Home Goods Stylescope

About to go to Home Goods to buy a present for Ken.

Went to check the website for when it closes and stumbled upon this thing called Stylescope where they show you a bunch of pictures and you pick the 5 that sticks out to you the most.

I picked these pictures:

And got:

FARMHOUSE GLAM with a touch of TRAVELOR

The description for Farmhouse Glam:
Farmhouse Glam is the delicate, exquisite balance between beautiful femininity and rustic nonchalance. She's all about the discovery of unexpected sparkle amidst the less polished. She wears high heels and a denim jacket, a string of pearls and bare feet. And her home feels as special as it does comfortable.

I like it :) At first I was like what....but then I realized it describes me pretty well. I like rural AND urban; I dig the free-spirited hipster concerts and the wall street Broadway scene of NYC. And here is something that effortlessly combines BOTH. win-win

Another description to note:

Farmhouse Glam is very approachable elegance, layering texture rather than color to create a look that is modern and rustic. Chandeliers above picnic tables. Ornate candlesticks alongside weathered pieces.

Take the Test Here!

Thoughtful Act

My family and I went peach picking today and my dad shared a story with me that is worth sharing:

"I was standing in line to buy the peaches when I saw this little boy going towards the ice cream fridge. The boy looked like he might have a some sort of problem, maybe autism. He reached into the fridge, grabbed a popsicle, and just started eating it. The guy manning the fridge goes 'Hey buddy, that's 2 dollars for the popsicle but of course the kid either didn't hear or didn't have the capacity to understand and walked away. The kid's parents were no where in sight. A man standing nearby and witnessing this goes up to the guy manning the fridge and hands him 2 dollars saying 'Here you go' and paid for the popsicle."

I guess there isn't some grander meaning behind this story and there isn't anything dramatic about it. Yet it touched me because people really do perform random acts of kindness. And if there's anything we need in this world, it's that :)

Writing a Book

I still want to write a book.

The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a wonderful idea. I didn’t say I want to publish a book, I simply want to write one.

But one does not simply decide to write a book. I’ve been down that road already. The trouble with writing is that it’s so easy to find an idea, grab onto it, and impulsively start writing.

But then what? You wake up the next day and you’ve lost the excitement and inspiration you had the day before. You sit down and look at the 5 pages or so you’ve managed to write and realize you still have hundreds of pages to go and you simply can’t do it.

 If you haven’t planned where you are going, then it just sits there.

And even if you have planned it, like I tried once, you start writing and you lose interest.

The biggest problem is finding something to write about. I don’t have the creativity to craft some thrilling mystery, action, or fantasy novel.

Anything I try and write about ALWAYS ends up becoming a sappy romance story. Pretty sure that’s what happened to the Twilight Series. I bet it was supposed to be about dueling vampires and werewolves in a giant battle for superiority or something. But then Stephanie Meyer threw in some romance and it consumed the whole thing. And now everyone makes those “still a better love story than twilight” jokes.

I’m not going to write a book about my life philosophies. Everyone wants to do that. And I think Dale Carnegie's already cornered the market on that one (How to Win Friends and Influence People anyone?). 

So one day maybe I'll be struck by a sudden idea that is worth devoting a great chunk of my time and effort for. I hope it's soon because authors have said that the voice you have as a youth always changes and you can never go back to it. Maybe it's because I'll get cynical and jaded. I hope not.

When that one day comes, I'll remember the advice an author gave. She gave herself the task of having to write at least 100 words a day. This is effective because once she started writing then there's a flow that keeps going, and you're almost always bound to write more than 100 words a day. Now THAT is an efficient and smart system.

But for now, I guess will just have to put my dream of writing a book on hold. I'll wait for you, Epiphany, and when you come, I'll be ready.

Bros Before Hos?

You know what I always wondered?

Why girls find it so impressive when they have lots of guy friends. I'm a girl, and as much as I try to convince myself that it doesn't matter to me whether I have lots of male versus female friends, I both consciously and subconsciously feel proud when I think about the guy friends I have - whether I want to or not.

Let me provide some anecdotes.

