Looking back on my life, each stage has had its own importance and shaped me in a different way. From the early years of being raised by extended family in China to my childhood move to the US… from my youth in quiet, peaceful towns to my adulthood in cities… from staying close to home for college (but then studying abroad) to my recent cross-country move… the continual progression of life is pushing me to all sorts of experiences. I’ve enjoyed all of these opportunities and I look forward to everything that growing older will bring. I think it’s a beautiful thing to see how much changes and how much growth there is over the years. I went from a super shy kid to a far more social teen. I went from being Chinese to Chinese-American. I went from being a student to being a worker. I’ve identified as a nomad, a traveler, a foreigner, a swimmer, a runner, a sprinter, a Navy cadet, an Air Force cadet, a loner, a social butterfly, a pledge, an active, a volunteer, an intern, an employee, a manager, an instructor, a counselor, a tomboy, a girl, a woman, a lady, and the list goes on… and with each, I’ve learned more about myself and evolved into who I am today. I’m happy with where I am today yet I also look forward to a great future.
365great Day 220: progression of life
Conscious Box October review
Got my last free Conscious Box this week, which rounds out the two 3-month subscriptions I won. I’ve gotten a ton of products to try over the course of the past six months, most of which I still need to get around to. It’s been fun getting Conscious Box but I won’t be subscribing. I’ve got a backlog of stuff to try!
Conscious Box is just under $20 per box (or as discounted as just over $203 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with many samples from about a dozen brands. Choose from their Classic, Vegan, or Gluten-free box. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.
This was the lightest of all the boxes and I realized after seeing everything that there was no drink this time, which explains the weight difference. I just ate lunch so I’m too full to try the snacks, but I’m really interested in the Organicasaurus Cheddar Cheese baked organic corn snacks. I mean, they’re dino-shaped. What else do you need? The mini breadsticks from Crum Creek look really flavorful, but kind of on the dry side. I’d imagine they’re sort of like eating pretzel sticks. I’m saving the gnufoods Fiber Love Cinnamon Raisin bar for an afternoon pick-me-up at work one day.
My supplements collection has grown a ton and I’ve still yet to break a single one in. :-/ I’m just not in the habit of it, but I’ll try to get around to it. The Eat Green Tea pouch is really interesting since I’ve never eaten tea before. It is a plant, so why not, right? But it just seems kind of weird. I have at least one other pack sitting around waiting to be consumed. Same goes for the Allimax allicin capsules. Those are supposed to be good for a variety things ranging from colds and flus to fungus and wounds. With a ton of people getting sick around me, I’m definitely going to try these. Popping one now! Then there’s the FruitsMax chewable supplements that will give me my daily fruits serving without having to chow down on so much fruit. I hardly ever eat enough fruit, so this will be useful.
Most of the rest were skincare items, which I have a TON of. I don’t think I’ll need to go shopping for them for many years, if ever again. All of these were new to me, so that’s good! I like exploring new brands. There’s the Acure gotu kola stem cell + chlorella growth factor day cream with its super-fancy sounding ingredients that I look forward to trying. There’s the lotus moon vitamin B hydrating gel facial moisturizer that seems really rich and maybe more like a serum. There’s the honest shampoo + body wash that I’ve heard about and have wanted to try. I’m definitely not used to one product for my hair and body. Then there’s the Seventh Generation natural skin serum and body lotion, which I wish were larger samples. Both look great and I’ll be adding them to my stash to try soon. Finally, there’s the Goddess Garden Organics Tangerine Lavender daily lotion with SPF 15 that sounds fabulous – I love tangerine and lavender.
And for the miscellaneous stuff: a Bottle Bright effervescent tablet for cleaning water bottles that I’ve also gotten before and haven’t tried yet. I don’t really use water bottles these days and the mugs I drink out of are pretty easy to clean. The LifeTree concentrated dish soap in Citrus Fresh will be perfect to try with the next batch of dishes. Who wouldn’t want something gentle and biodegradable to be going on their dishes to clean them? Finally, there’s a BioBag for you dog owners out there, which is perfect for your walks. As for me, I’ll just use it to put food scraps to compost one day. Good stuff!
And that’s it! I really need to start grouping all this stuff into boxes so I can start using them more effectively. Right now they’re scattered everywhere so I don’t always remember what I need to use. What’d you think of this box?
