Vodka and Soda

2011: a year in review

 

when this year began, i had a new zest for life.  i had successfully put the past 2 horrible years behind me and instead of wallowing in whatever pity i had, i decided to take those lemons that were handed to me and make vodka sodas.  winning.  as we embark on a brand new year, i wanted to take some time to reflect on 2011 and how amazing it was:

family - the last 2 years were spent battling my horrible depression and kicking it's ass.  my relationship with my family suffered and we went through a lot but we came out closer than ever.  thanks to the amazing support of my friends and family -  especially my husband, who stuck by me during my darkest days - i came out victorious and and a much stronger person.

i've watched kayla grow into an amazing, bright and hilarious toddler.  her voice, her singing, her laughter fills our hearts and home with so much joy.  it's amazing to see her growing independence and (unfortunately?) her defiance as she tries to assert said independence.  we can't imagine life without her.

friends - my friends were with me throughout my entire ordeal whether they knew or not.  you know who you are.  you know you have an amazing set of friends when they know when to say the right things and when not to say anything at all.  in some cases, i just needed to be around people; to try and remember what being normal felt like and they provided just the right comfort.  

work - i love my job; always have.  even if i try on different roles in different industries, i always end up consulting back at the company where i began my career.  my director and my team are the best and i'm not just saying that because they're my team - they're smart, funny and just plain awesome to work with.  they have the same work ethic as me - we put our heads down and do everything and anything to get the job done, even if it's outside of our "job description".  my director always puts me on the most high-profile, innovative and fun projects and fun projects come few and far between where i am. i've only worked with 2 great directors and he's one of them.

the blogosphere - i met some great people through the blogosphere this year, both online and in real life. you ladies know who you are.   i used to blog blindly; i never visited anyone else's blog nor did i leave comments or respond to those who were kind enough to leave me a comment.  i realized that blogging involves a form of etiquette that you must extend to other bloggers and ignoring those who took the time to visit your site and learn about you, well, that's just bad form!

to all my bloggy pals and dear readers - you are the best!  thanks for sticking around and reading my mindless, often senseless, random drivel!

travel - in april 2011, we booked our first family trip to turks and caicos. it was a sesame street themed resort so we knew that kayla would lose her shizz the second she saw elmo and the gang.  this resort did not disappoint; we booked a catamaran cruise, kayla met some new friends and we had a great time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful sandy beaches. 

then in july, my bloggy pals and i headed out to las vegas for the asian sensation blogging expedition and it was all kinds of awesome! when a group of girls chat about going on a trip, on rare occasions does it actually work out. well, this was one of those occasions and it was amazing.  i'll admit that i secretly thought it would fall by the wayside especially since it involved 2 bloggers none of us have ever met in person but only knew through the blogosphere.  well, i'm glad i was wrong; we had such a great time and not only did i get to bond with the girls i already knew, but two new friendships blossomed in the process; 2 friendships that i know will last a lifetime.  reni and elisse, it really is too bad that you're so far away!

happiness - when things sucked really bad for me in 2009 and part of 2010, i didn't think i could truly be happy again.  thankfully i was wrong; in fact, things couldn't be better.   i've learned along the way that happiness is a state of mind; that in order to be truly happy, you have to be happy with yourself, who you are and what you have.  once you understand that and know what an amazing person you are, it's easy to tell those who try to bring you down to suck a fat one.  it's an amazing feeling.

 

happy new year to you all.  may 2012 bring you much love and happiness.

monday favorites: samsung galaxy S2

 

i love my phone.  i convinced my director to get this phone and he's in love with it too.   heck, every person who owns this phone says that it's the best phone they've ever owned.  even previous iphone users have said the same thing *gasp! blasphemy!*

the S2 is powerful, fast, has a beautiful display and has access to lots of good, free apps.  i love the fact that i have full control (superuser) of my phone so i can do whatever i want to my phone (maybe get a early version of ICS?).  

my only pet peeve is the battery - it sucks large.   i charge it every day which annoys me but i guess that's the trade off for a having powerful phone.    i molest my phone every day and i use it for everything - music, reading, videos and i never leave home without it.

here are some of my favorite android apps:

