Kat Kuan

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August Favorites

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These are my favorites for the month of August 2018!

1. Priority Pass – Get access to select airport lounges.

2. Cardholder from Ann Taylor – They don’t have it anymore but you can just search for “cardholder” online (i.e. Macys).

3. Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation – I got the shade 25 Soft Beige.

4. Ardell Deluxe Pack Lashes – You can choose from different lash styles. Also available at CVS, other drug stores and beauty supply stores.

5. Self Journal – See my unboxing video here or podcast episode on it.

6. The Alchemist – A powerful story about self-discovery from Paulo Coelho. It’s an international bestseller and was on the NY Times bestseller list for 358 weeks.

7. Luluemon Speed Up Tight Full-On Luxtreme tights – Comes with the side pockets and the back pocket. Free hemming in store. Shout-out to Ali for the recommendation!

Thanks for reading/watching!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I enjoy these items regardless and want to share them with you!

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

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Source: Netflix

There’s been lots of excitement in the Asian American community (and beyond) about the movie Crazy Rich Asians, which has topped the box office for the 3rd weekend in a row! However, another recent movie release that didn’t receive as much fanfare, was the Netflix movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, adapted from Jenny Han’s novel. Hence, I’m going to talk a little about it now!

MOVIE SYNOPSIS

First off, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a charming romantic comedy.

The movie centers on the story of Lara Jean, a shy Asian American high school junior who is finding her way through life and school. She’s never had a boyfriend, but has a secret crush on her sister’s boyfriend. Yikes! Instead of sharing her feelings with her crushes throughout her life, she wrote these mushy gushy love letters to them that she’d secretly hide in a box in her closet.

When the love letters accidentally get sent out to the respective guys, all chaos ensues. This poor girl (who tried to be an invisible wallflower) gets thrust into the spotlight to deal with what she’s written about in these letters and her current feelings for these boys. You’ll have to watch to see what happens, but I wanted to make a couple of points.

REPRESENTATION MATTERS

This movie stars an Asian American lead and portrays an uncommon narrative for an Asian American female on the big screen (oftentimes Hollywood will cast the Asian girl as the supporting best friend or some other secondary role). This movie shows a more complex character, which I appreciate because #RepresentationMatters. I do feel like the tides are changing and the stories of women and of different ethnic backgrounds are slowly making their way onto the screen.

I believe seeing ourselves reflected in the stories on screen makes us feel less alone in the world, that what we’re feeling is normal.

Now this movie didn’t really highlight the Asian culture in the movie (as compared to Crazy Rich Asians), but I think the sentiment is there.

It makes me feel proud to see a fellow Asian American in a lead in a movie. It makes me feel like, hey, our stories and feelings are important enough to be captured for the screen. Important enough for other people to take time to watch this story and be entertained by it in their free time.

I think by just taking up space – whether in-person or on the TV screen, it implies that we matter.

There’s still a long ways to go though – i.e. needing to represent Asians with darker skin tones on screen as well, and representing more Asian male characters as love interests. Part of the reason for the lack of representation in these two areas may have been the way the story was written (the male character love interests had American sounding last names). And I’m also speculating that the production company may have wanted to play it safe with characters that followed the formula of typical romantic comedies in America. They know it sells well, so they go with it. Perhaps if the cast too diverse, they feared that the mainstream audience may not want to watch the movie.

Sigh. It’s hard though, I don’t know when movies on the big screen will reflect the diversity in real life. But I’m just glad to be able to witness progress in my lifetime and hope that we’re moving in the right direction. One step at a time.

PORTRAYING THE STRUGGLES OF ADOLESCENCE

Speaking of growing up, I also really enjoyed how the various struggles of adolescence were woven in to create a more complex storyline. Being bullied at school or having an enemy, not having many friends, dealing with peer pressure or rumors, sorting out feelings about crushes, challenges with family dynamics at home, etc… These are the real things that teens struggle with, and I spent a lot of energy and time spinning my wheels over these things. I think the movie did a great job developing the conflict that Lara Jean felt with herself and with others around here as she tried to figure out what she wanted.

(On the topic of adolescence, I’ve been meaning to watch another newly released movie Eighth Grade about an introverted thirteen-year-old girl named Kayla who is trying to survive 8th grade.)

RELATING TO THE MAIN CHARACTER

Anyhow back to the original movie I was talking about, there was something about Lara Jean’s shy and reserved demeanor that made me relate to her a lot. For example, growing up, I would be too scared to approach or make a move on my crush, haha! >.< I just lacked the confidence to do so, and so I just admired my crush from afar and maybe we’d have a chance encounter where we’d exchange a few brief words. LoL so funny to think back on. Sigh awkward times growing up.

