Hi everyone!
Welcome back to Lavendaire.
Today is another February highlights, lessons, and favorites.
And before I get started, I want to make a quick announcement:
My podcast, The Lavendaire Lifestyle, comes back this Sunday.
So make sure you tune in, whether it's on iTunes or my blog.
I'll have all the links down below.
Podcast will be uploaded every Sunday, starting March 4, so look out for that.
I also wanted to share about the Artist of Life Mastermind,
because I'm not sure if everyone knows about that.
I have the Artist of Life Workbook which I'm sure you've heard about,
but there's also a Mastermind which is a Facebook group that goes along with the workbook.
So we do monthly goals, monthly reviews.
Twice a month I do a live chat with Q&As on different topics and stuff,
and it's very, very engaged.
So if you're looking for something very personal with a supportive group of like-minded people
to just keep yourself accountable towards your goals, then this is the group.
And I just wanted to share now because we're about to start forming new mini-groups for our next quarter.
Mini-groups are where we group 4-5 people in the Mastermind who have similar goals for that quarter
to just be in a Facebook chat and keep each other accountable for the next three months.
January through March was the first quarter of the year, and then we're gonna start signups
for next quarter's mini-groups now.
Throughout the month of March, we're going to be taking surveys
on what your goals are for next quarter,
and match you up with people who have similar goals as you
because it's more fun to work towards your goals together,
especially with people who could help you out with your goals.
Alright, so let's move onto my February highlights!
So the first highlight of the month: It was Chinese New Year, so that was a super fun weekend.
I usually spend the entire day with my family.
The day of Chinese New Year, we go to a few different temples in the area, we pray,
and then at night we do the red envelope thing where the adults give money to the younger kids.
And it's just a lot of fun.
Family time, we have dinner and just a lot of traditional stuff that we do.
Another big part of my month of February was doing a lot of podcast interviews.
You guys, I've already recorded like 15 or more episodes for the podcast.
I have them recorded way early in advance.
This year I just wanted to see how it would work if I would batch them together.
I felt like, in February, I spent more time recording podcasts.
Every day I would have multiple recordings lined up, and then I had less time for videos.
So next month, I definitely want to be more consistent with uploading videos and also Instagram.
My theme of March is "consistency".
For February, it was about the podcast which is pretty exciting,
because whenever I get to interview new people, each time I meet someone,
just talking to them, I learn so much.
So February has been a lot of lessons, too much that I could probably share in one video.
So I'm just gonna share a few lessons later at the end.
Lastly, a big highlight that happened just a couple days ago is:
I got an opportunity to go to Stanford to guest speak at a class.
It was a digital marketing class.
I went on just to talk about my story and what I do with Lavendaire
and tips for people who want to get into video marketing.
And that was very intimidating at first.
I was actually very, very nervous to go to do that event.
And I'll have a vlog recorded which I'll post on my vlog channel.
But in the end, it was a great experience.
I'm so happy I went because I haven't done a real presentation like that in years.
I haven't made a slideshow in years.
And it was good to kind of get that practice and get my nerves going, and then face my fears.
And then realize that it wasn't that big of a deal after all
and I feel confident with how I presented, and I'm happy with it.
Honestly, at each stage of life, even though you feel like you might have made it far enough
and you're happy with where you're at,
I feel like life always throws you more things to scare you,
scary things like this Stanford speaking thing.
It scared me and it meant that I had to step up and face it,
to overcome those fears and put myself in that uncomfortable zone.
Another thing is: Part of the reason I moved to this apartment is to be closer to the city
so I could go to more events and network with more people in the creative industry.
And so I've had to force myself to go to different events this month to step out of my comfort zone
go to these social events by myself, and try to make new friends or talk to strangers when I go.
It gives me a lot of anxiety, I get nervous, but I know it's good for me.
So I'm gonna just put myself out there, experience these very uncomfortable things.
So this month, a common theme I had to tell myself was:
"Be brave. Do the brave thing, even if it's uncomfortable."
And so continually I have to push myself and go out there, do those scary things.
Okay, moving onto favorites of February.
I was really excited to get to this part sooner.
In the beginning of the month, I was really obsessed with The Greatest Showman album,
and I think now it's kind of died down a little bit.
That wave was really high, maybe last month.
But I LOVE the song "This is Me".
That's like the anthem of that soundtrack.
So if you haven't seen the movie, definitely go watch it.
There are so many songs, very pretty songs on that album.
But my favorite is "This is Me",
just because it's very, very empowering.
It makes you feel strong.
