Posts Tagged ‘work’

On My Mind, episode 8

laelene Posted in on my mind，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
25 July 2013
0

Thursday Thoughts

Been awhile since I last linked up with Jennifer of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom, so let’s do this!

brand new condos with now selling sign

Our future home?


a. ~A lot has been on my mind lately, mostly related to where I want my life to go in the next couple of years. Panda and I have been house hunting (more like condo hunting) and we found a place that is basically our dream home. We love the layout, it’s brand new (not even built yet), it’s super spacious, it’s a nice neighborhood, and it’s on the higher end of our budget but totally manageable once I get a job. The one thing I don’t love is the location in relation to where I might work. It’s looking like I will have a 40-60 minute commute each way, based on the jobs I’ve been applying for. Am I willing to make that commute every day? I was hoping for something less stressful, but we’ll see! If I love the job and my home, a commute isn’t so bad.

b. ~I’m still grappling with the idea of my new life “out east.” I’ve had to resist looking at some very appealing job opportunities in the SF and LA regions, where a lot of cool start-ups are. I really want to find a company culture that I would fall in love with, where they take care of their employees and offer great growth potential. Oh, and I’d really like a job that involves around 25% travel. I don’t need all the crazy cool perks of some companies I’ve seen, like free massages or no dress code or no set hours, but I do want a somewhat laidback vibe. I don’t mind business casual dress or having to show up at a certain time each morning so long as the people are chill and there is room for a ton of learning and evolution of my role. So many companies on the west coast offer that and it’s a little harder to find here, but I have some promising leads.

small round glass table with blue star pattern designc. ~The other day I was at Target exchanging a tripod when I happened upon a super cute table. When I checked, it was on clearance for 50% off, which is not ideal, but still a steal! I mean, with something this adorable I just had to snatch it up. Initially it looked like the perfect little thing to put out on the porch, but now that I’ve field tested it in my room I can’t bear to put it outside. We’ll see where it fits in when we move to our future home! I may not be as good as Jennifer when it comes to Target clearance shopping, but I’m learning from her!

d. ~I started looking at laptops today, since that will be my reward for landing a job (in addition to getting a car for myself!). My absolute no-compromise criterion is that it is QUIET. Like, tablet quiet (aka silent). I determined that that basically means I need a solid state drive (SSD), so that’s what I’ve been focusing on. My tier 2 criteria include having a touchscreen, backlit keyboard, 3 USB ports, and 2-in-1 media reader or better. An added bonus would be a button that can turn the display off so I don’t have to wait for it to go idle on its own. Oh, and I was hoping for an ASUS but the only one fitting my specifications is $2250 with a student discount! DANG! Depending on how happy I am with the job I land, I might spring for that just because it really satisfies my needs, whereas all other options are missing this or that.

e. ~Is it just me or do you marvel at how freakin’ perfect Kate Middleton always looks? I mean, she just gave birth and she’s coming out looking like any other day? She’s so composed and elegant and graceful and personable all in one. I doubt we’ll ever see her trip or yell or mess up at all. It’s amazing because I think of how I’d be and well, quite frankly I’d never be accepted into royalty! They’d cringe at the casual wear I go out in, how I don’t wear makeup or do my hair, and all my other imperfections. I am perfectly happy being out of the limelight and I don’t understand how famous people manage; then again, I guess many of them don’t, what with those in rehab and lashing out and whatnot. You won’t be seeing that from the Cambridge royalty though! Always so poised it baffles me.

f. ~I started watching Once Upon A Time as my first deviation from my “normal” shows (crime dramas) and it is tangling up my mind quite well. The relationships are suuuper complex – [possible SPOILER ALERT] I mean, your step-great-grandmother is also your adoptive mother and step-great-great-grandmother was once in love with your grandfather (on the other side of the family) and a bunch of them are trying to kill each other? It’s all sorts of weirdness that I can barely keep up with. No wonder I stick to shows where each episode brings on one less-complicated mini-drama generally not related to previous ones.

country junction soy candle in macintosh from gettysburgg. ~Tonight I finally decided to break in my super cool soy candle from Gettysburg and I love it! This is my first time with a soy candle and I’m pretty sure I’m a convert now. I’ll have to test out other brands, but it burns sooo clean!! I usually have a little reaction to a candle burning due to my over-sensitivity to particles in the air, but I couldn’t even tell this one was burning. This particular candle is also super cool because of the little mug it comes in. I can’t wait to find a way to use it once my candle is all burned up.

