Last Song Syndrome: Just A Dream

Happy Tuesday! :D

I just want to share with you the song that has been stuck in my head for days now.

Just A Dream by Nelly

What's your last song syndrome?

*If you haven't seen my recent post, Essence Mineral Compact Powder, please click the link. Thanks!*

:D

Essence Mineral Compact Powder

Hi, everyone! I hope your week is starting out great!

I gotta say that one of the things I miss most about summer is having so much time on my hands. Tons of time = quality blogging time. I wasn't able to blog hop this past weekend as I planned. :( But I hope to do that today. :)

Oh, I just want to share with you guys that I got a perfect score on my Math midterm! At first I was like :O, but now I'm all :D.

Anyway, moving on, I want to share with everyone one of my favorite makeup items from the stash my sister gave me for my 20th birthday (last July).

Essence Mineral Compact Powder

Mineral Compact Powder by Essence is fortified with minerals and has a micro-fine texture for a smooth and matte complexion.
*from http://www.ulta.com/*

They have 3 shades to choose from:

Natural Beige 01, Soft Beige 02, and Perfect Beige 04.

*I have Natural Beige.*

I love this one because, first of all, it's only $2.99 - so affordable! It blends well, doesn't settle into creases, covers up the shiny parts on my face, it is light-weight, and lasts long. :D

When I have a lot of time in the morning to get ready, I put this over my liquid foundation. But most of the time I am in a hurry, so I just use this compact powder without the liquid foundation - and it works great!

I've noticed that these past few weeks, my normal makeup routine has gone like this: moisturizer, concealer, compact powder, blush (those two are interchangeable, haha), lip balm and lip gloss. I've definitely eliminated quite a few steps. But it works out okay, at least I still look presentable. ;)

I really have no complains about this product because it has been working so well for me.

Have you tried using Essence Mineral Compact Powder? What do you think of it?

What's your favorite compact powder?

Another thing I want to show you guys is the pattern on the powder:

I think it's cute. :)

I wish everyone's week is going great!

Are your Halloween costumes ready? :D

Did you know? ;)

Hey everyone!

How's your week going? I hope you're having a good one. Yay because it's Friday tomorrow! :D

This week went by in a blur! Don't you think so?

A few days ago, I was cleaning out some papers of mine when I saw this piece of paper my brother gave me. Here's what it says:

Olny srmat poeple can raed tihs.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed tihs psas it on!

So interesting and amazing, huh? :D

***I plan to visit everyone's blogs sometime this weekend or next week. I've just been a little busy. Thanks for understanding, loves!***

Have a great Thursday night, everyone!

Rocky Road Bars :D

Happy Monday, everyone!

It was raining today, and we should be expecting a few more days of showers - not really complaining - we could use a couple days of rain. And plus, I get to wear my boots! :D

A few weeks ago, I made rocky road bars. I actually got the recipe months ago from one of our fellow bloggers, however, I'm so sorry to say that I really can't remember whose blog it was. So, if this recipe came from you, or if you remember whose it is, please let me know. Sorry and thanks! :)

What we need:

12 oz. chocolate chips

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.

3/4 cups chunky peanut butter

These were on sale at Food 4 Less - $1 each!

8 cups mini marshmallows

I think we can use more or less according to what we feel like.

Directions:

Mix chocolate chips and chunky peanut butter over hot water. Add marshmallows. Stir. Pour into a buttered pan. Let cool (for an hour or so). Cut into squares.

Simple, huh? :D

Taaa-daaa!

You get these yummy, chocolate-y, creamy, and rich rocky road bars!

I added more marshmallows on top because my siblings and I love them.

We can do so much with this recipe. I'm thinking of adding almonds next time. And chocolate or caramel syrup, perhaps? :)

These are a definite hit! My siblings loved them.

Have you ever made Rocky Road Bars? Do you have a special recipe?

Here are also other photos of this yummy dessert we can all look at and drool over. ;P

*images from Google*

My Anthropologie picks :)

It is a chilly Sunday night for us here in LA. I am actually liking it - I think I've had enough hot days to last me 'til next summer (haha, yeah right, then I'd be complaining about it being so cold in December...). No, but really, the cold weather is getting me all excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. :D

I was looking through Forever21's website to look for leather jackets (they have a lot!), and I was gonna share them with you guys on a post, but then I thought "Why not check out Anthropologie's website instead?" - and so I did.

Here are the items that caught my eye:

Sepia Saddlebag, $268

Ciara's Slipper Flats, $80

Tap and Slither Flats, $148

Desert Oasis Booties, $168

Craftsmanship Capelet, $118

Falling In Love Vest, $118

Marlene Blouse, $168

Ha'penny Cardigan, $128

Konnichiwa Sweater, $128

Filamentous Cardigan, $148

Watercolor Folds Dress, $348

Night Fever Dress, $158

Harbingers Of Fall Dress, $158

I was also looking through their accessories, but if I were to share the ones that caught my eye on this post, this is gonna be a really long one - so I will just share that on a separate post. :D

How did I do for my first Anthropologie virtual shopping?

