#50: My Return From China

Question of the Day: What is the farthest you've ever travelled before?

MONTH-LONG HIATUS IS OVER!!!

You can imagine how alarmed I felt when I connected to the Internet in our cozy little place in Shanghai, China and found out that Blogspot, along with several other sites like Facebook and Youtube, was blocked off!! What's more, my beloved Pandora refused to work, saying it could no longer provide service to me since I was outside of the USA. :(

Thus, my daily blogging ritual (and other Internet rituals except for email) was put to a halt for an entire month.

But, as you can see, I back now! HURRAY! *fireworks* Did you miss me? =D Well, I must say that I missed you all, and am so happy to see that none of you gave up on my blog, despite my sudden disappearance.

To put it very simply, my vacation in China was...BUSY! I kept a journal of events for -almost- every day we were away and now the pages are all filled up. We stayed for 1 week less than we usually do, and therefore had to cram all of our to-do's, to-go's, and to-eat's all in just a matter of approximately 3.857 weeks, according to my handy-dandy Blackberry calculator.

I cannot possibly copy my entire leaflet of records into my blog, so here's a rough breakdown of what I did, week by week:

Week 1: Met up with family, attended the World Expo of 2010, clothes shopping!, and explored Shanghai's greatest attractions.

Week 2: Travelled to Beijing AND Shenyang, did tons of sightseeing, visited China universities, gobbled up exotic foods (duck heart dumplings, anyone?)

Week 3: Book shopping, travelled to Nanjing, learned mahjong

Week .857: Visited more universities, met with more family, came home

Whew! As you can see, my 1st and 2nd weeks away were definitely the busiest. It's been pretty tiring, especially since we had a few casualities (such as an almost stolen camera, a horrifying stye, sore wisdom teeth, and uncomfortable bowel problems, yuck!), but overall the trip was very educational and never boring---a perfect vacation right before I go to college!

Now that I am back and the climax of my summer 2010 is over, there are many things to be done in such little time! I have less than a month to get everything packed up for college. My boyfriend and I will be hosting a yard sale, which I am extremely excited about!

Pictures from China's vacation will be posted soon!

In addition, I created my first Gmail Account and have a new email address specifically for my fellow bloggers and followers like you to contact me! Questions, comments, suggestions for blog improvement, and other can be emailed to me at:

xtheredangelx@gmail.com

So, you tell me: Have you accomplished what you wanted so far during the summertime? Are you looking forward to going back to school/work, or have you thoroughly enjoyed the lazy days of doing nothing productive? (hehe)

This is my 50th blog post of the year! =D

~TRA

#50: My Return From China

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Scrabble + Eggs = Scrabbled Eggs!

Question of the Day: What's your favorite Youtube Video to watch?

Firstly, I'd like to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Thanks to all the wonderful daddies in this world for being so awesome. :) My sister and I cooked scrambled eggs and a variety of omelettes this morning for the family. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of breakfast but I'd be more than happy to describe the entire meal. A-HEM:

My Breakfast: A single brown egg, scrambled to perfection with creamy Velveeta cheese tossed in. A blend of Garlic Salt, Garlic Powder, and Coarse Ground Pepper seasoned over the egg. 1 slice of honey ham, fresh from the deli. A side of whole wheat bread, toasted lightly, and served with real butter.

I think I just made myself hungry again. xD

Yesterday, me, my sister, and my boyfriend played Scrabble! Here were the results: Sister: 156, Boyfriend: 156, Me: 128. I guess you don't have to be good at EVERYTHING you love, eh? It was tons of fun and our completed board looked pretty damn epic if you ask me!

Can you find the word that was used twice in this one game?

I thought the angle of this photo was really neat. Ahh, I love photography. :)

These poor loners were the only letters that we couldn't find places for. I couldn't let them sit out on a photo shoot, so I'm featuring them as well. :3

Ohh, and Cheryl Clarke is hosting an amazing sunglasses giveaway right now. Click HERE if you're interested in entering!! Best of luck to all entrants.

