Purl and Knit

For Christmas this year, I decided to pick up a past hobby again and personalize a couple of my gifts.  I changed it up a little by picking up new knitting patterns and was really happy with the results!

Left - Basket weave pattern scarf (k2, p2)

Right - k2, p1 (but 2 at a time)

As you can see, the scarf on the left is a little fuller, while the scarf on the right is a little more "holey".  Both came out beautifully!

Ready for gifting!   

Crusted Salmon

Last week, in hopes of consuming a healthy, yet delicious meal, I tried out a new recipe: Alaska Salmon Bake with Pecan Crunch Coating .  This dish was simple to make with minimal ingredients.  I ended up baking the salmon for 20 mins vs. 10 mins as suggested in the recipe.  With some vegetables and rice on the side, it was the perfect meal!

All prepped and ready to bake in the oven

Finished product!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

We purchased and decorated my very first Christmas tree this year!  It is a beautiful Noble tree sold for a modest $39 at Home Depot and stands 6-7 ft tall!  I love the elegance of the tree with its ornaments and the festive scent of pine in the mornings.  Just in time for my family white elephant get together this weekend!  Here are the before and after shots!

My Christmas Wish List

I discovered this neat tool online to create a collage of images and thought what better way to utilize this tool than to create my very first Christmas wish list!  It took me an hour and a half to come up with just ten items - what can I say, I already have everything I've ever wanted!  In no particular order...

1. Gucci Envy - Thank you secret santa, for getting this for me!

2. Roseark Sideways Cross Silver Necklace

3. Roomba

4. Naked Palette and Powder Foundation Santa Fe

5. Cute coffee mugs

6. Gift cards to my favorite stores

7. Tory Burch flats

8. MacBook Pro

9. DSL Camera

10. A puppy! - This really is a wish as I probably can't take care of one by my lonesome right now

Thankful

I am a very lucky girl, I proudly admit.  This Thanksgiving, and every other Thanksgiving for that matter, I have a lot to be thankful for.  But, there is one thing that overwhelms my spirit more than anything else.  When I think of this, I find it hard to contain how grateful I am and often find myself exclaiming "THANK YOU" out loud.  What I am most thankful for, are the people in my life.

These people, who are my family and close friends are one of a kind.  They challenge me through every encounter with them to be a better person, to find the silver lining, and to remember to stop and smell the roses.  They uplift me, protect me from living a destructive lifestyle, and open my eyes to new opportunities life has to offer.  They have seen me at my very worst, even when I threatened to give up on life, and spoke positivity into my life, urging me to push on for just one more day.  They take me seriously, always without judgement. And most importantly, despite all of my many shortcomings, they genuinely believe that I deserve the very best in life, and remind me of this every chance they get.  I am TrulyBlessed.

Ni Hao - Trip to Taiwan!

Hello!  I just returned from a one week vacation in Taiwan!  All in all, it was a good trip filled with sightseeing, A LOT of walking around and shopping, good food, bonding time with my brother, and spending time with friends.   

@ the National Palace Museum where we were educated on Chinese history

@ Din Tai Fung in Tapei 101 - not the original, but just as good!

@ Chiang Kai Shek memorial where we watched the changing of the guards

 Learning how to pay respects to the gods at Longshan Temple

Street vendors at a night market selling stinky tofu - yuck!

@ Tamshui - US version of a pier or fisherman's wharf

Tapei 101

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

I spent the past 4 days on a road trip up North.  Talk about cramming in as much as you can in a short amount of time!  From a delicious dinner at La Mar, to wine tasting in Napa, to walking the Golden Gate Bridge, to salivating over crab at Pier 41, to hanging out with good friends and so much more, I can't say I'm refreshed and ready to get back to work, but as tired as I am today, it was all worth it!  I'll let my video do all the sharing.  Enjoy!

(P.S.  I LOVE iPhone apps - especially Splice which is FREE and allowed me to build this video during the drive back!)

LA County Fair

Junk food, farm animals, ferris wheels, and carnival games have a way of bringing you back to your childhood, and sometimes, it's nice to feel like a kid again.  I was pleasantly surprised by the LA County Fair as I had been to the OC Fair a couple times before and wasn't very impressed.  The LA County fair was a lot bigger, had legitimate toys you could win by playing the games, a variety of food, and adorable farm animals to pet.

In the petting area - I hear the sheep are very soft!

I had my eye on this prize from the moment I walked in, and I got to go home with it!

Little piglets sleeping together

A shooting game where you had to shoot off the entire red star - so close!

