Guilty Pleasures

So, I’ve been trying to catch up on Glee and there was an episode (Season Four, Episode 17) where they talk all about their guilty pleasures. I started thinking about my guilty pleasures and realized that Glee IS a guilty pleasure. OMG. I just realized that Idina Menzel plays Rachel’s mom. IM SO EXCITED!

I keep trying to think about what I like that people would think is weird but it’s so hard, because honestly? How exactly do you know that something is weird to others? Is it what society deems is okay? Or what? It’s just confusing…

I mean, I’m 23 now but up until I was 19 I still slept with my stuffed bear; even now, it lies on my floor just close enough for me to grab him if I have a nightmare.

Bath and Body Works is another one of my guilty pleasures. I like being able to go into the store and try on different things then wash my hands and do it all over again! My favorite things to buy are body sprays and hand sanitizers, because well, I hate germs and smelling yucky!

Disneyland is my go-to relaxation place. When people think Disneyland, they think Disney characters and ridiculous amounts of people. Since I have an annual pass, I don’t mind going just to walk around and ride a couple of rides. I love love love Disneyland. It really is the happiest place on earth. As soon as I board the tram, my issues fall away.

Starbucks is my biggest guilty pleasure. I love the taste of the coffee, I love how you can customize it to make it your own drink. I really enjoy most of the drinks there, but I’m now trying to get back into just plain old coffee. Before, I would ask for Caramel Macchiatos or something, now I just drink Iced coffee and teas. No one understands my love for Starbucks!!!

Ok, I lied. Instagram is my guiltiest of pleasures. I LOVE putting up photos on instagram. I love editing and taking photos.

What’re your guilty pleasures?

 

Birchbox vs. Ipsy July 2014

Birchbox and Ipsy are makeup subscriptions. They’re each $10 a month. You take a quiz on both sites to see how each service matches you up with their makeup/ skincare brands. Basically each month they send you about 5 different products. I’ve tried Birchbox for 7 months now, at first I was really excited about it, but lately, it’s been kind of disappointing. On the other hand, I’ve tried Ipsy for only two months and both bags have been amazing. 

This month, for Birchbox, I recieved:

1. Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner
2. Number 4™ Super Comb Prep & Protect
3. SmartyPants All-in-One Gummy Vitamins for Adults
4. COOLA Environmental Repair Plus® Radical Recovery™ After-Sun Lotion
5. Marcelle New·Age 8 in 1 Power Serum

Out of the 5 things, 4 were samples and the eyeliner wasn’t all that big either; which is fine, but I would like to be able to use a product for more than like a week, you know? So the eyeliner goes on really nicely, I like it, but I have a million eyeliners now. I think this is the 3rd or 4th they’ve sent me in 7 months. The leave in conditioner was okay, but I’ve had the same results from cheaper products. The gummies tasted really yucky, that’s all I’m saying… The after-sun lotion was amazing! I used it after showering right after a whole day at Disneyland and it felt AMAZING! The Marcelle serum was disappointing. I tried it, but really? Why do I need this. I’m 23. my skin is fine.  LAME. 

For Ipsy I got: 

1. bareMinerals: 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15
2. Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil SPF 08
3. Pixi Beauty Mini Tinted Brilliance Balm
4. POP Beauty Sunkissed Bronzer
5. Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray Conditioning & Texturizing Spray

So, out of 5 things, 3 were sample size and 2 were full size products. I’m really excited about the eyeshadow, it feels amazing! I don’t wear eyeshadow much so this was a great size to get, if I ever were to want more I would definitely buy this product. I haven’t really had a change to use the tanning oil, but it smells great. The lip balm/ lipstick is seriously my favorite thing about this box!!! It’s a great color, first of all; second, it feels like you’re wearing chapstick. It lasts a really long time, I only reapply twice in a night, and that’s just because I like when lip color stays the same all day. I’m going to buy a full size once this one runs out. The bronzer is awesome! I’m excited to use this more often, since I currently have a bronzer I haven’t used this one as much, but I don’t know which is my favorite. The texturing spray was okay, I don’t usually use a lot of product in my hair, and it made it look like it was just naturally dried, not much different from my regular hair. I LOOOOOVEEEE the bag it came in, BRIGHT PINK! So exciting.(:  

Overall, I use the ipsy products a lot more than I use the Birchbox products. I love my Ipsy bag, rating 9/10. My Birchbox was okay, rating 4/10. 

To get Birchbox, sign up here! https://www.birchbox.com/invite/fsndc

To get Ipsy, sign up here! http://www.ipsy.com/r/9jns

Places I want to revisit…

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to visit many places growing up. I hope to be able to revisit these at some point in my life.

1. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
2. Ixtapa/ Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico
3. Quebec, Quebec, Canada
4. Toronto, Ontario, Canada (more specifically the CN tower)
5. Montreal, Quebec, Canada
6. Chicago, Illinois, USA
7. Puerto Vallarta/Nuevo Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico  
8. Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico
9. Notre Dame / South Bend, Indiana, USA
10. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
11. Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
12. Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
13. Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
14. San Antonio, Texas, USA
15. Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
16. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
17. Greenbay, Wisconsin, USA
18. Austin, Texas, USA
19. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico 
20. Orlando, Florida, USA
21. Denver, Colorado, USA
22. Collingwood, Ontario, Canada (Blue Mountains)
23. Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan, USA
24. Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico
25. San Francisco, California, Mexico

Those are just some of the places I’d like to revisit. Maybe one day I will (:

Making Time

Just venting…

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I never have enough time to do anything. I mean, all I’ve done this week is go to work & my bff Domini’s birthday celebration with her family. I just feel like there’s never enough time to do anything exciting. I mean, I’ve been really excited to keep going on my Summer 2014 Bucket List, but it’s just so difficult to get everyone’s schedules all together. I guess I just don’t know how to explain what I’m feeling lately. I see my boyfriend everyday, for the most part, which is fine. The problem is finding enough time for him to be with his family and me to be with my family, but also, he enjoys being with my family too. It’s just hard to coordinate our time around our family. 

Now add in, one of my best friends has a kid, three work basically full-time and one rarely wants to hang out, so when he does I change my plans to accommodate him. These are just my close friends! How am I supposed to make time for every single one of my friend??? It’s just impossible. 

I think I’m just frustrated because it’s summer. I wish I could just go anywhere I wanted without having responsibilities; I guess things change when you’re 23. It’s just sad. And I feel SO tired ALL the time. 

Is there a special app for all of this? Like can someone please come up with an app that organizes all my time through out the day. Wake up at this time, use this much time to do your hair, this much for make up, this much for eating, this much for driving (and calculate driving time with traffic conditions), this much for work, this much for each friend, this much for each family member, this much to shower, this much time for sleep. 

I need some advice. How can I manage my family and friends without going crazy, and without everyone feeling like I don’t care? 

What’s inside my daily make-up bag?

So if you read my “Make-up!!!” post, you know I really enjoy make-up. This is the stuff I carry around on a normal basis. It’s just a”I don’t know what’s gonna happen today,” “I’m just going to school/work there’s no need for something fancy,” “my plans are last minute,” or “I didn’t have time to think through a more intricate make up routine for this outing.”

First, you should know, I do NOT wear this all at once, cuz I would look like a clown. Second, you’ll see a trend on what my favorite make-up brand is.

Let’s start off with face stuff. In my bag I have: the Tarte BB tinted treatment 12-hour primer with SPF 30 color “medium-tan”, the smashbox photofinish foundation primer (oil-free), the e.l.f. Under Eye Corrector & Highlighter, the smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation with SPF 15 (oil-free) color “6,” and the Tarte Amazonian clay full coverage airbrush foundation color “Tan-Sand.”

I also carry around the Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer, the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush color “Thankful,” and the Tarte Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder.

Now for eye stuff: the Rimmel London Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer color “261 Noir” (actually I carry two of these for some reason), the Sephora High Precision Eyeliner (Liquid Eyeliner) color “01 Black,” the Sumita Beauty Suman Contrast Eye Pencil (I’m guessing it’s just black because it doesn’t have a name), the OFRA Universal Eyebrow Pencil color “14-C1” meaning Brown, Tarte The Brow Architect Brow Shaper, Liner & Definer color “medium-tan,” the Maybelline Volum’ Express One by One Mascara Waterproof color “257 Satin Black,” the Two Faced Better Than Sex Mascara color “Black,” the Forever 21 Eyelash Curler color “Cascade,” and the Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Palette Sampler color “Sunset” ❤

i’s.

As I’m writing this I just realized how much lip stuff I have acquired recently, oopsy. I have the Tarte LipSurgence Skintuitive Lip Tint color “Energy,” the Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint color “Enamored,” the Laqa & Co. Lip Lube color “Bees Knees,” the Forever 21 Velvet Lipstick color “Red,” the NYX Butter Gloss color “Éclair,” the Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm color “Pretty Pink,” and the Bath and Body Works Liplicious Lipgloss color “Pink Sugarplum.”

 

 

I also carry 6 brushes: the e.l.f. Professional Eye Shadow Brush, the e.l.f. Professional Concealer Brush, the Up & Up (Target brand) Foundation Brush, the Up & Up Kabuki Brush, a mini bareMinerals Kabuki Brush and a random broken foundation brush that I love and cannot part with; I also just ordered a Tarte Airbrush Bamboo Powder Foundation Brush, I’m really excited to try it!!!

