Singapore

Singapore is in the headlines today, for LKY's passing. Though with mixed feelings about his authoritarian ruling, he's definitely transformed the country to what a great place it is today. Some oft most compassionate and ambitious lifelong friends are Singaporeans. Maybe tough love is good love. Maybe we should treat ourselves that way- have a plan for our own lives and control ourselves when we have certain inclinations that aren't in line with our master plan. Maybe we'd be more successful.

Used to know this

Fb is amazing

I travelled the world in over just scrolling through 5 min of my feed. What will the future bring?

St. Patrick's day 2015

Did nothing. Wore no green. Definitely growing old... 

Only girl

Weird. I've never dated a guy who has sisters. Don't think I could handle, haha.

Pep talks to myself

Designing and leatherworking has been an incredibly journey, and it's only been 9 months! I wrote this email to someone who asked for advice on starting up, and I felt like I was giving myself a pep talk...

------

I don't know if I'd qualify to be a mentor of any sort, but I am so happy to share my resources with anyone who's venturing out on their own - it's a daunting road and it's always good to have company and someone to run ideas by.

Hmmm...... and I guess the last and most crucial point is to be your own advocate - I'm normally kind of introverted and struggle with this point a lot, but be shameless in your self-promotion - be proud, ask for as much good/bad feedback as you can. You get one shot at life - so why look back and regret things you didn't do? :)

Gotta tap into the business side, while still keeping the vision and integrity of your concepts and designs.

Let's keep in touch so we can encourage each other along the way and celebrate successes! The world awaits you! :)

----

These are exciting times!

Christmas present

I asked my husband to program me a bot for Christmas, he said okay. 

Dogs are so expensive

Took mickie in for a check up and vaccinations. Dropped $300. Just like that. Next week also dropping her off before our road trip. Another $300. How are dogs so $$!

Class day

I'll be done with the masters class in June. So excited about this, and husbands generosity in sinking so much money so that I can pursue this dream. Feeling pretty loved this morning :)

Wedding dress I never wore

I struggle with indecision a lot, more than what some people would probably think. I have this wedding dress in my closet that I never wore, and I'm not sure what to do with it. My mom can attest that I usually had one or two brand new dresses for any given winter formal or prom in high school. But wedding dresses are normally a lot less easy to return, and I think I'm way past that window. Wedding dresses are weird, nobody wants a pre-owned dress is my guess. Now it's just taking up so much space in my closet. Time to donate? 

At 37

Was reading an article this morning in the NYT about a 37 year old Stanford medicine neurosurgeon who died of lung cancer. 37. Insane. Life is so fragile. There's so much philosophy around how to live - how fragile or strong should we think ourselves? Do we jump out of a plane at 30,000 ft, putting our lives at the mercy of a parachute? Or do we webMD every symptom and ache? I have adrenaline junkie friends and hypochondriac friends alike... Not sure where on the spectrum brings the most happiness.

Thoughts

Find myself lost in thoughts on the morning commute these days.

I mean business

Looking up tradeshows to ramp up for production. Will probably need some business cards to get in. I remember we used to make our own faux business cards, stationery and everything else when we were kids. Really, isn't adult life exactly the same? Only now the lines are straighter, and you stand taller like you actually know what you're talking about.

Fake it till you make it?

If this doesn't work, you'll probably be able to find me under a tent made of bedsheets and chairs in my living room.

Brasserie Gabrielle

This is a painfully cute runway. A/W '15 Chanel, Paris Fashion Week. Photo credit goes to business of fashion via fb. 

Dancing in the morning

Got these awesome Bose noise cancellation headphones last year. I've been totally rocking out in the studio with them; they also make for a great way to wake up in the morning. Nothing like starting the day with some good tunes in my head. Even danced with the dog before I left for work too haha. How silly it must look! Great thing about dogs, they're always down to dance.

Run

Yoga in the morning, 2.5mi in the afternoon. Feeling good. Dragged the husband with me to the gym... He's such a nerd, he kept adjusting his treadmill pace everytime I did, just so he could finish a quarter mile more than me at the end of my 10 laps. Competition is healthy.

