((little fat notebook))

Snow cream

laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: black sesame, blockheads, boba, cantaloupe, condensed milk, desserts, food, fruits, green tea, ice cream, pictures, rice cakes, shavery, snow cream, strawberry

10 April 2013

It was about a year ago when I was first introduced to Blockheads, this mysteriously new dessert place that was all the craze. Maven took me there upon discovering that I, his foodie friend, hadn’t tried it yet!! This whole “snow cream” idea was something new to me – I knew ice cream and I knew shave ice, but shaved ice cream?? I had to see what the fuss was all about. The moment I tried it, I was blown away. From then on it was a long-distance addiction for me. I live too far to justify going there whenever I want, but when I get a chance, I always stop by.

black sesame snow cream with toffee crunch and condensed milk drizzle from blockheads shavery

My very first Blockheads order! What a cute mascot they have.

green tea snow cream with boba and condensed milk drizzle from blockheads shavery

I love how you can see the delicate, intricate texture of the shaved ice cream that makes up “snow cream.”

strawberry and green tea snow cream with boba, rice cakes, and condensed milk drizzle from blockheads shavery

Digging in to my half-strawberry, half-green tea snow cream topped with boba and rice cakes.

cantaloupe snow cream with boba, rice cakes, and condensed milk drizzle from blockheads shavery

I just had to try the seasonal cantaloupe flavor! It was great.

strawberry and green tea snow cream with red beans, chocolate sauce, and chocolate sprinkles from blockheads shavery

My cousin gets bold flavors!

strawberry and original snow cream with strawberries and mango puree from blockheads shavery

My friends opt for a very fruity combo.

365great Day 26: scented pens

laelene Post in 365great，Tags: 365great, colorful, colors, office supplies, pens, pictures, rainbow, scents, smells, stationery, writing

09 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

Ever write or doodle (maybe even scribble around) just so you can use up ink? Yeah, you’ll want to do that with these amazing pens. The lovely fruity scents that waft up from the paper are deliciously reminiscent of the produce these pens are meant to emulate. Plus, with fun colors covering the whole spectrum, you can represent just about anything with these pens. I’ve always loved writing things down, just for the feeling of pen on paper and with such fun writing instruments, I only enjoy it more! Pens that not only engage your sense of sight and touch, but smell as well? That’s pretty great.

How to: Create A Facebook Page (original)

laelene Post in how to guides，Tags: bloggers, blogging, business, facebook, facebook pages, how to, social media, tutorial, work

09 April 2013

104

I decided it was time for me to create a Facebook page for my little blog, so I can really try to build it out and maybe get some followers! I’d like to think that what I’m putting out there is educating or entertaining someone, but I’ve never really promoted it so it’s time to take action.

When I went to create the FB page, I (for the life of me) could NOT find where to choose the “Personal Blog” category! And that’s what spurred this entry. Read on to learn the basics for setting up a Facebook page and how to select a category like “Personal Blog,” “Personal Website,” and more!

Creating Your Facebook Page

First of all, here’s where you can create a new Facebook page. As you’ll see, right away they want you to choose a category. Your desired page may fit multiple categories, so it’s up to you to decide which one is best for your needs. Of the 6 types they’ve laid out for you (1. Local Business or Place; 2. Company, Organization or Institution; 3. Brand or Product; 4. Artist, Band or Public Figure; 5. Entertainment; 6. Cause or Community), all but the last one have a dropdown menu with category choices. Don’t worry if your desired category isn’t there – just pick what’s closest or tickles your fancy. In my case, I went for “Brand or Product”and chose “Website” from the dropdown.

You will be asked to enter your page name, which should be the title of your blog, the name of your business, or whatever you want the world to know your page by. Note that Facebook has certain rules in place about what is allowed in a name – for example, I tried to enter my blog name, ((little fat notebook)), but it was immediately rejected because I’m not allowed to use symbols. You are allowed one set of parentheses, but there can only be two words in it (like this) and obviously I’d have three if I went for (little fat notebook). Alas, I then tried just plain little fat notebook and that’s not allowed because the name must start with an uppercase! I didn’t like how Little fat notebook looked, so I went for the boring old Little Fat Notebook. Luckily, you can change it after the fact!

Setting Up Your Facebook Page

Once you agree to their terms and click Get Started, you’re prompted to fill in a description and add links to your site(s). Next upload an avatar/profile picture to represent your page. You’ll then be taken to your brand new Facebook page! A quick 3-step tour is given and then you’re given free reign. Feel free to add a cover photo, invite friends to like your page, and share your very first post!

screenshot of page to set up about section of new facebook page

Adding a basic description.

Uploading a profile picture.

Changing To A Better Category

Now here’s what you’ve been waiting for: how to make the page exactly as you want it! At the top, you’ll see an option to Edit Page, with a dropdown. The first option is what you want: “Update Info.” Here you’ll see that the category and subcategory choices are far more plentiful than they let on earlier in the process! That’s where I found a previously unmentioned category called “Websites & Blogs,” which contains the subcategory option I had been hunting for: Personal Blog. The nice thing is that you can change this at any time, so as your site/brand evolves, you can update the category accordingly.

