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Holiday traditions Asian-American style

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: asian american, celebrations, experiences, family, holidays, panda, pictures, traditions

25 December 2013

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

My family has sort of stopped, but the holiday season is a time to celebrate in general and that we do, in our own little ways. While the rest of the country was scrambling to get gifts for their loved ones around this time of year, I was sitting back and only had to figure out what to bring to the company white elephant last week. Other than that, I really didn’t have any gifts to get. Since I ended up putting together items I had at home (champagne, cookies, and a hangover drink) for the white elephant, I haven’t had to buy a single gift for the season. This actually seems to be pretty common among many Asian American households, so I doubt we’re that unique.

christmas tree in living room decorated with poinsettias and ornaments

The last time we broke out the tree was 2006 I think.

When I was a kid, my parents adopted the American holiday traditions as you often see them advertised. We had Christmas lights and a tree and gifts. One year, I wrote a little letter to Santa and left some cookies and milk, even though I didn’t quite believe it would work. Still, for the sake of participating in a tradition, I gave it a shot. Since my birthday happens to coincide with all the celebrating that occurs between Christmas and New Year’s, I wanted to make sure we celebrated it all lest my birthday get lost in the shuffle. Being an only child, my mom indulged me and even let me dictate that I would get 25 (or was it 30?) gifts one year. Of course, when pencils and socks count, it’s not too hard to get that count. Still, I grew up pretty spoiled and always well-taken care of. While I never got the video games I begged for for years, I did get plenty of other items ranging from clothing to books to toys.

Sometime around high school, I began to really notice how impractical it was to wait til the end of the year just to get a camera or some article of clothing that I could have been enjoying long before. One time when I asked my mom for a particular item only halfway through the year, we decided that it would count as one of my holiday/birthday presents. From that point on, it made more sense to get what I wanted/needed when the timing was right and then we’d just do some small thing at the end of the year more as a gesture than anything else. Over the years, that transitioned into a family trip in the winter and no official gifts. We’d also make sure to get at least one meal together as a family. It’s more about the time and experiences now.

This year for Panda I asked what he wanted and he said much of the same. Time spent together now that we’re both back in LA. We’ll visit some of our favorite stomping grounds and also take some time to explore new ones. I’m finally going to get to a restaurant I’ve wanted to eat at for ages! And that’s how I see us celebrating my birthday in a few days – a whole lot of eating, driving, exploring, and picture-taking. Just the way I like it.

The commercial products? We’ll get them as we see fit, when we see fit.

365great Day 285: flying

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, flight, flying, pictures, planes, views

24 December 2013

Being airborne is so surreal. I mean, I’ve done it plenty of times throughout my life (starting at 3 1/2 :-D), but it hardly gets old. I love looking down at the landscapes of earth or even just getting lost staring at the vast ocean. The scale that we’re used to living our lives in falls away and suddenly it’s like being a giant looking down at tiny creatures. It’s fascinating and I get such a kick out of it. I always request a window seat on the plane because I could sit and gaze out for hours on end, lost in my own thoughts and random observations. In fact, I almost never get up if my flight is 5 hours or less. I’d much rather snuggle up in my seat and admire the view. Pollution has marred it over the years, but it’s still a great sight to behold.

Pilot communication styles

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: aerial, communication, flying, pictures, pilots, planes, preferences, travel, views

24 December 2013

I like captains who give updates during the flight and today I experienced the best one yet! I don’t recall what he said prior to takeoff since I was absolutely exhausted and dozed off, but at various points throughout our cross-country journey, he shared little tidbits of information. I loved knowing when we’d reached cruising altitude, when we were flying over various places, and why it was taking longer than usual to get to the gate. This captain was so well-spoken that he really put me at ease and made our trip a lovely experience (of course getting that first class upgrade also helped! ;)).

Oftentimes, pilots will only check in briefly at the beginning and end of the trip, divulging very little. I always wished they’d say a little more when some interesting mountain was visible or a particularly large city. It’s nice to get an idea of how much ground you’ve covered and what you’re actually looking at when you stare down at earth. Whenever I do international flights, I usually don’t bother with the movies offered, but keep my screen tuned to the flight stats screen. I love checking in on our altitude, ground speed, progress, and other facts.

I know some people may not care or want to be disturbed during their flight, but I’m a fan of more communication! I like when the pilot checks in every hour or two with a brief update. Usually it’s no longer than 20 seconds, so surely you could handle that interruption, no? For my inquisitive mind’s sake, I sure hope I get on more flights with captains who are as warm and informative as mine today. It totally enhanced my flying experience!

aerial view of sedona arizona red rock state park landscape

Our pilot let us know when we were passing over Sedona, Arizona and got a view of Red Rock State Park.

aerial view of big bear region with big bear lake in distance

Thanks to the captain, I can identify this area as Big Bear.

