It’s 2022!

January 4, 2022March 22, 2023 sirisvayLeave a comment

Happy New Year, y’all! I hope everyone’s holiday celebrations were great and 2022 is treating y’all well so far! I fell off the face of the earth last quarter and let a lot of posts sit in my brain rather than put to web paper… sorry about that!

Siri Svay posing in front of decoration, holding balloons to celebrate the new year of 2022

For the last two weeks leading up to the new year, I was ill (thankfully not COVID-19 though!) and feeling miserable to the point where I was bed ridden for a few days. It’s a shame I couldn’t enjoy time off being well and healthy, but being alone for an extended period of time gets my mind racing about the things I wish I had done and accomplished, things I wish I hadn’t let fall to the wayside. Don’t get me wrong – I’m truly grateful for everything I have but something is just missing within me and I can never figure it out despite my efforts. And it’s a pattern where I start something strong and motivated but then it dissipates just as quickly and it’s hard to get back on the horse again. It’s an everyday effort to get myself to stay in a habit to be consistent – with anything honestly.

And that’s what I want 2022 to be about – re-establishing and maintaining consistent good, positive habits that serve me and only me. It’s not necessarily a resolution because those have a negative connotation of being short-lived, so it’s going to be a long-term commitment. In that commitment, I’m taking a step back, amidst the conveniently timed Omicron spike rates, to be alone. I did a lot of reflecting about the last year or two and how I haven’t been happy with myself. I was too busy running away from me and trying to be someone else, fit the mold and perform for others – friends, relationships and even family. I am myself to a certain extent but have always felt I had to be what everyone wanted of me and expected of me, so now I want to re-discover myself and become the person I want to be.

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Rengoku Glass Painting!

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021 sirisvayLeave a comment

Okay, I’m actually quite surprised how well this painting turned out. Who did I paint this time? None other than the Flame Hashira himself from Demon Slayer — Kyōjurō Rengoku! This one was a bit of a challenge and here’s why…

So, two new things were added to my palette this time around – shadows and warmer colors. But for real, the warmer colors were a given because Rengoku’s hair is literally flames. What I wasn’t prepared for was mixing colors for the shadows on his uniform, skin and hair. It’s not as simple as just using the black, white, flesh tone, red and yellow. That might have still been good enough, but I wanted to challenge myself and capture the lighting he’s in aboard the Mugen Train. What I managed to successfully do is mix one color and then transform it into additional colors, so I’m glad I’m consistent in picking the order of which color combinations to start, using one I already need as the foundation to mix into another one.

I tried to do a better job of painting to all corners so there were no holes, and I think I did a decent job touching up towards the end. However, you can definitely see my brush strokes and see through the paint. I’ve seen so many TikTok videos of folks painting and they have such clean thick paint lines, and I don’t know how to do that! Honestly, it just might be me needing to get even more comfortable using SO MUCH paint with every stroke; I tend to be more economical with how much I put on the brush…

What I’m super happy about is the skin color and skin color shadow blended and fit together so well. It looks way more like a natural shadow. I was really worried about those looking so starkly different like in my Draken and Gojo paintings. Progress!

It’s amazing how I can sit down and start a painting AND finish it. All in one sitting of three to five hours. I can’t emphasize enough how much solace painting brings me because it takes me away from the world and pours my focus and creativity into something artful. Can’t wait to pick my next art subject and create another one! Set your heart ablaze!

Who should I paint next?!

xoxo
Siri

voice acting

Davenporte Season 2 Episode 4

November 17, 2021 sirisvayLeave a comment

DRAMA is brewing in the latest Davenporte episode! What are the characters up to? You can find out here:

Episodes 5 and 6 will air in coming weeks to close out 2021, and the rest of the season will finish in 2022. Admittedly, the last couple of episodes I recorded (6 and 7) are pretty emotional, so don’t miss out on the series!

xoxo
Siri

food · health

Weekly Meals – Nov. 7 – 12, 2021

November 16, 2021November 16, 2021 sirisvay1 Comment

Late on posting again! No profound message here to accompany these dishes other than I’m slowly but surely working on becoming a professional hermit like Futaba Sakura from Persona 5. She’s my spirit animal, and living alone and spending time alone sounds like a great time.

