The Dumplings That Changed My Life Forever

Now, as an Asian girl, it goes without saying that I really, and I mean really love Asian food. But with that being said, I grew up always feeling hyperconscious about the things that I consumed because I was just born with an unlucky amount of commonly found allergies such as nuts, fish, bananas, you name it. Because of that, I just got used to sticking to the same dishes that I knew I wasn't allergic to. One of those dishes that I grew up eating was dumplings. Oh yes. Sweet, juicy dumplings. But if you grow up only getting to eat those while you're out at some fancy Asian Dim Sum place while all your relatives devour all these more complex and exotic dishes that are probably filled with things you can't eat, it starts to get a little, well, repetitive. Not to mention boring. But that notion has been forever changed as of about a week ago when my boyfriend took me to a certain place called Din Tai Fung. Now, this place originates from China and expanded to Los Angeles which is such a hub of great food so you already know this place is good. There's currently two in the Seattle area--one in Bellevue and one in the University District, which is the one I went to. It's newly opened and sometimes chain restaurants can be a hit or miss, but wow this was more like a hit and a half. 

Behold! The juicy pork dumplings.......It almost brings tears to my eyes remembering how succulent they were. First of all, when you walk into the restaurant, you can literally see the chefs in the back hand-making each and every dumpling, and it truly exemplifies how much of a wondrous art dumpling-making is. The dough is just the perfect combination of chewy and moist, and the meat is always bursting with flavor. But here's the hook---Now i'm no expert chef, but through some sort of beautiful, mystical cooking process, the DTF chefs have somehow found a way to fill these delicious dumplings with some sort of broth that you can't really describe. It just tastes so right. It's not too salty, not too bland, not too overpowering to where the ratio of flavors doesn't balance out throughout the dumpling. It's simply perfection.

Here's also the chicken fried noodles that we ordered. The portion was a little small in my opinion, but, then again, maybe we were just really, really hungry. It was still a great dish though, so you know this place isn't just a one-hit dish wonder. 

So in light of my recent newfound love and obsession for dumplings, I suggest if you have a DTF near you and have yet to try it to get up out of that uncomfortable chair you're sitting in, close your laptop, and go try their juicy, succulent dumplings now!!

Pink Slips

Burgundy maxi dress (H&M) / Rose button-up (Thrifted) / Michael Kors Gilmore Cross-body (Macy's) / Diba buckled shoes (Nordstrom Rack)

Lately my mood style has been girly and comfortable while still keeping it looking classy and sophisticated. This burgundy tank maxi dress layered under this rose-colored button-up gives off just the right girly color scheme without being super bubblegum pink pink pink if you get what I mean! I also added some leggings underneath my maxi for extra warmth.

I wore this outfit to grab some breakfast with my parents and my boyfriend. On the way back to the car, we came across a huge family of squirrels. They kept running around so it was hard to catch some footage of them but it was pretty epic to say the least.

Short and Sweet

White coat (Nordstrom) / Dotted lace-trim dress (Buffalo Exchange) / Nike leggings (Nordstrom Rack) / Diba buckled boots (Nordstrom Rack)

Who says you can't be comfy and still feel stylish? This thrifted t-shirt dress I got from Buffalo Exchange has a great, buttery feel, and with its small white polka dot pattern and refined 2-tier cream lace trim on the bottom, it truly gives the simple t-shirt structure that extra oompf. Going along with the comfortable theme, I decided to slip into my ultra comfy Nike leggings which are thick enough to keep me warm in this 45 degree weather. These leggings also have a thick waist band that won't hug too tight and cause, well, any unwanted muffin tops. As for my shoes, I know what you all are thinking. And no, they're (very very unfortunately) not the Chloe Susanna boots. As a broke college student, that's a luxury I can only hope to one day afford, so for now these will do just fine. I found these Chloe copycat shoes at Nordstrom Rack for about $70 USD and I immediately bought them without any regret or hesitation. $70 instead of the $500-$1000 I could be spending on this shoe look? I'd say that's more than just a steal. In addition, the quality of these booties are absolutely great, and the small wooden heel makes a clack-y sound that gives off a sophisticated high-heel sound which makes me feel like a total boss lady. I wore this whole outfit when I had breakfast with my parents at this interesting cabin-style hotel in the middle of suburbia.

