February always comes with a lot of festivities. Birthdays (including my own), Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Leap Year (dude, that’s an extra day in the month! What’s not to celebrate about that?!)

I decided to bust out the baking pans for some special peoples in my life. Mainly…me.

I absolutely adore Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes up to the high heavens. The best I’ve tried has been the Peanut Butter mini cupcakes at Starbucks. These babies could make me bust into tears. Luckily, the birthday boy I was making these for also shared my love for peanut butter and chocolate and cupcakes.

I started with this recipe from Beantown Baker. In the end, because of ingredients and what not, I came up with something entirely of my own doing (which is not a bad thing at all).

A trip to Trader Joe’s brought back the necessary supplies (except for confectioner’s sugar. Did you know Trader Joe’s only sells that during the holiday season? If February isn’t the holiday season, I don’t know what is!)

A major reason I wanted to bake was because I wanted to use these bad boys my dear friend Jessica got me for Christmas.

The cake mix was mished and mashed and poured into cupcake and cake pans.

Ingredients for frosting…

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing 
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy ’cause I can)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Chocolate Ganache
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

In saucepan bring whipping cream to boil over high heat. Pour hot whipping cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate melted.

After, I topped with the peanut butter frosting and even more mini peanut butter cups!

These things were so freaking good I gained 10 pounds after eating it 5 days in a row.

Ok, maybe not, maybe it just feelslike 10 pounds.

What’s your favorite cupcake flavor? Maybe I’ll try baking it next time!

Everybody and their mama has something to say about Jeremy Lin so it was tough to come up with an post for Audrey Magazine other than OHMYGOSHHOWAWESOMEISTHISGUYANDHE’SASIANANDHELOVESGODANDHEWENT
TOHARVARDANDHEMADEMEBELIEVEDREAMSCANCOMETRUEAGAIN

I went along with it and thought I should share the blog post here.

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In the span of less than two weeks, Jeremy Lin has gone from being an NBA benchwarmer to Asian America’s heartthrob. When he’s not making record-breaking points, career-high assists, or leading his team to victory at the last 0.5 seconds, he’s garnering praise from Spike Lee, Steve Nash, President Obama, pretty much every sportswriter in the universe, and all my friends on Facebook and Twitter. It’s pretty clear we’ve all caught #Linsanity. Rumor has it that Kim Kardashian is even trying to get lin on the action.

And who can blame Kim? Here, we share with you several very, very valid reasons why Jeremy Lin would make a great boyfriend (sprinkled in with hilarious memes from the “Hey Girl, It’s Jeremy Lin” tumblr. Swoonworthy):

1) He’s tall

At 6’3″, Jeremy’s long muscular arms are perfect to wrap around your shoulders on a cold, windy day. And if you got a broken lightbulb that needs fixing, Jeremy can tackle that without the aide of a ladder.

2) He’s humble

We know girls tend to fall for bad boys but after the recent bouts of slutty athletes airing their dirty marital laundry all over the place (we’re talking about you, Kobe and Tiger), and overloaded cockiness being the accepted norm of professional sportstars, it’s nice to finally have someone feel grateful for their success and credit others as opposed to themselves.

3) He’s dorky
I could not stop watching Jeremy and teammate Landry Fields exchange what may be the nerdiest handshake in the universe. Watch here:

4) He went to Harvard
Okay, who doesn’t want a boyfriend that went to the esteemed Ivy League?

5) Your parents would like him

{ Jeremy Lin's grandmother watching his basketball game in Taiwan. }

For us Asian girls, parental approval is pretty important when it comes to the love life. So it would be a relief to bring Jeremy Lin home. The guy’s a good Chinese Christian boy who went to Harvard and is close to his family. You know he’ll pass the parental test! My dad’s always wished I was a boy who could play basketball with him. Landing Jeremy Lin would probably make him burst into tears of joy. My own mom and aunt are already crazy for the boy. They actually watch basketball games now and keep showing me newspaper clippings of Jeremy and saying, “you need to find a boy like Lin!” Okay mom, it’s just that easy to find a good Christian NBA player who went to Harvard and in ten days, made himself a beloved sports star. Okay.

6) You would be the envy of every Asian girl and boy in the world.
Just judging from my Facebook feed, every Asian person I know has a big fat crush on Jeremy Lin. Boys and girls, old and young, straight and gay. It’s hard to not admire his virtues — and how he just lin, lin, lins all the time. It’ll be even harder to stop yourself from bragging to all your friends once you bag him as a boyfriend.

