This gallery contains 6 photos.
Some photos from our previous trip to LAX. :)
DIY Skincare Solutions
Got acne?
Dry them with an aspirin mask.
Aspirin contains salicylic acid with anti-inflammatory properties, which soothes the skin, decreases hyper-pigmentation, and treats acne. Cleanse face. Dissolve 3 uncoated aspirins (or BC aspirin powder) in a small amount of water (two droplets). Then, add a small amount of aloe vera (1/2 tsp) and mix evenly. Apply this mask to face, avoiding eye areas, for 30 minutes. Then, rinse thoroughly. You will instantly notice how smoother and softer your skin feels. You can use the mask twice a week to treat acne or once a week to maintain your beautiful skin.
Got blackheads?
Remove them with a sea salt scrub and toner.
Natural sea salts are among the greatest ingredients for skin care, as they improve circulation, stimulate cell growth, exfoliate dead skin, reduce swelling, and offer a number of essential minerals which absorb through the skin. I find they work best in eliminating blackheads. Mix some sea salt in (organic) honey. Gently scrub this wonderful exfoliant onto your nose. Cleanse, rinse, and dry as usual. Then, dissolve some sea salt in water and apply it to the nose as an overnight toner. As the toner dries, it may leave your skin feeling itchy. Try your best to not scratch. When you rinse your face in the morning, you will notice how significantly reduced your pores are and how brightened your skin is without those nasty blackheads.
Traveling and cannot carry on your liquid cleanser?
Pack oatmeal.
Oatmeal also has anti-inflammatory properties that help relieve redness and soothe dry skin. It also provides a gentle exfoliation. Best of all, oatmeal is high in antioxidants, which protects you from free radicals. Take a handful of original oatmeal and run it through water with your fist closed. Squeeze your hand a couple times to extract a milky substance. Apply this liquid onto your face. Then, gently scrub the oatmeal flakes all over your face, avoiding eye areas. Rinse thoroughly with cold water. Your skin will become noticeably smoother and hydrated.
Dry skin?
Hydrate with a yogurt mask.
Natural, plain yogurt contains lactic acid, which softens the skin, brightens complexion, reduces redness, and extremely hydrates the skin. Cleanse your face as usual. Then, liberally apply yogurt all over the face, avoiding eye areas. Let dry for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. Your skin will appear baby soft, especially with daily use.
Looking like a zombie?
Reduce your dark circles with aloe vera.
Aloe vera contains vitamins A, C, and E. Vitamin E will penetrate your skin with powerful antioxidants and will lubricate the delicate eye area, help wrinkles appear less noticeable, and help prevent the formation of new wrinkles. Before bedtime, apply aloe vera to your eye areas. If you accidentally get some aloe vera in your eyes, it will sting. A lot. But, the irritation will go away. If this is a constant issue, consider discontinuing this treatment. An equally inexpensive alternative would be to break open vitamin E capsules and apply the gel onto your dark circles. Note that there are even more natural methods to remedy dark circles. Get your beauty sleep! Don’t strain your eyes; make sure you take frequent breaks when working in front of a monitor.
As evident in my comments, I have tested all of the above solutions and they have all worked wonders for me. May you experience similar outcomes! Enjoy your beautiful skin. And remember, there is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness. Smile! :)
Protected: My Best Friend’s Wedding
Recommendations: Forever 21 Dresses
I’m not a girly girl. I prefer casual and comfy clothes – jeans with a fun top. But ever since Forever 21 opened shop at my nearest mall, I fell in love with dresses. I appreciate their versatile collection; I can find something for friend gatherings, formal occasions, and even work attire. And all at a very affordable price. Below are my favorites:
This one shoulder dress is perfect for a day out exploring the city. Fitting for a long walk, but not strenuous activities. This dress will always be dear to me because when my boyfriend saw me in it, he told me I looked beautiful. For the very first time. Yes, this comment waited three years. Clearly, we do not throw compliments at each other often.
Friday movie nights? Birthday bash? This chambray dress is perfect for a date with friends. Throw on a matching jacket for colder evenings. Pictured here was me at my friend’s birthday party and later, with my sister in Miami.
This is your everyday dress. Appropriate as a work outfit, but playful enough for coffee dates. Here, I kept it simple with a neutral hat (and fun shades I borrowed from my niece :P) for a quick cruise on the river.
Being an elegant lady in red doesn’t have to cost a fortune. I bought this dress for less than ten dollars! The cut is flattering and is casual enough for daytime but paired with appropriate accessories, it can be glammed up for the evening.
This was the first dress I bought from Forever 21. A more colorful version to your LBD. Pair with a black vest for formal occasions. I wore this dress to a concert and to my boyfriend’s graduation.
It seems I have a love affair with asymmetrical dresses. (I’ve always liked things off centered, peculiar, crooked.) They’re perfect casual cuts but can also step up to the occasion for formal events. I wore this dress to my friend’s green-themed wedding.
