Thursday, August 3rd, 2017
The first day of a new month always energizes me and makes me feel like I can start a clean slate on whatever project I’m doing. I’m pretty excited about August for several reasons and one of them is traveling. I’ll be doing quite a bit of sightseeing around the world and it puts a big smile on my face. That means I’ll get to shop which is also my favorite activity and I can’t wait to pack my luggage with all the things I’ll be bringing back. Speaking of traveling, did you know that Jet Blue is having a sale right now that is just too good to be true? We only have one more month of summer so let’s make the most of it, shall we?
*Book I’m reading: “How To Behave In A Crowd” by Camille Bordas. Dysfunction families? Teen Angst? Overachieving Siblings? They always make for good stories.
*Movie I’m watching: The Dark Tower. Non-stop action movies are one of my favorites.
*What I’ll be wearing: This floral romper from Princess Polly. So cute!
*What I’m eating: Everything from the Brandless website. Wholefoods be damned!
*Beauty product I’m buying in packs: Wowder (clever name!). My oily skin can thank me, finally.
*Jewelry line I want to wear everyday: MJLulu (another clever name). Affordable and available on amazon? Double Yes!
*Fancy pillowcase I bought to go to sleep: Helps me with sleep plus prevents wrinkles? Sold.
*Where I’m going: This dreamy little lakehouse in Canada.
*The gear I’m buying for my iphone: These lenses seems like a good investment if you take a lot of photos on your iphone.
*The new software I can’t wait to use: I had the pleasure of trying out Ludus before they launched and I can’t wait to kick powerpoint to the curb. Awesome and powerful program with a simple interface.
Thursday, July 20th, 2017
This is a story about how a dating app ruined my life. Okay, I’m a little bit exaggerating because my life is fine. But I noticed something different about myself when I started using a dating app. And I’m talking about just one dating app and it’s not Tinder. When I installed this app six months ago, I didn’t even know how to use it. I had to email the customer support with silly questions which I’m not going to reproduce here. Then I got it. Swipe right when you like him and swipe left when you don’t. Easy stuff.
At first, I was a little taken aback by how weird it feels to just reject someone based on their pictures and a few words they’ve written. I didn’t right swipe on any guy for the first month. Then slowly, I would right swipe on a few guys and went on the first date, second date, third date….and now, I’m exhausted. In the beginning, it was exciting to meet a new guy and had a good time and I did meet some really cool guys. But nothing substantial came from those dates. Now I dread about going out on a date…I didn’t feel as hopeful or optimistic as before. All I could think about was “Oh great, another date with some random guy who I will never see or hear from again.”
Some of the lessons I learned from using a dating app are:
1) Just because you’re talking to just one guy doesn’t mean that he’s only talking to YOU. He’s also talking to multiple girls at the same time and see which one he likes best. You should do the same.
2) When a guy says he’ll call you or he wants to see you again, don’t get too excited until he does what he promised.
3) Be prepared to be ghosted because it will happen all the time.
4) Do not have any expectations whatsoever on a date. That was my biggest mistake when I started going on dates. Just have fun and go home.
5) The reality is that most guys who use dating apps are looking for hook ups. Depressing for girls like me who are looking for a relationship but you can’t give up on love, right?
Using a dating app offers you a lot of options and that’s a good thing. But I also feel that it makes people unhappy because they’re never sure of what they want. It’s kind of like going to a grocery store to buy pasta sauce and here you are standing in front of hundreds of pasta brands and you have no idea which one you want. So you finally pick one because the packaging looks sexy and when you get home, you wish you pick a different one. Dating apps are kind of like picking a pasta sauce. Except you’re picking a real live human being. So be picky but be nice and don’t lose your faith in humanity in the process like I did. Okay, I’m exaggerating again but maybe not….
