Geek in Heels - Page 166

Jan 7, 2010 • In Personal

A New Year’s Wish

This is a week late, but…

Happy New Year!

I’ve been incredibly busy and overwhelmed the past few weeks — so much so that I have eschewed Facebook (gasp), Google Reader (the horror!), and even blogging.

I still have a busy week ahead, but I hope to get back to my regularly scheduled programming within the next two weeks.

2009 was an incredibly difficult year for myself and my family. There were so many instances that made me question why bad things keep happening to good people (ie, my parents).

I once read that it takes a significant emotional event to change a person. I feel that the traumatic events of 2009 — losing a baby 4 months into my pregnancy, utmost betrayal from those I’ve trusted, among others — have really changed me as a person. I have become jaded, despondent, and testy. I find it difficult to be happy for others, selfishly wondering why I am expected to be happy for others’ blessing when so many of my brightest hopes were taken away from me and those whom I care about deeply.

These changes are not all for the worse, however. I am now better able to stand up for myself, to say “no” when asked to place others’ happiness before mine. Sounds selfish, doesn’t it? In a way it is, but you have no idea how refreshing this is after 29 years of being the ultimate people-pleaser. I am also now a better negotiator and problem-solver than ever before, which helps tremendously in helping my parents with their business.

But perhaps the best change comes with my taking things slower and appreciating the little things in life. Waking up every morning between my two favorite boys (my husband and my dog). The crisp winter air. Checking off an item on my to-do list. Taking some time out each day to be thankful for what I do have.

2009 was a year filled with much drama and many tears. I do not have any new year resolutions, but I do have one wish: to have a boring, albeit happy year in 2010…

…however, I’m not so sure how feasible a boring year would be, seeing as my biggest desire is to get pregnant as soon as possible and go on to have a healthy baby.

I remain hopeful.

The Periodic Table of Beer Styles

via Neatorama.

Doggy Back Jacket

I have never been the type to adorn her pets with nonessential clothes or accessories. And although Comang is a shih-tzu, we keep his hair short because it is easier to maintain.

However, as we enter our first winter together I am a bit worried that my little guy will suffer from the frigid northeast weather as we go on our twice-daily walks.

Last week we experienced the coldest day of the season (so far) and so I took out the doggy shirt that his previous owners had bequeathed to us. The little guy LOVED it — he started running around in circles as soon as he spotted it in my hands, and refused to let me take it off of him when we returned from our walk.

Since then I have been on the lookout for a sweater or a jacket for Comang, as the doggy shirt isn’t too warm. The selection available online is massive — too overwhelming for someone like me — so I figured I would wait until our next trip to the groomer, who carries a good selection of pet clothes.

Until I saw this, that is.

The Doggy Back Jacket is designed for older dogs experiencing aches and pains. The “doggy back” of the jacket can be heated or frozen before being attached to the jacket via velcro to provide comfort.

I am always a bit skeptical of non-medical products designed for pet use. I mean, how do they actually know that the dog experiences relief from this jacket? Because as much as we would love to communicate with our animals, we can never fully understand what they’re thinking or feeling.

In addition, Comang is only 3 years old so he does not require relief from arthritic pain…

…but…

HOW FREAKIN CUTE ARE THESE JACKETS??!!?

I might just get one for my little buddy and end up using the “doggy back” portion for show.

via Nerd Approved.

12 Days of Christmas

Last week’s The Office featured a Secret Santa exchange wherein Andy literally gifts his crush Erin the “12 Days of Christmas.”

“Is it my fault that the first eight days is basically 30 birds?”

Despite the fact that Erin suffers quite a bit from the presents (ie, being attacked by French Hens), I found the thought and effort put behind the gifts absolutely adorable — from Andy’s begging Dwight and Jim to get Erin as his Secret Santa, to the orchestration of the “twelve drummers drumming” at the end of the episode.

Most people would not go as all-out as Andy in celebration of the 12 Days of Christmas. However, I have found one company that can make the packaging of your twelve gifts just as special…

Twelve Days is a small startup from San Francisco, CA. We’re a family business, inspired by one of our own Christmas traditions — celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas by giving a small gift on each of the twelve days, December 26-January 6. For nearly 30 years, we’ve put small gifts in boxes that hang on our Christmas tree, with the recipient searching the tree for a box to open each day.

