Ulta Haul

Whooo! I'm back in New York with a friend and it feels awesome! I feel like I've spent my entire summer here actually! In just less than 1 week, (ekkk!!) I'll be moving into college and gosh am I nervous, but excited. This summer has flown by and soon I'll be a freshman once again. 

While I was at home, I was frantically running around and picking up all the necessities of college! Everything that I got is laying in my home and the first floor of my home literally looks like an explosion of college supplies. Whoops... I'll be going back home the night before move in day so I think that will be pretty interesting. haha. I'll be tired, but the excitement of getting my new room, finally meeting my roommate in person and welcome events will keep me awake! 

For my post today, I am doing a haul from Ulta. I actually got these products a while ago, but I've been too busy to actually show them! I'm pretty pleased with the items I got here and I use most of them quite often! I sometimes visit ulta's website online, but I rarely go into their store for some reason. I'm glad I did though since I got to pick up a variety of new beauty products to try for myself!

The first product that I got is the Anastasia Eyebrow Powder in the color granite. This eyebrow powder comes in a very cute and sleek package with a beautiful rose gold A on the cover. Inside the eye powder compact is a mirror which makes me love the product even more! This brand of eyebrow color has quickly become my favorite due to how perfect the color is for me. I find that this powder looks very natural and flattering on me and can resist fading throughout the day! (huge plus especially in the summer!) I like how the powder gives me the ability to mix two shades to get the perfect match! The dark color is a medium/dark brown while the lighter color is a light taupe color. Usually I'll put the darker on the inside of my brows and fade it out lighter using the lighter shade. 

The next product that I picked up comes from Lorac. It is the Lorac Duo 3d Lustre Liner in Diamond/Black Ink. These liners are truly gorgeous and stunning combo of colors. One side of the liner pen is a similar to a black liquid liner injected with glitter while the other side is an intense shimmering white packed with chunks of sparkle. The liner comes with a small thin brush making it easier for application. For me, I simply use the black liner first and after it dries, I place the white right above it for a stunning 3d effect! Despite the beautiful finish, I do have to say that to achieve a beautiful look, it might take some patience and practice. The liner takes 2-3 minutes to completely set and if you aren't careful (like me the first few times..), you may end up with a messy eye! 

Stila is one of my favorite brands for lip products so I was pretty pumped to get to try one of their new liquid eyeliners! I have to say that this line from Stila has some very lovely colors. I was stuck between a few colors, but this teal color was just calling my name. A pop of teal on the eye just screams summer to me and there was no way I could resist it! In the summer, I tend to go very light/no makeup at all. I'll probably just do my eyebrows and eyeliner at most! One thing I do have to warn you about with these liners are the tip. They are much stiffer and harder than expected. You need to press down pretty hard to get enough pigment out of them.

The next item is a classic. It is the Nivea Caramel Lip Butter. This chapstick was more for my sister since she has always wanted it. She tried her friend's Nivea lip butter in caramel and fell in love that she wanted a tin of her own! I'm not the biggest fan of caramel, but she loves it. The lip butter has a very pleasant, but not overwhelming scent in the tin. The scent reminded me of caramel popcorn in a way lol. When applied to the lips, it's not as noticeable. The color of this lip butter is basically clear. On the lips, the balm goes on smoothly without feeling too greasy and the staying power of them is pretty nice!! A word of caution though about these is that they tend to melt very quickly so keep this out of the sun!

The Body Shop Lip Butter Pink Grapefruit is the next item that I got. I love the body shop and have always been curious about their lip butters. This little balm comes in an adorable, tiny pink tube which is cute, but hard to use. When I have to apply the balm, I have to dig my fingers in which can be a bit gross. The actual formula of this lip balm is very thick, similar to butter. It is hard, but melts easily with heat when applies to your lips. The scent of this lip butter is just amazing. It smells fruity (like a grapefruit), sweet, and delicious enough to eat! For me, this lip butter last 2-3 hours!

