Geek in Heels - Page 74

Sep 23, 2011 • In Art/Design, Giveaways, Home, Reviews, Shopping

NOVICA Review and a $75 Gift Card Giveaway!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Di, who entered via the comments section below!

I will be the first to admit that I am not always a socially-conscious shopper — while I do my best to support local businesses, I hardly ever really hold a newly purchased product in my hands, wondering about the hands that touched it before me.

But whenever I do hear about some of the horror stories behind mass-produced items, I cringe inside and become even more determined to lend my hand (and money) to small businesses and individuals whose products were not only were created with love and passion, but who also rely on the money made from these items.

So when NOVICA first contacted me about a giveaway on my blog, I became very intrigued. You see, NOVICA is a leading fair trade artisan website, working with National Geographic to “offer talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents online and provide access to the world market.” In other words, they not only provide a forum for these artisans to sell their goods worldwide, but also to connect people together to improve lives and help preserve traditional arts and crafts in other countries.

The site offers a wide variety of products — everything from home decor, jewelry and apparel, to paintings and even musical instruments! You can search by category or you can use one of their specialized searches like “Gifts for the Animal Lover” and “Wine & Cocktail Enthusiast”.

Each item that is available for purchase has in its description the name of the artisan and country, along with their photo, story, and even a quote. When you register for a (free) myNOVICA account, you can save specific products or artists to your ‘Favorites.’ You can also choose enter a photo, description, and other general information about yourself so the artisans can find out more about who is purchasing their products — you can even upload photos of the products you’ve purchased and how you are use them!

NOVICA also hosts a microfinance program which helps artisans around the world to enhance their craft and expand their market by offering them 0% interest loans. Additionally, it has also recently launched a new home party division called NOVICA Live, where Consultants can showcase beautiful gifts and jewelry through home parties in an entertaining way, while supporting artisans worldwide. Because it is a fairly new program, there are tons of promotions going on for early Consultants, including a trip to Bali for anyone who becomes a Director this year!

NOVICA generously offered me a $75 gift card to choose an item for myself, and I decided to go with the ‘Frangipani Garden’ Ceramic Tea Set, which is no longer available on their website. But don’t worry — here are some pictures I took of this gorgeous tea set!

Hand-made by the ceramic artist Putu Oka Mahendra, this tea set hails all the way from Bali. I love the single frangipani blossom detail on each of the pieces.

As is the case with all NOVICA purchases, my tea set came complete with an artisan story card in addition to a little personal note.

Here’s another shot of the set:

J’s family, being Chinese, is VERY into their tea and are pretty much tea snobs. 🙄 I’m happy to say that this tea set passed their inspection with flying colors. Additionally, I’ve always had trouble drinking tea from the traditional Chinese tea cups without handles due to the hot temperature of the tea…I know that the handles on these cups — aside from being simply gorgeous — will serve me well!

Now, for the part you’ve been waiting for: the giveaway!

NOVICA has offered to give one of my readers a $75 gift card!

Would you like to purchase for yourself or a friend one of the many amazing items at NOVICA.com? AND support a talented artisan while you’re at it?

If so, here are the rules…

Each reader is eligible for up to three entries via the following methods (each method will grant a separate entry):

Leave a comment to this post about how you would spend the NOVICA gift card.
If you haven’t done so already, go to the Geek in Heels Facebook Page and “Like” the page. Then click on the NOVICA Gift Card Giveaway link (located right under the profile picture, or just use this link) to enter the sweepstakes.
If you haven’t done so already, follow @geekinheels on Twitter and tweet exactly the following: I just entered for a chance to win a $75 NOVICA gift card via @geekinheels at http://bit.ly/qUWzSx and you can too!

Please do not leave extra comments here if you enter via Facebook or Twitter.

You can increase your chances of winning by using all three methods of entry. There is only one entry allowed per person, per method — for a total possible number of three entries — and any additional entries will be promptly deleted. (Yes, I have ways of checking this. And yes, this will only cause me to get annoyed at you.)

