A junior year Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving morning should be spent doing what? ...  EATINNNNNG!! >:O  And Anna invited all of us to the annual Thanksgiving lunch buffet at the Knight Center again this year ^^  Same delicious food as last year!  When we entered, we shook hands with an Indian man who welcomed us.  He turned out to be the Dean of the Business school! :O

They had a dessert table with "Signature Knight Center chocolate chip cookies" that were very nom nom, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and BREAD PUDDING <3<3<3   There was even a soft serve vanilla ice cream bar with toppings on the third floor.

Dessert table

But of course before that, there was the "real food."  Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, corn souffle, pasta salad, salad, vegetable salad, bread rolls, and yeahhhhh, fooood.  @_@

Buffet table

It was like Hogwarts where the plates never emptied.  When they were close to empty, the servers would replace the tray with new, piping hot food!  @_@  *amazed*  Wonder where they store all that food and if it's kept warm or made fresh~  And what do they do with the left overs? :O

I ate one plate with everything:

... and then another one consisting of a whole bunch of green bean casserole, candied yams, and three more pieces of turkey.  *food coma at the table*

While I was working on my second plate, everyone else moved on to dessert, such as this apple pie!  It was so pretty!  But I had my eyes on the bread pudding >_>  *laser eyes* O_O

We went exploring to the 3rd bar for the others to grab some ice cream.  There was a courtyard with an ancient Chinese ding.  Pretty surprised I could remember the term from Introduction to Asian Art from last year ^^

Bread pudding with a chocolate chip cookie!  <3

With the three cameras among us, we asked the people at another table to take a picture of us.  So three of them held the cameras and we took turns looking at each camera :)  Here's the one from my camera! 

Happy Thanksgiving (Part I!)

Part I?  Yeah!  The weather outside was warmer than it had been all week.  So I went outside and played until dinner. <-- that's what I should have done!  Instead, I went home and took a nap.  Then I walked 3 miles outside before dinner.  I love walking when the weather is nice!  ^_^

When I came home, we all prepared dinner, each of us making a dish.  Here's the final result:

Happy Thanksgiving (Part II!)

And don't forget Anna's dessert (Pecan pie smores bars)!

Aghhh, why are humans so gluttonous?  *so full almost died*  So what to do?!  GO TO SLEEEEEEP.  Yep, sleep for Black Friday shopping!

We left super late... as usual.  But we went to West County mall, and I enjoyed looking out the window in the car on the way there.  Very peaceful.

West County mall!  BIG!

Anna!  And Sean :D

We went to a couple of stores together, and then we later split up into our own little groups / selves to explore.  I didn't plan on buying anything, but with every store we went to, I bought something =_=''  Guess that's why I shouldn't shop with others, haha!

I liked walking around the mall the best. So many stores!  And even a candy booth :O

Everyone was here except Book.  Oh, no, wait--  Book was here in spirit!  Josh ordered a drink at Starbucks with Book's name :)

Cell phones are so useful :O  I ended up walking around the mall myself and browsing a few random stores.  ^__^ Fun!  *walk walk walk*  Best part!  Then I waited an hour in a line that should have moved much faster -_-'' wasn't even that long and the suit wasn't on sale... but I was happy that I bought a new swim suit!  The old one was too small, er, or I am too big for it now, and I had to waddle to the pool and back to the locker room, haha~  >_<''  So I was pretty sad to find out I am a size bigger now D:  Maybe that means I grew though, since it was already kind of small for me freshman year when I grew an inch?  

$Bought some lip care at Bath & Body Works, gray turtleneck and vest from H&M, black shorts from Express, and a swimming suit for ~$150 total.  Is that good or bad? @_@''  I'm returning the turtleneck later though!  

Today I tried a different hairstyle; actually, I didn't plan on wearing it out of the apartment, but here it is!  Hope it didn't look too weird~

At night, I called home and had a nice conversation with my parents^^  Can't wait to go home for winter break~!

Out for break!

