Concert: Two Door Cinema Club

October 26th, 2012

Two Door Cinema Club with special guests Friends at SOMA

friends

What an amazing show! For a band that isn't that well known, their lighting was crazy cool (and seizure inducing!). I seriously felt like I should've taken a dose of Keppra before going. It's always great seeing not so well known bands because their fans are some of the most die-hard. They knew the lyrics to every song. They jumped and sang along. These were some of the most energetic people I've ever seen. And it wasn't because these guys were One Direction or whatever boy bands are popular these days. It was because of their music, their lyrics, and how they inspire us in times of need. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to be a musician, to be able to feel that kind of energy in the room and know you are responsible for it. It must be so amazing. Anyways, I've posted a video of the only song I knew before going to the show, Sleep Alone. The sound quality is pretty bad but hope you enjoy, nonetheless. 

The Birthday Post 2012

cake from my manager :D

First and foremost, I wanted to say a big thank you to my amazing friends for making the treck down to San Diego to spend the weekend with me. I've been a little homesick without my friends around and it really meant the world to me.

Birthday weekend commenced on Nov. 10th. We started the day off with me heading off to the post office to pick up a package my friend had sent me. I got to the post office at 8:30a but they weren't open until 9a so I decided to start the morning off right by going to Starbucks! I got their Caramel Brulee Latte which was absolutely delish! This has been my favorite winter drink. It used to be the White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha. Anyways, I digress. I got back to the post office right at 9a and I kinda wanted to punch myself in the face for being one of "those" people that wait right outside your workplace when you just opened your doors. I guess it's a pet peeve of mine when people are waiting outside the pharmacy when we haven't even opened yet. But I get it now lol. As soon as I got home, I opened up my present and was seriously floored! I couldn't believe she got me the iPad mini! I don't own a tablet and I've had my laptop since I started pharmacy school back in the summer of 2008 so this was definitely something that I really needed (as I mentioned in another post, I was looking into getting a new laptop). Now that I have the iPad mini, I'll just get a bluetooth keyboard and I'll have "laptop" lol. Seriously, I'm so attached to this thing. I'm surprised I didn't jump on this bandwagon earlier! Totally love it!

thanks tanya!!!

I've been itching to shop so we headed to the mall. Macy's was having an absolutely amazing sale! I got a bunch of stuff for almost $50. I was looking for a dress for a wedding and I got one for $10 including tax! The lines were crazy! We were starving after being done with shopping we got some food and that's when all my friends arrived! We did a little more shopping and then headed back to our place. We decided on eating ramen for dinner. Tony's friends were talking about this place called Under Belly so I decided to give it a try. Plus, it was in Little Italy and I was hoping to go to Extraordinary Desserts after dinner. Saturday night was absolutely FREEZING in San Diego. I wasn't feeling that well because I had bottomless mimosas at lunch (lol) so dinner in the freezing cold (the restaurant is outdoors and you eat on window panes) wasn't exactly the best. It was so cold that we decided not to stop at Extraordinary Desserts. But when I got home, I was surprised by the beautiful tiramisu cake my friends got me! So pretty!

tiramisu cake from extraordinary desserts courtesy of my besties

We spent the rest of the night watching the last season of How I Met Your Mother and attempting to make friendship bracelets lol. We ended up calling it a night pretty early since I wasn't feeling really well.

The next day, we had a lunch date at The Prado.

It was a beautiful for lunch outdoors.

After lunch, we enjoyed some picture whoring opportunities around Balboa Park.

It was an amazing weekend but all good things must come to an end. I had work on Tuesday but after work when I got home, I found the bf with this huge present!

when i saw the words "bloom" all i could think of was ross and "bloometh" lol

New toy! If only I had time to play with it!

We decided to go to Sushi Ota for dinner since they had such great reviews. It was absolutely delicious!  It definitely deserves the 4.5 stars on Yelp. Everything was super duper fresh.

Such a yummy dinner!

Twas an amazing birthday! Until next year! Love you all and have a great weekend!

Makeup Essentials for a Newbie

I started playing around with makeup a little over a year ago and there are certain products that I've been seriously loving. To me, these are essentials for anyone starting to get into makeup because they are all drug store items so you aren't spending a fortune and also, these are all pretty high performing products (although I haven't used much high end stuff so I really wouldn't know...). Also, I can't speak for all skin types so the face products might not be the best unless you have super oily skin like mine. Although, my skin has been getting a lot dryer(blame old age :/). Hope you guys enjoy!

Lips

Maybelline's Baby Lips is one of my favorite products for the lips. I use to use Bag Balm because my lips were so chapped all the time but it isn't very easy to carry around (even the smaller one oozes oily-ness everywhere) so these babies are a great replacement. I like the blue and lime green ones because they are clear so I use them to moisturize my lips before using any other lip products. I would highly recommend these for anyone with dry/chapped lips like mine. The baby blue one is called Quenched and tastes like peppermint. The purple one is called Peach Kiss and I can't really pinpoint what it tastes like. The pink one is called Pink Punch and I'm not sure what this tastes like either. The greenish/turquoise one is called Grape Vine and tastes pretty grapey. I also ended up picking up the orange one called Cherry Me which tastes like Sweet Tarts. 

