11.17.11 Wish Listing

1. Grove New York perfume or the lotion, smells like one of my favorite scents, the flowers found in orange groves.

2. Scissor Charm Necklace, supercheap from Forever 21

3. An sleek, chic acrylic make-up storage case. This one's from Muji.

4. Chelsea Boots, and hoping to find them somewhere cheap and random. Found some at Ross, but I hated the ones I saw which were patent-y leather looking. I'm sure I'll find the perfect ones soon. ::hoping::

It's been awhile since my last post, and I have been busy but not with anything I was actually really interested in. Except for moving. We're pretty much settled in, and I'm loving our small cottage. It has character and it's not the type to hoard otherwise it would get super cramped. Eric's in Guam right now for work, and it's not so bad except I really do miss him right now. And so does baby dog.

However, omg! It gets so distracting with him around. I feel awkward to update this blog because I don't want him seeing it. Idk why. Since the holidays are just around the corner, I thought my long follow up entry would be a wish list. It's not much, but they are products I would like to get sooner or later. And I'm hoping to find that necklace at the mall tomorrow. And I know while I'm there, I can stop by Anthropologie to see if they still have the Grove New York lotion in their clearance area. Oh, I hope!

7.12.11 Overwhelmed

I should be excited, but I've never been more overwhelmed. I don't feel like I'm at a good point in my life right now, but then again, I know there are more like me. Last week came and went like a blur. Eric is officially back. And for a few days, I kept this all to myself. I felt like I did something crazy, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Eric and I applied for a cottage, and we got approved. We barely even saw the place. When we had submitted our applications, the next day, we got confirmation, the place is going to be ours for a year. And then when we were meeting with the real estate agent, she was just as shocked as we were that we were going to get this place without even being scheduled to see it. As much as I feel the need to mention, to sum it all up, we got our first place. The kitchen is tiny, but the place has character. Not to mention we recently found out from one of our neighbors, he thinks the cottages were built around the 20's because of labels found in the old plumbing that needed to be replaced. We're slowly moving in, and I finally told my friends, and my family. I'm still a little overwhelmed, but I feel I'll get through it.

7.4.11 4th of July Face

I'm beginning to find my summer look that utilizes a whole bunch of dollar bronzers I bought last year from elf makeup. They make the perfect eyeshadows. Last night I was doing swatches of all my cheap-o elf face products. And I found that the 1$ blush and bronzer duo has the be the best one. Not glittery. It's more shimmery than glittery. And then I used another elf 1$ bronzer in Sun-Kissed as a layer over the bronzer from the duo on my lid. Excuse my ridiculous faces, but I feel these best show how well elf makeup can make you look. I'm going to attempt a youtube tutorial on this. I was very excited on this turnout.

6.26.11 Wallpaper nails

The fun thing I did this weekend: attempt to do these floral print nails a la Lauren Conrad. Not exactly the same. And if anything, Eric told me it looked Van Gogh-ish moreso than flowery. I don't have nail pens, but I did use a combination of nail colors that included Elf, Essie, and Wet n Wild. I'd say for something I winged, this was pretty successful.

(photo via Lauren Conrad's Twitter)

6.25.11 Old skool style

Today seemed like an okay day since it's the weekend, and I got to spend this afternoon with my dog. Although it got cut short when Eric had to go to LA with his bff for car stuff. Ugh, and although I've mostly been in a depressed state at the start of the summer, Eric took these pictures with his phone today and it made me feel better.

6.21.11 Make Believe Real Simple Summer

(photos via Real Simple Magazine August 2001 issue)

Every summer I try to plan a "Real Simple Summer," it doesn't really go as planned. Take this entry for example. I had planned on posting this ridiculously cheesy blog post about my top things to do during summertime that included things like a) Watch Fireworks in July or b) Read the books on my summer reading list in the make believe haven I made inspired from that last picture. But to be honest (and hopefully this is the only time I'll do this), it's really June 23rd and I had to take a photo of my favorite photographs from Real Simple August 2001 issue.

But let's be realistic. I don't have time to read, I need that time to look for another job. And I know I should be lucky to be working, but I know I could be doing better. And when I wanted to scan the photos above because I love the appearance the graininess of a scanner makes, I found out my printer's scan feature doesn't work anymore, and realized that I want a new printer, but I don't really need it since the printer and copy machine work fine. And lastly, my favorite, how I wish I could move forward in life, but alas I feel ever-so stagnant than I've ever felt before.