• zdbox (free) - tracks your mobile data (and you can set alerts if you're close to your cap), task killer, cache cleaner, battery monitor (temperature and capacity), uninstaller
• juice defender (free) - i have to admit, the S2 battery life is major suckage. there are 2 paid versions which allows you to customize where battery is conserved but right now, i'm testing the free version.  basically, this monitors your connectivity and your background processes to conserver as much battery as possible.
• camera zoom fx ($4.75)- andoid's version of the hugely popular hipstamatic camera app.  i hate paying for apps but  google had a 10-day $0.10 app blowout sale and i snagged this badboy for $0.10 on the last day.   hellz yeah.
• aldiko (free) -  ereader; lets you import existing epub and pdf files; fully customizable with a decent interface 
• titanium backup pro ($6.49) - the only app for which i paid full price.  i needed this app when i hacked into my phone but (the paid version) allows you to remove or freeze bloatware which can eat your battery and takes up space and do a full backup/restore
• whatsapp (free) - messaging client
• doubleTwist (free)  - best media player.  plays every media format i've thrown at it
• seesmic (free) - twitter client.  slick, easy to use interface.
• pulse (free) - best feed reader
• smart keyboard pro ($2.99) - the stock keyboard sucks ass so i actually went and bought a keyboard!! luckily, they were having a sale so i only paid $0.99.  this keyboard is really "smart"  because it learns how you type and will predict the words you most often use.  you can also calibrate the keyboard to recognize the mistakes you usually make and adjust accordingly.  i always used to want to throw my phone down in frustration whenever i hit the wrong key (which was often) but this keyboard has helped reduce my rage. 
• app monster (free)  - app manager
• tiny flashlight LED (free) - uses your camera's flash as a flashlight.  simple and easy to use
• tip me (free) - yes i'm asian and no, i'm not a math whiz.  because i can't calculate for shit, i need this app whenever my hubs isn't around to calculate this for me.  this app allows you to select tip percentage and calculates based on # of people splitting the bill.  simple and easy to use
• ad-free (free) - who says you have to pay to get ad-free apps?  simple and easy to configure, ad-free gets rid of all those pesky ads on your free apps.  you must be rooted to use this app

 

what phone do you have?

work hygiene

 

 

i'm not talking about being dressed haphazardly or being unkempt at the office but your overall attitude and outlook when it comes to your place of work.  

i'll be honest and say that we have a lot of duds here at my office;  some at the executive level and many at the working level.    yesterday i had a good chat with my director and he feels the same as me - if it's one thing that annoys me to no end, it's those who have poor work hygiene.   you know the type; they all exhibit some or all of the signs - hardly showing up to the office; they can never be found, they're the master of excuses why they can't work/come to work/produce their work, all they do is whine or complain etc etc.  it drives me crazy.

if you are one of those people, here are some tips to help you get your shit together before you get your ass fired:

excuses are totally transparent.   people are not stupid; we catch on pretty quick when we see a certain pattern which is, you're rarely fucking around.   if all we hear are excuses why you're hardly around the office, you're labeled as lazy and unwilling to work productively and anything you say will be taken with a grain of salt because no one respects you.  and no one will want you on their project.  i've refused potential resources on my projects for this very reason; excuses only delay delivery and i know when people are making excuses.  i don't need that kind of bullshite when i'm working double duty to get something out the door.

optics is extremely important.   perception is everything and you'll be perceived as doing dick-all if they can't find you and people will think you're a shit worker.  it doesn't matter if you produce  stellar work; no one wants to work with someone who can never be found.   do you know how frustrating it is to need/want to talk to someone and not be able to get a hold of them?  the common assumption among this group of asshats is that "email will keep them connected" but newsflash:  email is not a substitute for a productive discussion.   you can accomplish more in a 5 minute conversation than in a trail of 15 annoying emails.   i'm at contractor where i am so i can pretty much come and go as i please and as much as i would love to avoid battling traffic to get to work, i know how important optics are.  so, i show up to work even if i have nothing to do (like all of this week).    

care about your work ... even if you don't.   you might be bored.  your project might suck ass. we've all been there but try to remember that although you may hate what you're doing or the project that you're on, other people may not feel that way.  what you do directly impacts the entire project which directly impacts how your peers are measured.   the way you conduct yourself on a project truly defines how you are as a (co)worker; if you can stick it out and see things to the end, people will remember that and want to work with you again and more importantly, your executives will remember that and think of you when new, cooler projects come along.  if all you do is complain, slack off, become disengaged or talk negative shit about what you're doing,  that will be the only thing tied to your legacy.  

