Welcome 2011

I've been meaning to blog for a while. I had so much on my mind, such as reflection after an extraordinary year 2010 and new year resolutions, but since I just had my eye lasik treatment done 10 days ago, i had to limit my laptop usage.

I'm not usually too crazy about New Year resolutions. However, last year I had a few goals such as learning to play guitar and I actually achieved 90% of them so I've gained more faith in my ability to keep them now, and I want to set out some resolutions again for this year. Here they are:

• Finance: Save $6,000 (3 things I could do with this money) Q1-4
• Work: Get promoted to Manager level. Q1
• Beauty: Focus on skin. Keep up my daily routine and sleep early. Q1
• Knowledge: Read a book every 2 months. Q2-Q4
• Heath/fitness: Lose 3cm at waist. I'm at healthy weight right now; however, I have a terrible waistline compared to other parts of my body. Q2
• Entertainment: Travel to a country I've never been to and attend a live concert. Q3
• Make my life more meaningful outside of work & family. Q3
• Take action on my business/study plan. Q4

That's about it. I've got detailed plan and got started on half of this list already. Their start-dates are also divided by timeline so it's not all-at-once too intense at the beginning of the year. I will review this list every 3 months.

2011 will be another great year :-)

20 questions tag

Another random post.. just for fun!

1.Thing you cannot leave the house without: my phone
2.Favorite brand of makeup: L'Oreal because it's affordable, light and their skincare line is good too
3.Favorite flowers: many types of white flower such as jasmine, cereus, orchid, ect..
4.Fav clothing stores: Mo&Co, FCUK, Urban Outfitters, Victoria's Secrets
5.Fav perfume: i don't use perfume..
6.Heels or flats: heels for 90% of the time
7.Do you make good grades? yeah
8.Fav colors: purple, black, white, beige
9.Do you drink energy drinks? nope
10.Do you drink juice? yes, quite often
11.Do you like swimming? yes, but i don't like pool water in the city.. not very clean :(
12.Do you eat fries with a fork? not unless my hands are dirty :P
13.Whats your fav moisturizer? i'm not choosy, as long as it smells good and not too sticky. Current one is Deep Sleep by The Body Shop
14.Do you want to get married later on in life? i think so.. i'm game :-) even though i don't believe in marriage :P
15.Do you get mad easily? kind of.. still learning to control my temper
16.Are you into ghost hunting? nope, i did it before though.. was fun ^^
17.Any phobias? i don't know.. maybe
18.Do you bite your nails? no.. i don't like biting anything
19.Have you ever had a near death experience? not really.. do car accidents count?
20.Do you drink coffee? I love the taste but my head just can't handle it :(

3 good things

Today didn't exactly end like I had planned.. a little bit disappointed because someone didn't show up but it was still a good day. I need to list these things out to keep myself positive:

1. Got my eyes'2nd laser treatment and done with it. Now I can move on to lasik surgery finally. I need to get back to the hospital tomorrow to schedule my surgery and pay the fee though.
2. Attended an interesting sharing about NS strategy going forward in MBA class. Although it was quite short.
3. Went to tennis even though i was quite tired and feeling sick after the laser treatment. However, i think sweating helped me feel better.

That's about it for today. Tomorrow is gonna be a difficult day because I will have to turn down 2 trainings to focus on some urgent tasks and support the team to make sure our events are well-prepared.

Time to sleep. Waiting for a new youtube video so I can enjoy it while falling asleep but not sure if it would be uploaded anytime soon.

P.S. Wondering why I don't feel Christmasy at all.

new layout

it's been a year since I wrote something on this blog.. i thought the what's in my bag post was cute so i copied and pasted it here from my tumblr... Also changed the layout of this blog.. recently i started to be really into vintage stuff..

anyways.. it's been a while and i feel like writing here again.. looking for an outlet to my messed up life's ups and downs.. so much to write about and don't even know where to start..

how about today?

I got so upset over something so small quite early in the morning, and it kinda ruined my day. I got over it now, but it definitely frustrated me a lot at the time. The truth is, guys will always be guys. They will cheat because they can. The ability is in their blood.