6.8.11 Food for Thought

I'm excited that summer's arriving soon, but at the same time, I don't want to overwhelm myself. I just found out that every Wednesday at this Mexican market here, they're selling 1 dollar any kinda meat tacos. Here I just got back and had three carne asada ones and three carnitas. I really wanted to try the tripitas (tripe?), and you know.. I eventually got some to take with me to work tomorrow. Also excited to have already tried the new California salads from Daphne's. The first picture are of dragon fruit from this asian market here called 99 Ranch.

Every year, I try to attempt to have what I like to call a "Real Simple Summer" and it all dates from an issue of Real Simple magazine I own. I'm really excited, and I hope it all pans out. I have some fun projects in mind.

5.23.11 Crafts Corner

(photos via nymag.com/homedesign)

The reason why I've been down has to be because of this sad sad economy and how frankly, I just don't like where I'm at in life. Tonight, after what seems like a never ending search for a job relating to what I went to school for, I found out (much late) of a new book on crafts, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People! by one of my top role models, Amy Sedaris. I must seem like I never leave my room (mostly due to my esteem) but seeing this really made my evening. And because Eric's not here, I feel like this will suffice and entertain me all summer until he gets back.

While searching for the link of her video promoting her book on Amazon, I came upon a site on nymag.com of her New York apartment. It looks so charming and childlike, and not only that but that there's a "Craft Corner" situated for just her crafting. This is going to seem out of place, but after watching "Science of Sleep," and seeing the shelves for Charlotte Gainsbourg's crafts in that movie, I've always wanted to build a little crafts area in my own room. Unfortunately, I just have a tiny tiny area to do so.

5.22.11 Feeling blue

Maybe it's Eric gone, maybe cause I'm getting fat and still hungry. I don't like where I'm at in life.

5.17.11 Blood Shot

Tonight as I am about to head to sleep soon, for no reason, I decided I would play with my Wet n Wild Pride makeup palette. It was a total waste of time, but I don't really use these kinds of colors. I thought it was really pretty. I feel like this would look better with false lashes, but there's no point since I will take this off after this post. My camera barely captures the blush I used which was more rosy than pink. It's quite terrible. Makes me want to buy more blush. And because I didn't want to waste my clean brushes, I used the applicator it came with.

Ohh! And my carry on came today. Very excited!

5.10.11 Carrying On

I've been on the hunt for a carry-on luggage. It's not like I go on much trips or anything, but when I went with my friends to Santa Barbara that one time, I felt the need for a carry-on. And not just some dull boring black canvas one, but something with at least, a little more.. pizzazz. Then I found one one night when I was out with the bf at Ross of all places. It was a lovely plain canvass chartreuse colored one. Something so bright, I would be able to spot it a mile away. That wasn't the only reason that made me want it, but the fact it was the color chartreuse, which I love. But it was pretty expensive at the time, and as a matter of factly, it's not even there anymore.

Tonight, I feel like I splurged. Feel like.. Actually, I feel like I splurged all weekend. Let me just say, I got great deals this weekend. But, even though I feel like I splurged, it was hardly one to begin with, because with tonight's buy, it was actually a gift from my bf. We were supposed to go to Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend, and this was planned months ago. The last couple of weeks have been uncertain because he was unsure if he had to go to Washington for work. And it's typical, his work always does this to him. Tease him until just a few days before he has to go. Then today I was in search for a briefcase I've been desperately needing. In my case, it needs to be specific. Not because of work, but because I want it to be a certain kind. One that I've been having a hard time trying to find. Instead, this afternoon, I discovered this carry-on, on sale on the Urban Outfitters site:

And, you know, it took me all day to realize I wanted this. I'm a cheapskate. I needed to find a coupon somewhere, but didn't find one. I realized I would want this if I were to still go to Vegas. And now it's come to the conclusion, that if I get this in time, I'm taking this with me, and therefore I'm going! I'm really excited for the nautical-ness of it and that fact that it's not some cheesy duffel where I could hardly fit anything in.

4.21.11 Face of the Day

Last weekend, I went to Marukai and picked up face masks for like 98 cents each. I only tried one that's supposed to keep whatever moisture I had back in my face. And I like to think it's working even though I haven't been rubbing on the dry skin under my nose like I usually do. I feel like it's working and my skin is slowly getting better. Today, I wanted to do a matte grey eye but found that I didn't have any.... and then telling myself, don't buy any makeup til you finish up the ones you have! And then I realized, I think I am almost finishing up the ones I have. I had already finished up a No 7 Nude lip liner (the one Lisa Eldridge uses a lot in her videos), and I'm actually thinking of experimenting with a different brand nude liner.

