Shali's Tumbling Thoughts

Unfortunately Tumblr doesn’t allow you to change your default blog. The default blog’s URL counts as your username and the blog’s icon is your profile photo so I’ve been following/responding/reblogging most of my followers as “glassescats” (my original tumblr blog). I could have renamed glassescats but that would mean I’d have to overwrite the blog… Anyway, I’ve changed this blog’s url to “shalishali.tumblr.com” and created a new account to encompass the correct username/url/profile photo.

If you’ve been following me and would like to continue following me, please head to http://shalinguyen.tumblr.com and do so. 

Thanks!

I’ve found that my need for perfection has come in handy for a few reasons:

1) The things I make whether it’s design, food, or trip-planning is carefully crafted with a lot of thought and planning, competitive analysis, self-tested and doesn’t go out the door unless I know a majority of those exposed to it would be satisfied.

2) My life feels a little bit more exciting when I know I’ve spent the time perfecting my search for quality products that I use in my life (headphones, computers, the food I consume, etc…)

3) Reaching that lovely feeling of satisfaction about 90% of the time knowing that the work I spent towards perfecting whatever it is that I’m doing lead to a successful result just makes me feel wonderful.

However, this leaves me to think about how I’ve pretty much paved a path for myself where I fear mistakes and misfortune that I tend to over analyze how every decision I make can lead to something going wrong. Perfection has also cost me a lot of time and spending more money than I should on things. The spontaneity is gone. I can’t walk into a restaurant without double checking yelp reviews nor can I enjoy simple things in life like $20 headphones or lipton iced tea because I know what it’s like to have crystal clear sounds or the perfect cup of tea. This life of seeking only the finer and perfect things have lead me through much unnecessary stress and doubt.

If only I could just care less about making sure that I’ll gain satisfaction from whatever it is I’m doing or making, living life could be a little bit easier. However, I don’t think I could just do that. It’s not who I am. Maybe it’s all about finding a balance between perfection and just letting go.

If you’re someone who’s been around me enough, you’ve heard me rant and rave about magical mushrooms that can cure anything. No, I’m not talking about some psychedelic drug that takes you on a trip to crazy town; I’m talking about a special mushroom that’s grown in parts of Asia claiming to cure everything from cancer, the flu, diabetes, high cholesterol, allergies, and even the common cold. Google it!

Anyway, I’m pretty happy about the Reishi progress I’ve made over the last few days. When I returned from Orlando Sunday night, I started feeling like I was getting a sore throat. The next morning I had a fever, coughs, congestion, and just knew I was coming down with something. I decided to go to work anyway, took the mushrooms, and continued on with my day. I was feeling so terrible that I had to cut out early to go home and get a bit of rest. I continued on to take some more mushrooms that night and the following day, I was feeling about 70% back to normal. I still had the cough and some congestion but I was feeling a lot better today. Right now (72 hours since experiencing the symptoms), I’m at about 90%. I think by the end of tomorrow, I’ll pretty much be cured. This seems to be my normal pattern when I get sick - 1 day of terribleness followed by 2 days of quick recovery. Oh how I love these mushrooms and their magic!

OK-a better case study: My dad’s cholesterol level was at some crazy high number like 330 a few months ago. His doctor told him he had to start taking his cholesterol pills ASAP or he could soon end up in a wheel chair from a stroke. My dad has been against his cholesterol pills because the side effects from the medication just didn’t seem worth it. After some internet research, he found Reishi and decided to take it for the last couple months. Last week, he returned for some blood tests and he dropped 50 points. He’s down to about 280 or so… His doctor was no longer pestering him able taking his medication!

Anyway… if you’re suffering from some sort of illness, I’d do some research and check out Reishi. They sell them in almost any Asian market (and Whole foods).

I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately. I mean I’ve drank tea throughout most of my life but more recently, I guess I’m on this kick where noticing the slight subtle differences across various teas became a fun little hobby. Anyway, throughout this journey of tea exploration, I waltzed into Caffe del Doge while waiting for my train and decided to get some iced tea since the humidity outside was killing me. I asked the coffee shop guy for a recommendation and he brewed me a cup of Rooibos (red tea). I don’t think I’ve had red tea before. I found myself in amazement! It was so delicious and refreshing. I could taste the subtle herbal aromas. I decided to go home and look up this tea on Samovar’s website (apparently Caffe del Doge gets all their tea from there) and stumbled on a little button that said “Discuss this on Steepster”. WHAT?!? A TEA VERSION OF YELP!??! My brain exploded. Of course there are tea social networks, I just never thought to look one up.

Now I’ve found a few interesting flavors throughout my tastings and I’ve thought to myself in the past, “How could I possibly remember all these various teas that I’ve tried?” Well now I can! I’m pretty excited. There’s some cool features like an extensive tea rating system and adding a tea to your cupboard if you own it. You can also view current popular teas and other fun things.

If you love tea as much as me, check out Steepster.

After watching The September Issue, I started wandering the web for fashion photography and have now become obsessed. I’ve always passively noticed the beauty on pages of fashion magazines but have never really stopped to look at any specific photographer or style. I decided to run a google search on “best fashion photographer” and landed on a fashion blog mentioning Javier Vallhonrat. His work is truly fantastic and you can definitely see his style. I wanted to post some amazing photos I found. Notice his use of color and unique ways of pushing articles of clothing and accessories. I love it! Enjoy…