Winterland Goddess stopped by my house and decorated my windows with one of a kind ice crystal art.

Birds & Pine Trees

Birds & Pine Trees

Palms in wind

Highlands

Tropical

Baby Ferns

Ice Crystal in Space
Winterland Goddess stopped by my house and decorated my windows with one of a kind ice crystal art.
Birds & Pine Trees
Birds & Pine Trees
Palms in wind
Highlands
Tropical
Baby Ferns
Ice Crystal in Space
A new year, a new decade, a new chance to start fresh. I often face the new year with negative emotions such as fear of the uncertainty and frustration from the feeling of I didn’t do enought last year. I also fear that I would bring with me the same old baggage, habits and emotions.
In order to encourage myself, I sat down and reviewed my accomplishments in 2009. To my surprise, I did learn something new and try something fun. I have gotten to know myself a little better and have gained more confidence. Here, I am listing down some of the special experiences to share with you ( a lot of first times!).
* Lost a handbag and retrieved it successfully two weeks later (cracked a crime case in Fairfield along the way). Scorpios can be very good investigators.
* 20 day juice detox (with daily enema) and my first colonics
* Learned Bollywood dance and performed at the Sondheim Theater
* Underwent LASIK surgery for my eyes (09/09/2009) and am loving my new vision
* Made my 1st movie, and 2nd movie and more to come!
* Started a blog (thanks for reading)
* Blown away by the beauty of Hawaii (had my first boogie board fun!)
* Remodelled a home (with Karan) and moved into it (3rd move in Fairfield!!)
* Bid for a house in an auction and won
* Bilingual MC at my brother’s wedding
* Owned a holiday shop (Little Laddoo) on the Square and realized how much I appreciate my freedom and how lovely it is to work from home (with Kai sleeping next to my feet!)
* Summer road trip to Northen California and Oregon (lavender fields were breathtaking!)
* Gained some friends and lost touch with some
* Planted & harvested my first lettuce
* Gained a new family member: sister-in-law
* Attended my brother’s wedding & family gathering in Singapore
* Mid-autumn festival celebration with my family after 8 long years
* Learned that baking is not as scary as I thought
* Japanese School Girl on Halloween
* First 3D movie
* Continue to work on dropping some baggage: the need to please, perfectionism, fear of failure, low self-esteem, self-consciousness, need for control
* Discovered that I am a cross between a nerd, a child, an artist, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a social misfit; AND that’s OKAY!
Family matters a lot to me. I like to spend time with my family more than anyone else. There’s really no point making irrelevant random conversations with people whom I don’t care about. I get enough love from family. I just want to hang out with people who share the same values and beliefs.
Phew! Not so bad for a 2009 list!
I have strong feeling: “I just can’t continue down this same road any longer.” in terms of relationship, relocation plans, career, etc. In 2010, I will continue to explore the possibility of change and to confront the aspects of myself that I may not like.
The choice is mine to either have the courage to change for the better, or not change and stick to the comfort and security in order to avoid disappointment.
I have a lot to think about. 🙂
Happy new year to you all and I hope that your 2010 is filled with peace, love and happiness.
Chilli Crabs
I love crabs. I can’t get fresh dungeness crabs here in Iowa, so I cooked this dish with king crab legs.
Ingredients: Ginger, green scallions, garlic, chillies, eggs, tomatoes, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper, oil
Simply stir-fry all ingredients with the crabs.
Holy crabs! They are unbelievably tasty!
Stir-fry Spinach
Too bad I didn’t have any good bread to soak up every last drop of delicious sauce. I did cook some jasmine rice and stir-fried some spinach to go with the crabs. Yummo!
I am very visual person.
I am often inspired by pictures. I prefer to learn by trying and through physical experiments.
When I am inspired by something, I take note.
Let me introduce you to my Idea Book.
My Idea Book is nothing fancy, just a black folder.….
that fills with lots of great ideas inside!
Don’t be afraid to tear out the pages from the catalogs/magazines. I know most probably I am not going to read any magazines twice. So, I tear out the pages that I want to keep in my Idea Book and recycle the rest.
Cool products- I use a marker to mark them. 🙂
How about hanging your “visual board” over your office table?
Remember, you don’t have to follow each idea exact. They are inspiring ideas. I like the bag shelving idea. But it doesn’t mean that I am going to build myself custom shelving for storing my handbags. I could just stack two open bookshelves and put them in my walk-in closet.
Quote I love – so comforting at times. 🙂
I realized I have the same taste after reading this quote: I don’t like delicate, tiny, skinny things!!!
I love chunky watches. The watch that I wore in high school was my dad’s watch (Casio stainless steel multifunction digital watch). I loved the heavy, chunky feel. How did I forget that???
Why not start your own Idea Book? It could store anything that inspired you: vacation spots, quotes, coupons, photos, decorating ideas, makeup tips, gift ideas, and more. This could also be a process of getting to know yourself better; your dreams, your dressing styles, etc.
How about keeping a small notebook with you, so that you can write down your ideas whenever you want?
Keep your ideas alive and updated! If you can visualize them, they might just become reality one day.
[Tuesday]
I love Ruelala.com.
Rue La La is an exclusive, invitation only shopping site where Members discover premier-brand, private sale Boutiques.
Every day there are new boutiques, each open for just a brief window of time (usually two days).
I love discovering new brands, new products and something unexpected.
I bought this BCBG bag on NOV 16th at $149. I had an oh-la-la moment when I received this bag.
Although I wish the leather could be a little thicker, I was happy with my purchase at a great price.
I loved the color. It was selling at Saks.com for $398 (on sale today for $277.99) on the same day (Nov 16th)!
The thing with Rue La La is the new boutiques are open at 10am CDT. So, if you are interested in certain boutiques, you better act fast. By fast, I mean you better make up your mind within 10 minutes after the boutiques are open. The prices are good (30%-80% off retail) and the Members are sharp! They are very focused and know their style. The best styles are usually sold out within 10 minutes.
If you are 80% sure about a product, I would suggest you just buy it. You can return the item later if you change your mind. Return shipping is free and you’ll get store credit to be used towards your next purchase. Sweet!
Check it out. The membership is free, but it’s by invitation only. Here’s my invitation to you: RUE LA LA. You’ll receive $10 for trying out Rue La La and I’ll get $10 store credit reward when you find your ooh la la items.
If you are a designer, you might want to contact them to see how they can help promoting your brand and testing your new line.