TiFF'S Thirty Twist

haha.  Like my attempt at alliteration?  I originally was going to name this post "TiFF's Thirty Tumble," but thanks to thesaurus.com I saved myself from ridicule =)

So, I was following Linda on little tin soldier and she just announced that she was going to do a 30 remix.  I followed Kendi when she went through the painful (but creative and fun!) and all of a sudden I realized, hey, I should try this too!  Now, under the usual circumstances, I would never attempt this because 1) I dress according to my mood; what if I wasn't in the mood for any of the pieces I picked for the remix?! 2) I would unnecessarily guilt myself because of the excess of clothes I have invested in that are not necessary, 3) I'm afraid I will run out of ideas, 4) the whole idea just freaks me out.

Buuuuuut, now that I'm in OKC, the situation has changed.  I was forced to pack my life of clothes into a suitcase, and because I have to wear business casual everyday, my choices are very limited; 90% of my closet is full of casual clothes.  So since I've basically been doing this "Thirty Twist" for a month now, might as well document it.

So here is what I'm dealing with that is "work appropriate":
(Yeah, I knowwwww, it's boring as hell.  Hats off to McCombs for that.  We're stuffy white collar dressing b-school students.)

P.S - This "Thirty Twist" only applies Monday-Friday.  I know, I know, it kind of goes against the ethics of the whole idea, but I don't really go out on the weekends anyway (let's not go into how anti-social I am...), so it's not really worth including those days.  lol.

So, Thirty Twist, HERE I COMEEEEEEE!  But before that, I'll update later with a July 4th post :)

The Infamous Cat

Maybelline’s new product, Hello Kitty mascara exclusive, is on the shelf in Watsons in China. Maybelline collaborated with Hello Kitty and Watsons this time, knowing what women would want and giving them what they would buy.


Everything above thanks to bergstromtrends


*SQUEAAAAAALS*  O.M.G.  I HAVE to get this when I go to Asia!  (Hopefully it'll still be there *crosses fingers*)  The Volume Colossal with a kitty imprint :)  Goal:  Make a Kitty collage.

Puppy and Me

Just finished watching Marley and Me.  Such a cute, sweet, and warming movie :)  Makes me want a doggie, too.  Wait, what am I thinking?  I already have the most awesome doggie in town!  We've been bffs since...I don't even remember when.  This post was inspired by Marley.  And because I was a very uncreative child, it's just Puppy and me.

Side note:  It felt SO NICE to not have to wear stuffy work clothes and boring heels to work today!  ^_^  Oh yeah, and I went to an oil rig today!  And played hooky :D  Good times.

Successful Adventure in the Gardens

Weather:  cloudy and comfortable
Mood:  同恩 - 一簾幽夢

Waking up early on a Sunday morning; how rare lol.  Stayed in all day yesterday, so I was determined to go out today and expend some energy so that I can eat more.  My mom bought me like $200 worth of groceries, and I'm having a very hard time eating all of it before it goes bad.   I decided to take a morning stroll and take advantage of the early morning coolness and drove to the Will Rogers Garden.  The first time that I've been out myself and had completely no detours!  *tears of joy*  

The place was really pretty, despite it being summer. Imagine what a sight it would be in the spring!  You can tell that the people there take good care of the place.  It's really cute how the garden is set up Louis XIV-esque.  Made me feel like 紫菱 and that I am not stuck in this tiny city, but rather in Paris.  

Snapped lots of photos for once :)  I've rekindled my appreciation for my Nikon camera after our epic roommate picture day.  The quality is a lot better than I thought!  Or perhaps my photography skills have improved?  *laughs*

Cute ducklings up close.

They wanted to explore the gardens, too.

A really, really cool tree.  The fluffy stuff at the end makes it special.  Looks like someone took a paintbrush and dabbed it on.

A really nice lake? creek?  Don't know...let's just say body of water.

The breeze felt really nice, with all the foliage and the coolness of the lake coming my way.

De-stressed for Monday.  Bring it on!  This week will fly by just like the last.  And I'll be a week closer to going home  :)

I'm in OKC!

