tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19618457870081137672024-03-05T13:51:20.578-08:00Random Walk Down Mommy StreetEunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-63827722892902975472016-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:002016-05-25T20:00:36.716-07:00Hawaii Spring Break 2016: The Big Island<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMbPpulOS-5zKIxsBd1RWiN48jkNaXFn3f0MhUyZaRDZhFw_by_xwXvqinc9WYD6pLxv0Sn0sGicUxVRyFSPuAaMwCb9UGrohSOS2S7CjZAtXyBNc6P__CfSHZwABXPvXwMe8WiN38onH/s1600/IMG_5984.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMbPpulOS-5zKIxsBd1RWiN48jkNaXFn3f0MhUyZaRDZhFw_by_xwXvqinc9WYD6pLxv0Sn0sGicUxVRyFSPuAaMwCb9UGrohSOS2S7CjZAtXyBNc6P__CfSHZwABXPvXwMe8WiN38onH/s200/IMG_5984.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>
With fear and trepidation, armed with four different bottles of mosquito repellent, we braved the reports of dengue and zika and descended upon the Big Island of Hawaii the last week of March. It was unfortunate timing on my part, not in part due to the potential health risks, but because I did not adequately factor in what it would mean to be out of the office the last week of the quarter, coincidentally the last week of the quarter in which annual reports would be due. Never again! If my kids have spring break during that last week of March in the future, they will be sticking around town in one of those over-glorified daycare programs labelled as spring break camps.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGamOU5IQMglC5i33S-cOMhEUceQ0mTFIXgGGkw4E6nBYLaXIup1RJM7QbnW5BtcUSoGMj4iJE1MW_PuL9KPmGZ2J7Ts2p5JlLxVS7kXB3i7DBkAiJMsLIn4HrlWaNer0NnJ0jnC8TT8uE/s1600/IMG_6033.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGamOU5IQMglC5i33S-cOMhEUceQ0mTFIXgGGkw4E6nBYLaXIup1RJM7QbnW5BtcUSoGMj4iJE1MW_PuL9KPmGZ2J7Ts2p5JlLxVS7kXB3i7DBkAiJMsLIn4HrlWaNer0NnJ0jnC8TT8uE/s200/IMG_6033.jpeg" width="150" /></a>Day one, we decided it would be pool time and getting our bearings, which meant stopping by Target to buy a case of water and a boogie board. Last time when we were on Oahu we realized only towards the end of the trip that renting a boogie board was ridiculous, $12/day and $36/week. This time we were smart and picked one up for $18 on the way to the hotel. Due to the mosquito-related outbreaks, the hotel was pretty much empty. We had the pool and game room to ourselves for large stretches of the day. It was a bit disconcerting to see such a large resort with not many people around, unlike our experience last year where crowds were the norm. The Sheraton Kona has a completely different atmosphere than the Sheraton Waikiki. The lack of crowds meant we were able to get a suite without any difficulty so we all had plenty of space when we slept. We finished off the night with the <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60872-d2459871-Reviews-Haleo_Luau-Kailua_Kona_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html">Luau</a>, which was a lot of fun and good food although we were all so jet-lagged we missed most of the show and went back to the room to sleep.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n_jN69PnrlX7Yc-a38wFX2JKwy7LSzirDLTcuUxLXgFQavReXa17Y8CrEp2pTUN_fTnDxVkisub9sLt9sgksLLNbUtS_ndWfpI2PnbaK2basqx08oJS3KTgp0Sff1sm-eSXC6RVMiptE/s1600/IMG_6175.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n_jN69PnrlX7Yc-a38wFX2JKwy7LSzirDLTcuUxLXgFQavReXa17Y8CrEp2pTUN_fTnDxVkisub9sLt9sgksLLNbUtS_ndWfpI2PnbaK2basqx08oJS3KTgp0Sff1sm-eSXC6RVMiptE/s200/IMG_6175.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>
Day two, morning swim and then drive to the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/da-poke-shack-kailua-kona">Poke Shack</a> to wait for it to open. Apparently it is the <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/27/yelp_s_top_100_restaurant_list_da_poke_shack_is_america_s_top_rated_restaurant.html">BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD</a>. I love poke and I would say that it is very very delicious, however, I would not pick that meal over the tasting menu at Jean Georges in NYC or San Chon in Seoul. However, it was fresh and delicious and now I can say I've eaten at the best restaurant in the world, according to Yelp! Since the kids were not interested in eating raw fish for brunch, we took them to Subway, at their request. I will not write about H's food preferences here since he read my post from last year and was angry about it!<br />
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We visited the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulihee_Palace">Hulilee Palace</a>, which is not exactly what I thought a "palace" would look like given my visits to Buckingham and Deoksugung. We tried to walk back to the hotel but it was almost 90 degrees so we rode the trolley for most of the way and then had to call Stewart to pick us up after we made a Longs Drugs run at the penultimate trolley stop. I'm glad CVS wasn't able to get the name change pushed through in Hawaii, it's like a blast to the past to be able to go to an actual Longs store. We loved the 50% off Easter plush and couldn't stop laughing at Snoopy and Woodstock dancing in tandem. Of course, I had to buy Snoopy and bring him back to California.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdy1urLJUSl7b5jUbdsHcqyS4XXxm5MBJiu0XiebGO10yNVHPPvVehpTqmMaHh5SNjuQzFX_MR5dbyZaOZ_uDLRiobcZuIvcJ86Kg0UdUtJdpo5hkuZu4is-LQ74YOvskK6_VANnXgvBy/s1600/IMG_1662.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdy1urLJUSl7b5jUbdsHcqyS4XXxm5MBJiu0XiebGO10yNVHPPvVehpTqmMaHh5SNjuQzFX_MR5dbyZaOZ_uDLRiobcZuIvcJ86Kg0UdUtJdpo5hkuZu4is-LQ74YOvskK6_VANnXgvBy/s200/IMG_1662.jpeg" width="150" /></a>Day three, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm">VOLCANO</a> day. First we drove to Hilo to go to the Farmers Market. Last year, we had an awesome time at the Farmer's Market near Diamond Head. It was super huge and there were all sorts of delicious ready to eat items, more like a farmers market and a street fair. The Hilo farmers market was good for produce but did not have much in the way of hot food and was much smaller. The boys did get delicious Polish sausage from the Polish sausage food truck outside the farmers market while the rest of us ate the fresh spring rolls and chicken and rice dish we purchased at the farmers market. We also enjoyed some delicious fresh bread and pastries at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/papaa-palaoa-bakery-hilo-2">Papaa Palaoa Bakery</a>, which is walking distance from the Farmer's Market. The scones are excellent and the quiche is great even cold. It was already a hot day so it was refreshing to have it cold, but they will heat it up for you if you wait.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SVLQMW2qd2BoHeQHLRxctksHbg4BA1xEE1F28o46mhpGQdIPr2KBW5oXqa55sX1UXThF3gC8VYR_3_dneySIUWiQV5HA0kGEU1k3MAkSDX_ZUFLDr6M3wbpk5_9J6TAcwrGeUbkxugkf/s1600/IMG_6047.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SVLQMW2qd2BoHeQHLRxctksHbg4BA1xEE1F28o46mhpGQdIPr2KBW5oXqa55sX1UXThF3gC8VYR_3_dneySIUWiQV5HA0kGEU1k3MAkSDX_ZUFLDr6M3wbpk5_9J6TAcwrGeUbkxugkf/s200/IMG_6047.jpeg" width="112" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJa8fk9tgK-BjlRa_kLwdnMoosJ1fhyphenhyphen93Ih66GWM6BBRBS761rLh6FyIY3gSYLYVSS4IZsYcl475rrQuMgetLX8Mk6oekmMYYoPSYaHEsZmD5ubpKGemr-tKrosSElUkbzLIkve78o94y/s1600/IMG_6054.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJa8fk9tgK-BjlRa_kLwdnMoosJ1fhyphenhyphen93Ih66GWM6BBRBS761rLh6FyIY3gSYLYVSS4IZsYcl475rrQuMgetLX8Mk6oekmMYYoPSYaHEsZmD5ubpKGemr-tKrosSElUkbzLIkve78o94y/s200/IMG_6054.jpeg" width="150" /></a>Rainbow Falls was definitely worth the trip, not for the view of the actual falls but because of the hike to the rock area. It was a bit too risky for a klutz like me so I didn't attempt it but the kids had a lot of fun. From there it was a drive to the Volcano. The temperature drops about 20 degrees so you definitely need to layer. The kids enjoyed the brief visits to the steam vents and the lava tubes. We would have liked to have a longer hike, but Princess E couldn't handle it. After filling up at the army base gas station, we headed back to the hotel with a short detour at the black sand beach. H was happy to get his free fourth grader pass to the national parks. It might be the first and only time we use that benefit before it ends, but at least that's one benefit paid by our tax dollars that we did take advantage of this year! The drive was very slow and we couldn't quite make it back all the way to Kona to eat so we stopped at <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60580-d1931614-Reviews-Keoki_s_Roadside_Cafe-Captain_Cook_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html">Keoki's Roadside Cafe</a>. We were famished and thoroughly enjoyed the fish and chips. The owners are transplants from Texas who moved so they could have a slower way of life. So if you are from the Northeast or Bay Area, the pace of life in Hawaii might make you have a heart attack due to frustration.<br />
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Day four, we wanted to walk along the Kona coast but the surf was too rough. So we went on a <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4t1uKkeKyhlnyMjhIG26yzbvlj5nHQlQrsgZsn_5R-4JB01mhhCPryrokr75-U5bmLVUOusZByfX58afsWrq8JzwacUW47QOh-NLS-heWZh1eFRlNBxXwxngTdT2zYiDGifRdAzlTnVYE/s1600/IMG_6063.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4t1uKkeKyhlnyMjhIG26yzbvlj5nHQlQrsgZsn_5R-4JB01mhhCPryrokr75-U5bmLVUOusZByfX58afsWrq8JzwacUW47QOh-NLS-heWZh1eFRlNBxXwxngTdT2zYiDGifRdAzlTnVYE/s200/IMG_6063.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>
pretty informative coffee plantation tour at <a href="http://www.greenwellfarms.com/">Greenwell Farms</a>. Only when I got there did I realize that it was same plantation that I had toured over a decade ago. So I've been on two coffee plantation tours in my life and they were of the same place. The coffee was delicious, of course, and samples were unlimited! The difference between Kona coffee and rest of the world coffee is that it leaves no bitter aftertaste. It is a truly a miracle on your tongue. The boys were less appreciative but they did get to eat bananas grown on the plantation, which were super cute and tasty. In the afternoon we made it to Hapuna Beach. Great snorkeling but I lost my sunglasses when the waves toppled me over. At least this year I didn't have sand lodged in my ear requiring a trip to the ENT upon return to the mainland!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0wxd56JCh5t0ghWjQYnaV_9k4oAu05BBhjbZfTvxo4UmOmK-GGWUjnoJpifsNZPcWSfost1fExYgjgM9S5vbty3QiDdAcWscYUsYx9ehhEcNvMorfdVfj7_oO-Y33w0LLL9MGiLEx4v9/s1600/IMG_6168.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0wxd56JCh5t0ghWjQYnaV_9k4oAu05BBhjbZfTvxo4UmOmK-GGWUjnoJpifsNZPcWSfost1fExYgjgM9S5vbty3QiDdAcWscYUsYx9ehhEcNvMorfdVfj7_oO-Y33w0LLL9MGiLEx4v9/s200/IMG_6168.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ-FIN8O4Z9mVOUet49_QYQmKLzSkLO4k2P09cnWEU_kG1XJkerIcbFby7XD1dnZNYYq42jBsrhyrGtXV7GQPeyDzomZor43ARDy1TlOy0VSw4rKhCkU8Zf2LQBZLEGwjDRXvem9mt8gg/s1600/IMG_6138.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ-FIN8O4Z9mVOUet49_QYQmKLzSkLO4k2P09cnWEU_kG1XJkerIcbFby7XD1dnZNYYq42jBsrhyrGtXV7GQPeyDzomZor43ARDy1TlOy0VSw4rKhCkU8Zf2LQBZLEGwjDRXvem9mt8gg/s200/IMG_6138.jpeg" width="200" /></a>Our final day we had a great time at the pool in the morning and then took a submarine tour. One of the kids does not like salt water so we had to abandon our plans to go on one of those boat tours where they take you out to go snorkeling and to swim with ocean creatures (that person spent our entire afternoon at Hapuna sitting in Princess E's stroller). So the only way we could see the fish up close was via submarine. Princess E was really scared of the boat ride out to the submarine and we had to distract her by getting her to take funny photos. We flew back that night on the redeye back to SF. We were all glad to be back and collectively agreed never to go to Hawaii again. The Big Island. Too much for city folk like us. Give us pavement and multi-lane freeways. One upside is that since the pace of life is much slower on The Big Island, I didn't arrive back from vacation exhausted like I usually do. The jet lag was difficult to get over for all of us, though. If we go anywhere during the school year from hear on out we'll be flying east or in the same time zone so the kids don't fight me about getting up for school. Aloha!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlP5YKOlEDOO9HrnnHKRPDmI2HOcGBsPxaLduv8QLedq1wSqRlOdf2mUjFGdKl1ymd8RB13AWMfYzcHMJVnK0wWJHPN4rLVhJGuqFb-UWLpzdDd8zwNtFj7DuM7DWI47QsmdWHHb3EXGwB/s1600/IMG_6065.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlP5YKOlEDOO9HrnnHKRPDmI2HOcGBsPxaLduv8QLedq1wSqRlOdf2mUjFGdKl1ymd8RB13AWMfYzcHMJVnK0wWJHPN4rLVhJGuqFb-UWLpzdDd8zwNtFj7DuM7DWI47QsmdWHHb3EXGwB/s200/IMG_6065.jpeg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR4REAyIOxxlSwmHvUYXtXar-vR11-RL4W_DX3NUQEJ8K-OC2YdNhjEhd5Qia3nrZTrV9YEdNR_aMagSg20P2BuDAZEqvFAAszRZ69caBCmUfbYA4HoM6q5LrUqA9Yt2nwEBRlWv8ZR5a/s1600/IMG_6080.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR4REAyIOxxlSwmHvUYXtXar-vR11-RL4W_DX3NUQEJ8K-OC2YdNhjEhd5Qia3nrZTrV9YEdNR_aMagSg20P2BuDAZEqvFAAszRZ69caBCmUfbYA4HoM6q5LrUqA9Yt2nwEBRlWv8ZR5a/s200/IMG_6080.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH-RAMSBcMX7hqMTENeieHYxdrDZ9Ih-lbNEsMf7AGVCnRRqdVlTipyRXvFNDuLmpv_s10YI9GONf3EMvqZSoIDF4dhFnVhaxOWSDJ2uyJXSjOvde_buleW-4zrZCnsn8waSWSHalPkh3/s1600/IMG_6084.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH-RAMSBcMX7hqMTENeieHYxdrDZ9Ih-lbNEsMf7AGVCnRRqdVlTipyRXvFNDuLmpv_s10YI9GONf3EMvqZSoIDF4dhFnVhaxOWSDJ2uyJXSjOvde_buleW-4zrZCnsn8waSWSHalPkh3/s200/IMG_6084.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-68525013734829780382016-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:002016-03-01T10:55:32.853-08:00March 1st Movement <div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTP-6gt5UH7BNoCYpuFy8y8nQIVX6ZJamfb8Gm5YtsWCe9vmXKstpmT5WeOvd_ArBydwOICnWkWCBQ2mvV8XfgZXmwsGGk8JsiQhIu-1IPgmwwVp9jp01zNl0-fjYdvAmR5e_TmX55eqS/s1600/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTP-6gt5UH7BNoCYpuFy8y8nQIVX6ZJamfb8Gm5YtsWCe9vmXKstpmT5WeOvd_ArBydwOICnWkWCBQ2mvV8XfgZXmwsGGk8JsiQhIu-1IPgmwwVp9jp01zNl0-fjYdvAmR5e_TmX55eqS/s320/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Koreans have been a people suppressed and subjugated by many nations around them for thousands of years. It is so much a part of a Korean person's identity, the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_(cultural)">han</a>" that is interwoven into the subconscious and makes us a people with a bent towards depression and fatalism. I'm reminded of that today--March 1st.</span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement">Wikipedia post on the March 1st Movement</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Approximately 2,000,000 Koreans had participated in the more than 1,500 demonstrations, many who were massacred by the Japanese police force and army.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-britannica.com_2-0" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1st_Movement#cite_note-britannica.com-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> The frequently cited </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">The Bloody History of the Korean Independence Movement</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Hangul">Hangul</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">: </span><span lang="ko-Hang" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" xml:lang="ko-Hang">한국독립운동지혈사</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">; </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanja" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Hanja">hanja</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">: </span><span lang="ko-Hani" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;" xml:lang="ko-Hani">韓國獨立運動之血史</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">) by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Eun-sik" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Park Eun-sik">Park Eun-sik</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> reported 7,509 people killed, 15,849 wounded, and 46,303 arrested. From March 1 to April 11, Japanese officials reported only 553 people killed with over 12,000 arrested, 8 policemen and military killed, and 158 wounded. Many arrested were taken to the infamous </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seodaemun_Prison" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Seodaemun Prison">Seodaemun Prison</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> in Seoul where they faced torture, death without trial or due process.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's likely also why Korea is a land of fierce beliefs, in Christianity and Buddhism. Of course suffering comes from God, suffering refines you and suffering brings you to enlightenment. We were just born to suffer. I'm not trying to impart any words of wisdom or reveal a deep insight into your Korean neighbor. I'm just saying I feel it today. So much sadness, I can touch it.</span></span></div>
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-58276836364440648882016-01-26T22:48:00.000-08:002016-01-26T22:48:02.862-08:00January blues<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMzHqfNvZhT1xCJuhAstUlxkhyphenhyphenmgY2X2VSks0dyIrRtQw2W29lDofE_1FXNOQ86IRQ6WhQ9mKT7-_7MFQ8QRoP1hQmBzVEjhNfgD-GkQg0OwW7pEnifyw9rUTIzh2BVSX9mXuq_35JMDR/s1600/IMG_5374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMzHqfNvZhT1xCJuhAstUlxkhyphenhyphenmgY2X2VSks0dyIrRtQw2W29lDofE_1FXNOQ86IRQ6WhQ9mKT7-_7MFQ8QRoP1hQmBzVEjhNfgD-GkQg0OwW7pEnifyw9rUTIzh2BVSX9mXuq_35JMDR/s200/IMG_5374.jpg" width="137" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFKQ8ig-_FlylnX8my94cvVu0vCqE1D-wC9Sy7gfv8PXYKvljBJTOQiKWDBgNyM3v3wTlvCb1b8YsfFVsGKGB2v1DQI_s8hxqyeVeM6kp8TAZ-EWWMJCrt7z2fZRUPoUz-unlkIBiya6v/s1600/IMG_5338+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFKQ8ig-_FlylnX8my94cvVu0vCqE1D-wC9Sy7gfv8PXYKvljBJTOQiKWDBgNyM3v3wTlvCb1b8YsfFVsGKGB2v1DQI_s8hxqyeVeM6kp8TAZ-EWWMJCrt7z2fZRUPoUz-unlkIBiya6v/s320/IMG_5338+copy.jpg" width="183" /></a>It's after Christmas, after New Year's, after my sister-in-law's wedding. I've lost motivation to exercise. The Fitbit is not helping. I look at the steps 5000, 6000, 7000, meh, that's fine with me. I do think I might have a brain tumor because I've been having daily headaches. So I've been giving Stewart many instructions on what to do with my dead body. One thing is I want to be cremated in my wedding dress. But I can't be sprinkled anywhere since my wedding dress has some lbs of sterling silver threading woven in. He said he would put me on the mantle but I'm thinking the kids will knock it down and then I'll be swept up by a vacuum and deposited into the Milpitas garbage dump. SO I'M REALLY DEPRESSED!!!!!! Hopefully January will pass quickly.<br />
