general blog « ((little fat notebook))

In the mail: kitty toys, free stuff, and the SunVoxBox

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: bb cream, bb powder, beauty, cats, food, free stuff, in the mail, influenster, iphone, nomorerack, physician's formula, pictures, products, skincare, swaps, technology, toys, trades, voxbox, winnings

24 June 2013

In addition to the subscription boxes and trades I already mentioned receiving, here’s what’s been filling up my mailbox!

I did a review of this external battery and charging accessories I got from nomorerack so you can read more there. When I first got this I was concerned whether it’d be some knock-off brand that is shoddy work that won’t last, but I’m happy to report that while the packaging is “meh” the item itself and its performance are great.

Since I was given an Amazon gift card as part of a focus group (mentioned in this post), I decided to splurge on my cats and get them these fun toys. One is a feeder where the cats need to paw around through the holes to push the food so it falls through the holes in each level until it is caught at the bottom. I’ve included a video below at the end of the post so you can see Missy at work! She really enjoyed it at first but I think both cats are lazy now and just wait for their daily wet food feeding to get them through the day. Maybe if they are desperate enough they will learn to use this properly. At least I know they aren’t overeating now, right?

The other item is a pretty standard track with ball that you can piece together in many configurations. Once again, this is something Missy has enjoyed and will play with, but Molly kind of just looks at it and walks away. Alas, Molly is like 14 and declawed, so it makes sense she wouldn’t want to play with this. At least Missy likes it!

I got a couple of random samples that I had requested from various sites, including a sanitary pad, L’Oreal’s Revitalift Miracle Blur finishing cream, and Pampers sensitive wipes. I’m always on the lookout for free samples to help me find products that I want to adopt into my life! That’s probably why I love subscription boxes so much. 🙂

A long time ago, I entered to receive a free BB powder from Physician’s Formula. This was similar to the first contest I entered (which I wrote a tutorial about), but suddenly there were a lot more people contending. When I went to submit the form, it froze on me and I never got a success message, so I crossed my fingers hoping I was one of the lucky 1000, but I didn’t count on it. Then just a few days ago, what shows up in my mail but this?! I was pretty thrilled since I’m obsessed with trying BB creams and I’ve never seen a BB powder. Can’t wait to test it!

I already wrote about my previous trades, so here’s just a quick look at the last trade I got. A bunch of lovely samples that I am looking forward to trying. I sent over some L’Occitane stuff and a set of Angry Birds lip balms that I had in exchange for these.

And finally, my Influenster Sunkissed VoxBox, which I’m sure I will write about coming up. I am very happy with everything I got and I am so thrilled to try them out!

cat eating from food maze from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Cleaning regimen

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: behavior, childhood, family, habits, home, lifestyle, panda, patterns, pictures

23 June 2013

How often do you clean?

I grew up not having chores; my parents were far more concerned about my academic and personal development. So, I got to enjoy a lot of time in my room doing my own thing. I didn’t make my bed (never saw the need) or dust or whatever other chores you might need to do to keep your room spotless. I did help out with general household chores ranging from mowing the lawn to washing dishes, but my room kind of remained my sanctuary. I rarely had to do chores within the room itself.

I now have the habit of cleaning only when I see a need – such as water marks speckling the mirror or visible dust on my shelves. I wash the dishes when they’ve filled up the sink and I do laundry when I’m running out of clothes. I don’t do preventative care or have any sort of set schedule or pattern. Meanwhile, Panda is almost the complete opposite. He regularly cleans when things are still “clean” (by my standards at least) and immediately washes dishes after eating. He does laundry at least once a week regardless of how much has accumulated and vacuums frequently too.

cleaning with hands in blue metal bucket/pail filled with soapy water

Last time I cleaned it was so notable I took a video. 😛

It’s really interesting how different our habits are. I enjoy a slightly messy room because it feels lived in. When things are too neat, it feels unnatural. I’d rather focus my time and efforts on living in my space; he’s willing focus his time and efforts on keeping the space neat and clean. When I do get around to cleaning, it’s usually a bit of an overhaul – a spring cleaning, if you will. I like to save up for one big effort every few weeks/months so I can spend a few hours (or the whole day) working up a sweat and really changing the way things look.

