Geek in Heels - Page 40

Oct 26, 2012 • In Asian, Entertainment, Funny, Korean, Personal, Reviews

90s Flashback [“Answer Me 1997”]

I have a new obsession.

(And if you’re friends with me on Facebook, you probably already know what I’m talking about.)

It is a Korean drama called 응답하라 1997, or Answer Me 1997.

As the title suggests, the show revolves around a group of friends who graduated high school in 1997. The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks as they attend their 15-year reunion — and with the majority of the 16-part series taking place during the last decade of the 20th century, you can’t help but be taken back by the numerous 90s references.

If you are a Korean in your early 30s, you are sure to love this drama as much as I do.

You would also fall hard if you’re familiar with 90s KPop at all. (And I still maintain that the 90s remain the golden age of Korean music) 😀

Heck, you don’t even have to be Korean or know any KPop to enjoy the show! Memories of Tamagotchis, Super Nintendo, and Guess shirts are sure to strike a chord with many people reading this blog, and the sweet and funny storyline is simply addictive.

I’ve even gotten J obsessed with the show, and he laughs harder than I do!

Don’t know Korean? English subtitles are available on Hulu, and other languages on Viki.

I knew that I had reached the height of my obsession when I looked up all 100+ songs that play on the show — the majority of them 90s KPop — and compiled them in a playlist which I have been listening to non-stop. (Luckily, I had most of the songs in my MP3 collection…and the rest weren’t hard to find online.)

Go check out the first episode — I guarantee you’ll get sucked in too!

Are You Effing Kidding Me?

So remember how we were planning on throwing a big celebration for Aerin’s dol?

And how we had even booked a fancy schmancy banquet room for the party?

Well, that went out the window…just ONE WEEK before the event. 👿

Allow me to explain.

I had contacted numerous restaurants, caterers, and such in order to find a suitable space for Aerin’s first birthday (which, in case you weren’t aware, is one of the most celebrated birthdays in Korean culture, second only to the 60th birthday).

And in the end, my mother — who was helping me plan the dol because she is more familiar with what needs to happen — and J and I decided that holding the celebration at a Korean banquet hall would be the best option because they would be familiar with holding dols.

Claire’s dol was held at my parents’ because I was so uncomfortably pregnant at the time.

We decided to go with a well-known Korean banquet hall in northern NJ that overlooks the New York skyline. I will not give away the name in the body of this post; all I will say is that if you’re a Korean residing in the NY/NJ area, you have most likely attended a wedding or another large party there. (And if you really want to know, leave a comment and I’ll tell you.)

Since they have several event rooms available, we went for their smallest ballroom, and planned on a feast complete with western hors d’oeuvres, a Korean buffet, and an open wine/beer/soda bar.

The best part? They could set up the dol table (click here to see what they usually look like) for an additional fee. This meant that we wouldn’t have to go looking for another caterer or event planner who could set the table for us, or DIY the entire thing ourselves.

The problem arose when we tried to officially — and legally — book the room.

Admittedly, we were cutting it a little close as there were only 3 weeks left to go until the event. However, I was assured that this wouldn’t matter.

I called every single day for a week and a half, only to be told each time that the banquet manager was not available and that she would call me back.

Every time I called, I reminded them that the date was drawing nearer and that just a verbal agreement was not enough for me. And each and every time, I was assured that the small ballroom was still available and that we could sign the contract as late as the week before the event.

The ballroom where we were planning on holding Aerin’s dol

They were finally able to get a contract to me ONE WEEK before the planned party. I immediately noticed that they had written down the wrong time. And when I called to rectify the mistake, they informed me that holding the party at our originally planned time would cost $25 more per person as it would be a dinner party and not a lunch party.

Ok, fine. We could deal with a time change. Some of our guests wouldn’t be able to make it, but we would still be able to have the party, right?

But when I went to finally sign the contract and hand over the deposit…

…They told me that the room was no longer available.

