I don’t want sparkly things… I want shiny things.

After trying to come up with a wishlist for Christmas, I realized how different I am from most girls I know. Things I want as gifts (and usually buy for myself) includes electronics, books and appliances. I want a DSLR, an iPad (although I’m sure I’ll never use it), a new Blackberry Bold, these snowboard boots, a set of knives, a Bamix handblender, a carbon-fiber road bike…

If you get me clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags or make up, you better give me the receipt so I can return it and buy something useful instead.

$3000 purse? Uhhhh… someone tell me what I would do with an expensive, designer purse?! iMac please!

I had no plans to shop because I tried coming up with a list but couldn’t think of anything to buy this time. Little did I know….

I bought two little blue dresses for one of my best friend’s bridal shower and I ended up wearing this one (on the left). I love the color and the silhouette!

I never go to the states without buying books! They are cheaper over there and have way better deals than Canada. This is probably the least books I’ve brought though because someone was rushing me and threatening to burn my books. :@

I finished The Prodigal Mage in Karen Miller’s Fisherman’s Children series, the night before and HAD to pick up The Reluctant Mage after reading the preview. We were rushing to get back to Vancouver since we didn’t want to wait at the border so the only bookstore along the way was a Barnes and Nobles in Seattle (…when I could’ve gotten it tax-free in Portland, humph). I’m just a little annoyed because I have paperback editions of all of Karen Miller’s books and now suddenly I have a giant hardcover. Don’t you just hate that? But there was no way I was going to wait until next July for the paperback which I’mgoing to get anyway, just so my bookshelf looks pretty. :blush:

Got this lovely jacket for $200 (marked down from $500). It’s PURPLE, it’s Soia & Kyo and it’s leather. What more can you ask for? (picture credit to owner whose linked)

It was love at first sight when I laid my eyes on these babies. I picked them up at Nordstrom Rack for $125. LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I can’t decide if these boots or the leather jacket was my favorite buy of the trip.

Bath & Body works have the best hand sanitizers! I got these (and the lip balms/glosses) for my girlfriends as favors for the bridal shower.

This bag was my biggest regret! I contemplated for a long time and decided not to get it but I couldn’t stop thinking about it when we left the store. I went back to like 4 different Nordstrom Racks and none of them had it except the one in downtown Portland which I didn’t have time to go back to. Now, I still can’t stop thinking of the bag.

Unrelated, but this is my favorite picture from the trip. The boys playing with the newest and cutest member of the family.

I also bought a lot of comfy sweaters, tank tops, jackets, hair products (like tons of Sally’s mini hair clips because they are simply the best) and capes. Can’t wait for this freezing weather to set upon us so I can start wearing capes again!

(Sorry for the horrible quality of the pictures; they were all taken with my Blackberry).

I bought this necklace stand at Winners while shopping with a girlfriend a couple days ago but there’s nothing on it yet because most of my necklaces are too long. The ring on top was from one of Seoul’s many amazing department stores. The necklace dangling on the bottom-left is my current favorite; I picked it up from a local designer at Stanley Market in Hong Kong (where my dad grew up). The Ladurée Marie Antoinette tea is delicious and straight from Paris. St.Ives leaves my skin buttery smooth. Tresemme’s Heat Tamer Spray is a love affair between my locks and my flat iron. My mirror desperately needs cleaning. What’s in the box? That’s a secret. And yes, I still have my high school grad pictures up. It’s been 5+ years but I’m too lazy to change it.

1. Love my new Talula blazer… it was sooo worth it even though the picture doesn’t do it justice.
2. My favorite necklace. T’was from the BFF. ♥
3. I heart tassels. If only I found that perfect dress for a flapper costume for Halloween tomorrow.
4. Pearls + gold = beautiful combination.
5. Scared myself by losing another one at the club so I had to stock up on my favorite lipgloss.