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Dear God, help me put my hope in you. Give me the motivation to want to be closer to you. IJN, Amen<br />
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-7365892840173970472016-01-11T11:04:00.000-08:002016-01-11T11:04:03.588-08:00Happy New Year!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVgNr-fDOqxEhdChAEI-eYvHn1rPYgyNwM3WOomHMRMu_zHb5YTDxVZz9TpEL7W1yx8hCYmvsxlNeG5l3EOLX9GDro_-kiKMLLZmXp4ywbP-Y_C1RGgOftjOtma8LLqNhUaJQkHs_QrKM/s1600/IMG_4929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVgNr-fDOqxEhdChAEI-eYvHn1rPYgyNwM3WOomHMRMu_zHb5YTDxVZz9TpEL7W1yx8hCYmvsxlNeG5l3EOLX9GDro_-kiKMLLZmXp4ywbP-Y_C1RGgOftjOtma8LLqNhUaJQkHs_QrKM/s200/IMG_4929.JPG" width="200" /></a>I think I am going to try a new approach this year. Blog more often and use this space for what I intended to originally, to remember the episodes of my life. Hopefully I can read the posts in 20 years and stave off dementia. Right now I'm concerned about that happening due to the latest feature I read in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html?_r=0">NY Times about a lawyer who fought a 20 year battle to reveal the dangers of nonstick pans</a>. Read it and then immediately throw all your nonstick cookware away. So here goes, five things I would blog about if I had had the time:<br />
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1) KOREA TRIP 2015--will probably be one of the everlasting memories of my life. I was able to be in Korea for 9 days with my sisters. This has never happened before (since my youngest sister was born in the US) and probably will never happen again.<br />
2) Going to Disneyland with three kids as a solo parent--absolutely need to call in reinforcements, luckily friends were able to meet me on both days we were there.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTHJJMfA6KKUvdm4_L9TCbnegzSY_8dIz1GpYo5E7mqHWz3VEMPMjcQZofBGof9TFhjVEoSUhJDzmLK1ULB7-peKFKRwW72O66tP3UYRocmsxq6w6LzIHu_ZSs7-uCHv9Ym4t0tY2mimY/s1600/IMG_5140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTHJJMfA6KKUvdm4_L9TCbnegzSY_8dIz1GpYo5E7mqHWz3VEMPMjcQZofBGof9TFhjVEoSUhJDzmLK1ULB7-peKFKRwW72O66tP3UYRocmsxq6w6LzIHu_ZSs7-uCHv9Ym4t0tY2mimY/s320/IMG_5140.JPG" width="240" /></a>3) Turkey dinners--actually more cost effective to pay to eat at a high end restaurant. The food will be better and you can avoid exhaustion. I do think Alton Brown has the best/easiest holiday recipes. Even three days is not enough to defrost a 15 lb turkey!!!!<br />
4) Resolutions--get stuff fixed around the house and install an outside outlet so I can charge my car and not get stranded outside.<br />
5) Throwing stuff out to simplify and minimize my life to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8">stuff that brings me joy</a>--today that stuff is a non-stick pot and pan. I know I have to do it with my bakeware as well but baby steps. I have a hoarding problem and this will be painful.<br />
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So there is my short and sweet first blog post of the year. Happy 2016 friends!<br />
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<br />Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-16841764266928373092015-10-20T20:00:00.000-07:002015-10-20T22:19:54.513-07:00Spring Break Hawaiian StyleIt's October but I want to pretend we just got back from Hawaii (where we went for spring break). It was our big trip of the year and it was fabulous. I've been writing this post in my free time since April--it's taken a long time to recap. I wonder how long it will take to recap our Disneyland trip in August! Listing our fun Oahu itinerary here so I will remember for all time:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcp3YAiMB0UVShXXQ1YJ0InPZPbrDshY_wApYJBFF_oRhht0Cy4PTuBqdGmQlSSr0e1K2bbd2I8pd6eOjxhRQAD8NegoEe9Q7BS5aSf6TiG9p4zyvY5j5CAw8yefobBecWwS0yjO0mvL4/s1600/IMG_1193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcp3YAiMB0UVShXXQ1YJ0InPZPbrDshY_wApYJBFF_oRhht0Cy4PTuBqdGmQlSSr0e1K2bbd2I8pd6eOjxhRQAD8NegoEe9Q7BS5aSf6TiG9p4zyvY5j5CAw8yefobBecWwS0yjO0mvL4/s200/IMG_1193.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt2iy3hWMDVtow1QCcWGWcYGV-1npGnkRw5xeh3bEf6Kq91zTQtv0BRQKKoUNvABvUcKEdDu43QvRoJLlbA-eiT16IG6LRNHExM71KeJ3nCoUwWZm5SvAH_9ARUoSFs42i4Gvii5LX4jJ/s1600/IMG_1189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPt2iy3hWMDVtow1QCcWGWcYGV-1npGnkRw5xeh3bEf6Kq91zTQtv0BRQKKoUNvABvUcKEdDu43QvRoJLlbA-eiT16IG6LRNHExM71KeJ3nCoUwWZm5SvAH_9ARUoSFs42i4Gvii5LX4jJ/s200/IMG_1189.JPG" width="200" /></a>Friday, swimming at the hotel, Sheraton Waikiki (because you can get Dole Whip there!), dinner trip to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/musubi-cafe-iyasume-honolulu">musubi cafe</a>. Four of us like to eat spam musubi. One of us is a complete twinkie, banana, you name it and will not eat Asian food unless it is plain noodles (think udon or kalguksu without the broth or anything) that taste like nothing. H won't even eat plain white rice anymore. He has some serious issues. So while the rest of us were stuffing rice and seaweed creations into our mouths, he had to sit there with a sour look on his face. On the way back we got him some popcorn chicken from KFC. I don't know how many other people go to Hawaii to eat KFC, Burger King, Subway, McDonald's and even R had to join in the fast food frenzy with his favorite orange chicken from Panda Express!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfLSjG1oC-pnjegFXhJNViC_YhsUmuHwQF1F4iabjaRjivXt_5jMq5jrDXnFad0pM15oV1ZAFPGfOR29c0so93RokSyLSjVBBDKXpzxI5VahrUySJoCZxbMRGhy3QN7KJAkB6gxAT7Fdk/s1600/IMG_1199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfLSjG1oC-pnjegFXhJNViC_YhsUmuHwQF1F4iabjaRjivXt_5jMq5jrDXnFad0pM15oV1ZAFPGfOR29c0so93RokSyLSjVBBDKXpzxI5VahrUySJoCZxbMRGhy3QN7KJAkB6gxAT7Fdk/s200/IMG_1199.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf007JnO_Y7TQsNFfjkeLOVw6HxQfophBwkwfXJf9nduVlRTmnalOLS1MrQdGJBU7wupffbD-FJOeUky1hC-3sMDZc8CaZwUgdSVpQtZJqMNsZPcGVanmsWVzKeQRotZCz2_0z4U3P_bM/s1600/IMG_1226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf007JnO_Y7TQsNFfjkeLOVw6HxQfophBwkwfXJf9nduVlRTmnalOLS1MrQdGJBU7wupffbD-FJOeUky1hC-3sMDZc8CaZwUgdSVpQtZJqMNsZPcGVanmsWVzKeQRotZCz2_0z4U3P_bM/s200/IMG_1226.JPG" width="200" /></a>Saturday, wake up early to eat breakfast at Bogarts and have the biggest most deliciously decadent haupia macadamia pancake ever, hiking up Diamond Head with one of my besties from law school, C and her partner B. B was so nice, she stayed with R when he started protesting that he was too tired. Somehow she miraculously convinced him it was worth going to the top and he made it all the way up. Afterwards we sampled the many offerings at the farmer's market and I bought many many jars of delicious jam. If you were at our wedding, you know that we gave Hawaiian Sun jam as part of our wedding favor. I love Hawaiian flavors like passion fruit, guava, pineapple, which are all so good on freshly made scones. I pretty much love Lilikoi anything and wanted to name my daughter Lilikoi but Stewart wouldn't let me name my daughter the same names as his sisters so Lili was ixnayed from the get go.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfkr7KTHjkB4uX7kkcigAW-Hz6adJdf_7dfLrnM3L-hKfJdhptpw9iJGQAa281oMW6Gz393p7fxsYLmI6GzT-FFTOPKI_ecX7T3bd3H-wVLi4rPYwYTMySvWAKa8s6C24zloHwdhZb5ab/s1600/IMG_1396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfkr7KTHjkB4uX7kkcigAW-Hz6adJdf_7dfLrnM3L-hKfJdhptpw9iJGQAa281oMW6Gz393p7fxsYLmI6GzT-FFTOPKI_ecX7T3bd3H-wVLi4rPYwYTMySvWAKa8s6C24zloHwdhZb5ab/s200/IMG_1396.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="150" /></a>Sunday, Hanauma Bay. If you get there before 8, there is no attendant to take your fees so you can enter without paying a fee. H loved it and had a great time snorkeling. R was back to his fearful, tired self and spent the entire time sitting in the stroller. E had fun making sand castles. I have to say, going to Hanauma Bay was a bit disappointing considering how much I enjoyed it the first time I went there, which was over 12 years ago. Back then there were turtles and many many schools of fish that swam very close to shore. I was pretty amazed by it. This time, there were not as many fish, which I was told is due to tourism and the ban on feeding the fish. It was still well worth the experience, especially since it was FREE!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzaxO5E2FWCrN73Z-XFCk8URzcpFPcxsUBbR162-nsCi9T0Uo6_nX74Wr6E36Yal1V061OWwdM-Hz1xg6vvxhllb58HEiZ9q79QHqEsNU-D8XoXlkFMvoQIwMjCe6aCR26GiwV_BVt8Fi/s1600/IMG_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzaxO5E2FWCrN73Z-XFCk8URzcpFPcxsUBbR162-nsCi9T0Uo6_nX74Wr6E36Yal1V061OWwdM-Hz1xg6vvxhllb58HEiZ9q79QHqEsNU-D8XoXlkFMvoQIwMjCe6aCR26GiwV_BVt8Fi/s200/IMG_1274.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFlSSw5GLQW1jxuj2E9YJoGBzpGyjAPFuypN6bdxv1FvIqd7J0cldaIKJ_bmbEICgUiNBWNGrap4Rt-Cyca8KBRJANcHhCyZJ5saq0BnNxz5uNMrIWWt9ui77Txs8QmkPc0Z8PBKoKmxJ/s1600/IMG_1278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFlSSw5GLQW1jxuj2E9YJoGBzpGyjAPFuypN6bdxv1FvIqd7J0cldaIKJ_bmbEICgUiNBWNGrap4Rt-Cyca8KBRJANcHhCyZJ5saq0BnNxz5uNMrIWWt9ui77Txs8QmkPc0Z8PBKoKmxJ/s200/IMG_1278.JPG" width="150" /></a>Monday, Breakfast at Aulani, tour of Dole Plantation, North Shore drive through to get to Masumoto Shave Ice. The breakfast at Aulani was great. When you go to a character breakfast in the Disney Parks (I've been to the Minnie and Friends breakfast at Disneyland and Pooh breakfast at the Crystal Palace) you feel a bit rushed because there are so many people they need to get through there and plus the eating time is taking away from your stand in line for Space Mountain time. At Aulani we were able to take our time and eat the many many plate combinations offered at the buffet. They sang R happy birthday since we were there for his birthday. The kids got up to do the dance and activities during the breakfast. This was similar to the character breakfast at the Disneyland hotel in Anaheim. You have to look at the meal as an experience, otherwise your palm will hit your face when you realize you just paid $$ for your child to eat one mini pancake.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqFz_dulKqqmvQzthAWFA_fJJoQRVf3URkBcArByQM5tYwQSmyCMapAf1oIZvl32Rwx1DVRzyZ8bK49eVYgLci47M1h5CuzvvOZmkMCodsblj6Uy7z3PKzNFIJxeyBluXlUQ9n1Py9bz7/s1600/IMG_1285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqFz_dulKqqmvQzthAWFA_fJJoQRVf3URkBcArByQM5tYwQSmyCMapAf1oIZvl32Rwx1DVRzyZ8bK49eVYgLci47M1h5CuzvvOZmkMCodsblj6Uy7z3PKzNFIJxeyBluXlUQ9n1Py9bz7/s200/IMG_1285.JPG" width="150" /></a>The tour of the Dole Plantation was everything we thought it would be. A great train ride through the different fields where we saw really cute baby pineapples and the other fruit that grew on the farm. If you didn't know, any pineapple that says Dole on it that you can buy in the supermarket is actually from Dole plantations in the Philippines, not Hawaii as Hawaii can only grow enough for the local market. The kids had a great time in the maze and I had a great time inhaling more Dole whip! I was still really full but I wanted to see why people loved the North Shore shrimp trucks. We went up there and I was not that impressed. I think it's because I had the garlic shrimp fried rice at Bogart's our first morning in Honolulu and it raised the bar as to what constitutes flavorful shrimp. I need to get some more of that fried rice!!! Matsumoto Shave Ice was good, but not better than the shave ice we had at the stand in front of our hotel. Of course H was not eating any of this so we had to stop by the food court on the way back to the hotel so he could get his subway sandwich, cold cut combo footlong on flatbread with nothing else on it. Sometimes it feels like such a waste of money because he's getting a piece of white bread with fake meat. I have no idea how that boy grows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFC9Ih1_yLLiiM8ch2t40p6YHUTQs4iGwTjdophlDtQ7NH0IH0gHT_pc6yTRTZ2ireN2uEDwTDE352wXwsWHACX-MC5AwVNsmEAB8zz_0pSAJrViaqmxi0DKS98QjftBa2T9B5c1DxHoSU/s1600/IMG_1291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFC9Ih1_yLLiiM8ch2t40p6YHUTQs4iGwTjdophlDtQ7NH0IH0gHT_pc6yTRTZ2ireN2uEDwTDE352wXwsWHACX-MC5AwVNsmEAB8zz_0pSAJrViaqmxi0DKS98QjftBa2T9B5c1DxHoSU/s200/IMG_1291.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Tuesday was our trip to Pearl Harbor. I have a lot of Japanese friends, I love Japanese food, I've visited Japan, I have Sony, Panasonic, Sanrio, Muji, etc stuff all over our house. But after you visit Pearl Harbor, you have this feeling like you never want to encounter anything Japanese ever again. The stories of all the people who were killed and affected by that attack and the images, the huge images of destruction, the names of the sailors on the wall of the memorial, and the artifacts from the era all really get to you. I noticed that while there are Japanese tourists all over Hawaii, very few were at the USS Arizona Memorial. It would be too hard when you are there for vacation, not an exercise in self-loathing. I suspect that Americans who go to Japan on vacation do not visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I certainly didn't. I fully believe in the theory that the US military knew about the attacks and could have mobilized to stop much of the destruction, but let it happen anyway because they wanted Congress to vote to enter the war. So many lives sacrificed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjxhdI8uUvBEfriKkbwdAL8TW_yYoro4jNlu-H7cIDaLuJaP0Z7W979uMfoxLCfhEtCgzlrc8eWToSMfLdm-ABbYMcajDS2EfUoQQOE6nIPe__szeJWsXLLHwcAIDk-V0UQ-UENyj_0ae/s1600/IMG_1356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjxhdI8uUvBEfriKkbwdAL8TW_yYoro4jNlu-H7cIDaLuJaP0Z7W979uMfoxLCfhEtCgzlrc8eWToSMfLdm-ABbYMcajDS2EfUoQQOE6nIPe__szeJWsXLLHwcAIDk-V0UQ-UENyj_0ae/s200/IMG_1356.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDoSQkz9FmJY-FkQAczWhc5aI7T3VN-8-YAMRREft7UDfZMP3WNEaToVICPqzVSTyFNjjCR3RyXBaqghAAvrj9NZhZ3l84Y3x4ieO2BQuRuVUoM2UY-7mpGVbl6j_KQUziWjcqSP2t1xs/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDoSQkz9FmJY-FkQAczWhc5aI7T3VN-8-YAMRREft7UDfZMP3WNEaToVICPqzVSTyFNjjCR3RyXBaqghAAvrj9NZhZ3l84Y3x4ieO2BQuRuVUoM2UY-7mpGVbl6j_KQUziWjcqSP2t1xs/s200/IMG_1320.JPG" width="150" /></a>Our last day we were supposed to go play with dolphins but after reading all of the reviews of how inhumane those places were we decided just to hang at the beach and pool. Somewhere thrown in the trip was H's surfing lesson, hiking to a waterfall, outlet shopping, Leonard's, Costco, Liliha Bakery, and two hours spent at the Ross Waikiki because it's open till 2 AM! We also met our friends from church, who coincidentally were staying at the same hotel in Waikiki. The wonders of social media, they posted a photo at a hotel on FB and another friend commented, Eunice is there too!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U-U1ZCMnm7-siRykEghe-a9uKFqgjpjg92L_PHhtVuc6I3msdUKTgtSnpAb9UU8yH5jZJnC9VdAxFZQ6-e4SCJXY4WrSSyqTRn4jg3NHwshkD4T8rSjmrS5sIp4ynF3ll9FobNVNHS6M/s1600/IMG_1339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U-U1ZCMnm7-siRykEghe-a9uKFqgjpjg92L_PHhtVuc6I3msdUKTgtSnpAb9UU8yH5jZJnC9VdAxFZQ6-e4SCJXY4WrSSyqTRn4jg3NHwshkD4T8rSjmrS5sIp4ynF3ll9FobNVNHS6M/s200/IMG_1339.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
There are still so many things we wanted to do so we will definitely be back. None of us are stay still and relax type people so I don't think we will be making it to Maui or Kauai. Maybe our next trip will include the Big Island--I remember the volcano being pretty cool! Aloha!Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-48673643250635529492015-05-27T13:08:00.002-07:002015-05-27T13:11:54.852-07:00Public Service Announcement: How to avoid a $200 auto detail bill due to child's EPIC vomitR has a weak esophagus. At least that's the official diagnosis as to why he has the ability to vomit on a dime. So after two crazy vomiting episodes in the past two weeks, I thought I should share some tips of how to deal with the mess.<br />
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1. Get a cover for the back seat of your car. I don't know why other moms didn't tell me this the minute I became pregnant with H (oh wait, we didn't have a car in Manhattan) but if you have a child that is in a child safety seat, get a waterproof pet cover for the entire back row and put the seat on top of the cover. Look at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yes-Pets-Waterproof-56-Inch-47-Inch/dp/B00NLAA6HS/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1432755716&sr=8-13&keywords=car+seat+cover">this one on Amazon for $32</a>. It is padded and waterproof. I did find one that is not padded that is less than $20 but if you have older kids who will be sitting on top, I think the padded ones are nicer. And it's really funny because the minute you switch categories from a pet car cover to a child car cover, the same exact cover goes from $20 to $80. Sorry, I'll save my money and go with the one for Fido. Anyway, this means if your child vomits or has a diaper blowout or decides to put her leaky sippy cup spout side down next to her, at least you can just wash the cover and not have to pay $$$ for a car detail.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEktneak1wb8G2q6rtVH8NEL8t6E5DtKtolo0zS5E6g0_PLoTHSeCbHBz-ILL3JJ5Nmo6CK3rl2qGDcK1xpaaP6a23N_g-8hkmsQ0ecX36KyMRXOKy1WIxHTLZtdJz9eFXIhn8m8x1w5s7/s1600/uri+destroyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEktneak1wb8G2q6rtVH8NEL8t6E5DtKtolo0zS5E6g0_PLoTHSeCbHBz-ILL3JJ5Nmo6CK3rl2qGDcK1xpaaP6a23N_g-8hkmsQ0ecX36KyMRXOKy1WIxHTLZtdJz9eFXIhn8m8x1w5s7/s200/uri+destroyer.jpg" width="72" /></a>2. But if you experience a R-size vomit incident where the vomit is dripping down the insides of both seat belt openings into the insides of the actual stuffing of the car seat (not just the child safety seat) because you don't have a car seat cover and you don't want to pay for a detail since it's going to happen again, then there is another product that I love and have used for many many bodily fluid accidents in the car and on their beds. The name is totally awesome--Urine Destroyer. Believe me, when these accidents happen, you definitely feel like destroying something or someone (under 4 ft tall!). It actually is an enzyme that will kill the bacteria causing the horrendous vomit or urine odor in your car. I've also used it on carpet, very effective on smells, not effective on pink sharpie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgK3XunqPn4eUCf3cjDEZ2IZMOjE_ts3k81vzPHY3m2CcI2VwlHetVOd5M2BMMjZCuZ_6K6Fb7OO8r_Z7aE6f1Ji7Lro1jXWR_EuTkU3TBZTnjxg_eBDvX7RJU613rUfM8UHHbrEmp1_U/s1600/sick+bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgK3XunqPn4eUCf3cjDEZ2IZMOjE_ts3k81vzPHY3m2CcI2VwlHetVOd5M2BMMjZCuZ_6K6Fb7OO8r_Z7aE6f1Ji7Lro1jXWR_EuTkU3TBZTnjxg_eBDvX7RJU613rUfM8UHHbrEmp1_U/s200/sick+bag.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
