Updates on Allison

Picture Catch-up Post Part 1

2012-01-23T12:43:00.001-08:00

Since it's been so long since Christmas and New Years, I figured I'd just put up some pictures of all the delicious food that we ate and not go into loads of detail since it was a while ago. I will have to upload all the food pics from my camera for NYE to another post.

The week before Christmas we surprised Mrs. Ryan with Pierce's homecoming. Originally, he was trying to surprise his whole family but then his dad and brother found out so only Mrs. Ryan was the one in the dark. He had told her that he couldn't come home for Christmas because of a class that he was taking. He and Christopher had been planning this for months. My mom made a turkey and came up with a bogus reason for them to come over for a pre-Christmas dinner.

Christopher and I planned and executed out Christmas day dinner as we did last year. I was particularly pleased with the way my tiger prawns turned out.

I think Christopher's eyeballs might have bulged when
he saw the time table I wrote out for us.

I'm getting way better at my knife cuts.

I look like a hunch back, but I was concentrating.

My Mom's gift from us.

Hiatus

2012-01-12T09:52:00.003-08:00

Hi Everyone,

My blog will be going on hiatus for the next couple of weeks. I'm engrossed in reading the Hunger Games series so I've been doing that on all of my spare time, including lunch, which is usually my blog time. Once I'm done with the series I'll try to get back on schedule.

Allison

For the Emmydooz fans

2012-01-03T19:45:00.001-08:00

My Dad is putting up Crown Moulding for me and borrowed
a compressor from a friend. When he was finished for the
day he put it on Emmy's bed. I think she's come to terms with
it living there for a little bit.

With the cold weather and gloomy days Emmy has been sleeping a lot. She
finds my sleeping bag at my parent's house and my bed to be the most comfortable.
Sometimes I think she looks at me and thinks "Where are you going to sleep?"

Today's Lunch

2012-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

I have so much to blog about but have been, welp, lazy. So to get back on track, this is what I had for lunch today. We had so much cheese left over from our New Year's Eve: Grilled Cheese Bar party that I had to make sandwich stuffed with it. Smoked Gouda and turkey might be my new favorite sandwich.

Mini Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

After hemming and hauing about it, I got myself a little tree. I wish it was a little bigger, but for $40, I can't really complain.

Wicked! Well, I think it's really the Wizard of Oz, but we're going to say
that these are Elphaba and Glinda.

These are my favorite Christmas ornaments. My Mom was nice enough to
give them to me for my tree. A couple of years ago when our tree fell over
these little guys were my main concern.

More projects

2011-12-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

I will probably be working on these after Christmas and New Years since weekends have been pretty hectic and busy. I was very excited, as always, to find free and very inexpensive things at a garage sale.

I found this bad boy at the bottom of the stairs. As some
of you may know, Nick will be moving in with me come February
when his parents move home. Currently, he doesn't have a night
stand and will put my laptop on the floor where I can step on it when
making the bed. I plan to sand this down and paint it white to match
my existing nightstand. The styles are actually quite similar. I think
with some love...a lot of love, this guy will look really good.

I think if I sand the top of this really well that it will be good
as new.

Don't worry, I've vacuumed and disinfected this whole piece
since these pictures.

I got these at a garage sale for $5 each. I'm in desperate need of more lighting,
but they're expensive! I actually kind of like the color of the tall lamp on the left,
but will be painting the other two black. I think that detailing on these old
lamps is fantastic. I've also already thrown out the lamp shade on the right.
I think that the one on the left, already vacuumed for dust of course,
will look nice with some modern embellishments. We'll see what I come up
with. But for $15 in a weekend, Nick now has a nightstand and lamp to read with
and I can move furniture around to add more lighting to my living room.

All in the pot chow mein

2011-12-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

A week after Thanksgiving I still had some leftovers in my fridge. My rule is that if it's been in there for a week it either needs to be eaten or it gets thrown out. Lets be real here. I'm on a budget so very little actually gets thrown out. After surveying my sparsely stocked fridge, I managed to pull together a chow mein that Nick really enjoyed. What is that saying? Poor as church mice, but happy as clams.

Chinese Gai Lan, garlic, left over broccoli, ham, turkey, and egg.

I first par boiled the Gai Lan and then flash cooked the noodle. After the water evaporated from my wok, I added EVOO, garlic and egg to scramble. Then I tossed in the rest with some Oyster sauce and Sesame Oil. Saute, saute, saute, and done!

Turkey Katsu

2011-12-13T13:01:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind on my food blogs so I'll make this one quick. After Thanksgiving Nick and I were sitting around being bums when he said that he wanted something fried for dinner. KFC is too expensive for our thin wallets and my fridge was practically empty. I had left over turkey that I took from our Thanksgiving dinners and one egg. Since all of my chicken was frozen and I really only have bone-in dark meat I decided that I would improvise a Chicken Katsu recipe with the left over turkey. I have to say, I was quite impressed with myself. I also quickly defrosted some soup that I had made a while back and wa la! Dinner is served.

Naked 2: Initial Thoughts

2011-12-07T13:12:00.003-08:00

My biggest question when buying this palette was, Is it worth it? The answer isn't exactly simple.

Quality: Yes
Cost: Yes
Colors: Yes
Variance from Naked Palette: No

As always, the quality of the makeup is awesome and the dual-ended synthetic brush is handy also. For $50 +tax (free shipping) I think that this palette is a really good deal. It also comes with a mini lip gloss that is super shiny. I'm not a fan of lip glosses, but I thought it was pretty cool that it came with it. I'm sure you can read all the comments on their site or other blogs about how fantastic the quality, texture, scent, color payoff, convenience, etc. My main issue with this palette is that it is extremely similar to the original Naked Palette. I think all of the colors are very pretty, but so are the ones in the original. There is even a repeat, which I knew about before purchasing, but now considering that the colors are so similar I am not so pleased with the repeat. I guess there are only so many options to stay within a neutral palette zone, but I suppose was just hoping for more.

I also prefer the matte colors in the original as they work well in the crease. There are three matte colors in the Naked2 that are pretty good, but my makeup application skills aren't good enough to make Blackout very blendable. I enjoy Foxy as a highlight color, but already have a very similar NYX shade.

Onto the pictures!

Foxy and Tease are the matte colors in this picture. The others are all
shimmer or have hints of glitter.

Blackout is the matte color. I really like all of these colors in this picture.

I don't know how other bloggers do such a good job
with swatching. It was so hard to get everything in the
shot!

The bottom line is that the palette itself is awesome, but if you already have Naked then you don't need to rush out to get Naked2. I have nothing really negative to say about the makeup itself, just that it is too similar to the Naked Palette. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who doesn't already own Naked.

Should anyone be interested, here is a real review on Naked 2: MakeupbyTiffyanyD

Meyer Sale 2011

2011-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

If you recall from last year my Mom and I went pretty wild with the 2010 Meyer Sale. This year I think we might have gone just as bananas for all of the stuff. I am seriously stoked about my new grater/zester. I have a microplane and box grater, but nothing in between. Yippee! I'm also excited to use the cast iron grill/pancake top. I always see them on cooking shows, but they're so expensive that I've never bought one. Unfortunately, I read the sign incorrectly and thought it was only $20.00. It turned out to be $56.00! There are no returns or exchanges so I'm stuck with it, but at least I didn't pay the full price $90.00 and it is a really solid piece of equipment. I would fear for my toes if I ever dropped it. It would seriously break something and maybe fall through the floor if it was dropped.

Since I moved out of the house and bought new pots, I needed new cooking tools to go with them. All of my pots and pans are Teflon so I was worried about scratching them with the medal tools that I bought at last year's sale. Now I can't go wrong!

Lunch is Served

2011-11-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

Using my Fire-Roasted Tomato sauce and turkey meatballs
I made this yummy meatball sandwich on and herb french
roll.

Lazy Dog Pics

2011-11-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

She's actually out playing here, but look at those dirty
paws! She had an undercarriage bath when we got home.

Cookie Bonanza!

2011-11-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

I have been baking an absurd amount of cookies lately. I think I'm actually getting a little bit of carpal tunnel in my right hand from using the cookie scoop. Last week when it was cold and dreary I decided to make some Snickerdoodles to warm up the condo. They were a hit! My office loved them and Christopher requested another batch. I used Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodle recipe and added a tsp of nutmeg, substituted the shortening for butter, and double the butter amount. Instead of using one cup of butter, I used two. Maybe next time I should try the normal amount, but they came out so moist and buttery that I don't know if I want to go back!

I also learned a pretty neat trick from reading the Snickerdoodle comments. Instead of rolling the dough in your sugar and cinnamon mixture you can put them in a baggie and shake. Shake and Bake! It works so much better and is a major time saver.

I had also gotten a request for my normal ginger cookies so I made a batch of those as well.

Thanksgiving Feasting

2011-11-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

I swear that my stomach has stretched in the last five days. There was so much good food to be had on both sides of my family. I love Thanksgiving!

Unfortunately, I was too involved with talking and the normal bustle around the kitchen that I didn't take any pictures at my Uncle David's feast. It was all so delicious! Auntie Wendy made super cute little turkey cookies too.

Pizza "Pinwheel"

2011-11-28T13:25:00.001-08:00

As I was making my meatballs, I found that I had too many to put on my trays. I decided to break some of them up to make a little appetizer to bring to my Aunt's for Thanksgiving. In true Allison fashion, I overstuffed the thing so that I couldn't roll it. So though it's not exactly a Pinwheel, it's a stuffed flat-roll.

Turkey Meatballs

2011-11-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite foods is spaghetti. Lately I've been making spaghetti sauce and the freezing it to eat during the week when I don't feel like cooking. What goes well with spaghetti? Meatballs of course!

I had purchased ground turkey from Safeway at a buy one get one free price and picked up some Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage at my local Food Maxx. Using what herbs I had in the fridge, basil and parsley, I made about 100 meat balls to freeze. (I also minced some onion and one egg per batch to throw in there.) These were super easy to make and only about $9.00 total. I look for any excuse to use my Kitchen Aid mixer so I put it all in for a little whirl, but you can use your hands and it will be fine.

I used my cookie scoop to make them all about the same size.

Freezing them flat like this first will allow me to put them in a large baggie
later without them sticking to each other or molding into one big turkey
meatloaf.

