Wooo. I did this in one take due to time constraints (ironically). I had not yet have coffee and had just woken up 40 minutes prior. This explains why I sound so SEDATED and my eyes are barely half open, even for an Asian. Topic for today’s VEDA video is what you don’t have time for.
Linda | 
Austin, new thing(s) of the week, pursuit of happiness, savory, the not so single life | 
07 26th, 2010| 
14 Comments »Girls’ weekend was so good for my soul. Alex and Hillary left their towns to come spend the weekend with me in Austin. I will bullet point my highlights and then share snapshots of our weekend (save the food, I’ll save that for the food blog. Have you checked that out yet?)
In short, a wonder-full weekend and I miss them already. We made plans to do this one more time before the year closes. Next time, we’ll go to Hillary’s city.
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Linda | 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), BBBS, lists, on the nightstand, pursuit of happiness, savory | 07 23rd, 2010| 8 Comments » 1.Two of my dear high school friends, Alex & Hillary are coming for the weekend. We’re going to camp out on my living room floor. On our agenda for sure: booty shaking. All else will be decided on whim. :) Cannotwait. Here’s a pic of the three of us from November. I think this is the last time I saw either of them.  2.I liked this voice mail I got from my friend Davey. Mainly for the mumbled, “I like you.” Shared with permission. I like him too. It’s not yet my birthday. 3.On the walk to my car one day this week, I saw a statue hold a balloon and it made me smile.  4.I’m on a SARK kick. Here’s my loot from the Austin Public Library.  5. Click for bigger picture I don’t know if I buy that a squirrel waved at her. I also don’t know if I buy that another squirrel waved at her previously disbelieving brother. I will admit, I might start discreetly waving at the squirrels on campus just to test it out. 6.My little from Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America has a boyfriend. She tells me they have a lot in common. For instance, when people fall down, they both laugh. They also both like to “do pranks.” 7. Beef Stroganoff Fail I made my first marinara sauce from scratch on Wednesday. It was decent. I wasn’t feeling confident with cooking because I royally screwed up my first attempt of beef stroganoff on Sunday. The recipe said to cover and simmer for an hour. I had no idea I was supposed to stir occasionally! The sweet thing is, Alan scraped off some off the top (the edible portion) and actually complimented it! Aww. |
The above image is from a blog I subscribe to entitled Thought Questions. I thought as my birthday is next week, it’s a perfect question to reflect upon.
5 years ago I was just about to turn 22. My first serious relationship that had lasted four years just ended minutes ago. It was an ugly breakup. I was feeling pretty raw, disillusioned, and exposed. Thus far, it was the hardest year I’ve experienced but the most rewarding. The next five years, I’ve reinforced the friendships I managed to salvage from that breakup and made some really great new friends. These strangers kind of rallied around me despite not knowing me and haven’t left ever since. I’m not as sweet as I was before but I’m nice enough. I do more of what I want even if it means doing it by myself. I speak up a little bit more. I try to not publish private happenings online. I’m emotionally tougher than I was at 22. I’m no saint but if I were, I’d be the patron saint of broken hearts. I have a new empathy for loss of first loves I didn’t have 5 years ago and have taken many a broken heart under my wings. In 5 years, I’ve grown to be more confident, despite being aware of more shortcomings, and more forthcoming, despite cultivating public reservation.
I wasn’t aware while it was happening, but in the last 5 years I’ve grown a lot.
