Dec
3rd

Wow is it December already?

One of my best and most talented friend's showcase at BCIT's info session.

The day we got free poutine from Belgian Fries on Commerical. What more could you ask for?

Girly filled days and nights.

For me, this is downtime.

Fun at the Bunnie Bar (a.k.a. Charm Modern Thai) for Bunnie's big 25. Of course, we completed our night with poutines and cocktails.

The night I ate so much my stomach was about to burst but I kept on eating anyway. Poutine, cotton candy, mojitos and lots of girly fun.

President's Choice ice cream ... and deep-fried ice cream.

Another girls' night. I love these.

Of course, had to hit the gym many times after all the gluttony.

The best thing that happened in November was that boarding season started early! I LOVE WINTER. Now I have another form of exercise to go along with my gym escapades.

Nov
30th

I’m sure most of us have a job where we have to collaborate with colleagues everyday. I’m sure we’ve all had bad days and get irritated when they are constantly asking from things from you, while you are already juggling a ton of other tasks and vice versa. I’m sure we’ve  all had that feeling where you need to ask someone for something but you feel really bad for bothering them because they’re really busy.

But as a part of our job, we are required to help others with their dependencies on you, and you must also push them in order to meet your deliverables as well.

My biggest problem when I first entered the industry was that I always felt bad asking my leads for things because sometimes we’d get so busy that we can hardly breathe, and once you lose focus, it can be hard to get back in. This was usually related to asking for advice and feedback and asking them to come over to my desk in person because you know, they’d have to completely stop what they were doing and walk all over to my desk. After managing others, I’ve learned that it’s better to ask for anything as soon as you need it, because your leads would probably be a lot happier if you asked for for anything earlier on, since your work reflects them as well. I’ve had experiences where a workflow could’ve been a lot faster if the designer just asked for feedback earlier, than spend days on wasted work. Not a good reflection on both of you! Now, whenever I need something from anyone (clients, engineers, other designers, etc), I’d do it right away with no hesitation because it’s my job on the line.

Simply an amazing office!

There is a software engineer I always work with, who probably always ask me for the most things ever— questions, changes to this and that, etcetera, etcetera, but I’ve never given him a second and always got him what he needed right away because: his emails and the way he talks is always polite, thankful and apologetic and usually begins with a, “Hi Katy, I’m sorry to bother you again but…” and always ends in a “thank you so much!” (and the fact that he is super nice)— how can you get irritated at that?

My point is, if you want things from other people, always ask nicely and never demand it. If you need something and feel bad for asking, just remember, if it’s going to affect your efficiency, the quality of your work or even your performance review, ASK FOR IT ASAP. Don’t hold off on it!

This entry came into mind after I walked to a colleague’s desk one day while he was eating his lunch and was frantically trying to swallow but hey, it was an urgent issue! I don’t even have second thoughts any more when colleagues interrupt my lunch because no one really does it unless it’s urgent.

Nov
15th

The bad thing about working in the video game industry is that it makes me lazy and inconsistent— in terms of looks and fashion. When you go out, you should always look your best because you never know who you’re going to meet, but at my workplace, where networking does happens, I don’t do always do this, and I should!

If you know the industry, you would know how relaxed it is. We wear whatever we want, we have beer fridges, we attend fitness classes, play games, take our dogs for a walk, eat or simply grab a coffee whenever we want. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not all fun and games here, but this atmosphere is designed to balance out our high-stress work environment.

Some days I’ll come to work all dressed up with my 4” heels, make up on and hair done while other days I’ll arrive looking like I just got out of bed. I’ll go to the gym in the middle of the day and come back to my desk with my hair still dripping wet and my face beet red— my colleague walked by once and asked, “is it raining outside?” I would rather look hideous for a while than fry my hair with the dryer, every single day, okay. With this being said, I swear I am going to try making an effort… at least 90% of the time.

What do you wear to work? Do you make an effort to dress up everyday?

Nov
14th

I don’t want sparkly things… I want shiny things.

After trying to come up with a wishlist for Christmas, I realized how different I am from most girls I know. Things I want as gifts (and usually buy for myself) includes electronics, books and appliances. I want a DSLR, an iPad (although I’m sure I’ll never use it), a new Blackberry Bold, these snowboard boots, a set of knives, a Bamix handblender, a carbon-fiber road bike…

If you get me clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags or make up, you better give me the receipt so I can return it and buy something useful instead.

$3000 purse? Uhhhh… someone tell me what I would do with an expensive, designer purse?! iMac please!

Nov
13th

Can you believe it?