Have a fantastic week, my loves!

:D

Book: If You Have To Cry, Go Outside

It's been a pretty mellow Saturday for me, what about you?

I may have mentioned before that I love to read - I mostly read young adult books (even though, yes, I am really not part of that category anymore), classics, and chick lit. I'm not really into the whole autobiography kind of thing, but Kelly Cutrone's book is a different kind of autobiography.

First off, Kelly Cutrone is "a fashion publicist and the founder of the public relations, branding and marketing firm People's Revolution. Cutrone is known for her no-nonsense approach to the industry, and her brutal straight-talking. She is best known for her appearances on 'The Hills' but has said that she and her People's Revolution partners mute their personae somewhat for the cameras. Kelly now stars in her own reality drama 'Kell on Earth'".

*from http://www.wikipedia.com/*

Kelly on The Hills with Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port

I'm really happy that I read this book - it's kind of like a "life manual" in many ways. She really does share a lot of life lessons in her book. I learned a lot about her that I never would've guessed happened to her.

Watching The Hills, Kelly Cutrone seemed to me like a really scary boss, but reading this book, I felt that she's not. She's just really a straight to the point, no BS kind of person. Did you guys know she bakes cupcakes for her employees, and likes to be called Mama Wolf? Yup, she does.

If you get the chance to grab or borrow a copy of this book, I hope you get to read it. But I know that a lot of us are really busy, so I thought I'd share with you guys quotes from the book that made an impact on me.

"Dreams don't always take you on a straight path to destiny, but they're usually related to what your soul wants for you."

"Sometimes, if not most of the time, you find out who you are by figuring out who you are not."

"... the world will change only when we change ourselves. And that starts with finding ourselves: learning to quiet the clamor in our minds and the voices of everyone around us and move toward what feels right - toward the things we know, for reasons we can't explain, that we're meant to do, the things that make us feel alive."

"... you can't fake hard work, and [that] when you believe in something and truly go after it with all you have, amazing things will happen."

"After all, you can't truly be happy if you've never known pain. You can't truly feel joy if you've never felt heartbreak. You can't really know what it feels like to be filled unless you've been empty."

"Sometimes in life, seasons don't come in order; instead of fall, winter, spring, summer, we get three winters in a row. But that doesn't mean spring won't come eventually."

"This is an important thing to remember when you're having a bad day, a bad month, or year: Things will change - you won't feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most."

"You can't have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail."

"... you have to give up your life as you know it to get a new one: [that] sometimes you need to let go of everything you're clinging to and start over, whether because you've outgrown it or because it's not working anymore or because it was wrong for you in the first place."

"I followed my fears to their worst possible conclusions... and what I realized was that no matter what happened, I was going to be fine."

"Your negative thoughts are weeds strangling the progress of your soul; you must find a way to kill them."

"The unavoidable truth is that in the real world things don't always come in order we're taught to expect them."

"When life deals you blows, there are blessings to be found in them if you look hard enough."

"If you don't know exactly what fits into your life and what doesn't, the best way to figure it out is to follow your inner voice away from what feels wrong and toward what feels right."

"... things that seem perfect rarely are..."

"The people who succeed are... the people who respond to rejection by brushing themselves off and moving on, again and again."

"... getting good at something requires consistency and repetition. There is no other way. With few exceptions, you will get out what you put in."

"... you also have to learn where to draw the line. Take on as much as you can and soak up as much as you can, but learn to say no when the situation demands it."

"My mistakes have been some of the best teachers of my life."

"We aspire for a knowledge truly knowing, for a power truly powerful, and for a love that truly loves."

"... none of us can change the world alone. We need to help each other, or at least get out of each other's way."

:D

*images from Google*

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On another note, you can visit http://www.freebeautyevents.com/ and enter your zip code to find out what makeover, gift with purchase, spa open houses and sampling events are happening near you. And you can sign up to follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. In addition to listing in-store makeovers, Freebeautyevents.com also features a blog on product reviews (http://www.freebeautyevents.com/beauty-blog) and a monthly contest http://www.freebeautyevents.com/contest.

For the month of October ten winners will receive a University Medical AcneFree Sport Clear 2-Go Skin System. You have until October 31st to enter and winners will be chosen on November 5th.

For Pennsylvania and Virginia residents, Prestige Cosmetics will be at college bookstores with a free basket raffle for Prestige products and free makeovers. In December, Coty will be at Rite-Aid throughout Pennsylvania and New York to promote their holiday fragrance gift sets.