Is either way better? I don’t think so; to me, it’s a matter of preference. If cleaning all the time keeps your home in a state that makes you happy and peaceful, that’s probably what you should do. But if cleaning all the time brings on the stress of constantly thinking about it and worrying about all the chores left to do, then what’s the harm in cleaning less frequently? People have developed such an aversion to germs and things that are “dirty” but if society gets too hygienic, there are plenty of health issues to contend with. So why waste all that effort trying to avoid dust and germs only to get sick anyway? I think we could be a bit less uptight about the whole cleaning thing.

The making of a ring

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: design, engagement, jewelry, panda, pictures, products, ring

21 June 2013

How I designed and created my engagement ring

Now that I am officially engaged, I can finally talk about my ring! You see, I knew about it all along because I was the one who got to help create it. Panda and I had discussed getting engaged sometime after he completed grad school – little did I know it would be the very day of his commencement! At the end of 2012, I had started to get interested in rings and decided to start looking to see what I might like. When I found certain things that appealed to me, I’d share them with Panda and he sort of got into it too, also sharing what he found. While he was on the east coast and I was on the west coast, we found ourselves browsing jewelry stores separately and sending each other photos or links.

When he was able to visit for the holidays, we went into a local jeweler’s (Manya Jewelers) together and before I knew it, we were agreeing to design a ring with her. I had not expected to get started so soon, but hey, I pretty much knew what elements I wanted, so why not? We pointed out some designs I liked and what I wanted to be incorporated: a purple center stone, a curved band, a small diamond on the bottom of the ring, a cool side profile (inspired by Vera Wang designs like this side profile), and a marquise shape if possible. We showed Manya a few of the rings that had those traits so she could visualize what I wanted and she got to work!

Selecting the center stone

The first order of business was choosing the center stone, which would determine a lot of other details for the ring. I had assumed the only purple gemstone is amethyst, so that’s what I figured we’d get, but then I discovered purple sapphires. I’ve always liked sapphires, but blue is so popular and overdone, plus purple is my favorite color; this combination of the two was just perfect for me. Purple sapphires actually come in a huge range of shades, so Manya got four for me to choose from. She had me put them in between my fingers as shown so I could get a feel for how they’d look against my skin tone. They also came in slightly different cuts, but all square to roundish. Can you guess which one I chose?

Drawing up a CAD model

Once my center stone was chosen, Manya knew the dimensions she could use to build the ring around it. This was all done in CAD with precision. She had measured my ring finger size on a previous visit, so she had all the sizing numbers she needed. I got that fun, funky digital model soon after to show me what it would look like. I could ask for any revisions based on that, but I didn’t need any. The posts in the design are high and extend beyond the actual height of the gems because they are later filed down (see top right of the first image for the CAD drawing). Manya warned me of this ahead of time so I wouldn’t get confused when I saw the drawing!

Making a 3D wax model

I don’t have a picture of this phase, but a wax model of the ring was made to ensure it was the appropriate size and to give us a feel for how the ring would look in real life. It looked like a plastic model, but apparently the wax is pretty delicate so you can’t really handle it. It’s meant to help you visualize the actual ring before they melded it so you can request any extra changes before they get too far into the process.

Molding the ring

Once the design was approved, the ring band/setting was made. It came very bare and simple as pictured. This was then tried on to ensure it would fit well and that the sizing against my finger looked good. Since it needed to be polished and filed down slightly, it was actually a bit tight and I wasn’t sure I could get it on or off! Luckily, Manya’s a pro with this kind of stuff and had a bottle of Windex ready. She sprayed my finger to make it more slippery and we were able to carefully get the ring on and off without trouble. It was fascinating to see the ring before it was all polished and the stones were set. I kind of liked the raw look of it.

