No? If not, I must have been a weirdo.

But in all seriousness, I really did think this for a long time. Perhaps it’s because I had such great role models who always made me feel secure and loved? Or is it because my parents really were great-looking?

See for yourself. Here they are, on their wedding day 33 years ago:

(Names blurred out to protect their privacy.)

One of my father’s favorite stories to tell brag about is how when he was in his early twenties performing his mandatory military service, he and all the other men in his platoon had a little competition, comparing photos to see who had the prettiest girlfriend, and he won, hands down. 

And although I may be biased here, I think my mother was very pretty. Personally, I think she looks much better in these pictures than some of the popular Korean celebrities today — even with their plastic surgery!

To quote Cher Horowitz, “Wasn’t my mom a total Betty?”

Last week, when I saw this Someecard, I let out an exasperated “HA!” because it’s exactly how I’ve been feeling, and I couldn’t decide if the situation was funny or sad.

J even canceled a business trip to Palo Alto because he’s been concerned about me…so there’s also the guilt on top of everything else.

I could moan and groan about the difficulties of life, but it’s nothing new and I know that I don’t have it worse than any other mom of two. And since my recent exhaustion has led to my neglecting this blog and my beloved readers, I’ve decided to host a giveaway.

Up for grabs is Sephora’s The Summer Starter Kit. I received this by trading in some Beauty Insider Points — I always save my points until something good comes along, and I know that the items in this set are some great ones.

Included in the kit are the following items:

• Shiseido Urban Environment UV Protection Cream + Broad Spectrum SPF 40+ (.57 oz)
  
• Lancôme Hypnôse Star Mascara (.068 oz)
• Anastasia Brow Gel – Clear (.085 oz)
• bareMinerals Multi-Wrinkle Repair Serum (.17 oz)
• Dr. Jart Black Label Detox BB Beauty Balm (.33 oz)
• Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer SPF 15 (.16 oz)

And YES, the cosmetic bag is included! (Normally, I don’t care too much for pouches that come with makeup sets, but even I gotta admit that the design of this bag is pretty chic!)

I know for a fact that ALL the items in this exclusive, limited-edition Summer Starter Kit are popular items from high-end brands. I also know that the Hourglass primer has replaced the Smashbox primer as the HG primer of many makeup artists and gurus!

And, just in case you’re a research fiend like me, here are the links to each individual product:

If you click on over, you will see that ALL have received rave reviews. And while the items in the set are smaller versions of the retail counterparts, this kit would be a great option for anyone who wants to try out any (or all) of these fabulous products before buying.

Now, for the giveaway!

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 4 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post answering the question “Which product do you like the best from the Sephora Summer Starter Kit?”) being mandatory while the third method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013, at 12:01am EST, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Sorry, this giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. who are over 13 years old.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win! If the winner fails to respond within 48 hours of my contacting them, another winner will be selected.

Good luck, and thank you for entering!

As those who live along the East Coast of the U.S. are aware, this past weekend saw the arrival of the first tropical storm of the annual hurricane season. And just as luck would have it, the worst of the storm passed through us directly on my sister’s wedding day.

I remember saying to numerous people that morning, “It’s a good thing it’s raining so hard right now — hopefully that means the storm will have lightened up in time for the wedding.”

I was wrong.

My sister had rented a large house for the event, with the intention of holding both the ceremony and reception in the expansive back yard, under a party tent. She was not worried about rain, as the tent is designed to withstand inclement weather.

But Tropical Storm Andrea had other plans. The rain, along with it 50 mph winds, did not show any signs of letting up through the day and night. Numerous people — including the bride and groom! — worked all morning and early afternoon to keep the inside of the tent dry, but they were no match for mother nature.

And with just an hour left to go until the start of the ceremony, they were forced to call it quits.

I will let my speech for the bride and groom tell the rest of the story…

(The below is recalled to the best of my ability. I wanted to write it down as a memento lest I forget it, because I decided to ditch my original speech and completely winged this one!)

To those who don’t know me, I’m Jenny, Suzy’s sister, and I’d like to thank you all for joining us in celebrating Suzy and Andrew’s wedding!

I had a long speech prepared about sisterhood, family, and love…but decided to scrap it all earlier today, when it was decided that the wedding should be moved indoors. I was here, at the house, getting my hair and makeup done when Andrew came looking for Suzy. I could tell that their conversation was supposed to be a private one, but being the nosy older sister that I am, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop…

I heard Andrew explain to Suzy that despite their best efforts, they couldn’t stop the inside of the tent from getting flooded. There was also a leak on the roof of the tent.

He kept saying to Suzy, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I could tell that Suzy was upset, but she kept a brave face and told him, “What are you sorry about? It’s not like you can control the weather. It’s not your fault.”

And Andrew said, “But I know this isn’t what you wanted. I’m so sorry.”

He was practically in tears at this point. And as they stood there hugging, comforting each other, then making plans to move everything inside, I couldn’t help but tear up a little myself.

I knew right then and there that they would make it.