That’s it from me for now! What are your thoughts on this fine Thursday?

Job history: college summers edition

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
04 July 2013
1

If you missed the first two parts of this series, you can go read about the jobs I had in high school and the jobs I had during my college school terms.

I was one of the students who didn’t take summer school, but used that as a chance to land internships and try to figure out my career path. Even though I double majored, I carefully planned my classes from the very first quarter so I wouldn’t need summer school. I did end up taking an extra quarter, but that was because I didn’t realize that studying abroad limited how many classes I could take. Apparently they don’t take well to overly ambitious plans for education abroad programs, even if you are learning in your native language. But I digress. I certainly took advantage of those summers to try out some pretty diverse jobs!

As my first year of college was wrapping up, I had my eye on getting an internship. I tried a bunch of things, but everything was so competitive and very few companies would even look at a first year student. Ultimately, I was able to land an internship with a small film company about to film a low-budget movie. With all this entertainment industry influence around me in Los Angeles, I figured I should see if it was something I’d want to get into. I started off doing administrative work during pre-production. I looked through Craigslist to find housing for actors and I even found a dog to be in the movie. I helped book things and plan things and manage things. I also got to go out scouting a few times, driving around all parts of LA looking for that perfect spot for this and that scene.

filming messiah's castle scene of wristcutters with lots of extras

One of the scenes in the movie, in which I got pulled in to be an extra extra (har har).


Once we started filming, I took on even more, constantly managing the changing grips and electrics, getting second meals (a ton of fast food after a long day as we’re wrapping up for the day/night), wrangling extras, running lines with actors occasionally, and going around doing all that production assistants do. I enjoyed seeing all the behind-the-scenes stuff and running the operation was fitting for my skills. I learned a lot, met a lot of cool people, and even got to put my cat in the film – hence my credit as cat handler. I was probably in there somewhere as well, but only in scenes where you can’t even find me. Oh, and one time I found they’d used my car for a scene… we were very low budget. (The film’s title is Wristcutters: A Love Story, by the way – in case you want to watch it. :))

When it came time for my second summer internship, I wanted to explore a different industry. Since one of my majors was economics, I decided to see if I might want to pursue a career in finance. I landed an internship at Smith Barney with a duo who managed the financial portfolios of mostly aerospace employees. They’d carved out a niche for themselves so they could be one of the most knowledgeable in that area of expertise. Very smart! I spent my time there learning how to cold call, prepare financial portfolios, do financial research, and run a small portion of an office. They taught me how to read the financial portfolios, shared with me how they strategized, and being in that office space showed me what it was like to work in a big office high rise.

working at whole foods demoing food

The only picture I have from my food demoing days.


That same summer is when I found a job to do on the side, since my internship only required 8 hours a week. I became a Product Demonstrator, going to various grocery stores in the LA area, setting up a little table, and giving out samples of food, drinks, and whatnot. My employer was a third party company that represented many brands, so I got to demonstrate everything from ice cream to health bars to tea. I mostly went to Whole Foods to share the products, but sometimes I got sent to other grocery stores as well. For one brand, we actually did our work in Costco! I was pretty good at this job since I love interacting with people and I always carefully read and memorized all the selling points of the product. I did this job on and off for about two years because it was so flexible and I enjoyed it a lot.

ucla live events wall collage of images from event pamplets

I didn’t think to take many pictures so this is all I have – the collage on the wall from programs for the various shows.


When I returned from my year abroad, I interned with UCLA Live! (apparently renamed the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA), which organized live performing arts events affiliated with the university. I was to help with their marketing, which I figured would be a good way to explore my other major, which was in psychology. I did a fair share of warm calls and emails to help promote the upcoming lineup of events for the season. I also had some cold calling to do to try to increase the database of potential attendees. While I didn’t help with the marketing strategy much, I did learn about it and did what I could to push it along.