7) He’s ballin’ in more ways than one.

Lin is set to make around $613,000 this season but it’s most likely he’ll be collecting a paycheck of millions by next year. You ain’t a girl digger, girl, but it’s nice when a man can provide.

8 ) You are guaranteed good seats to basketball games.

Being the basketball superstar that he is now, dating Jeremy will guarantee you the best courtside seats during basketball season as you watch your hunny demolish the other teams. Talk about a good date, huh?

9) It’s linteresting thinking up puns for JLin.

Linsanity, Falling Lin Love, A Linderella Story, The Most Linteresting Man in the World, I could keep going on and on about all the fun puns about Lin but let’s not add any more linsult to linjury, eh? It’s all Lin my head anyway.

I think the most important reason why Jeremy Lin would make a great boyfriend is because he practices what he preaches, works hard, looks like he’s genuinely enjoying himself, and never gives us the impression that he feels entitled. The fact that he has broken racial barriers, made the most of out of his moments in the spotlight, heroically saved a tragically low performing sports team, and has reinvigorated the belief in us regular folks that anything can happen and dreams do come true is just fortuitous timing. But what we do sense in this sports wunderkind is someone who seems to be a solid individual that is making the most out of what he’s been given. And that’s someone we can all use in our lives.

I’m a practical girl.

I enjoy shopping at flea markets and vintage shops because it helps the environment and my budget. I would rather spend my money on food and unforgettable experiences than material goods. My favorite gift this past Christmas was an electric toothbrush (oh my goodness, once you go there, you won’t be able to come back).

However, there is something I am not ashamed of admitting.

I looooove receiving flowers. I love giving them as well. Even though plucking those poor beautiful things and giving them to someone could be very wasteful because flowers die, I still love love love fresh flowers. I love the smell of them, I love smiling when I get to see them first thing in the morning, I love the thought of someone taking the time to purchase or pick me some.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it seems a no-brainer to give your loved ones a bouquet of beauties but I say, why not give flowers at random times of the year? Studies have shown that flower heighten happy emotions and life satisfaction. People get happy just looking at ‘em.

Red roses may be the standard to romance but frankly, I find them a little bit too moody and way too expensive. My friend Joyce told me that red roses actually cost the MOST around February and not just because for Valentine’s Day but because of the season it blooms. Um, no thanks!

I’d rather receive some gorgeous peonies. The pale blush pinks, purples, corals, and whites they come in is absolutely swoon-worthy for the girl that’s young at heart and free-spirited.

And fellas, not all girls need the packaging or the expensive store-bought bouquets. Many girlfriends actually prefer wildflowers that look like you just walked past nature, saw some pretty buds, thought of your special lady, and took the time to pick it for them. That’s definitely way more romantic and thoughtful than getting your secretary to order a bouquet of standard reds online, dontcha think?

Regardless of what you do on Valentine’s Day, whether it’s dining at a 5-star restaurant or just a cozy movie night at home, I hope that you’ll take the time to treat your loved ones to some pretty flowers! This includes mothers, sisters, aunts, and friendlies. Flower power!

I’ve never tried giving guys flowers. Do you guys like them? Let me know in the comments below!

I was cleaning out my desk this morning and took a good, hard look at some of the recent magazines I’d received over the past few months.

Now, I love these cover ladies (Meryl and Taylor, woot woot!) but I couldn’t help but think (slightly dismally) that none of them have the slightest resemblance to me! Every single one a (bottled?) blonde haired-blue/green/brown eyed chica.

This is why niche magazines like Audrey and KoreAm Journal need to exist.

I turned 25 last week.

The day came and went amidst a season of really bad colds and fevers, food poisonings, and this weird tumorish thing growing on the back of my neck so I was more than a little distracted to celebrate the day.

But at the same time, there’s been all sorts of quiet celebrations going on. Little ruminations of how far I’ve come over the past 25 years and how much further I will yet to go. I feel like I am hitting another season of my life and it is one I am super excited and scared for.

The eve of my 22nd birthday, I had a huge panic attack because I was so fearful of growing old, of the uncertain future, of the lost past of not doing enough.

However, this year, I looked forward to growing older because with another year, comes more wisdom, more learning, more accepting of an uncertain life. I’m stealing this thought from a Facebook post I read recently but it’s something along the lines of this…

“I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am.”

Whenever fear creeps up on me and has me frivolously worrying over the small things, I listen to JK Rowling’s awe-inspiring Harvard commencement speech.

