Another year older...

I must be getting pretty old to feel so happy when someone thinks I'm younger than I really am.  The other day, I was talking to my co-worker about my upcoming birthday:

Co-Worker: So how old are you going to be? 20?
Me: No...22....
Co-Worker: What?  You don't even look 21!

I know most people will think the early 20s is a person's prime age, but I think there's nothing to look forward to after your 21st birthday.  Everyone looks forward to their sweet 16 or turning 18 and 21, but after that it's just down-hill.  Haha!  Well...then again, there is one thing I am looking forward to, and that is getting married and starting a family.  But other than that, I just think about how old I'm getting.  If only I could be forever 21 =P

I remember when I was in middle school, I always wanted to be older so I can drive, wear make-up, and  gain some independence.  Now that I'm more mature and reflect about the past, I laugh at how naive I was.  Getting older just comes with more responsibility and stressing over bills, bills, and more bills.  Everything is money!  Food, clothes, rent, school, etc.  And in order to pay for those bills, you have to start working more and it's just stressing.  So girls (and guys), enjoy your youth while you still can!

But for today, I will push aside my worries and relax.  I need a mini vacation...I feel like I've been working almost everyday!  My weak little body is going to break down soon.

However, it's not all about me--my parents' anniversary is also on my birthday.  So, happy 23rd anniversary mom and dad.  =)

<3,
Juju

Lost my motivation...

I'm back! Yes...I'm alive...I just haven't been motivated to blog lately.  On top of that, I haven't really had much to blog about.  Since I'm done with school (for now) and summer's rolled around, I've been living like a couch potato.  I think it's because I'm just old and cynical x.x I gots no energy left!

Especially when I hang around with my younger cousins.  My extended family from Texas visited today and I'm always excited to play with the kids.  I try to cherish the moments I spend with them while they're still young because who knows what'll happen in the future....they'll grow older and act too cool to hang out with weak, boring ol' me.  T.T

Here are some pics of my cousins (sorry for the poor quality...my cellphone camera isn't too great):

This is 4 year old Alan.  He's grown SOOO much bigger than when I last saw him!  I think he can be a football player when he grows up...look at them muscles! =P

This was Alan 4 years ago.  Isn't he adorable? I just want to pinch his cheeks and squeeze him.  I, on the other hand, look completely gross -.- I guess not much has changed for me in the past 4 years... haha!

Diane, Alan, me, and Megan <3  I think I need to steal some of Megan's chubby cheeks so I can look cute like her too.

I haven't seen my family on my mom's side for a long time due to unnecessary drama among the adults.  When I saw one of my aunts, the first thing she asked me was, "So...are you married yet?" I wasn't sure if she was joking so I just gave her an awkward smile and said, "Um...no...I'm only 21."  It's funny how a lot of people who I haven't seen in awhile ask me this question right off the bat.  I know there's probably a bunch of young couples who have married around my age but sorry folks, marriage is not on my agenda at the moment.  I kind of need a job first so I can afford simple everyday necessities...I told my older cousin this and she was like, "Yeah that's right.  The guy has to be able to afford things too.  [looks at my 11 year old boy cousin] No money, no lady!" He gave her this funny look that said, "Uh...girls are gross anyway." 

I'm still amazed by how younger married couples can manage to survive.  I think it's great that they're able to start a living sooner but personally, I'm not in any hurry to get married.  You have the rest of your life to live with your significant other.  Right now, I still think there's much for me to learn and grow before I embark on that journey. 

Anyways...enough of all this talk about marriage. 

The other day I went with Truyen to 85 degrees and tried their new "Pink Diamond" strawberry and chocolate mousse cake.  I remember Jackie saying it was delicious so I decided to try it out myself.

I always love the presentation of all their cakes!  It makes it so hard to resist trying everything!

I thought it was very chocolate-dominated.  Personally, I'm a strawberry girl so I wish there was more of a strawberry taste to it.  Truyen liked it more than I did, especially since he's a chocolate man.  Eating this mousse cake reminded me of our usual shared ice cream combination: chocolate and strawberry.  Does that mean we're a chocoberry?  O.o

Afterwards, we browsed around H-Mart and were greatly amused by these:

We decided that the car is Truyen, the panda is me, and the monkey is Diane. Bwuaha.