Linda | 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), Houston, lists, pursuit of happiness, quotations | 07 9th, 2010| 10 Comments »Brenda if you’re reading this and haven’t yet received my letter, don’t read take No. 7. 1.I’ve been getting a little soft around my belly. I’m not complaining. I know if I get big, it’s A. my own doing and B. been a long time coming. I hate working out. I used to have a 3-5 times a week work out buddy that made working out tolerable. If you throw in socializing and someone to share the misery with, I’m all about it! Yesterday, I stuffed my face at a churrascaria and a few hours later, had a midnight phone date with my college roommate while I ate warm chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies at midnight. I need to put on my big girl pants and start working out regularly again. Even if I have to do it without a buddy. (The horror!) 2.That midnight phone date was wonderful. With the majority of my closest friends being long distance, I try to schedule at least quarterly phone dates with them. It rejuvenates me to catch up with a friend who lives in a different city. Grounds me. I love that we’re off busy in our own life and daily routines, and yet they can recognize that I’m still essentially the same person they met 10 years ago and I can see they too are essentially the same. So comforting to know that despite time, growing pains, life’s dramas, we are basically still who we are. That’s some good shit. 3.Facebook has been suggesting friends I might know on the sidebar when I log in. Under the name of suggested possible friend is a tally of how many mutual friends we have. It tickles me when they suggest people with greater than 10 mutual acquaintances/friends. Right now I have Erica and Stephanie suggested to me and we have 23 and 20 mutual acquaintances. 23 and 20! I wonder if I ever rubbed elbows with some of these people and not know it. I love stumbling /finding these kind of coincidences on my own without the help of Facebook. For instance, I once had a class buddy in college in my Medical Terminology class. We sat next to each other for almost a full semester before somehow figuring out that we literally sat by each other at a dinner party 2 years prior. Then there’s the story of Cindy. We didn’t meet til 2005. It wasn’t til maybe a year or two ago when it clicked that she was the lucky bitch who sat way on the other side of the auditorium of a class who got flowers delivered to her on Valentine’s day in 2002 while class was going on. Within in the last couple of years, I had a flashback to a time when we hadn’t even met, of her surprised face and flowers being delivered to her. Oi. Crazy! Doesn’t it make you wonder how many times the people in your life have crossed paths with you before establishing significant presences? Do you have any relevant stories to share?Blows my mind. 4.Another thing that blows my mind is this flower about to bloom in Houston. It’s called a corpse flower and only 28 have been known to bloom in the United States. Houston is about to give way to the 29th bloom. From my understanding, it stands at 10 ft tall, is in bloom for 12 hours? and finally, it smells like rotting flesh! If I didn’t have plans in Austin, I’d totally make a drive down to Houston and drag a Houston friend to go see it with me. Cindy? Kim? Go anyway? Here’s the link. 5.I love me some cheesy jokes. I have about 20 jokes I cycle through for years now. All stolen from friends (Thanks Cindy! Thanks Kim!). Well, I’ve run out of new people to share the same tired jokes and my amigos literally want to crawl into a hole when they see that I’m about to share a joke they’ve heard from me at least 10 times already. This means, I need more material to share. Will you tell me a joke? You can leave it as a voicemail. I’ve recorded one of my favorite jokes to greet you when you call in. It’s a trade! My friends will appreciate the new material. Use the widget below to leave a voicemail. You need a phone. Google gives you an option to be anonymous. So go ahead. It’s safe. Tell me a joke. Also, if you’re reading in a reader you won’t see the widget. :) 6.Life is good. I am happy. 7.I sent a letter out to France this week. Brenda‘ s off traveling Europe and I’m in Texas envious. It’s been over ten years since I’ve been overseas. Here’s a cellphone picture of the quote I scribbled on the back of the envelope.  |
I have a few friends, all girlfriends actually who struggle with credit card debt and budgeting. As I’m reflecting on these close friends, I’ve noticed they have a three things in common.
I’m really not a financial expert but I think I’m pretty aware. I took the Charles Schwab Money Fitness Quiz and scored an 86 which is rated as “Good.” I know exactly my money weaknesses and strengths.
I’m always trying to motivate my struggling friends to adopt the good habits I live by. I hate that they live paycheck to paycheck and if anything were to happen they will be scrounging around for aid or going into deeper debt. I’m by no means perfect and sometimes I flounder. (This month, I spent more than I made.) So I’m going to write this blog entry in dedication to a few girl friends and impart what mentalities have worked for me.
1. I used to do a lot of weight loss counseling at my previous job and one thing that I noticed when people relapsed on their weight loss program is that they don’t forgive themselves and get back on the saddle. They are so ridden with guilt that they start letting it win by staying down for the count. They tell themselves, “I’ve done so badly and eaten at McDonalds this morning, might as well go all out and treat myself to a whole pint of ice cream tonight. I’ll start my program again next week.” This mentality is counterproductive and doesn’t make sense! You can always and should start again right away. The same goes for money. If you exceeded your budget this week and it’s only Wednesday, don’t go for broke the rest of the week. Start anew right away.