Now we're going to rest a bit and hit the mall to see what people are buying and selling. A bit of market research. We also have our brand name now... I'm feeling incredibly excited and positive... It's perfect :)

Yoga

Love living in millbrae, so many things within my walking distance without the ridiculous SF traffic and rent$. Yesterday while walking with husband to his dental appointment, stumbled across a new yoga studio and signed up for a $30 day trial for unlimited sessions in a month. Pretty excited, this will be a good opportunity to do other things outside of running... And I'll be locked into a room for an hour so there's my accountability :). The Francophile that I am, I follow semi de Paris on fb. They had their half marathon today. Why's this something I never thought of while living in Paris or all the trips I've been back on? Sounds like a fantastic idea. I must have definitely been too busy eating macarons to notice, sigh. The medal is so cool, I love it. 

There's such a running culture that it's often too late to sign up for a cool run by the time you think about it - basically your vacation schedule has to be planned around it. Not sure if I'll have a chance to do this run, there's a certain expectation that I'm supposed to think about having kids, and soon. Where did the time go?

Run

2.5 quick run today. Need more workout clothes that's for sure... Running in long yoga pants and a sweatshirt is hell. 

Lots of errands to run today, getting the car prepped for the road trip in a few weeks. Husband going to a dental appointment finally, that I had to make for him... Surprise surprise. Are most men like this?

Public transit

There are a lot of older incoherent and angry people on the BART. And then there are the happy teenagers. What happened in between? 

Vision

Have a vision of what you want your life to look like, strip away everything that you obviously cannot control, and work towards attaining that.

Re: music / melody theme

Music is the universal language 

Formation of music notation is clean, has the three components of curve, straight line, and slight edge/point

Every notation has a purpose 

Dynamics 

People of faith

Haven't seriously attended church in years, I've always felt a little disconnected with the church community... But good people of faith are everywhere. I overheard a co-worker on the phone encouraging someone about trusting and giving up worries. I've heard that SF is one of the least churched cities in the country. And I would have also thought that finance is a field that has little room for spirituality. Refreshing discovery today.

Thoughts

I read somewhere that it's crucial to not have a sense of self-importance, but to have one of self-relevance. Feels like we're conditioned for the former though.

Tried looking into how useful Cantonese is as a speaking language. Getting ramped up for some trips to Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the next year or so. Things to look into: China visa, trade shows, learning basic Cantonese (maybe), and Global Entry (maybe).

Mando speaking canto? It'll probably sound like a Spanish cow speaking French. 

Run

5mi flat. Getting to 2mi was so hard, the rest was awesome. Last half mile was ridiculous, made possible only with music on full blast. I honestly have no idea how people run without music. I'd want to just go home and eat a bag of Doritos.

Mini moon

Had originally imagined that our honeymoon would be something like Paris-Barcelona or London-Paris: hitting up old spots from my year in Paris (god, it's been almost a decade!) and just exploring the sights and sounds of beautiful European metropolitans. Instead, I'm quite tired of flying and am not feeling the trade off of an expensive plane ticket - jet lag for a couple of macarons and croissants. So we're doing a great California coast trip! I'm a planner so we have the following on our list already:

- Hearst Castle

- Pismo Beach / Splash Cafe for the most amazing clam chowder

- Presqu'ile Winery tour (so excited about this, Taylor Lombardo Architects designed their beautiful hospitality building)

- Santa Monica beach

- Warner Brothers Studio tour

- Taping of Jimmy Kimmel live

- Taping of Last Man Standing

- Touring the Walt Disney Concert Hall (designed by Frank Gehry)

- LACMA Urban Lights display

- Getty Center

I've done a few of the above but not most of them. Who knew there were so many things to do in California?

NYC would be amazing

New York City seems to get all the best entertainment. The piano guys and josh bell were both performing there last night - piano guys at Carnegie hall and josh bell at Lincoln center.... Ahh I have always wanted to live in New York (though I can't complain about our 70 degree winters). My master plan of marrying a New Yorker to move to New York obviously didn't pan out... Husband succeeded in marrying a Bay Area girl to move to the Bay Area. Kidding. Kind of. :)

Run

Hit the gym for yet first time in a long while. 5.08mi run. Feeling good, gonna eat a Snickers bar now :)

Just because

I've almost forgotten what it's like to put thoughts down in writing. Caught up with a couple of old friends last week. It kind of took me by surprise when I realized that these old friends used to be new friends... Comes with an odd combination of anxiety, that time is flying by faster than I want it to, and content, that friendship and community can still be consistent even over time and distance. Trying a simple challenge... Putting something down at least once a day, just because.