Finally, when it came to my last summer – the one after my fourth year – I decided that I wanted to do something for myself. Every summer before, I’d gone out and done an internship. It was probably expected that I’d do one more since I was coming back for a final term in the fall and it wasn’t quite time to secure a job yet, but I wanted something else. I was suddenly reminded of my dream to be an Orientation Counselor. Back when I attended orientation, I had such a good time and saw the counselors having such a fantastic time that I told myself I wanted to become one someday. I then kind of forgot about it as the years went on and I learned so much. But then, somehow the idea crept back into my mind (or maybe it was in my subconscious the whole time) and it was now or never. If I was ever to be an OC, it had to be that summer, so I went for it. I was pretty nervous when I went to pick up the notification letter from the office. It was just a tiny letter so I couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad. I was pretty thrilled when I read “Congratulations!”

group of students standing on janss steps at ucla with counselors telling stories

Part of the job was giving tours of the UCLA campus, where we shared many urban legends.


All of spring quarter, the orientation staff met twice a week to train. It was basically like taking another class, since it had quite a bit of homework and a big test at the end. We learned so much about the academic requirements for incoming freshmen vs. transfers, all the cool resources available to students, tons of students groups for so many interests, and just about every aspect of life at UCLA. Don’t worry, we had fun too! I made some great friends and even met Panda there. Serendipity brought us together! (More on that another day.) Once the summer started, it was intense fun and hard work. Session after session of students came and went, we helped them choose majors and pick classes, we took them on tours of campus, and we even performed some pretty amazing skits. On our days off, counselors had various bonding activities planned including a trip to Vegas, hanging out in the middle of the night to watch the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, and just plain enjoying each others’ company. I had a fantastic time!

That wraps up everything I did while I was an undergrad at UCLA. Stay tuned for the “real world” job experience I’ve had so far!

What did you fill your college summers with?

Job history: college school years edition

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
20 June 2013
1

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: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
18 June 2013
0

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).

small cat climbing cage doorYeah, 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?

Time disconnect

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
12 June 2013
0

“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?

365great Day 87: bungee chairs

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
09 June 2013
0

Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 87: bungee chairsThe first time I encountered bungee chairs was at work a few years ago. Then I happened to see this awesome round bungee chair at Target and I told myself I’d get it as soon as I earned enough points on Shopkick for a $25 Target gift card. Alas, by the time that happened the chairs were gone. I was so sad and pined for them for about a year when, amazingly, they came back to Target, slightly redesigned. Last year’s design featured all teal bungee cords and black metal legs; this year’s design features alternating teal and black bungee cords with teal metal legs. They’re similar enough that I’d like either, but I’m partial to the one I ended up getting, probably just because I own it. 😉 For whatever reason, the teal ones are hard to find in stores so I had to track them down, but I am now (finally) the happy owner of one! I love how the design is perfect for hot summer days/nights when the airiness proves useful, plus this chair is less forgiving when it comes to slouching, so I’m pretty sure my sitting posture has improved. Now that’s pretty great!

Job history: high school edition

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
07 June 2013
2

I thought it’d be fun to go through the jobs I’ve held over the years, since each feels like a different version of me and sometimes I’m suddenly reminded of those experiences (like when a blogger I follow wrote about her kid getting swim lessons). Let’s start with what I did in high school:

The FIRST job, being a babysitter
My very first “job” where I got paid to do stuff outside the home was (surprise) a babysitting gig when I was 14. It was a lively family of 5 children, ranging from about 1 to 10. The first four children were boys and the little baby was a girl. I was approached by the mom one day on my way home from the bus stop – her house is along my route and visible from the stop, so I guess she’d seen me here and there. She needed help managing all those kids so she asked if I’d come watch them. Much of the time she just needed help while she was home, so she could get some work done. Sometimes I helped with the work, other times I made sure the kids were ok. The oldest son didn’t need any watching and basically did his own thing. Two of the other boys would sometimes fight and otherwise cause a ruckus. The one who didn’t fight much was autistic so he needed additional attention, but was mostly happy to watch videos all day. And the baby girl would usually be in her crib playing or sleeping. I don’t think I was very good at it, but I did manage to lighten the mom’s load as much as I could. What an experience it was for me, an only child!