2. We’re all going to continuously fail. Failing is part of life. There’s no avoiding it. However, don’t set yourself up for failure. If you have never saved in your life, choose an automatic minimum to put into savings that is attainable. If you think you can realistically save 200 dollars a month, do it. If after a month you weren’t even close, adjust accordingly! Go all the way down to 20 dollars a month if need be and inch your way up. As inevitable in life as failure is, it’s important to not set yourself up for it.
3. Create a price to opportunity ratio. Let me illustrate this mentality with real thought processes I go through. This one I went through yesterday: I overspent in June. I moved (movers were 260). I bought renter’s insurance (120). I bought books and event tickets ($60). I lost count of how many meals I ate out (moving made it difficult to cook.) I indulged in a lot of treats (clothes, outings, etc). I’m finally moved in and had lunches planned to bring to work. Yesterday, my coworker was walking to Chipotle and I needed to buy a greeting card next door. I love me some Chipotle and really wanted to just scrap my lunch in exchange for a burrito bowl. Follows is how I walk away from many of my small mundane impulses is to evaluate the opportunity.
Q. Is Chipotle fairly attainable?
A. It TOTALLY is. It’s on campus, walking distance, and under ten dollars. Hell, I have two Chipotles less than a mile away from where I live.
Q. Will this be my last opportunity to eat Chipotle?
A. Far from it!
Q. Can I resist this week and be satisified with coming back later?
A. Absolutely.
Impulse resisted!
That’s three big mentalities I’ve found financially useful and effective but I’m always seeking to learn more, so please share your tips.
This post is written as part of 20SB Blog Carnival on friends and money. For more entries about friends and money, click the link.
Because I’m juggling 3 books at the moment and haven’t started my book club’s book for June yet, opening my copy of Eat, Pray, Love is not top priority right now. I was catching up on my DVRed Oprahs last week and saw Julia Roberts promoting Eat, Pray, Love the movie. The show has made me inch my copy of the book up a little on my list. During the show, Oprah interviewed the cast members asking them what their eat, pray, and love look like to them. It inspired some reflection and I thought I’d share with you my eat, pray, love.
My pray is gratitude and being present. It’s when things are calm and happy and I’m present enough to know I’m experiencing a beautiful moment, be it a field of bluebonnets, a shared cackle with friends, or a quiet squeeze of a hand. To appreciate and savour is my pray.
It’s hard to choose from my myriad of personal photos a handful of images that illustrates what love looks like to me. Simply put, it’s time well spent with my family and friends. It’s sharing life.
Not too long ago, I read that the Dalai Lama was asked what he thought the key to happiness is. He answered simply, routines. So I discussed this is great detail a few months ago with my friend, Will and I mistakenly thought he meant just any old routines. I equated routines as being in a rut. How can he say this is the key to happiness? What about adventure and expanding horizons? Will guided me to what I think the Dalai Lama really means, which is positive routines. This is in alignment with what Aristotle has been credited for saying. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
My BFF recently wrote a list of positive routines she had which reminded me that this topic has been in my draft folder for a while. I thought I’d share with you a list of some of my good habits.
I checked my newsfeed on facebook. Stephanie, old high school and college friend and now a law school student posted this. :) Thought I’d share the reminder. Do you feel a sense of urgency yet?
Stephanie: People grow up, get older, grow old, and die. No matter how long it takes, it’s all over before we’ve been able to go to Europe, write the book that everyone tells us we should write, have sex with a circus freak, marry Debbie before she’s taken by a bigger jerk, save money for retirement, resolve certain lifelong “issues,” reconcile with people over crap that doesn’t make sense anymore, and go to the dentist.
Texas native. Living and working in Austin, TX. Twenty something. In hot pursuit of good food, adventure, and laughter. Dreams of owning her own place with a big giant library.
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