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME??!!!

They gave us the choice of having the party at a nearby restaurant that is owned and operated by the same people; however, I saw from the pictures they sent over that it was nothing special, and I could not imagine spending that much money for a party held there.

So I bitched at them over the phone, sent them a strongly-worded email, and told them to eff off.

Here we were, just one week before the party, and we had no venue, no food, and no decorations.

There was only one choice left. We would hold the party at our place. My mother would work her magic with local Korean caterers and order the food and the cake. And while we may not be able to decorate the entire condo, I could still try my hand at a dol table.

I have spent the past few days researching dol tables, speaking with vendors and begging them to help us out on such short notice, and making runs to stores for craft and party supplies.

I have also taken it upon myself to make Aerin’s dol towers, using the tutorial I found here.

The first dol tower I made for Aerin — she was born in the year of the rabbit.

(I am so grateful to my SIL who made the dol towers for Claire’s birthday — only now, with a sore back and neck and numerous burned fingers can I appreciate how much work went into making them!)

I will be spending the rest of the week continuing to plan and prepare for this last-minute party. I hope that it will turn out okay. 🙁 I really wish both my daughters’ dols could have been the large, festive celebrations they deserve, but life seems to have had other plans for us.

Please wish us luck!

In the Past Month… [Mega-Update on the Girls]

Claire’s 2^nd Birthday:

We celebrated Claire’s second birthday with a medium-sized bash at our place. The theme of the party? Kai-Lan, of course! And since I don’t have the time to do DIY projects these days, I enlisted the help of the lovely Miriam of LimoncelloSTYLE to create this fantastic banner:

More pictures of the party to come in a future post…stay tuned!

Claire’s favorite birthday present has to be her new toy kitchen, courtesy of her halbeh. She cooks us breakfast every morning and even feeds Aerin pretend food.

Learning/Milestones:

Claire has begun speaking in semi-complex sentences, adding adjectives and even adverbs to her speech. I remember how I was so proud of her when she began speaking Korean in 3-word sentences, and when I told J about it, he replied, “So? She’s been speaking Chinese in 5-word sentences for weeks.” 👿 FINE THEN! Continue reading »

A Compilation of Dads Singing “Part of Your World” [Aww]

Claire loves fish. I mean, girlfriend has to point out every single one whenever she comes across an aquarium. As such, it came as no surprise that Finding Nemo quickly became one of her favorite movies.

But as much as I love the adventurous tale of Marlin and Dory on a journey to find Nemo, I can only watch it so many times.

So one day, I decided to pop in Disney’s The Little Mermaid to see if this classic could serve as a substitute.

At first, Claire seemed a bit bored. Then, as the songs began and I began to sing along and do interpretive dances for her, she got really into the movie and it soon became clear that she was totally digging it!

(As for me, I was very, very proud of myself for remembering all the lyrics to the songs after all these years. 😀 )

Needless to say, The Little Mermaid has since been on regular rotation at our household, and despite the fact that Claire gets a bit upset when Ursula first makes an appearance (she also becomes visibly shaken during the scene when Nemo’s mother dies), she always watches the movie intently, cupping both hands over her cheeks with an “Oh no!” whenever something goes wrong, and yelling, “Umma…umma…UMMA!!!” during pivotal scenes to make sure that I, too, am paying attention.

I’m pretty sure that if you ask any fan of The Little Mermaid what their favorite song from the movie is, the majority of them would answer, “Part of Your World.” What girl of my generation hasn’t belted out this emotive number while dreaming of being a mermaid? What girl hasn’t said to herself at one point, “Yes! I’m not a mermaid, but I know exactly how Ariel feels!”

I believe that this is the reason the song remains so popular among little girls, some 23 years after its release. (Dang, I feel old typing that!)