365great Day 284: orchids

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, flowers, pictures, plants, shopping, stores

23 December 2013

Orchids are my favorite flower, probably because they’re one of the few that come in purple. They’re also so beautiful, coming in a wide range of colors and shapes. I love the various patterns and structures of the flowers. It’s always so interesting browsing a selection of them and I can never choose a favorite! They make for a fabulous gift if you’re going to someone’s home and I’m totally going to have to get one for our kitchen when we move in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in a bouquet arrangement, which is awesome too – I much prefer my flowers to come to me in a pot so they can keep living. Every time I go to the grocery store, I check out their orchids and admire the display. It’s going to be so great when I get to see them every time I’m home in the future. 🙂

Journey of happiness

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: happiness, life, opinions, philosophy, pictures, work

23 December 2013

Would you rather be accomplished or happy?

I’m not saying these are mutually exclusive, but if you had to choose, which one is more important to you? I’ve found that in the quest for happiness, people often get caught up in accomplishments that don’t make them happy. Again and again you hear to do what you love – the success will follow. Yet, time after time, you see people putting job titles and salaries ahead of their personal fulfillment. Rather than choosing the roles that would bring them the most satisfaction, they choose the ones with higher prestige, larger paychecks. It’s quite the phenomenon.

girl at outdoor piano smiling with gleeful expression of joy

Some things bring me pure joy.

I’ve got to say, I don’t quite subscribe to this “follow your dreams” advice. I mean, the general concept makes sense, but when it comes to the nuances of real life, it’s a lot more complicated. It’s easy for people to take this idea and go wild, thinking that whatever they do they must love all of it. It’s too easy to say, “Oh I enjoy this but not that so maybe it’s not the right thing for me.” To me, it’s important to enjoy what you do more often than not, but you’ll never find a career that you love every aspect of. Maybe you’re loquacious and you get to talk a lot, but also need to handle paperwork to get deals closed. Maybe you’re extremely introverted and love doing research, but need to then present your findings at meetings. Doing only what you love can be a bit of a cop-out… it can encourage you to throw in the towel too soon, giving up on something because certain elements are challenging.

It’s something I struggle with all the time – how much do I enjoy my career path, my role? When I get to do what I’m best at and like doing, I’m in the zone. It feels fantastic and rewarding. When I have to do what I’m not strong in and struggle with, I’m at a loss. I try and I try but boy is it hard! My only solace is that when it’s finally over, that rush of relief can wash over me and provide some comfort. On my journey of happiness, I am constantly learning, growing, and evolving. Similarly, I’ve found that in my personal life I travel a parallel path. I’ve learned that finding happiness is not about getting to a destination – after all, what makes us happy is changing too. Rather, it’s about adapting along the way and enjoying the experiences. I’m trying to make the most of each experience and find something to smile about.

It’s funny how all this time I’ve been trying to “find myself” there’s been no “self” to find, really. I am who I am; I am how I am. As I tried to figure out what would make me happy I failed to realize that I was thinking too much about a future self that doesn’t exist yet (and may never exist, depending on what choices I make now). Am I brave enough to let go of all that worry and just live in the present? I crave a certain amount of stability and I feel like I have more control over the future if I make decisions based on how I think it will go. But really, you never know. So maybe I can explore this stage of my journey of happiness a bit more thoroughly while I’m here. I’m just afraid that acting without regard to that fuzzy future will make it become something far worse than I’d want.

Happiness now doesn’t guarantee happiness in the future. Oh, dilemmas… I still can’t quite let go of wanting to feel accomplished AND happy. I’ll try to tip the scales a bit more towards happy though. We’ll see how it goes. 🙂

365great Day 283: Whole Foods

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, food, pictures, shopping, stores, work

22 December 2013

I love the smell of Whole Foods. It’s comforting to me, that mix of herbs and fresh food mingling. Their use of warmer colors in their stores is also a welcoming sight – none of that harsh whiteness of other stores. For a grocery story, I want a more homey feel and the combination of how their stores look and smell totally give me that impression. I’ve spent my fair share of time there, demoing a variety of products back when I was a product demonstrator. I’ve been to almost every single Whole Foods in the Greater Los Angeles region. There’s always so much to discover and I could spend ages in there finding new products to try. I also find grocery shopping can be such a cute thing, romantic even (yeah, I’m weird), so I love watching people shop. I also have great memories of delicious lunches at the El Segundo location. I miss that.

Julep Naughty & Nice Mystery Box review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, boxes, julep, maven, nail polishes, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions

22 December 2013

When I saw this offer come through my inbox, I decided it was finally time for me to buy something from Julep. The first time I ever got any of their products was for free to test and since then I’ve acquired some more through trades, but never actually bought from them. The Naughty & Nice Mystery box promised a $125 value box with two colors, Brenda and Aviva, guaranteed. I’m thrilled with what came in it and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for other mystery boxes.