They only take about an hour to freeze. I have a second tray waiting in the
fridge since my freezer is too small to do them both at the same time.

Wah La! I made Hot Sausage and Sage Sausage varieties. Now we can have
spaghetti and meatballs whenever we like, I'm also excited to have some
meatball sandwiches!

The Big Game 2011

2011-11-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Surprisingly Cal did a lot better than anyone expected. With the final score of 31-28 Stanford, we were all pretty pleased with the outcome. Of course, nowadays I go for the tailgating. Since the crabbers have yet to figure out crab prices we were treated with some lobster. Yum yum!

Roasted garlic potatoes, filet mignon with mushroom gravy, lobster, broccoli
salad, and later, sticky rice.

It was quite cold and rainy out.

Linda and Rob graciously agreed to help me watch Emmy. As a thank you, I made them a big pot of Cioppino, salad, and lemon bars.

Go Bears!

2011-11-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the 2011 Big Game between Cal and Stanford. Though I know winning is not in Cal's favor, one can still hope. The tailgate is what I look forward to the most. In preparation for the big day, I used my Konad to get festive.

No Flash

Flash

Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce

2011-11-17T20:35:00.001-08:00

On my day off for Veteran's Day I made a scrumptious pasta sauce. This is no joke, my best sauce to date. The fire-roasted tomatoes gave the sauce a really nice smokey flavor and all the veg gave it a hearty texture.

Spaghetti Sauce 5: Fire Roast Tomatoes Spaghetti Sauce

1lb ground turkey
2 onions, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh sage, minced
1 tsp anchovy paste
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 yellow bell peppers, diced
3 yellow squash, cubed
1 cup red wine
3 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 14.5oz cans fire roasted tomatoes, pureed
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp of each)

Directions:

Over medium high heat, brown turkey in large sauce pot. Let 75% of turkey juice evaporate. Add onion, garlic, sage and anchovy paste, sauté until soft. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Add bell peppers and squash. Saute veggies and add wine. Cover and let veggies steam in wine sauce.

Meanwhile, using a blender or food processor, puree fire roasted tomatoes. Add fire roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Once at a boil, leave lid cracked and let simmer for 2-3 hours.

Poor-Man's Tomato Soup

2011-11-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

As a child my Mom always bought chicken noodle instead of tomato soup. It wasn't until college that I had it with a grilled cheese sandwich and thought it was amazing. This week I tried something new. I wanted to make a tomato soup that was easy and affordable, plus I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go to the store to get some. My local Food Maxx is having a sale on their 8oz tomato sauce cans for $0.24 each. I simply poured the sauce into a pot and added about 8oz of chicken stock. After bringing it to a to a boil it looks just like the store bought stuff! It's a little bit acidic so next time I'm going to add a pinch of sugar, but for about $0.30 I made a 16oz bowl of tomato soup to go with my ham and cheese sandwiches! I might even spruce it up with some pepper and oregano next time, but I love how easy and simple this is.

For my sandwiches I've been layering Swiss cheese and ham with a little bit of mustard and ranch dressing. When I get to work I heat it up in the microwave and wa laa! Melty ham and cheese sandwich! It's been my thing for a few days now and I love it.

I know it doesn't look like much, but sometimes some of the simplest things
are the most delicious.

Knives, knives, and more knives!

2011-11-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

This is what my drying pad looks like after Nick and I cook together:

Family Dinner

2011-11-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend Nick and I planned a big family dinner to watch Captain America and celebrate my Mom's bday. Since Safeway was having an extremely good sale on whole chickens we decided to do our Sage-Rosemary butter chicken. We also made our normal garlic green beans and tried out some wild rice and drunken mushrooms. I wasn't a huge fan of the rice and for some reason I had a really heavy hand with the salt for the mushrooms so they were rather salty. If I decide to perfect the recipe I'll post it, but as of now, they were just kind of "eh".

Nick and I started off the day with a hearty meal and some football. Well, he watched football and I took a long food coma nap.

I whipped up a little spicy sauce to slather on his toast and piled on left over
London broil, mozzarella, and eggs.

For myself I fried eggs and put them on top of bologna
and english muffins.

By 3:30pm we started cooking.

Before

1 hour into baking

2.5 hours later

I had also decided to make a couple of Dutch Apple Pies. Instead of using classic chunks of apple I sliced them thinly.

Make it glitter make it rain

2011-11-08T13:02:00.001-08:00

I was so excited to find this nail polish at CVS the other day. It's just by Wet n' Wild, but I've been wanting a similar OPI polish called Teenage Dream. This is good enough for me. The best part is that instead of being the normal $0.99, it was $0.69. It's not much of a difference, but I have to get my kicks some how.

For this look I used a light pink nail polish as a base and put about three coats of the glitter.

Strawberry sponge

2011-11-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

The other night Nick was helping me do the dishes when he asked for a new sponge. When I handed him this he stared at it for a minute and said, "This is the most ridiculous sponge I've ever seen."

It's happy to be cleaning!

Asian Dog

2011-11-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really do think that Emmy is Asian. She loves edamame!

I like to buy the big trays of edamame at Costco and we sit together watching tv and eating. One for me, one for her. By the end of the night we had finished half of a tray.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Originally Nick and I were not planning on going out for Halloween. He's not a big fan of the holiday in general and I don't like the drunks, crazies and women dressed up as hoebags. It's the one day of the year that women think that they can go out into public wearing what they have in their underwear drawers and still be called respectable the next day. It really irks me.

Anyway, we got a text last minute from a friend of ours to go to a restaurant/bar in Pleasant Hill where my parents usually celebrate with their friends. I made a glittery eyeball mask last year so I wanted to make mask wearing a tradition. This year I took it one step further and put the mask directly onto my face. Using eyelash glue, I stuck each rhinestone on individually and then packed on some of Mac's Reflux Glitter to fill in the cracks. I also put on some feather false lashes to make it more fun. I wore a bathrobe and told people that I was a Vegas Showgirl getting ready to go on stage.

Close up pictures always look so weird, but at least you
can see the detail.

I did a double ponytail for some funkiness and twisted up
my bangs.

Since we were going out so last minute I gave Nick a black eye so that he could
be a little more festive.

Neither of us has actually ever seen a black eye so we were winging it, but
it looks believable enough I think.

Sally Hansen's Nail Pen

2011-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

With having to watch my spending, I've been going on "shopping sprees" at the Dollar Store. It really does give me that nice feeling of shopping without having the shell out a lot of cash. I found this nail polish pen in one of my bathroom drawers. I had picked it up a while ago at the Dollar Store but had totally forgotten about it. Needless to say, I was skeptical. I mean, how well could this thing really work?

The concept is to push the top part of the pen to dispense the nail polish into the little brush. The polish is supposed to squeeze through a little hole to fill the brush. I was SUPER surprised at how well this actually worked. It sped up my manicure time significantly and the formula was quick to dry. I also made less mistakes because the pen fit my hand better than a small nail polish bottle cap. The application was above average too. I find that sometimes nail polish will be thin right near my cuticle and become thick and pigmented at the end of my nail. I have no idea why this happens to me, but it's annoying. This pen didn't do that! I'm very impressed and pleased with the color. I might need to take another trip to the Dollar Store to see if I can find more colors!

Eggs on nachos?

2011-10-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's actually not bad. I've been trying to cook more now that I'm all settled in, but when it's just Nick and myself (or even just myself) my motivation wanes. Ramen or udon is just so much easier. I decided to start with something easy. Turkey nachos! For some reason I was really wanting eggs so I fried some up and put them on top. It wasn't bad, but I'm not sure if I would do it again. I got my egg fix!

Wall Decal

2011-10-27T13:24:00.002-07:00

If you've noticed in past posts that I had some papers stuck to the wall of my kitchen it was because I was midway through putting up a wall decal. It's one of those things where you take a credit card-like card and rub it onto the wall. When I first moved in it was midsummer and stifling in the condo, which meant that even trying to get one letter up would have me sweating. I finally finished putting it up now that the weather has cooled down. To remove this all you have to do is use a hair dryer to warm up the decal and it will peel off. What this means to me is that next summer I will find this decal melted off onto my kitchen counter. At least it is cute while it lasts.

Anniversary Dinner

2011-10-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday marked our two-year-anniversary. Since my budget was blown in Monterey for the Porsche event and Nick's from buying me the TV, we decided to stay in for dinner. Knowing that I adore lamb, Nick made me a scrumptious meal of lamb shank, garlic mash, and green beans. All at the top of my "I LOVE" list. He had pointed out that this was probably one of the first meals he's ever made me. After thinking about it, he's right! All of the cooking we do is together. Just standing and watching him work was very relaxing. Needless to say, after this giant meal I was down for the count and in asleep by 10:20pm.

Key holder

2011-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've been a little bit stressed lately so I went to TJ Maxx for some retail therapy. I got this jewelry holder to put my keys, chapstick, etc. in. The scented diffuser is a little to florally for me so I gave it to my mom. The bottle sure is pretty though!

Accent Pillows

2011-10-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

From Harry Potter robes to accent pillows, my mom can make it. My mom agreed to make me some accent pillow for my sofas and bed. I LOVE THEM! They're the perfect size since I have so many regular pillows as it is.

Love Seat

Love Seat pillow detail

Sofa

Sofa pillow detail without flash

Anniversary Weekend

2011-10-17T20:22:00.001-07:00

Thursday marks our two-year anniversary. Nick got me my TV as a housewarming/anniversary gift and I got him tickets to see the Rennsport Reunion IV. I definitely hit the jackpot with this idea. Nick was like a kid in a candy store (as were the thousands of other men there). The weekend started with us walking up at 7:30am on Saturday to drive down to Laguna Seca. After we got there, we wandered around the paddock and got some up close looks at the race cars. By 11am I had hit my car-wall. Nick was excited so he talked about cars most of the drive down to Monterey and then we were surrounded by car fanatics. I had been craving corn dogs since the Giants game I went to with his company at the beginning of September so he promised me corn dogs. That made the whole day better. I ate three in the span of the weekend. I probably haven't had a corn dog since I was 10-years old (I don't really like them much) but oh man, when you've been craving one for weeks it's the best thing in the world. That as well as some strong, local beer got me through the day.

