Material Possessions I Have Accumulated Recently

I've always wanted to attempt to start a fashion blog, not necessarily pose in my outfits and post the cute ones, but just post and comment on random shit I think is pretty. (Hence the title of the blog). How about I just start with taking pictures of my stuff and talking about it. HERE GOES:


I got this silky-looking scarf at Buffalo Exchange the other day. I took in a bunch of old clothes, was going to get like $45 in cash, decided to spend $5 on this. So far I have worn it on my bag. I always love silky scarves but alas, fail at trying to wear it in my hair or all French and stuff. Try harder.


Here is the ~$50 wallet I got in Taiwan to replace my beat-up fake Coach one. It is a really beautiful green plaid pattern with brown leather, the brand is something like Beverly Hills Polo Club or something and seems unique to Asia. I was a little skeptical about the structure of the wallet but the leather is starting to soften and it is growing on me.


And here is a wooden kitty. I think it's pretty lolz. Meow :3

Srsly though I have been pretty good about not buying stuff this past month.

On Doing Things Alone

As Valentine's Day approaches once again, all us single folk are forced to reflect on our single lives and lack of a significant other. During the day of, we have to stay at home and avoid any happy places where a couple may be macking out. Even though we have no idea how the relationship dynamic works, it still sucks to see the "better" parts of it shoved in our faces. This was a mistake I faced last year.

But now, I want to talk about being able to Do Things Alone. This is quite an impressive feat that not everyone is able to master, most of all me. I usually wouldn't eat in a restaurant alone, go shooting alone, or even ride the BART alone (unless I'm sneaking off to a Gap 40% off sale).

I always admire people who are able to enjoy events alone, especially events that others usually do together. Like going to concerts alone, eating meals alone, trekking through Ikea's showrooms alone. They are comfortable with themselves and friendly to strangers, something that I like to avoid by putting on sunglasses and earbuds. But honestly, if you really want to do something, the lack of a SO to share it with should not deter you. If your want for it is high enough then screw all your friends who hate Ke$sha and go to her fucking concert and then have a great time dancing with teenagers!

To myself, I make up lists of things that I could feel would be fun to do with a significant other. Past items on list have included watching Wall-e, going to concerts and musicals, or having a picnic (anything grass-related). While for some things I should just stop bitching and do them without a boy, sometimes there are others that would just be a lot better with a SO.

This is not fair.

How about going to a fancy date-like restaurant - I'd feel weird going with a girl in fear of others mistaking my sexual orientation. Or taking a stroll along the beach at night - not something I'd do with my BFF. Going to a weekend getaway and wine-tasting, a fancy cruise, or even just lying around on the grass on a nice day. Something dancing-related that is not in a club or involve grinding.

So I guess the moral of this little rant is that I/you should just man up and do the shit you want to do. Don't want for some dumb boy to motivate you to finally read that book or go running. Then after you feel all successful and accomplished maybe you can come home and cry about how you're not at Chez Panisse with your future husband.

Happy Valentine's day, kids. Too bad there is no cube competition this year.

On Birthdays

Growing up in an Asian household, I was taught that on your birthday, you throw a party/have a dinner and invite your friends. Since your friends bring you presents, you pay for the party/their dinner. Everything is dandy.

As I got to college and experienced real American culture, I learned that on your birthday, you go out to dinner and your friends pay for you. Slickdeal!

However, this may put you in an awkward situation. On one hand, you don't want to invite everyone you know to "Come celebrate my birthday! BONUS: pay for my dinner!" On the other, you really do want to have dinner with friends on your birthday.

As such, it leaves you with a few options:

1. Have a really good friend who will automatically round up everyone else for you. This only works if you have a friend who will do this without being asked.

2. Don't have dinner - throw a party, buy booze, and have your guests bring more booze.

When you're between the ages of one and twelve, your parents will automatically plan parties for you. There's none of that awkwardness where you wait around hoping someone will remember your birthday and plan an outing. Even if the outing gets planned, I still feel uncomfortable being the center of attention for 24 hrs. I start making a mental list of all the attendees and become concerned about whether I was there to celebrate their birthdays.



In America, your birthday is the one day you can do whatever the shit you want and no one can say anything. People who hate you will be nice to you, your facebook friends who you've only seen once will pretend to care about you. Then the next day things go back to normal and no one comments or "likes" your cute cat picture.

The best scenario, I've found, is option three:

3. Share your birthday with someone. If someone has the same birthday as you, you don't have to feel guilty because you plan each others' dinners! Of course, if you share a dinner then it will suck for your friends who have to pay 2x.

I miss my birthday-sharer. She goes back to school too early now. No more running next door and yelling "It's your birthday!!!" to each other.

Sooo... who wants to plan my birthday dinner/outing/party this year??

2010 in pictures

Last year I did this pictures post. Thought I'd do it again this year, since I haven't been posting that much. It's been a good year... this marks the tenth year I've been living in the United States. Finally got citizenship too, woo!

It's hard to believe that ten years ago, I wrote this three-page list of reason why California sucks. That was when I was 12 and thought snow was the best thing ever. Now, I'm glad it never gets below like 40 degrees here. Fahrenheit. Oh how things have changed.

1. January

I turned 21! Here is dinner at Zabu Zabu, where Jeremy attempted a 3-layer cube cake :)
I had a few firsts this month. Not all of which I will detail here. But I got my first guitar, I got my ears pierced, etc. Pretty good month.

