I got a haircut

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Liang Shi

I got a haircut.

And for girls, getting a haircut means a lot more than just getting a haircut.

Ladies, you know what I’m talking about. Haircuts symbolize something new, fresh and an uplifting change.

You literally look like a different person, and because you do, it’s easy to start feeling like you’re transforming into a different person too. A few days into this cut, I’m starting to embrace the metamorphosis.

For the most part, I decided to chop my hair because I wanted to look older and more mature. As a working young professional, looking like you could pass for 14 doesn’t necessarily give you any bonus points.

What I wanted to obtain from this new style was to give off the aura and intensity of an international woman of mystery. Like a female James Bond or an Angelina Jolie character. Yes, seriously.*

*Okay, only semi-seriously.

So, what do you think?




Thanks to Ari Morales for the photos!

Posted in Personal, Style | 4 Comments

At least this isn’t you: buying an empanada with human meat

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Liang Shi
Human meat empanadas

Mmm... human meat empanadas. (Photo credit: killthebird via Flickr)

Do you ever feel like your life sucks? Now you officially never have a reason to complain.

Introducing a new category I’m starting called: At least this isn’t you.

Whenever I’m feeling negative about life, I’ve found that what works to pick me up is making a list of situations that could be even worse. And that’s when I realize all my issues are just first world problem and I should never, ever let them get me down.

So in this first installment of At least this isn’t you, allow me to introduce you to these Brazilian cannibals who apparently committed murder and then used the flesh to make empanadas that were then sold to their neighbors.

One of the murderers, Jorge Beltrao Negromonte da Silveira, even wrote a book detailing the activities:

“Looking at the now lifeless body of the evil adolescent, I feel relieved. I grabbed some sheet metal and begin to remove all the skin and then I divide her up…we dine on the flesh of evil as a purification ritual. We bury the remainder in the patio.”

Let’s break it down:

  1. At least you weren’t one of the people killed
  2. At least you weren’t one of the neighbors who unknowingly bought and ate human flesh empanadas.

There. Now I hope I made your day better.

Posted in Not you | 4 Comments

Challenge: Frugal April (Update 1)

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Liang Shi


Personal items: $20
Birchbox subscription
MyGlam.com subscription

Food: $141.39
Restaurants: $132.51
Ice Cream: $5.04

Entertainment: $13.50
Master Pancake at the Alamo Drafthouse

WEEK 1 GRAND TOTAL = $174.89

Week one has been a mild success! Only about $25 over budget, namely because I had a fancy $75 dinner on Thursday (Thursdays are TREAT YO’ SELF days afterall) which could’ve been avoided, but alas, I am a sucker for good food.

Below are photos of said dinner:

Continue reading →

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TREAT YO SELF (to a great read)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Liang Shi

A friend of mine recommended I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, and I’m going to make the same recommendation to you.

It’s a simple story with a deep and thoughtful message: you must find your own path to happiness. Only you can decide what will make your life fulfilling.

And you have no reason to not read it — it’s FREE via the Gutenberg Project. It’s also pretty short and can be read in one or two sittings.

Truth be told, I’m at a point in life where there are a million paths and I drift around between feeling lost and hopeful. This book was a great inspiration to focus on myself and let go of chasing the dreams of being like “other people” or trying to fulfill the expectations of others. Live for yourself. No excuses.

Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”

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How to: Look dressy yet casual

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Liang Shi

Burnout tee + high-low skirt + gold peep toe heels + gemmed bracelet

Mixing in a casual t-shirt with a dressy skirt and shoes changes up the outfit. Add in a small amount of glamour with the jewelry to balance it all out, and voila! A daytime look that’s both dressy yet casual. For night time, you can throw on a simple tank top or a dressier blouse to take it from a casual day look to full on fancy mode. Thanks to my wonderful friend Jayna for snapping these photos of me!

Seafood crepe @ Old Pecan Street Cafe for lunch :)

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TREAT YO SELF THURSDAY! (to some laughs)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Liang Shi

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Challenge: Frugal April

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Liang Shi

This month, I’m challenging myself to live it down.

What prompted this? Scary ass credit card bills. Every month, I stare at a bill and tell myself I will spend less. And at the end of every month, I look at said credit card bill with a tear in my eye as I notice I’ve spent just as much as the previous month, if not more.