Now, I know that there must exist a large fanbase of The Little Mermaid among my readers. And I know that watching the video below of dads all over the U.S. — including firefighters, cops, Marines, doctors, barbers, and construction workers — singing “Part of the World” will tug at your heartstrings, just as it did mine.

Because, as the video states in the beginning, “No matter who you are… Becoming a dad changes everything.”

Enjoy!

P.S. — Not having grown up in the U.S., J never experienced some of the most memorable facets of childhood other Americans of our generation share and hold so dear. However, I couldn’t believe that he had never watched The Little Mermaid until we started showing the movie to Claire! The funniest part had to be when he watched the “Kiss the Girl” scene for the first time. “Damn, those are some manipulative animals!” he exclaimed. 😀

P.P.S. — Speaking of mermaids, whenever the subject of Joss Whedon’s horror flick The Cabin in the Woods comes up, I always tell people that I can never view mermaids the same way again. If you’ve seen the movie, you would understand. 😉 And if you haven’t, GO WATCH IT NOW! It is the most memorable movie I’ve seen last year, and definitely one of my favorite scary movies of all-time.

Feeling Sexy as a Mom

As long-time readers can attest, I was a late bloomer. Bullies who teased me for being different, my extremely awkward teen years, and a mixture of social ineptitude and general naïveté — combined with a first boyfriend who would tell me things like, “You’d be hot if you lost some weight” — led to my having very, very low self-esteem up to my early twenties.

Then came the summer of 2001. I had just broken free of the aforementioned relationship. I joined a gym and toned up. I was finally able to develop my own sense of style and began to favor form-fitting clothes in lieu of the baggy oversized t-shirts which had hidden my figure for the first two decades of my life.

There was a moment that summer, as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, that I finally admitted to myself, “Hey, I’m not so horrible-looking.”

I can still vividly recall the very first time a guy hit on me at a bar. I had earlier noticed the handsome stranger who sat at the table next to mine, and I couldn’t believe my luck when he sauntered over and offered to buy me a drink.

He had chosen me — over all the beautiful, skinny, scantily-clad girls in the room!

I soon partnered with my best friend, who had also recently gotten out of a long-term relationship, and began to visit the bars and clubs in NYC Koreatown — where we knew we would not be carded, as we were still just shy of legal drinking age — more frequently.

Sometimes we would hit the bars 3, 4 times a week. And did I mention that my friend is a gorgeous babe who used to model? (Another reason for my low self-esteem: I have very attractive girlfriends.) I can’t remember a single time we went out — just us two — when we didn’t get approached by guys.

Soon, we grew cocky and even started going out without cash, confident that we’d find guys who would buy our drinks for us. (And we always did.)

New York Asians may remember a Korean club called MK. I’ve been to that place WAY too many times.

I would say that this was the period in my life when I felt the sexiest. I know that feeling sexy shouldn’t depend on attention from the opposite sex, but for me — a quiet, nerdy girl who had just gotten out of her shell — it did.

Pandy’s Puddle

There’s an episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan which revolves around Tolee’s relationship with his stuffed panda bear, Pandy.

In this episode, titled “Pandy’s Puddle,” Tolee the koala bear is utterly devastated when Pandy falls into a muddy puddle, and as a result must be separated from its owner to take a spin in the washing machine.

This is the only episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan that Claire cannot watch.

To further clarify, this is the only episode that is forbidden from being played at our house.

Why, do you ask? It’s because Claire relates so much to Tolee and his attachment to Pandy (see: Claire’s Lovey) that she, too, gets upset when Tolee begins to miss his inanimate friend.

I know that as parents, we shouldn’t laugh at our children’s misery. However, this is so darn cute that you cannot help but let out a smile.

Like the times Aerin starts bawling because she’s just finished a serving of one of her favorite foods.

Or when Claire talks to her little sister like she’s disciplining a dog, saying things like, “No! Bad baby!” (complete with a pointed finger) and Aerin just stares back in confusion.