Here’s what I made and ate:

a plate with three tofu rice dumplings and chopsticks

a bowl of a keto egg roll bowl with ground pork and vegetables

a small pot of kimchi soondubu jigae on a stovetop

Mapo Tofu (from My Hero Academia Season 5)
- No spoilers here but there’s an episode in My Hero Academia Season 5 where Deku, Bakugo and Todoroki eat this dish, and to be honest, it didn’t occur to me to make it myself. It wasn’t until I was down the rabbit hole of anime TikTok and someone showed a video of them making it, and it looked DELICIOUS in real life.
Tofu Rice Dumplings
- This is the third time I’ve made this, and I cannot get it right for some reason! The rice paper gets crispy on the outer layer, but the inner layer becomes gelatinous and makes it chewy. It’s probably related to the vegetables and tofu letting go of water and causing the paper to absorb it. So, lesson learned to make sure the tofu and cabbage are both completely dried out before wrapping them. (Plus, let’s be real, the anxiety of burning the rice paper and setting of the smoke alarm is real LOL)
Keto Eggroll bowl
- A great recipe to make if you’re craving egg rolls but are too lazy to wrap them all and fry them! And it’s low-carb and keto friendly! Although I did eat mine with a little bit of rice.
Kimchi Soondubu Jigae
- I forgot how I stumbled upon this one, but it’s incredibly easy to make – you put all the ingredients in a pot and let it simmer and mesh all the flavors. On top of that, because I live alone, one small pot can last me 3 – 4 meals. It’s usually made with pork shoulder, but I use beef ‘cause HEB doesn’t have the right type of pork meat to eat with it. Seldom do I go to the asian grocery store to get it, so making it with what I got!

I will say this… there was a time in Austin, TX for college where I was eating more tofu, but then I couldn’t recreate that same craving living in Los Angeles. Now, it’s found its way back onto my plate! I feel like I eat more tofu than I do red meat now, and I am not complaining one bit!

What’s on your plates?

xoxo
Siri

food · health

Weekly Meals – Oct. 24 – 29, 2021

November 9, 2021 sirisvayLeave a comment

Ahhhh, I’m behind on my weekly meal posts… I had to deal with prepping for a medical procedure last week, so I failed to carve out time to write this. But here are the meals from the week of Halloween – still continuing down the path of increased fiber intake. Here’s what I made and ate! And now I’m including recipe links in case y’all wanna try anything here (:

a plate with chicken, brown rice, broccoli and Green Goddess sauce

an overhead photo of a burrito-making station with tomatoes, red onion, lettuce, cheese, tortillas, guacamole and chicken

a Green Goddess grilled cheese chopped in half sitting on a cutting board

Chicken, broccoli and brown rice with Green Goddess sauce
- I’ve had Green Goddess sauce once at my sister’s house, and it was DELICIOUS. However, when I tried making it, I made some substitutions that I probably shouldn’t do ‘cause it changes and tastes more like a pesto sauce. Next time!
Chicken burrito wraps
Green Goddess grilled cheese
- Oh my goodness… who knew a sandwich could be so rich with flavor. This was relatively easy to make, but I didn’t use a brioche bread, like the recipe said to use. My grocery list is made with the idea of using all the items in overlapping recipes versus one-time use and wasting food. I don’t know if I would make this again only because I don’t think I made it well enough. This is something I would entrust a restaurant chef to make more decadently.
Baked chicken with kale caesar salad (made by my mom)
- So, this is a recipe I can’t share ‘cause I’ve never made it myself, but my mom makes this so well. Everything is in synergy and tastes amazing. She used to make the Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, but one random day she tried it with kale and now it’s what I request all the time. YUM!

I’m pretty proud of myself that I made healthier meals than I usually do and embraced brown rice instead of white jasmine rice. It’s definitely an adjustment, but at the end of the day it is better for me.

What are y’all eating?! Give me more ideas!

xoxo
Siri