Becca San Agustin

It’s about that time when the graduating class is a week away from the big day that marks the “rest of our lives”. It is also around now when we begin to wonder just why we have not yet come up with a good enough answer to the wonderfully loaded question, “What are your plans after graduation?”

Amidst the stressful scurries to the library, last minute projects (that should have been started weeks ago), & lightheadedness due to lack of sleep, I have realized this past week how very fast things happen. If only we could rewind, I would love to return to freshman year when the biggest concern in mind was what our plans were for the upcoming weekend!

Our last hurrah was held at the beautiful Aulani Resort, & I couldn’t think of a better place to have one last party with the amazing class of which I am so proud to be a graduate.

Commencement Ball

My second father & only mentor, Professor Kido aka Mr. Miyagi

Marketing women, Natty & Dr. Friedman

My Kylie Minogue

Me & Dr. Friedman

KimmyJo & Kido

Girls for life

Nat, Kido, Me, Kim

Nathaniel & I – attending formals together since ’05!

My boys

The AC Club’s new vice-president, Bernardo

Senior girls in a villa. Aulani villas are amazing!

Working our groove on the dance floor

Char & me

Natty & Char

After the photobooth (I think we were supposed to return the props!)

Graduation Class of 2012 (about an 8th of them)

Business girls & Kido

Chaminade, I will miss you quite dearly. Thank you for everything & I wish you the best!

If there’s one thing I’ll miss as I spend my last few days on campus as an undergraduate student, it is definitely the people I have met during my last four years here at CUH. It was an amazing experience being able to make friends that run in so many different social circles. What enabled our bonds to form were clubs & organizations on campus that bind together for a variety of things that have given me friendships that I know will last a lifetime.

We recently had the annual Co-Curricular Awards where outstanding people on campus were recognized. I was lucky enough to receive an award from the Dean of Students (thanks Dean G!) for my accounting community service projects.

Co-Curricular Awards

Mak sang a parody of “Let’s Stay Together” for his opening speech. Bravo!

Once a year, Chaminade students get together in Eiban Hall & showcase their academic work for the year. We have an array of special projects – from Biology students doing research in the labs of Yale University to Art students creating abstract work worthy of museums. Here are some pictures from this year’s Na Liko event!

To put it lightly, this final semester has been busy! With midterms, job searches, & grad school applications, it’s hard to find time to relax & have fun – except on St. Paddy’s!

St. Patrick’s Day in Honolulu is nothing short of good fun because people of all creeds & colors get together & celebrate life in a frenzy of green apparel and pinches from Paddy’s Day loyalists. This year I put the books aside & went downtown to the packed Irish pubs. With live river dancing, Irish singing, & endless food & drinks, the annual block party was hilariously fun.

Rach & I pigging out on fries & corn beef & cabbage – food of the Irish!

Then we pigged out on barbeque afterwards to recover from the Paddy Party.

Have a fantastic Spring Break everyone, & hope to see you at the beach!

It occurred to me while I stepped on the scale the other day that I gained 7 pounds in Vegas last week! Therefore, I felt that the food we ate on the trip deserves its very own post. Enjoy.

FOOD.

Serendipity 3

Famous Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate

Ice Pan

Downtown at Gigi’s

Of course we had to stop by for cupcakes :)

Hash House A Go Go

Helloha! I just returned from the Vegas conference trip this past weekend. A group of us joined our professors to present our accounting community service initiatives, including our Palolo Stock Market Project & the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program that accounting students partake of in the Business program here at CUH. Sponsored by the Iliau Foundation through Chaminade, we went on a fun (also informative & productive, of course) week-long trip to Las Vegas.

Accountants Hit the Strip

Rubbing Buddha for good luck!

Erick & Brandon presenting the Palolo Stock Market Simulation Project

Professor Tanna & his aloha shirt

Waiting patiently to register for the highly anticipated AABSS conference

Jessica & I getting ready to present on the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program

More to come!

Happy V-Day Everyone!

The night before last, as lovebirds readily anticipated a day full of hearts & Hershey’s, three of my accounting classmates & I sat in the HNL airport and awaited a long flight to Las Vegas. We are here in sin city for the week to present at a conference where we will be speaking on the volunteer tax services we have done. I’ll have more on that soon!

I hope your day of love was fabulous.
I was lucky enough to have the sweetest of sweethearts this year :)

I wish you many more to come!

Right around this time in the month of love, everyone who has a sweetheart (or someone in mind whom they’d like to call sweetheart) is wondering just how to let that special somebody know how much they are absolutely adored.

While around the world the cynical arguments against Valentine’s Day are growing louder as we near the 14th, it has always been my all time favorite holiday. It’s possible that this stems from the lovely combination of chocolate, kisses, & romantic grand gestures with which this day is associated. Or perhaps it all started in grade school when everyone would cease the opportunity to express puppy love via handmade Valentine’s day mailboxes.

In any case, I have the perfect solution any & all V-day dillemas! Whether you are a guy or a girl, let me tell you – nothing can win that certain somebody over quite like cupcakes – especially ones that have the heartfelt message of love.

Martha Stewart’s Brownie Heart Cupcakes

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, cooking spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment, then spray parchment.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until chocolate melts.

Attach bowl to mixer, add sugar, and whisk on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Spread remaining batter in square pan. Bake until set but still soft, about 18 minutes. Let cool in tins and pan on wire racks.

Frost cupcakes with cream cheese. Cut out 24 hearts from brownie in pan using a 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter. Top each cupcake with a heart.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions

Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Good luck & sweet baking!

Above all this, I wish you love.

My love for baking all started with a tiny EasyBake oven when I was a little girl. Because I haven’t been able to chase my dream of being a pastry chef just yet, I have developed a long time obsession with the talented chefs on the Food Network & all their beautiful creations.

One of my favorite shows that never fails to make my heart palpitate is Iron Chef America, & my absolute favorite on the show is none other than Japanese culinary genius, Masaharu Morimoto! Recently the sweetest boy in the world took me to Morimoo Waikiki where we had the Morimoto Omakase – a seven course meal that made melted my heart.

Mmm-orimoto Scrumptiousness

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet the chef himself but I’m sure I will someday when I get invited to (or perhaps sneak into) the famous Kitchen Stadium.

I bid you good eats!

Being away from home can be a challenging thing – especially if you’ve been away for as long as I have. A big part of why I don’t often find myself too homesick is because I am surrounded by an extension of home – the Marianas Club. We also have an amazing variety of other cultural clubs on campus – Lumina’i O’ Samoa, La Familia, Micronesian Club, Hawaiian & Tahitian Club, Pacific Islands Club, and the list goes on! So if ever you find yourself missing home while you’re away for school, there is always somewhere for you to go that’ll hold you over until your next trip back.

Happy Chamorro Day
A day filled with cultural sharing from the Chamorro islands at CUH.

Naomi, modern Chamorro girl

Marianas trivia!

Some of the girls of the Marianas Club

And some of the boys, working hard at the barbeque pit

“Just try it Jon!”

Thank you Que for the pictures.

Si Yu’us Ma’ase & hope to see you at our next event!