Setting the stones and polishing the ring: final product

My wonderful engagement ring, complete with purple sapphire center stone, curved band, marquise shape, and…

Every step of the way, things were confirmed, so all that was left after this was to set the gems and polish up the ring! Within a month, we were able to go through the entire process and have the final product in our hands. That’s pretty awesome! It came in an elegant black box, all shiny and wonderful. When I went to pick it up, we did the final step of adding a small diamond to the bottom of the band, as I requested. Of the 5 design elements I wanted, there was only one that we didn’t get around to. I’m pretty happy with that! I love how creative Manya was in making the curve of my band look somewhat like a marquise cut since we couldn’t actually incorporate that shape gem into the ring. All in all, I’m very satisfied and I’ll make sure to get a cool side profile the next time I design a ring. 😉 I love how different it is from every other ring I’ve seen. It’s still obviously an engagement ring, but there are details that are unique to me and my ring.

…small diamond on bottom of ring. 😀

Job history: college school years edition

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: college, job history, pictures, pulse smartpen, technology, ucla. livescribe, work

20 June 2013

If you missed the first part of this series, you can go read about the jobs I had in high school.

I held various jobs throughout college, some during the school year and some during summer breaks. I considered breaking them down into exactly half and half, but the only way to do that is to highlight school jobs (where my employer was one of the departments at UCLA) and outside jobs, which were for a company not affiliated with UCLA. However, it makes more sense to split it by what I did during the school year vs. what I did during my summers, so that’s what I’m going with.

Reading texts for blind students

I started UCLA at the very end of September 2004. I’m pretty sure we’re the last college in the nation to start classes each year. By December, I was feeling pretty good about getting my groove with classes, so I looked around for a student job and found a position as a Reader for the Office of Students with Disabilities. Each week, I was given certain texts that I needed to read into my tape recorder. Every Friday, I turned in my tapes and they were passed on to the blind student who needed them for class. At first I read all kinds of poli sci-related stuff for a grad student. I met with him a few times to read in person as well, which was a lot easier for him.

Then the next student I had was a third year English student. She had some crazy Middle English texts to get through and I quickly learned how to read older versions of English that have some strange vocabulary. I also met with her once or twice and it was fascinating to watch her use a machine to play back tapes and jump to where she needed to be. Overall, I liked the flexibility of being able to record in the middle of the night (as long as I could find a quiet place where I wouldn’t disturb others). It was nice to know I was helping other students with their coursework too.

On-campus job in the computer labs

four people jumping on beach spelling out rlcc

RLCC training meant some fun bonding times.

My second year I got a lot more interested in student groups, so my social activities skyrocketed and I sidelined the job thing. Then my third year I studied abroad, so I couldn’t work (nor did I want to). While I was away, I found a fantastic opportunity to work with the Office of Residential Life (ORL) as a Resident Learning Center Consultant (aka RLCC – don’t worry, I’ll explain). I particularly liked the “resident” part of the job – it meant that I was guaranteed housing on campus; at that time, we were only guaranteed housing for the first two years and then it was pretty tough to stay on campus unless you had a job that required it. I was in no rush to get an apartment!

I came back from my year abroad to join the student leaders, resident assistants, and other staff of ORL to help provide a great experience living on campus. We had three computer labs in the student housing area, which were there so students wouldn’t have to trek to an academic building to get access to computers and printing. These were deemed Learning Centers since they were a hub for students to come study, learn, and otherwise continue their education. As Consultants, we were trained to help wherever we could – random questions, help with technical issues, etc.

Hence, Resident Learning Center Consultants meant that we lived on campus among the very students we served, we managed/proctored the Learning Centers, and we were more than just someone sitting there making sure you didn’t run off with a computer or jam the printer – we were actually there to help. I enjoyed my time with the team and being able to sit in a quiet environment so I could get work done too. I’m also pretty tech-savvy for a layman, so I was able to help quite a bit. In fact, all us tech-savvy RLCCs would put together fun workshops/events throughout the year, whether teaching students HTML or making ethernet cables together.

Campus representative for a smartpen

livescribe pulse smartpen booth at the los angeles times festival of books at ucla

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen booth at the Festival of Books!