Sally from Cars. The highlight of the Reunion for me.

There was a preview of a new racing game, not sure which,
and Nick tried to win a Hot Lap around the track. He didn't,
but it was worth a try!

A race car that Nick was really excited about. I'm not sure
what it's called, but all the guys were excited about it. I went
to take a picture of the side of the car and when I held my camera
up all I saw were blue jean butts in the view finder. All the men were
looking into the car. There were four butts staring at me, I counted.
Nick's was in there as well. I don't mean to sound gender
specific, but really, there were no females
bending down looking in there.

At the Corkscrew

There was a small crash at the Corksrcew that kicked up a ton of dust.

The races started at 1pm, much to my chagrin. I thought the qualifying races we had been watching were the actual races! Little did I know that I had a whole afternoon to go. It wasn't as bad as I thought though. We hiked up to the Corkscrew area and I took a little nap. With the power of ear plugs, the day went by pretty quickly. I'd go with Nick again, but only as long as the tickets are reasonably priced. I don't think I appreciate this kind of thing as much as some others might.

Nick had made us reservations at our favorite seafood house in Monterey, The Monterey Fish House, so we headed back to the Marriott in Downtown Monterey to clean up. I showered first. By the time Nick got out of the shower I was in sweats with a glass of champagne and my feet up on pillows. We are such an old couple. We had a great night with an awesome dinner and some pretty hearty laughs. He makes me laugh so much. We were chattering away when we got off the elevator in the hotel and we went to the wrong room! He would put the key in and I would try the handle. We did that about three times before we realized we were on the second floor but needed to be on the sixth. We got out of there quickly in case someone came out of their room. Giggling the whole way of course.

Our view of the bay from the room.

The second day of the Porche reunion was just about the same as the first but this time we went to breakfast at The Breakfast Club in Seaside. Holy smokes, I had the best omelette I've ever tasted. The waitress recommended the Chile Verde omelette. It was packed full of green salsa with barbacoa pork. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I scarfed the whole thing down before I even touched the biscuits with gravy and hash browns that came with it. We've definitely found our new breakfast place for when we're in Monterey. Oh man, it was good. If I was on the Food Network show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, this omelette would be a top pick.

Best omelette EVER

Cuddly doggy

2011-10-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

With the all of the family events and trying to get my apartment in comfortable living condition, it's been very hectic during the weekends. I decided to take a "veg" weekend and Emmy wanted to relax with me...until kids outside started to play with their remote controlled cars.

Updated Center Piece

2011-10-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I had showed this "blingy" center piece for my coffee table. Well, it was a little too blingy. When I was at the dollar store looking for little baskets to organize my makeup, I found navy blue fish tank pebbles. It helps bring in the blue and green accents that I'm hoping will liven up the overwhelming brown theme.

Old

New

For now the centerpiece is on my kitchen table because I've been using
the Yankee Candle that I got from TJ Maxx. I'm addicted to it, but eventually
this centerpiece will make it's way back to the coffee table where the shape
compliments the table better.

NYX Haul

2011-10-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

I was sooooo excited to see these. I've tried NYX's jumbo pencils before and loved them so when Bonnie told me that Hautelook.com was having a sale I couldn't resist. I tend to go to the NYX site, fill up my cart, and then leave it because I don't want to pay full price for it all. I got lucky this time. I actually had to take things out of my cart because I would have ended up spending $100 on everything. They sell these all on nyxcosmetics.com, but at full price.

I found that the lighter colors had less pigmentation, which made it difficult to swatch. The darker colors, however came out beautifully. I tried using this rust-toned trio today. It was a little too "rusty" for my skin tone, but I was able to balance it out nicely with the matte finished Highlight. So even though the light colors don't swatch well, they still show up on my eyelids and drastically help blending.

Golden, Rust, Walnut Bronze Trio ($8 nyxcosmetics.com)

Aloha, Mink Brown, Deep Bronze Trio

Without Flash
The swatches were just too light on this pallet so I'm not posting them.

Lake Moss Trio

This kit also came with an eyeliner and shadow base.

Black, Dark Brown, Highlight, White

Can you get over this pigmentation?! It looks like I swiped my hand with
charcoal.

I used the bright pink "Mocha" today and love it. Just make sure to blot
your brush on the back of your had before applying to your face.

Chicken Soup...

2011-10-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

...for the gloomy day's soul. Yesterday was just so gloomy and drizzly that I really wanted to make chicken soup and pies. The soup was delicious and my coworkers enjoyed the pies.

Gloomy Day Chicken Soup
1 pack chicken thighs
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 head garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
8 qts water
1 tsp rosemary
2 tsp thyme
2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 heads broccoli
2 eggs
1/2 lb pasta
Directions:
Sweat onion and garlic over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add chicken to brown. Once chicken is browned, add celery, water, rosemary, thyme, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for an hour. In a separate pot, cook pasta and drain. When ready to eat, add broccoli, pasta, and egg. Cook for two minutes.

Browned chicken, onion and garlic. I added the herbs first, but you can just
do this when you add the water to ensure that they don't burn.

Everything in the pot.

Last step. The white blob is where my poached eggs are.

Jane Face Haul

2011-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yet another Jane haul. I've been super into bronzers and blushes the last couple of months. As the summer comes to an end I have found (especially when I was in NY) that blush can do wonders for your face. It makes you less tired looking and all around perkier. You look alive, so to speak. I've been more adventurous and trying different shades recently. I really enjoy the dusky-rose and peach shades for summer when you naturally have a tan and bright glow. Now that it's cooler and I'm wearing darker colors, long sleeves, and it's gloomy outside I think I'll be turning more to plum-rose colors. I've tried all of the following blushes and really enjoy them. Their pigmentation is great and I like the feel of them on my skin. Since they are the traditional pressed formula, they don't make my skin feel sticky or oily. I like cream blushes, but sometimes they make my skin feel stickier than usual. I have yet to try the newer baked blushes, but I've tried baked bronzers and really enjoy them. Whenever I try out baked blushes I will report back. My only criticism for this blush is that it gets a little powdery. When I pat my stippling brush into it, the brush seems to break up the top layer of blush so that it becomes a powder, which then falls onto my counter. If I use my all over fluffy face brush this problem isn't as pronounced, but I usually don't use that brush for blush. I just think that it wastes product.

I actually bought Down To Earth twice but about five months apart. At
least now I have a back up.

Add caption

New makeup storage

2011-10-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

As my collection grows, I have to think of new storage ideas. I bought a five-drawer container from Target and some inexpensive plastic inserts to organize it all. I will also be posting a Jane haul soon, but still have to upload the pictures. Makeup, makeup, makeup. I love makeup.

Wall Hangings

2011-10-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

I finally got pictures hung so the walls aren't so bare. After getting Nick's picture printed and matted, I think picture looks awesome. He had taken the picture quite a few years ago before we met, but it's one of my favorites. I like looking up and thinking, my boyfriend did that! Although after we got it up we both were quiet and said, "It looks like something in a hotel." Hehehe. It still looks to me!

I'm hoping to put my wine racks under this picture when
I get them.

New table cloth

2011-10-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing I'm a shopper because I hated that gold table cloth I purchased last week. I've already submitted the forms to have it returned to Amazon. When ordering, I decided to buy two table cloths instead of one. I wanted the gold (it was supposed to be ivory) because it was going to arrive quickly. I purchased the second one because I thought it was pretty. For some reason I love florally things. Floral and bling. I think my decorative style is a little confused.

Someone has been moving out of our condo for the last week. People put all their unwanted junk by the stairwell next to the dumpster room. So their stuff isn't exactly in the dumpster, but out there for people to pick up if they want. Of course, I like to peruse this area when I go down the stairs. Plus it's in a secluded area so people can't really see you rummaging through "trash". Like they say, One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure! I missed a lamp that looked nice. I should have picked it up but when I got back from work it was already gone. I picked up a whole stack of cooking magazines that were mostly brand new and still in their plastic packaging. I told Nick and my parents that I looked like a little crab scuttling around like a crab at the bottom of the ocean when I was digging through the box of magazines. I found brand new Bon Apetites, Food and Wine (some of which I already had from my own subscription) Vegetarian Magazine, and Cook's Illustrated. I love Cook's Illustrated. They're so informative. I hit the jackpot! The other morning I also saw this chair as I was walking to my car before work. I learned my lesson from the lamp so I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into my car. I plan to repaint or refinish it.

Milani: INFINITE Liquid Eye Liner

2011-10-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Wow.

This is the best liquid liner I've tried to date. After my Avon liner started to get a little funky, I was searching for another liquid liner with a brush. Many brands are moving towards the felt tip pen applicator, which I find to be a little rough on my eyelids. I tried the LineExact Liquid Liner a while back and hated it. What a waste of money. The Milani INFINITE Liquid Eye Liner, however is a different story. I purchased a plain old dark brown for about $7.00.

The brush isn't exactly pointy, but you can still get a nice thin line. I was a little surprised that the product right out of the package seemed a little sticky like it was old. I considered returning it before even trying, but decided to give it a shot first. I love it. Not only is it very pigmented, it stays put. I also tried the matching pencil liner, but I found that when I used it to tightline it smudged onto my contact lens, which made it very difficult to see. If I ever get Lasik, I will definitely be repurchasing the pencil because I really enjoyed the dark pigmentation and the smooth glide during application. Anyway, back to the liquid line. They weren't kidding when they said it is waterproof. Usually I use a baby wipe to take off my makeup. They're easy, inexpensive, come in a variety of softness, come in an easy to access plastic container, and get the job done. This liner wouldn't budge when I tried get it off. I had to get the full blown makeup remover out to get it off.

After wearing it a few times now, it just keeps getting better. I don't worry about it smudging at all if I'm having allergy eyes. Today I ventured into the winged out look. I tend to touch the corners of my eyes a lot because they're always itchy or I get something under my contact. Contacts are the bane of my existence. They give me so many problems. I've never done the winged look because of this. I don't want a wing on one eye and have it worn off on the other. I had zero problems today. I have a feeling I won't be looking for alternatives after find this one!

More updates to the condo

2011-10-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Updated condo pictures. More to come when I get more pictures up.

Guest room:

My tables are finally in the condo!

