PRgal

How do you control yourself??? :p. I try to avoid the place because I end up buying more than I need (and this goes for grains and spices more than candy. I only like chocolate).

Went to a music-related event in my neighbourhood last night. It opened with a cocktail hour, so that was our dinner. Had rather delicious vegan "meatballs" made with black beans. NOM!!!!!!!!!

I think some schools still required girls to wear white veils into the 90s. A Facebook friend of mine shared her old communion photos recently and she's a few years younger than me. As for my school, they forced all of us to dress like monks so that we wouldn't clash (and so that there won't be too much competition on who has the best dress. Our school shared a parish with two other schools and one school was more working class while the other two were (mostly) solidly middle class). I would think the whole dress thing would depend on where you are? As I said, my mom rented hers for her '72 wedding. My grandmother was also wearing a white dress in some of her photos - she married just after WWII. Not sure if she just posed for photos with my grandfather at a studio (in one of those Glamour Shots type places) and it was a dress that was available or if it was something she rented for a ceremony, though. I'm pretty sure wearing white dresses was only something cool/hip brides did back in 1940s Hong Kong - red was still THE THING and white was a colour of mourning. These days (or at least since the 80s...no even the 70s. My mom had three, including one I wore as a second dress at mine), brides have up to five or six dresses. White for the ceremony, red (heritage) dress for part of the reception, and an evening gown at minimum.

My mom (okay, she married in '72, a little over a decade later) rented her (white) wedding gown! She also had a few other dresses, some of which she kept (including a pink one which I wore as a second dress). I think her Chinese gown (kwa) was also a rental. As for the newborns on the show: I read that they cast the babies without looking at them - pregnant moms "audition" on their behalf!

I Googled it and Distaval was a brand name.

Really enjoyed a fancy dinner with my husband (just to celebrate the Victoria Day long weekend) at a restaurant I haven't been to since the 90s (it was his first time). At the table next to us was a family - mom, dad, a teenage son and a very young daughter (maybe five or six). It was really nice to see a girl her age actually eat what the teen and parents were eating (she didn't get her own meal and was eating off her parents' plates...and maybe some additional sides). She knew how to hold a fork and knife too. Too often now, you don't see that with kids. Or adults for that matter.

I really need to get rid of my (new) nail lady. Three times now, the polish has only lasted one day. I don't get it. I've used the same brand with other nail techs before and it's always lasted a week or so. She's even screwed up Shellac! Maybe I should go to a new salon, just to avoid seeing her. I don't know why I keep on going back. My old nail tech only works weekends now that she's a mom and is always booked.

That's what I was thinking too. She's not different from (ignorant) immigrant parents who get upset at their kids becoming too much like young people of their new country.

Yesterday, we had a huge (and I mean HUGE) Mother's Day brunch, so dinner ended up being a can of tomato soup and half a not-so-cheesy toasted sandwich (or what my mom called "grilled cheese" when I was little). Tonight, I'm making veggie noodles with tofu.

My parents are from Hong Kong and I am Canadian born. I was born with a western first name and was also given a Chinese middle name - fairly typical in our circle. However, my western birthname is a nickname, so I legally changed it (to the long/full version) before I graduated from university. I just didn't want to sound like a spoiled mall rat out of "Clueless" when looking for a job!! It's not that my parents didn't know better, it's just that they thought my original name was closer-sounding to my Chinese name!

I guess there's always ketchup when it's not moist enough! :)

No glaze/sauce? Or is it moist enough?

I'm sorry! Or maybe it's a good thing! :P

I thought she was overly annoying as a child, too. They were trying to turn her into "black Olsen twins" (without being a twin) - not that the Olsens are any LESS annoying.

Ordered gourmet pizza yesterday. The delivery guy was completely inexperienced and the pizza was cold by the time it arrived. We also ordered warm appetizers, which stayed warm. Reason? The pizza wasn't in a thermal container like the apps. Isn't it logic to do so? I thought delivery people knew that. I messaged the restaurant about it, but I don't think it's their fault as it uses a third party ordering/delivery service.

Here in Ontario, a married person can assume the spouse's last name and doesn't involve the same kind of paperwork as an "official" change. All you have to do is show up with your marriage certificate, complete a form and it's done. No lawyers or notary publics required. While I changed my driver's licence and health card immediately, I didn't bother with my passport until it expired. Didn't care that my diplomas were all under my maiden name. I mean, I wasn't married then, right? Who cares? I married a little over a week before my 31st birthday.

I'm also Chinese, but some (ignorant) people, after speaking with me on the phone, meet me and say "you don't look like a Mrs. GERMANJEWISHLASTNAME!" What, never met/heard of an Asian woman married to a white, Jewish guy? Or do they not expect me to change my name? As for Bow not changing her name, some women who are established professionally (especially in the medical field) don't bother since it's more paperwork. Others use their maiden name at work and married name socially (many of my friends do that).

I don't even get into the last name thing anymore. It's d@mned if you do, d@mned if you don't. And if you use both without a hyphen (as I do), half the time, people think it's hyphenated. :S

Breakfast today: Slow cooked steel cut oats and apples with kefir (you need a timer for this if you cook it my mom's way - one cup of steel cut oats to three cups of liquid (I use water) plus apples cut into bite sized pieces (I leave the skin on) and plug the slow cooker into a timer. Time it to cook for two hours early on (say, 10 PM to midnight) and then again two hours before you want to eat it). I also add a couple of spoonfuls of apple butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the slow cooker. Kind of like soaked oats, but warm. :)

I think the conflict can happen with anyone whose family was lower income. My grandmother is 90 years old and despite us all being concerned about her well-being, refuses hired help. I don't think she really experienced "success" until much later in life, and it was through her children. What's interesting, however, is that her kids - at least those who stayed in Hong Kong - had no issues with hired help, despite growing up in a working class household. I wonder if it's because most middle class families in Hong Kong have "helpers" (that's the HK PC term for housekeeper/maid/nanny), usually from the Philippines. Many middle class (and above) homes have sleeping areas in the kitchen for hired help. My cousins are the first generation to grow up with nannies and now that they're adults (with one who has kids of her own), hiring someone was just...expected.

My paternal grandmother just turned 90 last month (i.e. she shares the same birth year as Mary's Fetus)! I wasn't at her party - she's in Hong Kong - but my mom told me that she's still extremely active and refuses any kind of help (we are all worried about her). She mostly lives alone, too.

But it could be that she was indeed a wild child in her 20s and into her 30s, but she then wanted to settle a bit - either married or unmarried. However, during a visit to the doctor, she found out that it wasn't possible for her to become pregnant/carry a child to term.

Has anyone thought that Stephanie is DJing/having fun/being a "wild child" at 30-something to get her mind off being infertile?

Bite is Canadian (from Toronto, to be exact). They recently revamped their lipsticks and yeah, I miss their old ones - there's a discontinued shade called Cin Cin (which is the Anglicized spelling of my Chinese name). I DO like that they have many lighter weight formulas as I don't really love a fully made-up face for every day (thanks, girls-only school education!).

Leftovers from last night's early Easter dinner. :)