And with that, I leave you with a mouthwatering video I took of my dad slowly drizzling maple syrup over a freshly made waffle <3

Crave greasy pizza no mo! ....+ a health/fitness life rant

Okay so I've realized that ever since I started college I definitely haven't been going through the same weekly routine I've been going through for practically my whole life--sports for 2 hours+dance for 2-3 hours 5-6 days a week. Like.....I never realized just how active I was and I guess that was why I was able to eat so unhealthy my whole life. I seriously never wanted to eat fruits or veggies and I always ate fast food and candy and chips and I'd sometimes just make cake batter just to eat the bowl of cake batter (kinda gross-sounding I know.....but hey you try a taste of your favorite cake batter and see just how deliciously addicting it can be!) I would always eat all these processed foods like snacking on pepperoni, eating a hot pocket for breakfast, pizza pockets for lunch. I remember my senior year every single school day I'd get pizza at the cafeteria! I literally never drank water either--only if I was forced to because it was the only thing available like a water fountain at cross country practice or dance practice. I treated Simply Lemonade and soda as my water. But now......sadly......I've learned the very very hard way that I may not be able to stay quite as active as I was before college; therefore, I can't be eating half a box of frosted flakes for a snack and heating up a bag of pizza rolls for lunch every day. But these are all habits that I definitely needed to change regardless of whether or not I wanted to make a conscious effort to stay in shape or not! It's all about keeping your body strong and healthy as you grow older. So conclusively, I need to at least change my diet to where I eat preferably only foods that have substantial nutritional value and try to stay as active as I was before college!

So anyway, back to the point I was trying to make! I have a soft spot for a steamy, fluffy, crispy pizza but I can't be craving it all the time! I've been addicted to original flavor Go Raw flax snax for several weeks now because they're so low calorie per serving (180cal for 22 pieces!), but today I was opened up to a whole new world.

.......BEHOLD!

If I want a pizza, I just turn to these very easily filling dehydrated pizza-flavored snacky goodness. Oh my gosh.......it seriously tastes exactly like a crunchy piece of pepperoni! The fact that it's high in dietary fiber and has a good amount of protein fills you up, making you crave pizza less. And the additional fact that it tastes JUST like pizza satisfies your craving even more! No worries! Guilt-free "pizza" snacking.

Somewhere out there

ALSO forgot to mention that after months and months of pining over them I finally decided to buy galaxy leggings! I love the variety of patterns/colors Romwe galaxy leggings come in and the price is amazing compared to Black Milk leggings.

CAN'T WAIT TO START WEARING THESE BABIES~

Sweater weather is better weather

JUST ORDERED 6 SWEATERS AND IT WAS MONEY VERY VERY VERY VERY WELL SPENT
Hereeeee they are!

DIY: Dip-dye/Ombré Studded Jumper

DIY Dip-dyed Jumper / White tank (F21) / Studded cross necklace (F21) / Cross tights (Topshop) / Black platform lace-ups (Mom's c:)

Please ignore my messy room LOL I'm still packing........

So I've been wanting to do this DIY for a long time now, and after recently seeing multiple photos of jumpers like this retailing for at least $40-$80 I finally just said OKAY I'M DOIN THIS MYSELF. It's literally the perfect comfy sweater to wear on lazy fall/winter days that doesn't make you look like a slouchy hobo.  

 I thrifted this white knit men's jumper for about $7, and then I bought a 100pk of cone studs and some Tulip-brand purple fabric dye. The total cost of this jumper?? 17 BUCKS. That's a steal compared to those whacked-out, overpriced ones online, and the best part is that I got to customize it to how I want it to look like. And I still have a bunch of cone studs left over to DIY some other projects too! This is definitely gonna be one of my go-to pieces for fall/winter.