These pictures are above the TV

I really dislike this table cloth, but I needed it and threw
away the packaging so I can't return it to Amazon. It will
do for now. The picture showed it as an ivory, not gold.

Emmy's new serving tray. I know it seems extravagant, but she gets messy
with her water sometimes and I didn't want an ugly tray in my dining room.

Family Night

2011-10-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, I'm a little home sick...even though I'm less than miles away and I see my parents everyday. I miss just sitting around the house. When I go to pick up Emmy every night I just want to get back to the condo as quickly as possible so I can sprawl out on the sofa. So this weekend we had a family Thor night at my new place. I made some pasta sauce and a good looking lasagna. Nick also made some fabulous garlic bread with fresh garlic, butter, and cilantro. Yum! Nick's garlic bread was sooo good. My sauce was a little bit off to me. I think it's because I forgot to add spinach. Thor was pretty good too!

This was what was in my sauce: ground turkey, zucchini, red bell, jalapeno,
portobelo mushroom, garlic, onion, shallots, red wine, diced tomato, and
tomato sauce.

New decorations

2011-09-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

I previously had some mirrored butterflies in my square frames and before that Winnie the Pooh. I decided that I needed a little change of pace.

These were the decorations from before.

New decorations! I used scrapbooking paper.

Pot storage

Dining room curtain

Putting up decorations

2011-09-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Now that most of my stuff is in the condo (I keep finding more and more things at my parents house that still needs to be moved) I'm starting to put up decorations and put things in their designated areas.

I saw the mirror in an Ikea catalog and HAD to have it.

The guest room is almost done. I still need to anchor the book shelves.

These are in my vanity area.

I finally have somewhere to put my stand mixer! That means a lot more
baking for me!

Lucky Girl

2011-09-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Before we went over to my parents house to make tons of food for their family anniversary bbq, Nick came over early and made me breakfast in bed! (He has a key.) I popped open one grumpy eyeball and saw him walking in with a plate full of food. He made me a turkey and spam omelet with fajita veggies. I never am able to make omelets because they turn into scrambles. I'm a lucky girl!

Snuggling/dying from heat

2011-09-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Pictures on the wall

2011-09-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted some pictures of cool frames I got from Aaron Brothers during their penny sale. They look like Polaroids! I really should start using my regular camera for pictures, but it's just so easy to whip out my phone.

This was on our first date.

I also put pictures in some coasters that I had gotten for Christmas a few
years back.

Empty room

2011-09-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Now that my room at home is empty and Christopher took my bookshelf, my books look so sad on the floor. His reasoning for putting them spine-in was because he didn't want the pages to get crushed against the wall. It just makes the dead tree flakes (paper), as a grad school friend of mine so fondly called it, look old and yellow. Don't worry books! You have two brand new shelves to go in at the condo! Once we get the baseboards put back on in the condo I'm going to start bringing books over a bagful at a time.

Makeup for Glasses

2011-09-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

I honestly can't remember the last time I wore glasses out just to wear glasses. Lately my eyes have been ultra tired and dry. I wasn't sure if it is just a higher level of eye strain or because I sit under the air conditioner. Maybe it's a combination of both. Whatever the case, my eyes are usually killing me by the time I leave the office. I decided to try my glasses today. I don't think these "new" frames have seen the light of day. This is why I had my old frames for six years before it was time for a style change. Plus, the new frames look pretty similar to the old frames.

I discovered that it's not the makeup look that's difficult, it's the application. I never realized how much I depended on my hard lenses to shield the surface of my eyeball. As most of you know, my vision is terrible. I poked myself in the eye at least three times just trying to tightline my lids, which I do everyday. I guess I used my contacts as a barrier/guide for application and didn't even realize it. Needless to say, I only applied mascara and eyeliner today. I didn't even want to attempt eye shadow application practically blind.

Quick Pic Post

2011-09-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time before work, but I wanted to get these pictures up since I didn't have time last week. So far the move is going pretty well. Lots of work as expected. This just reaffirms my hatred for moving, but it will all be worth it.

Daytime lighting:

Nighttime lighting:

You can see the Emmy prints!

Furniture:

Everything is looking pretty neutral right now. I am still contemplating accent colors, but I'm leaning toward navy blue.

Accent Nail

2011-09-07T21:33:00.001-07:00

I've been seeing accent nails on Youtube a lot lately and decided to try it out since I haven't used my Konad stamper in a while. Plus, since I did my nails on Monday night after working in the condo all I had to do is stamp and I was done! My cuticles are shot, but what can I say? I've been renovating. My mom asked why I even bothered painting my nails since they're going to get messed up anyway, but it had been such a long time since I did them that I needed to in order to relax.

Breakfast of Champions

2011-09-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Since I pretty much conned my dad into buying new floor tiles for the kitchen and bathroom, I made him this breakfast before we went to go install them.

Three Sunny-side-up eggs over muenster cheese, ham, turkey, and ketchup
on top of toasted focaccia bread.

Thorn in her paw

2011-09-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

My mom noticed that Emmy was limping on Monday night after running around the backyard barking at the Boxers next door. No wonder! Uncle Christopher pulled this mondo thorn out of her paw and she barely flinched! I would have been crying like a baby.

Santa Cruz

2011-09-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Besides doing loads of work at the condo, we went down to Santa Cruz with a bunch of friends. We had originally gone down to go see the Mystery Spot, but since we never finalize who was and was not going we didn't get tickets ahead of time. By the time we got there they were no longer taking walk-ins. Instead, we all (four couples) decided to have a leisurely lunch at 99 Bottles with a friend who lives down there and then head to the Boardwalk. I'm not a huge fan of the Boardwalk because it's always so packed, but we still had a great time. It was a relaxing trip with some great sites and great friends.

Nick's Fish n' Chips

Yes, the first half of my burger had already been consumed before I remembered
to take a picture.

DIY Flooring

2011-09-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Now that I've gotten over the disappointment of not getting laminant floors put in, we've moved on to the next step. My dad and I spent a couple of hours trying to decide what kind of flooring I wanted for my kitchen and bathroom. It seems like nothing with this floor is going as planned! I originally had a piece of linoleum picked out, but they were three feet short of the kind we needed so we went for some tile flooring. It's actually better quality than the linoleum, but it was a lot more work to put in. The box says that they are tiles, but they could be the same as linoleum material? I'm not really sure what they're made of since they aren't ceramic. (We can't put in regular tiles because of the same reason of the laminant.) The box says that there is a 25-year warranty, which is a lot better than the linoleum! We still have to do the bathroom, but this is what we have done so far.

Original floors

We had to go piece by piece. All I have to say is, thank goodness my
Dad knows what he is doing.

At first we weren't sure if we wanted to stagger the tiles or not.
I think it would have looked good, but since my kitchen, is as my
Mom calls a "galley", I thought that the straight lines might make
it look bigger. Seriously, a food truck has a bigger kitchen than this.

New floors!

I'm so sore from the whole process. I'm not exactly sure if it was the squatting, moving the fridge and stove, cutting the tiles, or laying the moulding, but I can barely move today.

I also changed most of the cabinet pulls. The cabinets are still dated, but the new pulls help a lot. I haven't finished putting them in yet, but hopefully will this week.

Old vs. New

I painted the brass colored light fixture to white. It seems to help make the
place not look like it's from the 70's.

New outdoor chairs from Pier 1. They were on sale for $25.00
each and the cushions were only $19.00 each on sale. The whole
set would have cost $250.00 if I got them full price. Score!

New sconces my dad put up. It's not actually crooked, I
checked. I think it's the just the angle I was standing at.

This is where the Papasan chair I've been wanting will go. The cushion is
at home, but I figured I can have the frame here when the carpet installation
guys come. We can just move it to the balcony until they are finished.

I also painted that little round light white to match the cabinets. It looks a lot
better.

New TV

2011-09-02T12:52:00.005-07:00

WOW! Nick just got this for me as a "house warming" gift....though we both know he'll be playing games on it and watch hockey with me. Thanks Linda for finding him the deal! (Click on the picture to make it full size.)

Coffee table

2011-09-02T12:32:00.001-07:00

My coffee table is coming together. All I have to do now is put varnish on. If it changes the look at all I'll post pictures of the final product, but I don't think/hope it won't change much. I tried to take pictures of it from the same camera angles and lighting, but we have significantly more stuff in our garage now that I've been collecting furniture to bring to the condo. I also used the camera on my phone so that it would be about the same quality picture as my original.

So if you recall, this is what it looked like before:

This is what it looks like now with out varnish:

Not bad for my first time refinishing something, huh? Yup, I'm patting myself on the back over here. It's not bad for being $15 at a garage sale!

New furniture

2011-08-29T13:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my mom and I went to get new furniture for my place. I'm very excited about it! My parents had said that they would get me a bed and sofa for my birthday and you bet I cashed in on that. Unfortunately, this morning we found out that the condo floors aren't level so the hard floors can't be installed. I'm really disappointed. At least we didn't have to pay a restocking fee since we didn't know that it wouldn't work. I find it irritating that we had to wait all this time to get approved, measured, the wood to acclimate to the apartment temperature, and on installation day that is when we find out that it won't work. Why didn't they check that before they ordered 50 boxes of laminant for us? I'm trying to look on the bright side though. At least now I don't have to worry about all of the sound problems from downstairs that could have occurred and I don't have buy a ton of area rugs. I will probably be picking light colored carpet to compliment my new furniture.

I have a chocolate brown duvet cover that I'm going try to make
work with the bed. I'm going to try to lighten the whole thing
up with cream color accent pillows. If it doesn't work and it
looks too dark I will be on the market for a new duvet cover.

Love Seat

Sofa

Additional chair for my bedroom so I have somewhere to put
socks on.

I also got a ton of stuff from TJ Maxx yesterday. It seems like I spent a lot, but the quality on all of my stuff is pretty nice so I was willing to spring for it. I can't even imagine trying to furnish a whole house.

I got the toilet bowl brush to match the chrome light fixture and faucet head
that my dad put in the bathroom for me. The sheets will look and feel nice
on my new bed!

For salt, sugar, brown sugar, and flour.