365great Day 219: fresh meal kits
I think the only way to get me to cook are these amazing meal kit delivery services that send fresh ingredients pre-portioned, with recipe cards to help guide your cooking journey. I’ve tried HelloFresh and Blue Apron so far, both of which have provided delicious meal options. I’m getting a lot more confident in the kitchen and I’ve expanded my skill set beyond throwing things in a pan and pouring on soy sauce. This is actually also the first time I’ve cooked with meat, other than a few dumpling-making sessions. I always thought chicken took longer to cook! So I’m learning a lot, gaining a very useful skill, and having a ton of fun along the way. If only I knew what to do with all the ice packs I’m acquiring from these deliveries… well, regardless of that, these subscriptions are great!
Plumbing problems
Ew.
When I finally decided to roll out of bed today, I went to go take a bath. Around the time the tub was halfway full, I noticed that the water was turning a yellowish brown. I called Panda over to inspect what was going on and he thought it might be my bath salts… yeah, no. I quickly got out of there as Panda tested the sink water and found the hot water was what was giving us problems. We called up the apartment management people and they’re sending someone but I feel so icky now. Few things are worse than getting ready to wash clean only to have to wait out the day unable to. I’m going to be on edge until they get this resolved.
What a way to start the weekend. My Bruins better beat Stanford tonight or I’m gonna be majorly bummed.
365great Day 218: battery packs
The battery life of the iPhone 5 can leave a heavy user with much to be desired. It certainly doesn’t last the whole day if you’re using it regularly to take photos/videos and go online like I do. When I got my first battery pack this summer, I was pretty happy. Now I could extend my phone’s usage by at least another one and a half times! Then my mom came back one day and handed me a box asking if I wanted it. Inside was the pretty blue one you see here. It was something the company gave everyone as a gift and she has no use for it. I couldn’t resist taking it too – I mean, it’s really pretty and has a nice curved shape that feels good, but more importantly it’ll actually charge my phone twice over. The more juice I can get out of these things the better. Now I never have to worry about my phone dying from a long day. That peace of mind is totally great.
The “Sk8er Girl” inside
I’m not your average “skater girl,” whatever you think that may be. At the least I can guarantee that when people picture a skater, they’d never come up with me. I don’t resemble Avril Lavigne, I don’t wear skater shoes, and I skate just fine in flip flops and a dress. To me, skating is a really fun way of getting around and improving your balance. I don’t do it to try fancy tricks and I can’t say that I know much about the subculture. All I know is that there’s a certain pleasure in having a board under your feet. It looks and feels really cool too.
My favorite is when I’m breezing along, picking up some speed from a slight decline in my path, but nothing too crazy. I can go down steep hills if I foot-brake along the way, but that does a number on my thighs. When you’re cruising, it’s the best feeling in the world. There’s a gentle breeze as you roll on by enjoying the scenery along the way. I once did spent a Saturday afternoon going from Malibu to Venice and back (about 6 miles each way I think). It was amazing – beautiful weather, easy boarding, and great company. I even got to practice balancing on one foot and streamlining closer to the ground.
While I did manage to get pretty good (well, better than people probably expected), I never handled hills too well. I’m not brave enough to do what it takes to carve down a hill effectively. The one time I tried going down a hill with a friend, he held my hand to steady me, but we both ended up flying from our boards and “Supermanning” down the road on our hips. That scar finally faded after a good four or five years. I may never do the more crazy stuff with my board, but I can certainly hold my own when it comes to the basics. I have a Loaded Board that I absolutely love, partly because you can bounce up and down on it and it will not break. That sort of flexibility offers better maneuverability, though it does present a challenge every time you kick off and might veer more than usual. Still, it’s totally worth it and I wish I had more of a chance to use it these days.
I made sure to take advantage of the opportunity to ride around when I was doing Orientation at UCLA. In fact, I was awarded the Avril Lavigne award:
That’s me, just the skater girl cruising around campus with my fabulous board.
365great Day 217: Grooveshark
I’ve had a few songs stuck in my head lately and sometimes I just want to listen to them without having to own them, wait for them to come on the radio, or pull up a video. That’s exactly what Grooveshark is perfect for! You can create your own playlists with whatever songs you want and play them as many times as you want. You get ultimate control over what you listen to and you don’t even need to pay a thing or sign up. It really can’t get much easier than that. I don’t know how they do it, but I sure am glad to be able to use them. What a great service!
