January 16, 2012 New Mascara feeling extra clumpy? This could be why (and how to fix it!)
Last week when I went to put on mascara (the Rimmel Volume Accelerator, to be exact), I was horrified to find that it was super clumpy! I’d never had a problem with it before, so I was perplexed as to why. I came to the conclusion that since I was back home in Canada and my parents keep the house absolutely frigid (it’s ok, we just put on extra sweaters), it could be affecting my mascara! So I ran the tube under hot water for about a minute, and that fixed the problem right away! I think it went on even more smoothly than before, so I might even do this every time before I put it on now. I’d never thought about the effect of temperature on makeup products before, but it totally makes sense. Hope this little trick comes in handy the next time you have problems with clumpy mascara!
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- Posted under Beauty
December 31, 2011 Happy New Year!
Happy New Year’s Eve!! I guess I just can’t stay away from this blog after all, haha. 2011 sure went by fast, didn’t it? How did it go for everybody? It was a pretty big year year for me: I traveled to many new places, celebrated 3 years together with Yufei, turned old enough to feel old at Forever 21, and perhaps most importantly, finally worked out a rough post-gradation plan! But 2012 is going to be even more monumental, with graduation and all that stuff. I have lots of hopes and dreams as well as worries and concerns for 2012, but most of all I’m really EXCITED to be moving on to the next stage in my life. So, new year’s resolutions? Why yes of course, I’ve got quite a few:
1. To lose weight and stay healthy. Ha, probably the most cliched of all resolutions, but it has to be made. I was super busy and stressed out last semester, and as a result didn’t work out very much and didn’t eat very well, and so as a result I gained a few pounds. My favorite pair of jeans are feeling a little too tight! This is definitely a sign that I need to lose a few. So, in the new year, I will eat healthier and exercise more. I’m taking Pilates next semester, so hopefully that’ll help!
2. To take control of my finances. Well, what little finances I have anyways. The first step is to find a new part-time job, since my current job is ending next month. And a sub-point to this resolutions:
2.a. To spend less money shopping. This is going to be really hard for me, because I love shopping and clothes and shoes and makeup and… sigh. But it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming a problem. So I’m going to give myself only $30 a month on shopping, and if I want to buy something more expensive one month, I’m going to have to give up the next month. Hopefully this is going to make me think twice about impulse buys (so guilty of this). And I’m going to purge my closet again when I get back to NYC, as well as take some of my existing clothes and shoes to the tailor/cobbler, to get more life out of them. I think it’s going to be a fun challenge to get more creative with the clothes I already have!
3. To make an effort to dress up nicely everyday. I’m already moving towards that direction, so this won’t be too hard. But I still have my off-days; I felt so yucky when I wore my sweatpants out during finals last semester that it just threw off my whole day. I feel so much more confident and productive when I look nice, even when I’m not going anywhere.
4. To make the most out of my last semester in college. Finally for one semester, all my classes genuinely interest me, and my schedule’s not too tight that I can still have fun! I’m going to enjoy my last few months at Columbia (and NYC) as much as possible.
5. To keep a positive outlook, no matter where life takes me. There’s going to be a lot of big changes in 2012, and I know that I’m going to be stressed out and worried and upset over some of them, but I want to keep in mind that no matter what happens, everything is going to be okay, life is wonderful, and I’m so lucky to be alive and surrounded by amazing family and friends.
So there you go! My resolutions for 2012! What are yours? I’ve love to hearing them!
I leave you with this lovely song from two of the most adorable and perfect human beings ever, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Here’s to a happy, healthy, wonderful new year!
Tags: college, fashion, fitness, health, music, resolutions, shopping, videos
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- Posted under College, Future, Lists
December 26, 2011 Trends I Love: Bird Prints
So I’ve realized that it’s much harder than I thought to be studying ALL THE TIME, so I’m back for a quick fashion post before the new year! So I want to talk about clothes with bird prints – it’s been a hot trend since summer and I love it. There’s just something so whimsical and cute about it! Even Kate Middleton endorses it – she wore this beautiful black and white Issa bird print dress at least 3 times in public this summer:
So here are some of my favorite picks for clothes with lovely bird prints!