1. Necklace Stand from Urban Outfitters. I wanted to hang my necklaces on my wall but that involved too much work.
2. Big black sun hat. Had a white one so I had to get a black one as well.
3. Snake-print Obi Belt.
4. Scarves. I know it’s getting too hot for scarves but I couldn’t help it. It doesn’t help to stock up!
5. Books! I’m still waiting for two more boxes but I think I need to get a new bookshelf first. Mine is totally sagging and looks like a huge mess.
6. Marie Antoinette and The Duchess DVDs. I’ve been meaning to add these two to my collection and finally got it! I needed the MA one because there’s a scene where I want to use as a reference for my wedding in 200 gazillion years.
7. Crispy Minis. I’m soo addicted to these snacks.

1. Trouser suit because I absolutely LOVE Rihanna’s look at the Met ball.
   

   Rihanna has invented a new approach to evening style.
   - André Leon Talley

2. Black thigh-high socks (image via Dinh Dinh L on Lookbook.nu).
3. Lady Gaga’s Bow Tie Headband. Lady Gaga has one, Pam got one so I want one too!!
4. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (US/Canada). Been patiently waiting for book 3 of The Inheritance Cycle to come out on paperback to complete my collection but I think I’m just going to pick up the hardcover because I can’t wait any longer.
5. Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles (US/Canada). I’ve been eyeing this book for ages!
6. Rainboots. Hopefully ones similar to Plueys (via Urbane Bloc). I don’t need them but I just want them because they’re too cute! It’s perfect for Vancouver weather even though I rarely go out in the rain because I’m either at the office or in my car.
7. Statement jewelry. I found great posts in my reader from The Capitol Fashionista and Trend de la Crème with some amazing and affordable statement jewelry. I want more! Maybe I’ll try find some supplies as well because I want to start make my own.

ONLY 7?! *hangs head in shame*

1. Cocktail rings that didn’t come in half sizes so they are hard to take off of my fat fingers but I couldn’t resist.
2. Studded belt from …? Don’t remember where I got this but I love it! Boyfriend always gives me weird looks when I wear thin belts like this because I usually wear it over my top and he wonders what the heck is the point. What’s the point? They look good!
3. A bunch of chains and necklaces my mom brought back for me from Asia. I emailed her a last minute request to get me a bunch on the day before she was coming home. ♥
4. An eye palette from my cousin from Hong Kong. Love the colors because they’re lovely and pigmented.
5. Heels from Spring Shoes.
6. Vintage-inspired necklace from Aldo. I wore this to work once and it was they made too much noise when I moved around so I don’t think I’d be doing that again.

I know it’s well into May already but I started this draft last month… I swear!

This is NOT a sponsored post but I also want to write about one of my new favorite stores: DYNAMITE! I’ve been shopping there a lot recently because their clothing fits me like a glove and if you’re like me who goes through clothes like cans of Rockstar, they are super affordable. Dynamite has beautiful yet simple basics you can really layer and accessorize to create an outfit that suits anyone’s style and for endless occasions. My favorite buys from them, so far is my white blazer and of course, my shiny leggings!

• When you find great staples, always stock up. I found these great tank tops that are great for layering and immediately stocked up on them because they were on-sale on the clearance rack (2/$30) and I was scared that I was going to lose them like I usually do with my staples (don’t ask).
• Got this really cute pink lacy tie that I’m dying to wear. It’d look great with Miss Tia’s lolita hat! I was trying to learn how to tie a tie yesterday from Youtube videos and eventually gave up. Who knew it could be so hard?
• I love my huge purple hobo bag (not pictured yet). I’m just disappointed because this one doesn’t have a divider and as many pockets as the other purple bag I was eyeing (but I didn’t like the shape of that one). I’ll have to get some bag organizers.
• Saw the SEXIEST pair of studded gladiator heels ever but they were 5″ high and I would’ve never worn them because I’m tall enough already.
• It’s spring and I’m still buying scarves… just can’t get enough of them.
• The Coastal Scents concealer palette is so awesome! Totally recommended.
• I bought my first maxi dress! I’ve been wanting to get one for so long.
• I went on another accessory splurge again on Wednesday. I need to buy more bangles and cocktail rings for summer because I usually don’t like wearing [chunky] necklaces on hot summer days.

