Eschewed Obfuscation

Mom went to the church group potluck today, so Dad made instant noodles and I had this awesome cold-noodle thing with not-really-noodles. It's about as close to a salad as I'm ever going to get. Let's see if I can figure out the ingredients without using too much Chinese... Well, the not-really-noodles are this super-thin noodle-like stuff made out of beans (fen3 si1), also the only legume I will ever willingly consume. Tossed with that were little mini-shrimp, oil-and-soy-sauce-flavored raw cucumbers (with skin), about a serving (one slice) of roast pork tenderloin, and some leftover za4 cai4, which translates to pickled mustard tuber and has 110% of the recommended daily value of sodium in one serving. Thankfully, no one actually eats a whole serving of the stuff; it's more like garnish for plain oatmeal or rice porridge. The whole thing was a bit too salty thanks to the mustard tuber, but hey--using up leftovers is good. Then I had amazing mango juice smoothie (NAKED, from Costco) and so dinner was awesome.

On a completely different topic, the May issue of Vogue arrived today and I spent half the afternoon reading it. None of the articles were really spectacular, but I went shopping at Macy's afterwards and was amazed at how many trends I recognized. And I bought this gorgeous babydoll empire-waist black mini-polka-dot dress, which I'm so wearing next Friday on Casual Dress Day--I don't care if I have to wear black tights underneath it. I've been wanting some girly clothes forever, and now I have the best dress ever. Next step, find a cute flouncy/floaty skirt that isn't black or white. Anyway, I came home and finished reading Vogue, then started pulling out random things and trying them on, seeing how the clothes meshed. I'm wearing a black 3/4-sleeve knit top from New York and Company right now with a blue-flowered button down polo layered over top, which is really a big step for me. The top has a tendency to collect fuzz, so when I had to go out, I threw something over it and it actually looks pretty good. And I'm wearing a really pretty millifore glass pendant from Christina's (a little boutique near Marinelli Woodwinds, where I go for lessons) and a green bracelet I bought on sale at Icing's. I know I'm rambling, but I just feel so cool today. Cool, pretty, and fashionable in my own way.

All in all, I'm in a great mood right now. Off to go play Achaea before I have to start working on my powerpoint for the English poetry project. Ta-ta!