And of course, the obligatory junk food meal

Uncle Tommy

On Friday 8/31/2011, my Uncle went missing from the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Pasadena.  On Thursday, we were out on the streets of Pasadena posting up flyers in hopes that someone had spotted him and would call him in.  With a heavy heart, I went to bed Thursday night worried that he was wandering the streets of LA alone, lost without a clue of where he was and how he ended up there.  You see, my Uncle has Alzheimers.

My Uncle is a great man.  He has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know.  I remember the night my cousins and I snuck out in the rain during our visit in Hawaii to go ice skating.  On our way there, we got into an accident taking a 360 from divider to divider on the freeway.  When my Uncle arrived on the scene, instead of yelling at us and asking why we snuck out, he cupped each of our chins and asked "Are you okay?" demonstrating that our safety was his first priority.  That is my Uncle.

I admit that I have not been around him much over the past few years, so when I saw him yesterday, it broke my heart.  By the grace of God, someone had found him on Thursday and took him into a nursing home in West Covina where they fed him and gave him a place to sleep.  By 6AM on Friday morning, he had left the home and began his journey again.  Though he may not have been fully aware of his surroundings nor remember much of anything anymore, I know that he just wanted to be back in the presence of his family and would walk until he found them.  We searched the street of West Covina in the early afternoon on Friday and luckily, the police found him in the afternoon, so I rushed to the police station along with my two cousins to pick him up.

When I saw him, I just wanted to give him a big hug.  He looked at me and smiled, but I couldn't tell whether he recognized me or not.  He looked content, relaxed, and bright-eyed, and perhaps doesn't even realize that he had been lost for the past two days.  But I knew, and could only imagine what he had gone through, and my heart ached for him and our family.  It wasn't until I was alone in my car did I allow myself to cry, and even now, writing this entry, I continue to cry.  Alzheimers is a horrible disease and I know too many people who have family members who have fallen victim to it.

Love In Vegas

This weekend, my girlfriend and I took a road trip to Vegas for a quick getaway.  We got in Friday night and had dinner at Julian Serrano at Aria because we were craving tapas.  We actually do not recommend this restaurant as the food was below par and the waiter was not very helpful.  He suggested that we could order one more dish, when in actuality, we ordered way too much!  I feel like I'm writing a Yelp! review.

Saturday, we hung by the pool, gambled a bit (we were both losers), window shopped, and had dinner at Mastro's before heading to Mirage to watch Love.  Love was actually the highlight of our trip as we both enjoy Cirque De Soleil shows.  I think that overall, the show was entertaining, but I would have liked to see more acrobatics than dancing.  I like the Beatles.

We stayed at Vdara - nice rooms, but no tables and valet parking only, which resulted in a madhouse of people lingering in the hotel lobby trying to leave at the mandated 11AM check-out time.  Don't think we'll stay there again!

 Mastro's (too bad we didn't get to sit in the tree because we were in a hurry)

 Being silly with my friend's broken sunglasses

At Love

Sun-kissed

A group of us headed out to Manhattan beach this weekend for a little bit of sun bathing and beach volleyball.  The sky and ocean were a perfect blue and the temperature was comfortably warm.  Moments like these fill my heart with gratitude for the city I live in and for the wonderful people in my life.

Bitter Sweet Endings

Today marks the last day with a firm I have known my entire career.  A firm that I have dedicated myself to for over a decade.  I am sitting here staring at my good-bye email I crafted a week ago, yet am unable to put the final nail in the coffin and hit send.  I find myself reminiscing over the last ten years...

• I have met amazing people who have become my closest friends
• I have traveled to countless countries and cities that have opened my eyes to a world much greater than mine
• I have been challenged in every way possible, pushing me to build patience, tolerance and see people through less judgmental, but more loving eyes
• I have felt the adrenaline rush of nailing a presentation, the pride from doing a job well done, cried tears of frustration when all seemed dark, and laughed uncontrollably with colleagues who have journeyed with me along the way
• I have eaten at the fanciest restaurants, stayed at the most luxurious hotels, sat in First class for business trips, and gotten the royal treatment wherever I've traveled
• I have been yelled at, talked down to, judged, misunderstood, and stereotyped, but I have also been uplifted, loved, praised, recognized, and encouraged.  All of which have made me a stronger individual, both professionally and personally.

Ten and a half years ago, I started out as a naive Analyst, bright-eyed, a sponge ready to learn and conquer whatever came my way.  Now reflecting back as a Manager, I'd say I did just that...and more.  

At package training in Waltham, MA in 2001

I am ready as I'll ever be to begin a new path in my career.  It is now or never, so here goes nothing...

