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!

RIP Facebook Scrabulous

My name is Tina and I am a word nerd.

Don't lie; I know many of you are too - closeted or not. Words nerds all over the world today will be mourning the demise of Facebook Scrabulous, our favourite medium for duking it out nerd-style online.

The jerks people at Hasbro began the process of trying to take Scrabulous off Facebook back in January. They took the creators of the online game, a pair of brothers in Calcutta named Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, to court for intellectual property infringement this past Thursday, and Scrabulous has been pulled off Facebook as of yesterday.

Scrabulous was one of the very first Facebook application games (added in 2007) and quickly because very popular. In March 2008, the official Facebook version of Scrabble was available, but only for people outside of Canada and the US because the application was developed by Mattel (who owns rights for the rest of the world) and not Hasbro (who owns the rights for North America) - so really, can anyone be blamed that we have Scrabulous? As of April 2008, less than 2000 people were using the Scrabble application, while there were 600,000 registered Scrabulous .

Apparently, over 54,000 people joined the Save Scrabulous Facebook group - I guess those are sometimes real after all! - but I wonder what this means for Literati?

Shopping Math

Please pardon the late post, everyone - was feeling very under-the-weather today, to say the least, and have just gotten home from a killer exam that (excuse my crudeness) I could've just bent over for.

Forgive?

The bright side is, the course is finally, finally done and I won't have to do any more school...for a month or so. Then I'm back slaving away in academia again, but I'll be in the French Riviera (where the two newest Jolie-Pitts were born!) and it'll be my last year, so that'll make things more palatable. I wouldn't really be able to complain, anyway.

But enough about me. Let's talk about you! Let's talk about how wonderful you are, and how much I adore yous. You are, and I do!

I especially love how we've opened up a line of discussion here. Have you been keeping up with the comments? Lemme fill you in - or you can see for yourself here.

So my friend Lexie bought these cute Italian shoes on sale at a store that was closing down, originally priced $140, marked down to $10. But she realized belatedly that, despite their innocent esthetic, they are absolutely torturous to wear. So she's decided to wear them only "to interviews or occasions where [she] can kick them off without anyone noticing," perhaps with a bandaid in some spots, because at least she's got dressy shoes out of the way.

Now, I think a pair of shoes shouldn't count as a functionable pair of shoes in your closet unless you can stand somewhat comfortably in them for at least half an hour. If they are sheer agony to wear, you may as well not have them because why put yourself through the pain?

Also, I think that wearing uncomfortable shoes to an interview will definitely affect how you do, and interviews are serious business, so it's very, very important to wear comfortable shoes to them - and of course, comfortable doesn't necessarily mean fug. I have a pair of really well-cut, 4-in. pointy stiletto pumps that are so comfy I can easily last in a four hour party in them (I got them from Spring, then known as Transit, in case you were wondering, for a great price of $60).

Besides all that, bandaids sticking out from shoes are a HUGE no-no. Not only because it looks terrible and garners pity/derisive snorts/weird looks, but mainly because you deserve better than that!

So let's look at this another way. Let's be logical.

As the incomparable Cindy Lu says, "I'm Chinese. We're good at math."

I'm Chinese and I was never at the top of my class in math at school, but when it comes to shopping math, I'm pretty good because I've had impeccable training.

There's a really important concept to keep in mind when you're out for some retail therapy: cost per wear.

The Fashion Girls' Maxims of Style strongly advocate quality because you'll look way better and in the long run, your cost per wear will be lower, which saves you money.

If you get a trendy sweater that was poorly made for $40, say, and you wear it maybe five times for one season (because trendy pieces get worn less often since they're easily recognizable), your cost per wear would be $8. On the other hand, if you got a good quality cashmere sweater in a colour that looks amazing on you, that is well-cut and fits like a glove, for say, $200 and you wear it 10 times per season, for 10 years (to be conservative - a great cashmere sweater can actually last you forever provided you take good care of it and can be handed down to your kids, as my mum has done for me), your cost per wear would be $2. That's a quarter of the price for the trendy, poorly made one.

