I hope everyone had a great weekend! This weekend was full of free beauty samples and full size items! Who needs Birchbox?? Act quickly and you can still get these!
1) Nars Pro-Prime Eyeshadow Base deluxe sample - free at Sephora inside JCP only while supplies last. Bring this coupon.
2) L'Occitane hand cream 30ml - it was free for liking them on Facebook a few weeks ago. Nov 1 is the last day to redeem it after the coupon was mailed to you.
3) Aquolina Pink Sugar - free random sample from the nice Sephora girl.
4) BareMinerals Big & Bright Eyeliner - This full size liner is free at your Bare Minerals boutique only with coupon! Print this coupon. You have until Tuesday!
I hope everyone is handing out candy tonight! I hand out the GOOD STUFF thanks to CVS! :)
My delicious pumpkin macaron with fresh pumpkin puree! I more or less followed this recipe at Sweet Lady Sass.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
P.S. My brother went as Nyan Cat lol! I would post the photo but the costume is not around!
So how exciting is having a private shopping event at LOFT? TONS! especially when everything is 40% off! To be honest I think that sale was offered to everyone all day.
Anyhow, let me show you some fabulous photos of us ladies trying on clothes, shopping, and sipping pomegranate juice. OH WAIT, I can't because corporate specifically said we can't take photos in the store. Kinda defeats the purpose of opening the store early for fashion bloggers don't you think? What exactly do they think blogging is without photos? Anyhow, we managed to do just fine outside of the store with our group photo.
Group photo of the DFW bloggers.
oh wow, it's the outside of the LOFT store! yay! This LOFT is in West Village. It's part of Dallas Uptown. I remember visiting this place with my old school buddies the summer after highschool and college summers. We thought we were so cool driving to the pretty part of Dallas and sipping on Starbucks and Pacuigo, and watching indie movies. lol at the old times. It's changed a lot. I remember the best part was exploring the underground DART system. It's quite amazing how much there is underground and how huge it is. Mind you this was new for us suburban kids. Funny thing is I still don't think many people know about the Dallas underground! I digress...
Tina getting outfit of the day shots. Elissa did a great job of setting everything up!
Fabulous ladies to my left and right! Tina & Nekiah. I was feeling very vintage matchy-matchy that day.
New earring design I've been working on. Thought it went well with my outfit. I'll be posting these in my store soon? or maybe not so soon? no set time frame yet.
My first Eggs Benedict at the Lemon Bar in West Village! SO good! There was even a farmer's market outside which was cute and unexpected.
Even though earlier I ragged on LOFT for the photo issue, the sales associates in-store were very nice and helpful. Everything was really pretty. I've only been in LOFT a couple of times because there are no stores close to me. The selection on-line is tragic compared to the in-store finds. Then there are things they don't have in-store like heels. argh.
Here are some things I loved!
I think this is out of season? Loved the geometric print in person. Looks blah here. It's too bad I didn't get this while it was in the store! It has been replaced by the Dalmation Dot Skinny Scarf.
Dot Combo Dress, $89.50
I was happy to learn this dress actually fit me! I might get this if it goes back to 40% off again.
Weekend Blue Wash Modern Straight Leg Jeans in Petite, $59.50
Another surprise! Their jeans fit me and the length in petite wasn't too long. It is in flats, but with heels I'll be fine! Now this is what I DID buy. My first straight leg jeans. I've been a chronic boot leg jean buyer ever since I can remember. My first impression was that they were a little cheap and stretchy feeling compared to others I've tried. I still liked them enough though!
This had to be the best Christmas in years! Usually I do not get into the spirit but this year was different. My brother had an extra ticket to go see The Nutcracker at Bass Hall on Christmas Eve, so since I've never been to a ballet before I was intrigued to go. I've only seen it on PBS and not even the whole thing. I am very familiar with the music however, since I was in Orchestra during highschool. The ballet was amazing, and I was very entertained for those two hours. It went by so quickly. Now I know exactly what a sugar plum fairy looks like. The costume was so so so pretty!
I'm obsessed with Japanese Rice Crackers because I can't seem to find any fresh tasting ones near me. They always look promising but then they taste stale or a year old. Sigh. Plus I don't even know the names of the crackers I do like! Then I found Asianfoodgrocer.com with amazing candy and cracker selections! Keep reading to see what I bought during the Black Friday sale! I'll review the snacks that I've tried. It looks like I bought too many crackers, but this is trial and error people!
Clockwise from the top left: Japanese Kit Kat - Bitter Almond - $2.38 Kasugai Omaccha Miruku 4.2 oz - $2.48 Meiji Chocolate Macadamia - $2.68 Japanese Kit Kat - Blueberry - $5.99 - very good! Just imagine blueberry chocolate. Glico Gaba Bitter Chocolate Balls 1.58 oz - $2.78
While here in Vietnam I'm enjoying the original EOS lipbalm. Rambutan! Or better known as Chom Chom in Vietnamese.