   

With the whole balm/lipstick boom that has taken place recently, there are many products that claim to moisturize as well as tint your pouts. Lipsticks have never really worked for me since my lips are super chapped and it just looks horrible. Moisturizing with a clear lip balm has really helped and so have these Revlon Lip Butters. Between the Revlon Lip Butters and the L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm, I like the Lip Butters a lot more. A friend and I were discussing how the Lip Butters are more of a lipstick consistency but a tad bit more moisturizing whereas the Balm is more of a tinted lip balm. One of the things I would like to mention is that some of the Lip Butters can be a little grainy feeling so if that's a huge issue for you, I'd go with the Balm. My favorite color for the Lip Butters is the Peach Parfait. It's the color that's always in my purse but it is also the one that's a bit grainy.

Face

This is a great foundation(?) for people that are just starting out. I've basically used this as a tinted moisturizer. It comes out white and it just blends in with your skin color. Super easy to use. And it even has SPF! 

I've been using this foundation ever since I wanted something with more coverage. It's got a great creamy, dewey finish which is what I like. Some people have said there's a certain shimmer in the formula and I do notice it sometimes in bright sunlight (Edward Cullen style :P) but it's not bothersome to me. It has absolutely amazing coverage and goes on super smooth. I use both the 005 and the 006. 

This Wet n Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink has become one of my favorite blushes. I bought it originally because I had a coupon from CVS for Wet n Wild products and thought the color was nice. This blush is surprisingly super pigmented! It's actually more pigmented than my NARS Orgasm. I also like it a little bit more than my NARS Orgasm because I feel like Orgasm has some gold glitters that if you want to build up the color a little, you end up looking super glittery. One word of warning with this product is that there is quite a bit of fall out but overall, I really like this blush. I still haven't tried the Elf blush/bronzer duo which is supposed to be a dupe of the NARS duo so I can't compare to the Elf one. I have tried several of the other single Elf blushes and I don't feel like they are pigmented at all! They also have a ton of fall out as well which wouldn't be bothersome if it actually produced color! Maybe I'm choosing the wrong colors? Leave a comment below with your thoughts :).

This is a great item not only for bronzing but also for contouring. It gives my face so much color especially in the winter time when I tend to look like a ghost. Sometimes I don't even need to use any blush after using this. This product is also super easy to use. You can build up the color but at the same time you don't end up looking orange. There's a reason why bloggers and YouTubers rave about this product. Super affordable and great quality.

I didn't know you had to set your makeup with a powder for the longest time (lol) and I'd always wonder why my makeup looked so gross and runny after a day out. I picked this up just because it was cheap at Target and ended up loving this product. Because I have oily skin, it not only sets my makeup but also keeps my skin matte. Definitely a great product for those just starting out. I just dust this over my face after rubbing foundation all over and it does a great job of sealing things into place.

One of the main things I can't live without is eyeliner. This Maybelline gel liner is one that I've fallen in love with. It goes on super black and stays on for days! I have super oily lids and this doesn't transfer much. Even though this works really well, I try not to use it everyday since it does give you a very dramatic look. For everyday, I use the Almay black eyeliner. The thing that I love about the Almay one is that it does not require sharpening like the Milani Liquif'eye. The Milani eye liner goes on dark, super smooth and creamy but the sharpening is not a lazy person's best friend lol. 

The Naked 2 palette is great for newbies. I love that it has the super dark black which I use sometimes as a liner. The variety of neutrals in this palette is perfect for doing an everyday neutral eye or to darken up and do a smokey eye. There's also a mixture of matte and metallic colors. I won't get too into reviewing this guy since I'm still learning how to use eye shadows myself but I definitely think it's a good investment! If you'd like to see a thorough review, check out Jenn from From Head to Toe's review. I would follow her blog and YouTube channel. Her reviews are really thorough with swatches and the whole shebang! Definitely one of my favorite YouTubers!



Hope you all enjoyed this post! Love you all and thanks for reading!

Side note: OMG my computer is driving me nuts!! It's so slow!! I'm still using my Lenovo from pharmacy school which I've had since 2008 I think it's time for a new laptop. I'm looking at the new Lenovo Yoga :D. Tony actually showed it to me since it's similar to my current laptop which is on those where you can flip the screen down and it serves as a tablet, "thinkpads" as they would call it. I bought a iMac last year and we've stationed it in our second room but I rarely go in there. Should have bought something with more mobility. I've been looking at the MacBook Air but I feel like I'd just be paying for the Apple symbol rather than the specs. I guess I'll see how Windows 8 is before I make the leap!