2. February

I went to the pillow fight in SF for Valentine's Day! Although the fight was fun, walking around outside on V-Day really isn't. Would not do again.
Other highlights include a trip to Reno at the end of the month, where I gambled for the first time.
(Sorry for terrible pic quality. They'll get better...)

3. March

Trip to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens! On assignment for Berkeley's Caliber magazine.
In 2009 my March was pretty good. It was pretty good this year too. Hopefully 2011's will be even better!

4. April

Second time to the Cherry Blossom Festival!

5. May

Here's a pic I couldn't leave out. End of May we had a massive sewing party in which we made Pokemon trainer costumes for Fanime. See Facebook for said embarrassing pictures of me dressed as a 10-year-old. I also saw Wicked for the second time! Got better seats. Felt it was better the first time, but still worth.

6. June

This was a pretty cool day we had. First we were at Theta Chi for The Pack's filming of Wolfpack Party. See me in the music video here (grey striped shirt on right). Then we went swimming at Strawberry Canyon. Then to Trader Joe's for sandwich supplies --> Berkeley Rose Garden --> secret waterfall for picnic! This was also after a night of epic.... fun.

7. July

Impressionist exhibit at the De Young museum!! Monet!! Degas!! Renoir!! This month I also saw Idina Menzel perform with SF Symphony!! I also became an American citizen.

8. August

Cubers on a subway in New York. In August we had our Boston/New York trip. Cubers at Nationals. Cubers everywhere in Boston. Cubing all the time.

9. September

Beginning of my senior year at Cal. Was in denial and ran off to San Francisco food festival. Where there were many noms.

10. October

2nd Cal football game ever! We beat UCLA, I went with lovely roommates, pretty good day in general.

11. November

I saw Robyn live! Free tickets! Plus we had really good tri-tip salad for dinner. Also she signed my CD. Maybe I should've taken a pic of it and posted that instead.

12. December

I went snowboarding in Tahoe and went on a scarier green hill, on which I actually turned and carved a few times without falling on my face.

Happy 2011! This is going to be a scary year for me. Whee.

*some pics are credited to Justin and Esther.

How You Know You're Getting Old

(Note: these may or may not be things I've personally experienced)

- You feel annoyed when you see other people being young and happy.

- You hate going out at night time because there are always hooligans out causing a ruckus.

- You'd rather stay at home and watch old TV shows on a Friday night than go to a rager.

- You look at teenagers and think that you know so much more than them.

- You start saying things like "When I was young..."

- You feel sleepy after just one beer.

- You feel sleepy around 10pm.

- Your limbs start getting sore and you think they're predicting the weather.

- You start enveloping yourself in oversize sweaters and grandpa cardigans.

This is what happens when you start growing up and having Real Life experiences and understanding the crazy things adults believe in. My parents were so right about my teenage self. Damn it.

Protip: Being Tired is a Good Excuse

How does one get out of doing something they don't want to, and yet decline in a polite manner? You don't feel like getting food with that guy - tell him you're broke. You don't want to go over and hang out - say it's too cold. The best and most vague reason though, in my opinion, is to say you're too tired.

No one can argue with being too tired. Say, for example, it's summer and you're working - can't use the "too broke" or "too cold" excuse. You can't even say you have homework to do. But anyone can say they stayed up till 5am and are now too tired - even if they were staying up playing Plants vs. Zombies.

People feel sorry for people who are tired. Everyone can relate to being tired. There is no cure for being tired other than sleeping or being lazy in general. You can even say you don't believe in caffeine or don't want to chug a Red Bull after 2pm.

The best part is that you can instantly go from "tired" to "not tired."

"Well I was tired but now I'm excited let's do it!"

"Oh wait, I feel tired again."

You're welcome.

Being an Adult comes with Expectations

For about a week or so I have felt quite like an Adult. I drove to work, I made monies, I came home and made dinner for the hubby and kids... I slept at a decent hour and got up when it was still a little dark outside.

I have discovered that being a grown-up comes with many unspoken expectations. When you do something wrong no one is next to you telling you not to do it. At work, no one teaches you how to make coffee. No one says stop when you open up a new window for Farmville. Once you get hired, you are trusted to always do your work and not mess around! You are expected to stride into the office with an air of belonging and knowledge and even if you sneak out to chase deer, people assume that you're doing something productive.

When you're young, parents consistently remind you not to do "bad things," to be polite and courteous, to do good things for other people. Eventually these admonishments are supposed to turn into your conscience. That is, when you are about to check Facebook for the millionth time that day, a little parental voice in your head should say, "Hey, don't do it."

But everyone has a different kind of little voice. How do you know what you have is good enough and above the normal threshold? What if your coworker believes in a healthy 10:90 facebook-to-work ratio and yours is more like 40:60? How are we all supposed to judge the same way, and how do we know exactly what we should be doing? How much is enough and how much is too little?

Ultimately these judgey decisions we made only affect our own lives and our own future. It is hard because you are making the most important decisions for your most important adult self. Because when someone tells you the broken car bumper is secure you're the one who's at risk if it fails and you have to trust your judgment.

Throughout my life I have always done things at just above the accepted level. I get by with being pretty good at tennis, decent at violin, above average at drawing, and better than other people at being smart (lol). But now as I become an Adult I have to get my act together and start being above average. Which means being better than other people who are already Adults and already above above average. This is difficult when I look 15.

In the end we all screw up a little, lose focus for a moment, make some mistakes. But isn't it nice to know that when this happens my parents are still willing to come to my aid, clean up my mess, and tell me I won't become a failure at life. I guess I'm still not quite that Adult.