Personality Test

Guardian Portrait of the Protector (ISFJ)
We are lucky that Protectors make up as much as ten percent the population, because their primary interest is in the safety and security of those they care about - their family, their circle of friends, their students, their patients, their boss, their fellow-workers, or their employees. Protectors have an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility in their makeup, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can shield others from the dirt and dangers of the world. Speculating and experimenting do not intrigue Protectors, who prefer to make do with time-honored and time-tested products and procedures rather than change to new. At work Protectors are seldom happy in situations where the rules are constantly changing, or where long-established ways of doing things are not respected. For their part, Protectors value tradition, both in the culture and in their family. Protectors believe deeply in the stability of social ranking conferred by birth, titles, offices, and credentials. And they cherish family history and enjoy caring for family property, from houses to heirlooms.

Wanting to be of service to others, Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden, and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. They are not as outgoing and talkative as the Provider Guardians [ESFJs], and their shyness is often misjudged as stiffness, even coldness, when in truth Protectors are warm-hearted and sympathetic, giving happily of themselves to those in need.

Their reserve ought really to be seen as an expression of their sincerity and seriousness of purpose. The most diligent of all the types, Protectors are willing to work long, hard hours quietly doing all the thankless jobs that others manage to avoid. Protectors are quite happy working alone; in fact, in positions of authority they may try to do everything themselves rather than direct others to get the job done. Thoroughness and frugality are also virtues for them. When Protectors undertake a task, they will complete it if humanly possible. They also know better than any other type the value of a dollar, and they abhor the squandering or misuse of money. To save, to put something aside against an unpredictable future, to prepare for emergencies-these are actions near and dear to the Protector's heart. For all these reasons, Protectors are frequently overworked, just as they are frequently misunderstood and undervalued. Their contributions, and also their economies, are often taken for granted, and they rarely get the gratitude they deserve.

Romance

Guardian women look for traditions to start or maintain. They are generally suckers for flowers, cards, chocolates, and the like. They are among the most likely to notice and appreciate signs of status unless these signs are flaunted, such as entrance into an exclusive club and being welcomed by name at a trendy restaurant. Men often appreciate Guardian women who lavishly pamper their partners.

Example: Leilah is a Guardian Protector (ISFJ). Guys often didn't even notice her in high school because she was so shy. In college, she had one long-lasting romance. However, her boyfriend turned out to be abusive. Since he would always apologize and she is very trusting and loyal, she stuck by him. The abuse escalated, so she finally left. Now she is dating a man who treats her like a queen. She'd like to marry him, but she's afraid he might change afterward.

LOL. Now I know why I'm a sucker for cliches.

Dear Baby Girl,

I know this past summer was turmoil and a hellish ride for you. I didn't get to see you, but I felt your pain and your sadness. Although I don't quite fully understand the whole thing, I want you to know that we're with you 100% of the way. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to actually face Death in the face, the heartache and utter despair that befalls someone when the one person who was their superhero, their rock, their support disappears from your side. But I do understand part of it, I know what's it like to fall so deep into a hole and feel like I can't crawl out- when the world seem to collapse on me and my life crumbling to my feet. The fear and the denial, I know it all too well.

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer almost two years ago, I felt my heart stop. I even snorted and told the doctors that that couldn't be possible. In a way, I saw my mother as almost invincible, nothing could take her down. I was denied the possibility that this was happening to her. I denied it so hard that I pretended that I never heard those words. But Life wasn't always a pocket full of sunshine. It wasn't until she started her chemo treatments, losing her hair that she loved so much, and me watching her life deteriorate before my eyes did the reality of the whole thing slap me across the face. Hard. My family was also arguing and fighting amongst each other everyday, and I think because everyone was so desperate to find release that they forgot that everyone was suffering too. And I added to that fire, I was childish and stubborn, I was angry at the world... At Life for doing this to my family. I fought with my dad even harder than before, bitter words were thrown at each other, and I knew that I shouldn't be fighting with him, especially in front of my mother whom was laying so delicate in the hospital bed with the beeping monitors next to her. It was then that I broke down when I saw my mother cry telling us feebly to stop fighting. I cried so hard in that hospital room, I think that was the first time that I really let myself go. I was at my lowest point in life, and I detested myself for it. I honestly thought I had lost myself through this muddle of chaotic mess, yet deep into the depth of my heart, I had faith in my mom. I had always believed my mother would survive through this, she was a fighter. She was my role model, the strongest woman I knew (although I would never tell this to her face, only through letters did I confess my thoughts to her). It was the only hope I held onto- and that pulled me through the darkness with the help of my cousin and sister who were the only ones that listened, who were pacifists. For those two years, they were my only support system. But we made it. My mother fought hard the next two years, and she persevered and won.

