Life

2010 vs 2020 me

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I don’t think I liked the person I was 10 years ago. I wasn’t very confident and found myself in a toxic relationship. I often searched for validation by doing stupid things or slightly oversharing on the internet. 2010 was a low point emotionally for me so it’s amazing to look back and see how far I’ve come.

In 10 years I experienced so many things. 10 years ago, I started my music blog, that I had decided to end this year. It brought me some invaluable experiences shooting bands in different cities and some of my greatest friendships but also realizing that I am not the same person I was when I started it had merit too.

I both met and married Nash. We moved together to the city and got full-time jobs related to our industry, something we couldn’t even fathom not too long ago. We went on lots of food adventures, even as far as Japan.

Our family got Teddy, and for the first time, I experienced the unconditional friendship of a dog. Then years later I got Bacon for myself and he vastly changed how I see and appreciate the world. He made me explore the corners of the city that I never would’ve seen and made me a much more active person (less online couch potato) than I was.

I don’t know what’s in store for the next 10 years but that’s okay, surprises are the best part of life. Happy New Year!

Some things don’t stay the same

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Recently, I announced my decision to end Ride the Tempo after 9 years of music blogging. You can read the full entry here.

When I first started blogging, there or in any capacity in general, I was HOOKED on the internet attention writing gave me. I needed the audience to validate my every passion, purchase or daily life happenings. I loved recording everything even the mundane things and having everyone read about it. I lived half my life online in front of a computer.

Somewhere in the past few years, I grew up. I wanted to be less online, out of exhaustion from recording everything all the time and that I started to want to appreciate the moments more as they happened. I think getting a dog had a little bit to do with that. I wanted to pay attention more to someone who was giving me his undivided attention. Not to mention I got married and I wanted to be more present with my family too.

I began to feel that the value of time as something that you can never get back and I want to spend less of it in front of a computer.

That being said, this blog isn’t going anywhere any time soon. I still love having it to document how I’ve grown and perhaps it will occasionally feature some music blogging when I miss writing about it. I think 2020 is a great chance to start something new.

Bacon hits 10k!

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Bacon recently hit 10k followers on his Instagram. When we first got him, we never thought he would grow so quickly. I’m decent at social media but at the end of the day, half the credit goes to him. He’s always down to pose for a photo, try on new outfits and go on new adventures. That may all sound easy, but our family dog Teddy was actually the opposite type of dog.

When we first got Bacon, we put him in outfits and different situations right away and realized one that: that he was fearless. He also constantly has a positive attitude that I wish I had more of in real life.

I made so many new friends because of him and that’s been the most rewarding part of this experience!

Doing More of Nothing

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I read this article about How Millenials Became The Burnout Generation recently and parts of it hit me kind of hard. As an Asian kid, I have been prepping for “my future” since I was young. I excelled at school, but as I grew older the naive thought that school could lead to my “dream job” led me in random directions. I finished post-secondary school with a Bachelors of Music Degree and then went on to do a diploma in Entertainment Management. While I regret neither of those decisions (the latter led me to my husband), it was a life in the early 20s that wasn’t easy, required a lot of working for free and long hours. I’m doing okay today, but it’s nowhere where my parents were when they were my age.

I’ve been living online, “optimizing” my presence on the internet since I was 12 or 13. I became fluent in the online world wherever I went. I taught myself to code my own websites and blogs at 12 (hello Geocities), mastered the economy of Neopets, sold a popular Ragnarok Online account and had a lot of Asian Avenue/MySpace/ICQ friends. By the time smartphones and Twitter/Facebook came around, I was ready. I had been building a personal brand and online content for more than half my life without thinking about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love social media and appreciate what I have in life right now, but I’m starting to step back a little on my own channels. Life doesn’t always have to be content. Not everything I do has to be productive. I started to feel the burnout for real last year after years of blogging every day. I loved sharing all the products that I had used up every month until it started to feel like a chore writing it all down that I stopped trying to use up stuff altogether. I even haven’t finished building the set of Nintendo Labo because I kept thinking I was “too exhausted” to document the steps.

Despite my dog having a fast-growing Instagram account, he’s the one that has taught me that life can be slowed down, not everything has to be documented and that sometimes you miss laughing at the best moments when you’re behind a screen.

This year, I’m making a conscious effort to do more of nothing. It’s hard because sometimes you can accidentally “optimize” the nothing, which makes it again feel like work (like when I tried to do self-care Sundays). I want to do more of truly nothing, staring into space, cuddling and taking more naps with the dog and going on more walks. I don’t know if that’s really a resolution. Can I make a resolution to “do nothing”?

Burnout and Letting Your Days Guide You

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For the past few years, before 2018, I blogged here almost every day. Then last year I got engaged and in November of 2017 we brought home Bacon.

The blog was left a bit neglected as I planned the wedding of my dreams.

And Bacon’s Instagram started to grow in ways I had never imagined.

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When you and your friends are always impeccably dressed

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I spend a lot less time recently and more offline at the dog park, hanging out with friends or family. I’ve been tweeting a lot less, though highly active on Bacon’s Instagram.

I felt less of the need to document life on the blog, and more to just live it. I’ll always love blogging, but I no longer feel the urge to do it every day. I started to burn out from doing that while trying to fill a day with activities and the result was the lack of recent posts. I felt the constant need to explain myself because of my self-imposed content creating goals which resulted in the lack of posts.

For now on, I’ll write when I am in the right mindset instead of just to fill the space.

 

Things I Used Up: June 2018

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Another month, another Things I Used Up post. June was a bit hectic in terms of work so the list is a bit smaller, as I didn’t have time for many masks or trying new samples. There was a lot of quickly getting ready to head out somewhere, so I reached for my versatile palettes. I didn’t pan anything though.