3. Of course, the best way to avoid the accidents all together is to stop your kids from eating and drinking too much. R doesn't have the best self control when it comes to food so I have to remind him if I notice that he's been eating nonstop for an hour. or two. or three. which happens at Cub Scout camp if your camper doesn't like to hike or do outdoors stuff. Why is he in Cub Scouts? But if you're too late and your child has over-indulged, then make sure you have sick bags on hand. You can get them for free when you go to a dr appt, ask the nurse for a few. If you exhaust that supply, they are also available at most pharmacies.<br />
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Please, new moms out there, save yourself some aggravation and get the car seat cover. Isn't it nuts that I'm on kid #3 turning 4 this year and I only figured this out now? Absolutely no payments were made for this post and all opinions are my own, but if you have any airplane vomit bags, please send them my way. THANKS!Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-85860403702019434712015-03-11T11:10:00.002-07:002015-03-11T11:10:53.210-07:00From Left to Write: The No More Excuses Diet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGx3SybJwQrvhmvZzQZb2fITX1v85Eq_-8SEeMrqzkD61mS8EBNvAUx3E-coXyoG_eRWpFqD3ByCJycvhuiZiPxd2XdOjnKTZS8b-oK1emrWdWfNxSbWxwjlH7_GTmBVLeHhQEMd_fxfI/s1600/post_description_No_More_Excuses_Diet_Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGx3SybJwQrvhmvZzQZb2fITX1v85Eq_-8SEeMrqzkD61mS8EBNvAUx3E-coXyoG_eRWpFqD3ByCJycvhuiZiPxd2XdOjnKTZS8b-oK1emrWdWfNxSbWxwjlH7_GTmBVLeHhQEMd_fxfI/s1600/post_description_No_More_Excuses_Diet_Banner.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
It's hard to write this post because all I have are excuses. But mostly I think my excuses stem from not caring that I'm fat. I'm fat. It's ok! All these crazy diet books are out there but I have no motivation to exercise to the degree required to get to my pre-baby weight because I don't care!!!! Of course I'm influenced by posts from other moms who are embracing their fatness and happy in the process. But I wanted to try. I thought maybe if I signed up for <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1GNLa3R">The No More Excuses Diet</a></i> by Maria Kang, it would get me going, but so far, I haven't really exercised any more than I did before the book. I do try to follow the stricture to stop eating 3 hours before bedtime, so maybe that's something!<br />
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I'm a list person, I like to cross things off that I've accomplished but then lose all motivation to do those things again. I worked out and dieted every day so I could lose 30 lbs for my wedding. Done. I trained for six months so I could run a marathon. Done. I gave up fried potato snacks for one year's new year's resolution. Done. I worked at a startup. Done. I started blogging so I could go to BlogHer in New York five years ago. Done.<br />
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So the things that are remaining on my bucket list are: walk from Kathmandu to Everest base camp, skydiving, and write a book. All of which are things I'm going to do once my kids go to college, mostly because for the first two things, it will matter less if I die trying. So for the next 12 years I have no motivation to do anything!<br />
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Actually that's not true. I did have a few New Year's resolutions for this year. Climb Mission Peak, done. Frame my law school diploma from 12 years ago, done. Clean out my garage so I can park in it--this one is blocked by the fact that our annual MOPS rummage sale is in May and our church community group garage sale is next month.<br />
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I'm waiting. For my <a href="http://pavlok.com/">Pavlok</a>. I need that will really SHOCK me into getting back into shape and sleeping earlier. I am acknowledging I have no will power. I have no motivation so I need something external to really poke and prod me into the right direction. The Pavlok is one of those wearable fitness devices that tracks your movements. If you don't reach your goal, it will give you an electric jolt. Perhaps not the best idea for someone with a minor heart issue, but at this point I'm willing to try anything. <br />
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Another random post from random mommy. If you would like my copy of the No Excuses book, please let me know and I will send it to you!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This post was inspired by </span><a href="http://amzn.to/1GNLa3R" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #300630; font-family: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">The No More Excuses Diet</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> by Maria Kang who shares her no excuses philosophy that motivated her to become more fit. Join</span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #300630; font-family: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">From Left to Write</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Avenir, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> on March 12th as we discuss The No More Excuses Diet. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span></span><br />
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<br />Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-48976018995975252332015-01-20T13:51:00.003-08:002015-01-20T13:52:38.421-08:00Happy New Year!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wikipedia</td></tr>
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It's still January so I think it's ok to still say that, right? Another huge break in blogging, not because there was nothing to report but no time since December is a huge month for fund work. If you have $$$ to invest in investment funds, let me know and I can get right on that for you.<br />
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Yesterday was the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (his birthday is actually the 15th). I asked H about it and he said that he didn't know what the big deal was. I told H if it weren't for Martin Luther King, he would be treated unfairly because he was Korean. Like he has so many times before, H protested that he was not Korean but English. I told him yet again that if his parents are Korean, people will treat him as a Korean, no matter how well he speaks English. I then asked him how he would feel if he had to go sit on the back of the bus, not be allowed to eat at certain restaurants, not be allowed to vote, not drink from the same water fountain, etc as white people. He said he wouldn't like it. But I have this feeling that he doesn't really get it.<br />
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Part of the problem being that where we live, there are no white people except our senior citizen neighbor Bob. R had a white friend, L. They played video games and had playdates and everything everything together. Then L moved away because his mom wanted to get him out of the ethnic homogeneity of our neighborhood. I can't even call it a community because there is no community. Nobody knows anyone because everyone keeps to themselves and interacts only with their own ethnicities. Being Korean, we're the outliers here so we have no alternative but to make friends with our Indian and Chinese neighbors.<br />
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How do you teach racial tolerance or equality in a place where you are the minority majority? If you live your entire life in the Bay Area, how do you even begin to understand or appreciate the civil rights movement spurred by Dr. King's bravery? When we lived in Los Angeles, I had white and Latina friends to break the homogeneity of my Asian friendships. One of my good friends was married to a wonderful black man, so we saw him occasionally and his kids frequently. Now I live in a place where I don't interact with a single black or Latino person for weeks, if not months. I cling to my white friends from MOPS through our monthly Bunco nights even though I really don't have time since I would lose all connection to them otherwise. I wonder, how do I teach my kids about color when there are entire shades in the color spectrum missing from our daily existence? They're definitely too young to go watch Selma and words don't seem to be sinking into their consciousness. They teach the importance of the holiday and Dr. King's work in school but to them MLK is a day off school, nothing more.<br />
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As usual these random thoughts of a random mommy are stuck in the denouement with no resolution. I do know this, though, I too hope that my children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I pray that God equips me to teach them to have a character that is honest, fair, trustworthy, brave and loving. I thank God that he gave Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the courage to stand up for TRUTH. Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-350059083726521652014-11-19T10:42:00.000-08:002014-11-19T10:42:39.208-08:00From Left to Write: J by Howard Jacobson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHa6C54gIBNdpF0Gwpd8eNkinDMMXeyWMZtd_uhtm-NB8Kq3ODudxXlncBpbo__5pW1IstjLYStk5f1nyOtHUHr_Xg9DlR7Y7XU6skUhyqFB7kbLJPnjm2SjxZWNhafjaBaTeVHItMIaQt/s1600/j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHa6C54gIBNdpF0Gwpd8eNkinDMMXeyWMZtd_uhtm-NB8Kq3ODudxXlncBpbo__5pW1IstjLYStk5f1nyOtHUHr_Xg9DlR7Y7XU6skUhyqFB7kbLJPnjm2SjxZWNhafjaBaTeVHItMIaQt/s1600/j.jpg" /></a></div>
To be one of the chosen people of God. I've had a fascination with Jewish culture since my family moved from Chicago city proper to its suburbs. All of a sudden half my classmates had the last name Cohen, Finkel, or the like. They talked frequently about the shenanigans they pulled in Hebrew school. Somehow Korean school wasn't as glamorous or exciting. The year I turned 13 was filled with friends' bar and bat mitzvahs, elaborate over the top parties where kids would get carried in chairs in the air and everyone would dance holding white napkins together in a circle. Throughout my formative years schools were closed for every Jewish high holiday (but not Good Friday) and we frequently talked about seders and Hannukah in class. I wanted to be Jewish. It looked like such a cool club from the outside.<br />
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College and life in New York afterwards expanded my love affair with Jewish culture in the form of food and life-long friends. The Kosher Kitchen was one of the best dining halls on campus and it was part of the meal plan. Manhattan's offerings were even better--Artie's deli on 83rd street with its sides of cole slaw and pickles, Cafe Edison for matzoh ball soup, and Zabar's to pick up everything else, to say nothing about the deliciousness of real bagels! Many Jewish girlfriends and boyfriends enhanced my appreciation for a people that have endured so much hatred and oppression for thousands of years and yet have persevered to excel in education, the arts, medicine and every field of business.<br />
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While I ultimately did not end up converting or marrying in, my belief that Israel was given to the Jews by God has never been diminished. So imagine the horror I felt when I found out that, on Tuesday morning, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/middleeast/killings-in-jerusalem-synagogue-complex.html?_r=0">two Muslims from East Jerusalem armed with a gun, knives and axes burst into a West Jerusalem synagogue shouting Allahu Akbar and then proceeded to open fire and bludgeon praying men with axes</a>. Of course, this made me think of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/J-A-Novel-Howard-Jacobson/dp/0553419552">J</a></i>, the novel I had been reading for the <a href="http://fromlefttowrite.com/">From Left to Write</a> book club. I had read a review of the book that it was not realistic that another Holocaust would happen as suggested by the book. I beg to differ--in a world where Jews in Jerusalem can get massacred in a synagogue, is the possibility of another Holocaust really that far fetched? I had originally been planning a different post, but how could I not comment on the fact that most people in this world are not outraged by <i>what happened, and it did happen! </i>Why is the flag not lowered to half staff for the Americans that were killed in this tragedy? Why doesn't the POTUS come out stronger against the incident? Does he even care?<br />
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I am praying that God will comfort the families of the three AMERICAN and the other victims of this travesty. If it is God's will, I pray that he will help Benjamin Netanyahu <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2838891/This-cruel-murder-Jews-came-pray-Thousands-gather-grief-four-rabbis-massacred-fanatics-Jerusalem-synagogue-axe-attack-laid-rest.html">carry out his vow to "settle the score with every terrorist."</a> Whenever things like this happen, I question whether it is the end times. More and more I agree with the answer my pastor recently gave to this query, "it's been the end times ever since Jesus returned to Heaven." If you live in a place where there are no Jewish people and the problems of the Middle East seem far away, just think about how Hitler was able to affect the life of every human being on Earth during World War II. Ignoring the issues will not make them go away, please spare a thought for these issues today.<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-3eabb135-c951-5f73-6f8d-3cc1fbaa60c3"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post was inspired by the novel </span><a href="http://amzn.to/1qOTAyM" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">J </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Howard Jacobson</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">about a world where collective memory has vanished and the past is a dangerous country, not to be talked about or visited. Join </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on November 20th as we discuss</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> J. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span></div>
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-60358799907178298132014-11-04T22:15:00.000-08:002014-11-04T22:15:46.966-08:00Halloween: Jaded Mom Recap<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHliAWjp0RmHUiEIJgxpIvnSjqhCNetdst1xG_RJo7DcFOsMvZ4aWfK9FZamGpkdswnDl_o1wQb8XRNfLbQ1p-MtTorutaQZpi0k27VTDd-7C30jipQGbO0i9-VTvHQWyGg0KpWt88aIwf/s1600/IMG_0097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHliAWjp0RmHUiEIJgxpIvnSjqhCNetdst1xG_RJo7DcFOsMvZ4aWfK9FZamGpkdswnDl_o1wQb8XRNfLbQ1p-MtTorutaQZpi0k27VTDd-7C30jipQGbO0i9-VTvHQWyGg0KpWt88aIwf/s1600/IMG_0097.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Non-scary Children of the Corn</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjno9CpdPDvG51AnH_Cd0m100b5DXX1eSGDIwT_YaNQz6fuLrnK88lPIbVtmtMu-qPfqBk1qApm3ipRGkYkrqQ3-nVJO4lw1lj5MKXDDH1eQI1RplS-EAiwl4ECIND-4UH6XRHdFVmofM0v/s1600/IMG_0098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjno9CpdPDvG51AnH_Cd0m100b5DXX1eSGDIwT_YaNQz6fuLrnK88lPIbVtmtMu-qPfqBk1qApm3ipRGkYkrqQ3-nVJO4lw1lj5MKXDDH1eQI1RplS-EAiwl4ECIND-4UH6XRHdFVmofM0v/s1600/IMG_0098.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephen King eat your heart out</td></tr>
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When the boys were little, I was a bit crazy about Halloween. I took them to ten different parties in October and multiple pumpkin patches. I loved the cuteness they oozed out of their costumes. Maybe it's the fact that they don't wear cute costumes anymore (no more pandas or Tigger), but I'm definitely over Halloween. We did go to our first legit corn maze, making the trek to Dublin with out community group. It was hot, it was long, it had trivia questions that told you which way to go. E and I went back to the car after the first half. There was also a corn box (instead of a sand box) at the corn maze pumpkin patch. The kids loved it. I immediately thought, "This is why the rest of the world hates the U.S." People are starving and we are wasting bushels of corn for the amusement of our children. They were also charging $$ for the opportunity to shoot ears of corn as part of target practice. All the endless talk about the drought, yet we don't flinch when food that was made possible by the use of the precious liquid is used as entertainment rather than as sustenance. Of course, I'm as guilty as the next person since I was there!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKn77CdzOSt0Sgk3WWKTtyYLQ2RT7aQB4rWBJgvYo0YVgIs_AxWxidLV0YRPXdr0jvjokKtPTT_msLeHV9gIsrxytaCwPLRXJopq7AIUTZ13zgsyM8Os_dfsNqI0fPn4NrKi-3iHW8ROL_/s1600/IMG_5525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKn77CdzOSt0Sgk3WWKTtyYLQ2RT7aQB4rWBJgvYo0YVgIs_AxWxidLV0YRPXdr0jvjokKtPTT_msLeHV9gIsrxytaCwPLRXJopq7AIUTZ13zgsyM8Os_dfsNqI0fPn4NrKi-3iHW8ROL_/s1600/IMG_5525.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP1V89PkSiWM11Am8CuWqxv9-vzmlyzimKA6k21Gb_dZAFV1RxBbH6ye39phWZvzPDBVId-N5Bc_or6kWbPnDj2jEVDhcup6skUlhy7YtOmcv47HUvyeXLjUE4Cfmc2RWRN3jvCULAWXW/s1600/IMG_5560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP1V89PkSiWM11Am8CuWqxv9-vzmlyzimKA6k21Gb_dZAFV1RxBbH6ye39phWZvzPDBVId-N5Bc_or6kWbPnDj2jEVDhcup6skUlhy7YtOmcv47HUvyeXLjUE4Cfmc2RWRN3jvCULAWXW/s1600/IMG_5560.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>I missed the Halloween carnival at their elementary school because I just happened to have a lunch appointment at Chez Panisse that day. Even if it had been at Jack in the Box, I think I would have picked the lunch over the carnival. Apparently, it turns perfectly normal girls into zombies. And out of all the activities at the carnival, their favorite was "eating chips." Parents and high-schoolers spent three hours setting up the carnival, putting up games and decorations all over the multi-purpose room. The boys and I were there for an hour before I had to leave for Berkeley stretching out cotton to resemble cobwebs and hanging it on the walls. So much effort for a four hour event, what if all those volunteers had instead picked up the garbage in the school playground and fields? A better use of time and volunteer manpower but not quite as fun for the [young] adults channeling their inner Chucky.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwW0vJOj-DTxKzEsSXl-7CIFOqu1iDQcN6gMMB_KU68aDm7S-EDCw2DZYsv5-KUIqbm_KzpSN8ClCK_xAWDIG7G0sQbCkZYYRvP9BPL8HFPrLfQ9YiSfh1CvcwsOSobFWt3OCyFNkXah_6/s1600/IMG_5564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwW0vJOj-DTxKzEsSXl-7CIFOqu1iDQcN6gMMB_KU68aDm7S-EDCw2DZYsv5-KUIqbm_KzpSN8ClCK_xAWDIG7G0sQbCkZYYRvP9BPL8HFPrLfQ9YiSfh1CvcwsOSobFWt3OCyFNkXah_6/s1600/IMG_5564.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh02HSJfdPtZHC2EHsfBFo13ooxrBVuCnp8-kCdnnUxHjR8W5YZuzYA2G1ueO2-4uQqq5tuw5cRv2pk1jfClvrwRQQH2WZp1t3dlWLVkSc_CntzvYiwrecrb6gForWR3TpGkhlXPejHSC6/s1600/IMG_6431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh02HSJfdPtZHC2EHsfBFo13ooxrBVuCnp8-kCdnnUxHjR8W5YZuzYA2G1ueO2-4uQqq5tuw5cRv2pk1jfClvrwRQQH2WZp1t3dlWLVkSc_CntzvYiwrecrb6gForWR3TpGkhlXPejHSC6/s1600/IMG_6431.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>The kids (and E and I) paraded around the school on Halloween in the rain. E had protested her original costume (Snow White) to join the army of Stepford Elsas. I ordered it off eBay and we had received it well in advance of the big day. The weather on Halloween morning, however, required E to take off her Elsa costume since it would have dragged in the rain. Instead she was very practical and put on a hoodie sweatshirt to protect her head. I couldn't understand why the school didn't just cancel the parade. I never had Halloween parades at any of my five elementary schools in Chicago. It may have been too cold on Halloween to do so; coats would have hid our costumes and defeated the entire point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKW0RKoWyzRScmh-UwkBt-RzKOPqrvQNhiKuUJwv6QYZwns7DK-rUcP6ShSf_45vtEGipEkfB2lY8E5fn8L3gOBhquCduWgSec5O35jpCQuz_Ydg_OXtTnejtzeZH4N1vECC2PLTk9tKZd/s1600/IMG_6447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKW0RKoWyzRScmh-UwkBt-RzKOPqrvQNhiKuUJwv6QYZwns7DK-rUcP6ShSf_45vtEGipEkfB2lY8E5fn8L3gOBhquCduWgSec5O35jpCQuz_Ydg_OXtTnejtzeZH4N1vECC2PLTk9tKZd/s1600/IMG_6447.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>Halloween night was pretty uneventful. We went down the street instead of roaming the hills near my mother in law's house as we had done in past years, seeking out the neighbors known for giving full size treats. Sanity for the full-time working mom won out over the Hostess cupcakes and Costco size chocolate bars. They went through a decent number of houses and got a decent amount of candy (which will be going straight into the Operation Christmas Child boxes). Halloween, done. Does anyone need an Elsa costume?Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-29327909382415480332014-10-07T21:24:00.000-07:002014-10-07T21:24:18.009-07:00From Left to Write: Dataclysm PIZZA<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3GXscug8qVTpCj2LWoURHUYhvPx5iHCT9gYQB8NjjkBCKax3JOEim1q0VYHGBk_8tvOLvQA4YbjJZFjKBpLsUnp3TJmE3kjikAufYk-IX3fYg6rdYg4S1U9TfGtsdZ2gOqlPjMixJQBk/s1600/Hot_pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3GXscug8qVTpCj2LWoURHUYhvPx5iHCT9gYQB8NjjkBCKax3JOEim1q0VYHGBk_8tvOLvQA4YbjJZFjKBpLsUnp3TJmE3kjikAufYk-IX3fYg6rdYg4S1U9TfGtsdZ2gOqlPjMixJQBk/s1600/Hot_pizza.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lppa">Pierre Alan Lepetit</a></span></span></td></tr>
