Geek in Heels - Page 37

Dec 18, 2012 • In Blogging, Giveaways, Personal

Celebrate the Holidays With More Choices! [Win One of THREE Amazon Gift Cards!]

ETA, 12.24.2012:
Today’s the last day to enter this giveaway! As an extra bonus, you can gain THREE more entries by sharing this post with your Facebook friends! (The easiest way is to click on the Facebook share button a the bottom of the post.) Once you have shared the post, please indicate that you have done so via Rafflecopter (the last option) and enter the permalink to the share (see here to fine out how) so that I can verify the share.

Last week, I asked you, my readers, to choose what you would like me to offer for the 2012 Geek in Heels Holiday Giveaway. And in trying to be mysterious (did it work? 😉 ) I only provided clues for the three possibilities:

1. More beauty,
2. More cheers, or
3. More choices

It was close…very close. But y’all have spoken, and you want more CHOICES this year.

Although I know you would’ve loved the other two possible giveaways (scroll all the way down to see what they would’ve been), I am happy — nay, ecstatic — to announce that CHOICES was my favorite of the bunch.

So what exactly does “more choices” mean?

How about a gift card to my favorite online store, Amazon?

And because 1 is such a lonely number, let’s make that 3 instead.

That’s right — I’m giving away THREE Amazon gift cards!

ONE lucky winner will receive a $100 gift card:

A second winner will receive a $50 gift card:

And a third winner will receive a $25 gift card!

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 4 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post telling me what you’d use the gift card for) being mandatory while the third method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, December 25th, 2012, at 12:01am, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win!

This giveaway is open to ANYONE over the age of 13!

As for the other possibilities? If you had chosen “more beauty,” I would have given away a Clarisonic Mia 2. And “more cheers” would have been a holiday entertainment pack which includes some of the most beloved holiday movies and music.

But admit it — this one is soooo much better, right? 😀

Once again, thank you to all my readers for your love and support this past year. I hope you all end 2012 on a high note, and I hope to make 2013 Geek in Heels’ best year yet!

How Did You Know?

A friend recently asked me how I knew J was “the one.”

My answer? I didn’t.

I don’t believe in soulmates. I believe that marriage is damn hard. And I believe we are continually evolving as people so that the person you married 3/5/10/20 years ago may not necessarily be the same person with whom you vowed to spend the rest of your life.

But what I did tell my friend was that my relationship with J started out differently than all my past relationships.

For one, we were friends first…and even best friends for a few months before taking it to the next level.

Secondly, his actions spoke louder than words.

He seemed to constantly want to be with me. For example, whenever he’d go out with friends, he would always ask if I wanted to come along — almost as if he were proud to be dating me and couldn’t wait to show me off.

(This is not to say my other boyfriends were ashamed of me and kept me hidden from their friends and family. Rather, they were much more conservative in that they waited quite some time before introducing me to them.)

A night early in our relationship when we were trying our best to look badass.
(My sister calls his picture “Drunk and Drunker.”)

I also remember a time when I had the day off while he needed to go in to work; he asked me to hang out at his place, make myself at home, and even go bug his roommates if I got bored, so that I would be right there when he returned home from the office. And this was just a couple of weeks into the relationship!

There was also the time he visited Hong Kong for two weeks. We weren’t officially boyfriend-and-girlfriend yet, but I had asked him to give me a call when he arrived so that I would know he got there safely.

He called me EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The late Randy Pausch wrote to his daughter, “When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.”

As a lover of words, I have fallen into the trap of the suave talker too many times. And if my daughters are anything like me, I’m sure that they will too.

You can be sure I will pass along this piece of advice.

Christmas Tree Decorating Guidelines

What’s that you say? There are only a dozen days left before Christmas and we have yet to put up our tree? Please. That’s nothing to this family of procrastinators.

And just in case there are others out there in the same boat — Bueller? Hello? I know we can’t be the only ones! — who may need some guidance on the best way to decorate the tree based on their children’s ages, here’s an instructional from the ever-so-delightful How to Be a Dad.

J and I have talked about dragging our tree out of storage and getting it set up, preferably while both girls are asleep. However, we think that Claire would love being a part of the process this year, so we’re willing to risk our delicate ornaments and ask her to help decorate the tree.

As for keeping the tree safe from the kids? We’ll use our go-to form of baby-proofing: place a bunch of crap below and around the object of interest. (Although in this case, our plan may backfire as the “crap” will consist of bright, shiny, colorful piles of wrapped gifts.)

Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for joy and time for cheer… (Because as annoying as the Chipmunks can be, I still maintain that this song is a Christmas classic!)

Help Decide the Next Giveaway with a Giveaway!

In the spirit of the holidays —

(And to thank all my readers and sponsors!)

I have decided that a nice giveaway is in order. 🙂

The thing is, I can’t quite decide what to give away.

I have gotten it down to three choices. And as much as I would love to have all three up for grabs, I’m just not that rich.

And in cases like this, isn’t it best that YOU, the reader, should decide?

