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Running a Blog is a Continuous Learning Experience

I started my Shirley Style Fashion Blog in the Summer of Year 2012. My initial plan with to express my opinion on the handbags and other fashion items I like.

I learned a lot from running my own person blog. With my basic HTML and CSS skills, I can write and edit my blog posts easily. As the blog content expands, organizing the Web site and customizing its look-and-feel became a continuous effort. There are always things to modify and to improve the quality of my blog site.

Writing Shirley Style Fashion Blog was a personal habit. I have a lot of post ideas, but I tend to overthink about how I want to write the content. I end up taking extra time to polish them. But I’ve learned to trust my instinct and write without second-guessing myself. I now also write about my travel experiences and the restaurants I enjoy to dine at.

My Web site has been running fine until recently. The domain has been hacked with malware, which messed up my URLs in the search engine results. My ShirleyStyle.com would show up in the search engines as a foreign bogus advertising site.

I had to hire experts to clean up the malware on my Web site and install a new security system to protect my blog. But with the malicious cyber predators out there, it would probably be a matter of time when some unfortunate things happen again. At least I will know how to handle such situations.

After experiencing the recent incidents, I learned more about how to protect my Web site. I am excited to continue to work on my blog. When I looked at my Shirley Style Web site, I feel proud of what I have done. The Web site might not be perfect, but it’s my work and my accomplishment. The Shirley Style Blog is part of who I am!

My Advise to You..

If you want to start your own blog, but has some hesitation on how to write your very first perfect post, my advise to you is to go ahead get a Web site domain and begin with a post that describes why you want to start your blog. You would be amazed with what you can learn about yourself through your own words!

Start your own Blog is easy and inspiring

All Posts, Travel

Richard Clayderman Piano Concert

Richard Clayderman (a famous French pianist) is one of my favorite piano artists. I learned how to play many of his songs when I was a child. And he was the main reason I look forward to go home practice piano each day after school.

Richard Clayderman Concert

I was very glad that Richard Clayderman scheduled one of his piano concerts in Seattle! (This was his first time being to Seattle.)

Richard Clayderman began his concert with some of his signature piano songs. Including Nostalgia, Ballade pour Adeline, A Comme Amour, etc. Growing up I listened to his music all the time. Watching him play in-person was fascinating.

During the concert he also played a lot popular Hollywood movie theme songs, such as Titanic, Star Wars, and etc. He even played two popular Chinese Mandarin songs (from 20 years ago).

Because I grew up listening and playing Richard Clayderman’s piano music, I have some all-time favorite pieces. Unfortunately, he didn’t play the two song that I was really looking forward to hear at the concert. The two songs are Mariage D’Amour and Souvenirs d’enfance.

I haven’t played piano for years, but I can still remember how to play Mariage D’Amour without reading the music note.

As for the Souvenirs d’enfance, there are some bitter and sweet memories associated with practicing this song. There’s a part of the song that I always had difficult time to play smoothly. And whenever my dad hears me playing this song, he’d criticize me and ask me to replay the song. However, I have to admit that Souvenirs d’enfance is a beautiful song. I am very glad that I learned how to play it.

Listening to Richard Clayderman playing his songs brings back a lot of fun childhood memories. I am very grateful that my parents gave me the opportunity to learn how to play piano, so I can appreciate all the beautiful music pieces.

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First Time Making the Wedding Centerpieces

A month ago my best friend got married. When she planned for her wedding ceremony and reception, she decided to make her own wedding centerpieces.

I’ve never made any centerpieces in my life, not to mention making it on the night before the event! I was a bit skeptical on how we can pull this off, especially when most of us had no idea on how to make the wedding centerpieces.

After six hours of teamwork and following a friend’s creative ideas, we finished what we set out to accomplish. We made eight medium size centerpieces (for the bride and groom, and their family’s tables) and six big round centerpieces (for the guests’ tables) using dozens of roses, peonies, hydrangea, and baby’s breath, all in white color!

(Below is one of the six guest table centerpieces we made. We spray painted the baby’s breath and the hydrangea’s leaves to gold color.)

(Below is a table full of the centerpieces we made.)

(Below is one of the guest tables at the wedding reception. Picture taken by our friend.)

(Below is the table for the bride and groom’s family at the wedding reception. Picture taken by our friend.)

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My Thoughts After I Watched the Avengers: Infinity War

I am a huge fan of the Avengers and its franchise movies. I usually wait for a few weeks to watch a new movie, just so I can avoid the crowds and enjoy the film. For the first time, I watched the Avengers: Infinity War movie on the night before its official release date.

Before I watched the movie last night, I was wondering how the plot would hold up, given it has so many heroes united in one movie. But I think Marvel did a good job on keeping the story together. However, I wish there’s more scenes with Captain America in this movie though!

As usual, this Avengers installment has some funny parts, which I enjoyed.
Avengers: Infinity War

(The following might contain some movie spoilers.)

Beginning

The movie begins with a sad scene, which I didn’t expect. It’s like Thor: Ragnarok movie’s continuation, in a tragic way. Not only Asgard survivors die, Lori also dies in a heroic way. It seems like attacking the villain, Thonas, is Loki’s way of redemption. But I thought being the trickster of the Avenger franchise movies, Loki should have some clever tactics to die as a hero. In other words, I think he dies too quickly and too early in the Avenger: Infinity War movie!

Weapons

It’s good for the characters to upgrade their gear and costumes in the movie, but I am not used to the new weapons Captain America and Thor get. In my opinion, Captain America just don’t look the same without the American flag design shield and uniform, and Thor, the demi-god, lost a bit of his charm without the traditional hammer.

In the movie, Hulk was hiding instead of joining the fights. As a result, Bruce Banner gets new gear to fight against aliens and the villain. Seeing Bruce Banner in the fight instead of Hulk was a good change.

Post-credit scene

Usually, a majority of people in the theater will leave before any post-credit scenes. I always wonder whether these people were inpatient or have no idea there’s post-credit scenes at all. Last night, for the first time, I saw that most people stayed until the end. I guess people who made the effort to watch the Avengers movie before the release date are really into the movies.

I usually expect two post-credit scenes, but I only saw one last night. This post-credit was more like a brief description of what we already know, versus an introduction of some new plot. Since the next Avengers installment is the continuation of Avenger: Infinity War, this post-credit scene without any new information is OK in my opinion.

Ending

In the end of the movie, the villain, Thanos, obtains all six infinity stones and wipes out the existence of most beings. Most people (including some Avengers) fade into dust. How are they going to come back in the next Avenger installment in 2019? I wonder if it will have anything to do with the infinity stones (time stone)? If it does, will the characters who died in the Avenger: Infinity War come back?

I know that most of the current Avengers (i.e. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor) are going to be gone after 2019, but I am just not ready to see them go.

Usually an Avengers movie and its related movies end on a positive note. I usually feel good after watching a Marvel movie in the theater, but after watching the Avengers: Infinity War, I felt a bit depressed due to the ending. I understand the movie was paving a way for the next Avengers installment coming out next year. But the movie left a lot of things unresolved.

Overall, I am glad I watched the Avengers: Infinity War last night. Now, I can’t wait to watch the next Avenger installment – Avenger: Infinity Gauntlet.