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This is a hard post to write. From Left to Write is a book club where we write posts inspired by the books we read. They are not meant to be book reviews. However, when we write posts that are funny, heart-warming or even simply informative--that is when a blogger writes a good post--in some way that casts a positive light on wherever that post came from because heck, at the very least, that something was inspirational. So let me make one thing clear about the book that prompts this post--I do not endorse this book. To say anything more about it goes against the principles that make From Left to Write such a great book club so I won't go into the reasons why. Instead I will write about something that I really do love and that is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza">PIZZA</a>.<br />
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The author brings up early on that the most frequently used word after the word "the" on his dating website is "PIZZA." And I can understand exactly why. I love pizza. I love deep-dish pizza (I'm from Chicaaaaago), I love thin-crust pizza, I love New York pizza, and I even love Korean style pizza with corn and kimchee on top. If I were stranded on a deserted island with a food replicator from the USS Enterprise that would only assemble one type of food, that food would be pizza. I'm betting I wouldn't be the only one. According to Wikipedia, 13% of the U.S. population eats pizza on any given day.<br />
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When I think about my childhood and what I ate as a latch-key kid, the image of Totino's pizza and a tall glass of milk instantly come to mind. It was love at first bite when I sank my teeth into my first ooey-gooey cheesy slice as a FOK (Fresh Off Korean airlines). Frozen pizza was the first thing I cooked in an oven by myself. I did burn my hand, but I remember feeling pretty proud of my 9 year old self. High school was all about deep dish, since every club's end of the year celebration was invariably held at <a href="http://www.nancyspizza.com/">Nancy's Pizza</a>. Hey, any pizza place with Ditka on its website is legit by any Midwesterner's standards. And what college student doesn't eat her own body weight in pizza every semester? quarter?<br />
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I had the good fortune of going to college in New Haven, CT, where good to great pizza could be found on every block. Naples was the go-to place where you could get a hot slice any time it was open. They had a article on the wall quoting a history professor saying that pizza was the perfect food and he ate it nearly every day. Well, if it was good enough for him, then any guilt I had previously for eating the amount of pizza that I did just dripped off my plate like grease from a piping hot slice. <a href="http://www.pepespizzeria.com/">Pepe's</a> was for taking the parents and <a href="http://www.barnightclub.com/">Bar</a> was for dates. In college I discovered the deliciousness of mashed potato, white and red clams, anchovies, and other toppings that you wouldn't find on a supermarket freezer pie.<br />
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After college came New York City, the mecca of pizza IMO. I have had pizza in Italy and I don't think it is as good as it is in Manhattan, the crust is not the same chewy yet crispy texture you get from NYC water. Lombardi's, Otto Enoteca, Waldy's, Fat Sal's, Ray's, and even the 99 cent slice that used to be across the street from Port Authority--they all had their place in the pizza kaleidoscope. I ate a lot of pizza. I could no longer drink milk with pizza (Asian lactose-intolerance caught up with me), but anything else went perfectly whether it was Jarritos Tarmarindo, Brooklyn Lager, or Yakult-laced Jinro. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCy0otqLVucu9GazFnFmSPiVtYIKohCT8gvn-lEU7UUI9Lt6wgkC_-jJaCpPlaQfTrXFTn0Mv8KBzcqzz4cfB_8ikd6LzmGgs8EvqvbCx7HJl4-wn8F5XLLMHXI0OUGPZ5bEJrTtK4tu0/s1600/Unknown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCy0otqLVucu9GazFnFmSPiVtYIKohCT8gvn-lEU7UUI9Lt6wgkC_-jJaCpPlaQfTrXFTn0Mv8KBzcqzz4cfB_8ikd6LzmGgs8EvqvbCx7HJl4-wn8F5XLLMHXI0OUGPZ5bEJrTtK4tu0/s1600/Unknown.jpg" height="200" width="134" /></a>I used to be able to eat 4 slices of an 8 slice pie in one sitting. These days any more than 2 makes my pre-diabetes symptoms flare up. But PIZZA, I can't quit you. Be it a slice from <a href="http://www.giovannisnypizza.com/">Giovanni's</a>, the Matt Cain from <a href="http://www.patxispizza.com/october-national-pizza-month/">Patxi's</a>, or an entire pie from <a href="http://www.littlecaesars.com/">Hot 'N Ready,</a> I need my fix weekly. October may be the time to break out the pink ribbons, but it's also <a href="http://www.americanpizzacommunity.com/page.asp?g=pizza&content=events">NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH</a>!!!!! Guess what I'm eating for dinner tomorrow. After reading this post, you might be eating it too! Bon Appetit!!<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0fce4784-edac-73d1-894f-032399b71bac"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post was inspired by </span><a href="http://amzn.to/1vdCw8k" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking)</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by OKCupid co-founder Christian Rudder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, where he analyzes online data to find out that people who prefer beer are more likely to have sex on a first date. Join </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on October 9th as we discuss</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Dataclysm. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span></span>Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-55822383297864208222014-08-10T15:00:00.000-07:002014-08-10T15:00:47.419-07:00BlogHer 2014 Recap<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5OoJWk_isAW0Du9vBd4akEInQs52-eTOgU71Sg2JZ3usWUnfs4TCQhr0W3P58XTbluXKeztTCj4Or40wPiMWGee7cNeNfDDbe4KpdcRwi2kYRWocoPM_M4bWsLVnSz2kOPZZN-j6jwL-/s1600/bh1410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5OoJWk_isAW0Du9vBd4akEInQs52-eTOgU71Sg2JZ3usWUnfs4TCQhr0W3P58XTbluXKeztTCj4Or40wPiMWGee7cNeNfDDbe4KpdcRwi2kYRWocoPM_M4bWsLVnSz2kOPZZN-j6jwL-/s1600/bh1410.jpg" height="197" width="320" /></a>The last <a href="http://www.blogher.com/blogher-topics/blogher-conference-2014">BlogHer</a> recap I wrote wasn't a recap, it was a post on why I couldn't recap. Because I found out on the bus going back to Newark airport that a good friend had stomach cancer, rendering all the running around I had just done at BlogHer absolutely meaningless. If you've been following my blog, you know that since that fateful diagnosis for my friend two years ago, she has gone home to be with the Lord. Her funeral was last December and yet I still cannot believe that she is actually gone. The timing of it all made me associate BlogHer with her illness and the guilt that I felt for taking part in the best party of the year for ladies anywhere (blogger or not!) made it impossible for me to go last year to the BlogHer convention in Chicago. When I found out it would be in San Jose this year, I debated whether I could go or not, because I still made that mental connection with my friend's devastation. But since it would be down the street, I felt like I should go and make my peace with BlogHer and say goodbye to the event that had helped me out of postpartum depression and given me so many great memories over the years.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H learning on the Lysol Healthy Habits Bus!</td></tr>
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Five years ago, a friend from Mom's Club had encouraged me to join the LA Moms Blog when it was in its heyday. The blogger events helped to lift me out of my post-baby blues, and when I found out that BlogHer would be in New York in 2010, it gave me a goal--to become a good enough blogger so that I wouldn't feel like an imposter at the conference. It was everything that I thought it would be. So much fun and connection with other women, visiting my East Coast friends and having an awesome awesome time! The next year in San Diego was great as well because I was able to meet up with all the blogger friends from LA that I missed after we moved to San Jose. My family went with me so it wasn't the same crazy ride it was in NYC, but still well worth the nine hour drive. Then back to NYC in 2012 for another round of absolute fun and good times with my two sisters and my best girlfriends. So I will always have a special place in my heart for BlogHer.<br />
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At the same time, I think BlogHer was becoming a crazy animal that had lost its focus as a conference on blogging. There were so many parties going on at the same time as the conference itself, it was hard to fit in the actual sessions at the conference! This went away this year as BlogHer really cracked down on those types of part<br />
ies. It was disappointing in one sense as many bloggers didn't come because it was only worth it financially for them if they were able to connect with as many brands as possible, but on the other hand it gave everyone the opportunity to focus on things that they wanted to learn for their blog and personally.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAqkuhJznyEFjvmqtuurHm-omIktJUH6cDldlPhF7AVCJNSq4cIwegPZZSW_UZm2iLRdtAA_IfTFxEr2cvdX3sM2dKfryK1VNzJjubzuzTpt69PcEgpkrlqqfVMFs4GmyPR1H1ss20p22/s1600/IMG_6019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAqkuhJznyEFjvmqtuurHm-omIktJUH6cDldlPhF7AVCJNSq4cIwegPZZSW_UZm2iLRdtAA_IfTFxEr2cvdX3sM2dKfryK1VNzJjubzuzTpt69PcEgpkrlqqfVMFs4GmyPR1H1ss20p22/s1600/IMG_6019.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGiUFeC-MOuOtWLxrERh9hV_mzUIKMYdg69CyWAbOmPNkZCEqvgdX4-dJqoBfD_0LFOjCRcm_SWvkBHolt6-JqMKDpn_tHUC88FxgvfAk4WNbZZd4pHJQD6m_hNhu6pAXu1W44g_cyv7H/s1600/IMG_5987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGiUFeC-MOuOtWLxrERh9hV_mzUIKMYdg69CyWAbOmPNkZCEqvgdX4-dJqoBfD_0LFOjCRcm_SWvkBHolt6-JqMKDpn_tHUC88FxgvfAk4WNbZZd4pHJQD6m_hNhu6pAXu1W44g_cyv7H/s1600/IMG_5987.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I attended the Count Us, Know Us, Join Us session presented by the <a href="http://advancedbreastcancercommunity.org/">Advanced Breast Cancer Community</a>. I learned that many women with breast cancer will have it develop into metastatic breast cancer, meaning that it invades other parts of the body. These women do not identify with the pink ribbons and cancer walks because their cancer stories are different and harder to champion. They do not recover, instead they live with metastatic breast cancer for the rest of their lives. They need continued support instead of seeing their friends and loved ones retreating because they don't know how to deal with someone who is living with cancer. I could relate on one level since my sister has a chronic health condition that she will live with for the rest of her life, and the temptation is there many times for me to wish that she would just get over it or that somehow it should be over or she should be getting better. It's hard to be supportive all the time. Yet I have to remind myself that she doesn't want to live with it even more than I want her to get over it. If your loved one has metastatic breast cancer, you can find more information <a href="http://advancedbreastcancercommunity.org/tools-and-support/">here</a>. After the session at BlogHer, I decided that I would donate a FB and Twitter post on October 13th, Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. If you have a social media account, you can donate a post <a href="https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/14181-mbc-awareness-day?locale=en">here</a>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4tBNz1UnBqQqahyphenhyphen3B89Ojh__Djg1juUm0MZHun7P0pzeiWFrSuUbysG0dPTe4eRWGQfqXvFoOJJ9yoo8Myx0fvxcTzwqlO2RSEL_7pu7i_P7M-6Wxf2IgxLwVjQWR2T-y1HR0SLnnHG5/s1600/IMG_6012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4tBNz1UnBqQqahyphenhyphen3B89Ojh__Djg1juUm0MZHun7P0pzeiWFrSuUbysG0dPTe4eRWGQfqXvFoOJJ9yoo8Myx0fvxcTzwqlO2RSEL_7pu7i_P7M-6Wxf2IgxLwVjQWR2T-y1HR0SLnnHG5/s1600/IMG_6012.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OHzdrmi_5qPy0p07Qm0B3_zq_-rs3lh-oS0sBB0u12ugKcmfqOIl4esUQBSbJcOcoHDRcJM-cM1kZJzy0vOJ1FqQC93YqMClhnYo-MuH55SnUcM79UZMkl1zF4zclp3MAlLl96feYq5R/s1600/IMG_6023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OHzdrmi_5qPy0p07Qm0B3_zq_-rs3lh-oS0sBB0u12ugKcmfqOIl4esUQBSbJcOcoHDRcJM-cM1kZJzy0vOJ1FqQC93YqMClhnYo-MuH55SnUcM79UZMkl1zF4zclp3MAlLl96feYq5R/s1600/IMG_6023.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>All in all I would say BlogHer 2014 was what I expected it to be and wanted it to be. I connected with some fabulous ladies and learned a lot. I've shared some of the images on this post so you can share in the good times! One funny anecdote, we were going to McDonald's last week but R kept insisting that McDonald's was closed. I asked him why and he said that we had gone to the McDonald's closing party at BlogHer so that meant McDonald's was closed! Kids can be so literal!<br />
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<br />Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-23444895359989734962014-07-19T15:40:00.000-07:002014-07-20T19:46:10.606-07:00From Left to Write: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 50th Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogNzQGHa-5V-45GgBbnFcIJ9sv5jPW4RXa5GIibMumWBh4heBIrw1ypPZeRF4ZggIYoJg_JEhyphenhyphen-PbptFSGudfViT0tfExWYqoRwhRzYQ4_Mnu0cAXbTcRp_vskNO88DsQnrKuhy8OjPt3/s1600/Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-by-Roald-Dahl-666x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogNzQGHa-5V-45GgBbnFcIJ9sv5jPW4RXa5GIibMumWBh4heBIrw1ypPZeRF4ZggIYoJg_JEhyphenhyphen-PbptFSGudfViT0tfExWYqoRwhRzYQ4_Mnu0cAXbTcRp_vskNO88DsQnrKuhy8OjPt3/s1600/Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-by-Roald-Dahl-666x1024.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
As someone who majored in British history in college, I have some bones to pick with Roald Dahl. When I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chocolate-Factory-Roald-Dahl/dp/0142410314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405809919&sr=1-1&keywords=charlie+and+the+chocolate+factory">Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</a> as a child, I took everything at face value. But now, I read it and think, that's just impossible--there can't be a person screwing on caps at the toothpaste factory, a ninety-six year old who has been bed-ridden for twenty years (Grandpa Joe) can't suddenly get up and start walk (his leg muscles would have withered away due to non-use), and, here's the history part, a family of seven in 1964 England in such desperate financial straits would have received enough welfare assistance from the government that they wouldn't have had to eat cabbage all day long.<br />
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The absolute positive knowing that goes all the way to my bones of that fact is a small part of the Golden Ticket of my life--my college education. Yes it may be trite and overdone, but for me, going to college was and is the ticket to opening doors for me that would otherwise have been shut. Since we moved to the U.S. at five years old, my sisters and I worked with my parents in their business. My entire childhood, my parents operated stands in Chicago's largest flea market as well as opening up their store in Chicago's South Side and in Logan Square. I remember getting up before dawn and standing outside in the freezing Chicago winter and thanking God when my legs would thaw with the sunrise. I remember my father coming home after being punched in the face and held up at gunpoint. I remember reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and thinking how I wanted so much to win a Golden Ticket to get my own family out of our miserable financial condition. My parents labored seven days a week for the singular goal of getting me to the best college I could achieve. And from the day I was accepted at Yale, I knew that on some level, I had made their years of hard work worth it because my future would be better than our past and present.<br />