In a way, I learned a lesson, "For the first time I had to deal with the fragility of life. I have foolishly lived feeling invincible, thinking that I and my loved ones will live into our 70’s or 80’s, without event. But for the first time, I’ve thought about what is truly important in this lifetime. The two things that are of most value for me are my family having a purpose that extends beyond this life. There must be more to this life than living an X number of years while simply trying to be a good person." I know the ending of this story is way different than the one you went through, if not on the other end of the spectrum- but I'm here to listen to you. I want to be your support that you can depend on. I want you to know that you're not alone in this! (:

With much love,
"Elie"

Cafe Haus!

4 Stars out of 5

WOOT! I finally got the chance to cross this off my list of 'To-Go' places even though it's down the street from my house, and it's walking distance! But one less place to bookmark! (:

ATMOSPHERE:
This place has gone through a lot of phases and I've seen them all, cause I've been in Walnut for a good decade almost. I think right now might be their best yet. Their interior designs and ambiance are simple and clear cut. It gives off that neat 'hole-in-the-wall' cafe joint with it's own separate patio that allows people who smoke and don't smoke different areas to hang out. The inside of the store is actually quite spacious despite the fact that they already have a large outside area, I just love it. It's super cute and convenient.

FOOD:
Let's get to the food: First off, I hate waffles. With a passion. But Cafe Haus has me licking the crumbs off their plates when I was done with their Strawberry Waffles that I ordered! I was so surprised! I honestly had iffy feelings that I might not like it. How wrong I was! The small serving is topped with a good slather of nutella (SO DELICIOUS) then a handful of strawberries and bananas, chocolate is drizzled deliciously across the entire plate then lightly sprinkled with fluffed powered sugar. Adding in the perfect crispiness of the waffle itself made the whole thing like an f**king party in my mouth! The first bite was like walking on cloud nine. The nutella melted onto my tongue and I could just taste the slight tartness of the strawberry on the side. Then the crunchiness of the waffle takes over and the dough seems to suck all the flavor together and it becomes one and down it goes into my stomach! It also comes with a side of strawberry ice cream which was all right, wasn't the best. A bit too frozen for my liking. But the overall presentation and taste of the Strawberry Waffle was very impressive: 5/5 stars! I also got their Iced Green Tea, it's actually pretty good. It comes with their own tiny pitcher of sweetener so you can adjust how sweet you want your tea according to your own preferences. I thought that was very thoughtful of them to make something like that. Plus, the tea wasn't super strong and overwhelming, it was light and airy. Something I'd definitely drink on a hot summer's day like today. (:

SERVICE:
Great service! The girls there are all so petite and cute... They were very thorough with us because it was my other friends first time eating at a cafe like this (with the waffles, shaved ice, and crepes, it was all new to them so they didn't understand). She went through and explained what each dish was and how they tasted and such. They were very accommodating towards us! But like some review says, we rarely saw our waitress again after our food was served. Exception to one time she checked up on us or was it twice?

OVERALL BILL: $5.98 (Tax included)
Tip: They do accept master card and visas only and no minimum! Hooray! Free wifi! ;) They will definitely be seeing me again and I'm definitely going to try their crepes here next time! Until then! :D

Iced Green Tea & Strawberry Waffles!

Anniversary!