For the complete list of rules, go to this link.

The giveaway begins as soon as this entry is published — September 23, 2011 @ 12:00pm EDT — and will run until September 30, 2011 @ 11:59pm EDT. The winner will be announced here on October 1 and will also be notified by email (so please use a valid email when entering so that I can contact you if you win!) or via a Twititer DM.

Good luck, and thanks for reading! (I love giveaways, don’t you? :-D )

8 Lines That Would Have Ended ‘Star Wars’ Really Fast

Via Dorkly.

On Being Happy

Whenever I have some extra time to spare (or when I am suffering from insomnia once again), I like to go through the archives of this blog. And going through some of the more controversial posts from the past year, one question that popped into my head was: when exactly did I get the reputation of being a negative/pessimistic blogger?

If I had to label myself as an optimist or a pessimist, I would say that I am more of “the glass is half empty” person. It is true that overly bubbly personalities tend to irritate me, and that I usually gravitate — and share deeper bonds — toward those who wear their bleeding hearts on their sleeves.

(I know that others prefer to have in their social circles those who are bright and optimistic, doing their best to weed out all negativity — including people — from their lives. And that is perfectly fine too. I am not saying that one is better than the other; we all have different preferences and different ways of viewing, and reacting, to the world.)

(image source)

BUT I am not a complete Debbie Downer. I am the type of person who strives to see the good in everyone (as I illustrated in my Bin Laden posts). Sure I struggle with loving my enemies — who doesn’t? — and it’s been something that I have been working hard at in the past few years.

I guess the issue arises when I am faced with struggles and bumps in the road of life. And the way I approach it is this:

When I am going through rough patches, I like to talk about it and write about it.
It’s as simple as that.

Some readers see this as whining. Some see it as oversharing. Others even question my love for the people with whom I am going through the struggles. A few have gone as far as to calling me “fake,” asking how someone could be so negative all the time.

I think of it as therapy. I also see if as a way of helping others who may be going through the same things as me, to let them know that they are not alone, and to (if applicable) show them how I handled the problem.

My friend Miriam wrote a wonderful post about this last week when she wrote:

If something isn’t ‘right’ than I usually need to ‘process’ it and the best way for me to do that is by saying what ever it is out loud…or in this case, writing it on a post. I generally don’t need help processing the good stuff, so a lot of the good stuff never makes it to this blog. But because of that, I seem to have potentially created a misnomer about my devotion to and love for my son not to mention how I feel about parenthood in general.

And that is exactly me, in a nutshell.

Additionally, I have shared in the past that I grew up in a poor family. Like, our entire family of four sleeping in one room on the floor poor. Like, we had no indoor plumbing, and I spent my life in Korea using an outhouse poor. Like, I had to beg my mother to let me take piano lessons and she had to sell stuff in order to afford those lessons poor.

Growing up in such an environment, I remember envying friends who were able to lay their hands on the latest and most popular toys. I remember asking my parents why we never went on vacation.

And I remember resenting those who would flaunt their good fortunes.

In hindsight, I should have been happy for my friends. But I was just a little kid who was overpowered by her inner green monster.

I’m guessing that these early years had a profound effect on me, because even to this day I do not like it much when people brag about their newest purchases, latest conquests, and other good fortunes. If they are good friends or close family, that’s fine. I just find it annoying when people with whom I don’t share a close relationship flash and flaunt.

I also try my best not to do it myself. I know that I do it sometimes on this blog — and I am painstakingly aware of it every time I do so — but only because I do not want this blog to be ONLY about my bitchings and rantings.