I think I am too easily amused by things...well, I gotta remain happy somehow.  Growing older comes with too many responsibilities and it's starting to wear me out.  I need to grow stronger!  Rawr.  xD

<3,
Juju

Daddy's Day

Wow, it's been awhile since I last blogged!  Many things occurred in the past few weeks (the most recent one is I finally graduated from college!) and I will probably blog more about it later when I have more time.  I just wanted to write a quick post dedicated to my daddy since it's Father's Day and all.  I find it amusing (and a little embarrassing) that I still address my dad as "daddy."  He also refers to himself as "daddy" whenever he's not speaking to me in Vietnamese; otherwise, he would call himself "Ba."  I think no matter how old I get, I will always acknowledge him as "daddy," not because I'm still very much child-like at heart or because I'm "Daddy's little girl," but because it's something that's natural to me.  Yes, there are many times that he still treats me like a little girl (I'm sure other parents do too), but I always remind myself that it's because he cares for me and my sister.  So to show a little appreciation, I bought him a little tea set from Mitsuwa:

I forgot that he already had a teapot at home, but he still liked this one because of its' intricate details and craftsmanship.  So yay!  You can also see my fish tank in the picture where my emo fish lives.  I call it emo fish because it always abuses itself by banging against the aquarium glass.  So if you observe it more closely, you can see part of its' skin peeled off and its' terribly damaged fins.  I would take a picture of it upclose, but it would probably disturb you all.  Everytime it bangs against the glass, my dad would get frustrated and yell, "DUMMY FISH!" in a Vietnamese accent.  Then he would just stand there glaring at it, as if that would teach it a lesson. 

Alright, gotta sleep early tonight since I'm waking up super early tomorrow to head off to Disneyland with the Truyen!  Speaking of Disney, look at what I had for breakfast this morning:

A Mickey-shaped omelette that was too cute to eat!  Excuse the deformed left ear haha.  I tried making two omelettes, but the second one kind of exploded...well, not exploded...the yolk just bursted so I decided to scramble it instead.

Okie dokie, good night~

<3,
Juju

Memorial Weekend

Hey everyone ~ Hope you all had a fun, relaxing Memorial weekend!  The weekend went by super fast for me, even though I didn't really have any plans.  Maybe it's because I worked Friday to Sunday.  I didn't really get to relax until Monday rolled around. 

Nhakhanh finally came over and visited!  It's funny how we only live ten minutes apart and yet we only see each other once every couple months or so.  Why are you hiding from me woman?! =P We decided to fulfill our dream of making cream puffs (the idea was originally thought of back in December!  Our dream came true after half a year...haha!).  Well, honestly Diane did most of the work.  She was our little baking slave mwuaha =P

Here I am stuffing them cream puffs with yummy custard!  I HAD a picture of Nhakhanh too but she refuses to let me post it because she is a stinker.  Haha! J/k N., you know I love you.

 We devoured these babies like there was no tomorrow!

Today I woke up kind of late...I guess I just didn't want the weekend to end =(  I knew it was going to be a long day so I prepared myself by eating breakfast for once:

Mumsy made some delicious "Vietnamese pizzas"

After class, I met up with Kim Pham (I told you I'd give you a shout-out!).  Dude, we haven't seen each other since middle school!  That's almost 8 years ago!  Omg I feel super old all of a sudden.  And we meet up the week right before I graduate too...oh well, better than never right?  We literally talked for an hour (there was soo much to catch up on).

Later, I met up with Jackie, Jackie's friend (I forgot her name...), and Truyen so we can all go pick up our cap and gowns.  I didn't even recognize Truyen at first because he was wearing these super reflective, flashy shades that he bought in Vegas over the weekend.  Apparently, he won--are you ready for this?--almost $900 playing poker!  I'm still shocked and amazed~ Guess no one was able to read his [sings] p-p-p-poker face.  Haha, like that Lady Gaga reference?  Haha...ha...Okay I'm lame.

The line to pick up our cap and gowns was long!  But time passed a bit faster since Truyen shared his exciting weekend in Vegas.  I seriously think everyone was in Vegas for Memorial weekend!  When we received our tickets and gown, Truyen was not pleased:

Basically his ticket said "nursing science" (even though he is actually a criminology major) and he was supposed to wear a salmon pink tassel LOL (I hope it's okay that I post this ^^;;)

He exclaimed, "There is NO way I am wearing a pink tassel at graduation" so he bought a royal blue one that signifies the bio sci majors.  I, on the other hand, absolutely love the pink tassel so I stole it ehehe.  I can't believe graduation is coming closer and closer...I'm trying to make the most of this last week and savor the moment.  I can't believe I will no longer be walking on Ring Road or strolling through Aldrich Park...It's amazing how four years really fly by.

On my way home, I stopped by Target to purchase the "Alice in Wonderland" Blu-Ray combo pack.  I love the cover--it's so colorful and whimsical.  Can't wait to watch the movie soon! 