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In many ways, college was my Golden Ticket. Most importantly, for the first time in my life, I had health insurance. I went to UHS once a week mostly because I could finally get everything checked out. Of course the education itself was the best in its league, but I fully appreciated the other opportunities I had never had in my childhood and made sure I made the most of the experience: joining the crew team, touring with the Yale Gospel Choir, going to Oxford for junior year abroad, and working as head manager of the varsity football team. It made me the person I am today and continues to enrich my life. I met my husband at Yale when I was a freshman, so you could say that I stare in the face of my Golden Ticket every day!<br />
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For both Charlie and myself, however, the Golden Ticket itself didn't guarantee anything. Charlie had to pass the tests to earn the right to be Wonka's heir. Likewise, my college degree has opened doors, but it was my hard work and my job performance that kept those doors open. Any Golden Ticket by itself is meaningless. You have to use the ticket and follow through to the end to make something great happen. I'm so glad I was able to read the book again with my son H. Here are some of H's thoughts on the book:<br />
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I thank God for giving the blessing of my Golden Ticket. Boola boola!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKexNLkzyIyY7HQZDDPG2qZlkMDU7Rw_stE8yUl7NZKWJDaY-0d6V9XSGRfQv1cMPi5fT2LTUgzDTNOZIoeXdVReNcrxBee_NVSUKd7z2I_3JDzl_r6RkHv8s93RHs655p-s0yMWqda9Eu/s1600/50th-Anniversary-Badge-Charlie-Chocolate-Factory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKexNLkzyIyY7HQZDDPG2qZlkMDU7Rw_stE8yUl7NZKWJDaY-0d6V9XSGRfQv1cMPi5fT2LTUgzDTNOZIoeXdVReNcrxBee_NVSUKd7z2I_3JDzl_r6RkHv8s93RHs655p-s0yMWqda9Eu/s1600/50th-Anniversary-Badge-Charlie-Chocolate-Factory.jpg" height="200" width="194" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post was inspired by the classic </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chocolate-Factory-Roald-Dahl/dp/0142410314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405809919&sr=1-1&keywords=charlie+and+the+chocolate+factory">Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Roald Dahl, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To celebrate, </span><a href="http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/youngreaders/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Penguin Young Readers Group</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in partnership with </span><a href="http://www.dylanscandybar.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan’s Candy Bar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the world-famous candy emporium, and </span><a href="http://www.firstbook.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Book</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books for children from low-income families, is launching a year-long international celebration.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Head over to </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/book-club-feature-charlie-chocolate-factorys-50th-anniversary/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to learn how you and your child can have a chance to win the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Golden Ticket Sweepstakes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where the grand prize is a magical trip to New York City plus much more! For every entry submitted, Penguin Young Readers Group will make a donation to First Book. Then, join <a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/">From Left to Write</a> on July 24 as we discuss </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. As a book club member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span></div>
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-36882712803611186402014-06-24T15:27:00.000-07:002014-06-24T15:30:33.305-07:00Great Disney Adventure First Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXBk61zX9ktR276oZuWjOURsrfPiG6_W_DHf8-240CRSAd1q6DLu3flmVov_D5IocHQptqXcZL3jtL16dGckMjTxFEzvUjpexKgvps8yaMznywEaRkqzsk2wwfbUKoBnIwdEPNq4iehlH/s1600/IMG_5361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXBk61zX9ktR276oZuWjOURsrfPiG6_W_DHf8-240CRSAd1q6DLu3flmVov_D5IocHQptqXcZL3jtL16dGckMjTxFEzvUjpexKgvps8yaMznywEaRkqzsk2wwfbUKoBnIwdEPNq4iehlH/s1600/IMG_5361.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5e2niLb5xxmcTISTMZOJ5eaq3VO_kukYmFeW8Uo81nyapW2N6_x7kX9h6Izf82HRhyuktY6UpeQAto24bkywO_nE_1TXyX1u6G232199NYCHTR7s_rPnq6aqY48orjbowiyO0XRT3u51I/s1600/IMG_5345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5e2niLb5xxmcTISTMZOJ5eaq3VO_kukYmFeW8Uo81nyapW2N6_x7kX9h6Izf82HRhyuktY6UpeQAto24bkywO_nE_1TXyX1u6G232199NYCHTR7s_rPnq6aqY48orjbowiyO0XRT3u51I/s1600/IMG_5345.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTeGNbCXPnoUhPbiXnQPprhOsLKJkq_-jDZQ3Z7vPRvQnGzDYpI7pL_haJsohR8zHJJwdwOPArbljOKzSo7YaK8pnFIYgOzldk6Q3-f29UO9daIER5E7AiisQJIj_0Z4b_HSZYz9uqaCi/s1600/IMG_3717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTeGNbCXPnoUhPbiXnQPprhOsLKJkq_-jDZQ3Z7vPRvQnGzDYpI7pL_haJsohR8zHJJwdwOPArbljOKzSo7YaK8pnFIYgOzldk6Q3-f29UO9daIER5E7AiisQJIj_0Z4b_HSZYz9uqaCi/s1600/IMG_3717.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Xcd-1cun6G2mI8Z1a5DpX_4wI2Hoj4Fzatf7okp3H7qRMl3FzqebuAyrrLIJoRQH7m7ahYZa2MLhWvzJ8NULMQQY9hkRYvEqmhrRZi-3FaYgiaGZltCx1EZQOmW9EjfGqMSsqHtm4btC/s1600/IMG_3733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Xcd-1cun6G2mI8Z1a5DpX_4wI2Hoj4Fzatf7okp3H7qRMl3FzqebuAyrrLIJoRQH7m7ahYZa2MLhWvzJ8NULMQQY9hkRYvEqmhrRZi-3FaYgiaGZltCx1EZQOmW9EjfGqMSsqHtm4btC/s1600/IMG_3733.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>It was finally here! The trip we've been talking about for the past seven months. The ultimate carrot that was brought out over and over again to elicit good behavior. H had followed through with his end of the bargain and gotten rid of the Ns in the citizenship section of his report card. We were on the redeye but the boys were so excited we left the house before 7 PM. R was very excited to go on the airplane and was the only one of the five of us to sleep the entire 5 hours. So the next day, while the others slept, he was the only one awake enough to with me on the boat ride from the Swan to Emcot. Sorry, that's what R calls Epcot. The minute we got to Epcot, they shut down the boats due to a thunderstorm so we had to walk back in the rain. It is a short walk from Epcot to the Boardwalk to the Swan, and much faster than taking the boat.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDXa1R38gI6Nm_kE3anBO38J48-T5GBnF5mreryRS1aJd-lDxnrMkPi6AO5ivBSDzQy8In53X9k2qE_iB4ja1jMhLI998VbXSALVq21SNVAV3N6AoifqYtgQ0c0zXndXm5Jb-iUGAYPiDt/s1600/IMG_5372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDXa1R38gI6Nm_kE3anBO38J48-T5GBnF5mreryRS1aJd-lDxnrMkPi6AO5ivBSDzQy8In53X9k2qE_iB4ja1jMhLI998VbXSALVq21SNVAV3N6AoifqYtgQ0c0zXndXm5Jb-iUGAYPiDt/s1600/IMG_5372.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Everyone got a great night's rest and we were off to the Magic Kingdom in time for the rope drop and the walk to the Mine Train. When we got there it was a 90 minute wait, but luckily I had read some blog reviews that said the line moved along pretty well. We got in line and it ended up being just over an hour. While we were waiting, H and I got on the Tea Cups with NO wait. Awesome! We were able to get on Tea Cups, Mine Train, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain by 2 PM. The one ride we didn't get to ride was Splash Mountain due to some "mechanical issue" (I think someone threw up in the water), but that meant we were given a free fast pass to any ride in the park! The new Fast Pass Plus system works pretty well. We used our initial three, then we got another one for Pirates, and then another one for Under the Sea.<br />
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I've been sensitive to roller coasters for the past 20 years. Every time I rode one I felt like throwing up afterwards, even a few years ago at Disneyland. But something magical happened at the Magic Kingdom, I felt fine!!!!! Maybe it was myself drinking the kool-aid too much, but it truly was the happiest and most fun place on Earth. (Apart from Middle Earth, of course.) The one thing I missed was getting my Dole Whip. I was too sugared out at the time we passed by the snack shack that was selling it. It just means I have go to Disneyland at Christmas, just to get it!!!!<br />
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Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-49657385453931637682014-05-19T10:54:00.002-07:002014-06-24T15:27:54.694-07:00From Left to Write: Bittersweet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBLke8c22FxEfHdl88eNEsL__EYxRwbiWgxfLwH7QFJJRXwqyzd-2U1S1ZJ7NLRzHg4rtyhtqRJ_gv8kjz5FITKcSibowx80RjYIAaf3w4nEiH96X7fMtXJB0hfUnpF5eZ6TOx6dgo0uc/s1600/Bittersweet-From-Left-to-Write-Book-Club-Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBLke8c22FxEfHdl88eNEsL__EYxRwbiWgxfLwH7QFJJRXwqyzd-2U1S1ZJ7NLRzHg4rtyhtqRJ_gv8kjz5FITKcSibowx80RjYIAaf3w4nEiH96X7fMtXJB0hfUnpF5eZ6TOx6dgo0uc/s1600/Bittersweet-From-Left-to-Write-Book-Club-Banner.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This past weekend was a whirlwind of family events. My Stewart (actually his middle name) is named after his older cousin Stewart. Stewart and his wife C are in the mid 40s. I don't actually know how old they are because my Stewart had told me that his cousin Stewart was 45 when we first met, which was when Stewart was actually 30-something. Stewart and C are about to have their first baby and family flew in from Oregon, where Stewart grew up. My in-laws extended family is one aspect of Stewart's family that I LOVE. Like the protagonist in this month's </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Left To Write</a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">'s book selection </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804138567/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0804138567&linkCode=as2&tag=fromleft2write-20&linkId=XUT7CWSDUJMVJHHJ">Bittersweet</a></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I have given my heart to this sprawling family that has accepted me with love in return. My own family is limited to my sisters and parents since all our other relatives are in Korea.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HL3SFDYobk80XxSqB6rn2075QNnGOsIeB-zmP9TaOl4pegVqo9bJ7fW9wcVzpIszRaU4StnyG3sP-5Na-oqusghU0KKM9hxxwvA8uRv0Yif6kYrH5RlohfYb7m7XPAebpPRiKA2mOcuT/s1600/wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HL3SFDYobk80XxSqB6rn2075QNnGOsIeB-zmP9TaOl4pegVqo9bJ7fW9wcVzpIszRaU4StnyG3sP-5Na-oqusghU0KKM9hxxwvA8uRv0Yif6kYrH5RlohfYb7m7XPAebpPRiKA2mOcuT/s1600/wedding.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP6iCVA9rSdZLCAuHiMUfCEuzz4Oy9K1pH3-5N2NuKFPcCuwr7rByO_ARZIhLHth3o42w3fX24t6bFufKTl7Ucve4u2CZq1Wldz0rMEzfhbfKQoYevdL6Gi3YOSbIixe_s7O4SOysCec3/s1600/Uncle+Mel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP6iCVA9rSdZLCAuHiMUfCEuzz4Oy9K1pH3-5N2NuKFPcCuwr7rByO_ARZIhLHth3o42w3fX24t6bFufKTl7Ucve4u2CZq1Wldz0rMEzfhbfKQoYevdL6Gi3YOSbIixe_s7O4SOysCec3/s1600/Uncle+Mel.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stewart's family is very tight with each other for life events. When we had our wedding in Chicago many years ago, everyone flew and drove in from every corner of the U.S. and Korea. It was the last time we would dance into the wee hours with Uncle Mel, who shortly thereafter had a stroke. Then his wife, Stewart's Aunt Soo, fell ill with brain cancer and passed away after a short but brave fight. Most recently we got together for Aunt Chunghee's 80th birthday bash in Oregon and Stewart's sister's wedding in Los Angeles. During these happy and tragically sad times, the family came together and supported one another and always let each other know they were there to be leaned upon and even held onto for dear life. Even this past weekend, when we were all gathered together to celebrate the imminent arrival of a new addition to this wonderful family, the members of the Oregon contingent made the time to go visit Uncle Mel, who is in a nursing facility forty minutes away. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am very blessed and proud to be part of this family. I was at Trader Joe's with Stewart's cousin M when I ran into a friend. I don't think M knew how happy I was to be able to say, "this is my cousin M" as I introduced her to my friend. I drove M around town and lent my hands wherever they were needed to help with the event. Stewart wasn't around because he was getting ready for Bay to Breakers and had taken BART to the city to pick up his number. Every moment was special and nice and yet bittersweet. Because I knew that on one level I was soaking it all in to fill up my love tank so that I could survive today. Today is the one year anniversary of <a href="http://randomwalkdownmommystreet.blogspot.com/2013/06/in-memoriam-for-my-cousin-shin-dong-gi.html">my young cousin Dong-gi's car accident in Korea</a>. His life had just been about to take off. He had served his obligatory time in the Korean military, paid his dues at the entry-level posts of his career and was on a project that was going to take him to success. He could start thinking about getting married and moving to the next stage of life. All of it cut short by some bad decisions in the middle of the night. I can not stop the tears as they flow while I write this part of my post. My youngest sister J got on a plane from Chicago to Korea so she could be there for the memorial. I told her she was the representative of the U.S. side of the family and carried all our grief, love, comfort and support for my uncle, aunt and cousin. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Family is important. Cherish it, work at it, don't let stupid arguments come in the middle of it. Dong-gi, </span></span></span>사랑해, 내 마음에 아직도있다.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post was inspired by </span><a href="http://amzn.to/1kKE8S0%20" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bittersweet</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, a novel that exposes the gothic underbelly of an American dynasty, and an outsider’s hunger to belong. Join </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on May 20 we discuss </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bittersweet. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span>Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-45028499679725083552014-05-12T14:20:00.001-07:002014-05-12T14:20:53.507-07:00Spring Break LA Days 2-3: Car Troubles, Hard Rock Cafe and Happy Birthday R!We had planned to spend Friday going to the <a href="http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/MainPage.php">California Science Center</a>. A generous friend had given us tickets to the <a href="http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Imax/Features/Features.php">IMAX theater</a> and a parking pass, which would have made the entire visit free since the CSC doesn't charge for admission. (If you're ever visiting LA with kids, this is a great place to spend a day.) We had visited the CSC when we lived in LA but it was during the time when the boys had no memory, and of course Princess E had never been there. The IMAX movie coupled with the fact that the <a href="http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/endeavour/endeavour.php">Space Shuttle Endeavour</a> was parked there had us eagerly anticipating the visit.<br />
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Then...the Honda Service Minder lit up indicating we needed a B1-3 service. Not just a simple oil change but something more complicated. I didn't want to risk getting stranded on the side of I-5 on the way back to the Bay Area so we gave up the museum that morning and hoped to make it for the afternoon. Two hours later, service was completed. We stopped for lunch with the boys getting burgers at Five Guys and Stewart and I getting some Mediterranean sandwiches at a place I won't mention because it was so terrible. We come back to the car and nothing. The car won't start. Ok, fine, we'll call Honda cares, we'll get a jump and then go to the museum. Not so fast. There is something wrong with the battery connection, namely it's broken. Ok, coincidence that it happened right after we get a service at the dealership? So we go back to the dealership, they fiddle with it, and somehow fix it so that the connecting part is securely attached.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8np7d8PwwLquHRowXISY6ORwhATm1yptj8NYV5wlqnQTkuobQtGQtMvcEJoHfHDhd1R6rvyALUK_sOXZZNlJtLM-DWnJFkkAnfOGvbWvAPEu4uTBAmi89z1GTsv6x4KrFnd2I5dSB6KK/s1600/IMG_3469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8np7d8PwwLquHRowXISY6ORwhATm1yptj8NYV5wlqnQTkuobQtGQtMvcEJoHfHDhd1R6rvyALUK_sOXZZNlJtLM-DWnJFkkAnfOGvbWvAPEu4uTBAmi89z1GTsv6x4KrFnd2I5dSB6KK/s1600/IMG_3469.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><br />
After all this, it's already 3 PM and we decide to throw in the towel and just go to Stewart's sister's house. After all the passes to the museum don't expire till February 31, 2015. The cousins had a great reunion and great dinner at <a href="http://www.pitfirepizza.com/Default.aspx">Pitfire</a> on Westwood. Stewart was amazed to see how much E could eat. She really enjoyed the spaghetti and pizza there. The restaurant gave the kids modeling clay to occupy them before the food arrived, which they really enjoyed. The kids also enjoyed the delicious, fresh lemonade and the organic soft serve ice cream. I really liked the kale salad and the burrata pie. The restaurant was within walking distance of my sister in law's house, which was nice since the last thing we wanted to do after all that car trouble was to get back into a car!<br />
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Saturday morning we got up early to go to a Blogger Brunch at <a href="http://www.hardrock.com/cafes/hollywood-at-universal-citywalk/menu/">Hard Rock Cafe</a> in Hollywood at Universal Studios. I don't know why, but I always thought Universal was far out there like Disneyland. I vaguely knew it was in Burbank but for some reason I thought Burbank was near Fullerton. Now that I think about it, it may have been because I went to Burbank Elementary in Chicago, which was near Fullerton Ave. The strange connections we make in our minds.<br />
The kids had a blast with the characters and the clown who performed tricks with bubbles and all the other things kids enjoy (parachutes, face painting, etc). Stewart and I filled up on the hearty breakfast buffet. There were enough hot and cold items offered to satiate anyone looking for a good start to a full day at Universal Studios. It's also the time of day that the Hard Rock is probably least crowded so you won't have to wait as long as you would have to at the end of the day!<br />
