NaBloPoMo Day 30: Thank You!!!

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At the risk of sounding premature,

NaBloPoMo Day 8: Like Me!

Click Me!

I realized belatedly - five days late to be exact - that my blog's 4th birthday/anniversary came and went and I didn't acknowledge it at all!  That's right, my very first post on this blog was published on July 3rd, 2008 - where did the time go? 

Since then I have lived in France for a year, finished my undergrad degree, came home and completed a postgrad program, ran away to Spain for half a year, survived 10 months of working in terrible places, fell in and out of love a few times, lost over 30 pounds, and settled into a good, Big Girl Job that I am proud of.  My, I've been busy!

Throughout all this I've been a very sporadic blogger, and yet when I resolved to start writing again, a lot of you welcomed me back so graciously.  Part of me was honestly worried that there would be no more interest in this blog because of my inconsistency, but I've been pleasantly shocked, surprised, and delighted by all the hits I've gotten since July 1st!

Thank you so, so much for your continued support and encouragement over the years; all of you give me purpose, which is an incredible feeling and, actually, one of the greatest gifts I've ever gotten from anyone.  Thank you for reading me!!!

Before I start to get maudlin, I'd like to invite you all to my new Facebook page!  After four years, it's about time, right?  I'll be posting photos, updates, maybe even some videos there - and I'd love to interact with you more.  If you have a second right now, please head over and give me a thumbs up!  I'd be thrilled if all three of you that read my blog Like me on my page! ;P

Thank yous and see you tomorrow with a fresh, new article! :)

Giving Back

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the sweet e-mails and messages for my birthday! You guys are the best, and I had a lovely, productive, grown-up-feeling day. :)

So there was a mild freakout among all my friends when I cancelled my birthday party, and I thought that I should explain the decision with a little more detail, because clearly, my last explanation wasn't enough for many.

See, two weeks before my birthday I had a This Is Your Life Moment.

I was comparing last year with this year (a self-destructive habit I know I'll have to break soon or it'll make for a very depressing year!); last year I had 30+ friends at my birthday party at this really cute venue that served fantastic food, where a really handsome DJ hugged me, bought me a drink and got the whole restaurant to toast me, where the really handsome DJ's handsome friend tried to impress me, and most importantly, I announced to everyone that I was moving to Spain. I was working three jobs while finishing school at the time and it was very, very difficult, but it was for something wonderful that I was really looking forward to.

This year, many of my best friends weren't even in Toronto for my birthday and I just felt like I had nothing to look forward to. All of a sudden, the next few years of my life stretched out before me. I could see myself slogging through the daily grind (provided I can find a hopefully decent job soon, that is!), trying to pay off my student loans and my car, not travelling anywhere, spending as little as I can... It was such a depressing thought. I didn't have a Next Big Thing to look forward to. I felt - and still feel, truthfully - trapped in my hometown when all I want is to be somewhere else. All the time.

So I cancelled my birthday party because I wasn't in the mood to celebrate and instead just set out to make it as much like any other day in the year.

I had two work interviews scheduled and although they turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, at least I was being productive. I realized at 12:00am on my birthday that I still hadn't donated money to Japan yet, my favourite place in the world, so I did that. Which, by the way, don't even get me started about how impressed I am that there's no riot there, that people are behaving so peacefully, and especially how in awe I am of the courage of the people who take turns going into the nuclear plant to try to fix things, putting their own lives on the line for the greater good.  (To make donations - please do if you can afford to and haven't yet! - please visit here or here.)

And I booked an appointment to give blood for the first time.  All throughout university I wanted to give blood, because I used to walk by the clinic at our University Community Centre all the time.  However, I chickened out twice because I was (and am!) terrified of needles, which earned me a very cold, verbal slap in the face from my aunt, who told me that my split second of pain could save someone's life.

So this year, I decided to bite the bullet and do it (after I got bailed on twice by people who were to accompany me).  No more waiting.  I was ready.  And what better day to do it than on my birthday?

It was actually much less traumatizing than I'd thought.  Canada Blood Services has a really helpful hotline staffed by very nice people who will schedule you at a time convenient for you at your nearest clinic.  The nurses at the clinic I went to were absolute angels.

I was really afraid of getting my finger poked, but that happened right off the bat and wasn't too bad because it was done with this little mechanism that pokes you when it senses pressure.  It didn't hurt THAT much on contact, but my finger throbbed for a bit afterwards, and then I realized that I couldn't get the manicure I scheduled for later, but that was okay. :P

Then they had me answer a really lengthy questionnaire.  You have to answer the first 13 questions outside, and then the next series of (quite invasive) questions are answered one-on-one with a nurse in a private room, after she takes your blood pressure and makes sure that you're an eligible donor.  They ask you things like whether you've paid to have sex before, whether you've had sex with someone who could possbily have had sex with another man, whether you've taken illegal drugs, etc, and the magic year seems to be 1977 - they want to know if you done any of these and other things since 1977, which I guess was when AIDS really broke out in a massive way.