It makes you embrace everything that you are, all the flaws, all your weaknesses,
and it's really just a song that I constantly sang to, cried to, danced to in my car.
It's one of those feelgood power songs.
It's amazing, totally my favorite.
My next favorite is the SNOW app.
I recently discovered it.
I believe it's a Korean app.
It just has so many filters, a lot of face filters,
and it just does so much more than the usual Instagram, Snapchat, or any other apps that I found.
You can get so creative with it.
That's why I love it so much.
I just think the filters are higher quality and look better.
Usually I'll take videos with SNOW app then I'll save it,
and then upload it to Instagram Stories.
So if you guys are interested in being more creative and creating prettier Instagram Stories,
or using better cute face filters, then check out SNOW app.
My next favorite is the Dyson Animal Cord-Free Vacuum.
I know, I'm getting there.
Because I've moved into a new apartment, we've been shopping for new home appliances
and the Dyson was one that I really wanted to try out,
because I've had friends who have told me that it's totally worth the money and it's amazing.
So I bought it and the first time I used it to vacuum, I was like mind-blown.
I was like, "Oh my god, this is life-changing."
First of all, it's so light.
Second of all, it's cordless.
I've always used those heavy, corded vacuums.
It's a whole new world for me and I feel like Dyson is very high-quality.
It's just so well-made and it's strong.
It's just a great vacuum.
And I love that it's light enough that you can clean things that are in high places.
It's just really cool.
If you're looking for a new vacuum, this is worth the money.
And it's something that, if you want to buy a gift for your parents -
they like cleaning and they're still using old-school vacuums - definitely consider it.
Next up is my favorite show at the moment.
Yes, I've gotten into a new reality show on Netflix.
This one's called Hyori's Bed & Breakfast.
If you've followed me for a while, you know that I loved Terrace House which is a Japanese reality TV show.
And how Hyori's Bed & Breakfast is a Korean reality show.
And I found it randomly.
It just caught my eye because I like this kind of stuff.
The concept is: Hyori is this Korean pop star.
I've actually known her since I was in like junior high.
She's older now.
She lives on an island in a big house with a lot of land.
The show is about Hyori turning her home into a bed and breakfast
where she gets guests coming in and out, multiple guests staying at her house at the same time.
So there's a lot of strangers interacting.
You meet a lot of different kind of people, young and old.
And it's really interesting because for me, I love people-watching.
I think I love reality shows more than dramas and stuff, because I like real life.
I like just the mundane funny moments, funny awkward moments of everyday life, you know?
It's similar to Terrace House in the sense that there are people coming in and out,
but it's just different because this is a Korean pop star.
And it's funny because she hired a staff, someone to do the kitchen work and house work
who's actually another Korean pop star named IU.
And it's fun to watch the show and listen to their music after.
And in some episodes, they're actually making music and recording.
So I like to see that aspect of their life as well.
I've only watched six episodes so far, and just to give you a comparison,
I feel like Terrace House is focused more on strangers forming romantic relationships,
but Hyori's Bed & Breakfast is more strangers forming friendships
and different types of relationships like an old person and a young person.
I definitely cried more watching Hyori's Bed & Breakfast.
There's just some sweet, touching, sad moments.
This also leads me to my last favorite of the month.
It is a song by IU called "Through the Night".
Like I mentioned, IU is the kitchen worker on the show, Hyori's Bed & Breakfast.
And on the show, she's like this awkward young girl who's kind of clueless, doesn't know what to do.
But then, when you listen to her music, she's transformed into this angelic goddess,
and she has an amazing voice, very pure, very soft and beautiful.
I've become obsessed with IU.
I've listened to her album and previous albums and really love her, really respect her.
And Through the Night is just such a pretty song.
It's so pretty, I've been singing it all the time even though I don't understand the lyrics.
By the way, if you guys know of any good songs you want to recommend to me,
specifically songs with female vocalists that are fun to sing, doesn't have to be a ballad,
just a song that's fun to sing vs. the songs on the radio right now in America are just not catered to vocalists.
It's more catered to the beats and production, so I'm just looking for songs to sing
and especially if you know Chinese, whether it's Mandarin, Cantonese songs.
I'm trying to stack up my KTV list of songs that I could sing when I go karaoke.
So definitely recommend all your songs down below.
Alright, so those are my February highlights.
Thanks so much for watching.
Make sure you check out my podcast and also check out the Mastermind group
if you want to be part of a mini-group for next quarter and onwards.
Alright, I'll see you in the next one.
Bye!