A few other tips:

Once you get 25 fans, you can reserve a vanity URL (or username, as Facebook calls it). This means that rather than an ugly URL like https://www.facebook.com/pages/little-fat-notebook/457453117668145, you can get a pretty one like https://www.facebook.com/littlefatnotebook, which is much easier to direct fans to. I still need to claim mine! (So hey if you don’t mind, please like my page so I can claim my vanity URL soon!) [Update: I was actually able to claim it when I had just 16 fans – check out my post on claiming vanity URLs to see how.]

When you reach 30 fans, Facebook will provide “insights” about your page, which includes data about the reach of your page and each post (how many people see it, pretty much), how many people are talking about (sharing) your posts, and how many posts you’re putting up daily.

Also note that I was able to update my page name from Little Fat Notebook to all lowercase. Unfortunately you still can’t add symbols, but as mentioned before, you can use one set of parentheses.

I highly recommend putting your website URL in the Short Description so users can easily click to your site from your FB page. Just be sure to input the “http://” so it becomes a clickable link, as shown. (Click for full size.)

Now that you have a Facebook page, check out my tutorials on:
~how to manage your Facebook page
~how to link your social media accounts
~how to claim your vanity URLs, and more!

You can find all my “how to” posts for useful tips like how to make a favicon and random things like how to set your iPhone/iPad to stop playing music at a certain time or even how to win a Facebook contest!

If you have any questions or tips of your own, I’d love to hear them! Please do share. 🙂

365great Day 25: foaming cleansers

laelene Post in 365great，Tags: 365great, beauty, cleansers, foaming cleansers, pictures, products, skincare

08 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

Maybe it’s just me, but foaming cleansers bring a smile to my face every time. Whether it’s hand soap or face wash, there’s something really fun about pumping out a handful of suds. It might just be a gimmick since they can get away with a lower concentration of cleanser to water, but for the enjoyment, I’m okay with that. Supposedly, foaming cleansers give you a deeper clean? I guess I do feel “squeaky clean” after using one, but I get the same feeling with a bar soap. Anyways, this made my 365great list purely for the fun factor! After all, a basic skincare product that can make me happy just by pumping it? That’s pretty great (and rather cheap entertainment).

Fit furry fellow

laelene Post in video blog，Tags: caterpillar, creatures, insects, observation, videos

08 April 2013

I’ve never seen a caterpillar move quite so fast before!

caterpillar run from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

365great Day 24: Korean BBQ

laelene Post in 365great，Tags: 365great, all you can eat, buffet, cooking, delicious, dinner, food, korean bbq, meal, pictures

07 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

After a fantastic dinner tonight, I just had to make Korean BBQ today’s 365great. My all-time favorite place to go is Tahoe Galbi because of their delicious salad, sauces, and rice paper. KBBQ in general is awesome for many reasons: first of all, it’s all you can eat (ok, usually)! Secondly, they have wonderful side dishes to go with all the meat you’ll be having. Then there’s the really tasty meats they provide, along with sauces and whatnot to ensure you get the most flavor possible. Plus, it’s pretty fun to grill things up yourself and enjoy the cooking and eating process all in one. Not only are you enjoying a meal, it’s an entire experience. It also helps that you can stuff yourself until you can’t move, if you choose to do so. Between all the wonderful flavors and the fun times, Korean BBQ is the type of dining experience you don’t want to miss – and that’s what makes it great.

Kitchen chillin’

laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: cats, chair, filming, kitchen, pictures, sitting

07 April 2013

Missy was really loving that seat in the kitchen!

cat sitting on chair looking up at camera on tripod

Watching me as I filmed.

cat sitting on chair leaning against metal railing

Doesn’t that hurt?

cat sitting on chair in "loafing" position to fit without falling off

Loafing so she can fit.

365great Day 23: handmade

laelene Post in 365great，Tags: 365great, crafts, etsy, handmade, pictures, products

06 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

There’s something very rewarding about creating something yourself. I always wished I was more crafty and even joined a cross-stitch club in middle school to try to gain some skill. The only other things I’m good at are origami and paper cutting, so when I thought of what I could make, one of the first things I tried was origami earrings. You can see more designs over at Panda Loves! I had a lot of fun with these and I wish I was more skilled with making higher end stuff like Stone Rush Jewelry. Still, it’s really fulfilling to be able to create something.

I admire all those sellers on Etsy making really cool stuff. Whether it’s soap and candles or jewelry and accessories, I love anything handmade. Usually it’s super cute and the personal touch is something you just can’t get from mass-produced items. Craft fairs are a great place to find these kinds of things and I love supporting local artists & artisans! I’m totally envious of their abilities. I wish my creations involved a bit more hands-on activity beyond typing or wielding a pen. If you make your own crafts, I’d love to learn more – please do share. 🙂 The rich stories and hard work behind handmade items are what makes them great.