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Saturday afternoon was filled with an ice cream celebration for R's 6th birthday at Manhattan Creamery. H wanted a triple decker of chocolate and it turns out to be a better deal just to buy a pint. Everyone enjoyed their ice cream creations and had some fun on the beach. It was a really windy day and of course the inevitable happened. Princess E fell into the water and needed a complete wardrobe change back at the minivan. We then celebrated with Baby J for her dohl jahnchi, the customary first birthday Korean celebration. Delicious Korean food and fabulous company and friends. All in all a great day!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I did not receive compensation for this post. I did enjoy a complimentary brunch at the Hard Rock Cafe for review purposes. </i></span>Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-63382554252317568642014-05-05T12:31:00.002-07:002014-05-05T12:31:31.142-07:00Spring Break LA Day 1: La Brea Tar Pits and GENWAWe lived in Los Angeles for almost two years. Funny how you don't get to do touristy things when you actually live in a place unless you have relatives coming to visit from out of town. While we lived there we had never been to the Griffith Observatory, Universal Studios, La Brea Tar Pits, and quite a few other iconic LA destinations. Stewart's sister lives in LA. We hadn't been able to make it down to see her December-born baby so decided to make a whirlwind trip of it for Spring Break.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibbry9_TmDiSOUUEG0ydWFVi4-yLY53XhrkgHAA141GxK8kZS1zgzaWVGpfJNLjW31H0FYS3O_u6ma2C8Mkh7Xfm9bvMFwzNhOhu9NbMw7ZGWxMoGnBjz44gXn5oVSHhgfg-qRviCD88Sq/s1600/IMG_4869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibbry9_TmDiSOUUEG0ydWFVi4-yLY53XhrkgHAA141GxK8kZS1zgzaWVGpfJNLjW31H0FYS3O_u6ma2C8Mkh7Xfm9bvMFwzNhOhu9NbMw7ZGWxMoGnBjz44gXn5oVSHhgfg-qRviCD88Sq/s1600/IMG_4869.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BtULC83vh1LiMBEwbbb95JHZzp2UvSr45t6DKKJLztSu2JBVXX_823g0rBjO-exTp4CJt62iV4UNs3P2fzslk8dMc5Q6IrTbQzf0gb3TYWRk3MJ0AI9nD0CdvgP_0u5TCIj8EOFaQ2Jq/s1600/IMG_4882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BtULC83vh1LiMBEwbbb95JHZzp2UvSr45t6DKKJLztSu2JBVXX_823g0rBjO-exTp4CJt62iV4UNs3P2fzslk8dMc5Q6IrTbQzf0gb3TYWRk3MJ0AI9nD0CdvgP_0u5TCIj8EOFaQ2Jq/s1600/IMG_4882.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>We thought it would be easier to leave at night so the kids could sleep. This worked in the past. But suddenly our boys have torsos and legs that are too long to fit comfortably even in the captains chairs of our swagger wagon. Imagine a wild animal moaning during its death throes--three hours of this before we finally got to our hotel pit stop for the night in Valencia. The next day we got up, enjoyed a free breakfast, and then made our way to the <a href="http://www.tarpits.org/">La Brea Tar Pits</a>. We had driven by it several times while we lived in LA, but had never stopped for an official visit. The kids breezed through the museum in less than an hour. They enjoyed the exhibits and the short films. I enjoyed watching the archaeologists on display in the Fishbowl (they work behind glass so museum guests can see what they are doing). Then HRE spent half an hour outside rolling down the big hill that makes up the sides of the museum. I think they may have looked into the actual tar pit for 15 seconds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51ZYvl6r35vR-w_l3IZ5BHjpE0nOTGShLx2dQaVjyIJQtc-h-I3xGwhu3yFrMiD3poVDA4M_cbItl3w3CSnC9YrckACSRHgv79PlBJXk3ZGQV-s7qd3B0ZK1i6QMzMrfl-4v1t9CcrwwL/s1600/IMG_4879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51ZYvl6r35vR-w_l3IZ5BHjpE0nOTGShLx2dQaVjyIJQtc-h-I3xGwhu3yFrMiD3poVDA4M_cbItl3w3CSnC9YrckACSRHgv79PlBJXk3ZGQV-s7qd3B0ZK1i6QMzMrfl-4v1t9CcrwwL/s1600/IMG_4879.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>I was glad we stopped by because now we know what it's all about. One of the funniest moments happened at the display of G. Allan Hancock's office. (Captain Hancock had donated the land for the museum.) A group of kids was there for a field trip and their teacher pointed to an object and said, "Kids, that is called a typewriter." I thought it was so funny that these kids had probably never seen an actual typewriter before. I also noticed that the teacher didn't explain what a typewriter did, so I wonder if those kids actually understood that it was used to produce letters in the medieval ages when computers didn't exist.<br />
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After our short visit, I asked Siri to give me some options for nearby Korean restaurants. She came up with several, but <a href="http://genwakoreanbbq.com/menu.html">GENWA Korean BBQ</a> was the highest-rated and I remembered passing it on our way to the museum. It was really hard to make the decision, they had me at "25 banchan (side dishes)." The restaurant is very close to the La Brea Tar Pits and has the benefit of free parking. We ordered udon for picky eater H, soft tofu soup for R and E, naeng myun (cold buckwheat noodles in broth) and a combo chicken kalbi ssam bap and dwenjang jjigae for me. They were very good to the kids, bringing them kids cups and plates and the standard coloring sets.<br />
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Everything was delicious and fresh. Stewart commented that it was the freshest Korean food he had ever eaten. All the vegetables and banchan tasted like they came straight from the farmers market. It was the most joyous Korean food experience in recent memory. I wish I had taken a photo of the banchan when it came but I was too excited to start eating and forgot! I couldn't even eat the dwenjang jjigae there because there was too much eating to be done with just the banchan. They even brought us the egg casserole as a "service." I was so happy. After I ate to the brink of explosion, they brought us shikhae and lollipops for dessert. The lunch prices are entirely reasonable and I would recommend it to anyone making a trip into LA. I'm extremely sensitive to MSG so I did have a bit of a reaction to the food afterwards, but that would not stop me from going there again. There was so much leftover I had the dwenjang jjigae for lunch the next day! A fruitful first day in LA. More to come!Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-128281794549240612014-04-22T10:00:00.000-07:002014-04-22T10:00:38.694-07:00Chess Anyone?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS1UfrGp_dkgyygKCfoB_onL4LGth55C0_QhKrmPsJvSDiwxpWPsA5Wuz31vBEsJ9FeMEDjYljulH198cU5wz6dtCCCGnQJibu9_hGvc97cZYAkGKILuJkJ0Y13NLBLJhPC7L0exiRflo/s1600/IMG_4672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS1UfrGp_dkgyygKCfoB_onL4LGth55C0_QhKrmPsJvSDiwxpWPsA5Wuz31vBEsJ9FeMEDjYljulH198cU5wz6dtCCCGnQJibu9_hGvc97cZYAkGKILuJkJ0Y13NLBLJhPC7L0exiRflo/s1600/IMG_4672.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>A couple years ago I posted about the time vortex that is the phenomenon of Little League. But that was before Chess Team. A Little League baseball game last two hours tops. Earlier this month I experienced a chess tournament which involved leaving the house at 8:40 am and returning at 6:30 pm. If it were an event for myself that would be one thing, but this was for R, age 5, member of the national elementary school champion team. Of course the team won the national championship last year when R wasn't even at school, but he did have to try out and make the team. He has been diligently attending practice every Monday and Friday after school this year. Sadly, I haven't been as on top of his progress as I should have been because of work, but the recent break in my schedule freed up that particular Saturday for R to make his chess tournament debut.<br />
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Since it was his first tournament, R was in the unranked K-8 division. Five rounds, with each successive round determined by winning or losing the present one. This tournament didn't have a kinder only division so in one of the rounds he played against a 12 year old. Yes, R lost. He is no Waverly Jong. In fact, he lost every single match. But I was proud. He played through every round with a great attitude. Not once did he say he wanted to quit. Not once did he complain or cry about losing. He was there to play chess and he did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmkvwMjDiKFZl993nCBELpJ6JUdisE_Y6errVQKao9EwAMWNlsfiaFmqsm9U0_ss43ZKnbgz2XEUlbLmgebhXyYly-FVp-vbj39t0LhTglbHBLs2NEFqyU-ycVucttojeQPBpwSV5znZ8/s1600/IMG_4675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmkvwMjDiKFZl993nCBELpJ6JUdisE_Y6errVQKao9EwAMWNlsfiaFmqsm9U0_ss43ZKnbgz2XEUlbLmgebhXyYly-FVp-vbj39t0LhTglbHBLs2NEFqyU-ycVucttojeQPBpwSV5znZ8/s1600/IMG_4675.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During a walk to the Bay at break time</td></tr>
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About half an hour after his last match, he got a nosebleed. It was the first sign of how tough it must have been for him mentally, emotionally, and physically (later at night he cried out many times because of pain all over his body). I knew we needed to leave before the awards ceremony so I asked the organizers if he could have his medal and leave. I also pointed to the line on the registration form that said every kinder would get a trophy. They tried to argue that it was a mistake and he shouldn't get a trophy for losing every match. Hello, chess administrator, you're talking to an attorney. The registration form was an offer, not mere puff. I paid the fee and you registered him so there was an acceptance. He is getting that trophy! Yes, I fought for and got R a trophy for losing. I used to say that getting a trophy just for showing up was ridiculous. I used to say I would never want that for my child. Ahh, the lessons we learn about ourselves through parenting. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IEUUEAVwYE4w4Hhe8cgPr7rB1S39pBtJtAThfAIRDBBIcsYgyr2R7yl258vDGonx-bUuXNYFV3zyareR8S2iFHoB1BXZM2NRR0XD_VANDdU6CKo_dVLFpidGss2FlOFUOJZJLzleB3Of/s1600/IMG_3356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IEUUEAVwYE4w4Hhe8cgPr7rB1S39pBtJtAThfAIRDBBIcsYgyr2R7yl258vDGonx-bUuXNYFV3zyareR8S2iFHoB1BXZM2NRR0XD_VANDdU6CKo_dVLFpidGss2FlOFUOJZJLzleB3Of/s1600/IMG_3356.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Here is my reasoning. There are many things in life where you get kudos just for showing up and completing. That day Stewart was somewhere in the middle of California completing the Tough Mudder 12 mile obstacle course. Stewart was out there for almost five hours. When he entered the last electro-shock obstacle, was knocked down by the shock and got through by crawling to the finish, he deserved a medal for completion. When I ran the NYC Marathon, I got a medal for finishing, albeit 2 1/2 hours behind the winners. When a five year old plays chess for eight hours, yes that's a marathon and he can claim a trophy without an ounce of embarrassment. Hopefully it will be the encouragement that he needs to get to the next tournament. I promised him that he wouldn't have to play against 12 year olds, though.<br />
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R received his United States Chess Federation membership card last week. He has officially entered cyberspace. If you go to the website you can find his name on the list of players. CHECKMATE!<br />
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Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-13218093099781481642014-03-31T14:26:00.002-07:002014-03-31T14:32:16.352-07:00From Left to Write: The Idea of Him<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgJTGJzCXoZNEuk1pXGWWEAl9QjxViAzgP09zcB0-oB6teJE8e6cQqXELRBXWsxxbBe5QjZvKrWeZQr2d51FE0Ehkh_wdpwediRNQGX2MoGbEecH5s1QkwkZ9jdE5BossUDguExWuG0rZ/s1600/Idea-of-Him-FL2W-Book-Club-Banner-1024x764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgJTGJzCXoZNEuk1pXGWWEAl9QjxViAzgP09zcB0-oB6teJE8e6cQqXELRBXWsxxbBe5QjZvKrWeZQr2d51FE0Ehkh_wdpwediRNQGX2MoGbEecH5s1QkwkZ9jdE5BossUDguExWuG0rZ/s1600/Idea-of-Him-FL2W-Book-Club-Banner-1024x764.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
I love New York.<br />
I absolutely love New York.<br />
New York is the best.<br />
How did I get here from there?<br />
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As I was pumping gas at Costco this morning, these thoughts ran through my head as I was trying to think of something to post for our <a href="http://fromlefttowrite.com/">From Left to Write</a> book club selection, <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Idea-Him-Holly-Peterson-ebook/dp/B00DB3D3A2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396296259&sr=8-1&keywords=idea+of+him"><i>The Idea of Him</i></a>. Then it hit me. I was drawn to the book because it is set in New York City, the dream city of my childhood. There was also a Him that was part of my New York life, but that's a story best left untouched. Living in New York was the idea of glamour, intrigue, and success that was my singular goal growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. For a time I achieved it. Then I let it go because I felt myself getting hard like the Sunscreen Song predicted. But I loved my life there. So this is my post on why I love New York. Because there are too many reasons for just one blog post, I'm going to limit myself to five. The first five that fill my head--go.<br />
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1. People. Everyone from everywhere. You can be rich, poor, college graduate, high school dropout, old, young, white, black, yellow, brown, Jews for Jesus, Lost Tribe of Israel, anyone and everyone is there. Sometimes when I look around here in the Bay Area it strikes me how different the diversity here looks. Yes, there are people of every background here but it seems like there are pockets of this or that ethnic group or socio-economic echelon rather than the glorious patchwork of God's creation that you get in one subway car down Broadway. I miss that. It saddens me that Princess E stares at certain people in Trader Joe's because she rarely sees them around town. It saddens me that my children don't get why Martin Luther King Jr. was so important. It saddens me that everyone, including R's preschool teacher, first speaks Chinese to me because they assume I'd rather speak that than English. (I'm Korean, BTW.)<br />
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2. Food. Anything you want to eat any time of day or night. Oxtail soup on 32nd Street to stave off a hangover at 4 AM. Seitan burritos and all the homemade chips and salsa you can eat at Burrito Box. Bread from Amy's. The impeccable service at Union Square Cafe. Overindulgence at Daniel, Bouley, Le Bernardin. Steaks at a restaurant where a member of La Cosa Nostra was gunned down outside. Macarons from Fauchon. Breakfast at Tea & Sympathy. Part of me can't believe how much money I spent on food in Manhattan, but another part of me doesn't regret a single cent. It's not as if I could have those delectable morsels now even if I had internet startup IPO millions. I will say that the one area where the Bay Area does beat Manhattan is in boba tea. Gong Cha, you almost make up for not being able to get a Kati Roll. Yes, I even miss the Indian food in Manhattan. There are no food carts where I live, so the tastes can't be replicated, sadly. <br />
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3. Easily accessible culture. There is a show of every kind going on at all times of the year in New York. Ballet, opera, Broadway, art exhibitions, foreign film festivals, S&M exhibits, whatever tickles your fancy. Here you have to plan and drive. I used to go get the nosebleed tickets at Lincoln Center because I knew I could go by myself and catch one act or the first half of something before I had to go back to work. I used to go to the Guggenheim solo because I hate being rushed. Sometimes I just want to go stare at Kandinsky for an hour. And not have it be a big deal or a super trek. So in this post NYC life, I end up doing next to nothing.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAX6a7YGYKZKuYBhZMAeQjSsxCd6nt0NQSYgUuBF0EAPM5KX3ZcrsSFZfp5Zb1XXy3zBor8MM93D-Xj7mDI1w5GfQrwq_h9-wIRUaR39XgnDd6sM3ih_DbsKDG6xaxR1DBwbUklRf86coy/s1600/1200px-Top_of_Rock_Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAX6a7YGYKZKuYBhZMAeQjSsxCd6nt0NQSYgUuBF0EAPM5KX3ZcrsSFZfp5Zb1XXy3zBor8MM93D-Xj7mDI1w5GfQrwq_h9-wIRUaR39XgnDd6sM3ih_DbsKDG6xaxR1DBwbUklRf86coy/s1600/1200px-Top_of_Rock_Cropped.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Rockefeller Center (my former office-this photo from Wikipedia)</td></tr>
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4. Youth. As I look back on my life in New York, I know that I'm wearing rose-colored glasses. As much as I miss anything else, what I'm really missing is my youth. My 20s and early 30s. My life after college. My first fitting at a designer dress shop. My first robin egg blue gift box. Going to the exact same bars as featured on SATC and ordering cosmos. Everything is exhilarating the first time around. It loses its appeal subsequent times down the line. The City keeps you feeling young because of its frenetic energy, the constant influx of new blood, and its belief that it is the center of the Universe. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.<br />
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5. Proximity to my college and Stewart's alma mater. I loved my college. The actual campus and the football stadium. I loved being able to get on the Metro-North and go back whenever I wanted for games or even just to walk around. I have photos of H as a toddler sitting on the canons at West Point. As much as I am proud of my sister, it isn't the same feeling when I walk with her through Cardinal territory. It's probably stemming from the same place as number four, but on this coast I have nothing to connect me to my youth, no sense of continuity with my past and the loss is palpable at times.<br />
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Having gone through this litany of memories, I realize that what I'm missing is not the Idea of New York. It's really the Idea of Me. Who I was for such a long time and how I felt connected to the world and my environment. How I defined myself. And the message is clear. Like Allie in The Idea of Him, I need to move on. I can't keep looking to the past to limit my present. I can't long for a past that can't be replicated or relived or regained even I moved to New York this minute. I need to stay focused on the future and invent a new narrative. I know I can do it. After all, not only is the steaming, angry concrete animal a part of me, I'm a woman. And I'm a blogger. Hear me roar!<br />