The second job, working at a Chinese buffet
When I was 15, I had reached out to a local Chinese buffet that my parents and I ate at consistently. I wanted a job after the babysitting gig ended, so I spoke to the manager and he took down my number. One day, they actually contacted me to say they were interested, so I got the appropriate work clothing and began as a bus boy/waitress. Initially, they wanted me to just help seat guests and get their drinks, but I kind of ended up waitressing too. Every now and then I’d help out in the kitchen and once I even ran an errand to get groceries when they were running low. I cleaned a lot of tables and poured a lot of fountain drinks. Tips were shared among the “real” waitresses and since I was technically a bus boy, I didn’t get split any (but I didn’t mind). The highlight was when one family was leaving, noticed that the tip they left for me was cleaned up by another waitress, and they flagged me down to give me a $5 bill to thank me specifically. Awww. Scheduling conflicts quickly ended this job – I was a student first, after all!

girls swim team at danbury ymca in early 2000s

I couldn’t find a picture of any of my jobs but this is a pic from the YMCA swim team I was on!

The third job, teaching swim lessons at the YMCA!
A few months later, I was practicing at the YMCA pool (where I was on the swim team) when I was approached to be a swim instructor. I thought it might be a joke since it was April Fool’s that day, but the manager got back to me and we set up a time for me to start! I watched other instructors teach and assisted with their lesson until I could do it on my own. I forget what level I taught – probably Minnows or something – but the kids were mostly about 5 or 6, though I think some were up to 9 or 10. I wasn’t very confident in my skills with kids, but I did have fun and I think they did too. I mean, the goal of the class was basically to help them not drown if they ever fell in a pool. Any sort of swimming skills beyond that was a bonus! Their favorite part was at the end of class, when I’d take them one by one, have them hug me, hold their breath, and we’d go under the water for a few seconds. They came out squealing in delight!

That summer, I ended up having to move away. At my new place, I was too busy getting used to the new environment, not only academically, but physically and socially as well. For the rest of high school, I focused on SAT prep and getting decent grades and applying for college. No more jobs! Next week I’ll be sharing the jobs I had in college, when I started working again.

What was your job history like during high school? Did you try out a bunch of things too or did you not work at all?

On My Mind, episode 6

laelene Posted in on my mind，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
23 May 2013
3

Linking up with Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for “Thursday Thoughts” aka On My Mind.

a~ I can’t believe this is my 6th one already! Where did the time go? I’ve been bumming around lately because I’m hoping my first choice in future employment pans out and I’m not that motivated to apply for other jobs just yet, plus I haven’t watched my shows since early February so I’m catching up now that all the seasons seem to be ending. I’m slowly transitioning back to working more and resting less.

b~ On the box front, I have a lot going on! I got into the Influenster Spring Voxbox (yay!) and hopefully I qualify for the summer one as well. I sprang for the May Ipsy bag and while I liked the overall value and items in the bag, I’m looking to trade two items. I’m going to cancel the subscription and wait for June spoilers before deciding if I want to get it again. I got that free Bulu box that I mentioned and I’ve suspended my subscription for now. I liked the box but I didn’t love it, so I’m reluctant to spend money on it when they’re more on the healthy scale than I’m interested in. I also received my first Conscious Box and it was packed full of goodness! Gonna take me some time to get through everything. And finally, I got Panda to get me a Treatsie box subscription because I’m a sucker for treats. Call it a very early birthday present.

c~ Every now and then I get my contacts out of place in my eye and it hurts for a bit, but then I get it back in place. Awhile back, my contact kept creating discomfort in my eye so I took it out and put it back in after washing it down with solution. Still, it didn’t feel right and the next time I took it out I discovered this:

torn/ripped contact lens

Torn contact lens. Ouch!

d~ It has been many long months since I heard from BzzAgent and I was pretty sad they weren’t including me in campaigns even though my BzzScore is pretty high. Then FINALLY I got an email from them and I am IN for the Dr. Scholl’s massaging gel insoles! Pretty excited about that since I’ve always wanted to try them but kind of never got around to figuring out which one I should get. I’m going to put them to the test on my next vacation, where I expect a whole lot of walking. My feet always hurt after standing all day and a massaging gel sounds amazing.