Happy 22^nd, N! Aw where's {link:http://merissa.vox.com/}Mer{/link}?

• Craved like crazy for a Monty Mushroom Burger from White Spot (best burger ever). So crazy that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else— unfortunately I never got it because Boyfriend hates eating at White Spot. P.S. The image was stolen from hoyummy.com.
• Was about to see a movie after dinner but forgot to buy movie tickets at work (why pay $12 and we can get it for $6?) so we went home to start another Korean drama instead.
• Went for dim sum with the family and boyfriend (haven’t done that in sooo long). Totally not satisfying because my black bean chicken feet never came— never going to a dim sum place where they push carts around again. Boo. P.S. The image was stolen from savagexi.com.
• Bummed around Boyfriend’s house like the good old days (a.k.a. last month).
• Tried Jackfruit for the first time in my life because they brought home this huge one from Vietnam. It tasted like shit and made the house smell like alcohol. Um.
• Got so stressed out while looking for a gift for a 2-year-old. Him: “Why are you so hot and stressed out? I’m not.” Me: “Because you’re not thinking hard enough!!!” And he really wasn’t— he was just kicking a soccer ball around Toys R’ Us.
• Went to his niece’s birthday party and almost fell into a swarm of kids scrambling to pick up candy from the broken pinata.
• Wore new eyelashes that were less than $2CDN for 10 pairs (from Vietnam)— they were soo much better than my $5 (per pair) Ardell lashes. This is why I always stock up when I know people going overseas. My sister brought back 2 boxes for me in 2006 and I’ve only used half of one box.
• Got lots of good deals including a $30 Tweezerman tweezer for only $17.50!
• Spent $30 on cereal and granola bars.
• Fell asleep at 10pm on Sunday night— can you believe it? I haven’t slept before 2am for almost a year! But then it was a shitty sleep and ended up waking up at 6:30 this morning, contemplated whether to go to gym or not, lied there and fell asleep again until it was time for work. I hate sleeping early.

I’ve been obsessed with purple all year so I finally found the perfect pair of purple boots. They are too cute!

I was contemplating whether to buy this pair or not… then the SA told me that I can untie them and scrunch them down near my ankles for a different style and I was like omg I HAVE to get these.. Plus I fell in love with the color! ?

I also had to use my $100 off coupon from Bebe; of course, you had to spend a certain amount. Bought 2 casual jackets (pictured above), a bunch of sweater dresses, tops, t-shirts and tank tops. And then there was a couple of Wilfred sweaters from Aritzia.

Sat on a tiny piece of my dog’s shit … it was on the stairs and the lights were off and I sat right on it (I had my boots on and didn’t wanna take them off so I was crawling up the stairs to get something for a friend so my dad doesn’t bitch at me). Now there’s dog crap on a pair of my Rock and Republics… god, that was traumatizing (mostly because I ruined my jeans).

Totally looking forward to next weekend when things will return “back to normal” a.k.a. no more partying and Boyfriend and his family will all be back in town (he’s in Vegas and most of them are in Vietnam). Yay. I felt like we haven’t had our regular bumming/chilling/pigging-out weekends (at his house or his brother’s) in months and I’m so sick of going out.

