Sweet Azaleas

Oh garden part of this blog- I have not forgotten you!

Since Asian New Year is in a few days the Asian markets and floral shops are FILLED with beautiful new plants. Last year I missed out on buying an Azalea plant. Bby the time I was ready to buy it all the blooms had died, and I thought I could wait it out another year for a "fresh" pick.

Well dang it the shop owner raised the price to $55 from $25 this year! Of course I was outraged but I still bought it anyway like an obsessed idiot. It is possible last year's plant was smaller. (what I tell myself for comfort) I googled around and the going rate for this is around $100 now so maybe it's not so bad? I really wanted it to be a twisted topiary and it is! The dark pink petals actually sparkle in the light like a shimmery nail polish/ lipstick would. It's so pretty! If I could afford more than one I would also pick the white and pink mix above but I'm happy with just the photo for now. :)

2 year blogging anniversary

Today marks my 2-year anniversary of beauty blogging! (blogiversary?) It's been a blast, and I've met lots of sweet friends and even made several close ones I hope to meet someday. I've learned a ton I never thought I would and read quite interesting gossip too. Of course it's more than that!

Blogging is something I want to continue to do because it is just FUN to put it simply. I think stopping would just be going backwards. Everyone blogs now. Moms, grandmas, dogs, babies, fake boyfriends..

Is my blog where I wanted it to be? Yes and no. I like it because it is what it is, but I regret that I didn't post more over the years. I still have drafts from two years ago! Why did I originally start blogging? Back when I only had about 3 blogs to read I got bored with them not updating every second so I started one to get my own two cents out there. The name- beauty and gardens. I'm not the type to make up a name like QueenStephieCutieLovesStuff so I tried to combine two things that I liked at the time. Also no one had put a beauty and garden blog together before. To look back I don't think it was a great idea because I barely post garden related things now. I would love to change the name to Chasing Beauty or something else I scribbled somewhere.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who are still reading this from the beginning and hello to those who have just discovered me.

P.S. In celebration, I will be having a giveaway! :) stay tuned!

Is Groupon good or bad for you?

Alwin Fuchsia

Stock

Do you ever feel like you're spending MORE money than you would after signing up for services like Groupon. I know the point of them is getting great deals, but if I never saw the deal, then I would never be tempted to shop.

It's like what they say about diet drinks. People still get fat from drinking diet because they drink more of it thinking it's not hurting them.

What is Groupon?
Local shops and some online retailers will offer limited time discounts where you can get at least a 50% off savings by paying the cost upfront. You can then redeem your savings at a later time until it expires. You're buying a rare coupon!

Essentially you are pre-buying a set amount of money to spend at a store you may or may not end up going to later. Retailers are happy to get that "down payment" and even though it's a 50% off discount for you- There's a good chance many people will forget to claim their credit! So don't forget! How many times have I thrown away physical, FREE coupons from Express that read "$15 off $30" or "$15 off anything" at The Limited? Many many times!

I'm guilty- So far I've spent:
$5 for $10 of gelato
$15 for 3 movie tickets and a soda ($5 each)
$15 for $30 of plants and garden supplies
$5 for $10 at a mexican bakery I've always want to visit
$150 for six laser hair removal treatments

Of those I've only claimed 2 movie tickets and one laser hair removal treatment. It's almost $200 on coupons alone. I am def not going to be buying any more for now. Yes the Laser hair removal is a big chunk, but it's hopefully a long lasting benefit. Too early to tell from one visit so far. Also I'm planning on getting the plants (shown above) later this week too. I scoped the store on Sunday to be sure there were things I wanted to buy.

I would say it's good to buy the Groupon if you KNOW you'll use it within 1-2 weeks otherwise you run the risk of forgetting and losing that money. If you have an iPhone you can download the app and it's easy to check on expiring groupons. But then it's also tempting to look at the deals! ah!

If you're curious and you want to sign up, I'll receive a $10 credit after your first purchase. My referral link is here. If you get friends to sign up you can too!

