I suppose since I introduced the cuteness that is my mother, I thought it was about time I did the same for my dad. You see, he’s just as much of a fob if not more than my mom. He’s a guy that stands at 5’7″ and probably weighs about as much as I do – I mean, geez, he can still fit into boy jeans. He freaking shops in the juniors section. But alright, enough about that.
My dad is a really shy person, unless he’s with his brothers, drankin’ and reminiscing about ole’ times. Then, according to Moms, he’ll sing and even… dance :-O He fits right into the mold of that stereotypical Asian person: soft-spoken and super smart in maths. Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to be him, to be able to calculate problems with weird numbers in my head without the use of even pencil and paper because I got the liberal arts gene from Moms. (I mean, one time, I had to use pen and paper for 11+11 – no joke. I was slow that day. :-/ My mom found the piece of paper and laughed at me with my dad. Good times.) Anyway…
He is the son of a Chinese merchant who was posted at a border village in Vietnam where he met his Chinese-Vietnamese wife. So..my dad’s a country boy. A country boy who was raised by his brothers because his father passed from cancer before he was born, who walked several miles to school every day and returned home to work in the family business, and who took the biggest risk of his life by riding in some small rinky dink boat to safety in Hong Kong. He went to the Phillippines and Hawaii for schooling, and he’s been in the States since at least 1984. Even then, he’s got an even worse accent than my mom when it comes to speaking in English, haha, and that’s only if he really needs to use the language – say with a client or something. Sometimes, though, he’ll just imitate people on the radio or television for the hell of it, especially when he starts singing along all silly in the car – mostly to make me giggle, but one night, it got a little confusing.
I was walking to my room from the kitchen, and I knew my parents were in the living room watching a show. Then I heard:
Dad [in English]: “I. Am. Gay! No, honey. I am gay!”
I seriously backtracked and peered into the room.
Me: “You’re what?!”
Mom is cracking up, and I’m wondering wtf kind of conversation I walked in on.
Dad, looking at me, smiling [in English]: “I am gay!”
It wasn’t until my mom had to rewind the show they were watching Bethenny Getting Married?? that I understood he was imitating the guy who worked at the hotel, who gave Bethenny a foot massage before she walked down the aisle. Because, welps, the other option would have made it a very interesting evening.
Also, another awesome recent gem:
The three of us went to a local Tex-Mex place we love to celebrate mom’s birfday.
Rofl. So just ignore the fact I look like a complete lush, alright. :-/ Anyway, so sometimes, they’ll have people who come in and solicit, even though there are stickers on the doors that say it’s prohibited. Anyway, this guy was selling pens for a dollar, and my mom, always the charitable little lady, bought two of them. After a margarita and a half, my dad and I are cracking jokes and writing all over my take-out box.
My Daddy's Awesome Handiwork! Hee.
It’s supposed to read my name, which is missing an ‘a’ and “Happy Birthday.”
Summer time… and the living is easy…
That’s actually one of my favourite songs to sing, but this post is obviously not about a song. I know for the northern hemisphere, it’s been summer for a couple of months already, but it doesn’t officially end until mid-September, so there’s still plenty of time for you folks to go sunbathe and lounge around a pool or beach somewhere. Now, I also know some of you may not have gotten a swimsuit yet because you are currently or always have been self-conscious about your body or because shopping for these damn things is always a pain in the arse.
Now to address the former reason for you not to purchase a suit: beach cover-ups are for sale for a reason. Actual clothing, like t-shirts and shorts, are appropriate for when you leave the house/ hotel room, get in the car/ take the elevator down, and first enter the area with water. They are also appropriate for when you enter a store or a restaurant as you come from the beach or the pool. They are NEVER appropriate when you’re lounging around for a while or actually ENTERING into the water.
oh my gosh, hellz naw.
I understand your “logic,” to an extent. (This logic does not include the people who follow religions and cultural traditions that require them to cover up.) You would feel just so embarrassed if you revealed anything! You would be less noticeable than the other women parading around in their swimsuit and beach cover ups! Well… I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but you stick out like a sore thumb when you walk around with sand sticking to your wet clothes as you walk to and from your spot on the beach and into the ocean. And you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb when you’re fully dressed while everyone else is partially undressed.
just say no!
