Almost Quarter of a Century (Old Bucket List)

I can't believe that I'm almost turning 25 years old...makes me remember when I was a little girl and I thought 25 was old and hip.  Right now I just feel like I have an old hip haha...okay bad joke.  I do feel like an old man sometimes...which isn't all bad.  I get to tell kids to shut the hell up and get off my lawn.  

So I have something fun to share.  I found a VERY old bucket list of mine - something I wrote maybe when I was 7 or 8.  I thought it would be fun to share with all of you to see how well I did.  Now before I post, I should tell you I was quite a sheltered child.  I didn't receive the same opportunities as other kids, 'cause we were on a tight budget and my parents were more strict back in the day.  I was also afraid to try a lot of new things since I lacked a lot of confidence.  My friends fixed that for me during my teen years though and I've grown a lot since.  Looking at this list I can tell I didn't aim for the moon, but at the time these were "big" things I wanted to accomplish.  So without further ado, here is the list.  I've marked an "X" next to the items that I've completed.

1. Concert [x] - My first concert was Coldplay on their Viva La Vida tour with one of my bestest friends.  Saw them on their second night (June 21, 2009) in Vancouver at GM Place which is Rogers Arena now.  Here's the video compilation I made of that glorious day.  I was so excited my stomach started hurting before the concert, so much I thought I'd had to skip out on it lol.
2. Bumper cars [x] -The first time I went on bumper cars, I got stuck at a weird angle and everyone started bumping me lol.  It was on my boyfriends 22nd birthday.
3. Go karts [x] - My boyfriend surprised me one day by taking me out go karting 'cause he knew I always wanted to go.  It was pretty frightening since I did NOT wear the right shoes haha.  Made pedaling to the metal quite difficult when my heel kept slipping off since it wasn't a traditional shaped pedal (had a huge gap in the middle.)  That was summer of 2010 I believe.
4. Plane [x] - Went on a plane the first time in 2008 when I went on my first big trip (3 day Princess cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles, 2 days Disneyland, short flight to Seattle, 1 day cruise back up to Vancouver.)  My ears ending up plugging really bad.  Apparently I'm quite sensitive to elevation changes and basically all the tricks to stop it from hurting don't work for me :(.
5. River [x] - My river experience was during one camping trip with one of my best friends.  We camped one summer with her mom and older sister over at Englishmen River which is on Vancouver Island.  That was one great trip :).  That was also the first time I saw a girl in a thong bikini lol.  It was also the same river I visited with my parents and one of my best friends.  I warned my dad it would be slippery when he wanted to jump onto some rocks in the middle of the water...he didn't listen and he slipped right in...we laughed.  Don't worry it was shallow enough he wouldn't get sucked away and it was deep enough so he wouldn't break his skull.
6. Motor boat [x] -  I went on my first motor boat in 2008 for an awesome crab cookout at Alouette Lake with a bunch of friends.  We boated out to a private shore, made a fire and boiled some yummy yummy crabs :)
7. Bumper boats [x] - I had an awesome time on bumper boats during my friends 15th birthday.  We went over to Parksville BC for mini-golfing and bumper boats :).
8. Helicopter [ ] - Maybe one day?  I don't really know why I put it on here 'cause there's a good chance it'll never happen but would it ever be sweet to launch from a helipad!
9. Camping [x] - I went camping for the first time when I was 14 with 2 of my best friends and their family.  It was a pretty wicked time sleeping under the stars, watching the sunrise, going on an unsupervised water rafting trip in a very shallow river with jumping fish, dive bombing birds leading out to the ocean that had waves sucking us away from shore with a leaky raft hahaha.
10. Limo [x] - For a first time in a limo it wasn't a very happy time.  It was for my aunt's funeral :(.
11. Newspaper [x] - I was in the local newspaper for the first time with my sisters when I was 8 for feeding the ducks at the marsh.  Front page baby!  It was weird being the center of attention at school that morning.
12. Thrill rides [x] - I can't remember when I went on my first thrill ride.  I'm pretty sure it was at Playland/PNE with my parents and sisters.  I do remember going on the pirate ship for the first time and screaming "get me down, get me down!"  I hated that feeling in my stomach when the boat would hang in the air for a second and swing on down.
13. Be on TV [x] - When visiting a Richmond mall one day for a day trip with my parents, a chocolate store spotted my sisters and I and asked us to be part of their commercial.  They handed me a helium balloon and got us to prance around the store working our magic.  It aired on Fairchild TV which is a Vancouver/Toronto based Chinese TV station.  I was also on the local TV station when they were airing a parade I got to participate in.  It was fun waving to crowd.
14. Piano [x] - I took piano lessons when I was 8, but I didn't like it and quit haha.  I mostly got frustrated 'cause my eldest sister teased me a lot. She is definitely a lot more musically talented but she was really hard on me when I started lessons.
15. Karate [x] - I took Karate lessons when I was 11/12.  The first couple lessons were free, but to pay for them was quite expensive so I had to quit.  It wasn't all bad 'cause my dad would teach me Kung Fu.
16. Choir [x] - I was in and out of choirs in elementary school and joined up once during highschool for a Christmas choir.  I had a blast :).
17. Ukelele [x] - I learned ukelele from my grade 4 teacher.  I can still play "Ode to Joy"...but I'm definitely no ukewonder. I used to practice so much until my fingers blistered...I really loved ukelele at the time. 
18. School play [x] - When I was super young I participated in cutesy roles for Charlottes Web and West Side Story - it was only the grade 6 and 7 kids that got to audition for speaking roles.  My elementary school only put on a larger production every 2 years.  My grade 7 year was one of those and I got to audition for the musical, Wizard of Oz.  I prepared and ended up memorizing all the lines given for the audition.  I ended up with the role of Chief Munchkin...I truly believe I got type cast because of my short height.  I really wanted to play the Good Witch of the North...oh well :P.  For a couple years I adopted the nickname Chinese Munchkin.
19. Chinese dance [x] - I learned Chinese dancing when I was younger - the fans, the long ribbon, the tea cups...I couldn't continue 'cause my mom thought I was too young to keep up with the older girls when I had joined, but I learned some moves from my sisters and just from watching them practice during class.  I did get to dress up for some of the events (parades and performances) so it wasn't all bad :).
20. Win a contest [x] - The only contest I have won, was an art contest for BC Hydro.  Every year I would make a safety poster featuring a dog mother and son teaching him what not to do around the house concerning household appliances.  Every year I entered, I won a glow in the dark Louie the light bug digital watch...holla!
21. Straight A's [x] - The first time I got straight A's was in high school.  I mostly got honor roll...getting list of distinction happened when I had all my favourite classes in the same semester.  I think it was Art, English, Information Technology and Computer Animation...go figure :P.
22. Swimming with your clothes on [x] - There had been plenty of times when my girlfriends and I would jump into a local dam with all of our clothes on.  Fun times!  Those are the summers I will never forget!