Last but not least, I have a small dual mirrored compact from Sephora that I got as part of a gift card (how cool is that?!!?!?!) & a Pink Bic Lighter to warm up my eyelash curler and disinfect my eye products from time to time.

 

 

 

 

I usually only wear tinted primer under my powder foundation, but I have the smashbox primer for when I wear the smashbox liquid foundation.

My daily (for school/work) make-up routine (when I wake up early enough to actually put it on) is as follows:

1. Wash/ Dry face
2. Tarte BB Primer all over face, let set for a couple of minutes
3. Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation all over face
4. Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer on cheekbones
5. Tarte Blush on Cheeks (just a little bit)
6. Brush Tarte finishing powder all over face
7. Line upper eyelid lash line with Rimmel waterproof eyeshadow
8. Slightly warm up eyelash curler with lighter, then curl eyelashes
9. Apply waterproof Maybelline mascara
10. Apply a lip tint or lip blam.

Can you believe all this stuff fits in a 6 in. x 4 in. x 3 in. bag?!? I got all of this stuff at Sephora, Ulta, Target & though my make up subscriptions (Ipsy & Birchbox) ((:

Mission Tiki Drive In Movie Theater

Saturday night Lucas, David and I went to a drive in movie theater in Montclair. It’s not the same one as on my bucket list, but we figured we would try it out. Mission Tiki was amazing!

Sillies!

So when we first got near the place there was a lot of traffic, we thought that maybe there was an accident but the traffic was ALL for the movie theater!

 

So many cars!

We sat in traffic for a little bit, trying not to have people cut us in line, but after we got in everything went smoothly. 

Basically what you do is go through the line of cars. When you get to the ticket booth, which is like when you go into a parking lot; they as you what movie you want and you say “Transformers and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” then you pay ( $9) per person. They tell you to follow the number (3) and you follow the signs towards your theater. 

Movies Showing

The box office opens at 7:30 pm, so you can get a good spot; the first movie starts at 8:30 pm.

So, you find your own spot, and watch the movie!

They have a concession stand and a bathroom with about 10 stalls in it. You can bring your own food. Everything should be fine as long as you’re respectful. Just make sure that you don’t use your headlights when the movie has already started (use your parking lights). 

Scene from the movie, from where I was sitting

Our movies started at 8:30 pm and finished around 1:30 am. It was so much fun; great place to go on a date. I’m definitely coming again!!! 

PS. this is on my Summer 2014 Bucket List (: 

626 Night Market

On my way to work on Friday (July 18), I was listening to Ryan Seacrest on Kiis Fm; he was talking about all the things to do in LA this weekend, and he mentioned the 626 Night Market (which I went to briefly last year), so I googled it to make sure it was still in the same place, and it was! Yay! The 626 Night Market is kind of like a street fair, but bigger, and kind of like a county fair, without the big rides; it’s Asian themed, so most of everything sold is Asian.

My best friend Andi, David and I ended up going to it that night. I love the Santa Anita Race Track, its so spacious so you don’t feel suffocated with all the people around you.  We arrived a little past 6, parking was easy and FREE!  You walk right up to the gates and the entrance fee is $3 (cheaper than last year). They had quirky little signs everywhere like this one:

Hahaha

Andi and I @ the huge 626 sign

Nom. Just in case you need to get around. Download this app.

We decided we first wanted to walk around so we could find out what we wanted to eat and not get stuffed. We ended up finding some really cool food trucks, although I was disappointing that Kogi wasn’t there! BOO!

The People

We ended up deciding to eat from two trucks because they both seemed really yummy. From the Grilled-Cheese Truck,

 

 

 

 

The Grilled-Cheese Truck

David and I both ordered an easy Mac & Rib (macaroni & cheese & BBQ pork), he also ordered  a side of tater-tots! I shared mine with Andi because we found another truck that we wanted to try, Rice Balls of Fire,

 

 

 

Rice Balls of Fire

where we ordered 3 Korean Tacos ( Spicy Pork, “Bulgogi” Rib-eye Steak, & Pork Belly). They were all pretty good, although the spicy pork was my favorite.

 

 

 

David’s Sandwich

Tacos!

 

 

We sat around to eat and then realized that we didn’t get anything to drink! Everyone was walking around drinking from Mason Jars, and they looked like really cool fancy drinks so we went on a hunt for them.

 

It took us a while to find the place, Simpag Asia Indonesian Cafe, and turns out that everyone was drinking virgin cocktails!

Our Drinks!

They were sooooooo good. I had a Pineapple Mojito, Andi had a Singapore Sling and David had a Watermelon Lemonade… they were so yum!