I speak too soon! I am going to buy another groupon for ebay that is $7 for a $15 giftcard! I LOVE eBay and thanks to Jean for tweeting the deal. (or is that no thanks hahaha) http://www.groupon.com/deals/ebay

To answer the title of this post, I'm going to conclude it's bad for me! :D

I'm back and some thank yous

Hello! As some of you know (who follow me on twitter) I'm back in the States! For June I went to Vietnam to visit my grandfather with my family. It was my third time visiting in 5 years and it was still a lot of fun! It was really sad to leave knowing I may never see him again, so I was feeling kinda dumpy but now all is getting back to normal. Starting off with blogging again! I know it's probably been a really long time! I'm still sorting through the 1,000+ pics I took (not including my dad's camera) so it'll be a bit before I can post some of those. I'll probably try to break it up into just a few posts and then get back to beauty reviews/hauls and stuff.

But first I wanted to thank the gals who sent me some surprise gifts before I left! I really don't know what I did to receive such kindness from you girls, but thank you from the bottom of my heart. <3

The one and onlylindah passed some goodies along to me while she was in the process of cleaning up her room. One girl's clutter is another girl's treasure! (lame wording I know) Thank you Linda! I've never tried the Shadow Insurance before. I've tried it by now and it seems to work pretty well. Lately I've been obsessed with Rimmel lipsticks. Thank you! And what's up with that dog in curlers pic lol?

Jessie and I have been swapping packages back and forth but it's still always a surprise to find these wonderful lippies in my mailbox. Thank you! She's my main supplier of Nude Delight by Rimmel haha. Favorite lip color! If you can't find it.. peachstock by mac is a close dupe in color but not finish. The Boots lippie is really awesome too. I've been interested in their products after watching brittish vloggers. :)

And Stacey omg! Thank you so much! She's like my sugar dealer from Japan. Always getting me high on stuff. It should be illegal! She remembered me saying something about hoarding peach candy for 5 yrs until it was spoiled haha. Thank you for the gum it is really good! Along with it all! It's all friggin really good candy! Stacey is one of my "lovely ladies" to the right lol. I wish I could get my curls as adorable as yours.

Amy surprised me with an early birthday gift! She knew I was a fellow gemini, and it was really sweet of her to send treats all the way from Canada! Is she a mind reader? How did she know I was lemming to try Annabelle cosmetics? hehe. Though we do have Nestle here I've never seen those candies before. The Smarties are similar to M&Ms except they are really cool colors instead of boring primary colors. I remember when M&Ms thought it was riske to put out a blue one haha. And the Aero chocolate? Why don't they sell this in the US? It's so good!

Sweet Lulu surprised me with packs upon packs of tea! I imagined like one pack of tea and she bombed me with these goodies. You are just the sweetest! Thank you! She's a fellow Kit-Kat lover + the queen of green tea lattes here on blogger. I think she started the whole craze. I find that we enable each other to eat / drink sweets more than we should haha. She got me hooked on these Mango flavored Hi-chews. I didn't know know mango flavor existed for it. It tastes remarkably like a Mango of course!

I can't believe I've met such sweet and generous ladies here on blogger! I'm looking forward to another year of friendship and getting to know you and all of my readers a little bit more! I don't really have that many friends in real life lately so blogging and sharing with you all really fills that void. :) None of my friends in real life even "like" makeup...

P.S. if there's any candy missing it's because I ate it before I even took the pic haha! :D

End of Summer Recipe. Just a tad late.

I made this Pesto back at the end of July after one of my many Basil harvests. What else am I supposed to do with mounds of basil? Next year I'm not planting so many seeds because I end up with more than I can use. This was my first time growing plants from seeds successfully. I'm so proud! I think having a growing kit helped.

I was searching around for a good recipe, and I think David Lebovit has a pretty good one. If you don't have one on hand, I would suggest mashing and adding parmesean, basil, pine nuts, and oil until you get the right consistency/flavor. That's what I do when I'm too lazy to measure.

I wanted to make the pesto old school, so for a long time I was searching for a decently priced mortar and pestle. It's harder to find than you think. At first I didn't think I wanted one of those stone ones. Too heavy and costly. $30? too much! The one I'm using here is a chrome one from Vietnam. It was one of things I wouldn't leave the county until I found. It was only a few bucks I think. I don't like it now, and I'll explain below.

David Lebovitz's Pesto Recipe
Four servings (about 1 cup)

If using a mini-chopper, or similar device, simply blitz all the ingredients together until as smooth as inhumanly possible.

2 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
5 cups (20g) loosely-packed basil leaves
5 tablespoons (75ml) olive oil
2 ounces (60g) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (30g) pine nuts, toasted

1. Smash the garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle until smooth.

2. Coarsely chop the basil leaves, then add them to the mortar and pounding them into the garlic as you add them.

3. Once well-mashed, when they've become a fairly-smooth paste, pound in the olive oil, adding it a spoonful at a time, until well-incorporated.