A Personal Mission Statement
My friend asked me which occurrence I would consider my happiest moment, whether past, present, or future. I immediately envision the typical occasions in which we often think with merriment – the wedding, the birth of our first child, seeing our child succeed in life, etc. But isn’t it depressing to think there’s a definitive moment in which we are happiest? When that moment passed, what do we have to look forward to? So I answered, “The day I die and look back with contentment on how I have lived.” There is much to accomplish in life and to die of old age with no regrets would be my ultimate form of happiness.
She then asked me about my personal mission. I couldn’t answer her. I knew I needed to write one after reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People but I haven’t been inspired. The task of writing all your life goals onto a concrete piece of paper seemed daunting. I returned the question to her and she answered, simply, “To be happy.” While that is a valid mission, I felt it lacked specifics. First of all, what is happiness? How do we achieve it?
But, this entry isn’t about defining an abstract. Simply, I will tackle the challenge of writing my personal mission:
Career/Work Fulfillment.
- Plan tomorrow’s work today
- Never fear mistakes. Fear, instead, the inability to correct mistakes.
- Listen twice as much as speaking
Education. Learning is a lifetime process. It does not stop with a degree. It is not confined to an institution. Everyday, we learn through others and through reading. My personal goals in education are:
- exercise the mind daily with brain teasers
- continue weekly article critiques
- read 50 books a year
- nurture creativity through DIY projects (at least once per month)
Leisure. All work and no play makes for a dull individual. Play, however, needs to be selective and cognitively enriching. I am a fan of word games and complex puzzles. But let’s not limit myself to only these options. Expand leisure:
- continue to write fictions
- continue to blog and podcast
- relearn the violin
- learn the piano
Health. This perhaps is my weakness. I have a poor immune system. In all honesty, I’m physically quite fragile. Thus, it is important that I abide to the following terms:
- take vitamin supplements daily
- eat three meals a day, including breakfast
- exercise on a regular basis
- limit eating out to once per week
- continue trying to gain weight (though it feels like an impossibility)
Family & Friends. Do not be quick to judge or give first impressions. Do not make conclusions from hearsay prior to meeting the person. Be dependable. Responsible. Caring. Be open-minded.
Love. To my life partner, I promise:
- to always support your dreams
- to build a loving and constructive nest for our children
- to never take you for granted
- to be your rock and to lean on you
Responsibility toward the next generation:
- leave the world a better place than when I entered it
- contribute to society through cognitive research
To my children, nieces and nephews I promise:
- to be the bad cop when necessary
- to be a loving, authoritative figure
- to provide enriching and educational resources aimed at the healthy development of the individual
- to always establish a nourishing and constructive environment
Overall, I wish to be a conscientious individual who possesses great critical thinking and compassion.
Note: revisit my mission statement monthly. Never lose sight of my values.
Protected: Being a Researcher
Dearest Love
Dearest Love,
I don’t hesitate to counter your opinions. Neither do I hesitate in pointing out your flaws. Sometimes, I ruminate your mistakes like a broken record. In many ways, I am not girlfriend material.
Yet.
You think I’m funny, even when I’m not trying to be. You put up with my crankiness, which comes twice a day when I get hungry. You’re patient. You’re willing to work on your imperfections, which is a tenacity many don’t have, and something I admire you for. I often joked that you’re arrogant with your little successes, but in fact, you demonstrated great humility in acknowledging your weaknesses and strengthening them each day. You’re honest with me, and I value your opinion more than you know. When I like a certain dish, you purposefully eat less from it. When I dislike an entree, you eat more of it. You always save the best for me.
Our love story began with a level of comfort that was almost unexciting. No adrenaline rush. No electric shock. But this comfortableness was reassuring. It established a wonderful foundation for trust and love. Sometimes, while we’re strolling hand-in-hand, I couldn’t help but ponder marriage life and conclude it wouldn’t be much different to what we have now.
I asked you directly if you would pamper me even when I’m being unreasonable. You answered yes. [Readers, please be my witness.]
You’ve obtained my parents’ permission. We have found the perfect ring. A new chapter is about to ensue.
Love, promise me this:
When I lose sight of my goals, remind me.
When I no longer resemble the girl you fell in love with, inform me.
Because I want us to have forever.
Sincerely,
Em.
Josh Groban Concert
I first heard Groban’s powerful voice on the radio singing “To Where You Are”, around the time when my brother’s death still imprints a fresh wound on us. To put simply, the song hit home for me. I love that Groban infuses heart and soul into his music and there is always a meaningful story behind his lyrics. He completely won me over with his “Awake” album. Unfortunately, I’ve always been out of town whenever he performs in Minnesota. This year, I didn’t want to let the chance slip away again and thus chased him to Philadelphia. Two amazing hours of powerful songs and surprising humor! I recorded as much as I could, but my battery gave up toward the end and I had to resort to a camera for the last few footage. My advance apologies for the lack in video quality!