I know that I have a pretty good life, and I am eternally grateful and thankful for it. I just don’t like to go around with a megaphone, screaming, “LOOK HOW AWESOME MY LIFE IS!”, because it’s just not my style.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am happy. But I get sad too, and experience my share of struggles. And just because I do not always write about the good stuff doesn’t mean that I love my daughters any less, or that I am an overly negative, pessimistic person. Like I’ve said many times in the past, you really can’t judge a blogger by what he/she chooses to share online.

Besides, I have been making a conscious effort to bring more positivity to this blog in the past few months…couldn’t you tell? 🙂

No Love for Facebook

Because I have nothing good in my current “Drafts” folder…

Because I have been bedridden with a raging migraine all day…

Because everyone seems to be hatin’ on the new Facebook layout…

Here are three graphics I found online that will (hopefully) help with the transition. Enjoy!

(source)

13 Dogs a-Jumpin’ [Adorable GIF of the Day]

I can stare at this all day.

Via well that’s adorable.

P.S. — I counted 13 dogs, but I could be wrong. Please correct me if I am!

Family Help

It has been exactly one week since J’s parents arrived from Hong Kong to help me with the last few weeks of my pregnancy. They will stay in the U.S. and continue to help out for the next few months which will undoubtedly be tremendously difficult with two babies that are only 13 months apart.

I have stated before that I don’t have the best relationship with my in-laws. It’s not that we don’t get along — we do, but we are far from being BFFs and I still feel a bit uncomfortable around them. Add to that the language and cultural barriers, and the fact that I am a highly private person…

HOWEVER, this time around I could not be happier to have them around. They clearly love Claire, and just seeing their faces light up every time they interact with her makes me so happy that we were able to provide a healthy grandchild for them.

And despite the fact that my MIL and I aren’t that close, she is one of two people in the world — the other being my own mother — whom I fully trust to take great care of my children from the moment they are born, to love them from day one, and do everything in her power to raise them well.

(J comes a very close third. I know he loves his daughters with all his heart, but a motherly/grandmotherly touch is just different, KWIM? Besides, he never even changed a diaper before Claire was born! :-P)

The first week was a bit rough on all of us. Just three months ago, when our nanny started, Claire needed only a few hours before she became comfortable with her. Now that she is older, with full-on stranger anxiety and a firm grasp on object permanence, it took almost a full week for her to even let her paternal grandparents hold her. (During this transition period, J, my SIL, and I all took turns as the “buffer.”)

Yesterday was the first full day that I was alone with my in-laws and Claire. As soon as I put her down for her morning nap, I retired to my bedroom to take a nap for myself…and woke up with a start to realize that it had been an hour and a half since Claire fell asleep — she must be awake now! And previously, when she awoke from her naps to find her grandmother greeting her, she would cry and cry…

I hurried out to the living room to find my MIL feeding Claire a bowl of congee, my FIL sitting at the same table, and all three members of the family clearly enjoying themselves.

And the day continued just so. They played with her and made her laugh, they took her out on two long walks, and they insisted that I relax and rest.

I must confess that I was a bit resentful of my in-laws during the first few months of Claire’s life, because at times it really seemed like they were hogging her, and taking away from me precious bonding time I could have had with my daughter.

Only with recent events have I come to realize that I should have spoken up if I wanted more alone time with Claire, and that they truly, genuinely want to help. Additionally — as morbid as this sounds — I know that their (as well as my own parents’) time on earth is limited. Why should I deprive them of something that gives them so much joy when I benefit from it as well?

My in-laws could not have come at a better time. Our nanny’s own mother has fallen ill, so she is no longer available. My parents’ stores are keeping them busier than ever before. My sister is currently out-of-state taking a class, and then she will go to Paris for 3 months. Lastly, J’s brother and his wife, who have been such a tremendous help to us in the past year, will be moving to Shanghai next month!

I wish I had a picture of our entire family, but I don’t. 🙁 Hopefully we will be able to get one at Claire’s first birthday party later this month…but in the meantime here’s one of Claire playing with — and in — her aunt’s LV bags! (Notice how she’s using the little pochette as a purse…it fits her perfectly!)