The last item in my haul is Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava scent! I opted to get the roll on of this scent instead of a spray since rolls on's are much simpler to carry and they don't give off an overwhelming scent! The specific scent here is very tropical and instantly reminds me of summer when rolled on. It is a very sweet smell, but not too sweet, but rather a fresh beachy scent in my opinion. I usually apply this scent to my wrist and neck and the smell last the whole day! I can still smell it before I shower at night hehe! =)

Today is Saturday and in 6 days, I will be moving in!! I honestly cannot believe it, but I am so excited!! I've been chatting with my roommate over text and we seem to click pretty well!!! =) I can't wait to meet her in person!!

Have you tried any of the products above?
Do you remember your first days of college?
Have you ever had a roommate? This will be my first time truly sharing a room with someone for so long so I'm kinda nervous! 

To The Brooklyn Bridge!

This week has been quite frantic for me! That explains missing my post yesterday.. I actually think I may have to go off my Sunday + Wednesday schedule for the next month or so as I'm travelling and moving up to college! I might just end up posting once a week or so when I have time! I will continue my blog no matter what though!
These past few days, I have been running everywhere picking up stuff for my dorm room haha! I've gone online and hunted down a few "what to pack for college" list and used them as the basis for my list. As of today, I've gotten the majority of my items. I've decided to try and just bring the "basics" first and then build up my dorm room from there! I'll be doing a college haul/packing post later so I'll talk more about those items later! =)

My post today will be part of my vacation recap (part 1 here)! I have been looking through my photos and I can't believe how fast the time went!! I'll be back very soon, but time feels so weird to me right now. I think it's because I know there are big changes up ahead so things just feel odd.. haha.
One place that we visited while I was in NY was the Brooklyn Bridge! We actually went there twice so the pictures that you will be seeing here come from both visits. The first time we went to the bridge, we were just under it walking around the park. It's actually a huge park and super relaxing. The second time that we went, we took the subway to get to the bridge. Once there, we went to walk across the bridge!! Being on the bridge gives you an amazing view of the city!

Climbing down rocks near the park!

The view at both the morning and night are amazing!! I could see all the buildings and I have to say that there are a lot of people there! The streets in NY at night are busier than the streets here during the daytime! While I was out and about, I depend on my cell phone's camera lot! That's actually where the majority of my photos for this post come from.. my cell phone!!

On the night that we walked the bridge, we also got to see the streets under the bridge. I didn't know this before, but I had been to a lot of places before. I just didn't put the locations together to realize that all these places were connected!! For example, I've been to the marry go round before, but I never noticed that the ride was right under the bridge until that night! It's so cool how everything is connected!! I definitely enjoyed being able to see everything in person. It's so much cooler!! Everything is just so alive in the city even at night time! 

After our walk around the park the first time and on the bridge the second time, we got ourselves some dinner! Both times, we visited a nearby pizza shop known for it's pizzas! (though I don't know the shop's name at the moment!..) The pizza was ohh so good!! The crust was on the thinner side which I liked since that gave more flavor to the toppings! The second time that we visited, we picked up 4 huge pizzas to split among 8 people, two of which were little kids lol! That night, I think I had 5+ huge slices of pizza... ! It was very tasty though!!
The first time that we went, we ordered just enough pizza for us to be satisfied but not overally full which left room for ice cream!! We got out ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. The ice cream that I chose to have was the butter pecan and gosh was the ice cream delicious. It was pretty surreal eating ice cream and pizza under the bridge at night hehe!

Have you ever been to the Brooklyn Bridge?
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Any tips for what to pack or what not to pack? I have a feeling I am probably over packing some things and forgetting others lol. 

Living in the Present + Eshakti Review

"Cherish every moment, even if you lose it in the end, don't let it become a regret."
    Since coming home, I've been quite busy everyday shopping, building a new hamster home, hanging with friends for the last time, etc. I'm trying to make the most of my week back before I am off. I know that once I leave for NY, I won't be back home til the day before my move in day. This week is basically my last week living the "life I knew." Despite being so busy, I have been doing a lot of thinking about things. I'm just the type of person who thinks way too much for her own good. I've just been thinking back on my life, where I am now, what I have to do, and the future. It's hard not too. I feel like big changes are ahead.