I was disappointed that Corelle's designer plate sets run at around $50 for a
set of 16. I decided to go with plain white, but got the little square bowls ($5.50/set) on the
bottom left as accent bowls. I will probably use them as rice bowls, but may revert to
the traditional round. The other serving bowls were really reasonably priced at:
Large Round: $13
Contoured Oval: $10 (clearance)
Slim Oval: $5.50 (clearance)
The mixing bowls, I got two, were only $4 each.

For some reason this is upside down, but it's just my silverware
tray, shower caddy, and hand towels.

This was a more frivolous purchase. These are crystal paper weights in the
shapes of diamonds ($10/set). I bought the container for $10 and plan to get those clear
pebbles that are made for fish tanks as additional filler. I'm going to mix all the
bling together to go around the green candles that I got at the dollar store.
They smell awesome. This will be my coffee table centerpiece.

Pixarpalooza

2011-08-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

On Friday night Nick and I went to Pixar for Pixarpalooza. It is an employee appreciation event that they have every year for family and friends to come and enjoy themselves on their campus. We had a great time and I got to meet Nick Pitera who you may know for his pretty famous Aladdin cover. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. As soon as he got on the stage I reverted to my fan-girl ways. We had a great time, but I got a little over zealous with the open bar. I don't think I need to say much more about that. Hehe.

I was soooo excited.

I got this hat for my Uncle David because he had wanted
a wine glass like the one I got the first time I went, but the
gift shop was closed.

Birthday Card

2011-08-29T12:44:00.001-07:00

Thank you everyone for your nice birthday wishes on Facebook, texts, calls, and cards. My supervisor, who is a fantastic scrapbooker, made me this card and had everyone sign it. Isn't it awesome?!

BBQ Pictures

2011-08-24T19:33:00.001-07:00

The party was a huge success! We weren't able to take a lot of pictures because we were so busy, but here they are!

I was pretty bummed that the paint came off when people were holding
their glasses. The box said that it was permanent, but clearly not. I might write
to the company to complain because I spent a lot of time personalizing the
cups as favors.

We had so much more food too, but no pictures of it. Oh well. Everyone really enjoyed the party and kept tell me how good of a job I did, but Nick hosted it too! All-in-all it was a complete success. It's a good thing that Christopher and my dad put together the outdoor heater because it was cold!

Anniversary BBQ Menu

2011-08-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend Nick, Christopher, Briana and I are hosting my parents 40-year anniversary BBQ with some of their friends. This is only the first of two as we will be having one with our family too. Yay for BBQs! Here is the menu that Nick and I have planned out. It was a little bit difficult, not to mention frustrating, because two of our guests decided on a whim to become vegetarians for a month just to see if they could do it. Not only that, they're picky eaters to begin with. So I've planned a couple of things that normally wouldn't be on my party menu. I'm fully prepared to pick up BCR burritos for them in the morning to throw on the grill to reheat, but I'm hoping that the appetizers and sides will be enough to fill them.

Appetizers:
Eggrolls
Bacon-wrapped scallops
Brie and smoked salmon
Edamame
Veggie Platter

Entree:
Filet mignon topped with shallots, garlic, and rosemary butter
Spicy garlic shrimp
German potato salad
Home-made Mac and Cheese with crusty buttery topping
Baked beans (my Dad's choice...simple as always)
Chinese gai lan
Berry platter

Dessert:
Grilled Cling peaches with vanilla ice cream

Beverages:
Wine
Wine
More wine
Beer
Cucumber-lemon water
Soda (for the underaged)

I've made each guest a wine glass as a favor using glass paint and white wine stemless glasses. When I have the time, which better be soon, I will take pictures of them all to post. Nick will be cutting his own filet mignon, which he is very excited about. That is his project. Mine, well, is the rest of the meal. Christopher and Briana are commissioned with cleaning before and after as to many cooks in the kitchen is always a bad thing. So, I'll be starting my grocery shopping tonight after I try to get myself to paint the kitchen in the condo, then Costco shopping tomorrow, and food prep on Friday. No wonder I've been so tired!

Table Top

2011-08-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went out to the City to take my grandma to dim sum since we haven't seen her in a while. My parents had saved me table legs from an old outdoor table that they had, but I wasn't sure if I wanted it. I figured that it would be more expensive to buy a new table top than to just get a fabricated set from Ikea. I had just told my parents the night before that they could get rid of the table legs when I came upon a free table top! I was walking Emmy so that she could stretch her legs before she had to stay in the car during lunch when I saw it propped up against a tree with a pile of old carpet. Emmy was marking, but I was getting so excited I started tugging her even though there was no one else around to steal it from me. I started wheeling it back when Nick yells, "What are you doing?" and all is say is, "Come help me!". Sometimes I wonder why he stays with me. I picked a table top off the side the street in San Francisco...classy, I know.

Since we were going to lunch I ran upstairs to my grandma's flat and had my dad open the garage door.

Me: Can you open the garage door please?
Dad: For what?
Me: I found a table top.
Dad: On the street?
Me: Yeah, when I was walking Emmy.
Dad: That's my daughter!

I do have to say, my dad sounded quite proud of his cheap-skate daughter! My plan is to glue little embellishments onto the side of the table so that it has some charm and then paint it black.

These are about an inch in length. Hopefully it turns
out the way I want it too!

Wicked Poster Frame

2011-08-05T12:22:00.002-07:00

I finally got a frame for my autographed Wicked poster. Now that I will actually have room to put things on the wall, I figured I should get it done.

Daiso Japan

2011-08-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday when Nick and I went to the wedding reception in Union City there was a Daiso Japan in the shopping center. Before everyone was seated I headed over there with Nick's cousin and Aunt. Oh what a wonderland of Asian goodies. It's probably a good thing that we couldn't stay for long otherwise I would have bought soooo much stuff, but at least everything was only $1.50!

How ridiculous and cute is this? It's a sponge that attaches
to you sink so that it can dry. I got this for my mom since it's
not everyday that you see a sponge shaped like a pig.

I'm going to take these to the apartment.

For work

I've been wanting to try one of these exfoliating pads.
Maybe it will help get the paint off!

Paint

2011-08-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

I am probably the messiest painter out there. Now that the floors have been measured and we're just waiting on the flooring company to get the laminant I want into their facilities, I'm really on the move to get the place painted and floor boards removed. I'm removing the floor boards myself so that the flooring company doesn't charge us for it. I'm giving them all a fresh coat of white paint for when we go to put them back on, but the way I'm going they are all going to be broken before we can put them back! The living and dining rooms are pretty much done, but need some touch ups. I'm not working on the master bedroom and will move on to the spare bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen afterwards. My upcoming weekends are pretty busy with birthday parties and social events so I'm really plugging along after work. By the time I get home I'm so tired that I don't even want to eat. I'm hoping that I can get the rest of the place done quickly, but we'll see how it goes. I haven't been taking any pictures since at this point it's kind of hard to see the difference. Once I get the floors in and the kitchen counter, backsplash and stove done then I will post more pictures.

I even had some on my eyebrow. How did I do that?!

Walmart: Hard Candy

2011-08-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Nick and I had to go to a wedding of a distant cousin of his. On our way home we ventured into a Walmart so that I could pick up some hand lotion and Nick some screws. I figured that since we were there I would check out their Hard Candy display as they are the only store that carries the line (that I know of anyway). A lot of the stuff was picked through, but I had heard great things about their boxed blushes and fiber mascara. One of the makeup gals I like to watch really enjoys the Hard Candy blush so I got the same color as the one she showed. It looked pretty bright in her video, but when she applied it the color was pretty subtle. Well, let me tell you, it is bright. I seriously looked like a clown when I first put it on. This blush will last me a while because I found that all you have to do is tap your brush in it once and you have enough color for both cheeks. I would also advise getting any excess blush off the brush on the back of your hand first before applying it to you face.

I had also heard some pretty good reviews about their fiberized mascara so I purchased that as well. Upon first use, I thought that the formula was pretty dry with little color pay off and I didn't see any fibers sticking to my lashes to make them appear thicker. They looked thinner and more natural, in fact. I did notice, however, that even though the mascara has little fibers in it, there was very little fall out throughout the day. I saw a little bit right before I went to bed, but it held up pretty well for having it on from 7am-10pm. I tried it again today and found that the formula must have settled onto the brush because more product came out this time. I'm not sure that I would purchase this again, but will use it until it runs out. I will stick to my Loreal Voluminous mascara.

$6.00 each

Garage sale finds

2011-08-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend it seemed like everyone and their mom was having a garage sale. Literally. Briana's mom is moving to Arizona for a new job so she was having a garage sale to get rid of some of their furniture. Ever since NY, I've been in love with lift top coffee tables. Lo and behold, Briana's mom had one and was selling it for $15 when they run $200+. Woo hoo! The hinge is a little bit broken so the table doesn't lay completely flat, but I'm going to see if my dad can fix it. If not, it's not that big of a deal. I also got an awesome giant mirror that I plan to hang in my tiny dining room to make it look bigger and the perfect microwave stand for my microwave and Kitchen Aid mixer. For $50, I got some great stuff!

The top is a little bit worn so I'm considering sanding it
down and staining it. I just don't know if I want to put
that much work into it. Since it's real wood I don't really
want to paint it and cover up the nice detail.

ELF Shipment

2011-08-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

Makeup, makeup, makeup, I love makeup. I finally got my shipment from ELF in this weekend. I had originally wanted more tinted lip balms and lipsticks for my collection since I always just wear chapstick, but needed to reach the $35 coupon that I had purchased. With ELF, since it's so inexpensive, it was actually a little difficult to do. I was limited to only purchasing their mineral products for the promotion I had purchased. I'm not sure if they are new or not, but they could be since the promotion was only for their mineral products. Anyway, I got some loose eye shadow powders, which I generally don't like much because they make a mess, but I love these. What a steal! $3.00 for quite a bit of product and they are pigmented, long lasting, glittery, and gorgeous. I was so pleasantly surprised and have been wearing them the last couple of days. I figured I was just ordering some eye shadows to fill up my cart, but I ended up with some great products.

From Left: Wild, Elegant, Caffeinated, Socialite

From Left: Pink, Natural, Guava, Cherry

These have SPF 8 and are actually rather moisturizing for lipbalms. I'm quite
picky when it comes to lip products, but so far these make the grade. They
also have a sweet flavor to them.