Towards the end of fall quarter of my 4th year, I learned about a company called Livescribe through my fraternity (Alpha Kappa Psi – we’re a co-ed business fraternity). They were looking for campus reps and even though they actually had one for UCLA already, I was ready to prove that they could use another. I had some great ideas to share and I guess it was enough to convince the marketing manager! We were flown up to Oakland, where they had their headquarters, and given a grand tour. It was great to meet reps from around the country and share our ideas for how to promote the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. My biggest idea was participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which was still held at UCLA at that point. I also managed appearances at smaller events, where I would demonstrate the cool capabilities of the smartpen. I loved the ability to imagine and implement my own plans.

And that concludes the jobs I held while taking classes at UCLA! Next up will be the jobs and internships I had during the summers in between.

If money was no object

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: career, cats, childhood, dreams, events, experiences, future, goals, gogobot, job, pictures, shelter, work

18 June 2013

At the Gogobot 500 Days of Summer event, I was chatting with a friend (who also happens to be my great great greatx8 grand lil bro – yeah, random) when she asked me what I would do if I didn’t have to make money. This was in the context of what job/career you’d go for if you could do it just for fun. Of course there is plenty of non-work stuff you can do if you had all the money in the world, but that’s a discussion for another time!

My answer? I’d run a cat shelter. A no-kill one, of course (except maybe in the case of a really sick feline).

Yeah, that was not what she was expecting! She was thinking more along the lines of a singer or something… but I stand by my choice! If I didn’t have to worry about money I would focus my energy on creating a safe environment for a ton of cats. I’d try to adopt them out to good families as much as possible, but I would keep them their entire lives if they never got a chance to leave. I’d keep them in a large house with just a few cages for special purposes, but generally they’d be free to roam through the rooms as they pleased. This would help them socialize with each other and get used to moving around a home with people coming in and out too. I’d want to have space for people to stay overnight too, whether it was staffers or prospective pet parents (though that could get complicated). After all, the best way for people to find the cat they want is to see them in as similar a habitat as they’d have once they take them home.

I guess my goals have always been a bit different. When I was a kid, I didn’t dream of being famous or being some high-powered attorney/judge/doctor/CEO. No, one of the jobs I really liked was being a school bus driver. Why? So I could give treats to the kids and brighten their day. That might have worked back in the day, but nowadays I don’t think it would fly. I mean, would you let your kid take candy from the bus driver? Maybe not. I wanted to be an elementary school teacher for similar reasons. I will always remember Mrs. Stewie, who had a magical drawer of candy that she’d open up once a month and let us “buy” candy from. We got money stamped onto homework and tests that we did well on, which we collected to use for “purchasing” treats from her.

If you could have any job in the world, without worrying about income, what would you want to do?

What kind of proposee are you?

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: engagement, events, experiences, pictures, proposal, ucla

17 June 2013

When you imagine “the perfect proposal” what do you see?

Or, what do/did you hope will/would happen?

I’ve read a bunch of bloggers’ proposal stories and very few of them appeal to me. I’m not into crazy fanfare or an audience, so any of them done in public are pretty much out. I also don’t want to be tired or sweating, so those that involve a lovely nature hike or otherwise active day are also disqualified. Sooo… actually, come to think of it I can vaguely remember only one lady saying it was at home before going out to dinner, but she glossed right over it like it was just “meh” and the dinner was more exciting. I guess none of the stories I’ve heard speak to me an my own preferences.

You see, I like to be in control. Surprises are nice, yes, but if you were to take me to Disneyland and pop out a ring, I’d be kinda sad. First, why did you drag me to Disney in the first place? I’m not really a fan of the place. Second, it’s so cliche. Third, there are all these strangers watching us kiss. Wait, no, let me correct myself – we will have an awkward “kiss miss” or a lightning fast one because I don’t want people staring. Now let’s say you decide on a nature trail hike instead. That would be quiet and private, which is good, but we’d probably be in workout gear and maybe even sweating/panting a little bit. Not exactly a moment I want to memorialize with a proposal. Ok, so maybe a quiet, dark booth in the recess of some restaurant? I dunno, while I love eating, I just don’t imagine a restaurant to be the best place.