An anniversary coming up? Try doing something simple but thought provoking. (: There goes a story in Japan that if you made 1000 cranes you'd be granted one wish. Whatever the heart desired. A few months back I made about 1000 stars and had them placed into a jar... I wanted to put the idea of the crane's story into the gift as a secret gift from me to him. One wish in a jar~ One love. (:

Materials:
- One glass jar (be careful with that!)
- Star paper (comes in strips)

Here's a link that I posted that has the instructions on how to make them. They're rather simple, but always comes with good meanings. :D

http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/japan/morigami_star.htm

Time: Varies

Price: $3.00

Love is in The Air

It's the eve of Valentine's Day and I was able to finish the cupcakes for my boyfriend! :) I hope they tasted okay, ahahaha~

And my finished product from my last post:

It seems that even mother nature is feeling the love in the air! Tonight's sunset was breathtaking, I hope everyone was able to enjoy it! It was like the sky was on fire~

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's that time of year again! Yes, it's Valentine's day in TWO days (or one in my case since it just turned 12)! What are your plans this year? Another trip out to dinner or busting your brains out trying to buy something for your significant other? How about something hand made? The most endearing always comes from the heart, as cheesy as it may sound: it's the thought that really counts. Everyone is on a budget these past years because of the economic down turn and everyone's watching their budget. So I decided to come up with a cheap, but cute solution in making a gift for your special someone under $10!

This year, I decided to make personalized letters with homemade cupcakes for my boyfriend! Each letter will contain tibits of the memories that we shared starting from the first day we met 15 months ago.

Materials Needed:
- Tissue Paper
- Construction Paper
- Fabric Paint (choice of your own color)
- Small Mail Box
- Small paper box
- Cupcake cups
- Cupcake ingredients
- Chocolates/Or any small sweets

All of the materials can be purchased at your nearest Target!

Make sure that you have a design in mind for your blank canvas that is the mini mailbox. The mailbox will act as a carrier for your letters! You can draw it out or just have an image in your head. I preferably just draw it from memory. But you can always take a pencil and draw out the design lightly on the mailbox. So, after you've planned out what design you'll be drawing out, carefully take the fabric paint and gently begin tracing out the patterns that you've laid out. If you make a mistake, no worries, take a Q-Tip and just lightly scrape it off. When you've finished just place it aside and let it dry. It'll take about 10-15 minutes for it to completely dry off.
How mine turned out:

As the mailbox is left in its drying process let's begin with the letters. You can take just about any color (I usually go with a thematic palette). Cut it up to about 2.5 x 3 inches. The designs are all up to you guys, I just went with what ever came to mind. Perhaps you can go with stripes or stars, hearts, or just plain circles. Here's my example, my first one I picked a red background with a white foreground and I had heart cutouts that decorated the edges. (The white foreground is about 1/4 inch smaller than the red one)


The messages are, as I said before, memories from our past dates that we went on or those small but memorable memories that I've shared with him. The rest of my letters turned out like this:


I wrote about 5 letters and after they're done, your mailbox should be done drying by now. Take it and place the letters inside and they should fit perfectly. For the rest of the space, take a sheet of tissue paper (I suggest another color that is not the mailbox)fold it loosely into about 4 folds and stuff it lightly into the mailbox leaving a few holes that'll allow you to put candy inside. My boyfriend loves sweets so I bought something we could both share on Valentine's day and I came upon Hershey's: cookies and creme. The chocolate/sweets choice will also be up to you and what you think will be a good choice for him/her. Just make sure it's not a large chocolate bar... Hahaha! Or else it definitely won't fit. Take a few in hand and toss it in:

Your mailbox and letters are done! Now let's go to the next process: the cupcake gift box. The thing about Target is that you can always find good things at the $1 section. I found a nice small gift basket there that'll fit the cupcakes that I'll be making later on this weekend. But the basket was a bit too deep so in order to give it that high elevation look I dumped in a mass of hershey's that will be acting as my ground foundation.


Then take another sheet of tissue paper, pick it up from the center and twist leaving a stem out for you to hold.

Then place this into the gift basket you've prepared and it should mold into the shape quite nicely since it's such thin paper.

Voila! Put the cupcakes in once you're done baking! You have your mailbox carrier, letters, and cupcake holder as a gift set for your boyfriend/girlfriend! I'll have the results (with the cupcake decor steps) up in another post later this week! :)

Time: 20-30 min

Money Spent: $9

Cuteness!!