My art history professor brought cookies to class!  I told myself "Okay, just one of each.." but there turned out to be like 29382983 types, and I ended up eating 4.  =_=''  Soooo, I decided those were for lunch, bought a banana at the medical school and ate it there before heading to lab.  But I ate salads for lunch the past week, so that should make up for it, right?  (Don't remind me that the past week was actually only 2 days >_>)  :P

So yummeh!

Anna was experimenting in the kitchen, and beautiful Oreo *healthy* cupcakes blossomed from the oven!

Anna in the kitchen~  Like her socks ^_^

Ta-daaaa!

Then we all went out to eat at Sushi Ai with David :)  Elaine drove David and me there, and she was so excited for arriving before the kids in the other car.  ... Which I still don't understand, since Anna was the one driving and not Josh, hahaha :P

She also brought her camera and started taking pictures!  Yayyy!  Anna, Elaine, and I were like the paparazzi or Asian tourists of the night.  *flash flash flash!*

Sushi Ai is known for its "All you can eat" sushi menu, and for dinner, it's $17.99.  Not a bad deal, right?  I got a teriyaki salmon bento instead though <3  It comes with miso soup and a salad with yummy dressing, ginger maybe? nom nom nom~

Miso soup and salad

Josh, Debra, and David's selection of sushi for the all-you-can-eat came out pretty quickly O_O  and there were SO MANY!!  I definitely wonder how they can still stay in business @_@

David's plate alone!

The all-you-can-eat also comes with unlimited appetizers like gyoza and edemame beans, salad and soup, or fried oysters too!  I was beginning to wonder if I had made the right choice in ordering a bento...

but then I had my own sushi too!  :D

and with the bento set it came in looked incredibly delicious ^_^  There were even vegetables beneath the salmon.  Sometimes the salmon at Japanese restaurants are kind of dry, but Sushi Ai's salmon was so juicy :)  I really like the taste of wasabi, so the sushi + wasabi and soy sauce was yummy.  Also, I don't like the taste of tempura, but I've never had a broccoli tempura, so I ate that one.  It was pretty good, but I wrinkled up my nose a bit at the tempura batter taste.  I peeled off the batter for the sweet potato and ate the potato by itself :D

Salmon Bento!!

Sean got the eel bento, and Elaine and Anna both got sushi rolls.  Those were around $9 each, so all-you-can-eat is definitely economically worth it.  But they were pretty~

Elaine's sushi

David finished his sushi first, and then Josh didn't even finish his before ordering a few other rolls o_0''  But they all managed to finish.  They were complaining about how full they were and would reach for another piece, haha!  But then again, Sushi Ai has a policy where if you don't finish your all-you-can-eat sushi, you have to pay $1 per piece.  I like that idea-- keeps from wasting food ^^  Yayyy~

David's plate's "after" picture

Debra!  (Photo credit: David, haha)

Anna and Sean (Photo credit: David)

^_^  Yay, happy times with friends, and one of the first few times I've been out eating with David-- fun!  :D  I especially enjoy eating at new places, since each restaurant gives me a different memory :3  Sushi Ai had half its tables filled on a weeknight, and the waiters were very nice, so I recommend going to check it out :D

Sushi Ai

12644 Dorsett Rd

Maryland Heights, MO 63043

~*~

Waking up without an alarm clock is great!  The first morning of Thanksgiving break was spent... eating cereal!  What else?  :P

Lunch came all too quickly, so I mixed brussel sprouts with salt, honey, and oil and baked them.  First time eating them, so I'm not sure what they're supposed to taste like?  I had several with 2 fried eggs and lots of cauliflower *food baby*!

The plan is to go grocery shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.  I wonder where we'll end up going?

