http://www.askphivy.com/post/9968019277/you-are-absolutely-fabulous-what-type-brand-of

SO SORRY this took me a long time to answer!

http://www.askphivy.com/post/9042013244/i-am-visiting-la-soon-was-wondering-if-you-can-give

http://askphivy.tumblr.com/post/8796851739/what-are-your-favorite-vietnamese-dishes

http://askphivy.tumblr.com/post/8817126117/for-favorite-vietnamese-dishes-can-you-explain-what

ooh to find out the answer to THIS question go to:

http://askphivy.tumblr.com/post/8791574601/would-you-eat-swedish-fish-flavored-italian-ice

see what i did there?

these two answers might help for background info:

http://www.formspring.me/hoisinivy/q/163040925025600892 &
http://www.formspring.me/hoisinivy/q/170379831622539983

i'm in a weird situation where rye's ex-gf's family are family-friends with rye's family, so the paths often collide (big events, church, etc.). it is INCREDIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE for me. i'm talking like anxiety-stricken, ugh-i-need-to-get-out-of-here-asap, situation. rye bread & his ex-gf don't talk directly, either on FB, online, or irl, so other than seeing the entire family around on random occasions, i don't have to deal with her too much.

in regards to your bf & his ex-gf, have you talked to him about that situation? asking him why he feels the need to still be there for her? it might be a situation where he feels bad leaving her out in the cold - but to tell you the truth, we're grown adults, she can figure out what she needs to do on her own. i'm sure she has friends & family to rely on, your bf (and her ex-bf) should not be one of the few people she calls when she needs help.

does it bother him to say no to her? if he's a nice guy, i can see how he would be uncomfortable - he could just feel obligated to help her if he can. but i would just say that it makes YOU uncomfortable having her rely on him so much. to me, you can't have the perks of having a someone else's boyfriend. i would suggest he cut her off completely, at least for the time being, so that she understands the boundaries. but only HE can set those boundaries, you can suggest them to him, but he has to put his foot down. it's not fair for him to be there for her if it's hurting you inside. after all, he's moved on (with you), she should move on as well.

does that help?

lol! maybe he's just bitter about the breakup & jealous of the life you have now? that's what i would think.

my HS bf & i are friends on FB (we broke up like in...2002? so it's been literally 10 years). it definitely took some time before we became friends (even online). it probably took a good 5+ years before i could think about him without either being resentful, hurt, or sad. we made amends about 4 years ago, we had a 15 minute conversation on the phone, just to quickly catch up & ended up having lunch about a week later. at first awkward, i quickly realized that i didn't have any feelings for him so it was like having lunch with an old friend.

since then, it's been strictly FB friends - we wish each other a virtual happy birthday, comment on status updates every once in awhile, but it's all very surface.

i don't consider us irl friends, i don't think we should be. we were together for a long time (he was my first love!), but it's all in the past & i don't think anything good can come of it if we were to be any closer.

i'm glad to hear that you were okay with running into your ex (even if he wasn't), that shows that you've moved on & it's all under the bridge now. it's not your problem if he holds any resentment (or feelings). unless you two are amicable terms, i'd leave it be...and chalk it up to how great you look! :)

BOTH.

at first i'm like SICK! EW! then i'm like, "hayyyaayyy still got it."

for me, it's about the hard work. i'm fortunate to work for a small company & hard work gets noticed easily, unlike corporations that are machines where a lot of times your work can get lost in the shuffle.

you can't be afraid to take credit for the hard work you did, but at the same time, giving credit for group efforts or to individuals also go a long way. for instance, if i lead a project, i have no trouble saying that i led the team, but if a particular idea or aspect was presented by a coworker, i will 100% give him/her credit for it. (e.g. sarah did a great job mocking up these designs) it's important that you separate yourself from the pack without throwing everyone else under the bus.

the worst thing is to take credit for things: too much of "i" & not enough "we" will resonate a lot more (and not int he good way).

you can also try to start initiatives to help improve the company - whether it's organizing a small potluck for bettering company rapport or starting your company's twitter account - it helps to "own" something that you did on your own without a lot of guidance.

