Hi Steemit community!
My name is Janice. I'm originally from the NY/NJ area. Born and raised in Jersey City, NJ and attended college and the past 8 years in New York City. I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology majoring in production management and international trade and marketing. In the 8 years, I lived in Manhattan (Financial District & Upper West Side), Queens (Jackson Heights & Jamaica), and Brooklyn (Crown Heights). Recently I decided to change it up a bit and move to Miami, Florida. It's a big culture shock from being in the most diverse city in the world to moving to Florida.
Below are random 5 facts about me - don't be shy and say hi!
I have hypothyroidism also known as Hashimoto's disease. I've had hypothyroid since I was two days old. Hypothyroidism indicates having an under active thyroid gland, which leads to decreased thyroid hormones to keep the body running normally. Hypothyroidism is usually found in women - at any age. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include: fatigue, sensitivity to cold, hair loss, and slow metabolism. After a full night's rest, I can wake up and still feel like I'm running on empty. As I get older, and my metabolism gets slower, hypothyroid is one reason why I have no choice but to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Doing research, I discovered many women who kick ass every day despite having hypothyroid: Sofia Vergara, Oprah Winfrey, Jillian Michaels, Gina Rodriguez, and Zoe Saldana. Knowing these women have crazy schedules and still put in work to stay in shape reminds to stay committed to myself and my goals.
I used to sing opera. As any Filipino, I grew up studying karaoke. My parents put me in advanced placement, and started me off with Whitney Houston, Mariah, and Celine Dion. If you ever saw me lip syncing while My Heart Will Go On is playing, it's because I heard myself sing it wayyyyy more than I heard Celine actually sing it. It's kinda like.. my song, lol. In middle school my parents, paired me up with an actual singing instructor and our concentration was on classical Italian arias. In my eighth grade Spring concert, I sang an Italian aria in an auditorium with no microphone. To this day, I still can't believe I did that. Thank God I'm naturally loud.
As much as I love fashion, deep down, I'm a nerd. I taught myself how to build websites since I was 11 (Xanga, Geocities, Myspace, Wordpress, and Tumblr). When I was 15, I worked my first Summer job at my mom's law firm; I was able to save up and buy my first Apple laptop, and then the next summer, a DSLR. I ended up in advanced placement photography in high school, concentrating on wet photography. I can say my photographs were exhibited at the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey. I'm also a big fan of The Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones series. I'm a sucker for medieval fantasy, Greek mythology and anything involving the renaissance. Did I mention I was also in AP History?
I'm a retired sneaker head. At one point in my life, I only had sneakers and maybe two pairs of heels. I grew up being a part of multiple sneaker forums; from Female Sneaker Fiend, Nike Talk, Sole Collector, SneakerPlay and NSB. I've made a lot of friends being a part of this enormous tight knit community of sneaker collectors from around the world. During my experience, specifically on ISS, I was able to revive a user group of female collectors that went by the name of Femme Fatale. I've always been a Nike enthusiast, but ever since Adidas dropped the Boost line, I must admit I am obsessed! In high school, I eventually moved on to heels; in college I barely wore sneakers. These days, my shoe collection has a nice balance of sneakers + heels, but mostly heels. At the end of the day, a girl's gotta have her shoes!
My guilty pleasure: pork - specifically chicharron and sisig (no egg). Being Filipina, nothing beats pork belly chops marinated in soy sauce and onions on a hot grill and a side of rice. Oouff. DID I MENTION FILIPINO PORK ADOBO?! Side note: sisig is a Filipino dish made from parts of pig's head and liver (I order it without liver), usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers. I try to have sisig where ever it's offered. Fiesta Grill on Newark Avenue in Jersey City has the best sisig I've EVER had.