A while ago I was tagged by Kileen to do a 7 confessions post. I usually don’t participate in tags or share uninteresting personal information, but I’ve really really enjoyed reading everyone’s confessions posts and learning more about my fellow bloggers. So…here goes:
1. I moved 6 times during my childhood. From China, to PA, NJ, VA, NY, OH, then to MA. It was hard to make and keep close friends in school and I don’t wish to subject my future kids to that.
2. I like some really gross foods (like offals! lol). We had a good twitter chat going about this : )
3. I used to dabble in piano and had a secret YouTube channel. By Asian piano standards, I’m awful. I like playing Asian love songs.
4. I skipped 5th grade and missed the birds and the bees talk in health class. Why did it have to be that year?
5. Sometimes I believe in fate. My boyfriend of 6+ years and I grew up on opposite coasts and applied to a myriad of colleges, but we both narrowed it down to the same top two choices. We ended up choosing the same one and I met him my first day of school!
6. I think the best gift my parents ever gave me was a humble beginning.
7. I had a small “business” in high school sewing clothes & handbags for classmates. My senior year was spent furiously sewing in the basement! I even had to go to the ER after sewing my finger to a garment, lol. Some dresses that I made for proms (don’t laugh!):
I have been following your blog for a while. I'm also a petite Asian girl (almost as the same size as yours) , born and raised in China. I came to the States three years ago. Your blog really provides me an awesome guideline for building my wardrobe. BTW, I also play the piano and I've actually bumped into your secrect YouTube channel several times…:) You played really well~
How strange! I just found your blog through Steph DSK Jewelry's blog and thought your style was so chic! The weird thing is I am still a subscriber of your piano channel because of Canon in D! No wonder you looked so familiar!
omg! sewing!!! i have yet to learn how to sew clothes. where did you learn? YT vids? books? trial and error? i also wanna transform some of my clothes that i dont wear into something cooler. gah i dunno where to start ;.;
You are so talented, making prom dresses and purses and things! 🙂 That's awesome!! You really have an eye for clothing 😀
Awww I Loved reading this. 🙂 So awesome that you sewed up a storm in Highschool.. I like the stuff you made.. sorry about sewing your finger. Ouch!! Do you still sew now?
Hope your Thanksgiving was fabulous Jean!
xx Love & Aloha
@PetiteXXS You must tell us at the meetup! I also feel like we have a ton in common, can't wait to chat in person.
@herwaisechoice Thanks Jen : ) And I don't have the fashion sense to make clothing for post-high school wear lol…no chance the "business" will be revived haha.
@PetiteLittleGirl Your comment gave me a good laugh, Sydney : ) That is far far from the truth but thank you for watching, and it's never too late to pick it up. My mom started teaching herself after watching her kids take lessons and she plays to relax!
@diana Ah I am embarrassed but thank you very much for your kind words. I'm glad you liked some of the (cheesy Asian love) songs!
@Selena Boston area, you?
@fabulouslyfrugirl Thank you…oily-faced prom pics bring back fun memories, eh lol?
@samanthaloves It's not creepy…I love it too! I hope more people will share : )
@SewPetiteGal My sewing skills are NOWHERE near yours! You have amazing DIY's!
@*ms.angela89* Haha thank you Angela but I'll leave the sewing tutorials to the pros, like sewpetitegal up above!
Wow, thank you guys for all of your comments! I was surprised to come back from Thanksgiving to see all these lovely notes. I really did not share these confessions to show off sewing skills…if any of you saw my sewing in person you'd be appalled by how shoddy it is. I cut a lot of corners to save time and the job is far from professional, hence why I take all my clothes to the tailor still.
@siwing Yup! I speak Chinese (mandarin) and a little bit of Canto.
@AubreyOhDang! Lol! No DIY posts in the future…I enjoy shopping too much now to DIY.
@Elle Aww, I'm sure you got to be pretty decent at the piano after five years. So Asian of our moms : ) I don't do my own alterations because I don't trust myself with nicer stuff, also it takes way too much time and patience!
@kileen Thanks for tagging me : )
@Erin Lol! Good thing we weren't…I'm actually embarrassed to think I sold my shoddy workmanship to classmates. I wonder what they've done to my "stuff" by now…
@Ping Haha thanks Ping, but trust me up close these were not so great.
@DiamondsandTulle I know! I look at people like my boyfriend who have lived in once place pretty much their entire lives, and have a band of close friends from elementary school or even earlier, and I'm jealous!