Trying on my Chom Chom.
It's very much like lychees but it has a almond shaped seed in the middle instead of a round black seed. It sticks to the seed so you may end up eating the outer layer of the seed (not tasty). The outer layer kinda tastes like wood lol. The fleshy part is really good and very sweet!
Facebook is blocked in Vietnam... haha I didn't know that. I only need to go on there to check on my farm in farmville hehe. But oh well.
It's REALLY hot here but I feel like Texas was hotter when we left. The Texas heat felt like burning heat, but here it's more humid and I'm sweating a lot. Luckily we've got the a/c going in our room and fans in rooms that don't have an a/c. Sometimes the whole street will black out and that means no a/c for anyone.. Hoping that doesn't happen this time.
Yesterday we spent all afternoon and night in the city. I had a really good mango smoothie from Tutti Fruti(under $2) and then we went looking around Ben Thanh Market for crap. haha. There were lots of tourists everywhere. The stuff at Ben Thanh and around is more expensive than other places. Plus it sucks that they don't bargain with you anymore.
Ater that we ate at Pho 24. I'm pretty sure it's a chain restaurant. The pho is supposed to be really good but we thought it was too salty. I ended up with the rice plate and I felt like it was too westernized. The pork had that bbq sauce which I thought was weird. Everything else was good though. It was only $3 for the plate so I can't complain. I ordered a special where you could pick 4 of 7 items plus rice so it was a really good deal!
A couple months ago when Asian Food Grocer restocked their Japanese Kit Kats I jumped at the chance to order some. I originally posted these pics on my dailybooth, but I want go into more detail into what I purchased. That is the reason why these pics are so web cam looking. The prices at Asian Food Grocer are really fair. They are very comparable to my local Asian markets on all their products. Plus now they even sell circle lenses haha!
My big ass box from Asian Food Grocer! Inside it was divided into two smaller boxes like levels. The shipping is only $5 for orders over $25! Really great deal there. The processing time is a few days and then the shipping time is another few days. So it's not super fast but it's very good!
Having inner stacked boxes is really nice because if you put drinks and candy in the same box the drinks would crush the candy. A nice thought on their part!
So far I've only tried the Dragonfruit and it's eh-eh. Can't wait to eat REAL dragonfruit in Vietnam!!
Since I'm leaving next week I don't want to order again right now. I'll being passing through the Narita Airport in Japan! I want to see what I can find there first! :)
My long time high-school friend finally came back to visit and she brought back these goodies for me! She teaches English in Japan so we really haven't talked in a very long time, but I was so glad when she called me up! We went out to the Cheesecake Factory for some fatty American food and it was so much fun. Don't you like how even though you might have changed or not spoken to your friend for sometime you can still just kick back and hang out like the good old times?
Picture above are socks for flip flops, a Stitch Pen, a packet of tea (?), and a Kit Kat! The Stitch pen is really cute. He's on a famous bridge wearing a bear costume. aww!
Citrus Blend Kit Kat - This flavor is really good! It reminds me of a creamsicle. or dreamsicle? It's been such a long time since I actually had one so I can't say for sure. It smelled really nice when you opened the package- all citrus. There's a little bit of sour from the wafer cream but not as much as the Sour Orange Kit Kats. This is a limited edition from Shikoku so it's not likely I can find more. :(
Melted. :( It's tragic I left it in the car while we were eating. I popped it in the freezer before I ate it and it was fine though! Writing this review is really making me want some orange sherbet right now!
shrimp spring rolls with hoisin sauce - These particular rolls are not that great to me, I just like the sauce. I don't like the mint they put in this because it's too overpowering. I ended up not eating this.
banh beo - mini rice pancake topped with dried shrimp, mung bean, scallions, and fish sauce. It's probably hard to eat for those not used to chopsticks. I would suggest using a fork to scoop it up and shove it in your mouth, haha. Right now they're piled really close but each one is just a white circle of about 2" in diameter.
banh cam - Gooey flour with a fried and crunchy exterior coated with sesame seeds. Inside you'll find mung beans mixed with coconut. I usually feel greasy after eating this so I only eat half. I think these banh cam's are my mom's weakness and her favorite childhood snack. She's always buying it and eating it but then yells at me when I eat a taco or something...