Just say no, okay? Let’s help you find something that you’d feel good in, okay? And let’s make this as easy and stress-free as possible with these few things to keep in mind, mmkay?
1. Be patient. You’re just going to have to give it time to find that perfect swimsuit. Find a day when don’t feel like a Fatty McFatterson (because we all have those days, ladies.), or when you’re not going to be rushed because you have the kid and she’s screaming her head off because she wants ice cream, or when you don’t have a deadline to find something before your big tropical paradise vacation. You may have to spend a big chunk of time to find something perfect for you.
2. Be open-minded. There may be a particular suit or style you saw online or in a catalogue that you absolutely adore. You may already think a certain style looks good on you, so you’re focused on finding that style again. But if you abandon these thoughts, your shopping trip will shorten and become less stressful.
3. Go big first. A majority of suits run small; it’s not because the designers hate you or that cinnamon bun you ate in between store browsing made you miraculously gain weight. So, knowing this, start with one or two dress sizes larger than your actual size. However, also know that some particular cuts or style will just simply not work for your body shape. As cute as it looks on the mannequin or model in the picture, just cut your losses and accept that it won’t work for you. For those of you who think that going up a size is the way to go for ‘full coverage,’ don’t even think about it. You’ll look ridiculous with a wrinkly and saggy behind after you get out of the water.
4. Texture. Feel the suit; rub the fabric in between your fingers. Pull and tug at the fabric. Lycra has outstanding stretch and support; the more Lycra is used, the better control the suit has to offer. However, too much control creates a sausage effect around your bust or around the legs, so be aware of that.
5. Color. Analyze your skin tone. Are you a little on the pale side? Go for darker colors like navy, dark brown or black. Do you have a yellow or red-dish undertone? Stay away from those colors. I have a yellow undertone, so I stay away from every shade of yellow or else I end up looking jaundiced. Are you a little more tan? Try something pastel or with a brighter hue. Metallic fabrics are nice; I mean, who doesn’t love shiny things? I love shiny things, but a lot of the time, metallic colors only enhance what you don’t want enhanced. They’re not very slimming.
6. Comfort. This is the most important thing to consider. If you’re not comfortable with it initially, don’t bother because you won’t feel comfortable later either.
The following pictures are mostly from Victoria’s Secret because they have a swim sale going on, and they seem to have almost every style of suit I want to discuss. So, click the links to the pictures; they’ll bring you to their respected pages. Um, so the models look ridiculously stunning, but I make myself feel better by telling myself these pictures are photoshopped and most of these models are wearing ‘Miracle Bra’ suits, which are sometimes not so awesome. Anyway… Read more…
Yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of this blog. I fell off for a month and posting has been rather sporadic, but for everyone who stuck with me and kept me around, thank you. :’) So with one year behind me, I thought I would delve deeper into my blog stats to see what you people liked or didn’t like… (:-(), and of course, what and who brought you to my site.
We’ll start off with the top 10 posts!
Recipe: Ten-minute Tirami-SUE With 861 views, this is by far the most viewed update on my blog. I’m glad that you’ve made it so popular because it is truly one of my favourite recipes.
The (Very Possibly) Over-Dramatic Fears of a Super 0L (111) – I have no idea why there are over 100 views of this, but as you can see, I went a little batsh!t crazy freaking out about nothing last summer…
COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY (86) Just one month before the exam I be spendin’ that moooneeeyyy. Whoever said retail therapy didn’t work can suck it.
countdown to… test day. (82) This was the night before the exam. As you may notice/ have noticed, I was more calm…? Though, I think I was just numb by that point. The LSAT preparation last summer was a roller coaster ride, or at least that is how I imagine roller coaster rides to be because I’ve never legitimately ridden one. sadface.
This is me. Not hyperventilating. (68) So waiting for scores was kind of awful. It might have been more awful than the actual preparation for the test because I was at least doing something then. I don’t know, waiting in general just sucks major monkey balls.