I hope to at least attempt another art project by taking more pictures of myself. This is the first one I did and decided to try and look my best for it. Here I'm not wearing a lot of the products I typically use and in fact, am really using mainly all elf products. I'm not even wearing foundation in this one.

4.20.11 Book Makin

I'll be honest, I don't think I'm good at very many things.. which is probably why I tend to fall into hobbies. And with that, I'm not even good at putting on makeup or cannot afford high end fashion or cannot even put together a solid outfit. I'm not photogenic and take awkward pictures of myself in the outfits I put together or sometimes take pictures of my food in an attempt for it to look like it belongs in Real Simple magazine. I've been in a rut lately. To the point where I almost felt depressed. I even researched the symptoms of depression. 1. Not being interested in the things I used to be interested in. 2. Talking about ending my life. :\

That was probably the worst. When I read that was a symptom, I knew I needed to get out of my rut. And I won't go into details of how I did that, because even now, I'm still not all that happy. But.. I did get out of my rut a little bit. My friend, Marnel's finishing up Nursing school and she needed a Portfolio. My brother went to the same school she did and I had seen the portfolio he had to make and I took that idea and made her this:

Now, it's just a cover of her book though. She's actually just inserting her important references and resumes inside plastic sheets and throwing it in here. I was happy to make her this when she asked me because I wanted to try out this Square App on my iPhone. She was my first real client who was willing to pay. We were so excited to try it out. hmm. She probably was moreso because she got to swipe her card into my Square credit card reader. I actually had made her guest book for her wedding actually, seen here. I'm also excited about making this for her because I was able to experiment on how to.. I guess, emboss (Idk the word) her initials onto here. She loved it. Made it so much more personal. I even used one of my favorite fonts Cocktail shaker in lower case lettering.

4.13.11 Palm Springs Part 2 @ the Rendevous

Staying at the Rendevouz in Palm Springs was only on a whim, but it was a good whim because they had a day's vacancy and we needed a room. It was so kitschy, in the sense that each room had its own theme. We stayed in the Elvis themed room which lucky for us was one of the best rooms they had there. We just wish for next time to take advantage of the fact they offer free bike cruiser access to all guests. Instead, Eric and I drove around sightseeing all the mid century houses there. Then afterwards, we had a Mexican cafe and then walked along Palm Canyon. There we walked through all the furniture stores and to get a sense of mid century design, and then walked back when everything was starting to close.

Then instead of checking out the Palm Springs nightlife, we picked up some Blueberry beer and snacks and went back to see if we could make it in time to use the pool. We didn't, and not like it was a bad thing, it got cold and windy in the evenings there. The best part of our stay had to be the brownies they offered. They were delicious, and I've had a hankering for them since. The next day they offered breakfast and that was a great way to end that trip. Then we took off for LA. But that'll probably be for another post.

4.6.11 Day Trip: Palm Springs Part 1

Two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I took a day trip to Palm Springs on a whim. It might sound silly to say, but other than the mid century homes located there, I was also really excited to see the wind turbines on the sides of the road. It's like, the main attraction before you enter Palm Springs. Nothing but about hundreds of these gargantuan turbines just spinning away like.. nothing else was new. It was like a museum all on their own.

But other than the turbines, we were also there to relax and take in the sites of the outdoor museum that is Mid Century homes and architecture. Unforturnately, I did not come prepared with a different lens. And a reminder to myself.. and to anyone else who decides to visit Palm Springs and stays at a lovely bed and breakfast, read up on all the amenities you can do while staying there. We stayed at a charming 50's style b&b called Rendevous and didn't look at this binder they had in the room until after we got back. They had beach cruiser bikes for the guest to use. And we didn't take advantage of that. But there is always next time, and we do plan on going again soon. One of the sights I was excited to see was a house Marilyn Monroe lived in for a year around the 60's. Apparently, two blocks away was JFK's brother-in-laws house, and that was speculation there might have been something going on between JFK and Monroe. Crazy huh..

Doesn't her house look so lush with all the foliage in the last two pictures, a 50's style bungalow and my boyfriend and I kept thinking it was so cute and thought it looked like where she would live.