Today when I was talking with this girl from the same high school - I hadn't seen her in a long time. She was talking about how she is driving to Wisconsin to camp there for a music festival and mentioned she was going with a couple friends. And she adds "yeah and they're all guys too." The other guy in the conversation jovially replies "Oh jeez that'll be fun, just don't share a camp with them" and she goes "ugh, I have to."

Stop right there.

For the guy, he just chuckled as if sympathetic to her pain. But to me, a fellow double X chromosomer, it is obvious that even though on the surface she is complaining and acting disgruntled at having to sleep in a tent with three other guys, she's not actually annoyed at this fact. In fact, she's a little bit proud. And this is not me criticizing her, I would probably feel the same.

What I imagine is going on in her head is something more like "Hell ya I'm sleeping in the same tent with three other guys. Look at me, having all these guy friends and being the only girl amongst them. I can get guys like that."

Let me state another more evidenced example.

I was talking to my friend about the friends I had made at college. And she asked a lot about them, who they were, what my relationship was with them and stuff.

Now, I knew that I had made a good amount of guy friends at college and it was something I did in fact, notice. Sure, maybe part of me was prideful with the same "look at me, I have guy friends" mentality, but it just happened coincidentally and I never could understand why even in my own mind - why does it matter if a friend is male or female?

In any case I also made lots of female friends too, if not more. So, I didn't particularly think of myself as some sort of some badasss chick that always hung with guys.

But as I was talking to her about my closest friends at college (who happen to mostly be guys), she remarks "Wow, I wish I had that many guy friends too." or maybe it was "Man, I wish I had as many guy friends as you."

Either way, it caught me off guard, both at the content of the statement and at how the statement had basically belittled her or put her below me in some regard. And how willing she was to do that to herself.

It didn't occur to me that this was an "accomplishment," something I should be proud of.

Of course as soon as she said it, I thought to myself "Yeah..you're right, I DO have a lot of guy friends. Way to go Ariel."

But then I think about it now and wonder....wait, why is that an achievement? And honestly I still don't know. I believe many girls feel this, as much as they protest or deny. I think it's just natural. You know, as sexual beings and stuff. It makes us girls feel more desirable, like guys want to be with us, they want to be our friends, and hence maybe lots of guys like us romantically.

It's something I wish I didn't feel. I can't think of a LOGICAL reason anyway to feel proud that I have lots of guy friends. The feeling actually makes me feel like a lesser person.

I don't necessarily think it's a feeling/concept I can get rid of it, it seems pretty biological. But maybe it's at least something that I am thinking about it? It's a start anyway.

And maybe once (if) I get a boyfriend, I wouldn't care anymore.

My mom always warned me though, that boys don't like girls that have too many guy friends over girl friends.Well, guess I better find me some hos.

To Love or To Be In Love

I often pondered this idea of "loving someone" vs "being in love with someone".

Because if you think about it, they are completely different things. And while I can argue forever about the exact ratio, I would say a greater amount of people love each other than are IN love with each other.

I try and think of a ways to define each, but it's kind of difficult to put to words. But the stuff of the movies, you know, Tristan and Isolde, Jack and Rose of Titanic, Allie and Noah from the Notebook, Maria and Captain Von Trapp of Sound of the Music....now that's being in love.

I'm not saying you have to be ready to catch a grenade or throw your hand on a blade for the other person. But being in love is just something so much deeper - a connection so pure and strong that happiness can't be achieved without the other.

When two people in love look at each other, you can see it.

Here's how I think it goes:

Two people that are in love with each other always love each other.
Two people that love each other are sometimes in love with each other.

I am realistic. I don't know if I'll find someone that I will be in love with. But I darn well better find someone I love.


FB Status Recap

Today on the bus I sat across one of the most attractive men I have ever seen. He was probably in his late 30s or maybe early 40s but he had that George Clooney thing going, except he was even better looking. We made eye contact once and good god his eyes were pure bluegreen. And he wore aviators, those are my weakness. The problem with beautiful people is that I can't stop staring at them. He probably noticed that I peeked at him like 20 times during that bus ride...

When all the senior members of the company are out on business trips and the president comes in with the two new recruiters that just got hired last week and says to me "For better or for worse, right now, you're the one who know the most...."
 