May it inspire you today!

The end of December is kind of a shaky time to throw an outdoors party. You gotta worry about the weather, for one thing.

But sunshine was on our side on December 31st where Helen and Alex’s wedding party came together and tossed out one big festivity for the lovely bride and groom-to-be’s.

Now, we have a ton of really really crafty and creative people in our wedding party so I wasn’t worried that things weren’t going to turn out fabulous.

Who knew cereals in paper bags would look so gorgeous?

A pancake station!

Despite it being one of the busiest days of the year, many loved ones came to celebrate with Helen and Alex. Thank you all for coming!

The wedding party, led by the ever-theatrical Julian, held a skit for the man and woman of the hour. As you can see, it was very well-received.

Less than 40 days left before my dear Helena gets married! Still have to:
1) Get my dress hemmed
2) Buy heels
3) Throw a bachelorette party
4) Plan 10 minutes of sumthin’ sumthin’ for the wedding reception
5) Cling onto Helen at her last days of singledom! Gahh!! (Jk, jk, I’m so not the clingy type…)

Oh Jason, you always have such a way with words.

There’s nothing that will make you feel more old than attending a pageant you participated in two years ago, a pageant filled with pretty young thangs strutting their stuff on the stage.

Nonetheless, I covered up my wrinkles and sucked in my belly and attended the 2012 Miss LA Chinatown pageant.

‘Twas lovely to catch up with my adorable court (including Jani who emceed the event and missing dear Dow-Ning and Chantel)

Lucky(?) for the 2012 pageant contestants, I was itching to make more use of my monopod so I documented their entire q&a section and posted it on Youtube. I think this will be helpful for all future pageant contestants interested in seeing different ways of answering the q&a’s. I consider them educational videos. You’re welcome, future Miss America.

Enjoy!

This little white Line & Dot number did something to my heart the moment I set eyes on it. Pitter patter, pitter patter.

I wore it almost the next day after I brought it home from Audrey Magazine (perks of the job).

So cute! So girly! So clean! So classy!

But…

My mom asked, “why are your butt pockets all weird?”

She then said aloud the same thing I was thinking in my head, “It’s on backwards.”

I wore it the right way with the bow on my back for a good 15 minutes and then decided to switch it back.

Sometimes, life is all about wearing something backwards and not giving a damn when people tell you your pockets look funny sticking to the sides of your butt.

I had been driving past this billboard everyday on my way to work.

The words, “travel” and “adventure” called out to me. I like traveling and I like adventure.

Finally I read what the billboard was and turns out it was for a TRAVEL + ADVENTURE show that was coming to LA. In a week!

On a whim, I decided to buy tickets to the show to see what it’s about and to hopefully network my way into some press trips. I’d heard stories of a 12-year-old Steven Spielberg sneaking past the Universal lot in a suit and empty briefcase to watch movie shoots and of a 14-year-old Mila Kunis boldly exaggerating her age to land the part in “That 70s Show” and I wanted to do something bold and daring to chase my dreams! My travel blogger friend Brandon had wisely advised that this would be a good way to meet people so I decided I was going to go to the convention show by myself and introduce myself to all the booths, seeing if there were any that may want to invite me out on press trips and in return, I will write and vblog about it. Watch out, Samantha Brown, I’m coming for your job! (Actually, I would never want to take her job, I think she does a very fine…job… of it.)

First up, I needed some business cards. Being on a budget and time crunch, I looked up some nifty how-to guides on making homemade business cards out of handstamps.

All you need is a $40 kit from Staples. (This was generously borrowed from my dear chum, Helen)

I was planning on buying some pretty business card papers from which to stamp my info on but my mom had some leftover cards from back when she made her own business cards and…who can say no to free paper?

After spending over an hour sticking the letters I needed onto the stamp (I have fat fingers), I ended up with a fine, simple collection of cards to hand out!

I then stuck the cards into a professional-looking business card holder and was ready to werk it at the convention!

The cards were passed onto quite a few booths and I’m hoping some of the trips will take place.

Nonetheless, gonna pat myself on the back anyway for trying something out of the ordinary in order to attempt to get closer to my dreams. Hope you will all be inspired to do the same as well!

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After attending the event, for which Samantha Brown was a guest speaker, I became even more of a fan of the blonde travel host. I can see why she is so good at her job. She’s lovable and charming, oozes humility and can describe the heck out of a room. Inspired! (with a hint of a girl-crush)