My ideal proposal would probably be at UCLA when it’s basically deserted. It’s where we met and it’s our alma mater that we hold close to our hearts. Plus, it is a gorgeous campus – have you seen it? So for the location, the sentiment, the memories, and the beauty, it would be great. Funny, because I started drafting this post just two weeks before my proposal and it turned out almost exactly as I would have imagined. Short, sweet, simple, and while it was during a busy season on campus, everyone was so absorbed in their own picture-taking that I doubt they noticed us. I’m also very glad that his parents were there to help take some photos. 🙂 I think the only thing that could have been better was if my parents were able to be there too. Alas, they had last-minute business and couldn’t be there, but that couldn’t be helped. So basically, it was perfect.

What elements would you incorporate in your perfect proposal?

In the mail: a sample, a splurge, and some winnings

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: beauty, bloggers, candles, cats, contests, food, free stuff, giveaways, hair care, in the mail, nail polish, pictures, products, skincare, sweepstakes, winnings

14 June 2013

Just like my first “in the mail” post, these are all items I received in the past month or so. Most were free, but some I paid for and each package was just as exciting as the next. I especially love when I’m not sure what is in a box because I wasn’t expecting it. It’s like a mini celebration each time. 🙂

I received this very generous size sample of Purina One SmartBlend in Healthy Metabolism (a new variety that just came out) from Walmart. They were offering it for awhile but have since moved on to promoting dog food. Missy, as you can see, loved it. Molly, the other cat, doesn’t eat it though. I doled it out to Missy slowly and only as a snack aside from her normal dry food and made it last about a month! I have since bought a bag of it because she enjoyed it so much and maybe it’s my imagination, or is her little belly less flabby? Maybe her metabolism is healthier now.

These are the polishes I chose for the Earth Day exchange (missing: Penny, a coppery shade – it was sent later since it was backordered). In order, they are Harley, Zuza, Crystal, Pandora, Skylar, Ziv, and Sienna. Since my order was over $30, I got a cute little bottle of nail polish remover as well. The box included some brochures and “spoons” with samples of some of their other colors. I have never bought this much nail polish at once, but I figured since I’m swapping out my old ones I’d do a few more.

I won this really cool Lumnique deluxe candle set from Monica of Creative Me. This is a very unique brand that allows you to customize your own candle creation – check them out! It was really fun going through and picking out an intention (something to be mindful of every time I light it), a color (my favorite), and a scent (this was hard with so many great choices!). I ultimately went with the Good Luck intention “to remind you that impossible situations can become attainable miracles,” the Royal color “representative of intuition, idealism, honor, royalty, spirituality, nobility, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment,” and the Green Tea Lemongrass scent “like savoring a cup of relaxing green tea with invigorating lemongrass, this citrusy scent renews, refreshes and restores balance and harmony.” I love that it came with a cute box of matches too!

This set of Klorane products was a SheKnows giveaway that I won… except that I won the Citrus Pulp Giveaway offering the Klorane Citrus Pulp Shampoo and Leave-In Spray. But what they sent me was the prize pack for their other Klorane giveaway offering the Klorane Eco-Friendly Essentials Earth Day Kit with a reusable pouch, dry shampoo with oat milk, and biodegradable make-up remover wipes with cornflower water. While this kit is cool, I was really looking forward to trying the leave-in spray so I was a bit disappointed. When I emailed them to say they sent me the wrong items, they got back to me with the reply I predicted: they substituted my prize. I wish they had at least thrown in something else to make the value of the prizes the same – my original prize was worth $30 but this one is only worth $20. Oh well, winning is still better than nothing!

Another great win from Creative Me! This set of SeabuckWonders products is my current skincare routine and I’m loving it. If you’re not familiar with sea buckthorn, it’s a bright orange “superfruit” found in the Himalayans (so exotic) and because of the harsh environment it grows in, it has a ton of defensive mechanisms that translate to all kinds of health benefits of us humans. You can consume things made with it (and presumably eat the fruit directly if you’re lucky enough to have access) or use products made with it to get some of those benefits. One of the most unique things about it is its Omega-7 property, which is rare, though I have no idea what Omega-7s are good for. I love how both these products feel and that they will last me a long time since such a little amount is needed each time.