On My Mind, episode 2

laelene Post in on my mind，Tags: animals, birds, books, dmv, experiences, free stuff, giveaways, harbor, hotel, influenster, learning, ocean, office supplies, on my mind, outdoors, reading, scenery, scenic, seals, shopping, social media, travel, videos, waterfront, winnings, working

06 April 2013

(In case On My Mind is not self-explanatory enough and you want to learn more, check out my post explaining what inspired it.)

~I won!!! I’ve been trying to win a bunch of things, but in particular is a 3-month subscription to Conscious Box, which tons of bloggers have been giving away. AND I ACTUALLY WON! I was just going through checking up on the giveaways that had expired to see if they announced winners and what did I find? My name! That is probably the most exciting thing in the world.

~Last week I went to the DMV because I wanted to renew my license and update the photo. Why can’t I just send in a picture like I can with a passport? I’m assuming it has to do with that special shade of blue they use for the background, which then begs the question… why that color??

~I tried to book an online appointment for the DMV but the earliest appointment was two weeks away! If I didn’t need to drive in the mean, I totally would have gone that route to save the time at the DMV. Unfortunately I didn’t have that luxury this time, so I was stuck standing in line. It took nearly 3 hours (and there were only like 15-20 people in line in front of me!). Luckily, I was smart and got a book to read before going. I was the only one.

~My mom and I went to Best Buy because she had some reward money she had to spend – all told, we spent $0.30 on a bunch of random pens for her and a cool whiteboard/blackboard for me! We didn’t know what else to buy with her $20 credit. And it took us over an hour to figure it out, lol. Granted, much of that hour was spent waiting for an associate to help me locate the board at another store. The one they had was missing the crayon box and what’s a board if you can’t write on it?

Ignore the cat paw. 😉

crayola dry erase board dual-sided black and white with set of dry erase crayons and wiping cloth

Comes with dry erase crayons!

~I’ve been reading a bunch of books like Buyology & The Zappos Experience – great source of learning and very useful lessons for my future business attempts. I’m trying to apply everything I learned to the Kickstarter I’m developing. I sure hope it’s successful!

~So when I went to get some of those books I’ve been reading, I discovered the cool new library self-checkout! My fancy little library has this system where you put the stack of books (up to like 7 or 8 at a time) on the counter and it can check them all out for you. No more scanning one by one! Nifty. I should also note they have a conveyor belt thing behind the wall when you return a book, complete with video so you can watch your book get dropped off into some bin at the end.

~Remember that Influenster campaign I mentioned last time? Well, yay I got in! Turns out it’s for an Aveeno product, which they’ll be sending to me shortly. 🙂

~This week I got to hang out at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach. It’s right on the water and I really enjoyed working in the cabanas and other similar areas. It’s great to have a fabulous view, a slight breeze, the warmth of the sun, and the option of shade all at once. If it weren’t for my reflective laptop screen, it’d be perfect for working all day.

outdoor couches at hotel maya in long beach

I spent most of the days here.

~Since I was at the waterfront, I spent a lot of time (sea) bird watching. Totally fun! There are the ones that bob around on the water and dive down for fish, disappearing for minutes at times. Then there are the fliers that dive down to the water from high above, making a nice splash. There are the little ones that flit about quickly and the larger ones that almost seem like they’re gliding in the air. In the morning, they were most active and by noon, many of them had settled in for a nap. By the afternoon, they started waking up again and as the sun set, I lost track of them.

~I also caught a glimpse of a seal! Actually, I think a pair of them. So cool!!! Next time I need to find a beach that they hang out at. I’d love to seal watch.

(Here you can hear how excited I am to see them, even though I didn’t get to see much.)

seals at Long Beach from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

365great Day 22: marinated mushrooms

laelene Post in 365great，Tags: 365great, food, marinated mushrooms, mushrooms, pickles, pictures, products, veggies

05 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

I’m a sucker for these things. Pickled, marinated, brined (is that even correct?) – when it comes to veggies soaked in a solution, I’m obsessed. One of my absolute favorites (other than pickles) are marinated mushrooms. I first discovered these at Costco back in my teen years and I looooved them. Unfortunately, it seems that my taste doesn’t suit most other people, so eventually they stopped carrying it. I tried in vain for years to find another place that sold the kind I like, until finally I stumbled across the salad bar at Ralph’s. I was ecstatic to find that they were pretty similar to my favorite kind. Unfortunately, the price of getting mushrooms from the salad bar by weight was just too much for normal consumption.

Then, about two weeks ago, I was in a Costco on the east coast when I stumbled across jars of marinated mushrooms again! It’s been like 8 years since I’ve seen them there and I was thrilled. They were the perfect flavor and consistency. Perfect! I practically inhaled that first jar and then returned for more and more. I even had Panda help bring me over a few jars since they don’t have them at my local Costco here on the west coast. For someone who loves sour things, this is the perfect amount of sour and salty and chewy. Plus, unlike pickles, when I eat these on an empty stomach, I don’t feel queasy. Maybe it’s because the mushrooms are rather meaty and filling? Whatever the case, finally being able to buy one of my all-time favorite foods again is amazing. Marinated mushrooms are tasty on their own or in a salad and to my taste buds, they’re just plain great.

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