February 2012
17 posts
Another lazy weekend
Friday
Nothing like spending Friday night vchatting with your boyfriend to watch movie and play words-with-friends on your iPhone til 1AM. We watched Tower Heist with Ben Stiller, because we were looking for a light / comedy movie. It was better than expected (although definitely at-home movie versus theater)! Since I’m going to be gone the next two weekends, wanted to spend some time :)
...
(Un)satisfied?
This week has been such an odd week - for me personally. Work-wise, it was fantastically chill; social life-wise, it was also good. I went to happy hour both yesterday and today (Wed & Thur) to hang out with friends, had dinner with Jen yesterday to finally catch up about our respective lives… was scheduled to have dinner with Katie today to catch up - but had to postpone due to her work...
Nothing more awesome than a chill work-week :)
I love 4-day work weeks! The week just flies! I love planning trips!
3/2 weekend - I’m going to Vegas with the girls for Steph’s birthday. First Vegas trip of 2012 :) Next one already booked for EDC weekend - first weekend in June.
You’ll be missed Julia ;)
3/9 weekend - LA to visit my sister :) Also just found out coincidentally that Jen and Candy are also going to be there...
Happy 222!
Not official anniversary by any means, but exactly one year ago marks the date that Andy and I met :) I don’t count anniversary until June-ish… but still thought 222 was a cool / memorable date!
Lazy 3-day weekend... life of a bum.
Can’t believe that I wasted an entire day doing nothing today - but so nice once awhile :) silly how much 1 day can make such a big difference. Absolutely love 3 day weekends! Too bad we don’t have another holiday until Memorial day… but thankfully I’m planning on taking 3-days off in April to go visit Andy in Hong Kong.
Saturday - had lunch with old high school friend...
Smartest puppy ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=P9Fyey4D5hg
I love him! so smart!
Random (but funny) V-day related graphs (courtesy...
Bestest weekend :)
This weekend started out a bit hectic, but ended up being one of the most “normal” and relaxing weekends ever!
Friday night, I went to Helen’s birthday dinner at Mas Sake in the Marina. I’ve never been - but such a fun atmosphere! It reminds me of a Japanese Hooters place - the restaurant is totally dark, waitresses are wearing club outfits, and they play club-music all...
“Quarter-life Crisis” It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start...”
– http://coolquotescollection.com/6775/quarter-life-crisis-it-is-when-you-stop-going-along-with-the-crowd-and-start (via hariwon)
Is it because I’m 25? Or is it because the statement below is true? As I was reading this, I had so many of those “ah-ha” moments….! Not sure if...
Hazard of the Trade: Bankers' Health
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204062704577223623824944472.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories#articleTabs%3Darticle
“Add investment banking to the list of things that could be dangerous to your health.
A University of Southern California researcher found insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders and an explosive temper in some of the roughly two dozen...
"Just Because"
… Not sure what kind of flowers these are, but very pretty nonetheless! :)
Must.Be.Healthy.
I just bought a new scale, and it finally came! My work pants have been feeling… extra snug lately.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KXZ808/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
I’m totally loving my free trial of Amazon Prime, and 2-day shipping :) Going to weigh myself tomorrow morning, and goal is to lose 10 pounds… slowly - 1 pound/week for 10 weeks? Think that is do-able! For...
The future
Today, someone asked me - “Where do you want to be in 10 years?”
My answer - “I’m not sure”
At what point are you supposed to know what you want to do / where you want to be in 10 years? I feel like college never teaches you that after graduation, you have to have your life figured out!
Am I supposed to know where I want to be, and work backwards? Or is it that...
Hilarious link - flip side →
Here’s what happens when female / male roles are reversed at a bar ;)
I wonder if this is how guys feel :)
Marriage is for rich people
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/marriage-is-for-rich-people/?ref=business
A new report, by Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project, looked at the decline in marriage rates over the last 50 years and found a strong connection to income. Dwindling marriage rates are concentrated among the poor — the very people whose living standards would be most improved by having...
Boyfriend comes in exactly one week from today! Can’t wait! xoxo
January 2012
10 posts
Pregnant and Fired
As a fellow woman, who plans to one-day (in the far-future) be pregnant with my own child(ren), this “opinion page” article in the NY times made me quite sad. Essentially, this article talks about how the current law doesn’t necessarily require employers to provide special accommodations for pregnant women, and as a result, these women are often fired and / or pushed out.
I...
Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
warning: I swear I’m not depressed! I just love articles that talk about regrets, give advice to the younger generation, etc… so that I can learn and hope to live a very fulfilling life :) For me, the worst thing I can do to myself is wonder “What if?”
I need to know that I tried my best, whether it’s academics, relationships, career… if I gave it my all and I...
Here's to a quarter century~
What do Christmas and women have in common?
…that no one wants them after the 25th… LOL.
I celebrated my 25th birthday this past weekend.
Friday
Friday started out wonderful, with my surprise present (camera) from the boyfriend… just in time to take photos of weekend festivities! Unfortunately, weather was TERRIBLE in SF, but my girlfriends and I already bought pre-sale...
Catching up with old friends
Yesterday, I drove down to Redwood City to have dinner with Michelle, Jonjon, Peter and Mark at Lobster Shack. I wish I took a photo of my lobster roll, but I inhaled it way too quickly (as expected).
I literally haven’t seen Michelle in years… so it was so good to see them! Michelle & Jonjon recently just bought a house in Redwood City, so I also got to check that out as well. I...
Nothing like a surprise in the office (on a...
I lost my camera two weeks ago (only a year-old!), so I was pretty bummed out… especially because it was me being careless :( As a result, during my past weekend trip to NYC, we had to resort to my (not so wonderful) blackberry and Julia’s camera. To my surprise, I received a package this morning at work (nicely wrapped!) that got me smiling~
Thanks to the bestest boyfriend <3
MLK weekend in NYC
I took a quick weekend trip to NYC to visit Julia and Pouya for the weekend. Unfortunately, the only full-day I had in NYC happened to be one of the COLDEST day ~20 degrees and Julia was slightly feeling under the weather.
With that said, we still made the most of it… and what I mean by that is, we still ate a ton!
I arrived there Friday night, got settled into Julia’s apt, and...
Life lessons - words from the wise
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/health/elderly-experts-share-life-advice-in-cornell-project.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
I thought this was a really good article on life lessons… some of my favorite excerpts below to keep me motivated:
Eventually, most of us learn valuable lessons about how to conduct a successful and satisfying life. But for far too many people, the learning comes too...
Continuing my 2011 reflection...
Inspired by Julia, I’ve decided to add one more component to my 2011 reflection to capture new things I did in 2011 (in no particular order):
Left GS and started a new job :) much happier with life…
Bought my first classic Chanel <3 my beauty
Took a 12-hour spontaneous trip to SoCal and pulled an all-nighter partying it up ;)
EDC 2011 - started listening to EDM… (I’m...
It's a scary world out there
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19648387
May 2011 - Michelle Le went missing… and just two months after, they found her body (fortunately and unfortunately). For the sake of her family / friends, I think it’s better to have closure (although this type of closure is never good obviously), but I can’t imagine what it must be like to wonder every single day about her...
Beginning of a new year - 2012
Let’s recap 2011 - overall, 2011 was very good to me :) Lots of traveling, quitting GS and starting a new job, and meeting Andy.
January:
I co-celebrated my 24th birthday at Roe with Emily for her 25th birthday. Nice small dinner with friends beforehand.. nothing too crazy or fancy. Another year older, hopefully another year wiser :)
Birthday girls <3 my biggie
With my roomies...
December 2011
2 posts
If there is ONE thing that I really want, it’s to have a job where there is a clear “vacation” timeline that is MY (alone) time. I hate that nothing (ie. vacation) is ever certain in my industry, and always pending on SOMETHING. It drives me absolutely crazy that it’s so hard to make plans (especially with someone else).
T-3 days til Korea… but I’m still...
Life is about the choices we make... each day.
Almost a year into my new job, I’m already faced with a new challenge.. why is it that I’m only “completely” calm/stable when I secure my next job, but as soon as I start my next gig, I’m already thinking about the NEXT thing… what am I trying to achieve? … that is the million dollar question!
Do I go to business school? Do I move to Asia?
… so...
November 2011
4 posts
When everything was simple..
What I really miss is waking up on Christmas morning, going over to my aunt’s house, and taking millions of family photos. I totally took it for granted back then, because now with my parents in Korea, it’s almost impossible for all of us to spend a single holiday together. Since my cousin Monique is married and my sister is engaged, upcoming holidays will be split too! Sigh* I know...
Thankful...
I really do have a lot to be thankful for.
My parents - yes, most Asian parents (like mine) really did give up everything to come to the US for the “American Dream.” In all honesty, I really would attribute all my success (current and future) to my parents. I definitely would not be where I am today without them. Instead of buying anything for themselves, they sacrificed everything...