Lexie bought her shoes for $10 and she's worn them once, so her cost per wear is $10. I told her it's not bad because if I were to go to Aldo, say, and get a pair of shoes of mediocre quality for $90, I'd have to wear them nine times to bring my cost per wear to $10. If I went to a party every week, that's a good two months of partying. My shoes would probably be in really bad shape at that point and they would have been seen very frequently. Lexie got to a great cost per wear value right away, her shoes are practically new and people have seen them on her once. Even if she were to not wear them again, it wouldn't be too bad, I think.

However, don't abuse cost per wear calculations and use them as an excuse to frequently buy things that are beyond your budget, because it'll come back and bite you in the butt - let yourself be warned!

Green Is Sexy

I know, right? This car is so hot I almost can't handle it. If the naked guy in the Sex & the City movie were a car, I think this would be him. Dark, streamlined and incredibly eye-catching.

But you know what the coolest thing about it is? This is a hybrid.This is the first car by Austin, Texas-based Ronn Motor, a company that specializes in eco-friendly sexiness - I love that, because I've always felt that hybrids look like coloured golf carts.

The Scorpion uses hydrogen fuel injection technology to increase fuel mileage by 30-50% and to minimize carbon emissions to nearly nothing. First, water is generated in the tank by the electrical system, and then it goes through electrolysis - remember high school chem? - which means that the hydrogen is separated from the oxygen. Then, the H₂is injected into the car's system, where it's converted to electricity, which powers the car.

Pretty snazzy.

And the price you have to pay to look cool while doing your part in protecting the environment/save gas money? Only $150,000. ;}

Shopping Knowledge & Fashion Engineering

At the risk of sounding like one of the members of the Manic Mama Mafia - we've hit another milestone! I got my first question. So exciting! It was written in response to this post, and it's from my friend Lexie, from Toronto:

"Oh Tina, I have to show you my 'devil shoes'. They don't look devilish at all- in fact, they look rather sweet and innocent and only have maybe a 2" heel or so. AND they were a steal- the store was closing, so they are apparently Italian shoes, originally $140, but I got them for $10. And they HURT!!! I tried to wear them to the mall and wanted to cry. Whyyyyy?!"

Well, my darling, that would be because of one of the Tenets of Shopping: "Everything is on sale for a reason."

Because it's totally true! (That's why it's a tenet, see?) Sometimes, if you're lucky, something could just be on sale because they're making room for the new collection or something - like the colourblock AE sundress I just got. But more often than not, things are on sale because of actual problems, which can be big or small. Like the genuine-python Carolina Herrera bag I scored at Woodbury a couple Christmases ago, marked down to $150 from like, $620 or something. It's this beautiful, well-made, tiny, little thing made of pink-dyed python with a perfectly-balanced pattern and camel-coloured leather. Let me show you: I held it to my heart and rocked it like a baby as soon as soon as it was mine. But why would it be marked down so much, especially if it's real python? It's hardly as if the fashion industry here is like that in Hong Kong, where it's totally uncool and unacceptable to be rocking last season's bags (in most circles, anyway).

Well, if you notice, there's a ginormous buckle at the front. It's thick, solid metal with cutouts. As such, it's very heavy, especially for so diminutive a handbag. When you hold the bag just by its handle and let it hang, I noticed, the weight of the buckle pulls the bag down to a slight foward-tilt. And that, my dear, is a classic case of poor engineering in a piece. Yes, there's engineering in fashion, too! But the nice thing about this is, when it's on my shoulder or against my leg, it's not noticeable at all - because I don't ever hold my purses away from my body like they're stinky diapers, right? In fact, it's not noticeable at all unless you're a real pro or unless I bring it up. So in this case, the bag was totally worth $150 despite the very minor defect.

A word to the wise about outlet malls, though: most of the time, what you're scoring at an outlet is made especially for the outlet. That's right. More often than not, they don't just pluck what can't sell, or what's been left from last season out of the flagships and chuck'em in outlet stores for our perusal - because we'd all just stop shopping at the flagships and dealers and just wait for things to make it to the outlets, right?

Instead, most companies have a cheap/sale/outlet line (I know, that sounds so awful) that is made to be sold at the outlet. Things may be similar to their original stuff, but obviously not quite as good. Like back in high school, when Guess? was still cool, I got this really great purse on sale at a Guess? store, then I saw a way uglier version of it in Vaughan Mills. The materials were cheaper, the work was sloppier, the colours duller, but it was similar in shape to mine. To some, this may be totally worth saving money for, but I wouldn't have it, personally.