if you don't know, ask.  it's ok to not know the answer and a simple "i'm not sure, let me follow up" will suffice.  say the right answer when you find the right answer because  people can smell bullshit.   i don't know how many people i've worked with who have no clue but pretend that they know what's going on and when the shit hits the fan, we all look bad.  exeuctives don't care who fucked up; the whole team will suffer and no one wins.  so ask questions and make sure you understand everything for which you're responsible.  

follow through with your promises.  sure, we all get busy but if you promised someone you'd get back to them with something, you better make damn sure you give them an answer.   even if a few days have passed and you're still waiting on someone else, follow up with a simple email stating that you haven't forgotten about their request and it's taking longer than you expected.  this is how you build trust among your peers and they'll be more open to helping you out anytime you need it.

weekend recap: horseshoes up our ass, face-stuffing, great pressies

 

i had an awesome weekend. 

my office held their annual holiday potluck on friday and this year had an even better turnout.  instead of being lazy and buying something,  i made my favorite chocolate cupcakes but this time i wanted them to be all kinds of fancy so i decided to add some flair to the frosting and make little christmas trees.  unfortunately i'm not very good with piping, i added too much green food coloring so it sort of looked like dressed-up bird poopy.   however near the end, i got better at the piping and my trees actually looked like trees instead of blobs of bird crap.

 

armed with a fistful of raffle tickets, hubs was ready to take on the prizes.    little did i know that he was hiding horsehoes up his ass.

to be honest, i really didn't think we'd win anything however, during the first few draws they  kept pulling his numbers.  our goodies:

• 30 day free trial to Extreme Fitness for 2 (we won this twice but gave one back)
• XM Radio + 1 month free subscription
• gift certificate for brunch for 2 at The Buttery restaurant
• Motorola  JBL bluetooth sound system

if we won the 42" LCD flat screen tv, we probably would've gotten lynched and at one point, everyone started booing whenever hubs said "oh, that's me".  i guess it didn't help that i was hi-fiving him and shouting "woohoo!". 

 *****

a few years back, the december-born ladies within my group decided to hold an annual december girls' birthday dinner to celebrate our time of aging gracefully.  this year it was held at the newly-opened biermarkt which is a popular place for their large selection of beer and by that i mean  if you're a serious beer connoisseur, this place is your wet dream.  what surprised me the most was the food; i've been to the biermarkt before but i don't remember the food being this tastey (ignore the different picture  exposures; i was playing with a new camera app on my phone).

 

i can't remember the name of this beer but it was amaging and came highly recommended by the waitress.

it's our birthday and we'll eat oysters if we want to.  actually, i'm not a fan of oysters but these were very good. 

 

boston scallops and king prawns served on a carmelized bed of risotto.  my mouth had an orgasm.

 

me and fellow december birthday gal pal, ro.  

 
every year, i'm surprised by presents because the goal of this dinner isn't to get goodies but to spend time with dear friends during this crazy season.  i love my girls - they're all so very thoughtful and totally raided my kk list so to my dear kk if you're reading this... i'm sorry and will try to update the list with things that haven't been pillaged!

hope you all had a great weekend!

 

happy birthday, dad; i love and miss you

 

today is my dad's birthday; he would have been 80 years old. 

december is always a hard time for me; it's almost as if his death has casted a shadow over a month that is supposed to be filled with joy.  it's also part of the reason why i no longer celebrate my birthday; how can i when my father, the man who has taught me so much about what it is to be a good person; the most loving, caring and gentle father isn't around to celebrate his birthday, just 15 days before mine.

on november 27, 2004, my dad suddenly passed away from a massive heart attack.  he was at a christmas party with many family members and a lot of his friends so i find solace in that he passed surrounded by people who loved him.  however, i also feel guilty that none of us were there.  my sister was at her company christmas party, my mother was at home feeling ill and i was away on my honeymoon.  on a day that none of us where there, my dad closed his eyes for the last time.