Sent.

Photobooth Fun!

I seriously love my girls.  I've known these two for 15+ years now and some things never seem to change.  Put us in front of a camera and we literally go crazy.  Great times ALWAYS!
 

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil

 

Bimbos!

 

Musicians!

 

Rollercoaster ride!  Weeeeeee!

 

Sci-fi photo

Smile, Sad, Serious, Gangsta (fail - again)

Someone Like You - Adele

Sometimes, in one of life's most beautiful moments, you hear a song that is so powerful it captures everything you are feeling and thinking at the very core of your being.  This is it for me.  Right here, right now.  I'm speechless.

Aloha!

I just came back from a fabulous vacation in Hawaii.  Breathtaking views, crazy adventures, and delicious food equals a much needed vacation!  We spent our time eating spam musubis, laying out, playing golf, and blending in with the locals.

Breakfast of champions

My one and only birdie - yay!

Birdie for my girl!

Keeping score!  First time on the course, no judging please!

Dinner at Alan Wong's

Delicious clam and shrimp penne pasta in black bean sauce

Beautiful sunset at Sunset Beach

Today, I Am A Plumber

Ever since I purchased my place, I have had to do a lot of the handy work myself.  Allow me to introduce to you my most recent project.

My kitchen sink faucet had been leaking through the spout for some time now, but it started to worsen this week.  I could have easily called a plumber, but hesitated because, well, I didn't want to pay for service when I knew that someone could fix it (other than a plumber, of course!). Out of desperation, I turned to the internet.  Little by little, I started to troubleshoot the cause of the leaky fauce, and finally with the advice from a Virgil's employee, I am proud to say that I fixed it!  I am so glad I didn't call a plumber because that was way too easy!

The leak was coming from the hot water side, so I turned off the hot water and removed the components of the handle

Puke, I had to dig my finger in there to remove the problem child

This was the little guy that was causing the leak.  It needed to be replaced as it was no longer keeping the water down.

Voila!  All the pieces back together again and no more dripping!

Oprah Winfrey: End of an Era

I can't say that I've ever sat through an entire Oprah show, but I decided to DVR her final show after 25 years.  I am thankful I did.  I needed to hear her parting words...

Find Your Calling
What I knew for sure from this experience with you is that we are all called. Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. Every time we have seen a person on this stage who is a success in their life, they spoke of the job, and they spoke of the juice that they receive from doing what they knew they were meant to be doing.  Because that is what a calling is. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you're supposed to be, doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing. To live from the heart of yourself.

Serve Others
Each one of you has your own platform.  Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is. Maybe it's 20 people, maybe it's 30 people, 40 people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your classroom, your co-workers. Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You're letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have.  My great wish for all of you who have allowed me to honor my calling through this show is that you carry whatever you're supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.

Take Responsibility
Nobody but you is responsible for your life. It doesn't matter what your mama did; it doesn't matter what your daddy didn't do. You are responsible for your life.  You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you're responsible for the energy that you bring to others.  Remember physics class? Did you pay attention to Newton's third law of motion? Let me tell you, that thing is real. It says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You are Worthy
The show has taught me there is a common thread that runs through all of our pain and all of our suffering, and that is unworthiness. Not feeling worthy enough to own the life you were created for. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don't feel worthy once they have them.  There is a difference, you know, between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing you are worthy of happiness.  What I got was we often block our own blessings because we don't feel inherently good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or worthy enough.  The show has taught me you're worthy because you are born and because you are here. Your being here, your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.

Be Still and Listen
I have felt the presence of God my whole life. Even when I didn't have a name for it, I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me, and all of us have that same voice. Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not. You can worship it or not. You can praise it, you can ignore it or you can know it. Know it. It's always there speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it in every move, in every decision. I wait and I listen. I'm still—I wait and listen for the guidance that's greater than my meager mind.  The only time I've ever made mistakes is when I didn't listen. So what I know is, God is love and God is life, and your life is always speaking to you. First in whispers. ... It's subtle, those whispers. And if you don't pay attention to the whispers, it gets louder and louder.  Whispers are always messages, and if you don't hear the message, the message turns into a problem. And if you don't handle the problem, the problem turns into a crisis. And if you don't handle the crisis, disaster. Your life is speaking to you. What is it saying?

A WuHu Wedding!

Congratulations to my dearest friends who celebrated their marriage this weekend!  From the beautiful beach setting, to a hilarious speech from the groom's Father, to a rockin' first dance the couple surprised us with, and to new friends, the evening was a blast and I am so happy to have been a part of such a precious moment in their lives!

Table 11!