Anyways, not good to get back to my favorite place to blog with such bad mood. Many good things happened today at work, such as my offer was accepted, everyone seemed to enjoy my sharing in the team meeting and we got a new male intern in our team. Can't believe we have a total of 8 people in our team now! Huge! The next 3 months is a big challenge for everyone and me. I look forward to not only surviving with the team but winning at least another award.

Ok, it's time to take a shower and do some reading. By the way, i'm getting way over-excited for my lasik eye surgery next week. I even submitted my leave request without any appointment from the doctor yet.

What's in my bag

• Small bottle of water
• Oral-B dental floss
• Gum or mint candies
• Key chain with room key, office key, ect..
• A wallet (cards & money)
• Iphone & Samsung S8300
• Back-up battery for Iphone
• Earphones
• Pens
• A planner
• USB
• Pink Ipod Shuffle 3rd generation
• A pair of sunglasses
• A gauze mask
• Eye drops for contact lens
• A scrunchie & Evita Peroni hair fork
• Vaseline, Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream (share 05), VS beauty rush lip gloss in Strawberry
• A pack of tissue
• A pack of Ritter Sport chocolate (cappuccino)

Hello world,

Finally a new entry huh. It's been a while. I've logged in this blog like 100 times but never finished writing anything. I've become so impatient with myself that..

"god, I loathe myself"

So much has happened. I've become part-time and currenlty working at 2 jobs. The new job is very exciting with new ideas, new plans, and new promises, so much to learn, so much to do, but so is the old one. And the current biggest challenge is to manage my time right, be more efficient so something gets done in the middle of all my juggling.

I started playing tennis again. Although only 2 times a week, it really helps keep me physically active.. all the sweats was worth the money :D.. and of course noone can live without music, i'm taking guitar lessons. Cool huh? :) I'm so excited about this and determined to practice until I can play and sing many songs at the same time. I was thinking about taking dance classes again, but changed my mind and chose guitar instead. I think it's the right choice. Knowing how to play an instrument has always been a dream... Time to make it come true.

Love. Relationship. Headache as always. Never thought 3 messages a day is all it takes to keep a relationship going. Sounds pathetic right? Love is blind, and "pathetic" doesn't come close to define this relationship. Anyways, this is too public to talk about that relationship so I'll save that for another entry, when everything's over.

being with you means being alone

it's been a while since I updated this blog.. yesterday a friend told me he visited this blog and it reminded me that I still have a place to let stuff out without worrying too much what people think because they rarely find out about it :)

a small surprise after logging in- I have a follower.. thanks to my sweet shortie foxie - a shout out to you whenever you read this :)

Life hasn't been easy.. I guess that's something everyone can say.. but for me, it's been confusingly uneasy.. don't know if I went to hell or gone to heaven.. Sometimes I'm very happy and confident, sometimes I can get very depressed and just want to be gone. Extremely moody, I know.. It's not new.. What's new is I'm running from my struggles. Skip classes for work, then use friends and acquaintances to get away from work, and go on with an affair to get away from family. Sleep-deprived. Unfocused. Out of balance. Lack of exercise.

I have to say I came back home for so many reasons but none of them was to be emotionally challenged. I know I'm gonna get thru this alive.. just don't know how to keep my sanity. Hope i'll never get bored of FRIENDS.. it's like the best show ever.. to make me relax and take it easy.

Ephemeral - SM pt. 1

So he left to go back to the real world, while i sat there wait for my turn. We fell into another world in which there was only me and him, and we would sit there forever, just to wait for the Moon to go down and the Sun to rise up slowly behind those clouds. We enjoy seeing the nature's transformation between darkness and light right in front of our eyes with all its shades while we talk slowly about nothingness to watch the movement of our lips. We would be swallowing every drop of the breathing present and get lost among time and space as we find ourselves separated from the crowded human world, relaxed and comfortable enough to enjoy the freshness of the light, the wind, and the very morning in that ephemeral peaceful excitement.