Sometimes I think about how wonderful it would be to be a bum/nomad (not literally), travel around the world, be free-spirited, no strings attached.
72 hours flew by...
Halloween weekend was great! Andy came for another… 72 hours from HK. Seriously, only person I know in the world that would do international flights for 72-quality-hours with ME!
Last time he was here in June, it was a super fun (but packed) weekend given Vegas so we wanted a more “normal” weekend this time around.
His flight was delayed unfortunately, so we got back around...
October 2011
7 posts
What's the right balance?
What’s the right balance between enjoying the present while still preparing for the future?
Growing up in an Asian household, it’s been drilled into my head: “Work hard now (while you’re young), and enjoy/have a comfortable life in the future”
I think that’s part of the mentality that initially brought me into banking. Work 100 hours while I’m young...
Happiness
As foolish as it sounds, once upon a time in college, I thought that my happiness would be largely dependent on my success, and that my success would be largely dependent on my career (including prestige, compensation, and how others view my role and career). I know it sounds silly and completely naive, but at one point, I thought that I would really be happy and that my life would be set once I...
In no particular order... (someday before I die)
I want to:
- go parasailing (where there is a gorgeous view)
- go skydiving
- backpack through Southeast Asia / Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Bali, Boracay, Singapore)
- visit Australia and play with a kangaroo!
- visit Eastern Europe (incl Prague)
- visit Canada
- vacation in Cabo ;)
- live/work in Asia for a year or two
I’m so restless! I feel like I’ve almost been programmed...
Productivity!
I finally got around to downloading and installing Rosetta Stone Chinese! First step into… being productive! Not to mention, I’ve been sick and have been at home all weekend too.
Notes for me: http://www.wix.com/larzrox/china/page-2
First couple days of Rosetta Stone Chinese… pretty slow progress… Chinese is definitely a lot harder than Korean. But it’s fun and I...
50/50 - Life really is beautiful (and sometimes...
I just came back from watching 50/50 with my friend Teddy.
Quick movie recap: Based on a true story, it’s about a 27-year old guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is diagnosed with cancer. The story is his journey through weekly chemo treatments, daily internal battles as he tries to maintain a normal lifestyle. Through it all, it shows how true friendship (and love) can be so beautiful and...
In a funk...
I deactivated facebook over the weekend. Me.. the biggest FB-freak of all time. I deactivated it for multiple reasons.. (i) stop wasting time / do something more productive.. like pick up a hobby!, (ii) wanted to be more private (and stop having random people stalk my life), and (iii) stop stalking other people’s lives… Although it really is a great way to stay connected with people, I...
September 2011
1 post
Sick and missing home :(
No matter how old you get, I feel like I’ll always be a big baby when I’m sick. All the other times, I feel so “grown-up” and independent, especially being away from my parents (physically) and being financially independent as well. It’s not SO bad this time around (unlike when I had pneumonia), but I still miss being babied, taken care of, and having someone make you...
August 2011
4 posts
Time flies by..
I can’t believe today is the last day of August! 3/4 way done with 2011.. this summer was rather very eventful! In June, I had looked forward to so many things:
May (Memorial Day Wknd) - in LA with Julia and Pouya. Unfortunately, I had to work all weekend :( But still got to hang out with Julia and Pouya before they took off for NYC!
June - Vegas and EDC. Vegas with my girls and GS boys...
Back From Much Needed Vacation...
Tuesday the 30th… I was hoping that this day would never come. Exactly 8 days later, I’m back where I started… in my office in SOMA. It sucks that when you’re having so much fun, time just flies by! Let’s recap my past 8 days (more for me.. so I can remember every detail). I feel like all I did was EAT.. (not complaining though).
I flew out Friday redeye, and landed...
D-Day!!!
Finally - I’ve seriously been counting down to this day for the past two months! I can’t believe it’s finally here. This week especially has been the worst. My MD is on vacation and the office has been relatively quiet. I can’t complain - but it was a good (slow) week all week! But as a result, I’ve just been more antsy for vacation!
I really never thought that I...
Life is beautiful
My first blog was a livejournal back in 2002. I used to love blogging, but somewhere down the road, I stopped. I stopped because (i) I got busier, (ii) people stopped blogging, (iii) I didn’t want to divulge my life story to the public and the list goes on and on. I’m really glad that I kept my livejournal all these years though, because I get to see (and read) about how much...