Lean In

I am half way through this book and I think it's pretty interesting.  Just in case you haven't heard of Sheryl Sandberg, she is Jewish, Harvard-educated, a married women with kid, and currently holds a position at Facebook as an COO.

In this book, she mostly encourages women to "Lean In", meaning women should be no different than men at a workplace, that women shouldn't feel insecure or afraid to speak up for themselves, always seek for better opportunities at growing companies, how to be more confident when negotiating for higher pay, and how to climb the corporate ladder, etc....  However, my favorite part about this book so far is "how to manage motherhood and work life".  I am still at the section when she talks about how important it is to find a true partner, who is willing be supportive and understanding.  Basically, she meant in order to have a successful career and a happy marriage, you'll need to find someone who is better than an average man.  Isn't this every woman's dream?

That's all for now.  I'm so sleepy, so good night!!!!

P.S  May be I'll write a book about "Lean Out" in the future???

Oi Naengguk (Korean Cold Cucumber Soup)

It is so hot today, so I decided to make the cold cucumber soup to eat with other side dishes for lunch.  It's really easy to prepare.  The only thing that is more time-consuming is to cut the cucumber into smaller strips, but even that part isn't so bad either.

Here's my final product after 15 minutes of prep

Recipe:

1. 1 and 1/2 English cucumbers, cut into smaller strip
2. Green & White Onions (finely chopped)
3. 4 cups water
4. 1 tbsp sugar
5. 2 tbs fish sauce (or soy sauce)
6. 1/4 cup cider vinegar
7. 1 tbsp sesame seeds (for decoration)
8. Ice cubes
9. Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Preparation:

1.  In a large bowl: add sugar, vinegar, and fish sauce to mix until everything is blended
2.  Add Cucumbers and onions into the seasoning, mix thoroughly, and let sit for 10 minutes in the fridge
3. Add sesame seeds and ice cubes before serving

*Optional:  If you like it spicy, sprinkle a little bit of Cayenne pepper to spice it up.

Lacquering them up!

Hi everyone!  To keep my new blog actively going, I am going to share my art work on "nails" for the new work week......

I love accesorizing my nails, but rarely visit any nail salons unless there are weddings or anniversaries to attend.  My very first trip to the professional nails salon was actually for my own wedding, which was about 8 years ago.   Ever since, I hadn't gone back until this past May, when I decided to get sassy for my cousin's wedding.  I have to admit that there's nothing better than getting pampered at Professional Nails Spas, but as a busy working Mom, I'd rather cut down some unnecessary expenses & time.  I figured I could still look as sexy and sharp just by getting them done by myself.  Below is my color for the week.

I am a big fan of Sally Hansen's polishes.  They are cheap, easy to paint, dry quick, and last for a reasonable amount of time. For this coming week, I decided to go with sparkly purple for my Corporate America.

For the first coat, I chose Sally Hansen's Xtreme wear, Vermis a ongles, Pink Satin.  This can be found at Target ($3)

These Xtreme Wear solid coatings are already thick, so I only painted 1 coat and let it dry for about 2-3 minutes before applying the sparkling coat on top of it.

I used Rock Star Pink as the top coat.  I didn't get this bottle at the same time as the Pink Satin, but they seemed to pair up really well. 

All lacquered up and ready for work tomorrow.....

New Member and Blog Name

After viewing a number of interesting blogs by a lot of women around the world, I decided to give in and become the latest member of Blogspot.  Choosing a name for your blog was difficult because I couldn't think of anything creative.  I was going going to pick "MNMom" but it sounded too generic and boring, so I came up with "TulipsMom" because Tulips are my favorite kind of flowers.  I am so excited to start blogging and sharing common interests with other women out there.