1. MAC Rubenesque Paintpot
   My favorite Paint Pot shade… and the very first one I bought. I bought Mac’s Trax eyeshadow earlier due to all the raves online (and it turned out to be one of those colors you either love or hate) but I could never make it look good so I asked the MA for tips and she suggested using Rubenesque as a base… and that’s how my love life with Rubenesque (and Trax) began.
2. MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
   FINALLY an eyeliner that NEVER smudges. I usually use pencil liners during the weekdays while I’m at work (because I’m lazy) but on weekends and when I go out at night, Fluidline is my best friend.
3. Bonne Belle Eye Definer in Soft Black
   I’ve been using this pencil liner for as long as I can remember. For $2.99 and my 30% discount (? hook ups), you can’t go wrong. I tend to tear a lot when I yawn (and I yawn a lot), but I never had a problem with Bonne Belle’s Eye Definer smudging too much (can’t say never because I don’t think there’s such thing as a pencil eyeliner that doesn’t smudge at all). Plus is goes on sooo smoothly. I never understood why people spent $15+ on something as simple as a PENCIL liner when you can spend those extra dollars on something else.
4. MAC Chromeglass in Show Coral
   This is a discontinued shade (of PERFECT pinkish-coral) that I discovered it at The Cosmetics Company Store last year and has been my HG lipgloss ever since. I recently found some online and ordered a bunch but I’m not willing to let go of any of them. If you really want one, you can try eBay although I personally prefer to never buy any of my make up off eBay.
5. Burt’s Bees Lip Balm
   Moisturizes your lips, perfect to go under your HG lipgloss/lipstick. I actually had my original Burt’s Bees lipbalm TAKEN AWAY FROM ME during an event we went to a while ago and haven’t replaced it yet!!
6. Lumiere Mineral Foundation
   I’ve been using this mineral foundation for almost 2 years and haven’t found anything better.
7. Urban Decay Potion Primer
   I went into a hot tub with UDPP under all my eye make up… I step out a couple hours later and guess what? My make-up didn’t budge at all! That’s how good this shit is.
8. MAC Eyeshadow in Nocturnelle
   This year, I’ve been obsessed with the color purple… Nocturnelle, Trax and Beauty Marked are my favorite purples (I just couldn’t find a nice picture of all of them!).
9. MAC Eyeshadow in Flashtrack
   I’ve never been a “blue” eye shadow girl, but in the past 6 months, I’ve been buying and wearing a lot of blue MAC shades… probably because blue is so close to purple and plus it blends so well with purple and green which are my two favorite shades of eye shadows to wear.
10. MAC Eyeshadow in Gorgeous Gold
    This gold is definitely GORGEOUS. One of the most used in my palette.
11. MAC Eyeshadow in Shroom
    Shroom is one of those eye shadows every MAC girl needs in their make up/train case because it goes with everything and you can use it as anything.. as a base, as a highlighter, by itself, etc.
12. MAC 187 Brush
    My favorite face brush I use for moisturizer, foundation, blush, bronzer, etc… I’ve had nightmares of losing and/or breaking this brush and it was SCARY.
13. ADesign Brushes’ All Over Eye Brush
    I got this brush when aDesign’s Master 18-piece brush set was on sale for $99 (from $250) and it quickly became one of my basic eye brushes.
14. ADesign Brushes’ Angle Eye Brush
    I also got this brush in the set mentioned above, and it replaced MAC’s 266 brush which I use to use religiously for liquid and gel liners.
15. MAC 217 Brush
    Sorry for the dinky picture but I couldn’t find an image of the full brush online. This was the first MAC eye brush I bought and I still love it to death.. I now own 3 because it’s the best blending brush in the world!
16. Lumiere Kabuki Brush
    I’ve tried many kabuki brushes for my mineral foundation but none of them ever lived up to Lumiere’s.
17. Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
    I never believed in foundation primer until I tried Smashbox’s; it’s pricey but WELL worth it.

CHECK OUT: My HG Make Up Products Pt.2

• Was all the planning-stress worth it? I guess so.
• Do it again next year? After 3 years of it, NO. We’re getting a travel agent next time.
• Like always, unfair share of housework.
• But hot tub and sun made up for it (although it sounds a bit ironic together).
• Beach: Saturday was hot and sunny. Sunday was a lot more windy so we chilled on the patio instead.
• Went horseback-riding along the beach. Loved it.
• Purchased and finished The Other Boleyn Girl (since I was so obsessed with the movie)! Five stars.
• Lots of eating and breaking of diets (you cannot escape the food and candy!!).
• Lots of shopping (although this wasn’t suppose to be a shopping trip). Totally successful.
• Lots and lots of gossiping.
• Hilarious car rides.
• Favorite purchase was a Marilyn Monroe wall clock.
• Found lots of nice jeans. ♥
• Got stuck in rush hour traffic to the Coast AND back home (we obviously don’t learn).
• Got home really late and still haven’t finished unpacking yet.
• Don’t have to go back to work until Friday! :cheer:

Mochi pick of the day:

Being lazy on a hot day.