From Left: Bare Brown, Cool Coral

Cool Coral and Bare Brown

Dinners with and for the Fongs

2011-07-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

This post is way beyond due. The Fongs have already been back in Kuwait for about a month now, but I haven't had time to post all of the food that we ate and made. The first night we went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Postino. It was delicious as always and apparently Cat Cora used to be a chef there. I had no idea! I just knew that I loved the place. We got our normal Buratta appetizer that includes prosciutto, home made mozzarella and tomato relish, toasted baguettes, and green olives. We also got a clam appetizer and beef capriccio that were quite good as well. For dinner Nick and I got the house specials, a veal stuffed ravioli type pasta in osso bucco broth and meatballs over polenta. Mr. Fong and Nick's sister got whole fish and Mrs. Fong got eggplant parmesan.

Every time that the Fongs come home they like to go to sushi in the Piedmont area to see one of their church friends who is the sushi chef there. Sushi guru? Whatever his title is, he is the head sushi person at this restaurant. They like the place so much that they went there two or three times during their stay. It's nice because the chef knows that I'm not really into raw fish so he always makes me a non-fish roll. We also went to Mustard's in Napa, where we saw Laura Dern from Jurassic Park. Since I'm not a big Jurassic Park fan I looked at her and said to Nick, "That lady looks familiar. Like from TV or something." He looked at her and agreed, but it was Nick's sister who recognized her. We thought that was pretty cool, but I think I enjoyed my food more than seeing her.

Rabbit nuggets really did taste like chicken.

Usually our families get together when they are home just to catch up. Last year the Fongs came to celebrate Christopher's graduation and then we got together during Christmas time too. This year, we decided to have a BBQ for them. Nick and I grilled whole trout, prawns, and scallops. Oh man, it was good. Nick is definitely my grill master.

Nick even grilled the broccoli!

Before they left, we all went out to dinner a restaurant called Chow in Lafayette. It was pretty good, but I prefer Postino. I had been craving lasagna so I got their organic, homemade pasta lasagna. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm not in tune with all the organic mumbo jumbo, but it was really unsatisfying. I need my lasagna to have substance, and this thing was flatter than my dad's steak.

Nick's vegetarian lasagna from Chow

Lasagna from Postino. It was so much more satisfying.

Finished Patio

2011-07-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

My dad finished that side patio that he has been slaving over the last few months. My mom had all of the garbage and old shed hauled away too so our backyard is really shaping up. In this picture you can still see the old wood piled by the fence that my dad was saving from our old deck, but that has been hauled away as well. The only thing now is to either try to revive our dead grass or plant new stuff. We will probably have to plant new stuff, because it is REALLY dead.

Grilled Steak

2011-07-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Recently after work and on weekends I've been doing a lot of apartment renovation so I haven't had much time to cook. When I get home after work and renovation I plop myself down on the sofa and don't move. A couple of weekends ago my mom wanted to make steaks. I had just dragged myself into the house after spending all day at the condo, but offered to grill if she made everything else. It's not often nowadays that we have dinner as a family of four, usually there are six of us, so it was pretty quick and easy. I think I'm getting the hang of it. The steaks came out perfectly and were quite delicious. The steaks were huge and none of us finished them, but they were sure nice to look at on our plates!

Flooring is approved!

2011-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

My Mom emailed me this morning and said that our flooring was approved. It's a good thing too because we signed a contract with Home Depot last night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the dark wood flooring that I originally wanted, but this is good too! It is actually a little darker in person, but I think that it will be good for the rental. I'm not sure if having dark flooring would appeal to everyone, which makes this option better in the long run. The flooring guys are scheduled to do the measurements on Saturday morning. Yippee!

Aaron Brother and TJ Maxx

2011-07-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to hold myself back from buying a lot of stuff for the apartment, but haven't been doing so well. I figured that if I just don't go to the store then I won't buy anything, but keeping me away from stores is the difficult part. Yesterday after my mom and I went to Home Depot to sign a flooring contract she needed to go the Aaron Brothers to get a couple of frames and to take advantage of their buy one get one for a penny sale. I figured I'd just go with her to get a frame from the Wicked poster that I got last December. Of course, since they were having the sale I had to get another frame. As it turns out, the frame I got for the poster is too small so I will have to return it, which means that if I don't buy another one that I got the frames below for a penny! I do want a frame though so I will probably try to get another one that fits. They were also having a 50% off sale on all of their mirrors. I got the ones below to put in my spare/makeup room.

Aaron Brothers:

Org. $24.99
Sale: $12.48

Org. $17.00
Sale: $0.01

I have also recently found myself in TJ Maxx quite a bit. I wanted to get a blue glitter stool that I had seen during a previous trip to put under the vanity. It is already in the apartment because I wanted to make sure it fit under the the counter before I took off the tags so I don't have any pictures. While I was there, I picked up a few more things...

TJ Maxx

This was $6.99. I got a bigger one too for $9.99 and was planning on returning
this one, but I think I will keep it at my parents house and move the bigger one
to my apartment.

$19.99

$19.99
It's a huge platter. I'm excited to use it for dinner parties.

Pixi Haul

2011-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Before I decided to move out, I had purchased Pixi makeup from a Hautelook.com sale and then also a Pixi $25.00 coupon and get $50.00 worth of products from Popsugar.com. I have to tighten my belt now and using the coupon helped fill that shopping void. I also purchased a similar coupon for E.L.F through Livingsocial.com that I sat on for a while, but busted out last weekend. (I have yet to receive that shipment, but will try to post pictures when I get it.) Pixi is sold in most Target stores, but is pretty pricey for a drugstore brand. I've always enjoyed their designs and colors from the sample swatches I've taken, but am not willing for fork out the cash for them.

One morning when I was still at Celery, I bought a bunch of Pixi stuff from Hautelook. Pixi has been on Hautelook before, but they sell out really quickly. I made sure to get up a few minutes early to purchase what I wanted right when the sale started (8am PST). I bought four things, but then ended up giving one palette to Briana because I had similar colors already and she was having a bad day. After trying out the palettes that I did keep, Bonnie told about the Popsugar sale. Having tried some of their eye shadows and enjoying the colors, texture, and staying power, I decided to get the $25 for $50 deal. I really enjoy this line, but wouldn't buy it at a Target. If another Hautlook opportunity arises, then I will definitely being shopping for some makeup, but if not, I don't think that the line is worth it. If I'm going to pay those prices, I'm going to Sephora and loading up on Stila and Urban Decay!

From the $25 for $50 deal:

Nude Shade Wardrobe
$26.00

I like the eyeliner, but personally wouldn't buy them again. They have a nice smooth feeling and a very similar consistency to Stila's Kajal eye liner, but for and extra $4.00, the Stila liner doesn't irritate my eyes. For some reason, I'm beginning to believe that it is the shape of my eyes, some eyeliners get onto my contacts. I find it really irritating because it will stick on the lens and make my vision blurred. I tried the Milani Liquif Eye in black and it did the same thing. It went on really smoothly with no tugging and had awesome, awesome staying power, but it got on my contacts every time I used it. I ended up just shaving it down a little and giving it to my friend Juni. This is a personal matter, by all means. If I could spend $7.00 on a great liner like the Liquif Eye, I would. Anyway, back to the point. I believe that the Pixi liners would work well for others, just not for me. I have been using them the last couple of days and found that if I don't tightline and only use it on the upper lid with a little bit of eye shadow patted on top of the liner, it works normally. The only thing is that I don't really like putting eye liner on my upper lid during the summer. I like to have lighter looks, which is why I mostly tightline. The Stila Kajal works really well for both my top and bottom waterline with little to no irritation. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend the Pixi liner if one was looking for a high end drugstore brand, but if you're looking for a really good drugstore pencil liner, go for the Milani Liquif Eye. I got my Stila Kajal in a Costco pack that included two shadows and a mascara for $18.00 a while ago, but would definitely buy it at regular price ($18.00) if the pack doesn't show up at Costco again. It is now my go-to black pencil liner.

Endless Silky Eye Pen
$14.00 each
Top: Deep Plum Bottom: Black Cocoa

From Hautelook.com (these aren't on the Pixi website)

This is my favorite palette and I use it all the time now. The colors are super
pigmented and they stay on my lids all day if I use a primer.

San Francisco Symphony

2011-07-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Nick won MAJOR brownie points this weekend. Not only did he help me with the renovation, bring me lunch, and taking me out to a really nice dinner in the City, he got us tickets to the one-night SF Symphony performance of all Disney music. To top it off, he even got us premier seats. We could see all of their fingers moving and the glisten on their foreheads. Oh I was in heaven and couldn't stop smiling. Nick had this planned for a few weeks as my early birthday gift. This was the best gift ever. I will never forget it. I just wish they had recorded a cd for me to buy!

Nick's new car

This is supposed to be a behind-the-head braid that I saw on a Bubzbeauty
video. It doesn't really look braided, but at least it's not just a plain side
ponytail.

This picture is taken from our seats.

Before dinner, Nick took me to Absinthe Brasserie & Bar for dinner. We were originally trying to get to the concert hall early so that we could participate in a sing-a-long, but dinner was so nice that we wanted to enjoy each other instead of the bustling crowd. It worked out well because we caught the tail end of the sing-a-long and still were able to participate a little bit before sitting down.

Since we love Postino's burrata so much, we had to try
it here too.

Mixed olives to go with our wine that was $29 a bottle, but really $12.99
in store. Yup, those are the kind of people we are. We looked up the retail
price on our phones while we were sitting there.

Nick's pork loin and belly

My braised lamb

Nick's Black Forest Cake

Cheese plate for my dessert!

It was a beautiful evening that I won't forget even if it was a month before my actual birthday. Nick, how are you going be able to beat this next year?!

Renovation Update

2011-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Ready. Set. Blog! I have about 10 minutes in which to convey this. The renovation has been going well. I've been painting and doing some major wallpaper removal. Never, ever put up wallpaper. I don't care how pretty you think it is. It's not pretty coming off! My finger tips feel ultra smooth because of the harsh chemicals that I had to use to get off all of that paste. It took me three days to do it. I would get tired of scraping and go to paint the living room, then tired of painting so go back to the dining room to remove wall paper. It's finally all off and Nick sanded down the wall for me. Because of the paste, the wall was very glossy and smooth. My dad suggested sanding it down a little bit just so the paint has something to adhere to. I've filled in all the holes with plaster where the wallpaper peeled off the old paint so now it is ready for painting.

