My Very First Sari!

Hello cuties! So I decided to update with a post after so long. I'm sorry it took a while as I was preparing for exams, midterms, and spring break which was last week. I needed a huge break as I was getting slightly stressed but no worries! I feel a lot better as I came back from hanging out with a friend and we went to a battleship, boardwalk, did some go karting, watching movies, and dining. It was lots of fun and I'm very thankful to my friend who pulled me away to get away from it all. I hope everyone had a lovely spring break or vacation. ^-^

The week before spring break I made some tikka masala. My goodness it was so delicious. Homemade food is obviously the best. This is a vegetarian curry made with organic potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, himalayan pink salt, black pepper, baby spinach, baby kale, spring greens, just a dash of korma curry on top of organic brown rice. Nom nom nom...

Here's a couple photos of my sari which is the main topic of this post! I decided after work that I was going to the sari store by my house. I stepped in and it was quiet and had one person in the store. It was around 4 o' clock on a Sunday so I didn't expect it to be full of people anyways. The girl at the counter was so helpful and let me try on different ones. There are three pieces to this sari set which includes the top, petticoat, and the long wrap. She taught me how to wrap the sari around my body which took some time to get used to and I had to watch Youtube videos on it over and over again as I tried to master the folds. There were many beautiful designs, colors, and types of saris and that made it even harder to choose! I ended up with this gorgeous piece which I know you guys can't see I have full body shots of the beautiful dress but it's not loading right so I'll post some more as soon as they pull up!

Update: Here are some photos of the full dress, finally!

I love the various colors and the design on this. More photos of the dress by itself soon~

 I can't wait to get more beautiful saris which I will definitely share with you all. Please subscribe to my blog which will make me uber HAPPY~
Talk to my lovely bonbons soon! Hugs and kisses.

Love one and only,

Shon

My Current Diet

I try to keep my grocery shopping as simple as possible because it can get overwhelming at times. One tip is to purchase small amounts at the store. Most of the stuff I buy are organic fruits and veggies. I don't try to buy too much outside of that as your cart can get full of items you don't need. I eat fruits and cereal for my sweet tooth. I eat and drink soy products for protein(other than beans).

GREENS
I have now incorporated Kale into my diet. I get the organic mixed greens with spinach, kale, and other  greens. I need to come up with a green juice for me to drink and I'll make sure to share it with you guys when I'm done. =)
Greens are also great because they tend to be alkaline. Alkaline means a pH higher than 7. Our bodies are slightly more alkaline but because our diets tend to be more acidic our bodies have to work harder to balance it out. This will make us more fatigued and tired. Alkaline foods are better for your digestive tract as it is much more gentle and sensitive. Fermented veggies like pickles or kimchi(Korean) are alkaline and good for you. There are lists on the internet that tell you what foods are alkaline that you can easily look up.

MORE FRUITS & VEGGIES
Organic celery, eggplant, red pepper, spinach, onions, garlic, kale, bananas, mango, berries... for now

NO ADD'L SALT & SUGARS
Little to no salt. I don't put any additional salts into my diet. At first it's weird but you get used to it after a while and then your taste buds change and dislike too much salt. One of the reasons I hate going out to eat is that they put salt on EVERYTHING!
No refined sugars. The only sugars I support are the ones from fruits and honey. I approve of Agave which is like the vegan alternative to honey. I've seen non-vegans like it. I've tried Stevia but I didn't like it too much. Stevia is a great substitute though and it's super alkaline which is good for your body since we tend to eat more acidic foods.

SEASONING
My one and only favorite is cracked pepper. That's really about it. =)

TOFU & BEANS
Vegans and vegetarians have to eat more soy product and beans for our protein source. Black beans are my fav! I love tofu because of it's versatility. You can make almost any recipe out of tofu.

SNACKS
I like to snack on bananas, celery, and granola cereal when I get a little hungry throughout the day. Sometimes I like hummus with pita chips. I know this is not entirely that good for me but this is my once in a while guilty pleasure. I love hummus!

WATER
I only drink water, tea, and coffee. I don't drink any sodas. Very few juices as I rather make the fruit juices and smoothies at home. I drink water as much as I can. Penta water is my favorite brand of water. See my blog   {  Better H2O   }


DAIRY
Soy, almond, rice


ORGANIC
Try to get everything organic. They are usually better quality than the ones that are not.

NON-GMO
No genetically modified foods. They're everywhere but the ones that are not have a non-GMO label on it.

NO MEAT
I am a vegetarian so I don't eat any animal meat. I do eat eggs and seafood though.

EAT OUT LESS
A lot of the food ingredients restaurants use are processed, high in sugars and salts, carbs, fat, which is completely unhealthy. I try not to go out too often. What I suggest is to maybe cook in your home more for your friends and family. It's more fun this way and maybe you can get your friends to help you with the cooking. It's a fun activity and everybody can enjoy a healthy meal. Dinner parties and backyard grills are definitely a superior alternative than going out to a restaurant.

