Authentic Me.

Okay, it's now 3.34 in the morning and instead of feeling sleepy, I'm feeling rather excited for no particular reason. So I decided to put down my book (which was a difficult thing to do), grab a yogurt from the fridge and savor it while inspiring myself to blog. Actually my inspiration to update came since Sunday, but was soon, as always, defeated by the enormous amount of laziness that constantly possesses my soul. Oh well, let's just pretend I've been having a life. And in fact, I kinda have. :)

For the past more than one week, I've been living in a bubble of exceptional happiness despite several unfavorable events having taken place in such a short period of time, not to mention they all should have created certain impacts in my life. Honestly, even I was appalled by the way myself perceived and reacted to everything - perfect calmness, confidence and a relaxed smile for every challenge were not within my expectation. It seemed like the powerful waves of emotions that I would otherwise have experienced had been buried somewhere deep under a thick layer of cold ice, so deep that I was barely affected, which really was a blessing. Perhaps, that protective mechanism was naturally formed from continuous rational and intuitive thinking of what is right for myself - just myself and no others. The healthy dose of selfishness aided the compromised me to gain a deeper insight into the authentic me, to listen to what I really have, want and need, and to act accordingly. Certainly, the outcome was so satisfying I wouldn't have done a thing differently. For once after so long, I feel genuinely comfortable standing tall in the knowledge that I have tasted a little bit more of life, grown a little bit more mature, raised my self-value a little bit higher, and behaved a little bit more appropriately than certain individuals who arrived on this planet earlier than I did. All in all, cheers for the successful evolution and revolution of the authentic Hailey.

However, I have to say that happiness doesn't solely come from inside. Actually, can any of us generate happiness for ourselves? Perhaps. But I believe the best you can do is to maintain a positive outlook on life so that happiness can easily gain access into your heart and soul. In my case, I have long been convinced that I'm an eternal optimist. No "cure", seriously, don't even try. Anyway, there have thankfully been significant "external stimuli" that helped making my day, among which I would like to mention:

New hairdresser

Her name is Susan and I won't tell you where she works. She's mine, period. Well, initially I didn't really like her as (1) she looked young and inexperienced and (2) her suggestions for my hair made me think she was one of those clumsy hairdressers who would create some sort of disaster on my head. It was not until she parted my hair correctly after blow-drying without any guidance that my impression of this girl turned 180 degrees - like OMG ALL previous hairdressers annoyed the hell out of me after asking back-and-forth for minutes, losing their patience (while I, as the customer, managed to keep my cool) and still got it wrong in the end. As a result, this time I got my fringe trimmed nicely, just as I wanted, for once!

Susan even asked me to stand up, then trimmed my hair to the length that complimented my body frame the best without over-trimming because she knew I wanted to grow longer hair. And during the few draggy hours, she remained sweet and patient, listening to my requests, paying attention to the littlest details and giving me advices on how to take better care of my scalp without pushing me to buy any products from the salon like what hairdressers usually do. With all such confidence and passion she placed in her job, how could I or any customer not like her? I grew so fond of her that for one moment, when another girl was blow-drying my hair, I got really paranoid and kept looking towards Susan with helpless eyes. Luckily, she soon said something to the girl in Chinese and got the job back, whew! See, by the time I was shaking her hand to leave, I'd known where she lives, asked for her name, introduced mine and of course thanked her (for changing my entire idea of a good hairdresser - for the better).

Hi, I got fringe! Yay!

New wardrobe

This one was a total surprise because it was neither my decision nor property. My landlord's sister who came back from the States for holiday decided that the material of the old wardrobe wasn't good enough - which is true - and that it needed to be replaced with a stronger bigger one. So I was told about the plan on Saturday night, and the newcomer arrived on Sunday carried by four men through the staircase (it didn't fit into the lift) all the way to 5th floor where I stay (oopsie). I had to wake up kinda early (compared to my usual Sunday schedule) to clear all our stuff out of the old wardrobe, and then arranged them back in order once the new one settled down. Considering my height, it was basically a free workout for my arms and legs - even today they still feel sore. Also, the new wardrobe doesn't have full-length mirrors like the old one, which was kinda disappointing for a girly girl like me. Oh well. On the bright side, I find re-organizing my huge collection of "rubbish" (without my sister's presence) a good way to exercise my planning ability and creativity. It is still work-in-progress though, which will hopefully  be done by tonight before my "roommate" comes back from Hong Kong. Oh and I realized I have quite a lot of clothes, yet sometimes I still don't know what to wear to go out, perhaps because many of them are not stylish enough for my current taste. Sniff.

Mandarin class

Last but not least, I walked into class last evening and was taken aback by a birthday cake on the teacher's desk. Not for me of course, my birthday was like more than one month ago (yet there are friends who are still waiting to pass me my birthday presents, teehee). Well, I'm not gonna explain again, but you can watch the video and read the description here. Such a gesture just reinforced my strong belief in the existence of chivalry and such a moment is to be remembered for a long time to come. By the way, did anyone notice the birthday cake and candles look like mine this year? How coincident! Well, to be honest, besides the surprise birthday celebration, it was mostly due to something else that I kept smiling to myself like an idiot all the way home from class. But I won't tell y'all, for those who know already know. ;)

Yawns. I'm now feeling extremely tired. Stay tune for updates ok? Good morning, Vorld!

Xoxo ♥