That Post-Grad Life

It's been almost one year since I graduated from college and I have to say that it has been the most challenging year in my life. In one short year, I have accomplished so much and learned that the post-grad life isn't all that awesome. I landed my first job at a private PR agency and quickly transitioned into the position I am at currently, which I love. I started living by myself, met an amazing guy in the most unexpected way possibly, moved cities, and mended relationships with long lost friends.

If I could share some "wise" advice to my college self, it would definitely ease the transition from my college sorority life to my post-grad working life. So here it goes!

• Enjoy your college years, don't rush to graduate early, take on every opportunity that comes at you and never close any doors.
• Find your #BFFL, because a girl without any girl friends is pathetic. In the post-grad life, keeping up with relationship becomes exhausting due to lack of time and different schedules but no matter how busy you get, your #BFFL will always be there for you.
• Take internships but make it relevant. If you want to work in the entertainment industry, make sure to seek those internships, don't jump around from internship to internship and still do not know what you want to do in life.
• Learn how to budget and not overspend. Pay every single bill on time. (I am still horrible at budgeting...it's just so tempting to buy whatever I want because I feel like I earned it)
• Find one thing you are good at and find ways to make yourself even better at it. When you are seeking your first job, it distinguish you from all the other 20 something job seekers.
• Read relevant books. Yes, it's entertaining to read Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey but you will be surprised that books about life and biographies are rather interesting and have good take-aways.
• Find a hobby and shopping does not count.
• Don't plan your life around "the one". One thing I realized in college that nothing is forever, one day you can not live without them, the next, you are living without them and perfectly fine. Your twenties are suppose to be spent exploring who you are and what you want to be. When the time is right, "the one" will be in your life in the most unexpected way.

Even though I miss my reckless college sorority years,hate paying bills and having more responsibility than I am used to but I am beyond content and anxious about what my next step will be, whether it's in my career or my personal life. Like what one of my best friend tells me "The best is yet to come."

Taiwanese Curry

Today, I made one of my favorite comfort dish, Taiwanese Curry. So what makes this curry "taiwanese"? Well, instead of cooking the chicken with the curry, I make the chicken separately. It's called 盐酥鸡 in Chinese which translates to "salty crispy nuggets". Using these fried chicken nuggets gives the curry a completely different dimension and tastes absolutely delicious! I always have to stop myself from eating the chicken when frying them or else there would not be enough left. You can even just make the chicken separately and eat it as a snack, just make sure to fry some basil leaves with it! The curry part of the dish is SO simple. I use a boxed curry called Vermont Curry. This dish takes around an hour or so to make but it's definitely worth it.

Curry

Ingredients:

1 Box Vermont Curry

3 Carrots

3 Potatoes

1/2 Onion

6 Cups of water

1. Cook the curry according to the box. Told ya it's easy!

Crispy Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

3-4 Pieces of chicken (I like to use thighs, gives more flavor)

3 Tbs of Rice Wine

2 Tbs of Five Spice Powder

2 Tbs of Sugar

3 Tbs of Soy Sauce

1 Tbs of Black Pepper

2 Tbs of Cayenne Pepper (you don't have to add this in if you don't want it to be spicy)

2 Egg Yolk

1/2 Cups of Potato Starch
Oil for frying

1. Cube the chicken
2. Mix chicken, rice wine, five spice, sugar, soy sauce, black pepper and cayenne pepper together and let it marinade in the fridge for 30 mins
3. After chicken marinades, mix in the egg yolk and potato starch together.
4. Heat up the oil, should be around 1-1 1/2 inch deep
5. Fry the chicken nuggets in batches. Don't over crowd the chicken in the pot!
6. Take out when chicken is golden brown outside.

To serve, include some rice, scoop curry over chicken and enjoy! ♥



xoxo,
Annie  

The Perfect Chambray

I been searching for the perfect chambray shirt for since last fall season but could not find any that I liked. I was looking for a shade that is blue-ish/grey and loosely fitted. The ones I found were either too big or too denim colored, so I gave up after months of looking for it. However, this past weekend, I found the perfect shade of chambray!

This picture does not reflect the exact color of the shirt but it will do. I found it at Old Navy for $25. What a deal! There was a cold front this past weekend and I figured if would be the perfect opportunity to wear it out. I wanted to be casual since I was running errands around town. Sorry for the quality of the picture, it was taken with my iPhone.

Shirt: Old Navy | Tank: Banana Republic | Leggings: Ann Taylor
Shoes: Tory Burch | Jewelry: David Yurman & Kendra Scott

Can't wait to style this chambray shirt w/ some scarfs and boots soon!



xoxo,
Annie