I hope you have a great Saturday night, and a restful Sunday! :D

Happy Friday! :D

Yay for the weekend! :D

How was your week?

Mine was pretty good - I just caught colds yesterday, though, but it's no big deal, fortunately, I'm not that sick. :)

Here are some of the snacks we usually buy when we go to the grocery store:

Chips Ahoy! White Fudge Chunky, Fudge Marshmallows, Double Stuf Oreos, Sandies Pecan Shortbread, Toblerone, Vanilla and Chocolate Wafers. :D

What snacks do you buy at the grocery store?

I also want to pass on the Tanti Baci Award the lovely Bree gave me a while back.

Thanks, Bree! You are so generous with these awards! :)

Rules:

1. Copy the image onto your blog.

2. Thank the person who gave you this award.

3. Pass it on.

4. Let them know.

I pass the Tanti Baci Award (meaning: many kisses) to:

Toni Tralala

Lauren

Caroleena

Carrie

:D

If you want to join in on our 90's flashback and listen to songs we all loved from that decade, please click here. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Remember these songs? :D

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thursday! :)

I created a new station on my Pandora account - I put in 98 Degrees - and all my favorite 90's songs started to play. I've been smiling and singing along for about an hour now. So I thought, why not share them with you guys... and maybe bring a smile to your face too. :D

While I love *NSYNC so much, I have to say that for me, the ultimate boy band will always be the Backstreet Boys! Who thinks so too?

I Want It That Way:

Quit Playing Games With My Heart:

Aaaahh, and Savage Garden - I love their lyrics!

I Knew I Loved You:

Truly, Madly, Deeply:

Do you guys remember the days when Nick Lachey was considered an "it boy"?

Invisible Man:

The Hardest Thing:

And of course, *NSYNC!!! I had all their CDs! :D

This I Promise You:

I Drive Myself Crazy:

Oh, how I miss those days!

Are any of these your favorite? What songs from the 90's do you love the most?

I hope you had as much fun listening to these as I did! :D

Essence 6in1 Buffer Nail File

It really felt like Friday today, it's so weird. ;)

But, *sigh* it's only Wednesday, good thing it's Thursday tomorrow and we're another day closer to the weekend! :D

I thought I finished reviewing everything I got from my sister and brother-in-law for my 20th birthday (this past July), but nope, I still have some stuff left to share. :D

Essence 6in1 Buffer Nail File

The 6-in-1 Buffer Nail File by Essence is the ultimate file to shorten, shape, even out, cleanse, smooth, and polish your nails.

With six different textures, the 6in1buffer file always offers the right strength to shorten, shape, even out, cleanse, smooth, and polish your nails. Leaves your hands looking freshly manicured in an instant.

*from www.ulta.com*

The six sides are:

Step 1 - shorten

Step 2 - file

Step 3 - adjust

Step 4 - clean

Step 5 - smooth

Step 6 - polish

I really can't say anything bad about this nail file because for 99cents, it's extraordinarily amazing! You'll get so much out of it. I would definitely recommend this! :D

Do you use this kind of nail file? What do you think of it?

On another note, the lovely Toni Tralala gave her followers this You Rock! Awesome Follower Award! So, if you are reading this and you are a follower of mine, grab this award because you are awesome and I love you! :D

To see my previous posts, click the links below:

Taco Tuesday!

Movie Trailers and Tagged by Raeny

Life As We Know It

Thanks, everyone! :D

Taco Tuesday! :D

Happy Tuesday, dear friends! :D

I stayed away from my laptop yesterday because I spent some time cleaning, and then studying for my Math exam. I am happy to share that the exam was easy - I didn't really get stuck on any problem. Somehow though, that's kinda scary. After I turned my paper in, I kept wondering if maybe I read the Math problems wrong - How could I have not gotten stuck on any of them?

Do you ever get that feeling?

But anyways, that's done and over with. Moving on, my post for today is all about Taco Tuesday! :)

We didn't really have tacos for dinner tonight (we had chicken curry)... these photos were taken almost a month ago, but I really waited until tonight to post them because I want to call this "Taco Tuesday", haha! ;)

We used McCormick Cheesy Taco seasoning mix:

It made the ground beef taste delicious - cheesy and creamy. It had all that yummy taco goodness.

I ate mine like this:

My sister ate hers with sour cream:

For some reason, I don't like sour cream. I don't really know why.

Our Dad ate his with a hard taco shell:

How do you like to eat your tacos?

Whenever we eat tacos for dinner, we lay everything out like a buffet. It's more convenient to have each make his or her own taco, and it makes cleaning up easier.

We got this tortilla container for a dollar! It's good to have this because it keeps the tortilla warm. :)

Sorry, I know this picture doesn't make it look appetizing!

lettuce

tomatoes

shredded cheese

sour cream

Do you make your own tacos? What is your favorite go-to place for tacos?