NO MEDICATIONS
I don't take any medications. I drink herbal teas, and use the gifts of mother earth such as plants, and essential oils for healing.

NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORINGS, FRAGRANCES
No food coloring whatsoever.

Better H2O

I went to Natural Grocers a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to share with you guys one product that I absolutely love love LOVE! I picked up several items that day because I was going to make more homemade cosmetic and hair products at home. Out of curiosity and thirst I picked up this interesting purple bottle. Why I chose this one out of all the rest I could not tell you but I did. This venture has made a interesting one as I drank the water on my way home and I was in complete shock. This water was amazing! I've never had this kind of water before as commercial bottled water like Ozarka, Nestle, and Smart water (which are companies you shouldn't support anyways) have never tasted like this magical oasis. I used to hate drinking water because they didn't taste good as there was always a chalky and metal after-taste. YUCK! So I would always replace it with tea all the time. I'm so glad by accident I found this water because all I do is drink water and nothing else. [Well, I do drink fruit juices and smoothies] I would drink like 4 huge (one liter each) of these a day. I would drink more but they are kind of expensive. It's like 2.75 a bottle. I buy the whole pack of 12 large (one liter) bottles for about 32 US dollars on Amazon.com. You can find 24 smaller (half the size) bottles. I wish it wasn't so expensive but that's the price you pay for really good pure water. You can check out their official website here:

http://www.pentawater.com/_pw/index.php

"Penta's revolutionary, patented 13-step, 11-hour filtration and purification process includes spinning our water under high speed and pressure (cavitation). This extra step produces smaller, more readily absorbed water clusters, providing advanced hydration. Penta is the only bottled water that uses patented physics, not chemicals, to produce the purest water available, helping to keep your body healthy and functioning at peak performance. Penta is Advanced Hydration!" - Pentawater.com

I researched more about this company since I like the water so much and found out that they were founded in 1999 in San Diego, CA. I thought this water was from Europe or something lol. I've been recommending this to my family and friends and they seem to enjoy the water too! Don't take my word for it try it out yourselves.

Have any favorite waters or brands or thoughts on this water? Share with us~

My Hello Kitty Wish List

CUTENESS overload!!!! <3 I love Hello Kitty but I guess that's the stereotypical asian girl thing to do is like it so much and own it all! In this blog I wanted to share with all of you some items I think are just adorable from the Sanrio line. You can find all these items on their official website Sanrio.com. FYI: I am in no way affiliated with this company. I don't work for them, I just freakin' love their stuff!!

My Hello Kitty Picks (Wish List):

Embossed handbag in Rose

70 US dollars

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Look at the bow! WANT WANT WANT! They have a few other colors but this is my absolute favorite one out of all of the purses. It was so hard to choose one though as I liked them all! I know this is probably an oxymoron but I wanted a mature looking purse because I'm a grown up and need a grown up purse....YEAH RIGHT!

Petite: pink tone 24 US dollars & Graffiti (black) 58 US dollars

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The pink one for casual and the other one for school. =)

Iphone 4 case w/ charm in pink

35 US dollars

"itty-bitty kind & pretty" OMG CUTE!

Gold Plated Swarovski studs butterfly

295 US dollars

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 Price = ????!!!!!!

I would look so fly though

Hello Kitty Enamel Necklace Ice Cream

30 US Dollars

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I couldn't get this one I would break out unless it was gold or stainless steel but come on it's Hello Kitty as ice cream! YUMMY!

Back

Mascot Bento Plush line:

Octopus Sausage & Tempura

8.50 US Dollars

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How yummy do these look?

 Hello Kitty Plush Rabbit.

32 US Dollars

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Rabbits are my favorite animals. 

 Collectable 5-piece Vinyl Figurine Gift Set

42 US Dollars

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This I would give to a friend

 The Japanese doll Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel 9" Plush Set

110 US dollars

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In their traditional outfits. Awwwwwwww~

Precious Moments x Hello Kitty: Nurse

35 US dollars

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I'm sooooo getting this when I graduate!

There are so many items that I haven't gone through but I had to stop myself at some point just because I would have gone forever. What are your favorite Hello Kitty gifts or items? 

My Current Brand Of Coffee & Tea

Current coffee: Starbucks Veranda Blonde Roast [K-cup]
Current tea: green tea by The Mighty Leaf

While I love the stuff I'm drinking right now I'm always looking for a change. I guess because maybe there is something different out there that I'm not aware about. I'm always looking for a new brand of coffee and tea. I want something of good quality, fair trade, and not too expensive. I started drinking Japanese brand Yamamotoyama Sencha green tea recently and Oh man! That one is really brothy. I feel like drinking soup lol. It's good though. I make sure to put a teaspoon of my organic, raw, and unfiltered honey. Detox essentials include hot tea and honey.

I was looking into loose leaf tea because supposedly they are of higher quality than tea bags? I don't know too much about it. Does anybody have any suggestions? I would love to hear them!