And I must say, answering the first set of questions really drove home how fortunate I am that I could be in a position to give blood.  They ask if you have or have ever had all kinds of scary illnesses, and being able to check off No in every category made me feel really blessed. 

Then it was showtime.  I must have been very obviously nervous because the nurses kept checking up on me and reminding me to breathe. :P I was especially apprehensive because two of my best friends, who are nurses, told me that my left arm was a good arm to use, but I ended up getting stuck on my right one.  I also made the mistake of looking at the blood dripping into the bag, but a few moments after I averted my eyes, I was fine again.

It didn't take long at all - 15 minutes for the gory part, but about an hour for the entire process of a first appointment.  And I am really, really, REALLY glad I finally did it.  It wasn't that bad at all, I really hope my blood will help someone, and I feel really lucky to be able to do this.  I will definitely be donating again and I'd encourage everyone who reads this to donate blood, too!

Livin' Large 2011

Hello, everybody!  Happy New Year!!! 

My internship contract ended on the last day of 2010 and I've been home in Toronto as of Tuesday.  I had two flight transfers, which really, really sucked, but I sat beside a really nice, German-born, LA-resident Jake Gyllenhaal look-alike on my last fight, so that made the situation a little better. :D

I've been experiencing a bit of reverse culture shock...

Best of 2010: Spain

So recently a very, very good friend asked me if coming to Spain was as amazing as I'd hoped.  She's one of the people in my life who gets all my firsthand observances first, one of the ones I totally don't censor myself with, one of the ones who just knows me really well.  And I've had my share of complaints about being here - my hellish first month, about my living environment, about feeling alienated sometimes, for example.

My conclusion is that it was...

Best of 2010: Teaching

From January to April of this year, I taught a Business French course to professionals at a real estate company in downtown Toronto, and teaching was one of the most wonderful, one of the happiest and most rewarding experiences I've had this year...

(click for more after the jump)

Best of 2010: Unconditional Support

Earlier this month when I was in the Netherlands visiting my girl B³, she asked me some really thought-provoking questions about the past year.  She's really introspective and reflexive, and she has a habit of going over her experiences in her head to see what she learned, to remind herself of things she should be grateful for, etc., and I find that it's a really good habit.

Thus, she inspired me to write a Best of 2010 series, which I will use to reflect on the happiest moments of this year, the best experiences I've had, things I'm thankful for, the coolest people I've met, and so on.


I have so much to be thankful for this year.  This year I experienced unconditional support.  Literally no questions asked, I'll help you right away, I trust you implicitly, I want to help you achieve whatever you set out to do, no I don't need more details or information or assurances - that kind of support.

I officially received my contract for coming to Spain back in back in end of February.  My job started at the last week of June, so I didn't have much time at all saving up enough money to come here, and at one point, I was working three jobs simultaneously to save enough money, because you need a certain amount in your bank account to apply for certain types of visas.

Although I knew that I'd manage to save just enough money right before to coming, I needed to apply for my visa well in advance.  So I needed to have that money in my bank account right away.

The person closest to me couldn't help me in this respect, so I asked someone who'd normally be my next of kin, who's always been listed as my next of kin, in case anything happened to Person #1.  But Person #2 gave me a hard time about it (after all, it's a lot of money), we went back and forth a lot, and they just kind of created a lot of hassle for this.  And the thing is, I've always HATED asking for things, especially money, so this was a really awful experience.  I wish I could forget those conversations.

So then luckily I smartened up and thought of the actual second person in the world who's always, always there for me, besides the aforementioned Person #1, regardless of anything  - my brother.  Actually, he's not biologically my brother.  He's the son of a family friend with whom I grew up.  His mother used to babysit me, so we saw each other every day for years and he's always been my big brother to me.  And he's one of two people in the world who always has time for me, who always has a second to help me sort out whatever mess I'm in or to give me sound advice.

Our relationship is pretty typically sibling-like, but money has never been implicated in it before.  We've never really talked much about money, and so I was a little nervous bringing the issue up to him - but I was desperate and I really, really needed help.

So there I was, in my living room one day, chatting with him over the Internet, giving him another unsolicited update on my life, when I finally gathered the guts to broach the subject with him.  I asked him if he trusted me, and he said he did.  I told him about my situation and I assured him that if he were to lend me the money, I'd give it back to him right away, after I got my visa.

And he just said yes, right after I asked, almost even before I could finish giving him the background story.  He just asked how much I needed, then he told me to drop by his place the next day to pick up the check.  "The money's just sitting in my savings account anyway," he said.  He didn't need any more explanations, any more information - he'd known that I  was working on getting myself to Spain and now that I needed help, he was perfectly happy to assist me.

Right away, I burst into tears because this conversation went so radically differently from the ones before that I had with Person #2.  And, after all, we're not even really biologically related - he's just my brother to me because I've decided that he is.  He was just supportive of me, he didn't need any details.  I asked, he agreed, end of story.

So he lent me the money.  I got my visa and, as promised, returned the money to him the instant my visa came through.  No hassle, no drama, no making me feel humiliated and awful, like the other person..