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Movie Trailers and Tagged by Raeny! :D

Happy 10-10-10, everyone!!! :D

I mentioned on my previous post that I saw Life As We Know It, and now I would just like to share some movie previews that were shown.

*click the link to view my Life As We Know It post*

Two of the previews were How Do You Know and Morning Glory - I shared their trailers here.

Here are the other ones:

Due Date: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx.... super funny!!! I am definitely watching this! :D

Tangled: Mandy Moore as Rapunzel. It's from Disney - and I want to see it. :D

Hereafter: Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed by Clint Eastwood. All brilliant. I am considering seeing it (if someone wants to go with me). ;)

Which of these three do you want to see?

I was also tagged by Raeny to answer some questions, so here they are:

If you were to be the inventor of one of the greatest gadgets of today, which gadget would that be and why? - Hmmmm, instant traveling? Like just push a button and be somewhere you want to be right away... haha, sounds impossible, but it'd be cool. :D

You have to choose, would you rather eat a cockroach or a worm? - If I really really have to choose, I think I'd go with the worm than the cockroach.

What's your favorite cartoon as a child? - Oh my, I have a lot of favorite cartoons. The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Winnie the Pooh, The Power Puff Girls, Little Lulu... do you guys remember those? :)

If you could have any animal trained as a pet, what animal would you want? - A dolphin - I think it would be fun to swim with one anytime I want.

If you had three days left to live, what would you do in that short time? - I would travel to all the places I want to go to with my family and get in touch with people I care about that I've lost contact with.

Would you rather be an outlaw but really rich or be a good citizen but average in wealth? - I'd rather be a good citizen but average in wealth - at least I would be free to enjoy life.

If you could have a celebrity best friend, who would it be? - Lauren Conrad - I really want to borrow her clothes and shoes and bags and accessories. Haha. ;)

Live for 80 years being single, or live for 30 years happily married to the one you love? - Definitely live for 30 years happily married to the one I love! :D

Thanks for this Raeny - these are fantastic questions!

I encourage anyone who wants to answer these questions too to do so. Let me know, I would love to read your answers! :)

Have a great week ahead!

Movie: Life As We Know It

I hope everyone is having an awesome Saturday! :)

Last night, I went to go see Life As We Know It with my friends. We were actually choosing between that and The Social Network, but romantic-comedy, chick flick, feel-good movie won. Maybe I'll see the The Social Network sometime next week.

Here is the movie's trailer:

Okay, so yes - it's the same old chick flick - predictable and all that. But I actually loved it. While I do like watching movies with depth and substance, rom-coms and chick flicks are just really my kinda movie - especially after a long week. Plus, it's the perfect movie to watch with your sisters, best friends, mom, aunt...

"Get out of my car! Get out of my SmartCar!"



Holly Berenson is an up-and-coming caterer and Eric Messer is a promising network sports director. After a disastrous first date, the only thing they have in common is their dislike for each other and their love for their goddaughter, Sophie. But when they suddenly become all Sophie has in the world, Holly and Eric are forced to put their differences aside. Juggling career ambitions and competing social calendars, they'll have to find some common ground while living under one roof.

(*from Yahoo! movies*)

I am not going to say more about the story than that summary does because I don't really want to spoil it for those of you who might want to see it. ;)

All I am going to say is I enjoyed this movie. Everyone was laughing all throughout the 1 hour and 52 minutes. You will cry and laugh. You will feel their frustration, struggle, happiness, and love for Sophie. And you will just adore the baby. She is so cute! (Triplets actually played the role of Sophie.)

sniffing the baby's diaper

"It's like Slumdog Millionaire in there!"

Another thing I loved was that it was set in Atlanta - not Los Angeles or New York or the other usual places. And the house they used was just absolutely beautiful!

While Katherine Heigl may be unpopular to some, I think she definitely has talent. She can make you laugh and cry at the same time. What do you think of her?

Josh Duhamel, on the other hand, is just as good-looking as ever. It's so cute to see him with a baby. (I wonder when he and Fergie will have one of their own.) On the acting department, I have no complains. He was good. He's come a long way from being Tad Hamilton in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!

I also loooooved Katherine Heigl's look in this movie - her clothes, sandals, boots, accessories, hairstyle - everything!

I loved her sandals from this scene - too bad we can't see all of it in this photo.

I think these are the same sandals! Haha. I want it. And I want her beret!

The house is just lovely!

As for chemistry, they definitely have it. I think they look cute together. Wayyyy more than with Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth.

Final Verdict: If you want to relax, unwind, and laugh, this is a good movie to watch. I loved it. I don't regret seeing it at all. :D

Have you seen Life As We Know It? Did you like it?

Are you thinking of seeing it?

Have a great weekend, everyone! :D

*all images from Google*