Monday, July 10th, 2017
By now, pretty much everyone in fashion has heard about Lucinda Chambers, former British Vogue Fashion Director who was let go of in “three minutes” by the new incoming editor Edward Enninful. Chambers went on to give a thoughtful interview full of details that many in fashion insiders are already painfully aware of but perhaps not the general public. One of the quotes that stood out to me from her candid interview was this, “You don’t get the best out of anyone by making them feel insecure or nervous.” She was referring to how business executives who have no idea about design or fashion often put talented designers under stress and anxiety. Predictably, it often produced unhappy employees, mediocre fashion shows and less than extraordinary products.
Have you ever worked for someone who is on an ego trip just because they have a little taste of power and control? Someone who treats their subordinates with arrogance and condescension but with a totally different attitude to their superiors? We have all seen that person before. When a less talented person with zero imagination is put in charge of people who are creative, the end result is a company with no authenticity. What we learned from Chambers’s story is that fashion is suffering from advertisers overload and that power is being given to people who have money and looks but not to those with talent. I’m glad that she decided to share her thoughts on her career and fashion and shake up the status quo a little bit even if she is being criticized. The clothes in Vogue might be irrelevant to most people according to Chambers but her words on fashion will ring relevant for many years.
Monday, July 3rd, 2017
First dates have a potential to be incredibly awkward so what I like to do is to prepare myself mentally as much as possible. I always like to talk to the guy on the phone before I meet him. One of the reasons why I do that is because I’m curious what his voice sounds like (Does he sound friendly? Does he seem like he has a good sense of humor? Does he have a good grasp on current events?) and if we can have a good conversation on the phone, I feel more comfortable meeting with him. Sometimes my dates are spur of the moment while I’m out shopping or a planned date with a place and a time. Whatever the case, here are the things I do on a first date:
1. I make an effort to look nice and be presentable. That means, even if a date is a walk on a beach, I wear a nice top and a skirt or a dress. No flip flops or tank tops!
2. I don’t look at my phone during the entire date except to look at directions or to call a cab.
3. I make my date laugh by being silly and talking about random funny stories.
4. I always ask my date questions about how he spends his time and his hobbies.
5. I take my dates to my favorite spots whether it’s a restaurant or a museum. (I don’t do that to all the dates though. Only the guys that I feel like I can trust.)
6. If I like my date, I will initiate light touching on their shoulders or on their hands. And I wouldn’t mind them touching me either. However, if I’m not physically attracted to my date, I keep my distance and hope he gets the hint through my body language.
7. I offer to split the check because it’s the polite thing to do. Sometimes I don’t offer because the guy seems like a pretty dominant person who likes to take charge and I feel that he might get offended if I do.
8. If my date has a car and he opens the door for me, I give him A++++ in my head. Small gestures like opening a car door for a girl means a lot to me.
9. I make my intentions clear to my date that I’m not interested in a hookup.
10. As a hopeless romantic, a part of me wishes that my first date turns out to be the love of my life and if he doesn’t, I’ll be a little sad but that won’t discourage me from going out on another first date who might be the one, my forever love, whoever he is and wherever he is right now.
Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
I’m not going to talk about why dating today sucks because everyone knows that already. I’m not going to talk about ghosting, almost-relationships, three-day rules, fuckboys or whatever new crappy trends that the media comes up with. No, I’m going to talk about why I’m still single while having unlimited options to date whoever I want.
Here are the top 5 reasons why I’m still single. Hello Prince Charming, if you’re reading this, call me!
1) I live in Hawaii – I’m stuck on this little island with a bunch of other single people who I inevitably run into at pretty much every single event. Hawaii is a tough place to avoid people and I don’t like the idea of breaking up with someone and then find myself standing next to him at Starbucks, bumping into him while doing my laundry, being stuck in the same elevator (ahhhhhh!), etc. etc.
2) I’m too optimistic – Whenever I get disappointed by a guy, the blame is 100% on me because I let it happen. Despite knowing the fact that most guys want only one thing, I will still believe whatever a guy is telling me as the truth. That’s also my biggest weakness when it comes to guys.