Hope you all had a great day!! Once again, Happy Father's Day!

~TRA

Scrabble + Eggs = Scrabbled Eggs!

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Lovely Versatile Bloggers

Question of the Day: If you could use a seasoning (ex: Garlic Salt, Paprika, Chili Powder, etc.) to describe your personality or life, what would you pick and why?

Thank you, Amanda Sablan, for this award. You truly made my day!! :) Apparently I am supposed to think up of 7 more facts about myself...

1) I hate all and any sodas/soft drinks. I don't like that tingly feeling my tongue gets from the bubbliness. WATER ALL THE WAY!!!

2) My birthday is on Tuesday (June 22nd) and I will be turning 18. I find that very scary. O_O

3) Alongside J.K. Rowling, I absolutely love Jodi Picoult. Her novel My Sister's Keeper is one of my favorite books of all time. There's a dash of everything in it...romance, friendship, suspense...you name it. Definitely worth the time to read. Other notable books of Picoult's that I've read are: The Pact, The Tenth Circle, and a few others that I can't think of at this moment in time. xD

4) Scrabble is my favorite board game. :)

5) When I was younger, I used to make doll clothes and accessories for my American Girl Doll, Josefina because the ones you had to buy from the catalogs were sooooo expensive.

6) The lowest grade I've ever made on a quiz is a 0. That's because it was a pop quiz and there was only one question on it. T_T For some reason, my chemistry teacher was mad and he decided to take it out on us. Needless to say, we were bewildered.

7) My mailbox is forest green.

"So here's the deal. Pass this award on to 15 other fantastic bloggers whom you have recently discovered (hopefully one month counts). You must thank and link back to the blogger who gave you the award, and when you yourself are ready to pass the award along, contact the awardee to let them know of their super-awesome fabulousness!" -as quoted from AS

I'd like to pass this award onto these 9 amazing bloggers...

(you're supposed to pass it onto 15 but I already follow just 18 soooo yeah, hehe)

fashion train

frankie writes

oh to be a muse

paperback writer

the urban muse

where lies my tarp

nathan bransford

stephanie perkins

fashions fade style is eternal

Congrats for being award-winning bloggers! :) You all are wonderful.

~TRA

Lovely Versatile Bloggers

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Ten Things You Don't Know About Me

Question of the Day: Twilight or Harry Potter or neither? (Yes, I just had to bring this subject up, hehe)

Happy Wednesday--no, no, I mean Thursday, everybody! :D This always happens during the summertime. Now that I don't have school and other activities (sluggish Mondays, Piano Lesson Tuesdays, you get the idea) to distinguish my days between weekdays and weekends, they just all sort of blend together. Now, I have to look twice on the calendar to know what day it is. Do you guys have this problem too when you're on vacation?

Today feels like a pretty chillax day, so I'm going to keep this post equally laid-back and devote it to letting you guys get to know me better. Thanks to Amanda Sablan for tagging me:

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me:

1) I am a Gleek, a Twi-Hard, a Muggle-born witch boarding Platform 9 3/4, a High School Musical fan, a Pokemon fanatic (*cough* master *cough*).

2) This is going to be very hard to admit, but yes, I still play Neopets. I think I might've mentioned it before in my blog, but now I am saying it right out, loud and proud. I PLAY NEOPETS!!!

3) When I was about 5 years old, I broke my big bare toe on an exercise machine. I remember that it hurt like crap, but after the doctor took care of it I got a popsicle! :D

4) I have a really odd phobia against stickers and other wet or sticky paper. I also hate cigarette butts that stick to the sidewalk while it's raining (aka wet paper).

5) My favorite Disney movie is "Beauty and the Beast." Every time I watch the ending, I wanna go....D'Awwww!!! :)

6) When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Don't ask.

7) I can type well over 100 words per minute.

8) I really really like LOVE Smallville and anything that has to do with Superman. Oh oops, you already knew that. T_T Darn. Okay, well I also enjoy watching "The Big Bang Theory."

