reflections

Sunday, July 06, 2008

A Cut That Helps Others

(published on the Cupertino Daily!)

By Vicki Yang

With all the budget cuts and not favorable economic conditions, there’s one cut that can benefit not only you, but a cancer patient - a hair cut! There are numerous organizations out there that collect hair to create wigs for cancer patients who lose theirs through chemotherapy.

A few years ago I decided after decades of long hair, I was going to take a risk and chop my hair short. I had grown it out to 10 inches and decided to donate it to Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org). It’s great to know that all that hair went to someone who really could use it, plus it reduced the amount of hair I shed all over my place and I was saving money on shampoo! Not to mention, washing/drying time was significantly cut short, as was styling time.
After that, I started to grow my hair out again, after two years of growing it I found out a friend of mine had been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She was lucky in that they caught it when they did and that there was an 80% chance they could cure it. I made a promise to her that I would continue to grow my hair until she beat the cancer and I'd cut it and donate it to an organization that made wigs for cancer patients. Over the next 6 months, we talked, we cried, we laughed, and she stayed strong. I can honestly say she’s one of the most positive and most amazing people I know.
Despite her moments of despair, anger, and sadness, she would come out of it later with a renewed hope and strength. I did my best to always be there for her, but in some ways I think she did more for me than I did for her. She went thought chemo, lost all her hair and we sent her wigs and care packages. She made sure to take photos with her crazy wigs and even got wigs for the holidays (ie. green for St. Patty's day). This past May, her scan showed that she was clean and the cancer was gone. She's still going through radiation therapy but in a few weeks that will also be finished. Her journey is a constant reminder to all of us about how strong human nature can be, and how important it is to value life and never underestimate positive thinking.
During her battle with cancer I managed to grow out about 14 inches (at the longest piece) and went to Armando (www.getyourdoup.com), a friend of mine to have it cut. This time I chose to donate my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program in honor of my friend. I believe this is the only program that makes wigs for adult women who are cancer patients. You can find more information about them here: www.beautifullengths.com.
I can only imagine the feeling of losing your hair and feeling sick and not knowing if you’re going to be healthy again. Growing my hair and donating it, is only a small way to help those feel a little more like themselves and something I plan to continue to do as long as I can. I admire people who can stay positive when times are tough, they are a reminder that we should be thankful for everything we have and for life itself. If you would like more information on how to donate your hair, please visit: www.squidoo.com/donateyourhair.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Elizabeth Arden has jumped onto the vending machine bandwagon!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Fire's Out!

Firefighters to the Rescue

Van Fire outside of Hula

Friday, May 16, 2008

Bay Area Driver's Watch Out!

I was in Illinois a little over a year ago and my friend told me that Illinois highway patrol drive unmarked white cars, there are so many that my speedy friend is afraid to speed... well it looks like that trend has come to California. I was driving home after dropping my friend off at the airport and there was a copy with an unmarked car who had pulled someone over.

Now.. you maybe be thinking something hot, like a white camero, or a white SUV or a black crown victoria right? NO. It was this ugly gray that you see on a lot of Lincoln town cars, in fact the car looked like a cross between the regular Crown Victoria's and a Lincoln town car. It was something you might imagine a blue haired old lady driving while she can barely see over the steering wheel. Yup.. we're in trouble.

I have to admit it was amusing, the cop looked totally out of place standing next to the vehicle. The only reason I really knew it was a police car was because of the red/blue lights in the back window. I guess I should start slowing down and paying closer attention! That may not be an old lady driving that car coming up behind you!

warm summer nights

warm summer nights
like kissing with your eyes close
i love the heady scents it brings out
without the heat of the sun on your skin
cool breezes like sweet caresses
feelings of pure joy and happiness
breathing in deeply that there is life
feeling the soft heat on my skin
under moonlight, smiling
i'm in love with summer nights

Saturday, April 26, 2008

SF airport

I miss the days when we could greet people at the gate. I have a
friend who used to always pick people up at the gate.

Fancy Udon with real Crab!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Yogurtland in Cupertino

I'm so excited they opened a Yogurtland in Cupertino! I was heading
home early from work because I wasn't feeling well and saw my coworker
with the container. I thought..couldn't hurt right?

Fro-yo is good for a sore throat :D. I drove over, managed to find
parking right across from the store. Ran in and got my favorite
combo, green tea/mochi balls and mango/fresh mango bits. It's the
perfect combo of sweet and tart! I'm sooooo happy right now!!!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Are you a carrot, egg, or coffee?

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength. Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hard ship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same,
but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes their way.

(my friend who is battling cancer posted this story it on her blog after someone sent it to her with the subject line: you're a cup of coffee - she is definitely the coffee :D)

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Manjyu which used cheese

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Bon Jovi

I told Joyce I was hungry...