Tonight we are going to a friend's birthday dinner, but I plan to go to the condo to paint for 45 minutes before heading to the restaurant. I've gotten a pretty good technique going, so hopefully I get get a lot done. At the beginning of all of this I really disliked painting, but now it's not so bad. The color of the living room walls is a little bit pinkish in the sunlight, but the correct color of taupe in indoor light. Since the room gets a lot of sun, I'm not super fond of it, but I'm not about to go and do it over again!

Here are a couple of pictures of the bathroom and kitchen that I didn't post before. The bathroom is small and the tiles are ugly, but I figured that I don't spend that much time in the bathroom anyway so it won't be so bad. I'm really hoping to get the countertops changed in the kitchen and to get a new stove. The dishwasher can stay, but I need an oven with a window.

This is the flooring sample I picked. The HOA is really strict about sound proofing your floors. This one comes with a foam underlayment attached, which means that I can't add another layer of foam to the floor because it won't lay correctly. I hope the foam is thick enough because this was my number one pick. I submitted a sample yesterday. I hope they approve it otherwise I might just cave and get carpet. It seems like the HOA doesn't want you to get hard floors because they make it so difficult.

At the movies

2011-07-19T07:50:00.001-07:00

Since I don't have a lot of time to blog nowadays I'm going to try to do it from my phone. Bonnie and I found a photo booth at the Harry Potter midnight showing and I made her take some with me. I'm so glad we did!
Photobucket - quotewhore7 wanted you to check this out

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

2011-07-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post something quick before work about HP 7. Amazing. It's very rare that you hear me say that about any HP movie (I'm still just a sucker for the books), but it was actually really good. I would advise anyone to be prepared for a lot more blood than the other films though. There were some pretty graphic scenes so rethink if your child is begging you to go. My initial reaction is very good. Nick and I will be seeing it tomorrow so I will see how I feel about it when I watch it again. Usually I find more flaws during the second viewing.

My eyes are a little puffy and I'm sucking down the coffee, but all in all, it was definitely worth going to see the midnight showing. Bonnie and I were griping about how we were tired and wanted to take a nap in the theater before it started. Once it did start, I didn't want it to end. This is the end of an era.

Weather

2011-07-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Of course right after Emmy got her short furcut the weather drops 20 degrees. The good part is that she has been sleeping with me on my bed and doesn't spread out nearly as much because she is a little bit cold. Last night I'm pretty sure that I slept with my arm around her the whole night because I woke up in the same position I went to sleep in and had a kink in my neck. It was like holding a stuffed animal!

Last Shopping Spree

2011-07-10T21:57:00.001-07:00

Welp, this last weekend was the last shopping spree that I'm going to have for a while. My dad agreed today to let me move into one of his condos. It's in Walnut Creek so it's much closer to work than my parents home. I'm so excited! I have been wanting to move out for a while now, but haven't had the means. With my new job and a "family discount" I can actually do it. Things must be going my way because my parents thought that the tenant would retire and live there the rest of his life. Luckily for me, he moved!

The condo itself is pretty small, but has a ton of storage space. I think I can make it work since it will just be Emmy and me. It's a two bedroom, one bath on the top floor. I plan to get the big bed that I've been wanting for the master bedroom and then use the second room as my guest room/office/makeup area. I think I've managed to convince my dad to put in Pergo floors and I'm working on getting him to put in granite counter tops in the kitchen. Haha, I don't think I'll be so lucky with the kitchen. Unfortunately the ceiling is the popcorn stuff so you can't put crown molding. I love crown molding, but I'm not willing to go through and scrape off all that popcorn just for the molding in a rental. If I was going to live there forever I would take the time to do that now. I think will be putting some molding up on the walls, but it won't be crown. I've been considering scraping off just the part that the molding would go on, but I'm not sure I want to do that. We'll see.

The place itself is like a resort. This is what the website boasts as the amenities:

792 residential units with diverse features, such as Mt. Diablo views, roof decks, fireplaces, skylights, cathedral ceilings.

1,200 deeded and visitor vehicle spaces in covered garages and parking lots.

Clubhouse at center of community with regular scheduled movies on 72-inch screen, game room for cards and billiards, a catering kitchen for frequent social events for all ages.

Complete gym, located in the Clubhouse, with weights and cardiac equipment, racquetball courts, whirlpool tubs, showers, steam, sauna.

4 lighted tennis courts, with lessons offered by in-house tennis pro.

3 swimming pools, including one of the largest in the county, and 3 spas. The central pool is heated year-round. Frequent poolside barbecues and other social events.

Water volleyball and basketball courts; horse shoe pit and putting green.

I'm sooooo excited! It will be a little bit before the place is ready for me to move in. Since it's pretty close to my work I plan to stop by there afterwards to paint the rooms the colors that I want. Pictures of the renovation to come! I didn't take a picture of the bathroom and kitchen, but they're both tiny and very outdated. I can live with it, but if I'm allowed to, I'm going to paint the kitchen cabinets and change the hardware.

Living room
I'm going to paint this a light taupe color. It is actually very similar to the
color of my blog!

Dining room
I plan to change the chandalier and paint it the same color as the living
room.

Guest room

Master bedroom

North pool
The other central pool is about twice this size.

As far as Emmy is concerned, it's going to be rough in the beginning. My mom is going to pick her up in the morning and then I will get her at night after work. I don't think that she will make the transition very well since she was moved around so much before. I'm hoping that we will create a good routine so that my mom can eventually start coming later and later in the day so that Emmy can be home by herself while I'm at work. By that time, I will probably change my work hours so that I can take an hour lunch and go home to check on her. That won't be for a while, but it is the general plan. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that she will be a normal dog and that I can start leaving her alone for more than four hours at a time. Ah, that would be wonderful.

I will be so eating canned chili and top ramen for a while, but I'm so happy!

New Wallet

2011-07-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

TJ Maxx is dangerous. I went in to find a birthday gift for my cousin's birthday party this weekend and walked out with much more than just a gift. I got some work clothes, a new Calphalon pan, doggy stuff, and a new wallet. I was really trying to not get the wallet, but I liked the matching purse and makeup bag too. I figured that I would use the wallet the most and the bag was too big of a piece to have in this pattern.

$49.99 for a L.A.M.B.

Emmy's Furcut

2011-07-08T07:40:00.001-07:00

Emmy has been miserable the last few days because she is so hot. I was trying to brush her everyday to get any excess fur off, but it didn't seem to be helping. She was constantly panting and nibbling at her back legs. I finally bit the bullet, after she kept me awake because she was breathing so heavily, and called the groomer. Her fur just makes her so darn cute, but she was suffering. She slept on my bed with me last night and seems to be much happier. No more nibbling or panting and she seems to be able to sleep like normal. She almost looks like a different dog!

Before

After

Backyard Renovation

2011-07-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, months in my Dad's case, we've been working on our backyard. Last summer my dad paved a small side section of our house. This summer he is working on the larger side patio. Our backyard is so big that our side patio is about the same size as Nick's whole backyard. It's nice but soooo much work! I've never realized how large the side patio is because we had the big shed there along with bamboo and grape vines for my whole life. It's just been a really junky looking area...like the rest of our backyard. Well, now that we're planning on having a couple of BBQs for my parents 40-year anniversary we're trying to get it cleaned up. We're getting there!

We didn't take pictures from the very beginning, but these are pretty close to what a disaster the whole place was.

Before

My dad had already taken out all of the roots of the grape vines and bamboo.
This area used to be covered with red lava rocks also. My dad painstakingly
picked them all up to put elsewhere in our backyard.

He was recycling the bricks from our old patio before we had the new
patio put in. He had to scrape off all the dirt from each brick so they would
fit correctly.

This was my dad's Father's day gift. Me working in the backyard. The weeds
were almost as tall as me! First came the weedwhacking then I got to tearing out
all the ground cover and getting rid of old wood that had been sitting out for
years.

Christopher and my mom emptied out the shed so he could tear it down.

During

Emmy is hard at work

Emmy was trying to help my dad... after he smoothed out
all of his sand.

I thought that I would be out of a job for a while so I took on this project.
I was out here weeding when I got my call for a second interview. After that
I had to rush to get it all done.

I also decided to take on on the back mound. I weeded and then my mom and
I planted all her plants.

The old shed is on the grass now. Once we're done with the whole backyard
my mom is going to have someone haul all of our stuff away.

So Close!

All done! I want to get more mulch because any time Emmy runs across you can
see the white weed mat. My mom go a huge roll from Costco. It's super durable,
but it's white so you can see it through everything! So I will get a few more
bags o mulch. There is currently 15 bag in this section.

I was so dirty that it looks like I have a terrible sock tan, but
it's a dirt tan!

Busy, busy, busy

2011-07-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Oh where to begin? It's been so crazy around here with trying to settle into my new position and juggle all the usual stuff. Poor Emmy had her first substantial walk since the heat wave started last night. ...Not that she wanted to walk in this heat. The other day we were all working in the backyard and my dad opened the back door for her to come out with us. She stepped out and then immediately turned back around to sit by the window to watch us from the cool house. Smart dog.

What's to come:

Pictures from all the dinners and bbq we had with the Fongs
Backyard picture update (a lot has been done)
Urban Decay mini "haul" from Hautelook.com
Juni's visit
NKOTBSB concert

I'm not sure exactly when I'll be able to post all of this, but I'm aiming for the evenings. So far I come home exhausted (it's only been two days), but I figure that once my internal time clock adjusts to waking up at 6:30 instead of 8:00 I'll get back in the swing of things. It's kind of a strange feeling to actually have to put on real clothes to go to work! So long are the days of working from my bedroom desk. Until next time, TTFN!

Webfortis

2011-06-29T13:30:00.001-07:00

I took the position! After my phone interview last night I was really excited because it was to potentially work with the director of Race to Nowhere, a documentary about educational pressure on young children. The phone interview was just a screening for the actual director, but it was a cause I believe in and the interviewer said that she REALLY liked me and would push my resume through. The only thing was that the director was on vacation and difficult to get ahold of so it would about two weeks before I heard back for a second interview. With Webfortis I knew that if I got the job that I would be starting on July 5th. The pay would be better with the director, but there wouldn't be much room to move up since they were only a company of two other people.