Like ships passing in the night
It’s been a long week. Panda started his night shifts Sunday night and I’d head off to work before he got home. Then, when it came time for me to go home, he was already on his way back to his next shift. We’ve been even worse than ships passing in the night, missing each other by so much that there was no seeing and just a few text messages in the precious two or three hours we were both awake and he wasn’t working. By Wednesday morning, I was thrilled to find he was heading back early – I actually got to see him and catch up for about 15 minutes! It made me later for work than usual, but that was totally worth it. The nights have been lonely this week and I’m glad to have company again. Of course, it also means I’m more distracted, so I’ll keep it brief tonight. Off to write my 365great of the day!
365great Day 216: aerial acrobatics
I took aerial acrobatics classes when I got a deal on them a few years ago. It was such a fun way to exercise, build strength, gain flexibility, work on endurance, and look really cool while you’re accomplishing all that. I worked on both the trapeze and the ribbons, where you had to make precise movements and hold certain poses. At times I felt like a monkey, and a very graceful one at that. I picked it up pretty quickly and surprised my instructor with my innate ability to do aerial work. When she asked me if I worked out and I told her I did yoga once or twice a week, she seemed shocked that I was so strong. I must say, it made me feel good about myself and the soreness afterwards was well worth the fun. When I get a chance and have the funds, I’m definitely going to pick this up again. Who doesn’t enjoy a workout that is like playing on a jungle gym? It works you out in so many ways and you don’t even feel like it’s work since you’re having such a blast. Now that’s great!
Women in tech (and how they’re treated)
Just me and all the guys.
Gosh, where do I start? It’s the strangest thing how timing works… my morning already included a lot of reflection on how men have treated me over the years, and then I saw that our CEO sent out a message to the company about being respectful to the ladies in the office. While no single incident triggered it, I think it came at just the right time, now that there are 5 gals in our particular office (and like 20+ guys). It’s not like I’ve felt discriminated against, but I have noticed certain things being said or done that are insensitive to women. I’m used to that, having come from a company of a dozen guys outnumbering little old me and joining a co-ed fraternity before that and participating in ROTC and JROTC even before that. I spent most of my life surrounded by guys and I loved it – they’re a whole lot less complicated, more chill, and pretty drama-free overall. Still, I’ve been mistreated by more than a few.
I’m glad that the CEO preemptively brought up this issue before it really became an issue and I hope the guys take it to heart. At the same time, I don’t want them to feel like they have to tiptoe around us for fear of offending us and causing an HR nightmare. Certainly none of the girls in our office are the type to create problems and overreact to something. I also don’t want the gender issue to really be an issue. Unfortunately, we’re still different enough that it can’t entirely be avoided, but I’d rather focus on personality and skills and effort. In fact, most of the time I forget that I’m any different from the guys (except that I’m more social, but that could totally be a personality trait unrelated to gender). I think that with this door open, it does allow more room for dialogue if I do feel harassed or that a line has been crossed. The sad thing is that it seems that without a man bringing up the subject, if one of the women were to voice a complaint, it could easily be perceived as whiny.
I absolutely believe in standing up for yourself though. There were so many times where I let a guy push too far and pretty much abuse me – mentally, physically, emotionally. I didn’t want to create drama and I hoped it wouldn’t escalate, but perhaps guys are just too used to getting their way. I still struggle with being firm, but now I look back on all those times I wasn’t and how things happened that I never wanted to. I certainly don’t want to relive them, for they were hard lessons learned. For the most part I just shrug or laugh off these encounters, like when a guy I was talking to for work hit on me or when guys say suggestive or vulgar things. If they don’t push it and keep pursuing that line of thought, then it’s just another case of life as a female to me. But sometimes, it’s much more than that.
Getting that email really struck a chord with me. It’s often too easy for men to abuse women, whether intentionally or not. I mean, when 1 in 5 women from a survey report being sexually assaulted, it makes me worry. Maybe I’m that one out of the five in our office, or maybe there are more. I don’t want to dwell on the past, but it comes to haunt me at times. I can’t yet put away the melancholy I feel so I’ll just have to work through it. As I’ve been learning over the years, it seems these memories will never quite go away.