Weather: hot & sunny

Mood: Arashi - We Can Make It!

My first post from OKC!  How exciting.  It's been a week already and I'm slowly adjusting to this new environment.  Never have I ever appreciated Austin more in my life.  lol.  I miss home :(

But alas, I can go home in two months.  So until then, let's go explore OKC!  Not like I'll ever come back again, so better grab this chance!  This is what I wore on Friday to happily spend my first day off from work. It feels so refreshing to be able to wear something that's not business casual, boring, and bright :)

Got to the Korean market that I intended to go to surprisingly quickly and without trouble, except it was a complete disappointment.  Another Austin perk to be thankful for.  Then spent the rest day taking the "scenic" route around OKC.  I was so freaked out at one point because it looked like I was headed to the middle of nowhere.  But finally made it to the "best" mall in town.  It looks decent on the outside, but ended up being very disappointing.  I finished shopping the entire mall in an hour and a half!!  That's totally not right.  I'll try to remember to take pics last time.

Tomorrow I'm going to go visit the gardens.  Hopefully that won't be a disappointment - as in there will actually be flowers to look at.  lol.

I hate TV stations.

Today was an epic waste of a day.  All for 2 stinking minutes (actually probably not even...I think we only actually performed for 1:30).  Oh well, at least I got good free food afterwards from Sushi Zuchi in The Domain.  Yay for happy hour!  I had fried soft shell crab which was *nom nom*, mussels with a spicy sauce over them *nom nom*, and different kinds of sushi *nom nom*.  Will definitely be patronizing them again soon.

Some pictures from my waste of a day.  Oh, funny story.  I also completely screwed up the dance because I got distracted by the monitors that they have LOL.  I couldn't figure out whether they were mirroring me or the same.....and maybe I was kind of watching TV at the same time....... it's so hard to ignore it though when it's like right in front of your face!  And it doesn't help that it kept moving around RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE.

Alright, end rant.  Now for the fun part.  Well, fun for you, not-so-fun for me since not only did I make a fool of myself on local TV, I wasted a day.  oops.  Started ranting again.  /end rant.

One Fine Day....

Weather:  cloudy now, but will probably clear up later and is crazy hot and humid already -_-

Mood:  depressed and trying to memory dump the past and the mess ups I've made.  

Song:  Lady Marmalade

It's a fine day, ......minus checking my grades.  I don't know what got into me.  I must have been possessed.  Even Julie asked "Wow, I'm so surprised that you checked your grades already!"  If you can't tell, I operate on the belief that ignorance is bliss.  Why could I not see that theory out to the end?  *sigh*  Well, then again it's always comforting to know that if all else in life fails, I can always work as a low paying drama dubber, right?  And of course good food always exists :)

Wearing hot pink today to brighten my mood.  Isn't there some saying that as long as you look the act, you'll eventually feel like it, right?  Something like that.  That's the hope here too.

And I think it worked!  ^_^  

Origins

Origins is the new brand that I've been exploring since they had the Earth Day deal.  I'm interested in them mainly because they're organic, but they're also uber pricey because of that marketing pitch.  They sent me an email about a free mini facial, and since I'm a sucker for anything "free," I went to the store and had a "mini facial," which by the way was a total lie.  Not that I really was expecting a facial or anything, though.  If I really wanted a facial, I'd get a facial massage from Shiseido.  lol.  It basically was just going to the store and trying out their products, which was helpful.  My conclusion from the trip?  There are only like one or two Origins products that I really like.  


Out of my own guilt and to make myself look not like a complete cheap-o, I bought this gift set for $42.50.  *sigh*  My poor pocket.    