3) I get attached quickly – Let’s say I’m talking to a guy and I develop a crush on him. You can bet that I will be thinking about him for months and won’t be able to talk to anyone else. I wish there’s a cure for that.
4) I’m too romantic – When I like someone, I’m already imagining an entire life with them in my head going through made-up scenarios of us holding hands, getting married, meeting each other’s families, growing old together, etc.
5) I have a type – I’ll give you an example of my dream guy in two words: Armie Hammer. And yes, there’s only one and he’s already married with kids. Guys who look like Armie and has a similar personality? Yeah……..I’ll let you know if I find one.
Sunday, March 19th, 2017
If you’re using dating apps and are about to give up, remember that it’s not technology or swiping left that is the problem. It’s the people and how they’re approaching relationships now. Think of the last date you have? If you’re a millennial like me, you were probably left being disappointed by someone you thought you had great chemistry, only to be ghosted.
Many of my friends are using dating apps like tinder and bumble and yet they found no luck. One of them said it’s because guys have so many options these days. Partly true but so do girls.
But I believe the biggest reason is we have forgotten how to treat each other like human. Once you start treating people as disposables, you have no problem feeling indifferent towards emotions. When someone gets vulnerable with you or gets comfortable around you, you immediately get distant. Why? Because you get scared. You’re afraid of being close to someone and to actually care. And it’s sad to see how many people choose to ignore something that could turn out to be real and amazing.
Monday, January 9th, 2017
I used to make resolutions. Big ones, small ones, little tiny ones. But now, I make none. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have goals I would like to accomplish. But I find that resolutions are meaningless if you don’t have a strategy or a concrete plan. Instead of resolutions, I decided to create an online journal by installing mindful, a chrome extension that keeps me focused on what I need to get done everyday and add new things I want to try. That’s the only thing I did.
A cliche for a new year is that we all need to achieve these lofty goals and get ambitious and start something impossible. But I like to think that we can achieve more by replacing resolutions with smaller actions. It makes me happy that I don’t need to worry about being disappointed because I know I’m doing 1% more of what I want to do everyday.
Tuesday, December 27th, 2016
If you spent your Christmas doing nothing productive at all and had a ton of fun being lazy, you’re in fine company. Because that’s what I did. But ahhhhh! It’s back to work again! Seriously, wouldn’t it be nice if we have a law that says we can work whenever we want to?! Imagine how amazing life would be for everyone if money isn’t an issue. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box and tell you 5 best ways you can get back to work mode after Christmas.
1) Get ready to add video editing to your skill set because every business will be using one in 2017. Here’s a popular class on skillshare that helps me a lot.
2) Get Prynt for your phone right now and impress everyone at your job.
3) One of my goals for 2017 is to get up one hour early (it’s so hard for a night owl like me to even open my eyes when my alarm goes off!) so reading these morning routines of successful people really motivates me to embrace being a morning person.
4) Best business books to read in 2017 for inspiration.
5) Instead of having a bunch of tools to manage your business, why not just have one tool that does it all?
Bonus: I plan to buy a fancy studio apartment for myself but then I realize that buying an entire private island is a better option.
Monday, December 12th, 2016
Wishing you the most romantic Monday possible! xoxoxoxo
(Source: Tumblr)
Monday, December 5th, 2016
I can’t believe it is finally December! Not to mention I’ll be a year older in a week…Urrgh, if I have one super power, I will stop myself from aging and be forever young! Speaking of being young:
1) Drinking green tea everyday will make you look just that, young.
2) Now that we’re about to get rain in Hawaii and get wet instead of lovely snow, an umbrella is a necessity, except I don’t carry one because I already have a million things in my hands. But I think this wind-proof, water-proof and thief-proof umbrella from Davek might convince me to buy one.
3) Did you know that you can buy your own little private island for under a million dollars?!!
4) This guy has one of the most peaceful backyard I’ve ever seen. Can we be friends?
5) Finally, know someone who likes to procrastinate? This cheeky little notebook would make a perfect little gift.