And how yesterday, Aerin wondered into the bathroom and accidentally closed the door behind her, leaving herself alone in the dark. (She immediately panicked and started to cry big fat tears in the 2 seconds it took for me to rescue her, chuckling under my breath.)

Wow, I’m a horrible mom.

But you gotta find humor wherever you can, right?

My $62 Complexion Perfector [Giorgio Armani Maestro Foundation Review]

My husband is not a very observant person.

He hardly takes notice when I rearrange things around the house. He regularly misses stains and tears on the girls’ clothes. And I can’t remember if he’s ever acknowledged a new haircut on me — not even the time I chopped off 5 inches!

So when he told me earlier this week that my face was “glowing,” I knew I had a winning foundation in my hands.

Correction: complexion perfector. Because, according to Linda Cantello, International Make-up Artist for Giorgio Armani Cosmetics,

It’s not a foundation; it’s a complexion perfector. A whole new generation of make-up that feels incredible, looks invisible and makes skin appear luminous every time. Anyone can wear it.

Yes, I am talking about the newest “it” beauty product — one that has had makeup blogs abuzz with anticipation since it was first announced two months ago.

The Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup.

The luxury fashion brand spent eight years researching the formula for this foundation, with the aim of making the Maestro unlike any other makeup on the market today. While most foundations are made up of roughly 20% water and 80% oil (in addition to trace amounts of pigment and powder), this new product uses 60% dry oils and 11% highly-concentrated, “smart” pigments; the patented Fusion Technology enables the foundation to adapt to the wearer’s natural skin tone, rather than adding color on top of it. Continue reading »

Giveaway: Home Décor Items from Bedly!

Who wouldn’t want to live in a beautifully-decorated home?

While many of us would like to think that we have a good eye for home décor, the truth of the matter is that not all of us do.

Or, we may just not have the money, time, or resources to seek out the pieces we’d like adorning our homes.

(Personally, I would love to hire an interior designer, but I know that I can’t afford one…nevermind the additional research I’d have to do to even find a decorator!)

And how about those of us who get sick of looking at the same stuff every day and crave consistent change?

Well, I have good news for you. Check out Bedly, a new company that aims to redefine interior design services.

Signing up for Bedly is simple. After taking a 3-minute quiz to determine your needs, tastes, and budget, a decorator will personally pick a home décor item based on your preferences and send it in a Bedly Box every month. The items you receive include accent pillows, wall art, decorative accessories, and much, much more.

The price for this amazing, convenient service? A mere $19.99/month! (Shipping included!)

And that’s not all — as a Bedly member, you also receive members-only exclusive benefits such as discounts to the Bedly store, tips from experts, and access to giveaways and contests!

Bedly has generously offered to give away a Bedly Box to one of my readers. The items included are: an accent pillow, an owl doorstop, a rattan box for pencils and knick knacks, and a candle holder.

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 2 methods of entry: (1) become a fan of Bedly on Facebook; and (2) sign up for the Bedly Newsletter, which will gain you an additional 4 entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Thursday, October 11th, 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!

Happy Birthday, Claire!

Can you believe my Claire Emmanuelle turns 2 today?

Earlier this week, I had a flashback of myself dozing off in the recliner, holding her tiny swaddled body as she slept on my chest — because for about a month or so, this was the only way she would sleep during the night.

And now — just last night, in fact — she was dancing and running around the dance floor at a wedding, already chasing after boys.

She tests my patience. She annoys me with her “Umma…umma…UMMA!!!”s. She expects the world to revolve around her, frustrating herself and those around her when things don’t go her way.

But she still amazes me every day. She teaches me to be a better person. Sometimes, I look at her and wonder what I have done to deserve such an incredible daughter.

May all your dreams come true on your special day. I love you.

We Are the Introverts

My late grandmother used to call me a lone wolf, and I always thought it was appropriate considering my overly introverted nature. However, I’m loving the monk seal reference in this comic by Grant Snider!