It's time for me to go back to reality, which is not so bad either. I still get to see him, only from a different light.. Maybe not golden, but everyday, I take my time to know him a little bit more, appreciate our every interaction a little bit more, and fall a bit more in love. I have been falling in love with superman for a long time but it doesn't feel any older.. Whenever we're together, I still feel nervous and say stupid things too often and ruin the rare little moments we have...

happy heart

i can't be anymore broke than I am right now. I bought the g10 and just booked the tour to Thailand. I'm going with Mom at the end of March and I'm gonna be off work for a whole week.. (yay!). I'm also considering the Marketing class starting mid-March but I'm 60-40 right now because Mom is not very supportive of it. The class sounds interesting, but a ten-mil shot is much more than I could afford :D

Trying to keep in touch with friends so I just ordered some chocolate for them today.. In general, I'm doing good with my resolutions. Now i'm just gonna go and spend a wonderful Valentine for myself :D

Work has been tiring as usual. Many ups and downs, anything but boring. It's most rewarding now, when things fall into places... I need to improve myself though, definitely need to be more organized because I keep losing stuff. Not only did I lose my own ipod, I also lost one of the company's. And i need to keep my cool.. lately i'm getting more easy to freak out and panic..

Anyways, beside that, everything's perfect :P trying to stay positive.. and not yell at the people who make me happy.. :P

Lipstick Jungle on Star World starting this Tuesday, more yay!!!

Ox' wish list

1. And the list starts with this Canon G10 Powershot. It takes absolutely amazing portraits from outdoors. If I have learned any lesson from my Ox LL, it's all about capturing the moment :).

2. A pair of Capri Shoes for my new sporty look of 2009.


3. A simple clutch for all the neccesaries (phone, money, cards, & lip-balm) - only $15 at AE.com

Ky Suu is here...

So the holiday has officially begun. I could definitely use the next whole week to relax and reflect. Beside, i will start working on the content of my newsletter and the plan for my company's intranet. Sounds boring huh, but it needs to be done. Also prepare for myself as well as the activity plan for the 11 months left of 2009.

Watching America's Next Top Model right now. Borrowed these DVDs from e Nghia since last year and I'm nowhere in the middle of it. Ox also gave me a bunch of movies to live horizontally with, through the holiday. Tyra is really successful with this show. It has been copied to 120 countries, kinda like American Idol. Tedious at the beginning with so many models but it gets better after a while.

i found out an amazing thing today. My leq@uci.edu email still works :) how nice huh... i can use it i guess. I like it so much (short and simple) but thought it was disabled 3 months after graduation... Such small surprise makes me happy.. In the end, happiness is really about having the unexpected.. Is happiness about having the cherry, not the cake?

I've been questioning my career/life path lately (even though I'm so busy, it still comes up at the end of the day). I've found so much happiness in my work; however, at the same time, it's the unseen torture of the job that leaves me vulnerable. I have grown to realize how self-destructive I really am, and how I let blurred all the positive side of everything. When doing anything, the more I try, the more stressed and negative I've become no matter how good the result is. I don't seriously view myself as a failure all the time, but most of the time, I'm too critical to really enjoy... things to their fullest. With the new OX year upon me, I've updated my new-year resolutions to become more positive and realize life's biggest pleasures:
1. Eat slower
2. Be honorable. Know when to walk away. Know not to take less than I deserve.
3. Be careful when making promises with friends so I can keep them
4. Take a short-term course whatever it is that helps me go forward with my career (tentative: brand manager)
5. Shop less, save more
6. Take up on any sport or dancing again. Exercise often so i can stay strong and healthy.
7. Avoid making "the face" to my Ox LL & my family
8. Arrange entertainment items for parents, such as their 25th wedding anniversary party in December
9. Go to Thailand with Mom
10. Remember birthdays and send flowers /gifts / cards

Day 10

10 days since new year. Feels like forever as I'm so overloaded and stressed. I yelled at my big boss a couple times yesterday. He couldn't fire me though, because of the same reason I yelled at him - I'm so overloaded. If I'm not there, guess who's gonna be even more overloaded :D

Ok let's move on to good news. For the first time, I have accomplished one of my new year resolutions only 4 days after the new year started. On Jan 3, I went out and got food poisoning. Translation: diarrhea, vomit, fever, and not much food for 2 days. I eat slower. Goal accomplished.

