Archive for July, 2011

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Just a Minute (July 2011)

July 31st, 2011 by Manda | 4 Comments | Filed in Life

On the last day of every month, I take Just a Minute to reflect on what I’m currently up to.

Packing… up all of my worldly possessions for my upcoming move to DC. My God, I hate packing. You’d think with the amount of un/packing I have to do with all my traveling I’d at least like packing a little, but nope.

Reading… an essay about the rise and fall of Quanzhou, China. It’s very dense, and if I hadn’t promised a friend I’d read it I’d be reading Sarah Dessen or something.

Catching… up on my TV shows. I’ve finished The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and The Tudors. I’ve still got Game of Thrones, How I Met Your Mother, and Glee to catch up on. Not to mention I’ve started watching a new Chinese TV show, so I’ve got a lot of TV watching to do.

Baking… cakes and cupcakes to make up for my year with no oven in China! So far I’ve made lemon basil olive oil cake and coconut-grapefruit cupcakes with matcha frosting.

Browsing… lots of food blogs in an effort to start stockpiling recipes. I’ll be cooking for myself all year and I need new recipe ideas!

Anticipating… my return to DC! I can’t wait to move into my apartment, live with my roommates, and see all of my friends again.

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Today Was a Fairytale

July 29th, 2011 by Manda | 10 Comments | Filed in Food, Life, Relationships

Yesterday1 was one of those days when all the stars aligned and everything fell into place effortlessly.

I had bubble milk tea with taro, one of my favorite drinks. I had a delicious home-cooked Chinese lunch. I saw Chinglish, an absolutely fantastic play. I went to KTV and, for an evening, could pretend that I was back in my beloved China. And I finally heard something I’ve been waiting to hear for far, far too long.

Oh, and I made these coconut-grapefruit cupcakes with matcha (green tea) frosting:

  1. Yes, the title of this entry is ripped off the Taylor Swift song, but “Yesterday Was a Fairytale” doesn’t quite have the same ring. Ah, well. [↩]

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The World of Credit Cards

July 25th, 2011 by Manda | 10 Comments | Filed in Life

I was approved for a credit card at the bank today. This is clearly a sign I am Moving Up and Becoming a Real Adult as I’ve only ever had a debit card before. While I don’t have my actual card yet (it takes 2-3 weeks for my card to be sent to me) I do have a credit account now, with a line of credit from my bank and everything. Isn’t that scary?

As a rising college senior, it might seem like I’m a little late to the credit card game. In a way, I am; to my knowledge I have a non-existent credit rating. I’ve never had a credit card, how could I have a credit score? But the truth is, I’ve always been a little terrified of credit cards. Tons of people, especially in my age demographic, have more credit card debt than they know how to deal with. Of course I know the basics of avoiding credit card debt (which all basically boil down to don’t spend money you don’t have) but the fact that the terms “credit card” and “credit card debt” are almost always used in the same sentence in every news report about credit kind of scares me.

I don’t plan on making any flashy purchases with my new credit card, nor do I plan on spending money I don’t have with it, line of credit or no. What I do plan on using it for is to build my credit. Which leads me to an all-important question: anyone have any credit-building tips?

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