And as their friends and family gathered to help, running back and forth between the tent and the house in the pouring rain, moving furniture and making all the last-minute adjustments, I couldn’t help but be even more touched.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything happen that better represents a couple’s relationship on the actual day of the wedding. To see Suzy and Andrew comfort each other, stick together, and work together in a time of crisis…to not fall apart and to still have fun doing it, and to have everything still turn out so beautifully, as you can all see…

And to have so many people come together to help them out…that only goes to show how much of a positive impact they have on others’ lives and how much we all support their happiness and their marriage.

So I’d like us all to raise a toast to Suzy and Andrew. We love you, and we wish you a lifetime of happiness.

Many congratulations to my sister and new brother!

In the meantime, I hope you check out a new Tumblr blog I created: What Should We Call Blogging? Modeled after the über-popular #whatshouldwecallme, I knew that numerous spinoffs had been created (my favorite right now is What Should We Call Church), so I was surprised to learn that one did not yet exist for bloggers.

I’m still tinkering with the design and other little aspects, but I feel that there are now enough entries to reveal it to the world. Feel free to click on over, tell your friends about it, and even submit something if you’re inspired.

It’s a little project I started on the side just for fun, so I hope you enjoy it.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Via Laughing Squid.

I’ve decided to share with you some of my favorite stories from the past few weeks…

(Once again, if you are a Facebook friend, you’ve probably seen these in my updates so please feel free to skip this post.)

These sunglasses make her look like a granny, but she loves them.

A couple of weeks ago, the weather forecast predicted scattered thunderstorms. But since the sun was shining as J prepared to go to work, he and I had a short conversation about whether or not he should bring an umbrella. In the end, he decided not to, and I guess Claire was listening, because later that afternoon…

Me:  ”Look out the window! Look how hard it’s raining!”

Claire:  (looking very concerned) “But appah didn’t bring his umbrella! He’s going to get all wet!”

I then assured her that her daddy has an extra umbrella at his office, and she seemed satisfied with that answer. 

Wearing her giraffe on her back

Later that week, as Claire was running around the house with her giraffe in the air —

Claire:  ”Umma, look! The giraffe is flying!”

Me:  ”Wow, how does he fly? Where are his wings?”

Claire:  (after thinking a bit) “His wings come out of his butt! He farts them out!”

She then ran away, giggling. I couldn’t help but wish for a giraffe that would do such a thing.

Aerin sitting on Claire’s lap, who is sitting on my lap. (Wow I suck at selfies.)

I’ve found that when both girls are being cranky, one of the easiest things for me to do is to start a new activity or show them something they haven’t seen before. I did just that last week when I pulled out my wedding album for the first time in years. The girls were AMAZED to see mommy and daddy on the pages of a book. As I flipped through the pages, Claire kept saying things like, “와, 이뻐!” (“Wow, pretty!”) and “엄마 아빠 사랑해!” (“Mommy and daddy love each other!”)

Then we came across a picture of our wedding cake. Claire then started singing the birthday song, taking care to sing, “Happy birthday dear umma baba” in the third line. 

Pouring tea for everyone

We go over to my parents’ house almost every Sunday. And since my mother has off on Mondays, Claire usually spends the night there. I’ve heard some hilarious things from her adventures at halmeh and halbeh’s house, but my two recent favorites are:

• When she saw my sister’s dog Dante licking my FBIL Andrew, she remarked, “Dante, Andrew, so cute!”
• When she saw that it was raining, she put her hands out, palms up, and said, “비와. 어떡해?!??” which translates to “It’s raining. What are we going to do?” (It’s a lot funnier in Korean. )

I threw Claire’s giraffe into the wash this morning because he was getting pretty grimy. When the dryer buzzed, Claire ran over and hugged him tight in her arms. As she was walking away, I could hear her telling him, “괜찮아, 기린이 더러웠어. 미안해…사랑해!” (“It’s okay, you were dirty. I’m sorry…I love you!”).

She loves her giraffe so, so much.

That being said, I personally wouldn’t mind watching Knitting Wars. Grannies can get feisty!

Via Adweek.

My — and thousands of others’ — initial reaction to this animated GIF is to think/comment about the apparent presence of male genitalia. Also, do the buttocks remind anyone else of a delicious rump of ham? This just goes to show that the internet is full of mature adults. 

Via Reddit.

I’ve been having one of those WEEKS.

The physical evidence includes a bruised left knee which is so swollen it hurts to bend (from lunging to prevent an injury which led to injuring myself from slipping on a toy left on the floor) and a fat, bleeding lip (Aerin threw the remote control at my face this morning).

But the emotional trauma of dealing with seemingly-endless tantrums, quelling fight after fight, and painstakingly preparing meals which will be rejected with, “Umma, I want cereal!” can be much more exhausting, no?

Yesterday, I shared the following Someecards on my personal Facebook account and received a bunch of sympathetic — and “Omg YES!” — comments in response.

So I’ve decided to gather a bunch of motherhood/parenthood memes from the web and share them with y’all.

Because although it may be a Friday, weekends no longer equal breaks once you become a parent.

Because we can’t get through this without support from one another.

And, because we can all use a laugh.

But that doesn’t mean the interwebz can’t have some fun poking fun at a possible Microsoft Glass, right?

If you’re unable to view the video for whatever reason, here’s a GIF version. It’s difficult to read the words, but you still get the idea. 

Via Reddit.