4. Lastly, pound in the cheese, then the pine nuts.

5. Continue mashing everything for a few minutes until the pesto is as smooth as possible.

Fresh pesto should be served within a day or two after it's made. Otherwise the garlic can become overpowering. It can also be frozen for a few months, if well-wrapped.

My stash fresh from the garden. You gotta wash it and dry it! I left some of it in a cup of water, and it started to grow roots. No, not more basil!

The reason I don't like this mortar and pestle is because you can't get a good grip with a chrome mortar and pestle. I thought having it shiny and smooth would be good, but I learned that it's not. You need it to be able to have some friction, or you'll be smashing and pounding away forever. It would still be good for gauc though.

I finally found a promising one at World Market last weekend. They were having a 25% off friends and family deal so I ran out and bought it. I haven't tested it out yet, but it's rough on the inside so I think it will do just fine!

Sorry I've neglected the "garden" part of this blog for so long... Until next time!

my first tomato

Wow, my first home grown tomato! It's pretty huge! I think it's a "better boy"... but I can't be sure. I'm no expert! The garden store was not very organized, and I just picked a random one. I realized I haven't done many posts about my garden so I thought I'd share these photos. More photos after the break. I never expected my tomato plant to grow so big! I really just expected it to die from lack of water. :0


I don't know why it's cracked, but this tomato is actually from early summer. I've had about 10 so far. Still counting...

Great on a salad or toasted french bread sprinkled with salt and crackled pepper.

Still a baby!

Can't believe how fast it grew. I got the tiny plant on the left for $0.69 cents!

Plumeria on the plane!

I went to visit my family for the Fourth of July, and this is what I managed to bring back. My uncle was more than happy to cut me a piece of his Plumeria plant for me to take home. You may have seen these flowers on leis in Hawaii or other tropical destinations. They are fragrant and beautiful, but really expensive to buy as a potted plant. I have researched plumeria guides online, and found that it is "very easy" to grow a plumeria from a cutting. We'll see how easy it is! Ha! Now, I'm surprised that I was able to take this with me on the plane seeing as how big it is! The TSA worker just asked me what it was, and said she'd never seen one x-rayed before, and let me on my way.

Now to planting. I think you are supposed to pick off the leaves and flowers before you transport the cutting. You are also supposed to let the bottom of the cutting dry out before planting it. I didn't do either of those things! My uncle told me just to put it in soil when I got home, so that is what I did. I thought I'd do it his way since he's done it before. Though, I did follow directions from plumeria 101 too.


Take 1/3 peat or potting soil and 2/3s perlite and fill the pot. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone. Stick the cutting in the soil and press the soil firmly around it. Add small rocks or pea gravel. Make sure the cutting is sturdy by pressing down on the gravel. Last, water it until water comes out of the bottom. Don't water again until the soil is dry. Leave in a sunny place.


This is my final result of planting my cutting. Days after this some of the leaves turned yellow and flimsy so I picked those off. The flowers started to open (smells so good!) but not to its best because it has no roots. I will pluck those off soon enough so the cutting can concentrate on its root growing. I stuck this outside in the hot weather.. hoping my modified version works!

Greetings!

Just wanted to say hi today since it's my birthday! I feel old today. :) That's dill flowers behind me if you were wondering.


I'm wearing NYX Trio 19 with Barely There, Champagne, and Root Beer. Love it!

Put Barely There on entire eye, dab Champagne on the ball, and shade with Root Beer on the outer eye. Blend Blend Blend! Line with black/brown.


Smashbox Lip Gloss in Pixel
Blush in EDM Walkee Talkee
Bronzer in 24.7 Highlighting Bronzer Palette

NYX Shipment, my basil

These are my basil seeds that sprouted! How cute!

I got my shipping from Cherry Culture today! This was from the 50% off sale. I didn't think I would order because I can get this stuff cheap at ULTA, but ULTA doesn't have much of a selection. I was really interested in the trios, and I just threw in some eye pencils and pigments for $1 each. I am not happy about the eye pencils, but at $1 what can you expect? The eye shadows look promising. I will test the makeup out and get back with pictures!

Now to fix my chair... I think somebody lowered it!