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<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e34102d9-19bc-2bf7-47e4-11cc4bf8bb36" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This post was inspired by the novel </span><a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Idea-Him-Holly-Peterson-ebook/dp/B00DB3D3A2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396296259&sr=8-1&keywords=idea+of+him"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Idea of Him</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Holly Peterson. Allie thought she had the perfect husband, until she finds him and another woman in a compromising position in their own apartment. Join</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on April we discuss </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Idea of Him. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Join us for a </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">live chat with Holly on April 3</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span></div>
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-7757714857666173192014-03-17T10:56:00.000-07:002014-03-17T10:56:44.982-07:00From Left to Write: The Divorce Papers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uCU85TAAHK69-Q5ru9Bxc-ZMK8NjZeb-uxHU5BvLWxsIe7TRLiyzvVSn7sMXzx0X-jL4w6oB4CkGsTJTWd_F4l94W4XDBzHHa7H9OtT-nFd9MfafceabYeZ9asT6MHT82BJQykeMSnJk/s1600/The-Divorce-Papers-by-Susan-Rieger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uCU85TAAHK69-Q5ru9Bxc-ZMK8NjZeb-uxHU5BvLWxsIe7TRLiyzvVSn7sMXzx0X-jL4w6oB4CkGsTJTWd_F4l94W4XDBzHHa7H9OtT-nFd9MfafceabYeZ9asT6MHT82BJQykeMSnJk/s1600/The-Divorce-Papers-by-Susan-Rieger.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-975f8343-bcff-7d10-c034-fbd305781a38" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This post was inspired by</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-975f8343-bcff-7d10-c034-fbd305781a38" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the novel </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804137447/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0804137447&linkCode=as2&tag=fromleft2write-20"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Divorce Papers</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Susan Rieger. Young lawyer Sophie unwillingly takes her first divorce case with an entertaining and volatile client in this novel thold mostly through letters and legal missives. Join </span><a href="http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">From Left to Write</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on March 18 as we discuss </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Divorce Papers. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When I went to law school, it was with the full intention of becoming a litigator. I would champion the rights of the downtrodden, fight for liberty and justice for all. If you've seen <i>Erin Brockovich</i> and <i>A Civil Action</i>, you have some picture of how lawyers can work for the good of people who have no voice. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As for my specialty, apparently I told the associate in my
investment banking group that I was going to do environmental law after
one too many visits to toxic sludge-filled steel companies. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The reality proved to be different. Because of that banking background, it became nearly impossible to get a firm job in litigation. My experience was in Mergers and Acquisitions and corporate transactions, so naturally interviewers pegged me to follow that path as an attorney. Also, because of my nature as an introvert (<a href="http://randomwalkdownmommystreet.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-new-year-and-from-left-to-write.html">which is nothing to be ashamed of as I discussed in a prior FLTW post</a>), the mock trial sessions we had as part of our legal research and writing class filled me with terror. When I got in front of the judge (a mere 2L) to make my opening statement, I also passed out. It was bad. So I thought it was destiny that I would become a corporate attorney.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fast forward ten years. Reading <i>The Divorce Papers</i> made me think about my current position as a contract attorney at an intellectual property litigation boutique. In my five years on the corporate side, it never crossed my mind that I would be working in litigation. Like the main character Sophie who specialized in criminal law but took a detour to work on a divorce case for the firm, I was presented the opportunity to dive back into law firm work last summer, albeit in litigation. I took it, since positions for lawyer moms who've taken time off are few and far between. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNL31EXc27idGZQ8OTmY8tWehBNN_i4YRPF3NC48q9zWM2jDrtMBRP2IpGX14kBzGmtgFLH5kFSpj-v4pebUNqq4GWkVqwKoIyg8tt19tjkNMEXgvFR88OFZc_mkrAFS4PHB1tCNYIcvj/s1600/lawyer+cup+220_480x480_Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNL31EXc27idGZQ8OTmY8tWehBNN_i4YRPF3NC48q9zWM2jDrtMBRP2IpGX14kBzGmtgFLH5kFSpj-v4pebUNqq4GWkVqwKoIyg8tt19tjkNMEXgvFR88OFZc_mkrAFS4PHB1tCNYIcvj/s1600/lawyer+cup+220_480x480_Front.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">available at CafePress.com</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Having worked for the past eight months on a variety of matters, I'm still undecided as to whether I will continue with litigation or focus my energy on getting back to corporate. So I wanted to share a couple insights I've gained through the experience to sort through my thought process. You can stop reading here if the mere thought of delving into different types of law practice fills you with dread. Totally understandable, after all, I wrote my college senior thesis on the sentiment from Shakespeare, "Kill all the lawyers."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">First, if a hostile takeover is like a lightning raid, then litigation as it exists today in the U.S. is akin to the long drawn-out trench warfare of the first world war. As an M&A attorney, I worked on many antagonistic transactions. One of my strengths was my innate paranoia; that there was always something the other side was not telling us that I needed to ferret out and expose. There were many nights of sleeping at the office, wading through the documents and working out merger agreements. But it was rare that the entire process would last more than 6-9 months. Some of the smaller private deals went even quicker and were done in 3-5 months. IP litigation, on the other hand, is an exercise of patience. It can be years before a case even gets to a Markman hearing, the pretrial hearing that determines claim construction. Then if the trial is considered to be on the fast track, the actual trial will begin a year later.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Second, litigation is a game. The primary focus isn't getting justice under the law but winning. There are some situations where clearly the other side is making up lies that boggle the mind, but they persist in twisting the facts and the law to make their points. Even if the two sides of an M&A deal are at odds, once the merger agreement is signed, most of the adversarial posturing disappears. Merger agreements have Material Adverse Change clauses that will sink the deal if a extraordinarily liability comes out of the woodwork prior to and some time subsequent to closing. In litigation, if there is a smoking gun that one side manages to bury in the tens and hundreds of thousands of documents produced during discovery, then it is completely up to the receiving side to find it before it is too late. And even if two sides have gone back and forth on the case for over a lengthy period, there is nothing to prevent one side from slapping the other with a Rule 11 Professional Misconduct motion for bringing a case with no merit. Hey other side, if there were no merit, then why argue over the issues for more than a year before bringing your motion?!?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Last, "justice" is largely dependent on the judge assigned to the case and what that judge had for breakfast. It's amazing to see how the outcomes in many cases even in a single federal district in CA can differ from judge to judge. Basically, you can find cases to support whatever you want to argue. In the corporate context, if you are before the FTC or the SEC, even if it is one attorney writing the response to your issue, the sense is that it really is a collaborative office effort, rather than the determination of one person. No action letters and relief letters are relied upon (even if they state they shouldn't be relied upon) and subsequent actions come out in the same way for the most part. In litigation, the judge usually has the reputation of being plaintiff or defendant biased, but there is nothing anyone can do about it anymore since he is federally appointed and can only be dismissed for gross misconduct.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All of that said, I have relished the opportunity to go back to the office setting to learn IP law and the ins and outs of litigation. Learning how to use Westlaw efficiently all over again and drafting documents has given much satisfaction to my inner nerd. I'm a person that fights hard against change. It took me years to change my driver's license, my phone number, and my permanent mailing address. Some of my accounts are still listed under my maiden name. But what I've learned over and over again, that once you embrace change and step out of your comfort zone, you will be stretched and enriched in the process. The version of YOU that emerges is one that is wiser and more connected to the world. The banner across the blackboard of my seventh grade English class read, "Nothing is as constant as change." Every year of my life I find that to be true. How will you step out of your comfort zone?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-62536908952731226372014-01-21T13:24:00.003-08:002014-01-21T13:24:54.696-08:00Memories of CarmenLast month I lost a dear friend to cancer. This is a letter I wrote to her girls to give them a piece of their mother. I'm posting it here so it will last forever in cyberspace and one day I can find it again and send it to her girls.<br />
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Dear O, E and A,<br />
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Strawberries. That is the lesson I learned from your mother Carmen that I want to share with you. But first let me give you the background of our friendship. I first met your mother in the baby room one Sunday at New Hope South Bay in Torrance. I was there with my son R and she was there with O because O did not want to go in the service with the other kids. Your mother was pregnant with E at the time. She was one of those pregnant ladies that glowed, her cheeks plump and healthy. I remember that first Sunday very well because that's also when I met Jenny, M's mom. I don't know what happened but M hit my oldest son H (this is what made it memorable), which marked the start of that friendship. Over the next few months your mom and I became better friends and I was one of E's first visitors at the hospital. E cried when I held her. Pretty much E cried whenever anyone other than Carmen held her. I remember Carmen being very tired that first year because E didn't like to sleep.<br />
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Carmen, Jenny and I became good friends while we attended New Hope South Bay. O, H and M were all the same age. O and H were also in the same preschool class at La Primera. Your mom and Auntie Jenny seemed to know how to be great stay-at-home moms. Your houses were so nicely decorated and clean and you always had great snacks. My house was always a mess and I was very stressed out from this new world of mothering. Carmen and Jenny helped me a lot by encouraging me and supporting me when I felt so lacking in so many ways.<br />
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One day when we were at your house, your mom gave me strawberries to eat. It was winter so not the right season for them. Carmen told me that she ate strawberries year-round because she liked them. And she didn't just buy any old strawberries, they had to be sweet. So sometimes she would send your papi Jack to Whole Foods to get them, along with the premium whipped cream they only sell there. It wasn't the first time or the last time she would tell me in her own way that I should think more of myself. That while being a mom was a wonderful calling, it didn't mean that I had to deny my own desires and become completely selfless. I didn't really think about this too much at the time, but later when I was pregnant with my third child, I had a craving for strawberries. It was winter and ordinarily I would never buy strawberries during that time because of the cost, but it was encouragement from what Carmen had told me and her own example that gave me the push to listen to my own desires and buy the strawberries. I didn't even look at the price anymore, I just bought them. The lesson is not just about buying strawberries. I feel like that choice was a turning point for me in how I viewed myself. I'm not telling you that you should give in to every whim and fancy, but that if you want something, value yourself enough that you don't just ignore it. You are important. Later when you are moms and you might be getting lost in that role, I hope that you can remember that. You are always yourself first, then a mom and wife second.<br />
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Even now, whenever I buy strawberries I think of Carmen and how her words made a difference to my life. She was a wonderful friend. I know no one will ever say my name quite like she did, "you-niece." I will miss her. She gave me O's crib set because she knew I would never buy a girl one, but just use the boy one from H and R. I still have it and will save it for you, O. I know that all three of you will be fantastic moms, just like Carmen. I know you all have great and giving hearts, just like Carmen. Even if you also get from her the habit of being an hour late to everything, that is just fine.<br />
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Love always,<br />
Auntie Eunice (H's mom)Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-44036067797663006232013-12-04T13:42:00.002-08:002013-12-04T13:42:19.459-08:00Long Story ShortMy blog has been dormant. At one point this year I was working two jobs and solo parenting so you can imagine how blogging would not be at the top of my list. I'm still trying to decide whether to go full time lawyering so the blog is on hold for now.<br />
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BUT I feel in way that I've passed on the baton. I had my sister Joyce go to BlogHer in my stead and she has been blogging phenomenally since then. She even got a direct response from JOSH GROBAN!!!!! If you are interested in great food content, check out her food blog, <a href="http://www.chicagoagashi.com/">Chicago Agashi</a>. She also blogs over at <a href="http://www.joycetherockstar.com/">Joyce The Rock Star</a> with fun posts about the single life. The glory days, right? She used to ask me questions about blogging but now she's surpassed me. My sister is a Rock Star, always, forever!!!<br />
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Happy December!<br />
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Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-30860490836505299472013-09-22T19:59:00.002-07:002013-09-22T19:59:27.027-07:00DC Escape: International Spy Museum<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIHPJmB2j9wGQHBEpor110bawMe9RfbuLm-KwlQsKL97Wd1nLioXogDcphvCi8BGZmh2IqMJyfC_8W9y7jFD03tnqOss0UW3lwne5R9LzxZVb4K2La3UaN1p4F8oFd3Rss8TueIa0sc-a/s1600/IMG_3648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIHPJmB2j9wGQHBEpor110bawMe9RfbuLm-KwlQsKL97Wd1nLioXogDcphvCi8BGZmh2IqMJyfC_8W9y7jFD03tnqOss0UW3lwne5R9LzxZVb4K2La3UaN1p4F8oFd3Rss8TueIa0sc-a/s200/IMG_3648.jpg" width="150" /></a>Last weekend I went to a wedding in Washington, D.C. without Stewart or the kids. It was a very exciting weekend. Wait, that sentence looks too calm. IT WAS A VERY EXCITING WEEKEND! No one climbing on me, no one stealing my food, no one smearing their snot on my clothes. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FAB-U-LOUS! A group of us law school buddies gathered to celebrate the nuptials of one of our own. Since we graduated 10 years ago, it was a mini-reunion as well. After the wedding we met up with friends who weren't at the wedding and it was fun reliving old times. Sadly our tolerances for alcohol had diminished considerably, but we were all in such good spirits we willingly listened to one friend's anecdotes about the Battle of Gettysburg into the early morning hours of Sunday. Later that morning, I had a more "Washingtonian" moment when I met one of my best friends from college for breakfast, where we discussed the inevitable reality that our resident adviser <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Booker">Cory Booker</a> would become President. So many great reunions with friends and geeky conversations that could only have been possible with a group of nerds such as ourselves. I loved it all! Thank you Siny for providing the happy ocassion for us to converge!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6P66DRXpzLEygDF38ydQb-D35ZmQfKSqoWRHmh2DPdwE8mXkE3n7_7mZZwM6LxXSNetG6zBCiyai0VwZ48Ld7uU9kVUqr8mLHcNpoWgyTf0spXKaYSEixrfXEhZ5JEqYSGYQ_XsU7yEW8/s1600/IMG_3644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6P66DRXpzLEygDF38ydQb-D35ZmQfKSqoWRHmh2DPdwE8mXkE3n7_7mZZwM6LxXSNetG6zBCiyai0VwZ48Ld7uU9kVUqr8mLHcNpoWgyTf0spXKaYSEixrfXEhZ5JEqYSGYQ_XsU7yEW8/s200/IMG_3644.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WFd9wNsmpLTGi4895mA8OG0TO-jzLnugKk7Q9Xe_hgaGt0-zKOIdhOkBHzJDffFxTNnXrhxutF0XVgmndUl3R0pdkZSbAvzgEhk_vUynu2GZa2vOrT-Qng3ItczhSb0QO6cVZVpl67HZ/s1600/IMG_3643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WFd9wNsmpLTGi4895mA8OG0TO-jzLnugKk7Q9Xe_hgaGt0-zKOIdhOkBHzJDffFxTNnXrhxutF0XVgmndUl3R0pdkZSbAvzgEhk_vUynu2GZa2vOrT-Qng3ItczhSb0QO6cVZVpl67HZ/s200/IMG_3643.jpg" width="200" /></a>That Sunday a couple members of our group went off on their pilgrimage to visit Gettysburg, but after breakfast, I was intent on fulfilling my wish to visit the <a href="http://www.spymuseum.org/">International Spy Museum</a>. I've harbored a desire to become a spy for a long time. I don't know when
it started. Maybe it was when I realized my dream of becoming an English
princess would never come into fruition (too young for Charles, too old
for William)? When one dream dies, another has to take its place,
right? The longing for a secret identity may have been planted in my
mind during college when I came across at the bookstore a book about the
long history of <a href="http://www.cia-on-campus.org/yale.edu/henwood.html">alums going into the CIA</a>.