Koji Eyetalk Eyelid glue is for us girls with NO EYELIDS. Yes, I’m vain but what are you gonna do about it? I’ve looked around everywhere for Koji Eyetalk locally but never found it and wasted $20 on this crappy brand but I finally decided to buy Koji online (don’t ask me why I didn’t do that in the first place) so I hope it works for me since stuff that works for everybody else usually never works for me. And of course, Epicare. At least I only got 2 things and the total for both only came to about $20.

My MAC pigment samples finally arrived! I was never really into pigments because I’ve always thought of them as messy and too much work but I recently got into them and BOY AM I GLAD. I guess you really can’t go wrong with $1.50 pigment samples but I’m driving myself into hell because I think I’ll be spending A LOT on fullsized pigments in the future. It’s such a waste because I only wear make up on weekends (I just don’t see the point in getting all prettied up for work). I can’t help it either. Ah!

The pigments include: Fuchsia, Golden Lemon, Lovely Lily, Melon, Mutiny, Nocturnal Plum, Pink Bronze, Teal, Steel Blue, Vanilla, Violet, 3D Silver, Blue, Golden Olive, Emerald Green, Pink Pearl, Chartreuse, Cornflower, Deep Blue Green and Gray Glitter which was included as a gift.

Maybe I need another Anne Rice kick in the behind to try get me all excited again.

But I realized that life has to go on and I had to eventually go back to my usual mindless babbling. So here I am.

Anyway, I bring unto you…. NYX! I haven’t purchased any NYX products ever since I switched over to MAC but I couldn’t resist this little haul since everything was on sale anyway. I know their eye shadows are great, their pigments are awesome, but tomorrow I will test out face products for the first time. As for lipsticks, all I hear are raves about them but my experience with NYX lipsticks was the lack of staying power although it HAS been a while so they’ve probably gotten better. I bought 4 shades but it turns out that I don’t really like most of them so I guess I’m just going to give them away or something. :snooty:

See.. even Mochi loves it so much that she’s trying to eat my pigments.

Bought some OPI colors last weekend while picking up nail supplies at beauty store for TJ’s because I had to stock up on black and white since I’m starting to run out .. but every single shade was there!! Of course, Boyfriend was with me the entire time and was staring me down with disapproving eyes (probably pissed off that I’m buying nail polish when I can get my nails done for free). Total came under $30 so it was all worth it. When I got home, I attempted to paint my nails a deep purple with a white diagonal stripe on my nails, but of course with my non-steady hands, it turned out HIDEOUS and now there is white nail polish all around my hands, butt and face. _(kidding) I can just imagine when Boyfriend’s brother and sister sees my nails, they’ll be like “EW why didn’t you just come into our shop to get your nails done?!” :duh: And then they’ll yell at Boyfriend again. LOL. I keed.

What’s this? Yummy, peachy smelling tanning lotion! I honestly ordered it just because it smells like peaches. It came in the mail 3 days later but I have yet to use it because I haven’t been doing anything but sit my ass in front of the computer and work. Please do not state the obvious and tell me [indoor] tanning is gonna make me look like a 70 year old when I’m 40 because I’m vain and stupid and won’t listen to you anyway. I actually can’t even remember the last time I went indoor tanning, but I’m still guilty of doing it. Eeeep.