What great luck that I was also able to win this Sibu Sea Buckthorn Balancing Facial Cleanser! I will have to try this out to compare with the SeabuckWonders one. I could see myself using both since one is exfoliating and one is not. I like to switch it up! I previously got Sibu soap in a Yuzen box and it was the first time I’d heard of sea buckthorn. I am now obsessed with that special berry so I love it when any of my beauty products incorporate it.

Time disconnect

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: business, entrepreneurs, experiences, family, habits, opinion, panda, pictures, schedule, work

12 June 2013

“Holy cow, is it really [insert day of week]?!”

This happens to me just about every single day. Call it the life of the self-employed/entrepreneur/stay-at-homer. Every day is mostly the same to me – there is no such thing as a weekday vs. weekend. I work daily, unless I have plans to go do something, so it really doesn’t matter much what day of the week it is. And so it is that I often find myself disconnected with the rest of the world in that way. I don’t hate Mondays nor do I look forward to Fridays the same way a “typical” worker might.

calendar page from the world's most super-amazing 100% awesome cat calendar for 2014

Without a calendar, I’d be lost.

Perhaps I need to build more of a weekly structure, but it doesn’t make sense to take time off when I’m really trying to build something. I’m certainly not wearing myself out and I get plenty of rest and play daily; in fact, you could say I go through an entire week each day: there’s the waking up in the morning and trying to get a rhythm going (Monday), getting back into things (Tuesday), starting to feel an afternoon slump (Wednesday – “Hump Day”), recovering a bit as my day looks like it’s ending (Thursday), and feeling good that I’m nearly done with my day’s work (Friday). Usually my “weekend” is sort of sandwiched in between the other moments, though sometimes it ends up being no more than the time that I sleep.

Since I don’t watch TV or read the newspaper, the only way I can really stay in tune is based off whether Panda is home or not, but I’ve been staying with my mom more and she works from home too… but hey, is it really that important that I always know what day it is? I could just check my phone’s calendar and in the long run, it doesn’t affect me much, so I’m perfectly fine forgetting the days sometimes. What about you? Would it drive you crazy if you didn’t have a distinct weekday and weekend? Or do you meander through the weeks and months without a strong sense of time like me?

Gogobot Tron Party!

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: bars, beer pong, clubs, contests, costumes, dancing, events, gogobot, los angeles, parties, party, pictures, pool, tournaments, tron, videos

10 June 2013

Another great event hosted by Gogobot – I mean, a Tron-themed beer pong and pool tournament?! Lol how do they come up with these things? It’s amazing. I’m sooo glad I got involved with this community.

Before I talk about the event, let me digress briefly. That night I realized something – that I can be super wacky/weird/fun when it comes to social events like this, but then all that personality gets lost when I write. So from now on I’m going to try to make an effort to be a little less boring and a little more crazy (in a good way). Oh, now that I think of it, I actually realized one more thing: people often get the wrong [early] impression of me. For example, one of my really good friends from college thought I was a sorority girl when he first met me. He was SO wrong. At this Gogobot party, one guy told me he thought my family’s rich (we just manage our money well) and another guy guessed that I shop at Hollister (never been actually).

Now on to the event:

Lyft was sponsoring rides to the event and I would have loved to have been able to try out their service, but I live over 40 miles away. Perhaps another time! I’d never been to Busby’s East before and I was glad that I could find parking easily. I found the party in the room with the pool tables and proceeded to put together my awesome glow-in-the-dark baseball cap. I just happened to get some glow sticks similar to puddle jumper toys as well, which I added as a propeller to my hat. Throw on some glasses and my nerd look was complete. Maybe I didn’t look all that Tron, but I sure did have fun!

reflection in shiny tron helmet at gogobot tron themed party

Took a selfie with my friend in the reflection of a Tron costume helmet!

three super happy friends at gogobot tron themed party

I love how we all have our mouths open. 🙂

Of course I’m the one making a weird face. Photo credit: Steven Lam

playing pool at gogobot tron themed party

The pool tourney part of the night. Photo credit: Steven Lam

beer pong table at gogobot tron themed party

The beer pong side of things. Photo credit: Steven Lam

gogobot tron themed party costume contest prize figurine

The costumer contest winner got this fun toy. Photo credit: Steven Lam

Dancing to the awesome DJ, I love how he’s so happy too!!