for a long time, i felt guilty about that because the last face my dad should have seen was one of ours; we should have been there to hold him and comfort him in his last moments.  i think my father was afraid of death; having to watch many of his friends pass away and attend their funerals, i know my father - even though he never came out and said it - was afraid to die and to this day, i still feel guilty and sorrow that he died without the comfort of his immediate family. 

i regret not being able to say good-bye to him.

i regret not being able to see him and hug him before i left for my honeymoon (thankfully, i called and talked to him before we left).

i regret that kayla will never see, talk or get to know her grandfather.

i regret my dad never being able to hold kayla, kiss her and hug her,  laugh at her crazy words or developing that special bond that only a grandparent and grandchild can have.

i regret that kayla will never learn the wisdom that my dad passed to me.  

i never acknowledge the anniversary of his death.  i can't bear to visit his gravesite because just seeing his headstone is too much to take.  i feel a lot of guilt in that too because i know i should visit him but seeing his name carved into the stone... it's just so... final.  

instead, i prefer to remember him as he always was:  happy, smiling,  kind, gentle, full of life.  

i miss you daddy; always.

randomness: UFC fighters, pretty shiny things

 

i haven't really been motivated to blog these days; i usually have some ideas floating around but when it comes to sitting down and creating wonderful posts for you to read, i just fall flat. 

instead, i'll blog the lazy way - update with pictures!

 

last week, there was some buzz going on upstairs at work.  we have a huge marketing and revenue stake in UFC events and two fighters came to promote the next UFC event that was held in toronto.   dominic cruz was suposed to show but he didn't; instead, two other fighters came in his place.  now, i'm not into UFC at all (i think it's too violent which is ironic because i'm a huge action movie junkie) but decided to go along to see what the hoopla was all about.

i don't know anything about these two people other than the guy on the left is Rory and the  guy on the right is Matt who is a heavyweight fighter.  according to georges st. pierre (<-- i had to google his full name; that's how far-removed i am from UFC), Rory is supposedly the next "up and comer" and he predicts Rory is going to be the next welterweight champion in a few years.... which is the only reason why i took this picture.  i learned from my last mistake when i saw new-at-the-time boyband nsync sitting in an empty HVM at fairview mall and i walked right by while snickering and thinking "oh god, another one hit wonder".   i plan to sell this picture to the national enquirer when Rory makes it big.  i am not joking.

 *****

the other day, hubs gave me a package that arrived in the mail which was a total suprise.  elisse, you sneaky girl!

she sent this for christmas and my birthday:   pretty accessories and superheroes figurines.  geeky stuff and fashion?  yes, please!  my not-so-proud moment:  i was secretly happy they were for me and not kayla because um hello, they're superhero figurines! MINE!   THANK YOU, ELISSE!  i love everything!!

 

*****

i love foxy originals.  they were my brand of choice before i discovered stella and dot.  when i went to the OOAK show earlier this month, i saw this beautiful necklace:

 

gorgeous, right?  i love long, cascading necklaces and necklaces with charms.  i didn't get it that day (i bought another necklace) but as i was buying a gift from foxy for a friend, i decided to pick this up for myself.
 

*****

i love that kayla has been asking me to take more pictures/videos of her (instead of me forcing her).

here's kayla sining rudolph the red nosed reindeer:

 

 

happy humpday!

monday favorites: 80s TV shows

 

continuing the 80s theme from a previous monday favorites post, the 1980s was filled with some great tv shows as well.  although i was a pre-tween at the time, i certainly appreciated prime time television. 

Three's Company  - my all-time favorite.  to this day, this show makes me laugh my ass off (i have all of the dvd sets) and i will destroy anyone in three's company trivia.  that's right, i said it.  destroy.

 

V is my second favorite show.  my cousins and i loved this show so much that we would "play V" every chance we got.  we knew all the lines and would reenact every scene, it was awesome.  when this was airing, i was only 8 years old and to see skin peeling away to expose lizard scales is some scary shit for an 8 year old; i can't believe my parents let me watch this!  oh, that's right, we were left to our own devices because our parents were playing mahjong.

 

21 Jump Street.  seriously, how hot was johnny depp in this show?  damn, to this day he's still all kinds of sexy.  i only watched this show for officer tom hanson

 

Dynasty.  my mom was obsessed with this show.  it was the only english show she watched and she would send us to our rooms when this was on.  i remember it aired at 9pm and we would sneak out of our bedrooms and watch it peeking from behind the couch.  my mom would let us watch V but not dynasty.  