@The Little Dust Princess Lol, look it up on Google ; ) And hmm, I think I attended 3…soph, jr, and sr years.
@CynthiaC Definitely not haha, there were too many overachievers there.
@Irene Yes those sure do count! I love it all lol.
@Nelah Wow, now that you mention it…that's quite true! Me, you, PGL, PetiteXXS…
@Cee That is so sweet! It's really nice that you two are from the same area back home, so your families can potentially see more of both of you. Splitting the holidays on two coasts is rough! And lol…my little business died for good reason ; )
@Claud Thanks Claud! Hope you had a great holiday as well.
Wow, impressed with your many talents.
Awww, I enjoyed reading your confessions! Wow, you are so lucky (and so smart!) for skipping the 5th grade…I remember I hated the boys and bees talk. You played piano too?! I didn't pursue it for very long lol but it seems very typical for an asian to play some sort of classical instrument.
Impressive sewing skills. Even in high school, you looked so pretty and smart too. I heard that piano improves math skills because they're related – is that true? (I credit a great math high school teacher, not my piano lessons.) I was always the new kid too – From one country to the next so friendships were temporary. Pictures of you and your bf show how dedicated you are to each other – hurrah to you both!
!! when i read #1 i finally felt better that i wasn't the only one. i moved so much too and i don't think i'm quite done. i never want my kids to go through this terrible lack of stability.
yeah why don't you do your own alterations? you're great at it and don't you give me this humble crap denying it 🙂
@anonymous: sometimes young professionals have so many better things to do than hunker down and get married so early. if you find someone amazing early on, they're a keeper and you don't need a ring to reaffirm that.
@jean: you two are the most beautiful couple. someday you're going to have the most beautiful kids. wish you the best in many years to come!
@Anonymous: Not to go off topic, but people in the old country aren't marrying that young anymore either. My Hong Kong peers are mostly in the 28-35 age range and only half of them are married (mostly those in their 30s). The average age of first marriage in Taiwan is pretty much hitting the late 20s/early 30s as well. The world is changing and traditions get altered. That's just the way it is. I'm sure our ancestors would freak out at the fact that our brides wear white.
You have been with your bf for 6yrs and you are not even engaged or married!?! Why??? I don't understand why my Azn sistas adopt these loose American ways and abandon our traditional cultural ways that have benefited our people for thousands of years!
We are a people who value family and if dude has not put a ring on your finger then how is he or you respecting our family oriented culture?
Not attacking u, I just don't get it and i see too many of our young Azian people forsaking our traditional cultural ways to fit in with a selfish American culture.
Awww this post was very fun to read! More life with PAG pls! 🙂
Wow, you look gorgeous in the photos you posted! I envy your sewing skills (as I have none).
Love all your confessions too – cute story about the bf =) and totally agree about humble beginnings!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wow, is my first word. Your so cute! I love your smile. 🙂
You definitely have sewing skills. I like that lime green one the best! 😀 I don't know how to sew so, if you do tutorials maybe I'll learn. heheh! Have a great day!
Oh my goodness, great sewing skills! Like Aubrey, I'm wondering if you'll do some future DIY posts – loved reading your confessions 🙂
". We ended up choosing the same one and I met him my first day of school!" That's soo cute! Call it creepy, but I totally love hearing about how lovers have met!!
I think I fail a lot of things by Asian standards! I can't believe you did all these! You should go back to it, you are talented, yes?
xox,
20 YORK STREET
This is so cute, Jean. And you are brave for putting up prom pics 😉
I really agree with your #6.
I loved this it was so cute! And I know what your old piano channel used to be. I love your piano playing so much…you are really much better than what you credit yourself for!
You live in MA? Where? I live here too!
I just watched your videos. Oh wow! I am really impressed. You're so talented in many ways. I have always loved to play piano but didn't get a chance to learn when I was young. Thanks for sharing with us. You're truly a perfect Jeanie 🙂
Awww Jean, the story of you and your boyfriend is so sweet! And I can totally see your dresses being gorgeous if you just modernized them a bit. It's amazing how you can make them and I too agree that you should start up your business again! 🙂
Jen
I love the pictures! I like that you changed up the colors! Ouch!! about your finger! I do not want to try to imagine that one!
That is a sweet story about how you two met!