small brown stone owl sculpture and owl face watch

Some of the owl things I’ve gotten.


e~ Is it just me or are owls cute on/as almost any product? I mean, I love them as jewelry and decorations and sculptures and designs and even oil warmers. Something about their round, pudgy bodies and those giant eyes melt my heart. If I could find an owl bag, owl blanket, or gosh even an owl metronome, I’d probably get it. I was pretty tempted to get a felt iPad case made to look like an owl, but I don’t use cases for my iPad so I resisted. I’m that much more likely to get something if there’s an owl involved! I feel similarly about pandas and cats.

f~ I’ve made it a habit of keeping a lot of my skincare and beauty products upside-down lately. Everything from toners to shampoo to nail polish. A lot of these products tend to settle and I don’t like having to shake them up each time, so by keeping them on their heads, I don’t usually have to shake them. And for very thick things like lotion, I don’t have to struggle (as much) to get it to come out. I wonder if they have some sort of adjustable rack that I can use for this purpose?

g~ I’m obsessed with marinated mushrooms!! It was about 10 years ago that Costco stopped carrying the ones they had in their stores and I’ve been checking the pickled goods aisle ever since. In the years since, I managed to find them in the salad bar at Ralph’s a couple times, but it is very expensive to buy them by the salad bar’s weight pricing! Then I happened upon a new brand at Costco out east when I was visiting Panda a few months ago and I was joyous. I took home two jars that day and devoured them. We got some more jars and I happy ate them until I had to come back to SoCal. Unfortunately my local Costco does not carry it. I then had Panda bring me more when he came to visit. A few weeks ago he reported that there were only two more boxes of it left in the store, so I had him help me buy an entire box (8 jars). Gotta stock up in case Costco stops selling them! Yes, I am that in love with these suckers.

h~ When I got a bar of Mrs. Meyers soap in my Yuzen box many months ago, I was pretty excited to try this brand I’d been curious about. Once I started using the soap I found that the smell was too clean for my taste. I was sad and put it aside while trying to figure out what to do with it. Then I had to do some cleaning and I decided to use that soap since it was handy and seemed to cut through grease really well. I’m glad I did! For some reason, using it to clean with is perfectly fine, but using it to wash myself with feels weird. Maybe it’s a psychological thing? I associate that refreshing smell with cleaning but what I use on my body I want to feel more like I’m beautifying. Totally random, but just goes to show that you may not like something for certain reasons at first, but those very reasons can make it great for something else.

What are your random thoughts these days?

One day, someday

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
05 May 2013
0

I’ve come to a realization. This whole time I thought being an entrepreneur working on my own schedule was the most important thing to me. While I do cherish the ability to work from home as I please and enjoy the atmosphere and weather here, it’s not enough. Or, more accurately, it’s not the most important thing for me right now.

For the past couple of years, I’ve had to say “we’ll do this someday” or “in the future let’s get that” or “we can go there one day” when referring to anything I wanted to do with Panda. Most things have to be put off – we’re just not at that stage in life yet. Then, recently I came across all these bloggers who are married and have this great home life. The kind of life that I want. And you know, it’s hard to sit here and wait for that future day to come, when Panda and I can finally live together. I’m ready for that stage.

ironing board being used as desk

Case in point: an ironing board shouldn’t have to double as a desk. I want a more permanent solution.


So really, while my work freedom is something I would love to hold on to, I see now that emotionally what I need is not that. First and foremost my heart desires to live with Panda, so we can start to do all those things “for the future.” I want to have a home I can make my own, whether it’s how things are organized within it or how it is decorated and furnished. In addition to that, I need more socialization. Working on my own is lonely and I always knew I’d want a business partner, but that didn’t work out. After a year of plowing ahead, I’ve learned that I was right: I’d work so much better with a team.

I’m so glad that my parents have been unconditionally supportive of my efforts. They gave me the time and space to figure this out for myself. In my stubbornness, I probably would have jumped off the deep end if they pushed me to stick with a “9 to 5” job. Ran off to some remote place to start some obscure small business or something. Instead, they let me sit around at home, evaluating what I was doing, altering my direction as I learned, and that is what has led me to this point. Entrepreneurship may be for me, in a future setting, but right now it’s not what I need.

