Back to Blogging & January Get Organized Checklist

Happy New Year!

I have neglected this blog for well over a year but as part of my 2013 Resolutions, I will be much more active on here - hopefully blogging at least once a day.

Other resolutions I have are:

• Be Healthier (do yoga, be more active, eat healthier and take my vitamins)
• Improve my self (go further in my career, be the best "me" for myself, my family and my friends, quit the negativity)
• Be More Creative (Blog more, Do more DIYs, take more pictures, and bake/cook more often)
• Have a much cleaner, organized home (not too hard as I have OCD!)..and budget!

As part of my last resolution, I found a great started Get Organized Checklist for January (see below) from the Creative Organizing Blog (link to direct post: http://creativeorganizingblog.simplify101.com/2012/01/your-january-get-organized-checklist.html).

If you take a look at the checklist, it has some great starters such as letting go of any holiday decorations that didn't come out of storage this year. Not only is that a great way to make room for the new by getting rid of the old but it helps to declutter your life (which helps declutter your brain!). If you visit the full post on the site, she breaks down each of the listed items in more detail.

What items would you add to this checklist?

Homemade Salsa

This is a recipe I threw together in lieu of store made salsa. I'm not picky when it comes to texture, so you can make this according to how thick you'd like it to be.

For thicker salsa, set your food processor settings lower so they don't liquify the salsa & place salsa in the fridge for a few hours to allow it to thicken & also intensify the flavour. I don't own a food processor so I made this in my blender and it worked fine.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients

• 1-2 can(s) diced tomatoes (depending on how chunky you prefer the salsa)
• 1 can tomato paste 
• 2 small jalapeno peppers (or a couple diced jalepenos - use as little or many as you'd like)
• 2 minced fresh garlic cloves (or 2 teaspoons of minced garlic) 
• 2 tablespoons cilantro 
• 2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional - I use it in mine)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2-3/4 onion, chopped (the amount you use is up to you - Most recipes call for red onion, but I used a yellow onion and it tasted just fine)

Directions

1. Place diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped peppers, minced garlic, cilantro, salt, onions, garlic
    powder & oil in food processor. Process until mixed.

2. At this point the salsa is ready to serve, but if you are looking for a thicker salsa, let it sit in
    the fridge for a few hours so it can thicken & to also intensify the flavours.

Making your own salsa is a much healthier, natural, cost-effective method than purchasing store-made. You can add or remove ingredients to make it your own. Some alternatives would be to remove the jalapenos to make a milder salsa or adding corn.

You can also put the salsa into jars (I use old salsa jars) and make your own labels or search the internet for printables and give the salsa as gifts.

Enjoy!

Kawaii Cupcake Love.

I am a big fan of Kawaii. HUGE fan actually. I was looking through the interwebs and came across this really cool site: Hostess With The Mostess (HWTM). The blog is heavily based on entertaining & various creative ways to do so. The one post that caught my eye was on creative cupcakes.

Look how adorable they are!! They're Puccho (Japanese candy) cupcakes & are made by an amazing cupcake artist  hello naomi who makes other creative cupcakes that blow my mind! I wish I could be that creative...I'm only good at eating the finished products :) 

If you're into entertaining & being creative, visit the HWTM blog: http://www.hostessblog.com/

For hello naomi's Flickr page, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hello_naomi/

Instagram Love.

I like taking pictures but am in no way a photographer. So when I heard from Hello Kitty Junkie about the Instagram app for iPhone, I decided to check it out. I was lured under the pretenses that you could search tags of pictures (I obviously was going for the Hello Kitty pics!) but once I found how it transforms any picture into something amazing, I was instantly hooked.

Since I've downloaded the app, I've been hooked. I take pictures of animals, inanimate objects, just every day things I see in my day. I am in love. I suggest everyone who owns an iPhone that doesn't already have this app & use it religiously to drop whatever you're doing to download it.

Instagram kinda has a Twitter vibe to it in the sense you can follow other Instagramers (?) & see the equally amazing shots they take. The one thing that sucks (in my personal opinion) is that some people use professional cameras for their shots. I personally LOVE the kind of shots people get from just using their iPhones.

I tried to upload some of the pictures I have taken (like a cute Hello Kitty one I took at work today) but nothing is cooperating :( BUT, if you get the app & follow me @ diamstar, you can see what I've done & I'll follow back :)

Hello Kitty + Cupcakes = HEAVEN!

I am a big blog reader. I love em. There are about 15 blogs I have bookmarked that I religiously read. One of them is about one of my obsessions, cupcakes. It's a New York based blog called Cupcakes Take The Cake & every time I go over there, my obsession for cupcakes (as well as my cravings!) double!

I was going through the archives today and stumbled upon...HELLO KITTY CUPCAKES! Well they feature other Sanrio characters but she's there too!


They are incredibly adorable! They're made by gabby cupcakes on Flickr 


I posted the link to the Cupcakes Take The Cake blog so you can see their full post. I'd HIGHLY encourage anyone who goes to look at their other entries like The Caramel Apple Cupcakes or the delicious looking Dulcie Blue Bakery Cupcakes they have recently posted about. 


The cool thing about their blog is not only do they feature some of the craziest yet yummiest cupcakes I've ever seen, they also list cupcake places based in NYC as well as all over the US & Canada. 


Anyone up for some cupcake related road-tripping?! :)

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2010/02/hello-kitty-and-other-sanrio-character.html

Cupcakes, Stars & Hello Kitty

Yes, I am starting a blog about random things.


But this blog is not limited to Cupcakes, Stars & Hello Kitty. These are just the top 3 of my many, MANY obsessions. This blog will be about all kinds of things: crafts, organizing ideas, cute thing I see & want, food I am dying to try, various projects I undertake and anything really that interests me & catches my eye. But it will also heavily focus on Hello Kitty, Cupcakes & stars.


Let me explain why these 3 are my biggest obsessions:


1. Hello Kitty - Anyone who knows me is well aware of my deep rooted obsession with Hello Kitty. I have loved her since I was young, even going so far as to fake illness during grade school just to watch her show (Yes, there is a show - youtube it). I have a tattoo of her on my ankle so yes, this has been & will be a life-long passion. So look out, biggest Hello Kitty will be the most frequent visitor to this blog. Hands down.


2. Stars - Another life long obsession of mine. I also have two star tattoos (well one tattoo of 3 stars & another of 5). I have always been drawn to them. I have just loved them & it's kinda hard to explain. I will blog about items that incorporate stars and anything I can about them really.


3. Cupcakes - I love to eat & have a sweet spot for desserts. Cupcakes are hands down my weakness so be sure to expect lots & lots of cupcakes to be discussed :)


Well, let's get this whole blog thing started...