In Fall 2007 we decided to share our way of celebrating the Twelve Days with the world, and began the design process for our gift box sets. We chose to work with Design Packaging for their combination of luxury packaging design experience and in-house sourcing & production capabilities. They did a great job of guiding us through our first packaging design process.

Our Twelve Days gift box sets include 12 unique hanging gift boxes, a matching presentation box, a 40-page booklet on the surprisingly rich folklore & history of the Twelve Days, 12 decorative hangers, pre-cut tissue, and a fold-out gift giver’s guide. It’s a complete kit — all you have to add are 12 fun little gifts for your lucky recipient — and it’s built to last for many years.

Coordinating design elements were used throughout to create a cohesive whole, from the 12 little boxes making up our logo to the distinctive foil-stamp pattern on the box sleeves, to the custom warm silver hue on the box wrap (the wrap is an embossed silver foil with custom a custom translucent color printed over it, and then matte-laminated for a smooth feel and durability). We sweated the details, and hope that it shows.

This gift set is so fantastically beautiful that it makes me yearn for Christmas decorations in my own house (we have decided not to do so in order to save money), just so I’d have an excuse to get them!

Via Packaging of the World.

“It’s Like Hoth Out There.”

Enter a city name and get back its current climate conditions in Star Wars terms. I just tested it myself and they’re right — I would like to climb into a tauntaun for warmth.

Apparently, if the city you enter isn’t listed, the result will be Alderaan, which means that it’s not there (pretty clever, if I do say so myself).

Via Neatorama.

Evil Taekwondo Monkeys

I saw this over at Angry Asian Man, and it is too awesome not to share.

A man named Lo Wung trained a group of monkeys taekwondo to entertain crowds outside a shopping center in Nshi, in eastern China’s Hubei province.

I think you already know where this is going: the monkeys turned on their trainer!

From Telegraph UK:

Hu Luang, 32, a bystander who photographed the incident, said: “I saw one punch him in the eye — he grabbed another by the ear and it responded by grabbing his nose. They were leaping and jumping all over the place. It was better than a Bruce Lee film.”

At one point the monkey trainer grabbed a staff to hit the monkeys, only to find himself facing a stick-brandishing monkey that cracked him over the head.

He only managed to get the monkeys under control by tangling them up in the rope that had been used to stop them running off.

Mr Hu said: “He was really furious, he made the monkeys kneel on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs to punish them and make them show remorse for their nasty attack.”

I always joke about Evil Ninja Monkeys (take a look at my footer), but THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER!

How Fanboys See Operating Systems

via The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

Flirting Your Way Out of a Ticket

Earlier this week I was pulled over for speeding. I confess I was in the fault by driving well over the posted speed limit; however, in my defense I was dead tired from working on my feet all day and the 1-hr drive back home seemed to stretch forever.

I knew that having this incident on my driving record would cause my insurance rates to shoot through the roof. There was also the $200+ fine I would be required to pay…

…so I decided to go for it…

…again.

Yes, I flirted my way out of a speeding ticket, and this was not my first time.

A scene from “Friends” where Rachel successfully flirts her way out of a ticket while Ross disapprovingly rolls his eyes

I have probably talked/flirted my way out of tickets about 5 times over the 13+ years of my driving career. This isn’t to say that I have never been issued a ticket: the very first time I got pulled over for speeding, I was too scared to say anything to the officer and subsequently received a ticket.

I have not been pulled over in years and years, so I was a bit scared to say the least. However, the words rolled naturally off my tongue and the officer hardly even glanced at my driver’s license! He wished me a nice night and let me go without even a warning.

When I recalled the incident to J, he, like Ross in Friends, rolled his eyes.

“Oh, COME ON! That is SO unfair…”

“Well, would you rather your wife flirt her way out of a ticket or pay the fine?”

“I know, but still. You know guys could never do that.”

I admit he has a point there.

Have you ever talked your way out of a ticket?

Do you disapprove of women flirting their ways out of receiving tickets?