Left to right:  Facial Steamer, Clear Improvement charcoal mask, Modern Friction exfoliator, A Perfect World cleanser, and A Perfect World moisturizer

I'll review the items once I use them for a few weeks.  Although it was pricey, it still was a good deal, considering that 1) I'd never finish using the full size products and 2) the average price for the full size products is around $30-40.  Here are my initial thoughts though:

• Facial Steamer:  useless.  
• Charcoal mask:  Used it once last night; just something that psychologically lulls you into believing that it's necessary/good for you
• Exfoliator:  One reason why I bought the set; I have some expectations for this product.  Currently using my Envie D'Neuf exfoliator (a must-have, but also costs $66), but it's expired so I probably should use something new....
• Cleanser:  Liked the checks and balances cleanser (review below) so hopefully I'll like this too
• Moisturizer:  Been on the hunt for a moisturizer; if I don't like anything else from this set, at least I got a moisturizer that I actually do need.

And now, for a review of the cleanser that I got on Earth Day.


Origins Checks and Balances frothy face wash.

Rating:  4/5
Packaging:  2/5
Uses:  Cleanse face; ideal for combo/oily/normal, I believe.


Got this because it was free.  And wow is this thing ginormous!  I use half a dime size of product every time, so I have no clue when I'll finish this.  Not to mention the 4 other cleansers that I own...but anyway!  The smell is not fruity or flowery, so it's not the best, but it suffices.  What I do like about it though is the frothy part; it really is a bit like applying mousse, which is pretty cool.  So far I've always applied it by wetting my face first, but the sales lady told me that you can put it on a dry face, too.  


What makes me think that this product actually works and does cleanse like it's supposed to is because the first day that I used it, I had a minor pimple that was sort of popped.  It was a bit red and inflamed.  But after I used this, the next day I woke up and the pimple was 90% healed.  Miracle-worker.  Hence the high rating :)


Pros:

• Cleanses well
• Face doesn't feel tight afterwards
• Humongous size
• One of the more affordable Origins products at $18.50.  About the same as Clinique and some of the other major brands.

Cons:

• Packaging.  I don't like how I have to unscrew the cap and then screw it back on.  I'd rather it be like the caps that you can snap open and close.
• Smell.  Not as nice smelling as I'd want it to be.

My new haircut

Ever since my epic perm + cut last summer, my hair has been a mess.  And I've basically been walking around like a zombie for a year.  lol.  I've been trying to grow it out so that I can cut it and finally lay those dead pieces of hair to rest.  And, finally, after almost a year, the time has come!

I think it's pretty easy to differentiate between pre-perm hair and post-perm hair.  If you can't tell, my hair's two colors; a healthy black on top and a brown on the bottom.  As for the after look, I'm quite pleased.  This is the first time I've had my hair cut short and have it NOT flip out.  Jessica really knows my hair :)  A new cute bob for summer.  I'm liking short hair again!  yay!  

And to end, what I wore today, since I haven't looked nice in a while.

A fresh beginning

Mood:  Leo Ku - Like
Weather:  cloudy and cool.

It was fate!  I was supposed to be up earlier than 10 (9:30, to be precise), but I ended up sleeping in until 10.  Thank god I check my email first thing in the mornings though, or else I would have missed the Ruelala Havianas boutique!  (If you want an invite, click here.  What is Ruelala?  Online boutique that sells name brand stuff for basically half the price.)  I've been wanting a pair of Havianas for a while because I borrowed my roommate's flip flips once (I suspect they were Havianas) and they were soooooo comfy.  A totally different experience than cheap ON flip flops.  I know I said that I'm trying to steer away from flip flops, but honestly, they're just a necessity sometimes.  What are you gonna wear when you go to the beach?  Flip flops.  What are you gonna wear when you're dashing through the door and forgot socks and obviously can't wear heels?  Flip flops.  You get the point :)

$20 for two pairs; not a shabby deal at all since one pair costs $18 + tax.  Except shipping.  gahhhh.  The one bad thing about these online boutiques is that shipping costs an arm and a leg.  blehhh.  And choosing which design to buy was such a hard decision!  I finally narrowed it to these:

Left:  "Metallics" Right:  "Fresh"

Since Havianas are known to have awkward sizing, I'll do a post on them when I get it in the mail (expected delivery date May 14th).  

On another note, I'm getting my hair cut today, finally!  I'm excited :)


[[edit]]  WOW, and I completely didn't realize that it's already May!  April just wooshed by.  And what a fitting post title.  haha.