I feel drowsy all of a sudden.  It's probably because I haven't been getting much sleep lately...but I can't sleep until I watch tonight's "Glee" episode!  Yay gleeks~

<3,
Juju

Pelican Hills Resort

Yesterday I went over to the Pelican Hills Resort in Newport Beach to help set-up for the BBW corporate conference.  We got to assemble mini gift bags and sampled all the upcoming new fragrances for Fall!  I'm super excited and can't wait for them to hit the shelves soon =)

During our fifteen minute break, Leslie and I explored the resort.  This place is absolutely BREATH-TAKING!  The view is incredibly gorgeous and the architecture inside is soooo fancy smancy.  Man, I wish I could escape reality and stay there.  My own little mini paradise...right by the beach!

This is the main hotel lobby

The view from the balcony!  The beach was so close yet so far...!

I want your purse Leslie!

Their pool was huge!

And don't even get me started on their bathroom...this place was heaven! haha

It was fun meeting some of the BBW corporate team members.  Everyone was so nice =)

Afterwards, I hung out a bit with Truyen.  Guess what I saw at Hmart? 

It's Taeyang! x)

They had water bottles with Big Bang members on them! ahaha I couldn't find TOP though...

I just had to take a picture with it (excuse my gross hair x.x)...too humorous!  Truyen is somewhere in the background rolling his eyes for sure =P

Speaking of Big Bang, I love this commercial they did for this phone:



I can't stop laughing whenever I watch this hehe

<3,
Juju

Tokidoki Love

So today I waited in line for 3 hours to meet Simone Legno, the artist and creator of the brand Tokidoki =) Man, I felt like such a nerd waiting in line all by myself while everyone had at least one other person to share their excitement with haha... but it was still fun.  He was signing autographs in Sephora over at South Coast Plaza.  I rushed over there after work--still in my apron and everything--and ended up being second to last in line so yay!  I thought he would've been gone by the time I was done with work x) So apparently you need to get a wristband in order to wait in line...and in order to get the wristband, you have to spend $25 in the new Tokidoki make-up collection.  So I decided to purchase this eyeshadow quad:

The Top View

I really like the green!  The colors are shimmery and pretty decent.  They don't have much staying power so you'll definitely need an eyeshadow primer...but they are actually more pigmented than I originally thought.  The packaging is simply ADORABLE, as with all other Tokidoki merchandise.  Yes, I'm one of those girls that fall head over heels over packaging (don't laugh at me Truyen!).  The only thing I thought could be improved is the mini brush.  To me, it is completely useless because it barely picks up any of the colors.  Also, having a mini mirror in the palette would be nice...it's not necessary, but it would be convenient whenever you want to do any touch-ups throughout the day.  OH!  I forgot to mention...(this is probably the main reason I bought this)...the palette comes with a Bastardino keychain!  It's one of my favorite Tokidoki characters...soooo adorable!  I still can't believe it's called "Bastardino" though...such a cute character with such a bizarre name lol

The whole make-up collection is indeed "criminally cute."  I love it all! =)

It was so fun meeting all the Tokidoki fans in line--everyone was so sweet and friendly.  I took some more random pictures while waiting:

There was a person who dressed up as Sandy

I love the cactus kitty!  I'm actually not sure what its' name is but I just call it cactus kitty x)

Apparently Simone wasn't just giving out autographs but also individual sketches of whatever Tokidoki character we liked!  I originally wanted him to draw Bastardino but instead I requested the cactus kitty because I thought it was cuter.  I kept debating if I wanted him to sketch it on my BBW apron or on the inside of my tokidoki purse...in the end, I asked him to sketch it on my apron because I felt like he would've had a wider canvas to work on. 

Here he is sketching Tsuru for a girl in front of me

lol when I showed him my apron, he asked me, "Wow, this is the first time someone asked me to draw on their apron!  Do you like to cook a lot?"  And I told him "Uhm...I actually have no idea how to cook...that is actually my work apron" and he gave me a funny crooked smile hehe  

Dude he is SO TALL.  He's not even standing up straight in this picture either because he had to lean a bit lower since I'm a short oompa loompa LOL.  But he was super sweet and down-to-earth.  And I love his thick Italian accent ahaha I can't believe he spent six hours meeting fans and sketching character requests straight through!  I heard he didn't take any breaks at all so it must've been equally tiring for him as it was for his fans...The first thing I said to him was, "How are your wrists holding up?  I hope they're not going to fall off soon" and he just laughed. 

So yeah!  I'm super happy now.  I don't think I will ever wear this apron because I'm too afraid that the sketch will fade away lol.  Maybe I should've asked him to sketch it on paper instead...oh well!