Here’s a different perspective on dating from another emerging Asian American voice – Awkwafina, who stars in Crazy Rich Asians. This feels like a refreshingly honest perspective, and it’s pretty entertaining.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and excited about what it means for representation in the entertainment industry. If you’re interested in checking this movie out, you can find it on Netflix. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

The Self Journal

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I’ve been on the hunt for a better way to manage my time and priorities and goals.

Hence, I ordered the Self Journal from Amazon in the color Charcoal. It is a daily planner for 90 days, and includes places for you to track your weekly progress towards your overarching goal. I just started using it, but it seems very well thought-out in terms of the structure and seems like it aligns well with the psychology behind what we need to achieve our goals. It’s created by the company Best Self Co.

To see more of what’s included, here’s an unboxing video that I posted on my YouTube channel:

If you decide to try out The Self Journal too, let me know what your experiences are with it!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I purchased this journal on my own and am hopeful about it!

Less is More – A Documentary on Minimalism

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In a world that is driven by more money, more achievements, more prestige, I loved the refreshing perspective offered in the Netflix special called “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.”

DOCUMENTARY

I watched it last year and again this year. I think this documentary brings us back to our roots, reminds us that our time is short, and that materialistic things are fleeting. It also brings me great relief and peace because it reminds me that a happy, content life is achievable and simple – that it actually involves having less and being less crazy busy.

The documentary follows the journey of 2 guys, who call themselves the Minimalists. They have a blog here: https://www.theminimalists.com/ They had 6-figure incomes and successful careers, but they yearned for a more fulfilling life. And so they left most of it behind to pursue minimalism, and to travel the world teaching others about it.

MINIMALISM

The concept of minimalism is to boil your life down to the essentials that you need to be happy. And to not get wrapped up in all the fancy, elaborate things that you think will make you happy, but end up just adding clutter and burden to your life.

They emphasize that being minimalistic doesn’t mean being cheap or depriving yourself. You can still buy nice quality items, if they truly bring you joy. There’s just no need to buy an excess amount of them. It means spending your resources and time on things that actually matter to you. For example, one of the guys sold his house and now he has less stuff to maintain about his house. The documentary also showed the concept of tiny houses. And without the burden of taking care of a big house, these people had more time for quality time with loved ones.

BEING INTENTIONAL

Another way to put it is that minimalism is about living a very intentional life. For every expense you have, you question whether it’s worth it. You become more careful about resources and energy, and start to make room for the important things in life according to your values.

WHERE I’M AT

I tried minimalism for awhile, and I don’t think I’m quite a minimalist. I do like simplicity because I get overwhelmed easily. But there’s also lots of things that I have that make me happy, that I’m not quite ready to give up yet, ha! I guess it’s just about finding the right balance for myself.

I had a recent incident of ants in my kitchen, and had to fumigate it to get rid of them. That involved moving a bunch of my stuff into the bedroom and covering it with plastic so the fumes wouldn’t get onto it. In the process of moving all my items, I realized how much stuff I have that I don’t use.

For example, I have SO many books I don’t read. That prompted me to donate a huge amount to the library – 58 books in fact! It was bags and bags of books – I had to make 4 trips back and forth to the car. Afterwards, I felt like a huge weight lifted off me. I don’t think I want to buy anymore physical books, if possible. I’m going to go with digital books or library books, so I don’t end up with too many books sitting and collecting dust.

That donation gave me some momentum to declutter, so I’m going to start getting rid of more things. There’s no point in keeping things I will never use. Sometimes it’s the guilt of getting rid of them, but you just have to hold it in your hand, thank the item for being part of your life and for the role it played (i.e. if someone gave it to you), and then donate or toss it. (Marie Kondo advice) Clearing physical spaces clears our mental spaces, and makes room for new things – new ideas, new beginnings! And I want more of the latter!

To find out more about The Minimalists…

Blog: https://www.theminimalists.com/

Podcast: https://www.theminimalists.com/podcast/

Netflix documentary (trailer below): https://www.netflix.com/title/80114460

P.S. If you like this documentary, check out this one on The Illusion of Money.

A Trick to Fall Asleep on those Sleepless Nights

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I’m usually working on the computer until late at night, so by the time I try to go to sleep, my mind is unfortunately still pretty alert and buzzing with thoughts, ideas, and worries. I know, it’s a bad habit.

For those nights I keep tossing and turning, wondering about more and more things, I end up turning to my phone to use this app to go to sleep.

It’s the 10% Happier app – a meditation app. I literally only use it for this 1 meditation! It’s the “Melt Into Sleep” meditation. It was a free app and the meditation is free to listen to as well.

