Monday, November 14, 2011

always double-check

i had a last minute interview today and while sitting in the waiting room, i looked down and saw that my zipper was not zipped. oops! i've done it a few times so i always double check when i use the restroom, but now i need to double check before i leave the house. i totally could have used this today:

link

Friday, November 4, 2011

scrapbooking

link

travel map scrapbook - she also made one of thailand
love her digital scrapbook layouts
binder scrapbook journal
i have an unfinished scrapbook of pictures from 2007 that i should finish. i also wanted to scrapbook my dc trip in 2009 (pictures already printed out) that i never got around to. it's easier to just keep the pictures on my hard drive to look at since scrapbooking can be an expensive hobby. i rarely take pictures with my camera now since so many of my friends are like the paparazzi wanting to take pictures of everything and everyone. perhaps i might finish the scrapbooks, we'll see.

Friday, October 21, 2011

lists

i'm addicted to lists. i do everything according to lists, that's why i still write in a planner and work off of post-it notes when doing things throughout the day. it started at a young age. i remember making lists of books, toys, and even friends.  not much has changed. i have a list of books i own, musicals i've seen, tv shows i watch and want to watch, korean dramas i want to watch, movies to watch and movies i own, and sewing projects. i even make pro/con lists like rory gilmore when making decisions. i made a list of things to do in preparation for the weekend.

i came across this post that has some links to printable planners and checklists.

a few weeks ago, i made a list of 10 goals to accomplish within a week. for the first week, i only completed 2 things. after 3 weeks of the same list, there are still 6 things left to cross off.

perhaps next week i'll finish the list.

    Wednesday, October 19, 2011

    procrastination is my middle name

    i have a paper due tomorrow and i'm sitting here at barnes & noble looking at design/decorating books and catching up on some blogs i follow. i'm a procrastinator. i'm not one of those who read ahead of schedule, but cram all my reading for the exam which happened 2 weeks ago. while perusing blogs, i came across this video and i think i need to do this. probably doesn't help sitting her at barnes & noble with so many distractions including my laptop and internet. oh well, back to my paper....

    Thursday, October 6, 2011

    hit with reality...

    i'm using the app myfitnesspal to keep track of my daily calorie intake and exercises. the app is a great way to see how much i'm eating and how many calories i'm burning from exercising.

    so last week after my workout at the gym, i thought i would just grab something cheap for lunch. why not eat a delicious hot dog at costco for $1.50? i check myfitnesspal and the hot dog is 430 calories. wow! that's not even including the glob of ketchup i eat with my hot dog (i put A LOT). i went home disappointed and ended up eating at home (which was the better option anyways). at care group, janice brought porto's for snacks. i resisted the temptation to eat them since i already had dinner (only ate a small slice of fruit tart), but took home 2 potato balls to eat the next day for lunch. i checked the app and it was 440 calories for just 1 potato ball! OMG! i ended up eating one and then throwing the other one away (so sad).

    i have a love/hate relationship with this app. some days i love it, some days i want to delete it. it's killing my mood and appetite. some days i just don't want to eat when i think about how much calories i would consume, but then i eat way less calories and start craving the dark chocolate frosting in the fridge.

    i noticed that when i weigh myself at home, the scale shows that i haven't lost any weight so i checked my weight at the gym today thinking that my scale was off and that i was actually lighter since i've been watching what i eat and have been working out. i'm actually 5 lbs heavier than what i weighed on my scale. all this time, i've been thinking one thing and the whole time my scale was deceiving me. i'm going to have to up my gym visits from 3x to 5x a week. this week.

    Sunday, September 25, 2011

    change in thought

    it's been a month since my last post...and i thought i was going to post more often.

    i was going to use this blog post to complain how i can't find a job and how much i'm frustrated with my situation, but a few sunday sermon ago was what my heart needed to hear. so instead of listing all my frustrations, i'm going to focus on the positives.

    i'm thankful that i've been getting called for interviews. although i haven't been able to land a job yet, i'm glad that my skills/experiences are desirable enough to warrant an interview. i'm thankful that i was able to teach a few kids how to swim this summer (made enough to cover a few bills). i'm thankful for friends who want me to sew/alter things for them. i'm thankful for friends who pray for me (definitely a comfort and a need). i'm thankful to have my pride revealed to me. it's hard to accept help, let alone ask for help.

    i read this hymn by samuel rodigast on girltalk this week which was a great comfort:

    Whatever my God ordains is right,
    Here shall my stand be taken;
    Though sorrow, or need, or death be mine,
    Yet I am not forsaken,
    My Father’s care circles me there,
    He holds me that I shall not fall,
    And so to Him I leave it all.