Weekend before Thanksgiving break

Yep yep, it's only a few days until Thanksgiving break!  While I was at the art school, I saw yet another luncheon happening at the Kemper Art Museum.  Pretty, right? ^^

Fridays are my laundry days.  I had to wash my autographed WongFu shirt, so I took a picture in case the sharpie washed off.  It was also an experiment so I could tell Anna if sharpie would stay on the shirt.  Their autographs turned out fine, but the "To Wendy!" part on the black area of the shirt faded a lot >_<  Oh well, thank goodness some of it stayed on :)  I'll refrain from wearing it!  *goes and buys another one online*

Did I ever tell you that I'm sensitive?  ... If you poke me, I'll be in pain for 5 minutes.  :P  Ha, just kidding!  But a lot of times, when someone says or does something and it makes me feel not happy, I'll remember it...  for a loooong time.  For example, I still remember who told on me in 3rd grade for singing the Yankee Doodle song with the rocket / Hershey's chocolate rendition, and I got a mark on my conduct report.  Or which classmate wrote up my name in 4th grade for talking during a movie when the teacher walked out.  Mrs. Hicks would assign one person to write up names for talking if she walked out of the class for errands.  And I didn't talk during the movie; I stood up during the credits and said, "That was a great movie!"  And then I saw the kid give me a smirk and write my name up.  When Mrs. Hicks came back, she told me that she was really surprised and disappointed for my name being on the list.  T_T  *ashamed*

I also remember who broke a test tube in my 7th grade science class and told Mrs. Mills that I was the one who broke it.  Or the person who owes me money for several lunches after early release days in high school as well as one of my books.  Or the other person who owes me money from a trip.  But whatever, I don't get frustrated when I think about it anymore, but still.. *annoyed*

Or that my parents promised me to take me to T.G.I.F. for my birthday in 5th grade, and they never did.  Ha, and they still tell me they will, but it's been so long that I don't even want to go there anymore just because of that.  Or that my mom said it would be okay for Irene and I to go to Japan for our senior trip when I asked her in 9th grade, but senior year she said we couldn't.  Or that my dad told me I could sit in my first 2nd class air plane seat when I went to Taiwan by myself when I graduated high school, and that never happened.

... Getting the idea?  ;)

Anyways, not saying that I'm annoyed at my mom, but she did say I was fat.  And I need to thank her for it, since it's a warning I need to heed.  Soooo, mission of WashU pastries has turned into a mission of slimming my face down by the time I go home! :D

So I had a salad and a banana for lunch Friday.  It sounds like very little, but I was so full that I could barely finish the banana... *hears my mom saying that I shouldn't have forced myself to finish food* -_-''

This little figurine is in the lounge of the math department.  I think they're supposed to kiss one another or something.  But upon close inspection, I can't tell which one's a boy @_@''  There is also a super ancient-looking Sony radio, the type with the antennae that you pull out!

I bought two pre-pack wraps for lunch this weekend!  The past month I've been eating eggs for lunches on Saturday and Sunday, so I thought I'd change it up a bit ^^

Smuggled in my backpack~

~*~

Guess where we are?~~

Anna took me to the Asian market to buy fruit and then to the mall with her to buy her dress for formal!  (It is super pretty on her!)  :)  Elaine met up with us later and we walked to..............  um.. *memory lapse*  Oh!  Shoes!  Yes, we went to buy shoes for Anna too!

:)

After I got a ride with Elaine home and went to Schnuck's for groceries on the way back, Debra, Elaine, and I fluttered around the house to get ready for the party that night.  Er, more like.. I took a shower.  Haha!  We wore dresses and stuff, and I felt like I overdid it by putting on mascara *-*

When picked up Varsha and Elizabeth and then sped our way there so we didn't have to pay $5 for coming past midnight.  I felt super awkward wearing a dress when some people were more comfortably dressed in jeans.  Why didn't I just wear school clothes D:  The music was mostly trance and later old music, and people were smoking inside, so that was a bit not enjoyable ._.  But yay, it was fun bobbing around for two hours  with flashy lights and watching everyone dance!

We drove back home, and I put a towel on my pillow before falling asleep, so my pillow wouldn't smell like smoke from my hair (yuckky!~).