Afterwards, I went to go eat at Hmart with Diane.  I ordered the bugolgi tofu stew and she ordered some noodles (I forgot what the dish was called):

Sizzlin' hot!

I didn't get to try it but it looked yummy

It was sooo delicious!  Haven't had Korean food in awhile~

Now I'm so tired and full!  Gotta wake up early tomorrow for church and find Pelican Hills at Newport Beach so I can help set up for a corporate conference.  Dun dun dun...

<3,
Juju

Eventful Weekend

Warning: this is kind of a long post so don't read if you're tired, busy, or disinterested.  And if you're disinterested, why are you here in the first place...? O.o

Hey everyone! Hope your weekend was relaxing and fun. I know mine was! =)

On Friday, I was on a tea-hunting craze:

I went over to Mitsuwa to stock up on some more of my mashta green milk tea.  While I grabbed some of those, I noticed an interesting product next to it: Maxim's Green Tea latte.  Immediately I thought, "Green tea + coffee?  Interesting combination...must buy!"  I actually haven't tried it out yet but I will let you all know what I think of it later.  I wish Mitsuwa sold more of the strawberry kit kats...those were sooo delicious!  That's what you get for falling in love with a limited edition product...

Afterwards, I went over to get some boba at Lollicup.  I originally wanted taro milk tea but I decided to impulsively try the royal milk tea they had.  I'm not sure why I even did because I'm not a huge fan of the original milk tea since it's a bit too sweet for me.  But the royal milk tea was super delicious!  I think it might even be my new favorite *gasp* haha.  OH, since we're on the subject of tea, I wanted to say this before I forget: do not try the korean grapefruit tea at 85 degrees, unless you're a fan of bitter tea with chunky grapefruit skin.  I'm not sure if I got a bad batch, but that thing is just blech...never again!  >.<

Anyways, later that day I went to watch "Iron Man 2" with the sister.  I wish I re-watched the first one though so I could refresh my memory about the storyline but I pretty much got the gist of it.  At first, I thought it was going to be any other Hollywood action movie--a couple of gun shots here and a little bit of explosives there and bam!  Everyone's instantly awed by it.  I mean, yes there were some great action scenes (I think my favorite character is Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow!  I wish I was fierce and sexy like her =P) but I was hoping there would be a decent storyline with it as well.  And it turns out, there actually was!  I won't give anything away of course but overall, I enjoyed it--probably even more than the first one (gasp, what's this?  a sequel dominating the original? lol).  The only issue I had was it seemed a bit long...maybe it was because I was super tired that day but I kept slipping in and out of dreamland.

On Saturday morning, I helped Diane get ready for her Senior prom.  It took about an hour to do hair and make-up.  My main theme for her was a cute princess/dolly look.  Here's a picture of her final look (are you happy now Jackie?  You finally get to see her head LOL. UR!):

Since her dress already had shiny sparkles and her dolly eye make-up was boldly defined, I didn't want to add too many distracting accessories.  So she decided to just wear my red cherry necklace and my pink bow that I made =)

Close-up shot

I wanted to get a quick picture with her outside before I left for work hehe

Later that day, I came home early from work because they were cutting hours (AGAIN! >.<) and watched "Butterfly Lovers," the 2008 movie starring Wu Chun and Charlene Choi.

I mainly wanted to watch it because I was in the mood to watch a traditional Asian movie and I heard it had some martial arts in it.  And also, Wu Chun was in it.  haha!  I actually thought the movie was like a Chinese version of Romeo & Juliet.  It was sweet but I hate those tragic endings!  Call me a hopeless romantic but I like my happy endings, thank you very much.  I was inspired to sketch a picture based on this one depressing rainy scene in the movie:

It's been awhile since I've touched my sketch notebook so I felt a bit rusty...I'm still surprised I decided to add color to it since I hate messing up my sketches with color.  It's only because I suck at coloring so I always feel like it ruins my original work.  Note to self: work on color techniques and how to sketch hands so they don't look like weird mushy balls!

Last but not least, today I just went around with Dad and Diane.  We stopped by Fry's because they were having their 25th anniversary event and a bunch of blu-rays were on sale for $8!  But by the time we got there, everything was gone =( However, I did buy season 1 of "Glee" at Best Buy afterwards.  Gleeks unite!

My dad kept asking me if I wanted to eat ice cream all day.  And later, when my mom came home, she kept asking me the same thing too!  I don't know if they're trying to pamper me or get me fat...

Anyways, that was mainly my weekend.  I will stop ranting now because I'm afraid you've all fallen asleep... x)

<3,
Juju