to move up, you should definitely talk to your supervisor or director as to what is required to move up to the next level. that does a few things:
1. shows them you are interested in moving up
2. allows you to set tangible goals as to what you need to do in order to move up

you may think "oh if i land this one account, i'll definitely move up" while on their minds, it's leading a team that will take you to the next level - it's important that you hash that out so you know you're on the right track to being where you want to be.

hopefully those help! those are just a few tips off the top of my head.

i particularly like Murad since they have a lot of anti-aging stuff as well as a lot of discoloration products. i haven't really branched out into too many brands, as i'm worried my skin would suffer, but i know that unlike most ethnicities, we don't have to worry about wrinkles as much as we do sagging & sunspots & discoloration. so try to find products that address those two things first.

ugh i was the WORST in high school! i was completely a typical TEENAGER. i was so self-involved & the entire world revolved around me. in high school, i had a long-term boyfriend (we dated for 5 1/2 years!), so my world revolved around him (and not school, which i now regret). you know, in high school, some friends can be really fickle & i didn't understand what true friendship meant until my senior year.

i was part of a larger clique, they were all i knew for the most part, i didn't have any real friends outside of them. and then my senior year, they decided, "you know what? we don't like her anymore." and that was it - i was out of the clique. at first i was completely devastated - i mean HELLO, this is my SENIOR YEAR! how can i NOT have any friends? but i didn't. this was the year we could drive OFF campus to eat lunch? and what did i do? i'd wait til everyone left then drive by myself, while everyone carpooled, i ate in the library by myself, reading magazines or text books. it was VERY different than what i thought it was going to be. my then-boyfriend & i broke up for a period of time & that didn't help either! i tried hanging out with other cliques but they had so many inside jokes, they had spent at least the past 3 years together (not counting jr high school), so me coming into their groups, i felt like i was just there visiting, not really belonging.

but the strange thing was, even though my then-boyfriend & i got back together, at that point, i was so used to being by myself (during breaks, free periods & lunches), i didn't really need to spend every free moment with him. and even though it really sucked that i didn't have any close friends my senior year in high school, it really prepped me for college. when i entered college, i also had no real friends...i went to a school that i didn't really know anyone - and i was perfectly fine eating by myself, studying by myself, going to the bathroom by myself (which girls, we know is like an ordeal).

so it really helped shaped me into who i am today. i think my first 3 years of high school i was just this superficial girl, worried about what everyone thought - was my hair shiny enough? did i apply enough mascara? am i skinny enough? all those things - and when i didn't have any friends to compare myself to, i ended up being perfectly fine on my own.

this is usually how it goes:

them: "how do you pronounce your last name?"
me: "h-win" (soft h)
them: "wynn?"
me: "sure."

i'm not too particular, if they happen to catch the "h" in the beginning, then i usually am surprised, but it's a lot easier to say "wynn" than add the soft "h" sound. it's better than "hoo-yen" or "huh-yen" though if someone says "hoon" (long U), i won't correct them. lol.

i have a few foundations i use (not at the same time!), depending on the occasion & weather:

for work / casual outings: i don't typically wear foundation at work - it's a little heavy & i tend to sweat most of it off (I THINK HARD OKAY?), so i use concealer to help even out my skintone. specifically, kat von d's tattoo concealer in medium (or tan) - this is perfect for evening out my skin without being too heavy all over my face. i also use MAC's Studio Finish concealer in NC30 & NC35. i then use physicians formula mineral wear loose powder all over (in translucent medium or natural beige).

for casual outings / semi-fancy: i really like the l'oreal's magic smooth souffle foundation. because of the texture, it's completely matte & won't sweat off. i then use the same concealers as above for my under-eye circles or blemishes i need to cover up. then i apply the same loose powder.

fancy nights / full coverage: i prep my face with makeup forever's HD primer, then apply makeup forever HD foundation (sorry, i forgot the color off the top of my head). any areas that need extra coverage, i use the same concealers mentioned. i always top it off with loose powder & for extra oomph, i use makeup forever's HD Microfinish Powder. I will say that makeup forever's foundation does give me a lot of shine i'm not comfortable with - i am constantly blotting, but it does give me the coverage i want, so it's a give & take.