Oh goodness, some man on the metro decided to chat it up with me for like 20+ minutes, all the way from Clarendon to Vienna. He was in his 50s and was a director of research at some technology company in MD. I think because he doesnt ride the metro often and drives instead, he gets lonely. And maybe I have "talk to me" written all over me or something, but hey I dont mind, random long conversations in the metro make life interesting I guess.

The typical facebook message conversation between two friends consists of one paragraph each that goes back and forth. But Hanbin Cho defies this rule. Just as I think my message to him can't be any longer, his message back is even longer. Just because I was curious, I copied and pasted it into word....it was 4,193 words. That's 6 pages single spaced. That is insane. Friendship level: expert.
I <3 you!

How this conversation goes in my mind versus real life.
Man: “Can I fax you my documents?” (Who faxes things anymore?)
Me: “Well, I need electronic copies, could you scan them instead?” (Unless your internet is broken, no)
Man: “But I have a lot of documents...can I just fax them to you?” (What do you mean you have a lot of documents? Why is that even a problem…)
Me: “If you can’t get access to a... scanner, you can go ahead and fax them and we can scan it here”
Man: “I have a scanner, that’s not an issue. I just have a lot of documents. ” (are u fo reals?)
Me: “If you fax them, we’d still have to scan them here. We are quite busy and that’s why we would like to ask you to help us with that” (Aint nobody got timeeee for that)

My work emails have been very insightful today, or rather the people behind them have been. I’ve gotten “Ariel, I believe life takes you places!” and “everything in life happens for some reason.” By now I’ve realized that behind the flat professional emails and secretary voice filled phone interviews, I’m talking with very real people with very real dreams, troubles, and passions. In a short amount of time, I have glimpsed into the lives of so many, each with a unique story to tell. Such is HR I guess.

That has got to be the 8th person to tell me during our phone interview that they thought i was a man. And they're justified too; they keep telling me how their mom's friend's cousin's dog's great uncle knew a man named Ariel. Most of them are subtle about it. But ive definitely called ppl where the first thing they blurt out after I introduce myself is "Oh! I thought you were a man!" so smooth...  

Internship Family

I feel so blessed to have found and gotten this internship. Not only have I gained so much experience and insight AND gotten to wear the work clothes I so dearly love, but I've gained the friendship of such wonderful people.

Dagmar, my beautiful Czech colleague, unfortunately departs today for Boston. And Ken, president and founder of WLC invited everyone to his house for a little coffee and cake as a going away sendoff gathering for Dagmar.

It really just warms my heart when I walk in and he clasps my hand and kisses me on the cheek. And then his wife, Beth, kindly makes hot earl grey tea for me.

And Anna, my supervisor is just as loving. She walks in the other day and just gives me a giant hug and says simply "I love you"

Megan, Beth and Ken's daughter, is no different, silly and goofy, she is every bit as loving as her parents. I don't know what I would do without her spunky and lively attitude.

Tim, Barbara, Zliakha, and Oscar, all my other coworkers are just as unique and wonderful in their own way.

Simply put, I love the people I work with. And I don't think I'll ever find another company that will be as much of a joy to work for. People always talk about big companies that they would love to work for and how successful they would be if they did that.

I don't know if I feel the same way though, I just feel like small companies and startups are so much more personal and you gain so much experience. Because there are less people, each person ends up taking over several projects and learning new things all the time.

Ken always jokes that I don't even need to go back to college. I think he is serious in that if I decided not to go to college he would just give me a job at WLC. I am touched and flattered of course.

I just don't know if HR is my calling. It's not bad for sure. It's interesting to meet and talk to all these people, you learn so much. I love people, and family friends are always telling me how I have such a great people personality that will take me far in life. I'm flattered.

But sometimes, I think that although I am outgoing or at least try to be, inside I'm a bit more of an introvert. Or at the very least, I'm a very independent person. And working with people all the time can get tiring.

Getting along with coworkers is one thing. You see them everyday and they are the same person, you only know more and more about them. Meeting new people is refreshing and takes the boredom out of a job, but it also makes me subconsciously nervous when I initially give them a call.

Either way, I am extremely HAPPY with how my Summer turns out. I would be more than happy to do anything I can to help WLC in the future. It was truly a joy to work with them and I still have the rest of August left.

I hope the colleagues I've met will always remain my friends. I will make sure of it.