Whoopee! I finally got some LE Kit-Kats! The gorgeous Stacey (twitter/blog friend and customer) was able to help me out. We actually ended up swapping chocolate for jewelry, haha. I've been craving some crazy Kit-Kats for a really long time. The first time I had a Japanese Kit-Kat was probably 2-3 years ago and it was Watermelon flavored. My bro's co-worker gave him one but it was melted and mushy. Well he gave it to me, and I've been curious ever since. When I stopped by Narita airport en route to Vietnam (summer 2008) I checked the shops but I only found a green tea kind and I remember it being way overpriced. Well I bought it and devoured it in Vietnam. So good! Why I didn't buy more I dunno! I think I was too busy oohing and ahhing over Royce chocos.
Well anyway sometime last year I developed a yearning for some crazy kit-kats and well, here they are!
The Custard is soo good! Stacey's fav! It's really sweet though.
The Sour Orange flavor is pretty good too if you like citrus chocolates. I didn't realize at first it was sour until I researched it online. You can definitely taste the sour part. They probably mean tang. They sell them in bags like this for mass munching.
You can also get them in small boxes like this. You get two packs of sticks with two sticks in each pack.
Each flavor is labeled. I was trying out my new bamboo tablet so sorry if you can't read my handwriting. I've only tried 3 flavors so far. I'm hoarding these like little golden nuggets.
Awhile back the sis and I went to a Korean supermarket and we decided to just eat dinner there. The pics speak for themselves. They are also from my ghetto phone so excuse the low quality. :)
A box of pot stickers! So good. I love the dipping sauce. I can never make it right. When I add the vinegar to the soy sauce it just tastes nasty. Any tips?
Hot damn she looks scary... Drinking Melon Ramune. I wanted to try this but I was on my soda ban.
Me hiding behind some canned coffee. Yes canned coffee. Not bad but not good either.
I forgot exactly what's called but it's meaty mush to me. Rather nasty and badly cooked. I ate the tofu and soup but tossed out the meat. What a waste!
Across the street there was this sign for Plus Chicken. I swear I laughed for a few minutes at the sign. It looks like a thumbs up, but oh not it's also a friggin chicken!!
Charlotte Russe type store. Lots of pretty things! We got nothing though.
These are supposedly Chinese pancakes? I dunno.. but the syrup was on the inside. How convenient! It was so good but way too sweet. And btw no we're not pigs- this was from another trip. :P
Hope everyone had a good weekend! There were lots of things going on for me. Two birthdays, Asian New Year's and Valentine's! Sorry this is a fluff blog post of pics. Here they are...
Food spread from our combined parties! Yum, I think I ate too much...
It's amazing what circle lenses, makeup and a flattering angle can do for a girl. I look so different without all this makeup...
For the lips, I tried layering Revlon Soft Nude over Maybelline Pink Please. This is the result. It's less bright in-person. If you find that the Revlon lipstick accents your lip lines, try layering it over one that doesn't.
You can hardly tell but I'm wearing Benefit blush/bronzer in 10 on my cheeks. My new purchase off e-bay. I finally have it! I've wanted it for a couple years now...
Maybelline EyeStudio Color Pearls in Lawless Lavendar- I really like this. I've always wanted to try a baked shadow! Thanks Megan!! Maybelline XXL Pro Curl Mascara- only used the mascara side of it. It's nice, but the wand is too curly? It def made my lashes fuller. Do you think I still need falsies? L'oreal Lineur Intense- good for winging the top line, stays put. MUFE eyeliner pencil in Black and Purple- tightlined upper lashes, stays put (purple for lower corner lash)
Lisa of HQCD generously offered up her MUFE primer, and me being MUFE crazy jumped at that. :) She is so amazing; she stuffed that box full of goodies. Even though she's a full time student and makes fantastic jewelry, she's still got time to make caramels! Your friendship means so much to me. <3
They are delicious and so soft! Thank you!
I also got special treats from Stacy, Steph, and Megan! Thanks for all the love! <3
A preview of my new limited key collection in my shop later today! They are one-of-a-kind keys! :)
I recently came across WongFu Productions again. I was glad to find out they are still making videos. They are most known for their video "Yellow Fever." If you watch that then watch this you can see how far they've come. Anyhow, this vid is really funny! Enjoy!
On Sunday I went to the Temple again for the 100 days memorial of my grandma (dad's side). It was a different temple this time (in a trailer). I was mostly distracted by my nephews playing around, but it's not like I can understand what is being said anyway. It's a nice change from church every week. I noticed there was bowing every time somebody hit the gong. Is that how it goes?
That night the fam had a goodbye dinner with Grandpa (mom's side). None of it was home-cooked, but it was still good!
Seafood Chow Mein
Fried Tofu
Shrimp Noodle Spring Rolls
Rice Soup
Spicy Honey Wings (so random...)
Yay, the winner of my last surprise giveaway is Megan!! I wrote the four entries down and drew one out. E-mail me by the end of Monday. :) Viva la Juicy is yours.