Here’s what I used up:

  • Pixi Glow Tonic – This lasted me more than a year, so I’m proud to have finished it.
  • Face Shop x The Solution Brightening Face Mask
  • Tony Moly x Bart Simpson Jeju volcanic lava nose strip
  • The Face Shop x The Solution Radiance Face Mask
  • SNP Fruits Gelato Brightening Mask

Thing I Used Up: May 2018

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Oh my, it seems like the last time I posted was the last post of this series! A month passes by so fast. I finally have Fridays off for the summer, so hopefully, I can catch-up on some blogging. I have a lot to post about! But first to keep my de-cluttering resolution, here are the things I used up in May:

  • Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Eyeliner
  • The Face Shop The Solution Smoothing Face Mask
  • Nars Orgasm / Laguna Duo (panned a few months ago but wearing thing, so time to go!)
  • Be a Bombshell Some Beach Lip Crayon
  • Tony Mony x Bart Simpson Jeju Volcanic Lava Nose Strip
  • Dr Belmeur Skin Sync Ex Daily Repair Sample
  • Tony Moly Vital Vita 12 Synergy Serum Sample
  • Raccine Delicare Soothing Mask
  • The Face Shop The Solution Pore Care Face Mask

Thrown Away

  • Revlon Instafix Highlight Stick (broken)
  • Sephora Makeup Palette (estimated it’s from 2007, so getting old!)

Things I Used Up: April 2018

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Sorry for the lack of posts this year. Life at 30 seems to just pass by so fast. There’s been a whirlwind of emotions and events. I hope to post more about some of them soon. Meanwhile, keeping up with my resolution use up/trash products, here is my April list.

Things I Used Up:

– Clarins Extra Firming Nuit (sample)
– Real Nature Mask  – Goji Berry
– The Solution Firming Face Mask
– Fox Animal Aqua Relax Mask by Xilix
– Shisheido Ibuki Sleeping Mask Mini
– Tony Moly Pikachu Mask Sheet
– Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Wash

Things I Got Rid of:

– Beauties Factory 120 eyeshadow palette (estimated purchase 2006)
– Sephora Christmas (estimated purchase 2006)

I realized that I had some super old palettes that I have been reluctant to get rid of. They have a lot of colours that haven’t panned, but quality-wise formulas have changed since and things I’ve purchased recently are 100% better. There’s sentimental value in these pans as it got me through a lot of fun themed pub nights in university, but now I’ve grown up into appreciating more quality make-up (than just owning a million colours).

There wasn’t much this month besides masks because, to be honest, I bought a bunch of new products. I couldn’t resist all the spring sales!

Going to make more of an effort not to buy too much though. Despite my huge vanity, I’m running out of space! Operation use more stuff shall continue!

Things I Used Up: March 2018

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Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I just got married the past weekend, so it’s been a whirlwind few months. I’ll have a full post on that later when I get my official photos!

Here are some things I used up this Month! I used a lot of masks and moisturizers because I wanted my skin to be perfect for the special day.

  • Laneige water bank moisture cream (mini)
  • Llang On the Skin Truffle Sheet Mask
  • Belif the true cream moisture bomb (sample)
  • Juice Beauty Stem Celluar Anti Wrinkle Moisturizer (sample)
  • SNP Grapefruit Gelato Brightening Mask
  • Soft Miracle foot peeling pack 
  • Spongelle Bulgarian Rose
  • The Face Shop the Solution Firming Face Mask
  • The Face Shop x Bart Simpson Juju vocanic lava nose strip
  • The Face Shop the Solution Brightening Mask

Things I let go of:

  • Sonia Kashuk Texture Taupe 08 eye shadow (gave it to mom)
  • SNP Grapefruit Gelato Brightening Mask x 2 (for the bridesmaid)
  • Various samples and minis for my wedding emergency kit!

I might have missed a few things in the hustle, but I’ll continue trying to track and use up more products. I have however acquired a few more beauty related things since the last post, so I’m not using things fast enough!

 

How My Life Changed as a Puppy Mom

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Teddy was our family first puppy, but he’s always been considered my sister’s dog when we moved out of our parent’s house.

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I’m a supreme doggo #fashion

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When I moved out a few years ago, I really missed the constant companionship of a dog, but I wasn’t really in a financial or mental state to take care of one. My bachelor apartment was too small and I thought it wouldn’t fit into my social and musical life.

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Do you have a treat for us? 😁😬

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When Nash proposed and we moved in together to a bigger space, we spoke about our future and our desires for a little dog. We always thought it would come after the wedding but as soon as I met Bacon, I was in love.

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I am half pretzel now #🥨

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The 6 weeks we’ve been together so far has flown by and he’s already grown from the 4lb tiny doggy he came home as. The first couple of weeks I lacked sleep and was always anxious to get home to him. Now he sleeps much better and I know he does okay by himself at home.

I’ve spent a lot more time offline than I used to. It’s kind of easy to choose between being on my phone/computer and happily paying fetch with Bacon. I’ve also gone on more walks and seen parts of my own neighbourhood I would have never otherwise have visited and neighbours (and their dogs) we’ve never talked to. Together we’ve seen the sun rise and set many times.

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Snooooooze 😴🤤#zzz

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When I am online, I find I use the time more efficiently. No more am I browsing around aimlessly. I usually have a specific task I have to do in a short time frame (when Bacon is calm or napping).

I can’t wait until the weather is warmer so we can see more new places and people. Here’s to more adventures in the New Year, which in 2018 is also the Year of the Dog!