Toy Story vs. The Office

Now that I’ve seen it all laid out, the similarities are uncanny!

Via Cannot Unsee.

3 Things I’m Digging Right Now

1. 7 Little Words

This little app has got me losing sleep and seeing word combos everywhere! (Similar to when you play Tetris for too long, you start seeing Tetris shapes in your head. :-P) I’ve gotten a bunch of my friends hooked on it too, including J, who usually hates word games.

I’m going to let the following screenshots do the explaining for you:

I highly, highly recommend this game for all my readers…even if you normally don’t like word games!

Get the Android version here.

Get the iOS version here.

2. Divergent

Last month, I fell on The Hunger Games bandwagon…and I fell hard. So much so that when I finished the trilogy — literally within days — I began to exhibit symptoms of withdrawal. So when I posted on my Facebook page, asking for books that are similar to The Hunger Games, I received a bunch of great suggestions.

The best so far — and the book I am currently reading — is Divergent by Veronica Roth. I’m only a few chapters in, but I already love it for its fast-paced, action-packed storyline that draws the reader right into Roth’s dystopian Chicago.

I will be out of new books to read after I am done with Divergent — does anyone have any other suggestions for fast-paced, adventure books?

3. Up All Night

I just caught this new NBC series on Hulu and I couldn’t help but fall in love. And I won’t lie — there were moments when I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Ohmigawd…THIS is my life!’

I knew that the show couldn’t be horrible by just looking at the cast (I *heart* Will Arnett…I want to be his and Amy Poehler’s child!), and I am guessing that it will get better and better as the season progresses.

Maybe then might I finally forgive NBC for canceling Outsourced.

The Quadratic Formula as a Tax Form

Being a complete klutz at math, but as a lover of forms with a Vogon-like obsession with filling them out neatly and properly, I can’t help but wonder if this version of the quadratic formula is more suited for people like me…

Via TaxProf Blog.

My Second Belly Button

Two months after my appendectomy, my incision scars still hurt. The largest — a 1.5″ cut about 4″ above my belly button — is the most painful and remains an angry red.

My doctor tells me that this is what I should expect with a surgical scar on a growing, pregnant belly. He says that while the skin and muscle on my stomach will continue to expand with the pregnancy, the scar tissue will resist stretching. And as a result, the incision scars will take longer to fully heal.

Additionally, because the rest of my belly continues to grow with no regard to the scars, there now exists indentations where the scar tissues lie.

When I am sitting/crouching, and the skin and fat on my stomach contract, the largest scar seems to indent even further, creating a funny-looking cave that looks like a large, second belly button.

I would take a picture, but it’s kinda gross. So here’s something I found online to tide you over:

I couldn’t believe this is a real children’s book!
It actually looks pretty interesting…

Now that BebeDeux’s due date grows near, I have been wondering how the scars will look after giving birth. Not right afterwards — because I still looked like I was 4 months pregnant for at least a month after my last delivery — but when my tummy finally shrinks.

In other words, I was 25 weeks pregnant when I had my appendectomy. My belly was already full and round when the scar tissue formed…so will the scars remain stretched and raised after I give birth?

I guess only time will tell. But one thing is for certain: despite my use of silicone scar patches, vitamin E, and shea butter, the appearance of the scars has not improved any…and so I think it’s safe to say that my bikini-wearing days are over.

I just had an additional thought: if I end up getting a c-section with BebeDeux, I will have four surgical scars on my stomach!

NOVICA Review and a $75 Gift Card Giveaway!

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8 Lines That Would Have Ended ‘Star Wars’ Really Fast

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On Being Happy

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No Love for Facebook

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13 Dogs a-Jumpin’ [Adorable GIF of the Day]

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Family Help

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Toy Story vs. The Office

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3 Things I’m Digging Right Now

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The Quadratic Formula as a Tax Form

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My Second Belly Button

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