Whatever the reason, I tried twice to get into the FBI and both times I
was rejected. But the dream lives on, I think fueled in part by my love
of the Emily Pollifax series by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Gilman">Dorothy Gilman</a> (RIP). In the series, Mrs. Pollifax becomes an agent when she's a senior citizen so that gives me some hope.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5E6KSJ5MQr9EhrVTwSk5DSQLaoIvekUdbva9yywUP1NMf3UlD6flciPN-FflNDf1uIjwFqIxwJtKZ6KpMPqkiQRsuru_GV34aHLUiDAOqAEUjj2SOKv5aZhLFJWpidvb7eKkO_Xb8Zs_9/s1600/IMG_3645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5E6KSJ5MQr9EhrVTwSk5DSQLaoIvekUdbva9yywUP1NMf3UlD6flciPN-FflNDf1uIjwFqIxwJtKZ6KpMPqkiQRsuru_GV34aHLUiDAOqAEUjj2SOKv5aZhLFJWpidvb7eKkO_Xb8Zs_9/s200/IMG_3645.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwz6sNS-ic32UBcKWRjed3-ZIqq3Bq2KYV73bU-7Nadd96k5SRCHYCodE3UN92H33IMwkTYIPpiZjzixDLyavTjNTzJor99-T1Oz9QSqgOiqYCCQsvRX2z1y8s4XF7M5c5Pxfy8ZxLneS1/s1600/IMG_3646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwz6sNS-ic32UBcKWRjed3-ZIqq3Bq2KYV73bU-7Nadd96k5SRCHYCodE3UN92H33IMwkTYIPpiZjzixDLyavTjNTzJor99-T1Oz9QSqgOiqYCCQsvRX2z1y8s4XF7M5c5Pxfy8ZxLneS1/s200/IMG_3646.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
The International Spy Museum did not disappoint. From the picking of the secret identity, to learning about the long history of espionage in the US, to the new 007 exhibit "Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains"--it was all thrilling and welcome fuel for my imagined double life. I didn't have enough time to go through everything in as much detail as I would have liked, but I like to think that I was giving myself a reason to return. Next time I'm running into some store with my disheveled appearance and trio of troublemakers, I'll pretend it is all a secret mission and the children are merely <a href="http://www.spymuseum.org/education-programs/spy-resources/language-of-espionage/">window dressing</a> for my cover. If you are visiting D.C., definitely make a trip to the International Spy Museum. I hope you enjoy these few fun photos from my visit!<br />
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Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-77495869911394397182013-08-27T23:11:00.000-07:002013-08-27T23:12:15.313-07:00Back to School: Ross $25 Gift Card GIVEAWAY<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkv8ABUo2ktbtx3I56s94UhPQbIAnikx-Q5s9D2bsJL9F4BoJgxjMQhSjcREITZ_k5Ubbit2USBUdZHblrUHON1zVUg8owYIiftHEWTw6PelJNdsTyeSPCHu-DZGll8WYPtZl5_liqyuXJ/s1600/IMG_3943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkv8ABUo2ktbtx3I56s94UhPQbIAnikx-Q5s9D2bsJL9F4BoJgxjMQhSjcREITZ_k5Ubbit2USBUdZHblrUHON1zVUg8owYIiftHEWTw6PelJNdsTyeSPCHu-DZGll8WYPtZl5_liqyuXJ/s200/IMG_3943.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3kI49JT8sOooHtXTGihSmvgCnAMvcj8HkvLkUaSnJYzQ3RfOBONwKdjMHLZM88WcfrqHg-_G5xMJ5RTKc5ePvvHj93qq5NKqkVVc6z5_Rc60hQ5yzRhV2JKY8f1o5d0I9pk6HDir7Cta/s1600/IMG_3940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3kI49JT8sOooHtXTGihSmvgCnAMvcj8HkvLkUaSnJYzQ3RfOBONwKdjMHLZM88WcfrqHg-_G5xMJ5RTKc5ePvvHj93qq5NKqkVVc6z5_Rc60hQ5yzRhV2JKY8f1o5d0I9pk6HDir7Cta/s200/IMG_3940.JPG" width="133" /></a> Today was R's first day of Kindergarten (2 out of 3 kids now in school, woo hoo!). It wasn't an actual school day but orientation day. I guess it still counts because the teacher had him take a photo with a First Day of Kindergarten frame around his body. I would have loved to take a photo of it to share but he wouldn't let go of me, so I had to hide behind his tiny body and that is how he took the photo. Thankfully he had finally stopped crying at this point to take the photo. It must be that middle children are just more sensitive because I thought the crying was over last year with the first week of preschool, but I was wrong. To make him feel better about his first day of school, R&I had special
Mommy and Me time. We went to the orientation and then headed to <a href="http://www.rossstores.com/">Ross Dress for Less</a>
to get him some brand new pants to wear on his first day of school.
Unlike H, R is particular about his clothes. He likes what he likes and
insists upon getting it. Thankfully, Ross is a store where pretty much
we can afford to buy whatever he picks. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyzBjehA-vmaV6eAOgfjom101Z7a46cv-06gEWghEwWsRgy9jPMc8unaeGp6h607mc4CGxRuXyxelhIIgiJgWiQFRRtwnijD8T2WflP1uTmSM2SphddvD_RJ0BzWkUH5PS6rzIcKzcyH1/s1600/IMG_3948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyzBjehA-vmaV6eAOgfjom101Z7a46cv-06gEWghEwWsRgy9jPMc8unaeGp6h607mc4CGxRuXyxelhIIgiJgWiQFRRtwnijD8T2WflP1uTmSM2SphddvD_RJ0BzWkUH5PS6rzIcKzcyH1/s200/IMG_3948.JPG" width="133" /></a>Today our mission was to replace his favorite pants that now have two holes in them. Perfectly functional but not worthy of the First Day of Kindergarten! R quickly picked out some blue athletic pants with the signature double stripe down the sides that had a snazzy zipper feature for the pockets. He thought it would be funny to take a picture with them on his head. It's supposed to be 84 degrees tomorrow but he wanted long pants so he got long pants!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrGhkpyrTO94E5v5uatPT2KZs1KQ_TuMxbLzUgdnMGUm_L9wna2vTZxdijzUo15vFatO-go695LCVTUjdeZRbPtVNWenlWTjJQxRcmOgv-TGhCKJaqtXjUhZF1unrA6g48BWd6ACi0Xrf/s1600/IMG_3950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrGhkpyrTO94E5v5uatPT2KZs1KQ_TuMxbLzUgdnMGUm_L9wna2vTZxdijzUo15vFatO-go695LCVTUjdeZRbPtVNWenlWTjJQxRcmOgv-TGhCKJaqtXjUhZF1unrA6g48BWd6ACi0Xrf/s200/IMG_3950.JPG" width="133" /></a>Ross had a great array of back to school items from backpacks to room decor. H had purchased his new backpack there a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I can't reveal the brand as Ross has an agreement with vendors not to mention or show brands. But
I will tell you that the backpack at Ross cost 1/3 less than the same
one at TRU. It's not a place to buy last season's remainders, but for the exact same items that you will find in style today. The back to school deals aren't just for kids. I wish that a
Ross had been accessible to me when I had gone to college because I
would have furnished my entire dorm room with the great deals that can
be found there. Ross is currently running a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RossDressforLess/app_138433352914798">Back-to<span style="font-size: small;">-</span>School Fashion Face Off </a>promotion that will run through September 6th on its Facebook page. Each week you will be able to choose your favorite back-to-school Ross outfit for a chance to win one of three $125 Ross gift cards! And that's not all, Ross is giving one Random Mommy reader a $25 gift card to discover the great deals for herself!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZgEI8pAudOvVM9YXWvFWh-7PSLDuxEarK2nH_h_AmO_1MBGQLqa5YHqaeibBrjRQPWHmZX94mXqjY877GXKrOS4WqZuE-B0ySgHeP_abeQA-Bdvko6Rb_lagld78FR2SKnMnYxAc2vyf/s1600/IMG_3945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZgEI8pAudOvVM9YXWvFWh-7PSLDuxEarK2nH_h_AmO_1MBGQLqa5YHqaeibBrjRQPWHmZX94mXqjY877GXKrOS4WqZuE-B0ySgHeP_abeQA-Bdvko6Rb_lagld78FR2SKnMnYxAc2vyf/s200/IMG_3945.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidj3GfNt3SeYOeV-UtzprbovIu7fS0A9eRXMfVnLyxXrtNIZP-uhnzQMLM3kJWhKdu58S1wGtWSoTygkJlewlMPs_LYNe8u5dgpeBLY-xJGaYRLzGce5-PySvsA-i-KW28nxw2btyUUpYq/s1600/IMG_2104.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY</b>:
Contest period runs from Wednesday, August 28th at 12:01 AM (Pacific)
until Wednesday, September 4th at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by <b>leaving the name of your favorite coloring or craft supplies,</b> and <b>leave
your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger
ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your
e-mail address</b>.<br /><br /><b>Bonus Entries</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)<br />
1) <a href="http://twitter.com/unellie">Follow me on Twitter</a><br />
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url (once per day)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RossDressforLess?ref=nf">Like Ross Dress for Less on Facebook</a><br />4) Enter the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RossDressforLess/app_138433352914798">Back-to-School Fashion Face Off Contest</a> on Facebook<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq22u5Do-m8iM67fGmpiuAmHAdeDXBsZauJSBB9QanuHlueXF25GCcoCdJsiCMuwSHJ8nG9_u31G3yCRYATMvRrJkRUWnj97GQ0sgQ56QqAowSR4TYucQOIxOktka2ZpdZoV0emUEI3EE/s1600/IMG_3942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq22u5Do-m8iM67fGmpiuAmHAdeDXBsZauJSBB9QanuHlueXF25GCcoCdJsiCMuwSHJ8nG9_u31G3yCRYATMvRrJkRUWnj97GQ0sgQ56QqAowSR4TYucQOIxOktka2ZpdZoV0emUEI3EE/s200/IMG_3942.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or
public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve
the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the
contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the
winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours
to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within
72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided
by Random.org. This contest is open for <span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><b style="font-family: inherit;">US Residents only</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. A huge thank you and much appreciation to my friends at <a href="http://www.rossstores.com/">Ross Dress for Less</a> for their generosity! Good luck!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I did not receive compensation for this post. I received a gift card to facilitate my review. </i></span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961845787008113767.post-87587409957663438702013-08-01T21:02:00.001-07:002013-08-01T21:02:26.552-07:00Guest Post: Joyce The Rock Star at BlogHer 2013I've been to the annual <a href="http://www.blogher.com/blogher-13">BlogHer</a> conference for the past three years. This year I had to miss it due to personal issues so I had my sister go in my place. Joyce has recently started blogging and I'm thrilled with her dedication. She finds the inspiration to blog almost everyday, it's pretty awesome! Check out her blog <a href="http://www.joycetherockstar.blogspot.com/">Joyce The Rock Star</a>. Joyce had a blast at BlogHer and I wanted to share her insight from the Opening Keynote with my readers:<br />
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The 9th Annual BlogHer Conference took place in Chicago’s Sheraton Hotel
and McCormick Center this past July 25-27. Bloggers from all over the
world came to network with other bloggers and product/service companies,
sample products and services, learn about blogging techniques and
protocol, participate in workshops and roundtables, and listen to great,
motivational speakers. <br />
<br />
The Kick-off Keynote address was by <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/">Ree Drummond</a>; I had no idea who she was, but then I learned she was the
Pioneer Woman. Although I am a major bachelorette who cooks rarely, I
have heard about the Pioneer Woman and her “awesome” cookbooks from
married and single girlfriends who like to cook. I learned so much
about Ree and was very inspired by her story. She started off her
“speech” to us by apologizing that she truly is not a public speaker and
she lamented that she had no podium to stand behind as a crutch. She
even went so far as to tell us that she was wearing SPANX, which perhaps
made the audience feel that they could relate to her. <br />
<br />
Ree was an urban
girl, but ended up falling in love with a cowboy and settled down in
rural Oklahoma. Since she was the last person her girlfriends expected
to live in the country, she was called the Pioneer Woman, and the name
stuck. She started blogging in 2006 and shared amateur photos and
recipes. It was through her blogging that catapulted her successful
career <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ree-Drummond/e/B002GWKP96/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1375415836&sr=8-2-ent">writing cookbooks, childrens’ books</a>, and even having her own show
on the Food Network. It was truly inspirational that her success
happened as a result of her blogging. Throughout her speech, she did
say many “ums,” to support her insistence she was not a public speaker.
I am also not the most eloquent or articulate public speaker, but
knowing that her words through different media inspired so many people
around the world was quite edifying. She wrapped up the speech by
singing (pretty badly) to pictures of her basset hound. “Don’t ever be
afraid of embarrassing yourself.” I will carry that advice with me
always.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Thanks Joyce! I embarrass myself everyday so this is very good to hear!<br />
Eunicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492106899148572488noreply@blogger.com1