Fashion Friday (for the Frugal), Vol. 1 (67) My first ever installment of Fashion Friday! Haha, until it fell on the wayside :-( I mean, I guess not posting the first in the series on a Friday should have been a good indication about that. At least it’s back now. :-D
Tackling Assumption Questions: LSAT vs. Real Life (66) I wasn’t actually trying to tackle LSAT assumption questions in this one. I was trying to be “cute” and “clever” about introducing an issue I had at the time without seeming too bitter or desperate about it.
Mandarin Monday, 第一课 (55) Yeah, this series is kind of on a respirator, but haha hey, at least this one was posted ON a Monday. :-D I never really got any feedback on this (even though it more or less benefits me) and so I didn’t know if anyone was learning anything from these.
Museums, High Ceilings, & the Brightest of Lights… (51) – I went to our Nation’s Capital in July 09. It’s just a documentation of places I visited with tips and stuff.
Childhood. I haz it. (50) Well this is a shocker. This update is one of my more serious ones, and because it’s edging out at #10, I want to say you guys saved the best for last. *cue Vanessa Williams’ song* No, seriously. I don’t want to scare you off, but PLEASE get your eyes checked at least once a year because retinal detachment is a sneaky motha’ and will get you without you even knowing. I have always had thick glasses (oh man, the ridicule D:), and it was supposed to be just a routine check up at some LensCrafters inside some mall so that I could get a new pair of glasses. Instead of a new pair of glasses, I got surgery – 6 times. So please, get your eyes checked. Oh, and if you have any questions about this topic, don’t hesitate to email me. I am more than happy to talk and explain! Okay, this is the end of your public service announcement.
Next is.. How do you people even get to me? – or, Top 10 Search Engine Terms:
cursory circumlocution (8) – aww, and it’s spelled correctly and everything!
sueting (5) – aww, people are finding me by name, and no you turds, it’s not pronounced “sweating” :-|
rolex (4) – yeah, they’re probably looking for this, I reckon: COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY
lsat (4) – yep, lots of studying going on for that… lots of freak outs too.
cursory (3) – that’s a part of my blog name… though I’m sure they were probably looking up the definition of that word. high schoolers and their SATs.. puh. (hehe)
mandarin monday writing (3) – there’s also actually a #MandarinMonday hashtag on Twitter and their group has a website. But I’m glad they found me, too?
funny birthday pictures for women (3) – haha I have nooooo idea. I did, however, post about my birthday and a mock-up of the outfit I was going to wear for the festivities.
random texts pictures with okay (3) – I could understand them finding me through this weird phrase once, but 3 times???
lifeat160.com (3) – Yeah, no… this isn’t lifeat160, and I’m sorry to all the poor souls who found this instead of his Saga. But I did update about how much I liked reading the blog.
what not to wear (2) – um perhaps my favourite show of allllllll time!? Can you believe Clinton is 50, you guys??? He was on my mommy’s AARP magazine/ newsletter thing. SO WEIRD.
Now FINALLY, what you have all been waiting for, I’m sure… Top 10 Referrers! I want to thank you guys for linking me on your site, and like being my fwiend, and being so great of a read, and all that good stuff. Y’all are absolutely awesome. :-D (No, for real.)
1. World Nutella Day
2. law:/dev/null
3. I Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans
4. 1 version of Jansen’s awesome blawg: No634
5. Similarly Situated
6. Law School Ninja
7. Clear Admit Law Blog
8. A Woman in Law School
9. Legally Questionable Content
10. The Lovely Mrs.
And there you have it! Thank you for an amazing year. :-D We’ll do this again in 2011! hehe
You had to have known this was coming… This is the complement list to the Essential Men’s Wardrobe. I have been meaning to return to these for a very long time, but life gets in the way, even though it doesn’t look like it from my Twitter feed. :-( Sorry, folks. But fear not! I have returned and with a vengeance I might add. So let’s DO THIS THANG! (or something…)
Not that I’m hoping any of these things will happen to you, but in the event that your house has collapsed, burned down, waterlogged, disappeared into another dimension with all of your clothing inside it, the following items are needed to make your wardrobe whole again. I mean, if you’ve shed the weight of an entire person (omg so awesome) or if you’re just looking to edit your wardrobe by either adding pieces or starting fresh, these are things you will definitely need.