My 78-piece palette from CS also came in a couple days (I’m not going to do any swatches because there are already so many out there — besides, this isn’t a beauty blog — and I’m probably the laziest blogger you’ll ever meet when it comes to things like this. I played with it for about half an hour and everything seems really nice and pigmented and I love the blushes although I still can’t see myself ditching MAC eye shadows for this though because you can’t really compare the two. Ironically, I ordered a 120-eyeshadow palette online the day after just because it was only $25 (including shipping). Hrm. What am I going to do with all those colors!!

Today, I took out $300 cash and went to the mall with nothing else (no credit/debit cards!!) so I can splurge on MAC without spending too much. Guys, this is called “budgeting.” I ended up stopping by some clothing stores before arriving at Mac so I could only afford a MSF (Dark/Natural Shimmer), Tendertone lip balm (Take a Hint) plus Sun Centered and the 5-piece advance brush set from the Color Forms collection (total $150). Damnit I should’ve bought more money. Anyway, I got the brush set only for the shorter version of the 187 but this one can’t live up to the original 187 at all! Yes I know, brushes from the limited edition brush sets are never as good but I had to try it out anyway (at least it wasn’t as bad as the 252 from last year’s holiday edition brush set).

On top of that, all my shoes and purses I ordered online last week trickled in so the only things I’m waiting for are MAC pigment samples, a shizzload of NYX cosmetics (there was a sale ok) and my 120 e/s palette.

I love retail therapy.

50 Designers’ Current Favorite Typefaces; found this on John’s blog (ilovetypography.com). The book is limited edition because they were printed for free so unfortunately they are out of stock. But according to James from createreject.com, if you are anywhere near London right now, there are still some copies in Koenig Books in Charing Cross Road and Artwords in Shoreditch. Proceeds of the book sales go to Unicef.

Pantone Expresso Cups; although I quit drinking coffee a year ago (it was a very long and hard withdrawal), maybe I should start again just so I can buy these Pantone cups and drink in style and pretend that I’m a better designer than I actually am. Actually, I’m going to stick with my Chinese herbal teas but I’ll be drinking them out of pantone cups.

Romain Laurent; some very very cool photo manipulations by a very talented designer.

Cable Box (by Blue Lounge); if you know me and have seen my desk at work or at home, you’ll know I need one of these… BAD.

Lovemomiji.com’s Collection; for the lovers of all things CUTE, check out their collection and their shop! *ahem Richelle.

Sonya Gladiator Sandal by Dolce Vita; we all know we love gladiator sandals and can’t get enough of them! So totally sexy. Yummy.

Jean-Michel Cazabat Twister Sandals in Gold; and you thought Gladiator sandals were hot? Check out these snake themed sandals; very very sexy and Cleopatra-like. I like. I like. Now I hope someone gets them for me

Hautelook.com is having a Vix sale. Very very cute bikinis… perfect for this perfect weather we’ve been having. Unfortunately I’ll be saying no to this until I get back to my “regular” weight. Damn office job, and gourmet cafeteria!!

1. Makeup Palette (eyeshadows, highlighters, liners, blush)
2. Retractable Kabuki
3. Superfine Eyeliner Brush
4. Facial Cleanser Brush

So I was going to purchase this palette pictured on the left except it’s seriously sold out everywhere and I didn’t want to wait so I got the 78-piece for now (will get the other one later in the summer); I figured I wouldn’t need 28 more shades of eye shadows since I use my MAC eye shadows most of the time and I was going to buy the 8-piece bright blush palette anyway. I also got some brushes… and a facial cleanser brush?! Never used one of those before so thought I’d try it. Total cost? $33.38 before shipping. :cheer:

• Empress (Karen Miller)
• The Rose Princess (Hideyuki Kikuchi)
• Witches Abroad (Terry Pratchett)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [Complete Edition] (Douglas Adams)
• The Last Oracle (James Rollins)
• Shatter (Michael Robotham)
• People of the Book (Geraldine Brooks)
• Escape (Carolyn Jessop)

Spent 2 hours in Chapters and finished a short biography while waiting for my prescription to be ready. Had to have soo much will-power today! I was lucky because the paperback version of The Last Oracle JUST arrived today too.