I've been sick a lot for the past 1 month. I got a terrible cold, throat infection, allergy, and now food poison. My body is saturated with sickness. Emotionally, I'm just so sick of being sick.

Now, back to good news. La Senza has officially opened a store on Nguyen Trai. Me & Mom got robbed over there. If you didn't know my weakness for panties, take a look at my blog's name. I also received the Victoria's Secret stuff I ordered months ago. Feeling ecstatic right now =). By the way, these 2 brands belong to the same company, so they carry very similar stuff.

Charles & Keith is hot in HCMC right now. They just opened their 2nd store and I already bought 3 pairs since its opening. The matching bag is cute, however, was out of stock :P

you can make it last

for my first installment for year-end thinking.. someone told me that I'm ignorant to other people's love for me. If such a saying doesn't make you think, what does? I realized.. if 2 years ago, I had been loved like I'm right now, I could have really appreciated it. After getting back home since last year, love was not what I cared so much about anymore. It's expected, I figured. And I started having this urge to have other things... including of course, a job to determine myself and be financially independent. But then the focus seemed to over-occupy my life for the past 9 months I'd gone ignorant.. so this year, I'm making resolutions to live more and appreciate what I've got :)

new year resolutions
1. Eat slower
2. Be honorable. Know when to walk away. Know not to take less than I deserve.
3. Be careful when making promises with friends so I can keep them
4. Take a short-term course whatever it is that helps me go forward with my career
5. Shop less, save more
6. Take up on tennis/yoga again. Exercise often so i can stay strong and healthy.
...

that's all i can think for now

I’ll make the effort, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
Tomorrows just an excuse
And you can make it last, forever you

hello 2009

broken

emotional distress easily leads to physical sickness.. 

i've been acting out. i know that and i hate myself for being dramatic, moody, and uncontrolable. I'm hitting desperate depression again. I went out on a date last week and found no fun at all. I've been in this relationship for a few months now and totally sucked into it. I put others on hold for a guy who always says the right thing at the right time, however too insensitive to realize any cruelty in his words. I accepted the situation and tried to make the most out of it... but i know i have to stop at some point and move on, and maybe that point is NOW as we're getting tired of each other. It's just that.. i still like him. Most of the time, my feelings just keep me going.. but other times, when i can be realistic for a minute, knowing i'm running toward a dead-end, I feel like a lost kid that is going thru her first crush or crash... I need to grow out of this relationship and move on with my life.

sometimes i wish you could be here and pull me out of this. but again, i should do it for myself... no need to be rescued as never did and never will.. let's hope that physical illness gives me a chance to stop, reflect... and move on

I had an amazing getaway to Vung Tau last weekend. Me & my team had so much fun.. and i'm not ashamed to say that we went a little wild also =)). My voice is all hoarse now. I only slept for 3 hours and a little more in the car on the way back, but Mom said i didn't look as tired as trips usually make me. I have been exhausted from work for a while now, and it was the first time I got to completely relax, forget everything and enjoy others' company. Gotta thank my team so much for organizing and participating in this trip.

---

$449/year is such a goooood deal for gym membershi

p at California Wow. However, I know me -not a gym person. If I do sign up, it's all for the Yoga and group classes. I'm thinking of signing Mom up too... but not sure if i have the budget for both of us.... :-<>

---

Just got Gossip Girl season 2 in DVDs... and been watching it non-stop :) chuck & blair the drama the game the start the end... all so addictive.. Blair is ridiculously beautiful :x and Chuck is British.. how could I not realize that mysterious and high-class style is nowhere close to casual American

now

I miss the States sometimes. As a night owl, how could you not love the available options of grocery shopping, renting movies, & getting coffee at 11:30pm. Still, I can't imagine going back there to live. At one point, it was a party-nonstop relationship-unstable friends-and-dramas-surrounded kinda life. Time has passed. "This ship has sailed :P." Wonder why I'm not interested in going out... or taking pictures with friends in coffee shops, looking pretty in meaningless photos. Now all I care about is work (and you*), a little too much sometimes, but that's ok. Still trying to draw a career map for myself.. and figure out where to go from here.. and it's getting quite interesting. I never felt so productive before. 9 months of full-time working helped me realize that I can do so much for people, and at the same time learn so much from them. Time is of the essence.. and it shouldn't be wasted.