 

Knight Rider!  me and my sister LOVED michael knight and we thought kitt was the awesomest car ever.  we were so obsessed with him that we called up every "michael knight" in the TORONTO PHONE BOOK asking  "is this was the michael knight with the cool car kitt because we love him".  isn't that called harassement? 

 

Who's the Boss.  i'll let you in on a little secret:  i had a crush on tony.  i also tried to copy sam's fashion sense (which turned out to be a disaster in real life)

 

The Cosby Show was all kinds of hilarious.  it was the best when it was only this cast and when they started bringing in other characters like olivia, martin and pam, i stopped watching it.  the best episode was when denise tried to make theo a gordon gartrell shirt hahahaha!  "no 14 year old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he's on stage with is 4 brothers!"  

 

Family Ties.  one of my fav episode was when mallory followed alex to princeton, she caught her boyfriend, jeff, with another girl and she was a blubbering mess during his interview.  although alex was annoyed with mallory ruining his chances of getting into princeton, he cancelled the interview to take care of her. 

 

the teenage years

 

source

 

i found this image on pinterest and i laughed because it reminded me of my teenage years.  however in my case, my mom wasn't as diplomatic as this mom - in fact, my mom never left me a note or a blanket.  instead, she waited up for me; keeping her rage just one degree shy of thermonuclear explosion until i got home and opened the door.  fun times.

don't get me wrong; i wasn't a bad teenager.  i never got into trouble with the law,  i never smoked and much to my mom's skepticism, i wasn't a whore although my clothing of choice during those young and stupid years gave her every reason to think so.  my problem was that i liked to party.   a lot.  oh, my poor mother; keeping her up all hours of the night worried sick while i boogy-oogy-oogied and drank the night away.   what teenage kid stays out until 3-4am on a school night?  what teenage kid goes to school partially hung-over?  what teenage kid goes out every single night?  um, that (stupid) kid was me and to be honest, i'm still a little surprised that i'm not a raging alcoholic given the way i drank booze like it was the holy grail.

but we all grow up, right?  

looking back at those crazy years, it makes me feel bad for my mom, putting her through what i did.  these days, instead of going out i'd much rather change into my pjs and settle down with a good book or watch tv with a cozy blanket.  i rarely go to clubs and when i do (usually only for a friend's birthday), i'm ready to call it a night and go home by 10pm.   hell, the only way i even made it to 3am in vegas was because i napped before going out.  

i just hope kayla doesn't put me through what i put my mom through.  let's just say that if the saying "what comes around goes around" is true, i'm in big trouble.

where has the time gone?

while looking for some pictures, i came across this video i shot of kayla back in November 2009; she was only one at the time.

 

 

 

just like mom, she's all about the gadgets.  and it's weird to not hear her speaking because she always talks our ear off!

*sigh* .....  time flies too fast.

product review: froosh body butter

last weekend, i posted about my trip to the one of a kind show with galpal, leesh.  i'm not sure what it is lately but i've been drawn to luxurious skin care products and my goody-bag was filled with 3 body butters from OOAK vendor, Froosh. 

first off, these butters smell delish.  they come in a variety of scents - green tea, mango, vanilla, coconut and passion fruit.  i only smelled the first three; actually, when i was at froosh's kiosk, i only smelled the mango one and i was sold.

made from 97% natural ingredients, these rich body butters are for ultra-dry skin.  you don't need much so a little goes a long way and it absorbs into your skin fairly quickly however, i don't recommend you slather this on and then go play with your iPad.  the best way to use this?  massage a dollop onto your hands right before bed.   the next morning, you'll wake up with hands as soft as a baby's bottom!

my right thumb had this gross peeling cuticle thing going on and after just one night of slathering on this butter, that dry patch went away and it's stayed away since!  i've started using it on my feet every night before bed, making my husband thankful for this product by keeping my feet baby soft and scratch free when they're usually horrid and disgusting during the winter months.

product rating:  10/10

price:  $16 for a 250ml jar

***update***

there was a mix-up in my 3-pack (2 green tea butters instead of the mango) and when i emailed Froosh, they kindly sent me the mango butter and i got to keep the green tea as well!  thanks, Froosh!!