View clips at TkN’s Youtube
Looking Back
I often look back at eighth grade and call it my turning point. In History, we were learning about the Revolutionary War and I exclaimed to myself (and a few close friends) that I was fighting my own revolutionary war. It was an internal battle. My mother was hospitalized at the time. I had to step up to the plate. Had to fill some big shoes. But this entry won’t focus on the home front. I’m just going to discuss my academic life.
English. We were asked to read aloud, each student one short paragraph. When it was my turn, the d-word was boldly printed in the text. I looked up to my teacher and asked if I could skip the profanity. She told me, “Just read it.” I was always taught to respect authority. But since that moment, she lost my respect. She wasn’t fit to be a teacher. She lacked compassion. She also lacked competence. Her grammar was atrocious. When we were reading Anne Frank’s diary, she assigned us a project that blew everyone’s mind – design a concentration camp. Some guys actually enjoyed the lack of writing involved and took creative liberty with their Legos pieces. I saw some impressive models, all with gas chambers. My group of friends and I did not turn in the assignment. We instead went to the principal’s office and got our teacher fired.
The rest of my academic story is less exciting. :P
In seventh grade, I was recommended by my Math teacher to skip ahead. The paperwork did not fall through and I ended up taking the same courses as my peers. But I was “special” from the first day. My teacher called on me often to solve algebraic expressions. I always won her weekly awards and was the student she honored at our year-end ceremony. She recruited me to join Math Counts and I finished top 10 in the state. This was something my belated brother was always proud of. But looking back, I regretted my lack of preparations. I could have gone on to national. It was just Algebra. I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Scott’s teaching style. I used her class materials when I later tutored a college student in Algebra.
In Science, my notebook was often passed around as an exemplar of perfect note taking. The summer before, I spent days perfecting my handwriting and my teacher often commented my penmanship with admiration. She wrote in my yearbook to send her snail mails sometimes. I never got around to that but we did exchange a few emails. I don’t recall much from Science aside from lots of episodes of Bill Nye.
History has always been my least favorite course. Memorizing dates and events never appealed to me. My brother promised that one day, I will appreciate History. That day has yet to come. I did enjoy reciting the preamble to the Constitution from memory though. My teacher even challenged me to recite it backward. I did. Looking back, I realized how the challenge undermines the significance of the original task. We had a student teacher later that year. She asked my help in writing our exam. I ended up knowing 70% of the content before opening our exam booklet. lol.
I took French despite the practicality gained from knowing Spanish. I felt it was a more beautiful language. We kept a portfolio of our writings and projects – tools we designed ourselves to master the vocabulary and grammar. My teacher kept my portfolio as a model to her thesis. She promised to return it via post. She never did. :(
Gym. I was never athletic. Imagine my shock when our gym teacher acknowledged me at the year-end ceremony as the girl who always gave her all. I gave my prize – football tickets – to those who actually cared about the sport. Somehow, I always have an affinity to coaches. They say they appreciate my positive energy and cheerful smiles.
In Orchestra, I belonged to a strings quartet and we would play at special events, i.e. award ceremonies. It was with this quartet that I learned to play “The Lovers’ Waltz”. I hope one day I could play this song as eloquently as I did back then.
On top of the regular course load, I was part of the Talented and Gifted (TAG) group. We participated in activities like Mock Trials and Destination Imagination (formerly known as Odyssey of the Mind). I was always the prosecuting attorney in Mock Trials. My friends all thought I should grow up to become a lawyer. I was easily stern, professional, and took the wits away from the defendant during cross examinations. My father advised me against the profession, however. He said that if I become a lawyer I might one day unknowingly and successfully defend a guilty client. I agreed with him. With Destination Imagination, I loved that all our skits incorporated my culture. One time, we even dressed a male classmate (two years younger than us and with a small build) in my pink dress from third grade. He probably wore it better than me. haha.
It’s interesting now to see where everyone ended up. The most promising female in our class went onto acting. She had minor roles on TV, is living in LA as a waitress waiting to be discovered. The brightest male student graduated from directing school and grew a beard. I always thought they’d end up together. They didn’t. The kid who dressed up as a girl grew muscles and is in grad school. The girl no one really thought was smart is now in law school. The girl who aspired to become an architect is in grad school for Biology. The sweetest girl followed her mother’s footsteps and became a teacher. A bitter one with sarcastic humor and often frequent bars. No one grew up to become who we thought they would. Me? I was never certain. I never gave anyone a solid answer when asked what I want to be when I grow up. I didn’t know. My wise friend said, “At least you know that you don’t know. Some spend their lives thinking they know but are in fact living a lie.”
I lived in my present moment, overcoming one hurdle at a time. But I also formed unrealistic goals (like striving for straight A+’s). One thing I never did was make hasty decisions. In fact, I might even deliberate too long. This explains why I double majored – I couldn’t settle with one. This explains why I looked for a job though I knew I won’t be stopping with my bachelors. I bought time to explore my options, to ascertain my pursuit.
I didn’t want to live a lie.