The Essential Women’s Wardrobe
SHOES
• 1 pair of flats/ sandals
• 1 pair of trainers/ sneakers
• 1 pair of black pumps – I prefer pointy-toed pumps, simply because when paired with slacks, it gives you a longer horizontal line. This is especially great for petite/ shorter women because a longer line gives you the illusion of increased height. And if you’re like me, that’s all you ever really want anyway, right?
• 1 pair of knee-high boots – I would opt for black, and it’s your decision if you want them high heeled or flat. However, I just think black would be better if they were high heeled and brown would work better for flat.
BOTTOMS
• 1 pair black dress slacks – FLAT FRONT. FLAT FRONT. FLAT FRONT. Leave the pleats to the men. You do not need to look like you’ve got room enough for a baby, alright. Unless you are having a baby.. in which case, you shouldn’t wear pleats in your pants anyway :-/
• 2 skirts – 1 a-line and 1 pencil – Actually, depending on your shape, I might recommend one over the other. On the one hand, the pencil skirt is just so classic and helps create the lower half of the hourglass shape. I think they’re sophisticated and very sexy on a woman. On the other hand, the pencil skirt can accentuate too much of the lower half and may make you feel self conscious if you’ve got crazy birthing hips/ are a pear shape. In that case, I would highly suggest getting another pair of the a-line because it fits snugly at the waist, which accentuates it, while it flares out, masking/ diminishing the look of wide(r) hips.
• 1 pair dark wash denim – I mentioned this in the EMW, but I believe it is worth reiterating. Dark wash denim will save you from crises and give you a lot of versatility in your wardrobe because you can dress it up or down. The cut is entirely up to you, but I am a fan of only the skinny, the boot cut, and the trouser styles.
• 1 pair of khaki pants/ shorts (optional)
** The side pockets should be flat to avoid drawing attention to your hips. if you notice they gap when you wear them, the pants might be too small for you, or you might need to get them sewn shut. Also, if you look in the mirror and you see the pants are clinging and molding your arse, I’m sorry, those have GOT TO GO. No one needs that much spandex/ lycra in their clothing. They should generally hug your hips and the highest point of your behind and flow straight down in a clean line (unless they are skinny jeans..).
SHIRTS
• 2 dress shirts – 1 in white and 1 in a colour of your choosing
• 3 camisoles/ tank tops – 1 in white, 1 in black, and 1 in a flesh tone colour.
• casual/ evening wear – 2 silk satin camisoles, 2 solid/ graphic tee shirts/ polos
DRESSES
• 1 Little Black Dress
• 1 work dress
• 1 sundress
** There are many LBDs that are also work appropriate. If you find one, then you won’t need to purchase an extra dress.
OUTERWEAR
• solid coloured sweater – I suggest v-neck or a scoop/ boat neck because I loooove collar bones. I think showing off your collar bone is sexy. There’s just something about them. :-|
• blazer/ structured jacket to match your bottoms – preferably in black or dark grey. If you can’t button the buttons, move on to another or buy a larger size and have them tailored to fit you.
• outerwear – peacoat/ NICE heavy outerwear and the optional luxury item – trench coat (I love my trench coats, you guys. I have a shorter double-breasted and a longer double breasted <3)
• 2 cardigans – 1 in lightweight cotton for the warmer seasons and 1 in a heavier fabric for the cooler temperatures – preferably navy, dark grey, or black
ACCESSORIES
• 2 pairs of stockings – 1 in flesh tone and 1 in black
• 3 bags (oh gosh this would be the death of me.) – 1 working tote, 1 everyday bag, 1 evening clutch
• 1 nice belt – black
• 2 pairs of earrings – 1 subtle stud, 1 dangling chandelier — the chandelier earrings will probably be your go-to piece because they work well for evening and even during the day.