Without his help, I don't know how else I would have gotten the money in my account when I needed to, and I'm not sure I would have been able to get my visa in time.  Then I wouldn't have been able to have the incredible life experience that I'm enjoying right now. 

So, even though I always feel this way normally, I'm especially grateful for my brother and for his unconditional support. :)

Happy Birthday to Us!

It's our first birthday! Many thanks to all 4000 of you who have been to this blog, both regulars and one-timers - you rock!!!

XOXOXO

Happy Birthday to Us!

Cheers!

The Soap Heiress has been up for a month! I'm elated and ecstatic and I just don't know where the time went. As always, thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting and reading this blog. You make my life.

At one month, we've reached my renewed goal of 200 absolute unique visitors (we've had 231), and we're averaging at about 30 hits a day, with visitors from 21 countries (wow!). Not too shabby! Visitor loyalty and the number of returning visitors are also increasing steadily.

LOVE YOUS.

Also, I want to thank everyone who participated in our One-Month Birthday Giveaway - your answers were all so good, I decided to choose a winner at random, literally by picking out a name from a container.

And the winner is...

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Wendy from Scarborough, ON! Congratulations, Wendy, and thanks for your awesome input! Will be in contact with you shortly.

Now! When a baby is born to a (traditional) Chinese family, a banquet/party (called the "Full Month") is held when it turns a month old because it means the kid was strong enough to survive the first month of life, which then means that it is strong enough to be shown off to family and friends - and the mother has recovered sufficiently from her confinement.

If I were to hold a "Full Month" party for my blog, I wouldn't serve red boiled eggs and ginger with vinegar as tradition dictates, but stuff that actually tastes good...like junk food. There's something really relaxing, delightful and comforting about junk food.

Lately at the office, the girls that I work with and I have been in Munchie Mode. It's like there's always a party at our corner because we they bring in lots of munchies. I've only contributed a couple times because there's almost no junk food at my house - I almost always eat it as soon as I buy it.

But if I were to bring in something really special, I would bring Japanese junk food. The packaging is always gorgous and really enticing - plus their food is really creative. A notable favourite of mine is Calbee Pizza potato chips.

I haven't been able to find pizza-flavoured Pringles in a long time even though I really like it, but it really doesn't hold a torch to Calbee Pizza chips. The latter is ruffled, so that the grooves can hold more flavour (same principle with pasta!) and not only is there flavouring, but also bits of cheese, dried herbs and (purportedly) bacon bit-type things on them. It sounds a little over-the-top, but I am telling you, it is phenomenal and SO worth the inflated prices.

If you ever need a little somethin' somethin' when you're studying or working or sad or when you're celebrating, I highly recommend adding a bag of Calbee Pizza chips to your plans!

The Soap Heiress Turns A Month Old on July 31st!

One-Month Birthday Giveaway!

To thank all of you for your incredible support, I've decided to give away the swag bag I picked up at a recent posh Toronto event, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The contents include:

*CoverGirl lashblast Volume Blasting Mascara (2 full-sized!)
*Venus Embrace 5-Blade Razor (1)
*Pantene Style Always Smooth Anti-Frizz Serum (1 x 50ml)

*Olay Definity Restorative Sleep Cream (2 x 7ml)
*Pantene Pro-V Restoratives Time Renewal Shampoo & Conditioner samples (7 x 10+10ml)

To apply, please tell me how you heard of The Soap Heiress and what kind of content you're most interested in reading about in the future (fashion, shopping, beauty, food...) at thesoapheiress(at)gmail.com. I'd love to hear your comments and feedback! The winner will be announced on the July 31st post.

Good luck+You rock!

XOXOXO

Quick Update+Love!

You're awesome!

This blog has been up for exactly a week, and I’m beside myself with happiness over the warm response – thank you for visiting and for all the support! In just a week there have been 53 unique visitors and for the past few days, I’ve been averaging at about 20 hits a day. Thank you, thank you, thank you – please keep reading me and inviting your friends! :D

I use this fantastic free service from Google called Analytics, which enables me to see exactly how many people have visited my blog, from where, how they got here, along with a ton of other really useful information.

Am superexcited and glowing with pleasure to see that people from 7 different countries have visited this blog - Hello to all of you! ;) I don’t even know anyone from Greece or Mexico or Singapore; I’ve never been to the Philipines (even though my grandfather was born there); I haven’t been to Hong Kong in a decade – but here we all are, connecting on cyberspace, over the love of living the good life. LOVE. Of course, I can’t forget to give a shout out to my American It Girls, too – hello! You guys can subscribe to all the essential books (aka fashion magazines) at a fraction of the price we have to pay – am super jealous. And as always, am supergrateful to my dear domestic readers - love you guys!

I will be posting later sometime tonight, sooner if I can manage it (I’m holding down an 8-5 for the next four to six weeks) – expect a double post because I’ll be going away for a weekend vacay at Val-David, Quebec and won’t be able to update tomorrow. Naturally, I’ll keep you all posted on anything I encounter there that is pretty, tasty or fun.

You rock my world!

XOXOXO