St. Louis Condo Remodel - Updated Photos

Below is an updated photo album with the new renovations to the kitchen, guest bedroom and dining area. Also, I have included some photos of my new school.
Enjoy!

Renovations: http://picasaweb.google.com/charlaynea/StLouisCondoRenovations#




School Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/charlaynea/MaryvilleUniversity#

St. Louis Condo Remodel ;o)

I recently moved to St Louis, MO because I got engaged.

Ever since I moved in, I have been making changes... Here are some photos of our first project...the bookshelf. We built it, painted it, and stocked it with all of our stuff (actually, most of it is mine).

If you want the plans, I can draw them out...but since I am busy, it will take awhile.

Also, I forgot to take before photos.
Here is the link in case the slideshow does not work below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/charlaynea/StLouisCondoRenovations

AGEDASHI TOFU RECIPE

I recently went to visit my mom and we made some Agedashi Tofu YUM! Here are the directions

AGEDASHI TOFU
Ingredients

• Japanese Firm tofu, 200g
• Grated white radish (daikon)
• Spring onions, chopped
• Bonito Flakes
• Corn, Kazu or Potato flour
• Coconut oil

Sauce:

• 1 tbsp dashi soup stock (konbu dashi)
• 1/2 tbsp mirin
• 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 cup water

Directions

Tofu Preparation
1. Wrap tofu in paper towels and squeeze out excess water. Let it sit for about 20 minutes (minimum). You can get more water out by placing the tofu between 2 cutting boards. This will put pressure on the tofu and squeeze water out.

Sauce
2. In a saucepan, bring the ingredients for the sauce to a boil. Let it cool while to make the tofu.

Tofu
3. Cut the tofu to small squares (I cut a 200g block to 4 squares).

4. Coat the tofu cubes with potato flour evenly.

5. Deep fry the tofu in pre-heated coconut oil (170C, 340F) for about 4 minutes or until light golden brown. Be careful as any excess water from the tofu can make it explode in the deep fryer.

6. Drain the deep fried tofu on paper towels and then place them in serving bowls.

7. Pour the sauce over the tofu.

8. Top each tofu with grated daikon, grated ginger, bonito flakes and spring onions.

Enjoy! I will try to post some photos later!

UPDATE: Here is the photo:

Visiting Thailand?

If you are planning to visit Thailand, I put together a list for a male friend of mine. I thought some of you might find it fun and useful. :o) Feel free to comment on what you think.

What to bring
1. Pants that unzip at the knee so they become shorts
2. A quick dry shirt
3. long sleeve shirt
4. sunblock
5. swim trunks
6. slippers (or you can buy them there, they are cheap like 200 baht)
7. tennis shoes – you will be doing a lot of walking
8. jeans – I loved wearing my jeans, but you might be too hot
9. Small handkerchief or towel to wipe your sweaty face!
10. Maybe a small bag of detergent to wash clothes – you can buy some there, but the detergent is a big bag and it smells different. Also, they have laundry service there too (approx 10-20 baht per item)
11. foot cream – if you wear slippers a lot your feet will get calloused and dirty – you might also want to bring a pumice stone
12. lotion
13. Face wash (this might be a girl thing, but I brought Neutrogena bar soap for my face. I was also able to take this into the airplane)
14. tooth bush
15. Backpack (to wear around during the day)
16. padlock – some hotels have lockers for your valuables and they don’t have a lock for you
17. Plastic bags (make sure you get ones that can keep water out) this will come in handy if you go in the water (camera, passport, etc)
18. Bring a camera
19. Bring $100 dollar bills. You get a way better exchange rate
20. Cell phone that takes sim cards – you can purchase prepaid ones in Thailand from DTac.
21. Gum – you want fresh breath for the airplane – YIKES!