OTHER
• swimsuit/ athletic wear
• lingerie/ sleepwear
• socks for your trainers/ sneakers.
That’s it! Wasn’t that easy peasy?? Hehe. :D
That’s right… I’m retaking the LSAT. Last year around this time, I was panicking a helluva lot more than I should have in retrospect. But what is that saying? Hindsight is always 20/20? I mean, I did not make the dreaded 130, but as a somewhat overachiever (lolz) it was definitely not something I wanted to write home about, and with the increasing number of people taking the test and applying to law school last cycle, I might as well have made that 130… lost in the Waitlist Sea. Though don’t get me wrong, (and I think this is important for those who are applying or thinking about applying this upcoming cycle) I was/ am super happy to get these ‘waitlisted’ e-mails because it meant it’s not an outright rejection, which happened several times too.
I’m holding out on one school, which I think is THE school for me, that hasn’t responded yet, but I’m not holding my breath. So, I’m retaking the LSAT to cover my bases, or at least I’m starting to prepare for it. Originally, I thought I’d say “Screw it. I’m never looking at that test ever again. EVER.” And until a week ago, I thought I’d reapply for the EPA internship I coveted last September or get an MLA in international policy (read: Chinese) with an emphasis in environmental science/ studies at a private institution here…or both. Then the question: “Would that make you happier?” came up. (This is why I don’t really like retreating into my brain, you guys. I’m a happy ENFJ/ ESFJ [depends on when and which test I take...weird, eh?] because I make myself depressed. Ugh.) And my answer was a resounding no.
Let’s face it, I was never one to just settle (okay, I did that one time when I was dating this guy, but thankfully that didn’t last very long.), so excuse me if I don’t start now. I mean, I made A LOT of mistakes last cycle, and though it should bring me down that it’s a HIGH probability I won’t start school this fall (hahaha), it doesn’t. Because it means that I will want it even more and that I’ll be in a place where going to class is like…my oxygen or something. (I’ve been out of undergrad for almost 4 years, and I’m turning 23 in October.)
So here are the mistakes that I made and recognise from Phase 1 of last cycle. I didn’t take some of the advice that was given to me – mostly because it was too late or because I have ADD or because I was just plain dumb and wanted to do it my way – but I hope you won’t do some of these things that I did. That you’re smarter than me, in some way. Only not, because then I’d be SOL when reapplying…
THE LSAT
1. I was hella overwhelmed because I adopted too many methods. There are MOUNTAINS of information out there: study guides, prep courses, TLS forum threads, current law school students’ Twittter pages and/ or blawgs. They are all going to mention different things, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow everything they tell you. You’ll end up very confused like I was in the first few weeks I was studying for this thing (back in March.. hahasob) and you’ll just want to shoot yourself, which is never a good thing. I mean, think about the people who will have to clean up your mess.. :-|
Anyway, my point is… find something or someone you like and stick with them.
2. Once I found my particular style, I still didn’t do it correctly. After every practice section or prep test you complete, review the material and analyse the questions you answered incorrectly. Maybe I am the only person in the world that didn’t do this, which makes me really stupid, but whatever… I didn’t. I took the practice questions, read the correct answers to the questions I missed, and skimmed the reasoning. Then I beat myself up and continued the process. Einstein would have labeled me insane, mkay.
So the lesson here is to REVIEW AND ANALYSE your incorrect answers!
3. At the end of the day, I just don’t think I studied enough or took it TOO seriously. I mean, I did, but I could have pushed myself to do even better. I let the fear of “cheese and rice this test is HUGE. BIG. MY FUTURE. MY LIFE” get in the way of productively studying. Does that make sense?
I’m sure I’ve made more mistakes than this in relation to the exam, but I can’t think of anything else at the moment. Besides, these booboos are like whales you can’t overlook. In the meantime, this is it. I’ve kinda bared my soul, especially the stupid parts, and let you people judge, and I’m okay with that, I think. I mean, geez, coughing up to your mistakes is hard?