This was really fun to read! Even though I've always been in the LA area, I've moved around quite a bit… 10 times since college! I didn't even know what offals are, but after googling it, I have to admit that I eat it too haha. I also skipped a grade (but in high school), so that's another thing we have in common! Love your #5, I'll have to share with you about how I met hubby one of these days! Very much agree with your #6 as well, wouldn't have trade my upbringing for anything because I probably wouldn't be here otherwise. And omg thanks for sharing those prom pics!! I don't think I'd be brave enough to share mine haha. The green dress actually looks quite nice on you, but a different color probably would've helped 🙂
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Awww…you look so sweet in your prom pictures. Lovely! I enjoyed reading this post. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
sewing yourself to a garment!? ouchie! I like this tag… always nice to get to know you a little better 🙂 <3
The dresses look so well made. I think you should revive this small business 🙂 My bf and I met in college too, not on the first day, but one of the first few days. Our story isn't as cool because we're both from the same area back home and went to a state college, but I still believe in fate!
I love the green dress you made!
I think you're very talented. No I did not laugh at those pics, and you were very pretty even back in high school! I really enjoy reading your blog and a few others from the petite community. My blog is about food so I haven't much to contribute to the community but I love what you guys do and I regularly check for sales alerts. Keep up the good work!
LOL…tagged twice! I guess I have to now…maybe after a few glasses of wine tomorrow, I'll whip something up…=P
So…are we going to have a Jean's piano YouTube channel viewing at our SD meet up or what??? =)
Gotta love these confessions, I really enjoy getting to know everyone a bit more too. Thanks Kileen who starts this post, you rock girl!
To my surprise, several ladies within petite community were born overseas. I thought that is interesting because I was not born here either. We all can relate to one another in some ways. I had no idea you sew, I mean look at those prom dresses. You are very talented and pretty. Glad you did this post 🙂
Aww I love this post! That's really sweet how you and your bf met. And that's awesome how you can sew!
I can't believe you sewed those yourself – that's so neat! I've always wanted to learn, maybe this year? I'm more impressed than anything else by your super skills, I always enjoy your DIY posts.
I have to find this secret youtube channel – 🙂 I think 90% of all asians play some type of musical instrument at some point in their childhood!
I have no idea what offals are – google to the rescue! Does tripe & gizzards count?
Happy Thanksgiving to you too! 🙂
Those are awesome confessions! And wow you did a nice job on those dresses! Awesome story about the boyfriend, also 🙂
I really like the green prom dress! Also, having a small business in high school, huh? Were you part of Junior Achievement?
By the way, don't forget to check out MY Seven Confessions!
OMG and I thought I had it hard going to so many different schools. I can't imagine moving between States/provinces. What are offals???? lol I saw your Youtube channel before..you either showed me or posted it somewhere. : ) I think you have talent! I have none at all (in music) so consider yourself lucky. ; ) The story of you and your boyfriend is so cute. : )
Did you attend THREE proms?!? I love the design of the green dress, but that wouldn't be my first colour choice. LOL
Wow you are so talented…I can't believe you made those dresses! I didn't know you were Chinese… You look Korean to me…
Ohh wow! This was such a cute post! and those dresses were lovely!! 🙂
Wow! What great sewing skills you have! That green dress is very detailed! I know what you mean about moving around. Though I never moved out of state, the constant moving and moving back made it hard to establish any childhood friends.
xx Vivian @ http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com
oh wow jean! u are good. my mom has a sewing machine and i used to make my friend clothes for school dances, but they weren't anything elaborate like your prom dresses. it normally consisted of tube tops, tube dresses and tube skirts! lol!!
You made those? I'm impressed!
Totally agree with you regarding the humble beginning. Perspective is such a great thing! Love your dresses too! Wish we'd been friends back then, I would have bought one from you!
wow, i'm so impressed with your sewing skills! all that ruching and the layers!
and it's so cute to hear about you and your bf too! i love the pictures of you and him and you guys seem perfect for each other! congrats on 6+ years!
thanks for doing this tag. i love reading them and i hope you had fun doing it too! 🙂
You can sew really well! I don't know why you don't do your own alterations!? It would save you so much money 🙂 But you are always a busy bee at work so I am sure you don't have that much free time.
and when will you share your secret youtube account with us? I would love to see you play…my mom made me take 5 years of piano lessons when I was small but I was too ADD to be any good at it.
You made the green dress?! Hey, not bad, not bad at all. So what happened to this sewing hobby of yours? Can we expect future DIY posts? 😉
Happy Thanksgiving Jean!
I love these kinds of posts! Wow you're a East coast girl!! hehe.. Can you speak chinese? I am chinese too ! =)
Aww what a sweet story of you and your bf.. It is fate!
and girll you can definitely sew !! I like that green dress !!
very talented. I know many petite friends that can sew.