9) I write and draw comics in my spare time.

10) I own 6 goldfish, 1 betta fish and 2 red-ear slider turtles.

Now It's Your Turn! I Tag...

Cheryl Clarke

Frankie

Bailey

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me

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Character Profile #3:

Question of the Day: How heavily do political views weigh between you and your friends? Are political views a huge factor in who you befriend?

Okay, so much for writing a character profile once a week. T_T I know, I know, I'm very behind. But now I realize that character profiles actually take quite a lot of time to make, especially with the passages. Another reason why they've been hard to keep up with is because I don't go out very much, thus I'm not around very many different people...at least not enough people for me to find at least one person that sticks out to me with a strong personality and is character-profile-worthy.

Thus, I'm going to have to cut back my character profiles to once a month. I'd rather write occasional, exceptional, and well thought-out character profiles rather than frequent, mediocre, and boring ones. I'm also going to add a new bullet to each character profile: Actor/Actress. For this one, I'll be choosing a certain actor/actress who I believe would represent that character well.

I decided to do this character profile on Sophie, the main character of my first self-published book, Sophie. There's a link at the bottom where you can purchase the book, read a passage from it, and/or skim a short summary if you wish. Now you may be wondering why I'd do a profile on a character whom I've already written about. I've got a sequel aka WIP coming up and I think the profile would be helpful for me in maintaining Sophie's character in the book and make sure that I stay true to her self.

I've actually added new sides to her that I never knew she'd had before. Now I see why character profiles are so important. They really help develop characters (duh) and make them come alive through the little details and habits and passions that they have. :D

Meet Sophie Elizabeth Mason

NAME: Sophie Elizabeth Mason, or just "Sophie"
BIOGRAPHY: Sophie resides in the lively city of Boston and works as an elementary teacher. She is currently in her first year of teaching. Being the victim of a heartbreak isn't easy for Sophie, for she had just broken up with her long-term boyfriend, a successful surgeon. Because of this, her life is upside down. Her other relationship have fallen apart. She has stopped focusing on what she really loves: sketching.
AGE: 25 years old.
HEIGHT: 5' 6''
WEIGHT: 135 lbs.
BODY TYPE: Tall and toned.
FACE TYPE: Oval-shaped. Full lips, small but pointy nose. Dimples and a wide mouth.
COMPLEXION: Cream-colored. Burns easily in the sun.
EYES: Bright green eyes. Medium-sized.
HAIR: Wavy, strawberry blonde hair.
CLOTHING STYLE: Conservative but stylish and girly. Summer dresses, tops with ruffles and lace, plaid jackets, pea coats, high-waist skirts, and skinny jeans are just a few items that she sports on a day-to-day basis. She's a big fan of On Sale racks due to her teacher's salary.
SPEAKING STYLE: Loud and clear voice but stutters A LOT when she's nervous.
GENERAL DEMEANOR: Extremely sensitive (especially when it comes to talking about guys). Talkative and outgoing with her sister, her students, and her closest friends but rather bashful around intimidating strangers and men. Emotional and occasionally goes through depression.
CAREER: Elementary school teacher. She is in her first year of teaching.
PREJUDICES: None. Quite the contrary, she's a huge advocate for racial and gender equality, affirmative action, and the environment/recycling. She only has a grudge/obsession/phobia (are those even the right words to use?) against her ex boyfriend, Paul (more of a love-him/hate-him relationship). Also currently prejudiced against romantic comedies.
QUALITIES: Sophie uses a briefcase, loves Twilight, is good at solving the Rubix Cube, and is freakishly scared of death. She is always busy and doing SOMETHING productive. Very organized and precise.
WEAKNESSES: Impatient, sensitive, emotional.
HOBBIES: Sketching, Rubix cube and puzzles, taking care of her goldfish, makes and plays songs on her guitar, reading.
TALENTS: Plays the guitar.
ACTRESS: Katherine Heigl.

Passage

Click Here

~TRA

Character Profile #3:

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