Mine!

We walked around and saw some really cool artists and start up companies like Bad Art Inc., Sean Boyce Studios and Gravity LA.

Fluff Ice

We found another food truck that was specifically for shaved ice called Fluff Ice. I ordered a fusion green tea fluff with red bean & mochi with condensed milk. I really like it but I do not like red beans though, everything else was really good.

Green Tea Fluff

By this time (9 pm), it started getting crowded with teenagers and young adults, so we decided to leave. Overall, this was a really fun event to go to. There’s tons to do and I had a lot of fun.

Ps. You can go August 15 & 16 & September 12 & 13!!!

Make-up !!!

Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten really into make up. My collection started off slowly, mostly buying drug store products. As I became older, and my budget became larger, I started buying more from specialty retailers, department stores and company owned stores.

My daily makeup bag

I recently acquired a bright pink make-up box to put most of my stuff in, though I carry a smaller bag for day-to-day make up. Although I do not wear make up every single day, I do love to experiment sometimes.

My Big Pink Box

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than buying my makeup from drug stores, I love Sephora and Ulta! I’ve also bought some products here and there from Mac, but my new obsession are my monthly make-up box (& bag) subscription to Birchbox and Ipsy!

Ipsy

Birchbox

I will post my daily make up products used in a different post (:

If you’re barely starting your collection, you should keep in mind that stores like Sephora are expensive, but most of their products are worth it. On the other hand, Birchbox and Ipsy supply me with small samples (sometimes they send me full size, yay!) and then, when I decide i really like the product, I buy the full size version of it. This way, you don’t spend $25-$40 on something you will eventually not end up using.

Sephora, Ulta, Birchbox & Ipsy all use reward points that you can redeem for other products; they change monthly.

What I do most of the time: find a product I really like, use it, if another comes up try it but don’t buy it until the first runs out.

How did you build your collection?

LACMA: Urban Light

Candid shot of me by Nadia

LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is AMAZING! I’ve been there several times now. There are so many different things to see there, but they change seasonally so check out the calendar & buy tickets. Once, David took me to see a whole exhibition on Frida Kahlo (FAVORITE!!!), it was awesome. There’s parking for a fee, but this last time I went on June 24 with Nadia, Maddy and David, we parked on the street across from the museum. 

There’s plenty to do, exhibitions, restaurants, gift shops, but my favorite is walking through and taking photos of “Urban Light” by Chris Burden. You know what I’m talking about, its a featured sculpture in every movie set in LA. 

N & M

Here are some photos, because a picture is worth a million words. 

D & E shot by Nadia

Ps. this is also on my Summer 2014 Bucket List !!!

 

Candid shot by David

The Perch

My friend Jess graduated from CSULA!!! To celebrate, we went to Downtown LA to go bar hopping (I was driving, so I just went for the fun). I parked in a parking structure because I was afraid something would happen to my car, just precaution. Parking was $6 for the day, which is the cheapest I’ve ever seen in DTLA.

The first place we stopped at was The Falls. We had reserved a booth, but I think due to the fact that it was a Sunday, the place was pretty dead. My friends enjoyed the happy hour ($5 for a shot and a beer) and the food! We decided to leave and walk to the Library Bar.

At a booth at the Falls Lounge with Jess and Leanna

I’ve been to the Library Bar before. You walk in and you feel like you entered a library, with a bar and a lot of people talking and relaxing. This time, we were in for a surprise. We walked in and the whole place was dead quiet. You could drop a pin and hear it. Wanna know why? Everyone was there to watch the latest Game of Thrones episode!!!

Scene from GoT

I haven’t started the show but I hear great things about it. We left, in part because it was super packed and quiet and in part, because David and Leanna could NOT watch any part of the episode in fear of it getting ruined for when they had a chance to catch up.

We walked to the Perch, which is probably my favorite bar in DTLA. I honestly would go just for the view alone. The first time I went I was in awe of everything I saw. You reach the entrance to the building, you get carded (of course), then lead into an elevator. You take this elevator to the 13th floor (favorite number!), and then take a second elevator up to the actual restaurant/bar.

Birdie ❤

Once you walk in, you walk through the restaurant that has a bar. Here’s the menu. Then you walk outside where there are couches and firepits (in case you get cold). There’s a second story to the bar, which is where my friends and I sat. The bar is pretty normal, though they have the coolest names for some signature drinks.

My Fair Lady

We sat down, chatted and before leaving took a photo in front of the LA skyline. I’m posting photos from both visits, just to give you an idea of how awesome this place is.

Jess’ friends (:

Technically, this is also on my Summer 2014 Bucket List, but I’m sure I’ll come again soon.

Congrats Jess on graduating ❤

Jess and I