Out of that list I actually accomplished everything but riding in a helicopter.  That's pretty good - although I think I set my sights low at the time.  Although at the time those were pretty big things to me.  I think next post I'm going to make shiny new bucket list!  In the meantime hope you all are doing well.  Thanks for reading!  Much love to you all!

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2010 Wish List of a Girly Gamer Geek

All in all I wouldn't consider myself as a superficial or materialist person, but as December nears closer I can't help but think of all the wonderful and sparkly things that the humble hoarder inside of me wants.  I was talking with my sister Emily recently and I had remembered that I needed her wish list for this upcoming Christmas, which then prompted her to remind me that she needed mine as well.  Since I have this lovely blog and need to share this list with more than one person and my birthday is also coming up *wink wink* might as well utilize it and display my 2010 Birthday/Christmas wish list.  Now without further ado here is my 2010 Wish List in no particular order :).


1) Crystal Fighters - Star of Love Album is first up on the list.  This is a group that was featured on musigh.  I fell in love with this album immediately after my first listen.  I listened to this album every day at work for the last little while as it helped me keep focus as I multi-tasked up a storm.  I really want to take this album with me wherever I go as it puts me in such a great mood whenever I listen to it.  The album only seems to be sold in the UK so it can only be acquired via iTunes (lame!) and via the interwebs off the HMV site. Shipping and handling fees are a few of my favourite things (not!)  You can stream Star of Love via Sound Cloud, which I've embedded below.  Take a listen while you peruse through the rest of this wish list.  My fave song off the album is "At Home", which is very fitting of the holiday season.

2) Fable III:  And at number 2 is Fable III.  I didn't play Fable I, I'm almost done Fable II, and I'm excited to get my hands on Fable III.  I love everything about Fable II, all but one thing; is it just me or does the menu design suck major ass?  Let's hope this is something they've improved in this third installment.  I am making it a goal to finish Fable II before November is up but my time has filled up recently with birthdays, crafting, shopping and life :P.

I'll have lots of free time around Christmas to play this as I've booked off 2 weeks vacation time.