paper lanterns hanging from ceiling in dance room at busby's east

I randomly looked up while dancing and saw lanterns!

jumping dancing selfie shot at gogobot tron themed party

I think this pic is awesome even if our faces are cut off. Look at the joyous smiles! We’re obviously having a blast.

hodded bowing guy dancing at gogobot tron themed party

I loved his dancing! So entertaining. He refused to stay still and show his face so I got what I could.

ladies dancing on stage at gogobot tron themed party busby's

Some of our Gogobot ladies got on stage to dance!

girls dancing on stage at Gogobot tron party from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Sunday Social: blogging beginnings

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: blog name, blogging, celebrities, facebook, social media, sunday social, twitter, writing

09 June 2013

1. How did you come up with your blog name?

back of worn mead five star fat lil notebook

A well-worn notebook I’m currently using.

In middle school, I was looking for a small notebook that could fit in a purse, yet hold a ton of information. When I found Mead’s Five Star Fat Lil’ Notebook, it was perfect. The size of the pages is just right, it has a TON of sheets (200 to be exact), and the pages are perforated so I can tear them out when I’m done. I had one with me everywhere so I could write down things I wanted to remember. When I started blogging, I had pages filled with potential blog post ideas – the ‘fat lil notebook’ was vital to my blogging! I didn’t want to take the name exactly, so I changed it to “little fat notebook” and decided to add the double parentheses to make it visually a bit “fat.” I like to be different and I’ve never seen another blog with double parentheses. This also doesn’t limit me to any topic or type of blogging so I can write as I please. 🙂

2. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
I love sharing! Whether it’s a how-to (my most popular post to date is about setting up a Facebook page), a review/product feature, or just random thoughts, I like to share it with others. I think people like to know they’re not alone in things, so if you write about it, they’ll know at least one other person agrees/has experienced that too. I wish more people commented so I could get feedback on what they like to see on the blog.

3. What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can’t live without?
It’s gotta be a tie between subscription boxes (which I learned from other bloggers) and getting free stuff to try (which I get to do partly because I have a blog). I absolutely love subscription boxes and I have quite a list of ones I want to try in the coming years. Right now a lot of it is focused on beauty and personal items, but I see my preferences changing towards household stuff once we get a place, then towards pampering again come wedding prep time, then a shift to baby and kid-oriented things as we start a family. Also, I’ve only recently discovered BzzAgent, Influenster, Pink Panel, and other similar sites that send me free things to test! It’s great and I definitely want to keep it going indefinitely (as long as I qualify for the stuff).

4. Facebook or Twitter? And why?
Facebook. I’m never on Twitter and pretty much only use it to promote my blog posts and enter giveaways. That’s it. Facebook, on the other hand, is where I can share pictures with my friends, get invited to events, interact with brands, etc. It feels less “busy” on that site because I can control the level of interaction. Twitter has way too many strangers trying to sell things or get followers or whatever. I pretty much just ignore it.

5. If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be?
Umm… I don’t really know or care for celebrities, but maybe Ellen or Oprah since they could talk about my blog and hopefully that would bring more readers! Yeah, I know, totally selfish, but celebrities just aren’t my thing so if one did read my blog, might as well be one who can help me grow! I’d love to be able to share more things with more people and learn from them too, but it’s hard to do that when there aren’t many readers connecting. *hint* 😉

6. What is something you want people to know about your blog?
It is constantly evolving and I’m always looking for feedback on what you want to see! I seem to get a lot of lurkers and I’d really love to hear from you. 🙂 I mean, yeah I blog about what I want, but I want to also make sure I’m covering what YOU want! Please do share. It would make my day!

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((little fat notebook))

In the mail: kitty toys, free stuff, and the SunVoxBox

Cleaning regimen

The making of a ring

Job history: college school years edition

If money was no object

What kind of proposee are you?

When you imagine “the perfect proposal” what do you see?

In the mail: a sample, a splurge, and some winnings

Time disconnect

Gogobot Tron Party!

Follow Me! :)

laelene

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