Be patient, be grateful, and open to taking each day as it comes. Do the little things that bring joy each day, and be fully present and engaged in each moment, there will be nothing to regret.
There are many online stores selling “Paint-by-numbers” types of products (16×20 canvas). Some selling identical pieces, some have unique ones, and some are only accepting custom ones (you upload photos and choose different types of look).
Northern California’s “Shelter in place” order started on 3/17 so I place two orders with two different companies on 3/19 and 3/23. The custom one I used Mii Creative with one image I took from Switzerland last summer. They came with a rolled canvas with paint in tiny containers with numbers on the lids plus three small brushes.
Some of the areas are very small. I paint a little bit every night after dinner and it took me about a week to complete. It was very therapeutic and relax (not so relax on my eyes and fingers because the brushes were too thin to hold for a long period of time).
The other order was with “My Paint By Numbers” with 6 from their painting collections and only one arrived and the other 5 are still somewhere (after almost 2 months). NOT RECOMMENDED.
Both companies shipped from China. The custom one was placed a few days after the other one and arrived way sooner, with a better quality of canvas and with instruction.
There are many these type of “Paint-by-numbers” companies so I think most of them are shipped from China, few are from the USA; however, I do believe some has better quality or tracking system than others so choose wisely.
Here are what I have seen, and I am sure I have missed a few.
In Switzerland, Zofp is the country’s national bread. The history or story behind it come with two versions, read HERE. The tradition is customary to gift a zopf on Swiss National Day (August 1st). It’s also known as a Sunday bread, when you can expect the table to be groaning with a sizeable loaf, butter and jam with cheese and dry meats.
Zofp bread is everywhere in Swiss and you can buy a freshly baked Zofp even in a gas station. You can also buy a half-baked Zofp in a supermarket and bake it at home to enjoy. Zopf is similar to Jewish bread, challah, in terms of shape and taste but one major difference is the use of butter – after all, it is called butterzopf for a reason. It is also similar to Brioche but I personally like Zofp more.
Making a zofp at home from scratch is easy if you have made other types of bread before.
ZOFP (for one loft)
240g All Purpose flour* 中筋麵粉
240g Bread flour* 高筋麵粉
12g Sugar 糖
8g Salt 鹽
1 pk or 7g Active dry yeast 酵母
75g Soft unsalted butter 放軟的無鹽奶油
270g warm milk 溫暖的牛奶
1/2 Large egg (the other half save for egg wash on bread) 大顆蛋
** Trader Joe’s AP flour has a higher % of protein than other brands so if you are using TJ’s AP flour, you can use a total of 480g (no bread flour needed).
Mix dry ingredients first in a stand mixer’s bowl, then add milk, egg, and butter.
After everything is mixed, set at slow speed and knead the dough until the bowl is clean and the dough is not sticky, about 18-20 min.
Leave the dough either in room temperature for 1-2 hours or in the fridge if you plan to use it later the day or overnight for the next day (first proofing).
Cut the dough into two portions, flatten a bit, fold and roll, and put aside for 5 min as second proofing.
Roll each portion into long strings and start braiding (see below).
6. Egg wash the bread, sit aside for 15-30 min, and the egg wash it again before baking.
7. Preheat oven to 350F, bake for 25-30 min or until golden brown.
The receipt of the Brioche Dough makes about 4 loaves so I cut the receipt in half which allows me to make 12 Blueberry Morning Buns, 6 mini Brioche à tête (tête means head which I didn’t have), and 2 Rolls with white chocolate chips filling.
You need to make the dough a day ahead because it takes time for the dough to rise and chilled. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or you can freeze the dough too.
A side note: The receipt website’s print function is very cool. You can decide to delete any pictures or texts in order to fit into a page or two. They use this Print Friendly which has a Chrome Extension version and blog bottom version.
The Digital Concert Hall now free for everyone The Philharmonie is closed – so we will come to you! The Philharmonie Berlin is closed until 19 April to help contain the coronavirus.
There’s good news for all the e-bookworms out there. The New York Public Library released an app today that allows anyone with a library card (and an iOS or Android phone) to “borrow” any of the …
The doors of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City might be temporarily closed, but the show must go on—virtually, that is! Starting tonight, the New York institution is bringing performances to screens across the country for free with their Live in HD series. Every night until the Met Opera reopens, viewers can go to MetOpera.org at 7:30 p.m. and watch one of the selected productions in full.
No matter if you enjoy taking or just watching images of space, NASA has a treat for you. They have made their entire collection of images, sounds, and video available and publicly searchable online. It’s 140,000 photos and other resources available for you to see, or even download and use it any way you like.
STREAM NOW. The Mind, Explained is a part of Vox’s limited series Explained, which dives into topics we face today as a society in America, such as the racial wealth gap, DNA editing, and more in …
As everyone moves life indoors for a while, more virtual opportunities are being created. You can take an afternoon tour of the British Museum in London, or tune in nightly for a performance streamed by the Metropolitan Opera. And we just discovered that you can still get your fix of nature, too, by taking a virtual walk through the U.S. national parks for free.