After my second interview with Webfortis this morning, they offered me the position right on the spot. I did a little task for them so that they could see if I was capable, and clearly I was since the hired me. It is pretty hum drum stuff for now, but they told me that they would only expect me to be in this position for 8-12 months before I start moving up. I'm hoping it will be sooner than that, but that's what they're expecting right now so that they don't have to hire another person right away. The CEO of the company, who has written two books on Dynamics CRM, was excited to see my resume too and is already thinking of tasks for me to help him with. That's a good sign.

I'm a little bummed though because I really wanted the job with the director, but it was too much of a risk and there wouldn't be as much room for growth. I could see myself staying with her and getting coffee and bagels for her for a long time. With Webfortis I can go into different departments or even branch out to other CRM companies.

As I was telling my dad about the interview he told me that my resume impressed the people who are hiring for tech writers at the lab. Oh no! Now what am I going to do? We'll see if anything comes of it! I will worry more about that when the time comes. For now, I have a bottle of bubbly chilling in the fridge and will relax until I start on Tuesday. Juni is coming into town for one day so I will celebrate with her.

Addendum:
After weeding for a few hours it really started to sink in how lucky I got. Luck be a lady tonight!

Interviews

2011-06-28T16:25:00.001-07:00

With some steady perseverance and modifying my resume, I've secured myself a phone interview this afternoon and a second interview tomorrow morning with a company called Webfortis. The last week and a half I've been dedicating two to three hours to job applications. Beyond that point, my eyes blur and I run out of Craigslist and Monster ads. My eyestrain and patience seems to be paying off though. At this point I am really hoping I nail the second interview tomorrow (I had gotten a last minute call from them last week to come in). I'm not sure how many other people they interviewed or how many people I'm still up against. The position is for a receptionist/front desk person, but the interviewer said that people escalate quickly and if I show potential in marketing, which is the direction I'd like to go, that I would be able to start learning the ropes. I sure hope so! My dad suggested that I go back to school for my MBA, but if I can secure a lower end position and learn on the job it would be ideal. I've spent way to much time as a student already and I'm willing to start at the bottom and work my way up. I have the educational background I just need to get some more work experience under my belt. This company also offers Sales, Development, and Customer Support departments fo me to branch out to if I would like. I will be staying away from customer support. I've had enough of that for a life time.

As for the phone interview, I'm a little apprehensive. Like Webfortis, it was a posting on Craigslist. Unlike Webfortis, they didn't put a company name on the listing nor did the woman who emailed me give any company information. I'm glad that it is a phone interview. I wouldn't want to be walking into a scam or worse. The way I see it, the phone interview will get me loosened up for tomorrow's interview.

And as I was writing this post I got a call for an interview from Dzurenda and Associates Inc. At first I got really excited and scheduled an interview, but after I looked further into their company and looked at reviews they sound like a scam. Nick agreed. So on with the job hunt!

My dad and some of his coworkers are putting my resume in for a technical writing position at the Lab. I'm hoping I hear back from them, but from what my dad says, they work slowly. So if Webfortis does ask me to join their team I will gladly accept and figure out the Lab application later if anything comes of it.

Travel pouch

2011-06-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

After I got my new purse I needed a little pouch to hold all of my miscellaneous toiletries. My old purse had a lot of little compartments for me to put my hand sanatizer, lotion, advil, allergy meds, ect in. I was using a little Coach pouch that my Auntie Mary had given me for Christmas last year, but it was just too small. I was able to put all of my stuff in there, but couldn't get anything out without everything else coming with it. So on my last Target shopping excursion I picked up this little pouch in the travel section for $1.00. Not bad! It carries all of my things plus my Swiss Army knife and sewing kit. I also like that it's a soft case so it conforms to the shape of my purse. What a great find!

Cube Storage

2011-06-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

For a while I've had a set of four cubes along my wall between my bookshelf and desk. In the space on either side of the cubes I would stuff random objects to get them out of the way. In general, this just made my room looked more cramped and cluttered. Since I've had a recent massive accumulation of makeup, I need to figure out a way to store it. My solution was to get another cube. After measuring it out, I found that I can fit three cubes horizontally in the space allotted and if I stack them then I can have six cubes. This really makes it wall-to-wall furniture, but at least I have more storage space. I quickly purchased two more cubes and cube-drawer inserts. In the bottom row of cubes I keep old text books and cook books, which are too heavy for the cube-drawer inserts. To cover them up I bought an inexpensive piece of fabric to drape over the cubes like a bedskirt. Using a 50% off coupon from Joann's I got the fabric for a whopping $2.50. What is really nice is that my duvet cover and bedskirt match my cubes, black on top and white on the bottom. After taking these pictures I realized that my goal of decorating my room with a black and white theme has come to fruition!

At first I had gotten cube-drawers that were to small for my cubes. I put
black binders on the sides so that there wasn't any wasted space, but then
decided to return the cube-drawers to get them of the proper size.

Completed look

View as you first walk into my room.

My black and white dog to match my room.

New Jewelery

2011-06-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Nick's parents are back for their annual summer visit. They brought me back the coolest necklaces and my much requested saffron. They must really like me! It's a good thing too because I don't plan on going anywhere.

Nick told me that this pendant says something along the lines of, May God
be with you.

I absolutely love this pendant. I've always admired Nick's Sister's pendant
like this. The Fong's had this made for me of my Arabic name. How cool is
that?!

This camel and pitcher also came with the name pendant, but I haven't
worn them yet because I really like my name.

Pixar

2011-06-23T15:07:00.004-07:00

One of Nick's good friend's works at Pixar and will frequently get him prescreening tickets to movies. This time I was actually able to go with him. We went to see Cars 2, which comes out tomorrow. At first I wasn't that excited to see Pixar because I had spent a good part of the day applying for jobs and was a little bit grumpy, but as soon as we got there I started getting excited and had Nick take pictures of me with all of their models. If I could have, I would have video taped the whole thing. We also got to see all of their Oscars in the front display case. They were kind of dusty!

Our friend showed us around the campus and their new building. It's beautiful! I was very excited. By the time we actually saw the movie I had that giddy feeling like when you board the pods after waiting for hours in the Space Mountain line. The movie itself was very good, but I could have waited until Friday to see it. I was just so stoked to be at Pixar! Unfortunately my application to be an inventory specialist, which I know sounds boring but it's Pixar, was rejected. Oh well, one can hope!

This is in front of the atrium. That guy in the background was throwing
Hammers with a frisbee.

They were made of legos!

I'm thinking of having our friend getting me a second
glass so that I have a pair.

I got this Toy Story 3 sticker along with the wine glass.

In case you want to see the other stickers on my Klean Kanteen.

Nails over the weeks

2011-06-23T13:49:00.001-07:00

As I'm sure you all know, I like to post pictures of my nail polish. Since I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to post any. Here is a catchup of what has been slapped on me the last few weeks. Boy! There are five weeks worth here. It sure has been a long time! Of all of these, Essie's Nice is Nice was my favorite.

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure: Trouble Maker

Essie: French Affair
Flash

Essie: French Affair
No Flash

I ended up returning this color without writing down the name and can't seem to find it online anywhere. I was looking for a nice coral color, but this one was just not flattering.

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure
Flash

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure
No Flash

Essie: Nice is Nice
Flash

Essie: Nice is Nice
No Flash

Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength: 02 Fairy Tale Ivory

Guess Watch

2011-06-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

I decided that since I will be interviewing for jobs that I needed a watch that didn't make me look like a high schooler. I believe that I've been heavily influenced by Nick with the large sized style watches, but still can't bring myself to spend a lot. It's is a tool that will be dinged and scratched up because I'm clumsy. So I decided on getting a reasonably priced Guess watch. It was between this one and a Michael Kors style that was incredibly similar. I was not willing to pay $115.00 more for something that looked almost exactly the same. Originally, I wanted a gold colored watch because of a makeup girl that I watch has a pretty gold one, but then decided on the stainless steel. Silver just looks better on me than gold. I realized that she has a warm skin tone, which looks good with gold, but I have a cool skin tone that looks better with silver. I am quite pleased with my new purchase. I like big-faced watches on women and this is definitely big! I had a couple of links taken out today so that it fits better. As much as I like the fashionable loose watch look, I just find it annoying when my watch moves around. But I love it!

After two links were removed.

Bahhh!

2011-06-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's been so busy with work here that I just don't have time to blog. Sorry everyone! Come June 20th I'll be gainfully unemployed so you'll get lots of blog posts then!

Work update

2011-06-06T16:49:00.001-07:00

I finally did it. I gave my two weeks notice. I was feeling pretty good about it at first, but now I'm just feeling guilty. With D__ leaving last month and now me this month, this is a huge blow for the company. I had an interview with a staffing agency last week and they seem really promising. It was the first time that someone has told me that I actually have experience AND a good educational background. I'm so used to hearing that I have too much education and not enough experience. The company has provided me with three years of jack-of-all-trades experience. I can do admin, marketing, accounts payable and receivable, customer support, phone line tech support, and management. I'd say that it has been a great experience for me, but now it's time for me to grow. If Nick and I really want to get serious and start our lives together we need to find good jobs first. We are both really hoping that this staffing agency will at least get me started in a new direction. For now I'm willing to start at the bottom, but I hope to climb the ladder quickly. I am very, very grateful for all that the company has afforded me, but now is my time to move up in the world. Well, technically I'd be moving down the ladder, but hopefully it will be for a bigger company where I can climb more. I've exceeded the capacity of the company thus far. It has been a pleasure working with all of my work buddies, but as The Jefferson's theme says "I'm movin' on up, movin' on up!"

I came to the conclusion a couple of nights ago that if I stay at here that the agency won't be able to find me a good job because I would need to give two weeks notice before I can leave. Who wants to wait two weeks for someone to quit their old job when there are dozens of other candidates ready to hire? So I may as well do it now while my face and resume are fresh in their minds. It's a huge risk, but I have my family to fall back on if I can't find work soon and the staffing agency's temp department is also on the lookout for temp-to-hire positions for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.