Julep mystery boxes are just under $25 per box and come with at least 2 polish colors and many other beauty products. These are one-time orders and do not require a subscription.

julep naughty and nice mystery box email with $125 worth of products including brenda and aviva polishes for $25

I just couldn’t resist.

Hello Julep. (And hello my lovely new kitchen counter!)

first look at julep naughty and nice mystery box contents

I was very happy with this first look. Plenty of great products!

julep naughty and nice mystery box contents including rock star hand creme, kajal eye glider, blank canvas primer, green tea blotting papers, luxe repair samples, luxe care samples, lip gloss, and polishes in america, joanna, nellie, aviva, alaina, and brenda

A wonderful assortment of products.

travel size tube of julep rock star hand creme

Rock Star Hand Creme
Cute little travel size tube with a lid that twists to allow the lotion out through a hole on the bottom – interesting design.

julep kajal eye glider in brown shimmer and carbon black with sharpener

Kajal Eye Glider in brown shimmer and carbon black, with sharpener
This double-tipped eye liner has one end in brown, one end in black and comes with a sharpener. Perfect, since I needed one of those.

julep blank canvas mattifying face primer

Blank Canvas Mattifying Face Primer
I wasn’t thinking about getting a primer, but as it turns out I think it’s exactly what I need.

Lip Gloss in timeless
This is a nice subtle color and the tube is quite large! It’ll last me a long time and it smells fabulous.

set of julep polishes in america, joanna, nellie, aviva, alaina, and brenda

Polish colors in America, Joanna, Nellie, Aviva, Alaina, and Brenda. All the shades I got lined up… looks so lovely.

julep green tea facial blotting papers, luxe care hand creme, and luxe repair skin serum samples

Green Tea Facial Blotting Papers, Luxe Care Hand Creme, and Luxe Repair Skin Serum samples
All great samples to try!

Estimated value: $171.10 (Rock Star Hand Creme $7, Kajal Eye Glider $22, Blank Canvas $28, Lip Gloss $17.60, Nail Color @ $14 each: $84, Blotting Papers $5, Luxe Repair samples $6.50, Luxe Care samples $1) or $136.88 at Maven prices (20% off)

Join as a Julep Maven to get polishes sent to you monthly! Use code FREEBOX or FREEMAVEN to get the first box free (you pay shipping).

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

365great Day 282: wedge salads

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, food, pictures, salads

21 December 2013

For some reason, eating my salad like this gives me infinitely more pleasure than a normal salad. Somehow wedge salads feel more fun, more sophisticated, more unique. It’s amazing how the difference between cutting something up into pieces or leaving it mostly intact can vary so greatly. This particular wedge salad is my absolute favorite, probably because it doesn’t involve blue cheese. Caesar salads are a classic and putting the wedge salad twist makes it pique my interest. I liked that satisfying crunch from cutting off a bit to chew on and it felt far neater than a normal salad. Who knew cutting my food could be so entertaining? And hey, it’s like the lazy solution to a salad. Don’t want to cut up the leaves into bits? Just tear them off whole and drizzle cheese, dressing, and croutons! Easy. It’s a great way to enjoy your food in a refreshing manner.

Fun festivities!

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: books, events, experiences, holidays, panda, pictures, reading

21 December 2013

Today was a chill day, with a couple of wonderful moments. Panda and I ran some errands and got a chance to swing by the condo so I could take some pictures while it’s still relatively empty. It’s still so weird to think this brand new place is ours. We then went off to the gift-wrapping event that the rental office was throwing at the clubhouse. Turned out to be quite a nice event! And I spent the day reading Fifty Shades Darker, which I just finished. I finally caved into the whole Fifty Shades of Grey hype and it’s been a nice distraction from real life. More on my thoughts when I finish the last of the trilogy. For now, here’s a peek at my surprisingly amusing day.

christmas tree with presents underneath set up at rental office of apartment complex

We arrive at the event and check in. They have a nice tree set up!

red and green balloons and christmas decorations on railing

It’s nice and festive everywhere you look.

clubhouse set up for gift wrapping event

All sorts of gift-wrapping items were strewn all over the place and catering from Carrabbas kept us full as holiday shows like Elf played on TV.

wrapping present on table full of holiday present wrapping products

Panda wrapped up a gift for my cousin and I found the boy in the back to be hilarious.

pile of plates of food sitting on dashboard of car

On our way out, we helped them clear some of the Carrabbas. I laughed hysterically as one of the guys looked at our dashboard inquisitively. Oh what fun!

julep maven and escape monthly subscription boxes on lap of driver of car

The dash, my lap, and the passenger floor were taken up by all our plates and stuff so Panda had to drive with my newly delivered packages on his lap!

Canvas Christmas

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: celebration, events, holidays, pictures, work

20 December 2013

It was holiday party time at our office today! We did a white elephant and then hung out at a place with pool, shuffleboard, foosball, darts, and other such games.