    Thursday, August 11, 2011

    leather?

    a while back monica gave me a stash of fabric that her cousin bought and left behind at her house. finder's keepers!

    i've been thinking about what to do with it and haven't figured out what. i thought these were leather, but turns out they're vinyl. what do i do with vinyl? i tried making a clutch, but the material was too thick to sew on my machine. i tried making handles for a bag, but didn't turn out so well.

    Wednesday, July 13, 2011

    i made....

    PANTS! (oh, and a bib)



    i found this cute travel print when i went fabric shopping to look for boy-friendly prints.

    rosie modeling for baby james

    Monday, July 11, 2011

    color coordinated

    i like to rearrange my room once in a while (best exercise). i've rearranged my room so many times, even switched rooms with my sister after i moved back home and she moved out to attend college (same amount of space, but closer to the bathroom and away from my parents' room - they're snorers). 

    instead of rearranging the room, i wanted to try organizing my bookshelf by color. i have a lot of books and they are all over the place - in 3 different bookshelves, on the floor, in the hall closet.

    inspirations:



    here's my bookshelf (before):

    after:

     

    unfortunately, some of the colors didn't really match. i have a few books that have 2 different colors on the spine which caused some confusion....and it now takes longer to locate a certain book. my books were organized before by categories (top row: women books; bottom row: commentaries and references) and by authors (2nd row: john macarthur), but now, it's confusing, but pleasing to the eye. i still have 2 other bookshelves (non-christian books) to organize, but i'll probably get to it later when i decide to change back my bookshelf to how it was before.

    Monday, June 20, 2011

    scraps

    when sewing, i usually don't throw away any scraps except for a few small ones. here's what i collected:


    i've been thinking about making a quilt from them, but it'll take a long time. i wanted to do something that wouldn't take too long and i wouldn't get bored in the middle of it so i decided to make some button magnets.





    i'm not that creative or skilled, but this is amazing:

    starry night made from fabric scraps

    Wednesday, June 15, 2011

    thrift find....

    my favorite children's author is beatrix potter. i loved reading her little books when i was little. i used to spend the summer at my cousin's house and she had the complete box set which i would read over and over whenever i was at her house.

    ever since i saw the peter rabbit print framed in rosie's kitchen, i've been searching for something similar. i saw them at the rose bowl flea market last time i went, but they were asking for too much for them so i passed. a few weeks after, i was perusing my favorite thrift store and found these 3 babies:


    i couldn't believe it! and they were only less than $2 each. i particularly didn't want the fox (tale of jemima puddle-duck), but i took it anyways. i haven't had a chance to pick a place to hang them in my house and they've been collecting dust for a while, but i started to think about where to put them when i started cleaning my room a few weeks ago. i had printed this picture i found online and it was just hanging on my wall so i decided to frame it:

    feed your soul....with some seoul

    i took the fox frame, cleaned it up and put the print in the frame and hung it on the wall.




    i'm still trying to figure out where to put the other 2. i might put the tailor of gloucestor in the other room with my sewing stuff and the tale of peter rabbit somewhere in my room, not sure exactly where yet.

    Thursday, June 9, 2011

    blog love - dash dot dotty

    love love love this girl's style. i started following her blog during the 30 for 30 challenge. here's a few looks of hers that i absolutely love and will try to imitate:

    2 dresses as 1
    skirt as dress
    skirt as scarf
    layering

    Friday, May 27, 2011

    bow tie

    i made a bow tie. instead of fabric for around the neck, i used elastic. this might be my baby shower gift for all my friends having boys this year. happy 1st birthday aaron!


    Monday, May 23, 2011

    new perspective

    no more bad case of the mondays...

    source

    Thursday, May 19, 2011

    exploring new territory...

    since i've been more interested in knitting/crocheting and korean dramas lately, i haven't had much motivation to start sewing again. thankfully, i had 2 opportunities to get back in front of my machine again:

    1. tailoring

    i've been looking for part-time sewing jobs, but haven't had much luck since i lack the professional experience. i had the opportunity to put some of my sewing skills to work by tailoring don's pants and sweater. unfortunately, i didn't take any pictures. i had to unravel quite a bit until i figured out what i was doing wrong, but in the end, they came out better than expected. hopefully the next time don wears his pants, they stitches don't come undone. i sewed the stitch line pretty tightly so they shouldn't, but you never know.

