The Nibbletron: Nibble Your Way to Happiness

You know those days when you come home from work and you're super tired and just not feeling like you can even muster up the energy to do anything except pass out. Well...all you need is The Nibbletron!

Okay, all you need is someone to come at you really fast and nibble at your face, neck and ears. It's literally the most hilarious thing. It will give you energy, make you laugh, make you smile, and probably make you giggle.

Imagine how nice it would be if instead of greeting people with a handshake, we could nibble each other!
"Oh hello madame!" *nibble nibble nibble nibble*

Sometimes I want The Nibbletron more than anything. I want it more than a bowl of popcorn, I want it more than my favorite Chanel eyeliner, I want it more than double smoked bacon, and even more than an online shopping spree with Forever21.

If you want your life to be simple and happy and fun and perfect, get nibbling.

Goodnight future Nibbletrons!

How Do I Know How Much You Care?

  

As I sit here in my bubble bath with candles and a warm cup of tea, I wonder "how do people show they care towards others?" Do I have a certain way that I show affection? Do I like certain things over others, or is it just about the thought that counts. Do I like material things or is it more about the gesture?

I have to say that if you asked me this question 10 years ago my answer would be very different than what it is now.
I truly appreciate the small things. And I know it's such a cliche, but it's so true.

When my dad picks me veggies from his garden and puts them in a bag for me to take home, I know he cares.
When my mom tiptoes around the house in the morning so that she doesn't wake me up, I know she cares.
When my grandma cries on the phone just from hearing my voice, I know she cares.
When my brother gives me advice for building my future, I know he cares.
When my roommate wakes me up with coffee in the morning, I know she cares.
When my best friend invites me to her annual awards gala, I know she cares.
When my best friend talks to me for hours on end, I know she cares.
When my friend comes over to make me dinner because my attempt was absolute garbage, I know he cares.
When my man makes me a bath with candles and tea, I know he cares.
And when he gets me a toothbrush, I really know he cares.
When my favorite coffee shop has almond milk, I know they care.

I just find that having little loving gestures means a lot more to me than having one grand gesture. I feel more safe and happy. I feel cared about and loved. I feel calm and content.

This is probably the sappiest writing I've done but I feel like I don't tell these people how much I appreciate what they do.

We all hear the saying, "tell the people around you how much you love them", and it couldn't be more true. But you don't have to literally tell them that. You can do it in little ways to make them feel loved.

Whatever it is. Show your love.

Love.
Kitten.

The Only Thing That's Predictable About Life is That It's Unpredictable

The tough thing about life is accepting its unpredictability. 

Sometimes your house may be near a forest fire or maybe your wife is paralyzed  in a car crash or maybe your dog dies from heatstroke or maybe you find a lump and it's cancer. All of these things happen every single day. 

But for the most part they don't happen to us. 

Until they do. 

So what do you do until then? 

Every plan and goal you have will literally have to be put on hold when your life is in jeopardy. The big kitchen renovation you're doing or the dream to open up your own brewery or the Masters program that you've been working towards.

They just all lose any priority. I guess that's what people call "the important things in life". 

Well I mean the only really important thing is your health. 

Because without it you can't do all those things. You're either dead and can't do them or you're physically, mentally and emotionally unable to do them. 

So that's kind of depressing. 

But it's not! 

You just really have to do whatever you want to do. 

Do what makes you happy and don't apologize for it. 

If you want to take a thousand selfies then do it! 

If you want to watch hours of reality TV then do it! 

If you want to adopt 5 kittens do it! 

If you want to start every morning with an expensive latte then do it!

My perspective is that if you're not hurting anyone else then do it. And pay no attention to what other people say. Do it and don't stop doing it. Because one day you won't be able to anymore. 

Love hard

Live hard

Laugh hard 

Xoxo

Azin

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

The more and more you live your life, the more and more you realize how precious it is. We want to live our lives to the fullest because it can be so easily taken away. So do you live your life more aggressively because what have you got to lose, or do you try to be as safe as you can because you'd rather not take the risk?

I like to think that I live my life the way I want to live it. I have the job that I want to have, I eat the foods that I want to eat, and I spend my time with people that I want to be with. I would say yes, I am the ruler of my life.

But then I meet someone who completely blows me out of the water. I have a friend. His name is Yashar. He is that guy who has completely taken over the direction of his life. He is that guy who quit his job to pursue his passion. And now he is literally doing what he loves. He has Yummus, Chinatown Experiment, Midtown Experiment, and I'm sure so many other projects that I don't even know about.

I imagine that it must have been so hard to make a change like this. Not only to make the initial decision, but to follow through with it and really go for it. I'm sure it was really hard, and I bet it still is. But wow, what a feeling it must be to create something and make it yours.

I admire and am motivated by people like Yashar. Although I don't really see myself following his path, it still makes me reflect on the decisions that I make.

It reminds me of a South Park episode. When Cartman is on Maury Povich and he says "Whateva, I do what I want!!"

Well hell yeah. It's literally your life. We each get a life. So make sure it's actually yours.

Nobody Said It Would Be Easy, But Some Things Make It a Little Easier.

It's possible that my mind is completely all over the place, and it's also possible that my life is all over the place. It seems like as soon as I have something figured out, something else completely falls out of place. Don't get me wrong. My life is far from "hard" in the typical sense, but how you perceive your life is totally subjective. And lately, mine feels "hard".

I guess my parents were right. I remember in high school when I was studying for Provincial Exams, my mom told me "Azin, life is not easy". But I thought of course you're saying that mom, you had to immigrate to Canada in your twenties from a third world country?! How can you even know what I'm going through. And honestly, saying that out loud sounds absolutely ridiculous.

How can I think my life is hard? How is it not easy? I've had everything I ever needed to build a great life for myself. So what gives?

I feel like I've had a huge focus for the past several years on my career and opportunities to create something for myself. I am doing the job that I've always wanted to do. And I am starting a project that I am really passionate about. I have so many ideas going on in my head that sometimes it's hard just to fall asleep at night. I've started to write things down because it helps me release the ideas and fall asleep. I can't really talk about the ideas because some of them are secrets, but lets just say I have a lot more work to do.

So my professional life is well developed, but what about my personal life? I feel kind of behind in that area. Like my brain has big juicy neurons for my work, but my neurons are small and pathetic in other senses. Poor little brain.

But it's okay. Because my mom warned me that life wouldn't be easy. So that's why I do things that make it a little bit easier.

1. Coffee

I am completely absolutely hands down addicted to coffee. It's the reason I get out of bed in the morning and the reason I go to bed at night. And if it gives me this much joy and pleasure, then I sure as hell don't feel bad about it.

2. Food

There are some foods that make me so happy that I'm gitty. These foods include cashews, almonds, bacon, pork belly, grilled onions, dried figs and eggs. Once again, if a food can give me so much pleasure, then so be it. Get in my belly you delicious perfect little cashews.

3. Love

For me love is big. I love my friends. I love my family. I love my mom so much it's weird. She doesn't know how obsessed I am with her. I want to be her so bad. I love my apartment. I love my roommate. She also doesn't know how much I love her. It would weird her out. I love running. I love walking. I love scarves. I love being hot. I love saunas. I love massages. I love foot massages. I love my hair. I love doing my makeup. I love facials. I love moisturizers. And god I love oils.

So really. What I love is what I love. And they just make it a little bit easier. And I love them for that.

Mom, you told me that life isn't easy. But you never told me I could make it easier by finding things that I love, and doing them when life is tough. But I still love you, even though you probably could have mentioned that ;)


Love.
Me.