Note: For new users, not sure if the experience is the same. My boyfriend downloaded the app, but this particular meditation was locked without the premium subscription.

10 percent happier app10 percent happier app melt into sleep meditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this meditation there are different time durations available – you can pick from 10 min, 15 min, options etc.. I usually select 20 minutes.

10 percent happier app melt into sleep timer10 percent happier app melt into sleep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, once it starts playing, my other thoughts start to quiet and I just focus on the guy’s voice – even if there are periods of silence. I suppose it just gives me something to focus on.

For the most part, I usually fall asleep before the end of the meditation. There are cases that I do actually hear the end of the meditation – “Sleep well.” But I’m usually in a drowsy state that I doze off soon after that.

You can find the 10% Happier app here: Google Play Store & App Store

The creator Dan Harris from ABC News also has a 10% Happier podcast that explores the topic of meditation further with guest interviews.

What tips do you use to fall asleep?

Disney’s Coco: Choosing Between Your Family or Your Passion

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Coco is about the story of a boy named Miguel who loves music and idolizes a music legend Ernesto de la Cruz. Because of past family drama, the family banned all forms of music. Hence, Miguel has to sneak away to learn how to play guitar. He gets caught and his guitar is destroyed. He runs away and embarks on an adventure where he must choose between following what his family wants or following his passion for music.

If you’ve ever tried to chase your passion / your dream, it likely has made a loved one in your life a bit concerned. They may say certain things because they are scared about the uncertainty of your future. They don’t want you to suffer the pain of rejection or failure. But living life in a safe way can mean missing out on discovering your biggest strength or your greatest sense of fulfillment. Therein lies some major tension.

We do a lot of self-sabotaging on our own, but I wonder if potential entrepreneurs get scared to go for what they want because there are people in their life who prefer different life choices and can be very vocal about it. When these people are close to you, and supposedly know you pretty well, it grows the seed of self-doubt inside yourself and that can cause you to turn around and give up. That is quite sad actually. It’s also hard because anything worth creating / developing takes years and years of dedication and focus, without any visible results. It is a very hard internal battle to fight to keep going.

If you choose to keep striving, here are some inspiring quotes I found on never giving up. My favorite is from Confucius who says, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

I certainly don’t have all the answers, and each person will have to find a balance for themselves. If you watch the movie, you can see how Miguel navigates his tricky situation.

I enjoyed this movie very much because the storyline was so touching. The visuals were spectacular, and the music was amazing too. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Queue it up in your Netflix watch list! Of you can also rent Coco on Amazon.

If you can relate to any part of this struggle, I’d be honored to hear your experience in the comments below.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this movie regardless.

Grace Over Grind

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Grace Over Grind is a fantastic book for entrepreneurs who are looking for a solution to the unending hustle and grind every day without rest. This is a Christian book, where the author Shae Bynes offers an alternative solution: to work and rest in God’s grace where you can accomplish infinitely more than you ever could on your own strengths and abilities.

WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR

I was looking for resources from Christian business owners because I was wrestling with how can I build a business while also serve God at the same time. They seemed to be two opposites – to optimize for revenue $$ OR to optimize for serving God. And all the resources I had listened to up until now, were for the former option.

HER PODCAST

I stumbled upon her podcast called Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur. I listened to a couple of episodes and loved the stories that were shared. They explain how doing business and serving God can be aligned together. Hence, I was curious to check out her book.

HER BOOK

Grace Over Grind is a quick read, it’s only ~ 150 pages, and I finished it within a couple days. The author emphasizes how important it is to do the exercises in the book, so that’s what took me the longest because I was taking time to reflect and write out my answers. There were questions like what are you grinding away so hard at? If you were to dream with God on your business, what would that look like?

AHA! MOMENTS

I realized that being an entrepreneur isn’t about working until your eyeballs fall out. Too often, we get scared, try to seize control of the situation and try to do it all through our own efforts. We get bogged down in our own frustrations of why things aren’t happening even though we’re putting in all this effort. But things happen on God’s time and if we can trust in that, we can turn over our stresses and worries to him. The author clarifies that resting doesn’t mean sitting on the couch and doing nothing. It means continuing to take action but with guidance from God. It’s about surrendering control, being willing to ask God for help, and going where he leads you because it’s ultimately for your best and for the world’s best.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Too many believers in business idolize hard work. They exalt hard work over the presence of God in business.”

“Some people refuse the favor that God has granted to them because they don’t feel worthy of it. Favor isn’t all about you and has nothing to do with your worthiness; it’s about the assignment God has placed on your life.”

“You will have peace in the midst of seeming chaos, and joy, in the midst of unfamiliar levels of hardship or criticism. […] Live within the grace of one day only. That’s how we experience the sufficiency of God’s grace.”