another concealer i use is amazing concealer - it's a lot thicker than kat von d's (surprisingly), so i apply that with a brush.

all of the above can be purchased at sephora, mac counters, or your local drug stores, so super accessible.

haha, i know, as i wrote that, i'm like, "ehh hope my boss doesn't see what i'm writing."

you know what's even better? when i have to ask for the items, "excuse me ma'am...do you happen to have...deep..throat...in stock?" ehhh.

but most names fall into 3 camps: 1. normal (e.g. carbon is a black eyeshadow), 2. puns (e.g. not so bora bora-ing pink is a nail polish color) or 3. sexual (e.g. my nars products).

imagine ALL OF THE POSSIBILITIES of OUR cosmetics line? it would be like, "don't look out your window black" & "windowless van white"

i tend to switch on & off of nars, depending on what look i'm going for, but here are some of my favorites:

1. lip lacquer in diablo (though it does tend to get sticky & on your teeth, so be forewarned)
2. blush in deep throat
3. anything in orgasm (lipgloss, blush, nail polish etc.)
4. highlighting / bronzing blush duo (orgasm / laguna - after buying the duo, i bought each of them separately, that's how much i liked these colors)
5. blush in taj mahal (this is highly pigmented & ORANGE, but i use a very loose brush & just gently tap it. or i use it as an eyeshadow)
6. highlighting powder in gold rush (i think this might have been a limited edition, but it gives a little sparkle to my cheeks if i'm wearing a matte blush)

i don't use nars foundation / powder only because it sets on my face a little weird (starts to settle in the lines), but their blushes are amazing, as are their lipglosses.

hopefully that helps!

i don't think i'm pretty good anything that no one's mentioned, only because it's usually when people BRING IT to my attention, i'm like, "oh yeah, you're right." haha.

i don't have any sekret hidden talents or anything.

i have two favorite compliments:

1. when i was wearing a trench coat during a rainy day, my friend's son (who was 7 or 8 at the time) asked me "why are you dressed like a superhero?" and even though that wasn't a direct compliment, i certainly appreciated that question.

2. in one of my work evals, my boss said that the one thing everyone agreed on was that i made work exciting & made my coworkers want to work with me. i mean, our work was NOT fun so the fact that i encouraged people to work on it with me made me really happy.

also my comix are pretty gud, aren't they? remember when i drew one of us meeting & then me forgetting i got your # only for you to remind me months later? you should post it.

this power you posses is great. you must use it for good & not evil. except in the case of getting good grades...then you should totally do it. jk.

i would avoid this unsolicited advances by ignoring (or worse comes to worse, saying something), but usually people do things to get a rise or a reaction. if you don't give it to them, they'll go find it elsewhere.

you are the only one asking me questions nowadays. D: i think i smell bayad.

anyway, some things i'm jearous of:

+ multi-dimensional hair on mostly caucasian girls
+ that some people don't smell when they sweat
+ rich people
+ sometimes rye rye's past gorlfriendz (even though, i'm like, way better)
+ dogs that are still alive (still bitter about ez e mang)
+ people who have function in all 10 fingers

you know what annoys me? when my guy friends say "oh that gorl is hot" and i'm like, "RLY? no she's not." and they say "oOOoh you're just jearous." but i'm NOT jearous! i just think she's not hot. WAI GUYS ASSUME I ALWAYS JEAROUS?

so i don't know what the BEST internet link i've seen of recent, only because I SEES SO MANY. THE INTERNETZ IS MY JOB.

but this one makes me laugh EVERY TIME. mainly because it's just so horrible:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbdj6jtKmR1qc3zato1_500.jpg

good luck not hating yourself after.

ah, yes. the ultimate procrastination, i feel you. after talking to several of my upper management team members & higher ups, i realized that in my specific field, an MBA (right now) won't catapult me to a much higher level. i think having an MBA is great for certain fields within marketing, but right now, i've decided to concentrate on my work & nailing projects versus studying & applying for my MBA.

what did help me when i was studying was just taking a Kaplan course - sometimes your current employer will subsidize, so it's worth looking into. it'll help you get into the right mindset, great tips, & put you on a schedule.

good luck!!