A good friend of mine and her husband are seeing Dr. Colleen Conger-Brass and Dr. Michael Brass for their chiropractic needs for about a year now. She was sharing their experiences with me while we went for a hike last year. She told me that they are not your typical Chiropractor Doctors because they have a system that incorporates a healthy diet, right exercises, educational workshops, and you need to go see them a few times a week plus they don’t do advertising, all by patient’s referrals. That sounds very interesting because I have been seeing different Chiropractors from time to time for about 20 years now and I haven’t met anyone like that. So I ask her to tell me more. She said, they do once a month presentation with a free dinner in a restaurant in Cupertino and she asks me if I want to go (it happened to be two days later, what a great timing). I figure sure, why not.
So I went to dinner with my friend and her husband and two other her friends. When I saw my friend’s husband, he looks great. He told me that he lost 25 lb in three months because of all the spine adjustments, change the diet, the education he got and the exercises he has been doing. I was very impressed. The presentation was done by Dr. Colleen Conger-Brass which was very well organized (you can tell they have been doing this for a very long time, maybe with some business coaching help as well). The dinner was ok but what they offer for that night was attractive – $57 for a set of x-rays of your spine. For all the Chiropractor Doctors I have seen in the past 20 years, I don’t remember anyone of them has taken my spine x-rays. They just asked me how I feel or where do I feel pain and then they checked and adjusted me, and that was it. I may need to go back once a week if the condition was bad or maybe once a month to maintain or however long I want. So I thought, $57 for x-rays and two visits were very generous (of course I also know that is a sales technique to keep you interested) but what do I have to lose since that x-ray alone is well worth it.
We all know that our health is VERY IMPORTANT and it didn’t really matter how much money you have because you can’t really buy health back (think Steve Jobs or any other very wealthy people that you know). We often spent our time working hard in order to make more money because we think money can buy many things to make us happy. That’s true to a degree but how much is enough and the happiness that money can buy last for how long? We really don’t NEED much to be happy but we WANT too much and care too much on how others think of us. That’s a very tiring way of living, don’t you think?
Anyway, what I want to say is that taking care of our health is very important. You need to do it NOW not later, not when you make enough money, not when you have time, not when you are sick. You just need to do what you can right now because you don’t know if you have a second chance for that. I think I have been quite responsible for my health, maybe not 100% but 80%?? Ok, maybe 70% now since I fired my personal trainer at the end of October and I haven’t exercised since. You know I believe everything happened for a reason. If not because I am taking Medical Hypnotherapy right now and in one of the chapters talks about our brain, spine, and Vagus nerve system, I didn’t know how important my spine is. The Vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body, from the brain stem (back of the neck) down into the digestive system, connecting most of our major organs and 75% of its function is for sending signals from the brain to the organs it controls.
If that’s the case, having a good Chiropractor Doctor is vital but how many of us really realize that, and have one on top of our head??
So a few days later I went in for my first visit and took 5 x-rays. Then I went in again two days later to see my x-rays. I wasn’t surprised that my spine wasn’t perfectly curved and lined up (who does in this kind of environment and lifestyle with computer and cellphone activities) but since I know how important my spine and nerves system is, I want to do what I can to make sure it stays as healthy as I can. So the Spinal Corrective Phase is approximately 3 months – 3 times a week adjustments, 1 x-ray (at the end to compare with the first one for comparison), and classes/workshops. They offer a complete examination and any necessary x-ray free to immediate family members within 7 days of initiating care. If you travel, they will increase the adjustment frequency around the travel schedule. They offer 12 months payment plan and offer family discounts. They don’t take insurance because it limits them what they can do for their patients (I kind of understand that).
So I decided to give it a try because I really want to see what a good Chiropractor Doctor can do for me. On top of that, I am also very curious about what kind of business coaching training did they get so I can use it on my own healing business. Later I found out that they used to associate with a company called Max Living which is started with two Chiropractor Doctors who create The 5 Essentials™ – a natural and effective way to align your health by integrating chiropractic care with our four other powerful essentials — mindset, pure and simple nutrition, exercise, and minimizing toxins.
. . . It’s been three months now and I got my second set of x-rays to compare. Guess what?? My spine position and curve are way better.
The normal curve for the neck is 45 degrees, shape like a banana.
My neck curve was -5 three months ago (14 degrees/31 degrees) and now is +25 degrees (21 degrees/31 degrees).
From the backside view, the Right side is three months ago and the Left is after (the blue line is where the center should be, the red show how much my spine was off the center, especially, on the lower back).
The past three months I felt the most changes are I sleep better, much regular to go to the bathroom every morning, less pain or discomfort here and there, emotionally stable, and lost weight. Although I can’t say it’s all because of the spine correction adjustments three times a week since I also do meditation more, cut down sugar/carb/grain, go to bed around 10:30pm for most of the nights, I do believe the spine adjustment has a lot to do with it.
So I signed up for a one-year program and the doctor told me that I only need to do twice a week adjustment but if I want to do three is fine too, as long as I go regularly so the spine can stay in the right place. They are going to ask me to do more home care exercises, like the cervical traction unit, the Wobble Cushion, and other exercises that would help with spine health. We will get another X-ray after six months.
In Switzerland, Zofp is the country’s national bread. The history or story behind it come with two versions, read 
這個麵包就是在加油站的商店裡買的, 很多加油站的商店裡有烤箱, 所以麵包都是新鮮熱呼呼的.
