lot easier to work with after firming them up in the freezer for 30 minutes. They’ll defrost quickly once assembled. You’ll be glad you did this, trust me.)

4. Frost the cake!

5. NOM NOM.

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

To quote my cousin, "It will change your life."

white chocolate pistachio cookies!

This is my new favorite recipe for cookies. HANDS DOWN. I found it on this delightful blog: Honest Fare. Check it out! They have some great recipes! The saltiness of the pistachios and the sweetness of the white chocolate go so well together. And the rolled oats make the cookies a bit chewy but still a tad crunchy on the outside. Mmmmm!

Cook/prep time: 1 hour, makes about 36 cookies 1/2 cup unsalted room temp. butter 1/2 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar 1 egg 1 tbsp of milk 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups of flour 1/2 tsp of baking soda 1/2 tsp of baking powder 1/2 tsp of salt 1/2 cup of rolled oats 1 1/4 cups chopped pistachios (raw, unsalted) ** 1 1/4 cups of white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugars together.
2. Mix in the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rolled oats. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture slowly, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice to ensure even mixing.
4. Fold in the pistachios and white chocolate chips. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined (or greased) cookie sheets, add an extra pistachio or two on top of each bit of dough for decoration if desired.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to set up on the cookie sheets before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.

** But if you can totally use salted pistachios. Just eliminate the 1/2 tsp of salt from the mixture. The cookies still come out tasty!

los angeles.

Spent Easter weekend in Los Angeles with my mum's side of the fam bam. The trip was lovely and lively and awesome. Summary in pictures:

LOOK AT THAT FACE.

Gen, Maggie and I spent an entire day together, geeking out over art supplies. (I love that everyone in my family is creative & artsy.) We started by venturing to downtown LA, which, while a bit run down, is developing into a pretty cool area of shops & eateries. First stop: Michael Levine's for fabric, yarn, etc. I bought material for a skirt, which I made, and which I will post about later.

Took a break from art supply shopping for lunch & then dessert at the Nickel Diner, famous for it's maple bacon donuts and their red velvet cake. Their secret: Whoppers in the icing. Surprisingly good! Then, stopped at a bead shop.

Mr. W & Captain. NOM NOM.

Spice Rack: the BEST PLACE EVER. The walls are lined with jars of various spices and sugars and teas... oh it's amazing.

Taco Zone: BEST TACO TRUCK. Get in the zone: TACO ZONE. The line was snaking into the adjacent parking lot within 30 minutes of it opening.

Gen and I went to Ikea to buy materials for her craft fairs. In addition to materials, we discovered that on Easter, Ikea has egg hunts throughout the store! AWESOME.

MY MUM IS CUTER THAN YOUR MUM.

Easter spread:
Crab claws
Sauteed Chinese broccoli
Spicy BBQ ribs
Traditional pancit noodles
Coconut baked salmon
Wild rice pilaf
Honey baked ham
Mango salad
Pasta salad
Normal salad (lame!).
& Lemongrass lemonade.
Mmmm!

Celebrating birthdays! My mum's, my aunt's and my dad's! Maggie baked an awesome red velvet cake.

I was frying spring rolls and used the pot lid as a shield from the hot oil. I'm a thinker. And the cat was watching cards go by. :)

cooking with my mum

I've mentioned this a lot, but just in case the message got lost amid my ramblings: MY MOTHER IS THE GREATEST CULINARY GENIUS IN THE WORLD. She has such a delightful curiosity & imagination in regards to cooking, as well as a natural, amazing knack for discovering unconventional combos of flavors. These two characteristics together make a cooking Megazord (that's right, I referenced Might Morphing Power Rangers)!

The project last week was shrimp tacos. First we made tortillas, using a home recipe that my mum had worked to perfect for a month.

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup taco seasoning (or as much as desired)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water

1. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. To mix well, use a whisk and alternate mixing clockwise and counterclockwise. It's super important for all the ingredients to be blended well together.
2. Hollow out a hole in the middle of the mixture with you hand.
3. Add olive oil.
4. Add water a little at a time, always mixing (we mix with our hands because it's easier). Check the texture- it should start to feel doughy & sticky. Mix well.
5. Heat grilling pan.
6. Form into a long roll and lay out on cutting board. Separate into balls about 1.5 inches in diameter, or more, depending on how large you want your tortillas to be.
7. Individually knead each section, folding the edges over each other in a circle. do this until the dough feels a bit tougher.
8. Sprinkle cutting board with flour and with a rolling pin flatten the balls into flat circles.
9. Set on the grill and lightly brown both sides. Finished tortillas should be stored in a bowl and wrapped in a small towel to maintain texture.
10. EAT.
11. To make the chips, simply cut the tortillas into triangles or strips and deep fry them in some olive oil. BAM. CHIPS. Set the finished chips on a plate that is covered with a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.

The salsa was easy-peasy. A simple matter of mixing diced tomatoes, red onions, pineapple, and green onion shoots together. Seriously. That's it. (Add cilantro for a kick.) The sweetness of it nicely complimented the spiciness of the next dish. Unfortunately, I don't have the recipe for the shrimp, and neither does my mum (she cooks by instinct and rarely keeps note of her own recipes & techniques. Le sigh). The ingredients: diced shrimp, salsa, black beans, sweet corn, onion, paprika, cayenne pepper, a little cinnamon & sugar, salt, pepper... and I think that's it? It was DELICIOUS. And voila! The finished product! I will miss cooking with my mom very much when I move back to New York. Le sigh. I just hope that I inherited her culinary genius and that it will show itself in due time with practice.