Daughtry

Humane Society of Silicon Valley's 5th Annual Fur Ball

I've been wanting to go to the Fur Ball for the last few years and finally got my chance this year! Besides the $250 price tag for the event keeping me from attending before, I never had friends who wanted to go. Go figure.. the one who works at a non-profit is the one spending her weekends volunteering and donating money she has a hard enough time earning. :P While her engineering friends are buying houses and jet setting away to exotic destinations (okay.. mostly Tahoe and the like but still). Luckily this year I had a whole group of friends to go with! Even better.. Woz let our group take over his table at the Fur Ball.

So I went out got a dress for $43 (yeah, go Jessica McClintok outlet!), got Morgan a tux for $23 (which was almost as much as my dress), a necklace for $26 (I later realized I had something similar.. oops), dolled myself up, even curled my hair and put on full make-up! I felt like I was going to prom, so once I was all dressed up - off I went!

Morgan was a fantastic date, he only tried to pick fights with 2 other dogs (they were sniffing him the wrong way) and he sat so still for his caricature and watercolor. The caricature was done by Jodi Carr of ArtyParty. I think she did a great job in making me look glamorous, don't you?

It took a lot of treats to have him sit for 20 minutes straight, which might have given him the tummy ache the pet psychic said he had later (either the treats or the random stuff he hoovered off the floor). In the middle of the event, he ended up napping on my lap. Of course he started to feel better when I brought my dinner plate back - steak, chicken, ravioli, and salad! Yum! The steak was great. There were also lots of wineries there too. LaFondue even had a booth and were handing out cups of strawberries, marshmallows, and snickers bars covered in chocolate. Volunteers were also cruising the floor with trays of chocolate cake and macaroons - the lemon meringue macaroons were to die for! Outside of appetizers.. they were also walking around with plates of kibble. :D

The best part of the night were my dinner companions - pure entertainment! Many thanks to Loretta for baby sitting while I went to grab our plates of food. To John and Keith for their random acts of dance and making faces across the table (okay the latter was more John than Keith).

My favorite part is the look on Kitai's face as John is dancing...

It's fantastic!! Also at our table were Russell and Nick, Russell works at Dogster.com, which I have to thank, because without Dogster, I would have never met Stacie! Which is actually how I got introduced to the MND crew and at the Fur Ball at Steve Wozniak's table.

All in all it was a fantastic, comical evening. Can't go wrong with pairing a formal, black tie event and animals. :D Morgan and I were both exhausted at 10:00, so we left the event shortly thereafter and headed home. Both of us took a quick nap before ended the evening with a donut. This truly was prom, dance is over, head home, girls change into sweats, go out for junk food and the men stay in their tuxes because heck.. they spent a pretty penny on them and better get FULL USE out of them!

The End.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

My first flower arrangement

Monday, March 31, 2008

Chicago - Gen Art Shop Chicago Event

So I love food, shopping, and pampering myself - be it spa, make-up or getting my hair done. What's better than that? All three in the same room!! Everytime I go to Chicago I never plan anything. I always stay at my friend Tracy's and we figure stuff out when I get there. With so much to do in Chicago, it's never hard to find something!

Well after much web searching, we decided to see if we could get into the Shop Chicago Gen Art event. It was a piece of cake, we show up after her work seminar and the doors opened and in we went! For Free! We got to look at all sorts of cute stuff, try on clothes and shoes from local designers and boutiques.

We signed up to have our make-up done and picture taken in the new Acura RDX - which I think is so hot! I love Acura's, they're great cars in terms of looks, longevity, and function. It might be time to look into getting something new.. maybe.. if I can figure out a budget for it. :D It reminds me of a cross between the Acura MDX and the TL, less power than the MDX, more room than the TL.

After the make-up session and photo shoot, we went to have our hair styled. Paul was my stylist, he asked what I wanted to do and I said, 'not sure, I've been wearing this head band to keep my ridiculous bangs out of the way as they grow out.' He takes a look, combs at it, and says to me, 'we haven't been cutting hair today, but can I style your bangs, they're very isolated right now and should be part of your hair, not sitting on it's own.' Free band styling? Sure, why not! Snip, snip, snip, snip and then styling, curling, styling and WOW! My hair looked so good! I was very pleased.. all for the price of FREE.. even better! If I end up moving to Chicago, I'm totally going to him to have my hair cut all the time!

Apparently I don't take very good care of my hair (in terms of getting it cut and keeping it maintained). He asked me who cuts my hair right now and I told him I was from California. He asked his co-worker if she knew where an ex-coworker of theirs worked. I think he was going to refer me to her for the sake of my hair. I know.. I know.. I should get it cut more often, but I only go about every 6 months.

All in all, it was a great day! Make up and hair all done, it was time for dinner!