1. Bird Dot Print Top from GoJane
I love this blouse! The double collar is too cute.
2. Bird Pattern Girls Top from Full Tilt
This is technically a kids sized top, but I know I can fit into Full Tilt girls XL sized tops, so I’m including this because it’s so cute. Too bad it’s out of stock… fingers crossed that it’ll come back!
3. Cap Sleeve Birdie Top from Charlotte Russe
The exposed zipper on the back gives this sweet top a bit of edge.
4. Vera Moda Bird Print Skirt from ASOS
Perfectly simple.
Now get ready for a slew of dresses!
5. You Flight Up My Life Dress from ModCloth
Ruffles, birds, my favorite color green… what’s not to love?
6. Bird Print Ruffle Tank Dress from GoJane
Similar style as the previous dress, but with a bit of a nautical feel.
7. Mac C London Bird Print Dress from ASOS
Love this dress so much. It would be so perfect for a day at the beach!
8. MiMiGirl Bird Print A-line Dress from YesStyle
Love the vintage feel of this dress… great fall dress!
So here you go! Which one(s) do you love? Might just have to get a few of these for myself now…
Tags: asos, dresses, fashion, modcloth, skirts, tops, trends
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- Posted under Fashion
December 17, 2011 There no time for procrastination like finals!
I’ve been neglecting this blog for some time now, because soon after my birthday I freaked out and realized that my DAT was in less than 2 months (now more like 2 weeks)… so I’ve been very busy studying. And now it’s finals week and I’m dying because I have so many and they’re all worth so much of my grade. But I really don’t want to study anymore so I’m using this to procrastinate.
Here are some photos from my birthday dinner last month:
We went to Symposium, a tiny Greek restaurant (the photo on the website makes it look deceivingly large) near Columbia. It was the first time since I started college that I’ve been able to celebrate my birthday with a group of friends, and it was excellent! Great food, great sangria, great company. And the delicious strawberry mousse cake was from Artopolis.
22 is a rather unmonumental age, I must say. But that’s just fine with me. Turning 20 and 21 felt like such a huge deal that it made me nervous and agitated that I still hadn’t figured out my life. But I actually felt surprisingly okay with this last birthday. Maybe it’ shouldn’t be so surprising, since I finally do have some idea of where I want my life to go, even if I haven’t ironed out every wrinkle in my future plan yet. But I finally feel like I have a goal and am making progress, so that it no longer feels like time is passing me by. It’s a good feeling!
So right now I’m focusing on finishing finals (with decent grades, hoping for straight A- this semester, haha), then it’ll be onto the DAT, and then doing the pre-health application and other stuff for applying to dental school, and finding a job for both next semester and my gap year, all while enjoying my last semester in college! And then it’s onto the real world… but let’s not get too far ahead yet.
I probably won’t be back until after my DAT on Jan. 7, so I guess I’ll wish anyone who’s reading a very Merry Christmas, and see you in 2012!
November 14, 2011 A not-so-happy past 24 hours :(
My ceiling light stopped working last night. It turns off by itself after 2 seconds of being on, and I have no clue what’s wrong. My room is already dark since it’s shafted, and now I only have my little desk lamp for illumination. And knowing Columbia, facilities will take at least a week to fix this. And I HATE the dark. After daylight savings last week, I’m already feeling a little SAD-ish, and now this just makes it worse.
And then last night I left my window open just a crack, and somehow despite the fact that it’s already mid-November, there are apparently still mosquitoes in New York, and I got bitten in at least 10 places. Consequently I barely slept. And I woke up this morning with 6 bites on MY FACE. And they’re itchy and they burn and they make me look like I’m breaking out like crazy.