*You, my hero. I'm sick of being tied to you, sick of pretension, sick of being afraid of reality, and sick of your escaladed closeness and attention, sick of being understood and being seen through. But without you and this rediculous distress, what is life for?

---
dạo này tuần nào cũng có hoa :x I rarely like yellow flowers, but these are just lovely :x it is so true that "there is no ugly color, only ugly color combination" :)

Circus

Rain just made a hit-and-run to the city. The weekend, which seems to be more stressful than weekdays lately, is even more upsetting with the heavy sudden rain. My sickness locked me in bed for the whole Saturday. It has turned to be like a ritual after every exhausting workweek when my feet become as heavy as my heart.

--
I've been falling asleep on the Rachel Maddow show podcast, and probably text messages, too. Not because they're not interesting but because they're such comfortable supper.

--
It has always been on my mind - the dreaded question of what occupation fits me best. Until now, my guess is sales or product. Sometimes, when looking at Marketing people, designers & writers, I wish I could be one of them - free my mind and fly with creativity and emotions. However, logics and practicality always seem to win eventually. Maybe I can find harmony in HR... who knows..

--
Circus has leaked. The album sounds amazing. B is gonna rock it with a big tour that combines both the Blackout & Circus albums. The peaks of Circus MV look smokin' hot!!!

the other life

I met up with the gals the other day. After dinner, we went for drinks. We all did, except only 1 of us actually drank something. Anyways, it was good to catch up with them and take a walk down the memory lane of my previous life. It feels good to be close to friends. I kinda lost that feeling over the recent months because of... whatever BS i got in my head. Really. No excuse is good enough for losing touch with people.

I just recognized winter in this 2-season-dry-or-rain city on Wednesday night.. when i was going home around 11-ish. The wind was winter-cold. Even today on my way to work, the sky has never looked so soft at noon. Rain has stopped for good now I hope. I heart the holiday season here. Full of warmth. My first holiday season where I'm full-time working so I'm planning to gift all my family.

Just started another dance class today. Hope to keep it up for long this time. A reason to get me out of the office early and a good way to be more physically active.

Shopping? Haven't done much of that lately due to the Economic downturn (naviworks inside joke). However, will go browsing shoes this weekend. Needing more pumps. After months of struggling with sandals, I'm officially over them now.

$43 Charles & Keith

with us..

my excuse was my long time starvation for attention. now i'm buried in guilty joy, doubts and confusion. Seems like life never stops its game. Seems like i'm always a kid that gets lost every time encountered with new feelings & relationships.

Compared with others, this is surprisingly easy, yet most outrageous and unacceptable. The safety and comfort comes from knowing everything there is to know. On the other hand, desperation from an obviously unchangeable situation leaves me out of breath sometimes. Look at me all happy - far from the truth. But fortunately i can still see my glass half full, not half empty.

Long way to salvation i cry. still in hopes that this relationship will open my eyes to new horizons of love... and push me to change.

short hair, anyone?

Given my new hair cut since August and the 2008 trend of various types of short hair, let's see what is out there..

Katie's sassy bob goes well with sophisticated make-up to give a mature yet youthful look. Careful with the bang if you try this style. You might end up looking like a kindergarten kid with a short bang.
You've gotta give Vic credits for taking the lead in having edgy short hairs since last year. Along with her husband, Vic's blond reinvented bob rocked the W issue.

Rihanna's hair seems to get shorter and shorter every time I see a new video of her, probably because short hair works way better for her face structure. "She pulls off a great execution of an asymmetrical bob for more ethnic textured hair." (thecuttingchair.com)

These short cuts look great; however, I only recommend short hairs for people who either have perfect hair (thick & smooth) or love to use hair products, since they're harder to style and a straight short bob day after day is just boring.