3) Murchies Libre To Go Gift Set:  This gift set is a huge tease (teas)...get it!  Okay enough with the puns, (although I do enjoy myself a good pun.)  After having discovered an awesome American tea store called Teavana, during my business trip to Las Vegas, I wanted to discover something closer to home and found Murchies, which has been around since 1894.  This great gift set features their blueberry green tea, raspberry black tea and their afternoon blend, which is a mixture of their black teas.  It also comes with this awesome tea tumbler that is double walled to keep your tea hot for hours, includes a tea strainer to keep the loose leaves out of your tea and a tight screw top for maximum leakage protection.  My best friend Laura purchased this exact tumbler, (apart from the design) over at Whole Foods a while back and I've been wanting one ever since.  This gift set is available in store at their 6 locations and via their site.

What a lovely basket

The tumbler of tea champions

4) Learning ActionScript 3.0 - A Beginners's Guide by Rich Shupe with Zevan Rosser:  I haven't touched ActionScript since high school.  Back then there was only ActionScript 2.0.  I really want to refresh my skills and make some cool interactive Flash games.  I browsed around the interwebs and saw others recommending this book for people like me.  Time to throw the AS3 n00b status out the door yo! 

A frosty cover perfect for winter

5) A Big Box of Mandarin Oranges:  I fucking love these.  I could eat them every day.  I could and probably have at some point eaten a whole box to myself.  I am the "Food Monster" for a reason.  My mom likes to put one of these in the toe of our stockings for good luck.  Not sure what the origin of that is...maybe it's just something my mom made up?  Anyways these are delicious and I would be happy if this was the only thing I got for Christmas. 

LOOOOOOVE THESE!

6) Canon PowerShot S95:  It's been a while since I've went around and taken some photos.  A lot of this is due to past equipment that was more frustrating than fun to use.  I was reading up about digital point and shoot cameras and the Canon PowerShot S95 called my name.  It has a line-up of sexy features that meet all my camera needs including capturing HD video.  It's currently on sale at Future Shop.

Sleek and compact design...soooo sexy!

This will be my reaction if I am so lucky to receive such a lovely gift.

7) Urban Decay Naked Palette: Every now and then I throw some make-up on my face to accentuate my features.  I have brown eyes, which can be paired with most eyeshadow colours, but I like to keep everything natural on a normal day.  Urban Decay Naked Palette has been sold out every time I venture over to Sephora and is seemingly impossible to acquire.  The 12 shades look absolutely gorgeous and right up my alley.  It also comes with Urban Decay's famous Eyeshadow Primer Potion to make eye colour more brilliant and 2 convenient eyeliners.

They say the eyes are the windows to your soul...or bigger than your stomach...or bigger than your wallet...or your wallets soul

8) Brilliance Found - Feather Wrap Ring: I love my rings dearly.  When I forget to put my rings on it makes me sad.  I currently have 2 rings I wear often.  I have one which I acquired from a kiosk during the time I attended college.  It's sterling silver and features little elephants.  I love elephants which are considered lucky in India.  To me this ring symbolizes a time of independence and strength.  I bought my other ring from the cruise ship during my big trip 2 years ago.  It's also sterling silver and is a simple band which has a nice wave shape to it.  This ring for me symbolizes my "go with the flow" attitude and the milestone of going on my first big trip.  Enough about my old rings!

This feather ring would symbolize a lot of things for me.  I love nature, always grew up around it and always loved birds.  If you didn't know already, the "dee" in my username comes from chickadee, which are very cute birds I grew up around.  My favourite type of bird are crows and there's a lot more meaning behind that, which I won't go into right now.  Brilliance Found is a store posted on Etsy.  I had heard about this store from a friend (the one that bought me the OPI nail polish.)  This store has a lot of beautiful creations posted up which you should definitely check out.  The fact this jeweler is local makes me like it even more. 

I would flap my wings if I had them if I had this ring

They also have this ring created by Foxy Originals which is a Canadian company that started off with two girls that were passionate about creating their own jewelry during their teen years.  They are now supremely successful having been featured in O Magazine and their jewelry worn by some very famous celebrities.

9) Professor Layton and the Lost Future:  And now presenting the last item of the list.  I love the Professor Layton games.  The cute art, the story, the puzzles and music....everything about of them makes me happy.  I've finished playing The Curious Village and The Diabolic Box, which leads me to want to get my hands on the third game The Lost Future.  

Need it, want it, got to have it!

I hope you enjoyed seeing and reading through my wish list and even spotted something you might like for yourself, girlfriend, friend or family member. 

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