3.31.11 Winters Passing

I had a stomach ache that seems like it's lasting the entire day, and I think it has to do with the weather. I was afraid it had to do with what I ate last night. I went to the Crest Cafe over in Hillcrest last night here in San Diego, and got the Cheese Buttah Squares. It is so not worthy taking a picture of now. It was good at the time, but I felt like I got some slight form of food poisoning (thank goodness without the diarrhea). Anyway, I apologize that to start this entry is a "tmi" type of post.

So unrelated to my latest fashion inspiration, and not to mention but the fact this weather is so hot, the way Reese looks in these two pictures makes me sad it's not cold anymore. And I had these bright red flats one time that I regret selling it to Buffalo Exchange. I eventually found a replacement at H&M, but I just don't think they compare to how cool and at ease it looks on Reese Witherspoon. This is my fashion inspiration as of late.

3.29.11 No more Zooey hair

The last photo of my hair before I chopped it off. And I'm glad I did it because it wasn't looking so 1960's anymore. I didn't really get much of a good photo after the cut because I was a little in shock. The guy who cut my hair straightened it and it looked "too hip" as I kept mentioning. I had him chop a little more off one side so it didn't look so perfect. I wasn't entirely sure why he left it straight when he was done, other than to see if it was even. But I didn't want him to because I don't really have time to straighten my hair.. And I guess I just wanted to look myself. I made him cut it a little asymmetrical. And because of that, and the fact I have naturally wavy hair, it could almost look 1950's-60'ish.

I wish I could blog more, but realized I started this off being really into beauty. And I'm trying to tone down how much product I've been using lately because my skin has been really bad. Thanks to elf and their newsletters, I remembered that the oil in Vitamin E capsules are perfect for moisturizing my dry skin. I'm really trying to give my face a break right now.

Last weekend, my bf took me on a random trip to Palm Springs. We didn't even have a reservation, but I knew I wanted to stay at those Mid-Century Modern boutique hotels. Unfortunately, the one we were able to afford was booked so while driving around and thinking of stopping by a Travel Lodge, we stumbled upon a vacancy at a cute B&B called Rendezvous.

That's where the second picture is taken from. So this post won't be entirely out of sorts, I'll talk about that trip next time. It was really fun though.

3.15.11 Having a Heart

It's been hard to breath lately. Much of that has to do with a cold I just had this weekend, but another part has to do with each time I turn on the news and see the devastating disaster that occurred in Japan. My heart fills up and next thing you know I cannot help but feel empathy for them. I'm finding it hard to find a balance to contribute but know that I will when I can.

I heard from my friend from school today and how she's in this low sense of feeling. She had to move back North to live with her parents. I told her times are hard for our generation in this recession. Oh, how we lucked out.

So, to make this short and not so depressing, I'll leave this at that. It's hard to save, and I wanted to post some photos of the amazing combination of Mexican Marshmallow's and Rice Krispies and because the majority of the marshmallow's I got were pink, they turned the Rice Krispy Treats a lovely pinkish hue. But as I let out my current thoughts, I'll save that for another time.

2.20.11 Beauty & Food

I'm no fashion maven, or beauty guru, but I do know what I like and this weekend was spent buying eye pencils, nail polish, long cardigans, food, and a really cute dress I got for 5 bucks at Ross. Unfortunately, the dress will have to wait a little while to wear cause it's mainly a spring dress. These don't seem like much, but these were the nail polishes I got this weekend and I must say that my collection is now growing and I must stop!

Ohh! And by the way, I'm a proud owner of this awesome-ness beauty tool:

Took me a few Walgreens to find, and my friend was the one who told me about it and said she got it at the last Walgreens I went to, and the only reason I wanted to go to that one was because it was closest to our friend's house and I wanted to get some Wet N Wild products. They barely even had any more Wet N Wild.

I went to Old Town with my boyfriend yesterday:

Ugh, don't we look so creepy. We take oddly awkward pictures. Anyways!! So, in Old Town they have this 5 and Dime store and obviously, nothing was really 5 or 10¢, but they had a Wet N Wild display! With all the things I wanted. That's where I found the Craze nailpolish in Shield above. Except I didn't want to get too crazy. They're prices were a little steeper than drugstore. The only other thing I got there was the famous creme eyeliner that's supposed to be just as good as MAC.

Anyways! Some of the items I did get this weekend that were duds are NYC makeup duo eye pencils! They're so hard to apply. I can barely even write on my own hand with them. They were about 1.97 at WalMart. What a waste!