Sick

The past couple of days has been pretty tough. I've never been so sick to my stomach before. On Tuesday I went to work and everything was fine. After I got out of work, I started feeling sick and when I got home, I started feeling nauseous. After being home for a little bit I had to vomit and I did for the rest of the night. Such unfortunate timing since my friends Tanya and Jason were coming to visit. We ended up going Izakaya Masa for ramen and then Extraordinary Desserts. The ramen place was pretty good. Tanya said it was comparable to Hawaii which is saying a lot haha. I thought their stuff was a little salty even though I love salt. I'll probably need to try the place again though since I was really sick and my taste buds were probably all out of whack. Plus I had to step outside and barf (yes.. I was that sick). I tried to go to work the next day but I got super faint (like the time I almost blacked out at the Britney Spears concert). I was typing up prescriptions and all of a sudden my vision and hearing started getting super fuzzy. I just walked away because I knew I had to sit down. Since my store has a minute clinic, they had the NP take my blood pressure and it was 80/60 so I took the rest of the day off and then had a sick day the next day. Thank goodness for resting up because I'm almost fully better! My stomach is still a little grumbly. I feel like Pooh lol. Grumbly in my tummy. Anyways, just wanted to update on what was going on. Have a great weekend everyone! New post coming soon!

Let's get philosophical... Philosophical...

...and I may go, to places I have never been to, just to find
the deepest desires in my mind...

Hi friends!

Life in San Diego has been busy busy! I've been working 40 hour weeks (ha ha yes, I know... like the rest of society lol but I'm used to working only 3 or 4 days lol :P and at a busy store like the one I'm at, it can be extremely draining) and in the little spare time that I actually have, we've been using it to look for furniture to finish off our place. Our place is pretty much fully furnished besides a few decorative items I'd like to have. I will post pictures in about a month or so after I have some people over so you guys will just have to come and see for yourself!

I had the day off today and spent the day getting my oil changed and cooking dinner. I also got to catch up on a two episodes of Once Upon a Time (so addicting!). After the bf got home we watched the Katy Perry movie. Pretty good although my expectations were a little high so I was a little disappointed. They did a much better job with the Justin Bieber movie (yes... I watched that movie lol). It was a bit of a sad movie and reminded me of a time when I was going through similar emotions. I can't even imagine having to put on a brave face to put on an entire concert when you're breaking down on the inside. I've always been a hopeless romantic and extremely emotional and I just remembered times when I would be holding back tears in class, which was especially bad when you sat in the front row.

I think of those times to remind myself of how far I've come and how I'm in such a better place now. Everyone in their own way will go through things that test them, push them to their limits and at times it'll feel like life is going in a downward spiral but it's up to us to take back control of our lives. Giving up is easy. It's picking up the pieces and deciding what to do afterwards that's hard. One of my favorite quotes is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail." I truly believe that if you can find a way to get over that obstacle, whatever it may be, it will not only make you a stronger person but a better human being. I was talking to my manager the other day and she said something that really touched my heart. She said, "We will do our best to help each other be better human beings." It just made me think that if everyone thought this way, the world would be a much better place.

I got all philosophical on ya'lls all of a sudden haha. Thanks for listening to me ramble on lol. Hope everyone is ready for the weekend! Let's finish this week off right! Love and miss you all!



Currently Listening to: (lyrics featured as caption of photo)

Concert: the xx

October 13th, 2012

the xx with special guests 2:54 and John Talabot @ Hollywood Forever

2:54

john talabot

fin

Such an amazing concert and the venue just made it all the more serene. The Hollywood Forever Cemetery is so beautiful. We paid the extra $20 to park inside the venue and it's definitely worth it. You don't have to wait in line to get in and you could go back to the car to get whatever you want. They don't let you in until 6pm so we drove around the block and just parked until it was 6pm. Blankets recommended (one to sit on and another to snuggle with :)) since it did get cold after the sun went down despite it still being fricken hot in LA at this time of the year.

I recorded a bunch of little clips from the concert so once I piece them all together, I'll post it here. I'm still trying to get a hang of using the Mac programs. 

San Diego

I am now up and running in San Diego! I've been without internet for the past 2 weeks and it's so nice to finally have internet again! I've been seriously taking the internet for granted all this time. I'll be back to regular posting soon but first I have to get back on schedule with all my finances. Paying bills without internet is not the deal especially when your credit card just expired. All my auto payments thru my credit card were rejected so I have to fix all that stuff too. Let me tell ya... super fun stuff.

So far working and living in San Diego hasn't been much different than being in LA besides the fact that we have our own place and I'm working in a far busier store. We're pretty much done decorating our place with a few things that don't need immediately so we'd like to take our time looking for them (i.e. night stands, coffee table, side tables, etc). Other than that, we're pretty much all settled in.

I'm hoping I'll have some new posts for ya'lls soon! Love and miss ya'lls! Talk to you guys soon!