Things you have to try in Thailand
Preface: I love the fruit in Thailand
1. Dragon Fruit – Its bright pink with soft spikes looks like its on fire. Inside is white with black seeds
2. Som Oh (aka Pomello) – this is like a grapefruit. Looks like a big green grapefruit but is actually my favorite!!!! I love this in Thailand it is sweet and yellow inside.
3. Champoo (aka Java Apple) – this is yummy! There is a picture of it on my album. It’s the one the dog is eating. We eat it too…YUMMY!
4. There is this dark purple/brown fruit that is hard on the outside and white on the inside. I can’t remember what this is called, but we took a picture of it on my friend’s camera. I will try and get you the picture. It is known as the “queen of all fruit” this is good also…really soft.
5. Tulian (aka Durian) – this is the King of Fruit and you must try this if you are going to Thailand. I personally don’t like it because its rich and has a really strong smell…but its spikey on the outside and yellow on the inside.

Try eating street food. I recommend ordering:
6. In the morning: Try Joke – this is porridge. Unlike Chinese porridge, Thai people make it tastier with fish sauce in it...and sometimes a half cooked egg :o)
7. Warm Soy Milk
8. Milo (this is basically chocolate milk)
9. For Lunch: Try Khao Kha Moo – Pork Leg on Rice (I know this sounds gross, but lots of people like it)
10. Try a Duck Soup, Pad See Ewe, Tom Yum Khong, Spaghetti Bolonese, Thai iced Coffee (Coffa Yen), Thai iced tea (Cha-Yen), Young Coconut Juice
11. Kanom Kroke – This is Coconut ½ circles that they fry in little cups – YUMMY! I like the ones with corn
12. Just try the desserts and everything you can that is Thai…oh and DON’T forget the Coconut Ice Cream!!!! A lot of nice places don’t have it though….
13. Got to The Oriental Hotel (Bangkok – off the river) and have a Drink! The scenery is nice and the desert is devine. This is where I got that dessert that is pictured in the album. It was called “Sawatdee”
14. Roti (this is a flour roll with condensed milk and sugar inside – don’t get the fancy ones with chocolate and bananas inside. The original one is the best!)
15. Go Shopping – depending on what you are looking for, MBK has a lot of cheap Tech stuff; Khlong Thom has DVD Copies and fake Rolexes; Cha-tu-chat has good things for wholesale like bedding and wooden vases…Siam Paragon is like the Beverly Center – they have stores like Hermes, Farrengamo, Moterola, Starbucks (FYI if you have a Starbucks card, you can use it all over the world), etc.; TRUE places have the internet and sometimes coffee.

the latest

here are my latest drawings - at the end

Portfolio

and, i cut my hair :o)

Oreo Photos

Here are some photos of my kitten, Oreo.

I got her on 9/15/07 and she is now 5 1/2 months.

Oreo

Project Gingerbread

This is the latest company competition that we had at Ingram Micro.
Click on the link and check it out!

Project Gingerbread

Tips for Green Living

1. Move Your Thermostat down Two Degrees. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.

2. Unplug Unused Electronics from the Wall, when you go home tonight. Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. Unplugging them can save millions of tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere.

3. Buy Fresh Foods Instead of Frozen, next time you are at the store. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

4. Opt for a Credit Card E-Statement. If all Americans viewed and paid bills online, we'd save 18.5 Million trees each year.

5. Carpool with a Friend or (Two) to Yoga. More people doing yoga together, and driving together, helps make the world a better place.
Source: stopglobalwarming.com and idealbite.com.

Golden Compass Daemon

So, I took this quiz on www.thegoldencompassmovie.com per my friend Jen. I ended up being a Hare. See below:

Interior Design: Project 1

These are a photos of my first Interior Design project. Our assignment was to create a board that displayed French history and influences in design today.
The story for this board starts in the lower left corner with a picture of Notre Dame (taken by my friend). I would explain how the story goes, but I am not sure if that would be interesting to people. So, unless you want to know, here it is. You can always e-mail or leave a comment for me and I will add it.

I hadn't learned it yet, but I was told that this board was in harmony and has a winter color scheme.