Recently I've talking to a friend about this who quickly came to tell me that I am over thinking and I should try to live in the moment instead. That I need to make the most of each experience I have and not worry about what the future will bring. I am excited, but super scared by the changes that will come. I feel like I could gain so much, but the thought of losing what I have now is painful. That is when I came across the quote from above. It actually comes from an asian drama called "The Way We Were." The drama is similar to another one on my too watch list called "In A Good Way." Both these dramas I feel depict what I am feeling and I'm quite interested to give them a watch! I'll talk more about these shows at the bottom.

When I got home last Thursday, I was surprised by a few packages that had come for me while I was away. One of those packages was from Eshakti. Right before I left, I noticed I had an email from Eshakti asking me if I wanted to cooperate with them. I took a look around and fell in love with a lot of the dresses that they sold. (I am a huge dress person!) I said yes and as I picked out my dress, I noticed that on the site, they had given us an option to personally customize the dress that we chose! Shipping for the dress was about 2 and a half weeks which was great especially for it being customized!

For our dresses, you could start out by picking a standard size ranging from 0-36w or you could go ahead and type in eight of your own measurements. After that, you were asked to give your height. I actually really like the idea of asking for height since I've noticed that a lot of clothing seem to be made for taller people. Being on the shorter side makes it hard for me to ensure that the clothing will fit me correctly since I'm proportioned differently. If that isn't enough customizing for you, Eshakti also gives you the option to choose your dress length, from mini to calf length, as well as the length of your sleeve! If your dress had embellishments or pockets, you were even given the option to remove them if you pleased! How crazy is that?!

The dress that I chose to be sent to me was the Nautical Anchor Embellished Dress. When I first opened the package for the dress, I quickly loved it. It looked exactly like it did online from the color to the design! The material that it was made of was also comfortable and of good quality! My favorite thing about this dress had to be the color and design. The combination of red and gold is one I find quite flattering on me and the anchor embroidery and adorable anchor belt stole my heart!
For this dress, I opted to go along with the sizes rather than measure myself. I originally wanted the dress to be completely customized, but then I realize that I am terrible at measuring myself and that I might mess it up. I felt that for me, it was safer to get a pre-made size rather than make it myself lol. Plus, my body tends to fluctuate a bit, so I know that this dress will always fit me .. hopefully. =) I did however choose to put in my height so the dress would be the proper length! The dress I knew was on the longer side and though I had the option to make it shorter, I chose to keep it a bit longer since I rarely have longer dresses. This dress also looked too classy to be made into a mini!

Along with this dress, I chose to wear a pair of simple black flats and an infinity bracelet. You may be able to tell from my pictures, but when I was taking pictures today, the weather wasn't quite cooperating. I had gotten all my gear outside and then it started drizzling! I was determined to get my photos done though so I opted to grab an umbrella to put on top of my camera as I snapped pictures! =)

Dress- Eshakti
Bracelet- Kohls
Flats- Forever 21

Back to the two shows that I mentioned in the beginning of my post. I definitely want to try and find time to watch both of them!
The Way We Were talks about 5 friends who met in college and we follow them and as their relationships change over the course of 16 years from 1998-2014. I've seen a few trailers for this drama and I have to say that this drama seems very realistic (especially when compared to other dramas) and I could see myself in one of the characters positions right now. The quote from above comes from this drama!
In a Good Way is about a women who is know grown up, but chooses to return back to the place that changed her life. The summary of this drama quotes that "Most people can pinpoint a time in their lives that sets their future trajectory which may be very different from what they had envisioned." I can also say that this has happened to me already and I see myself changing in a different way than I imagined!

I need to find time to watch both these dramas!! =)

Have you heard of Eshakti before?
Are you a fan of this dress?
What is your opinion on my quote and the two dramas I am dying to watch? =)

Vacation Update!

Hey guys!! I can't believe how long it's been since I've written a post!! In fact, I haven't really touched a computer for a long time while I'm here! I'm only online for college related things and music at night. It actually is a very nice break from the internet since before, I felt like I had been spending way too much time online. I hope I can get this balance thing down between free time and work/school !