And when I got up last night to spray bug spray on me and accidentally got some on my glasses, and this morning I find this huge crack on one of the lenses of my $700 Prada glasses. I have no idea if it’s the bug spray that somehow did it, but it makes no sense. And I have to wait until Christmas to get new glasses. And now I know I HAVE TO get glasses, instead of having the choice of getting sunglasses or prescription sunglasses. And I just used the word “glasses” way too many times in this paragraph.
And then I was looking forward to watching HIMYM tonight because I thought it might make my day better, but NO. Gosh it’s so heartbreaking. Especially after the ending of last week’s episode. I feel so awful for Barney… ugh.. I can’t even. And Robin… homegirl needs to sort things out. Seriously. And even though I still have faith in the writers to turn this around, I also have no idea what’s going to happen next, and it scares me. Robin’s really going to have to redeem herself. She has some soul-searching and growing up to do before she can do that though. But gosh… so sad for Barney. Would he still believe in him and Robin after this? I’m scared. Ted, please fix this! :(
And then I hear that Community is being pulled from NBC’s mid-season schedule. WTF. Why don’t more people watch this show?! It is so funny and so clever and so original. UGH. Praying it doesn’t get cancelled.
So pretty much tonight I’m sitting in my dark dorm room wearing my cracked glasses with red itching bites all over my face being sad about TV shows.
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- Posted under College, Entertainment, General, Musings
November 2, 2011 Day trip to Cold Spring
Last Sunday, Yufei and I took a day trip to the village of Cold Spring via the Metro-North Railroad. We had planned to go on Saturday, but the sky decided to give us snow that day, so we went on Sunday instead. There was still snow on the ground, and the whole place was out of power. We didn’t know that before we went, and most of the businesses were closed so we had limited lunch and shopping options, but it was still lovely to get out of the city and breathe some fresh air!
Fall leaves and snow all at once!
The Hudson!
PS: Yes, this is the coat of my dreams!
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- Posted under Places, Travel
October 28, 2011 Senior Fall, Part 1
There’s finally a tiny little break for me! I still have a paper due on Sunday that I need to start, but at least midterms are over for now and I don’t have anything else major before fall break. Phew. I’ve been so burnt out over the last couple of weeks, and I got sick last weekend too so that didn’t help either (still recovering from a cough). But at least I feel like I have enough time to write a blog post, that must mean something, right?
Earlier this month, I went to a little reunion with some friends that I attended a summer program with in 2007 (wow that’s a long time ago). One of them goes to Cornell and another goes to BU, and the other 2 are in town doing co-op programs. Since everyone was in NYC that weekend, we decided to meet up! It was great catching up with them since I haven’t seen most of them since the program ended, which was 4 years ago!
Then later that week, Yufei and I celebrated our three year together by going to dinner at Cafe Boulud. The meal and the service were excellent, I especially loved the olive bread (I think olive is starting to grow on me!) and my dessert, the milk chocolate coffee parfait.
And the company was even better, of course! Thanks to Yufei for such a great evening, and I hope we will celebrate many more years to come!
The weekend after that, I went to Columbia’s homecoming game against U Penn. We didn’t win, but at least we were winning when we left the stadium. And that’s not the most important part anyway, because that title goes to free stuff! By being a senior, I got a free t-shirt and free beer, and by pretending to be an alum, I got a free scarf (for being an “engineering alum”) and a free stuffed lion. And a ton of free food, snacks and drinks! The weather was beautiful that day, and it was so lovely to spend the afternoon with friends bathed in the upsurge of school spirit that only happens about twice a year. Here are my friends Cindy, Ying, Jin, and me!
Photo credit goes to Yufei, with amazing post-processing by Jin.
Then last weekend, I had the chance to meet up with my fellow blogger friend Erin, who is attending NYU. It was so cool to meet someone that you’ve been talking with online for so long! Erin was so nice and awesome and I’m looking forward to seeing her again to do some cool NYC stuff together!
That’s about it for now! There will be lots happening over the next week or so, so if I find time I will definitely write about it here!