I actually fell into a deep sleep for 8 hours straight and woke up at 11:30am!  *amazed*  :D  I poured myself a bowl of cereal and asked Elaine when we were leaving for our get-together for LNYF dancers.  11:55 was the answer.  O_O  I quickly shoveled down the cereal, brushed my teeth, dressed, and had 1 minute to stare at my wall before Elaine was ready to leave.  :)  Perfect timing!  I've been going to Target for more than a month now, trying to buy mirrors to fill up the empty space on my wall, and I've always come back empty-handed :(  *sigh*  Anyways, while walking to the car, I could feel the cereal and milk sloshing around in my tummy, haha!~  ^_^''

We met with everyone at the Clocktower and then drove to The Cup, a cupcake shop somewhere off campus!  It amazes me how shops like these can survive off of selling only one item, although there are many varieties :3  A bakery sells all sorts of stuff: cookies, cakes, breads, muffins, etc.  But this one sold only cupcakes (and drinks like milk or coffee too)!

We're here!

Look who's welcoming us in :)

So many types, right? @_@

They have seasonal cupcakes, so this time it's Pumpkin Harvest

The cupcakes were surrounded by a wall of glass, so there is a bit of glare from the pictures.  Super pretty!  I also think it makes the cupcakes more pretty, sort of like they're sitting in a display case.  ^^

Looks super sweet~

Everyone got cupcakes, with D.C. and Chris ordering two!  They didn't have breakfast (or lunch) yet, so I guess that works.  I didn't get a cupcake, since I just ate breakfast, but no regrets-- I'll choose a bowl of cereal over cupcakes any day!

Okay, so they were gourmet cupcakes and very cute, but watching everyone else eat them made me happy ^^  I also could hear my mom telling me that I was fat -_-''

Confetti and Double Chocolate

Pumpkin Harvest and Smores (recommended by the lady working there!)

Oh!  We also saw Belinda there... working!  That's so cool, working at a cupcake shop.  Sounds like a really fun job... too bad I don't have a car, don't even need to think about applying.  *sigh*  Surrounded by cute baked goods, seeing the behind-the-scenes in a bakery where the blobs of batter poof up into cupcakes and watching the decorating process, and interacting with happy people who enjoy eating sweets...  Ahhh sounds so awesome!!  >w<

Pumpkin Harvest (again) and ... I'm actually not sure ^^''

I forgot to take pictures of Yen-Lin, Elaine, Debra, and Josh's cupcakes! 

Chris and Yen-Lin (and her Red Velvet)

Anna, Sean, and D.C.

Tee hee, seeing everyone's happy faces while uploading pictures makes me smile :D  There were pictures of The Cup's sweets on the wall nearby too!  I got to see what their seasonal cupcakes looked like.

And they were super busy!  Lots of people going in and out, and there was even a line.  @_@  Amazing.  People love sweets sooo much, even guys!

Can you spot our table?

That's right.

I grabbed a business card from the front, and I noticed that the manager's name is Jon Baker.  *waits a few moments*  Hahaha, funny, right?  :)  Baker... cupcakes.. get it?  *silence*  Mmm, okay >_>  At least I thought it was funny :P  Very interesting, since I thought the manager would be a girl.  I don't know, I have this notion that girls love sweets way more than guys!

The Cup

28 Maryland Plaza Rear

St. Louis, MO 63108

To further illustrate my point, D.C. couldn't finish his 2nd cupcake, since it was too sweet, but he was still hungry.  Josh and Debra were looking for food too, so I followed the three of them to a hot dog place I saw on the way to The Cup.  It was super windy outside~

It's called Audi-K's!

Weird name, right?  I have no idea what the story is.  And yet another shop that amazes me; they can survive on selling only hot dogs?!  Well, they also sell shaved ice = snow cones, but only in the summer~

Most of the tables inside were taken, so they must have good business.  I wouldn't pick hot dogs as a meal though, unless it was an emergency @_@  But looking at the menu, the varieties seems really tempting!

Cooking them in the back right after you order

They come in cute take out boxes!  Here's the Chicago Dog

... and a very happy and excited D.C.!  :D

Josh got the B.L.T. Dog~

And Debra got the All-American Dog.  There was one called "Dog's Breath" that had a lot of onions, cute!   think I would have gotten...  nachos.  Haha :P  When I was younger, my mom used to boil hot dogs for a fast and effortless meal, and that would be our dinner.  So that's why I'm kind of afraid of them now!