I'll admit that the first week and a half off felt very relaxing but as the second week rolled around, I was itching to get back on the blog world! I looked through a few blogs on my phone and I have been trying to find the time to write a small post of my own. I was planning to go home this past Sunday (which I was super sad about), but after some planning, I've decided that it is possible for me to stay longer! I will be staying to the end of this week and then go back for a week. During that week, I must buy everything I need for college because after that, I will hit the city with my friends and then stay with my cousins again (yay!) until the day before move in day! In between all this, I want to try and keep my blog as updated with post as possible!! I can't promise anything, but I will try to post twice a week again!!

For most of my upcoming post, I plan to just write about my vacation/life with a few outfits and hauls here and there! One of the first things we did on our vacation was go to a farm to pick some fresh fruits! I've gone to a few of these "pick your own" fruit farms and I really enjoyed them. I think it's interesting to see where the fruit you eat comes from and how it grows!

The farm that we were at!

Fresh Raspberries and Cherries!

The weather that day was pretty amazing! It was a tiny bit hot and super sunny, but that was okay since we were in the shade for the most part. The first fruit on our to attack list were the cherries. From what I noticed, there were two types of cherries to pick from - yellow cherries and red cherries. I didn't know the difference between the two colors, but I assumed that the red ones were ripe and sweet while the yellow ones were unripe and bitter. The red ones unfortunately were located very high and there was no way I could get to them without climbing a tree! (which I did attempt to do!) After many failed attempts, we ended up settling for the yellow cherries which turned out to be a good thing. The yellow ones tested a lot better than the red ones after picking them lol!
After our cherries, we went after the raspberries! The raspberries weren't located at high places, but rather super low. We had to squat to see the ripe raspberries. The berries that we ended up taking home were very sweet and delicious!

The next weekend had to be one of the funnest! We were scheduled to go to Pennsylvania for two days. One day was to go to Hershey Park and the second day was reserved for shopping! Personally I was more excited for Hershey Park than for shopping just because I have never been to the park before. I've gone to Six Flags and Lake Compounce before so I had an idea of what to expect. I have to say that as far as the rides go, Hershey Park is very similar to Six Flags, but a lot funner and cleaner! (Hershey Park felt so clean to me compared to other theme parks!)

Yeah right.. I'm going on a ride with a 97 degree drop! lol

As you may know, I am deathly afraid of heights so going to an amusement park like this was a bit scary! I originally planned to stick with the kids and go on all the kiddie rides, but I got pulled out of that job when someone else offered to be with the kids. Therefore, I hung out with with of the older girls and a friend who loved roller coasters. You don't even know how scared I was! I kinda put on a facade to everyone that I wasn't that afraid of the rides, but inside I was screaming.

The first ride that we went on was the sidewinder. I was basically forced to go on one of the bigger coasters and it was between the sidewinder and the stormrunner. They were both equally scary in my mind, so my young cousin picked the ride for me. This ride had 3 loop de loops that you had to go through twice- once forwards and once backwards. When the ride first started and brought us up backwards, I thought I was going to die. I just kept getting higher and higher and I wished for it to stop going up!! I screamed before the ride started lol. Once we finally dropped, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I kept my eyes closed and just
screamed with all my energy... then the ride stopped.. reversed itself... and we were off in no time!

After going on my first coaster, I was feeling more confident in attacking other rides. I went on many more rides including wildcat, wild mouse (this one looks calm, but it's crazy), a kiddie coaster, and the great bear. I actually began enjoying/not as afraid of these rides cause I found out a trick. All I have to do is close my eyes as the ride drops and scream as much as possible! For some reason, screaming makes a ride much less scary for me!

This one is crazy!

I have to say that our of all the rides that I went on, this one above that you see was the scariest! This red and yellow ride is called "The Claw" and it basically looks like a huge swing. The ride starts out and begins to slowly swing back and forth. At the same time, the machine will also begin to spin you in a slow circle. Quickly the ride builds up and before you know it, your swinging super high in the air and it feels like your about to flip over! For me, the drop is the scariest part! Most coasters have 1 or 2 drops, but this one had many drops which made it so scary for me!

I can't believe tomorrow will be Thursday! I have to head home on tomorrow at night. Even though I am a bit sad, I know I will get over it since I'll be back soon again! =)

Have you ever gone picking for your own fruit?
How has your summer been so far?
Are you a fan of heights/roller coasters?

