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.

4.20.11 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.

02.1.11 Made with ♡ by, Me

I think this is going to be a funny posts now looking back on last weekend when my very good friend Marnel married her latin-lovah. So this is not entirely beauty related. Our friend from high school who is now a cosmetologists did our hair and makeup. Because I'm obsessed with the 60's, I told her I wanted something of that genre. I feel like it fell flat during the wedding, though. I feel like the day of her wedding was probably the most I felt stressed while helping as a bridesmaid. I had to do placecards that day. Thank God, I had some help from a fourteen year old lad who honestly put the charm in Charm-ing. It was so cute, he kept reminding me that he owed me dances that entire day. It was probably the most I got seeing that Eric is still in Hawaii, and couldn't be there with me. Anyway, I had a good time being there with my friends.

I probably shouldn't have gotten so trashed if you can't tell. I hardly took any pictures. My friend almost lost a cake stand that she was supposed to return the next day(thank God, it was in the lost and found). And something I was most proud of, I had made my friends their guest book and case, which throughout the night, someone had stolen the case. My friend Nathaly, (above in yellow), even said, "Usually people know how to behave at weddings," What is going on in the world? People are so ghetto.. So... if found in life, please return this back... Please! This was Made with ♡ by me, Aileen.

12.21.2010 Sucked In

Omg! I have sucked myself into buying makeup products. I'm really trying not to, especially because I don't need anymore in my situation. What I bought was all elf, and it was all cheap anyway. And I'm always really thinking of what I buy anyway, and if I need it or not. Apparently, in this case, I do. I could have gone to Target or somewhere in search for these, but buying it online, (even though I'm paying shipping), I'm getting a "free" mini makeup collection. I'm super excited for this except I'm afraid what I should be getting is sold out.

They also have the makeup collection in shimmer form, which I don't want. Hopefully they've set aside these for free gifts, otherwise I'm gonna be super disappointed. So, the best part of these is that the palettes are 5 bucks each. With shipping, this all came out to be just over 21 dollars. I was telling my friend, Liza about the makeup collection and how it looks perfect for travel. heh, and she laughs and goes, "You're already thinking about your travel kits." Hmm.. I guess that might sound like an inside joke. She likes looking for compact-able makeup suitable for travel purposes. I was also thinking of another beauty guru on youtube, Vanewpc, who talked about having mini makeup collections are perfect for travel. And well yes.. that is what sold me, that is the purpose.

12.19.2010 Babycakes

Not entirely back to normal yet, but a trip for cupcakes with my good friend and dog made it seem a little better. Except, I now keep dreaming for more cupcakes from Babycakes. I had the Cha Cha Chai, and my friend had the Red Velvet. Unfortunately, I didn't see some other ones I wished I might have got instead, like Pomegranite, or Hazelnut. Yum. I can't wait to go back.

12.11.10 Beauty & Stolen branches

Yesterday morning, I took Porkchop to the park for a walk and ran into some fallen branches. My friend's been asking me to come up with a branch display for her wedding next month, and I thought of collecting them every time I go to the park. And this is the perfect time since it's Autumn, and leaves are falling off trees like it's going out of style. Instead, last night I showed them to her and she thought of using them for her bridal party earlier today. Not only that, but I ended up helping her with her favors. One of my best friends even came down from Las Vegas. It was fun, and I won the first prize in her party games. It was a game of who had the most called items in their purses. I had 14 out of 20. And I was so excited that my prizes were beauty related. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of my wins, but it's really just Victoria's Secret Stawberries and Champage lotion and body spray.

Oooh, soo I've been getting really into Lisa Eldridge's makeup tutorials, and she is so ridiculously glam, it's inspiring. And she uses drugstore to high end and does it flawlessly. I've learned so much because of her. I've even gone out to get some products I've seen her use that I can afford like No 7's Nude Lip Pencil, and just this morning, I got an elf blush in Pink Lemonade. I can't stress her enough. Lisaeldridge.com. Oh, and yesterday after walking my dog, I did stop by Target and had to pick up ink for my printer. While I was there I was looking for the Pink Lemonade blush and it wasn't there, so instead I picked up the golden blusher/highlight/all over cover stick, two concealors in light beige and apricot beige, eye makeup remover pads which doesn't look like or feel like much. The No 7 lip pencil in Nude, and a Sonia Kashuk's nail polish in Tauped.

Oh and while I was looking up Sonia Kashuk's Tauped nail polish right now, I came upon this site, http://www.stylelist.com/2010/09/10/hottest-nail-colors/3. The first thing is Chanel's nail polish in Khaki vert which I've seen Lisa Eldridge wear as well, and it's a shade I am lusting after except I heard it it's hard to find these days. From seeing Lisa Eldridge wear it, it looks like Jade on your finger nails. At least it looks like Essie has a similar shade.

11.9.10 Beauty in Landscape

My friend Liza and I went to our friend's studio apartment earlier this evening. Our friend is the one who got me into beauty. She was at Walgreens when we arrived at her place and so while we waited for her I had to take pictures of her beautiful landscape. She married a guy who's dad is a horticulturalist. They turned their downstairs tiny backyard into a studio. It's really quaint inside, but the outside landscape is filled with thorny greens and claw foot tubs currently being used as a planter (but the picture I took of it was terrible and so that is left to the imagination).

Here are a few pictures of her beauty obsession. She's ridiculously addicted and tonight we were trying to steer her away from it. They might not look like much, but she's grown quite a collection. I also included a few photos of her cute antique tin can purchases and the rest of her charming exterior landscaping.