SVong-Along

I come from a family of bakers (my dad was a donut baker, and lots of family members still bake). I also watch tons of Great British Bake Off and Baking Championship shows on Food Network. So below is my audition to be on America's Worst Bakers. Winnie the Pooh is one of my favorite Disney characters (my mom still calls me Pooh bear) and after seeing hundreds of Pooh Bears hit the Olympic Ice after Yuzuru Hanyu's short program, I was inspired to bake something Pooh-related. It's raining Pooh! Last week, I saw a recipe for Winnie the Pooh Cupcake Cone s on Disney Family's Social Media, and declared to my friend Nida my desire to bake and cure the rumbly in my tumbly. (Also shout out to Rachel for inspiring me to blog about this, though I merely have sad pics and no vid). If you clicked on the recipe, you'll see that it is complicated AF . I decided to just use $1 yellow cake mix, hoping that it would suffice. I went to Wally World and got 24 ice cream co

Like any profession, getting a job in the legal field is all about who you know and your reputation. But networking doesn't have to suck, it can be as easy as grabbing a casual cup of coffee with a fellow colleague. You never know where a simple meeting may lead you- possibly to your next job or inspiration for where to go next! One of my 30 goals before 30 was to: Set up informational interviews with an attorney/professional once a month. I actually started doing this a few months before starting my blog, and I've gotten a variety of advice and perspectives on how people have practiced law. Here is my guide on how to ask an attorney to get coffee: 1. Know why you want to talk to this person Are you looking for a new job? Looking for general advice on how who you're meeting with got to where they are? Maybe you want to be connected to someone they know? You should know your purpose and make sure it warrants a 15-30 minute conversation, time is valuable to attorneys

Life doesn't always go as planned. So how do we deal with the unexpected? In other words, what do we do when Option A is no longer an option? Sheryl Sandberg shares her very personal approach in Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy.  I saw it listed on my library's "trending" e-books, but I also read it because I was interested in what the COO of Facebook had to share about overcoming some of life's greatest obstacles. Option B is essentially a reflection of how Sandberg dealt with the sudden death of her husband Dave Goldberg in 2015. While it may seem like she just wants to talk about herself and her feelings, she tells her story in a way that is so relatable with relevant anecdotes that almost anyone can empathize with. I personally have not gone through anything as traumatizing as losing the love of my life, but Sandberg's stories are like a Pixar movie that take you through a roller-coaster of emotions and offer a great te

It takes a lot to get me to switch channels from Jeopardy, but from the start of Opening Ceremony I've been glued to my TV watching the world's best ice skate, snowboard, and ski in pursuit of gold and glory. The Winter Olympics doesn't get as much love as the Summer Olympics, yet I still find myself watching sports I never cared about (i.e. the women's hockey final between U.S. and Canada) and getting emotional when the athletes react to their performance. Below are a few reasons why I love the Winter Olympics [alternatively, my favorite moments from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.] 1) Figure skating Figure skating is more than a sport, it's art and expression and drama tied with competition. Music plays a major role and it's interesting to see different interpretations of classics such as "Black Swan" and "Clair De Lune." Rarely does a sport move you or evoke emotions, but the best figure skaters (see Yuna Kim 2014 ) do just t

February 13th marked my 1 year work anniversary as an attorney for the Governor's Office and consequently my first full year as a "real" lawyer. It's been an exciting journey, beginning with having my own office: Although it has transformed into a spa-ffice, I am too embarrassed to put an updated picture because there is a lot I need to declutter. I still sometimes have to look at my diplomas and my state bar admission certificate to remind myself that I am qualified for my position, but overall I think I've grown professionally and personally from working at the Governor's Office this past year. So what have I learned from work in the past year?  No case will ever be exactly the same.  This is oftentimes frustrating because some days I feel less competent at work than I was my first month in, but there's always nuances or details about the law to learn and life would be too boring/easy if the cases I worked on had the exact same fact pa

On Saturday, February 3rd, 2018, my college roomie Andrew Quan and I competed in Gumball Rally, a competition to ride all the rides in Disneyland in one day. As "Mushu's Merciless Mercenaries," we wanted to prove that our previous 4th place finish in 2010 was not a fluke. (See previous blog post: Can you ride all the rides in Disneyland in one day ?) We got down to business, making custom shirts this year (thanks for designing AQuan! Displayed below is the backside:) We also packed the night before, prepping all our food and water (since we wouldn't have time to eat at a restaurant and would eat in line to save time). I got some bougie snacks from Grocery Outlet [Bargain market] pictured below, and Andrew made 4 PBJs and also packed a dozen electrolyte water bottles in his backpack. Mangoes! Pork! Omega-3 Cookies! Mmmmmm We were up at 5:45 AM to get primped and polished, leave Santa Ana, and get to registration at the Anaheim hotel. We got to the hotel for