In order to make it more fun…

(Or, I may just like being a tease!)

I will not reveal exactly what the items are — instead, I will provide hints and you guys can decide, by popular vote, which option you would prefer.

So…

Which would you prefer most this holiday season?

1. More beauty

2. More cheers

3. More choices

Don’t worry about making a wrong decision. I’ve chosen items that I know a great majority of people would love to receive, or give as presents themselves.

And in an effort to entice more voters, I have decided to automatically enter all participants into an additional giveaway!

The item up for grabs is a copy of one of my favorite movies from the year: Men in Black 3!

More specifically, the Men in Black 3 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD + UltraViolet set.

And if you haven’t watched this movie yet, you’re in for a treat, because it’s the best MIB movie yet! I didn’t think the first two films were that great, so I was very pleasantly surprised by this one and all my friends agree that it was a great movie.

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 4 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post telling me which option you’d like for my next giveaway) being mandatory while the third method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Sunday, December 16th, 2012, at 12:01am, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win!

Sorry, this giveaway is open only to residents of the United States.

Next Monday, on December 17th, I will announce which option received the most votes and reveal the item(s) that will be included in this year’s Geek in Heels Holiday Giveaway.

Good luck, thank you for entering, and thank you for reading!

Memories from My 32nd

So Claire surprised me with a bouquet of flowers on my birthday. (Her grandparents had paid for it, but they told me that she had picked it out and she presented it to me while shouting, “Heppy buh-she-dey umma!”)

Of course I immediately placed the flowers in a vase and displayed them prominently on our kitchen table. And I guess Claire understands the concept of birthday gifts, because she would continually point to the flowers and say, “꽃!” (kkot, or flower in Korean) “Umma buh-she-dey!”

“That’s right, you gave them to umma for my birthday. Thank you!” I would reply.

Then she would nod proudly, smile, and walk away.

Well, after about the fifth time she did this, she looked a bit thoughtful, then added, “Umma! Whooo!” (making a blowing noise) “Umma buh-she-dey whooo!“

“Yes, that’s what you do on your birthday. You blow out your birthday candles!”

“Umma buh-she-dey whooo!“

“Yes, that’s what you’re supposed to do on your birthday, but daddy didn’t get mommy a cake or a candle to blow out.”

I made sure to raise my voice when saying this so that J would hear, and made a big exaggerated sad face afterward.

And just as I had hoped, Claire suddenly became gravely serious and asked, “왜?” (Weh, or “why” in Korean)

Haha, BUSTED, mister!

I told her to go ask daddy why he didn’t get me a cake for my birthday, so she ran to him and said something in Chinese to him. He responded in Chinese, and I didn’t even care to ask what they had just talked about because I was laughing too hard.

# # #

The most memorable part of my 32nd birthday was not the mouthwatering, literally melt-in-your-mouth 19oz prime filet mignon on the bone I devoured for dinner. (Seriously. Old Homestead outperforms Peter Luger every time I visit.)

Nor was it breathing a sigh of relief when J took me to The Standard High Line right after dinner because he had been hoping to take me ice-skating at their rink…and finding it closed for the night. (Because while I may be a decent skier, I am a horrible ice skater and I would have spent more time on my ass than on my feet, especially after the cocktails and the bottle of wine we had with dinner.)

No, it was finding the rooftop of a downtown bar empty due to the earlier rain, and so using the beautiful space with its spectacular views and twinkling Christmas lights as our own private space. By slow-dancing to Tony Bennett’s “The Way You Look Tonight” and Michael Bublé’s “For Once in My Life” (our wedding song) via the Spotify apps on our cell phones. And giggling like high school kids when a bouncer walked in on us making out in the romantic atmosphere.

Oh, and having your husband take care of the kiddos while you recover from a raging hangover the next day. That was pretty awesome too. 🙂

Thirty-Two

I met my 30th birthday with a bittersweet goodbye to my twenties.

My 31st birthday began with projectile vomit.

And today…. Today I face my 32nd birthday with subdued enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm for my family. For my blessings. For my future.

For hope.

Oh, and the prime filet mignon waiting for me at my favorite steakhouse tonight. 😉

I tried to find an appropriate picture to convey this moment, but there were too many that almost fit the bill, yet none that was an exact match. So I decided to share this screenshot from last year: my favorite birthday email of the day.

Duh-nuh-NUH… duh-nah-NUH!

May my 32nd year be ever in my favor…

P.S. — My beloved Knicks gave me an early present last night with a momentous win over the defending champs…while without our star player. The third anniversary of my 29th birthday is off to a good start, wouldn’t you say?

(image source)

Disney Princesses Meet Haute Couture

Sigh. You know I’m a sucker for holiday-themed store displays. I personally have not yet had a chance to check out the famed NYC displays in person this year, but I have been following them via the web, and — as it seems to be the case every holiday season — each store has outdone itself once again.

Now, I am not a fashionista by any means (and to be completely honest, Vogue bores me to tears), but I am aware that there exist numerous fashion meccas around the world, and that each major city boasts its own high-end department stores.