Now, there may be a chance that your sweet, innocent devil shoes may become more tolerable for you since you've obviously paid your dues and broken them in already. From my experience, it's sort of 50-50 - if they're just poorly cut/designed, there wouldn't be much you could do about it, I'm afraid (except using them to hold champagne, maybe?) but if it's just a matter of you getting used to them, you'll be fine. Good luck and happy shopping!

XOXOXO

Career Pep-Talk

A good friend of mine was telling me how she feels really lost and directionless about her career, and that she feels like she's going nowhere. I'd imagine that she's probably not the only one of us feeling this way, so I decided to share this story:

I remember my mother nearly swooning when I was maybe two years old and someone asked me, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and I answered, "I want to be a mommy!" because I didn't know what careers are. Out of the options I was aware of (Mommy, Grandma or Aunties) I'd say I made a fine choice.

Then when I was older, my family encouraged me to become a lawyer because A) I hated math, so accounting and engineering are out and B) although I wasn't bad at it, I wasn't particularly passionate about the sciences, so it was unlikely that I'd be a doctor. Like many Chinese kids, I grew up thinking that there are only five careers in the world - the four mentioned above, and teaching.

Then in university, I found my calling: PR. The organization I was working for was a colossal PR nightmare with no marketing to speak of, and I felt really fulfilled to see what a long way we went during the three years I was involved. So I decided last year that PR was the way to go after I graduate, and I've been working towards a PR career, trying to get my foot in the door since.

The next step, of course, was to try to find an internship . I had my heart set on New York City - I didn't even care what kind of PR I'd be doing, just as long as I could work in Manhattan. I started looking late because I didn't have the first clue how to kick-start a PR career or where to find resources - a lot of stuff on the web are scams, and I don't know anyone in the business.

My search last spring could only be called A Series of Unfortunate Events. I managed to snag the attention of a few companies, but one had hired already - they told me they would've hired me if their positions weren't already filled.

I made it down to Manhattan (in Times Square Tower!) for an interview, but didn't get the job - they were interviewing 14 other people and they told me that they'd neither hired nor interviewed a Canadian before. I saw it as an honour to have been chosen to go in.

Then I interviewed at a two-people company in Toronto. The office was in a more rundown part of town, and the office was a mess. They clearly weren't prepared to hold an interview, and they looked like they rolled out of bed, while I was in a business suit. They told me I'd probably do some coffee-fetching and that the companies they represent are boring. The boss told the associate to ask me questions, the associate said she didn't know what to ask, so they asked me what questions I had for them. I asked them what they were looking for in an intern, and they spent 20 minutes telling me all the things about they hated about their previous interns - names included. Naturally, I could imagine them complaining about me to some poor interviewee next year were I to work there. When there was really nothing left to say, I caught the associate doodling on my resume(!). Naturally, when I got the e-mail a couple days later telling me they chose to go with someone else, I was totally okay with it.

Finally, I went in for an interview at a very classy part of Toronto - the interview was booked two months before. I walked in and they had no idea anyone was coming in for an interview. The person I had been corresponding with told me she didn't remember that I was coming in, that they'd hired already, that she probably should have let me know. Yes, she should have. They showed me out, but not before assuring me that they would forward my resume to colleagues but by that time, the end of April/beginning of May, of course everyone had already hired and I never heard from anyone.

I was feeling really bad about myself, especially since one after another of my friends were scoring internships left and right. But it's okay, because I went from knowing nothing about the industry to having a much better idea of how to get my foot in the door. I've learned so much, which is the most important thing, and really, I couldn't help my bad luck. I'll be much better equipped to go internship/job-hunting in the future, and I'm not going to give up. It's been such a struggle, especially not knowing anyone, but I'm going to keep going for the absolute conviction that this is what I want to do.

So if you ever feel discouraged, beaten-down, directionless or just plain crappy about how your career is going - keep working hard at it! Think of me - we'll work hard together and see each other reach our goals, okay? :)