    2. children's clothing

    i've been wanting to try sewing children's clothing for a while, but i've been lacking the opportunity. i've made the occasional baby shower gift of baby bibs and drawstring bags, but haven't branched into clothing. frankly, i know that if i make one for someone, then i'm going to have to make them for everyone i know. thankfully, all my friends are having boys this year except for one. for connie, i made a dress for london from this tutorial (minus the piping). it only took a few hours to make and wasn't as hard as i thought it would be. the only thing was that it's so small that it barely fit around my sewing machine.


    one happy momma
    i need some ideas for boy's clothing. dana from made celebrated boys and have lots of ideas. i might try making pants (those are pretty easy) and shirts. i have a few other things in mind for boys, but i'm keeping those a secret for now.

    Wednesday, April 27, 2011

    pinterest

    this is my new obsession. i've been on pinterest for a while now and have been pinning like crazy.

    what is pinterest? according to them:

    Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste. 




    last year i posted about my love for google reader, but unfortunately i'm only able to "star" posts to track of my favorites. i have over 3000 starred right now and that's just from november! i'm slowly going over them again and pinning them to my boards (categorized & easy access).

    check out my boards and pins here. if you want to try pinning yourself, leave me a comment with your email address and i'll send you an invitation. if you're already on, let's be friends.

    Friday, April 22, 2011

    trends: long skirts

    i rarely buy skirts at stores now just b/c i can make my own to whatever length i want. i'm not a super big fan of leggings so i try to avoid shorter skirts. unfortunately, i'm not that tall so longer skirts tend to make me shorter unless i'm wearing heels. i have a few thrifted long skirts, still not sure if i should keep the length or shorten them.

    here are a few looks i'm loving:

    via pinterest
    louis vuitton fall 2010

    full skirt

    rachel roy s/s 2011

    Thursday, April 21, 2011

    macarons are not always macaright

    went to julia's house to learn the skill of making macarons. hyo and i were both rookies when it came to macarons so we were very eager and excited to learn from the expert - julia.

    hyo working hard at folding the egg whites with the dry mixture

    letting them rest before going into the oven

    earl grey macawrongs - they're supposed to rise, not slide

    the "feet" are supposed to be under, not to the side - shaved the excess on the final product

    chocolate macawrongs - we weren't suppose to use water to smooth out the top which caused the sea salt to sink down to make them look like craters
    hopefully the next time i try, they'll come out prettier.

    Friday, April 15, 2011

    unwinding....

    sorry for my lack of posts, but i've been immersed in my current k-drama obsession:

    dong yi

    i promise i'll update more starting next week. i have a few things in the works....

    in the meantime, enjoy a few inspirations from this week.

    diy bathroom (lots of great ideas on the familyhandyman)
    baby quilt (if i ever finish my first one)
    totally would do this right now if only i didn't live in an apt (source)
    this one made me laugh (source)

    Thursday, March 17, 2011

    dream high

    this is a little overdue, but here it is....



    a few fans got together to watch the last episode of dream high. thanks to rosie and the other ladies for providing yummy korean food and snacks.


    me & rosie drinking our yogurt drink just like hye-mi
    i wanted to dress fobby, but i didn't have time to figure out an outfit so i just ended up putting my hair in pig-tails and my popped-out-lens-glasses. 

    i love all the songs from the drama, such talented singers. most of the songs were written by jyp. the ending was a little disappointing, but overall the drama was awesome. i felt like they rushed it and could have done another episode instead of tying up the story lines all crammed into the last episode. i'm glad that they're doing a sequel.

    Wednesday, March 2, 2011

    my oscar fashion list

    i'm no e! fashion police or a fashion expert....most of the ones that were picked best dressed from sunday's oscars, i didn't really care for them like mila kunis and halle berry.

    here are my top favorites:

    anne hathaway in valentino on the red carpet
    (she wore 8 dresses throughout the night - lucky girl!)
    anne in givenchy during the opening
    (loved this dress on her)
    cate blanchett in givency
    (not a lot of people liked this one, but i thought it looked great on her)
    michelle williams in chanel
    hailee steinfeld in marchesa
    natalie portman in rodarte
    (loved the purple on her)

    best actor - colin firth from the king's speech (awesome movie - totally recommend it to everybody)

    way to go mr. darcy!