What I need is a happy (pseudo-married) home life. I’m in no rush to get married, but I do want to build a home life with Panda. So far I’ve only stayed with him sporadically and never felt like I could make the place “ours.” I guess you could say I’m in the mood to be nesting? At least in terms of getting furnishings and developing lifestyle patterns together. And on the work front, I need coworkers and a team more than I need the freedom to work from home or work odd hours. I’m ready to re-enter the workforce.

It’s time for “one day” and “someday” to become a reality. I don’t want to put it off anymore, so I’m dusting off my resume, revamping it, and going on the job hunt.

Languishing

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
01 May 2013
0

I’ve been in and out of a funk lately. For a time, I was focusing on a new project, but ever since I got back to the West Coast I haven’t really been able to concentrate on it. Instead, I found myself getting into my blogging again, with a big bout of inspiration. Also, I picked up a hobby obsession with entering (and winning!) sweepstakes/giveaways. Oh, and I’ve started to carve out a little piece of the reviewing world for myself, getting some products for free in exchange for feedback for those brands/companies.

sitting on front porch with legs extended working on laptop

Why wouldn’t I want to work on my front porch?


While all this is good and well, it’s not exactly a career unless I get a mad following or something. I’ve been working on promoting my blog more and I’ve seen improvement, but still, it’s tough to make a good living as a blogger and few people can rely on it solely. I’m enjoying myself and doing what I like, but I can’t help but feel that others are judging me for my lack of career at this point. It makes me wonder if I should be more eager to get back into the work force and earn a more steady income.

I’m a stubborn one, so the more people try to push me towards “normalcy” the more I want to buck against it. But I do see the benefits – I mean, I don’t want to have financial difficulties in my life. I’ve been fortunate to never have been in debt or had anything I couldn’t pay back and I never plan on experiencing that. Perhaps it’s unfair to assume the “housewife” role and stay at home doing what I can online as Panda goes out to work each day.

sitting under cabana working photo edited rainbow filter

Enjoying the weather while working? Certainly!


Still, I can’t help but wonder why I need to join all those Americans who work too hard, stress themselves out, and don’t even have fun along the way. What’s the point of earning a ton of money if you’re risking your health and happiness? Why is it that career success is often seen as more important than personal success (like within the home)? Perhaps that’s what’s wrong with this society. There’s so much glamour in earning a big paycheck, driving a fancy car, owning a large home, and otherwise living the “high life.”

Meanwhile, the quality of life and your personal well-being is completely ignored. Is a crazy high income worth never being home? Is a super busy schedule worth the shortcuts you take for your health? Maybe I’ve been taking it easy for too long (a year), but I sure do enjoy this ability to sleep in or stay up as I feel and manage my time freely. Are you only “good enough” if you’re sleep-deprived, too busy for socializing or relaxing, and soaring in your career? It sure seems that way, what with people bragging about how crazy their lives are.

lounging by pool in cabana with view of harbor

Should I feel guilty I get to work like this?


It’s sad really, that I almost feel ashamed that I’m not overworked. In fact, it’s just guilt that maybe I’m not being ambitious enough with my earning potential that is causing me this stress right now. I’m perfectly happy otherwise – I get time with family, I get work done, I get rest, and I am pretty well-balanced with the areas of my life. But I bet there are those who would look down on me and my situation and think that they’re better off because they have a nice paycheck. It’s not that I don’t want to earn money – I’ve just seen how big the trade-off is and I’m no longer sure that all that insanity is worth it.

I’ll probably still end up getting into the grind, working at that rat race that never seems to end. Yes, even entrepreneurs who don’t enter the traditional rat race find themselves in one of their own. Anybody with a job in the US isn’t truly immune to the intense competition, no matter what your industry or role. All because our society has developed in such a way that we aren’t deemed “successful” otherwise. And gosh darn it, I’m not about to disappoint my family. If they see failure in no high-power career, then I guess I’ll try to build that nice little career. But I’ll probably still languish around from time to time since I can’t quite say that it’s what I truly want. However, I don’t want to be dead weight and/or a burden either. So I guess it’s time to suck it up and get back in touch with my work-related ambitions.

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