CONCLUSION

Honestly, I also feel like the book could be applicable to people who are in the workforce, who aren’t necessarily entrepreneurs. Living in Silicon Valley, I can literally feel how stressed out people are about their jobs or where their career is headed. The book talks about working intentionally in partnership with God and taking it one day at a time. It put my heart at ease, and if you read it, I hope it does for you too.

Grace Over Grind:
How Grace Will Take Your Business Where Grinding Can’t

I actually got this book for free by signing up for a free month trial with the Kindle Unlimited plan. It gives access to tons of other Kindle books and audiobooks. Let’s see what else I can get through this month!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this book regardless.

Where to Get Free Books, Ebooks, Movies & More

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A bunch of years ago, I was working on the Google Play Android app. At that time, it was only for buying apps. We added the ability to buy ebooks, and then to rent movies from the app. Someone asked my coworker, “Oh you’re offering movie rentals. Wouldn’t it be so cool if there was a place where you could rent books?” And my coworker responded, “…You mean libraries?” LOL.

Yup, it’s the best kept secret.

The library.

With so many companies offering digital media and paid subscriptions for access to media, it’s easy to forget that right in our neighborhoods, we have libraries that have tons of books and movies that we can check out… FOR FREE.

For the Bay Area libraries I’ve been to, they’ve been quick to adopt services that allow patrons to borrow items digitally.

There’s the Hoopla app that you can download for free and browse for eBooks, movies, TV shows, music, or audiobooks. This is amazing!! You don’t even need to leave your home.

Or you can check Overdrive to find eBooks or audiobooks, and they can be downloaded to your computer or delivered straight to your Kindle device or phone (Android, iOS, Windows)!

There’s also Flipster for reading magazines digitally, and you can also login to read newspapers like the NYTimes!

If you want a physical book or DVD, going in person is of course an option. I love checking out their new releases section, which often has popular books that are trending. They also have a vast collection of movies and TV DVD sets. They also have old school audiobooks that are a set of CDs, if anyone still uses those. 😉 Actually, I did get those audiobooks to play in my car, which surprisingly has a CD player! The only annoying part is swapping out CDs when each disc is done.

Anyways, if I already know what items I want from the library, before I go in, I’ll take advantage of the library website. I search the catalog, login with my library card, and put things on hold. Then I can just go into the library branch and pick them up. This came in handy especially last year when I was reading tons of picture books during the bookwriting process and writing up favorite children’s books posts.

Gosh, there’s so much free-ness at the library, it’s great.

Actually our tax dollars pay for it, so take advantage of it! Go visit your library wherever you live. If you’re around here, check out the Mountain View Library and sign up for a library card!

Answers to the 3 Most Important Questions in Life

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The Three Questions By Jon J. Muth

This book has so much wisdom.

The Three Questions is about a boy who wants to be a good person but doesn’t know how to do that. He has 3 questions:

  • “When is the best time to do things?”
  • “Who is the most important one?”
  • “What is the right thing to do?”

All very important questions that I also have…

He seeks advice from his animal friends, but feels like their answers are missing something. He goes to see a wise turtle for an answer and along the way, discovers some powerful answers to his questions.

He learns:

  • The best time to do things is now.
  • The most important person is the one you’re with at the moment.
  • And the right thing to do is to do good for the person in front of you.

Those are such beautiful answers. Love this book so much!! It’s inspired off a story from Leo Tolstoy and told with beautiful pictures and a simple storyline for kids to understand.

For more info, here’s the Amazon link for the book The Three Questions.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this book regardless.

December Favorites: Holiday and Winter-Themed Kids Books

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Holiday season is in full swing! I have been checking out handfuls of kids books from the nearby libraries on anything winter / holiday themed. Here are my favorite finds of this month!

1. Tacky the Penguin

2. The Mitten

3. A Hat for Mrs. Goldman

4. Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect

5. An Orange for Frankie


6. A World of Cookies for Santa


Okay the below books are not holiday themed, but they’re so adorable, I had to include them! 😉

7. I Love You Through and Through


8. The Big Orange Splot

9. The Jolly Postman

And for my random item…

10. KitchenAid Blender

In the last few months, I have been using my blender A LOT – like several times a week. I’ve been making green smoothies in the morning for breakfast or for a snack. I have an older model with 4 speeds that they don’t sell anymore, but this one looks closest to it. I heard Vitamix is great too, but out of my price range for now, so I’ve been happy with my KitchenAid one!

Alright, hope you discovered something new in the list that you didn’t know about before! Happy Holidays and enjoy the rest of your December!!

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links, but I would recommend these things regardless. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Thanks for your support!