I am a person who is absolutely terrible with budgets. As in, I create a budget (a la mint.com) and then proceed to ignore it for the rest of the month. I don’t like to calculate how much I’m spending at every occasion — but I’m also not at a place in life yet where I can afford not to do that. So let’s try something different here…

History


Challenge: Spend only $600* this month

*This excludes: rent, utilities and student loan debt.

Considering that’s about a third of what I typically spend in a month, it feels a bit extreme. How will I eat? How will I survive?? Mostly, how will I eat. Here’s a scary confession, last month I spent $900.80 on food. Yes, what the heck. I should note that this included a $300 birthday dinner for my entire family of about 11 people, but $600 on food for me is still crazy!

Breaking it down

$600/30 days is giving myself a budget of $20 a day — which, seems doable — if all I spent it on was food. But ideally, I’d like to maintain a balanced lifestyle where I can still buy entertainment, shop (frugally) and eat out without being completely miserable. I just have to find cheaper options!

What will you do with all that extra money?

Put more money into paying back student loans.
Save up.
Splurge next month.

Let’s get started! I’ll be giving weekly updates.

Posted in Challenge | 2 Comments

Challenge: Do something that scares you (being alone)

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Liang Shi

“Do what scares you.”

A friend of mine casually said this to me a couple of weeks ago, and I really haven’t been able to shake it off. It’s not something new or provocative, but hearing it at the right time and right place really struck a chord in me.

I like the idea of challenging myself and took it up as a personal goal. I was going to do what scared me… but what was I afraid of? It didn’t take me long to conclude that one thing I constantly avoided was: being alone.

Being alone is fucking scary.

I hate being by myself in public places. Whether it’s a grocery store, restaurant or even a dark movie theater–I hate it. It’s just plain uncomfortable. The awkwardness of looking like you’re okay by yourself while everyone else is in a group — hate it!

Recently, I’ve started to wonder if there was just something about me that I couldn’t cope with. Why was being out with myself such a deplorable thing to do? Did I hate myself? No, obviously not — so why did I not like being by myself?

So here’s a challenge to me (and I encourage you to try it with me if you’re also someone who hates being alone) throughout the next month and beyond: go on dates with myself.

I will do the following things with myself at least once:

[  ] eat at a restaurant that I really like
[  ] go to a performance alone (a play, show, etc.) that I know I will thoroughly enjoy

      • 3.31.2012 – bought myself a ticket to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi tonight. NVM – found some friends who also wanted to go.

[  ] whenever someone bails on me with plans, go anyway
[  ] take a trip alone to somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit
[  ] go to a bar alone (a fancy one… not one that I would be mistaken as trying to pick up dudes)

The objective will be to learn a little bit more about myself by breaking out of my comfort zone. It’s also to learn how to handle any situation (solo), meet new people and just break the mold of what a typical night out looks like for me.

Wish me luck!

Posted in Challenge, Personal | 6 Comments

TREAT YO SELF THURSDAY! (to some great music)

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Liang Shi

(psssst… you may notice that it’s actually Wednesday. I accidentally posted this too early :D )

It’s Thursday, and I hereby declare Thursdays TREAT YO SELF day where I’ll post a recommendation, freebie, or whatever else that’s like a slice of pie for your life.

What is Treat Yo Self, you ask? Check out the below clip from Parks and Recreation:

This Friday, I’d like to introduce you to The Airplane Boys.

Continue reading →

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How to unclog your toilet without a plunger (100k hits!)

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Liang Shi

My toilet unclogging escapades have hit 100k+ views on YouTube!

The story behind the video

It’s kind of self explanatory, but living in a college apartment at the time… the plumbing wasn’t exactly the greatest. And my roommate and I hadn’t bought a plunger. I also didn’t want to go out and buy one unless I just had absolutely no choice. This was one of the suggestions recommended by Google (along with using a wire hanger and just plain kicking the toilet… wtf). I didn’t expect much, but was STUNNED when this method actually worked. I was ecstatic. I found a solution to all my toilet woes WITHOUT plunging. You don’t understand, I was ridiculously happy.

The video was created on a whim. Something along the lines of: Hey! That was REALLY awesome. I need to tell EVERYONE!

Turns out a ton of people (100,000+!) have also wondered: how do I unclog a toilet without a plunger?

The feedback was so great that I eventually came up with troubleshooting tips for frequently asked questions. Who knew I’d become a guru for unclogging toilets? And I received hundreds of comments either thanking me, asking me questions or just telling me to STFU.

Below are a few of my recent favorites:

Continue reading →

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