Today, let’s take a trip to Harrods in London.

This year, Harrods has decided to bring to its window displays popular Disney princesses adorned in beautiful dresses designed by some of best designers in the world. And in order to promote — and celebrate! — these collaborations, Harrods Magazine did a photo shoot with the gowns just before they made their way to the mannequins in the Harrods displays.

Check them out below — I seem to be partial to Mulan’s and Snow White’s dresses, while Aurora’s and Rapunzel’s are pieces I wouldn’t wear even if they gave them to me for free. How about you?

Ariel from The Little Mermaid,
by Marchesa:
Continue reading »

Wednesday Rewind: The 10 Levels of Intimacy in Today’s Communication

Once in a while, when I get bored, I like to look through the archives of this blog and reflect upon (and laugh at!) all the things I have shared with the web over the years.

Because, heck, after 1,801 posts, even I don’t remember everything.

There’s also the braggart in me who likes to shout, “Hey! I once wrote this years ago! You should go check it out because I think it’s awesome!”

(Or the part of me that likes to roll her eyes and exclaim, “Well, if you had read my blog you would know I had written about this in the past!”)

So I have decided to start sharing with y’all certain posts from this blog’s vault of archives. I can’t promise that this will be a regular thing, or that what I will re-post will be remotely interesting, but I’ll try my best.

…I also plan on using these “rewind”s as a means to escape writer’s block. 😉

This little chart dates back to August 3, 2009, but I believe it’s still — and perhaps a bit too — relevant today.

However, I believe that now, at the end of 2012 and more than three years since the chart was first created, the order would be better represented like this:

Twitter
Facebook Status
Text Msg
IM
Facebook Msg
Email
Phone
Video Chat
Talking
Letter

Now, the question remains: where would photo-sharing sites like Instagram fit in?

My First Time

The year was 1991. I was a young girl transitioning into an awkward mess of acne and hormones. Who knew that I was about to be met with an entirely new world of magic and wonders?

I was at a sleepover. Despite what the media has you to believe, none of the sleepovers I attended featured giggly girls in frilly nightgowns engaged in pillow fights. (Or perhaps I was never invited to those types of sleepovers?) Instead, it was more common to see us with our hair up in messy ponytails, our faces loaded with the latest “it” skin treatment or zit cream, dressed in ragged t-shirts and sweats, gorging on junk food while gossiping and playing truth or dare.

Ever a loner and a nerd, I would sometimes bring my homework to sleepovers, just in case things got too boring and I needed something to do. 😳

But I hadn’t to this particular sleepover.

So when my mind began to grow bored from the monotony of events…

I wondered off on my own…

And came across a bookcase.

There, prominently placed in a top shelf, was The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

I thought that the word “Hobbit” sounded curiously funny, so I slid the book out just to scan the first page or so.

…And I ended up spending the rest of that sleepover reading, and finishing the book.

And that’s how I popped my Middle Earth cherry. How about you?

(image source)

I have always maintained that The Hobbit is greatly superior to the LOTR trilogy, so it is no surprise that I look forward to next weekend with anticipation.

I have even started to re-watch the LOTR trilogy, and was all set to start re-reading The Hobbit when I discovered that my copy was missing. 🙁

Time to go procure another copy! But I obvs need to seek out one that was printed before any mention of the movie, with no references or tie-ins to the movie whatsover, lest anyone sees it and judges me for being a “watch the movie first, then read the book” person.

It’s almost like going shopping at a fancy store during a sale, only to see that your purchase gets placed in a shopping bag marked “SALE!” all over it. It’s like, why??? Do they need to separate us regular people from those who can afford their full prices?

T-Shirts.com Review and Giveaway

I am of the opinion that one cannot have too many comfy t-shirts. And if that shirt has a geeky or witty design on it? More the better!

So when the online apparel store T-Shirts.com contacted me about doing a review, I didn’t hesitate. How can I say no to a company that lists Star Wars as one of its categories?

The site was well-organized and had a great inventory of t-shirts in practically every category imaginable…they even carried solid-color t-shirts as well as custom designs! I especially liked the “Fabric Softness Gauge” on every product page. 🙂

Although there were tons of designs I would love to own (Something geeky? Something featuring the Knicks or the Ravens?), my eyes immediately gravitated toward a R2-D2 womens t-shirt for its simple yet unmistakable design:

I received the shirt the following week and was pleasantly surprised by its soft fabric and terrific cut. Here I am, trying my best at not looking like a dork while modeling my new Star Wars t-shirt (I’m wearing a small):

Now, for the best part…

T-Shirts.com has generously offered to give a FREE t-shirt to one of my readers!

This would make a perfect gift for a loved one with the holidays coming up, don’t you think? (You could also choose to get a shirt for yourself, of course.)

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 6 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post) being mandatory while the fourth method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Sunday, December 10th, 2012, at 12:01am, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win!

Sorry, this giveaway is open only to residents of the United States.

Good luck, and thank you for entering!