Summer in the City

Hey guys! Did you notice that today is already July 2nd! Half of 2014 has already happened! It's crazy!
Let me say, that my summer has seem to taken full force for me this week! Not only has the weather become much warmer (and humid..), but my schedule seems to be filling up with many exciting events. I have some interesting news to share with you guys and a few updates.
As of last week, I learned that my family in New York has offered to let me stay with them for basically the month of July!! You do not understand how excited I was to hear this!!! I definitely jumped on this offer and this Saturday I will be off to the city for ~4 weeks!! More or less, I will be babysitting, but that is cool with me since I am practically in love with their kids. <3 Where I live is just so boring that I need to get out of here and where better else to go than New York with my family? I'm currently in the process of procrastinating packing for a month long trip because I have no idea what to pack! I'm planning to pack for 2 weeks mac and then just wash my clothes there! Though leaving for a month is fun, I have to make sure that everything back home is taken care of including my hamster and my college issues. I've been struggling with finical aid recently and it's not fun! I'm planning to go up there at the end of the week to deal with them directly haha.. I need my scholarship money to get there!

I've been out pretty much most of this week with friends. I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not since I actually have my permit test tomorrow... I know I haven't studied as much as I need to so I will have to spend the rest of today taking a bunch of practice test. I can do it! 

Going out with my friends was so much fun! It was actually quite relaxing to just get out of the house for a few days and talk with others. (I've been around the same people for way too long) My mind has been constantly running recently, and I know I'm just stressing myself out so I really needed these days out! Yesterday I headed out to the beach. I usually don't enjoy going to the beach, but I haven't been this year so I said why not as long as I wear lots of sunscreen! The weather was just perfect for the beach!! It was so relaxing. I laid there for a while talking and then went for a walk around the beach. Loved it! =)

After the beach, we drove around and stopped by the river where we saw part of a mini concert. We also got to check out several boutiques and see this amazing view. It really was such a perfect day out!

I guess I am working backwards here with my week, but the weekend before, I actually took a spontaneous day trip to the city with my mom. Something about my last trip to New York by myself was pushing at me to go back and see things once more. That trip was my first alone and for some reason, it keeps coming back to my mind and I can't help but feel a bit sad, but happy about it. I think it just has to do with the fact that in the back of my head, I knew that I had the chance to go to school there and to be in the city 24/7, but I gave it up in the end. 

After seeing everything once more, I felt less sad about things and realized that my choice has been made. I'll still have a chance to go back and visit whenever I wish which made me feel a lot better.

It's an almond cookie! 

Throughout my week, I also had some delicious eats! (a lot more than pictured here!) Since I was out all day Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, I basically ate all meals outside which I know is unhealthy, but ohh so good. I'm getting my meals back on track today though! I had many yummy treats, lots of froyo, panera bread, nachos, and cookies!

My last picture for today are actually a pair of Nike Women's Flex 2014 that came in the mail an hour or so ago!! I desperately needed a new pair of running shoes and after learning I was going to be in the city for a month, I knew I needed to get a pair soon so I went in store and fell in love with a few different nike styles. The only thing was that my size wasn't there... I decided to go online and found the exact pair of the ones that I loved the most. I checked the price and was shocked to see how cheap they were compared to the store. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was only a size 6 that was cheaper since there was only one shoe left in stock! The next size up, 6.5, was almost $20 more. I was originally going to get the 2013 style shoe, but the price difference was only $4 so I chose to get 2014! ... yeah it rocks to have smaller than average feet! 

Are you a fan of going to the beach in the summer? for me, I'm not the biggest fan, but going once in a while if fine with me! 
What are some of your plans for summer?
Have you ever gotten a deal on an item because of your "unique/one left in stock" size?

**Since I am going to be in New York for the summer, my blogging schedule will be up in the air. I don't know if I have time/want to blog while I am there. I'll probably blog once a week or so about things, but I'm most likely won't be writing twice a week. It's a bit time consuming and I would like to enjoy my last summer before college. =) I'll be back in August though!! **

High School Graduation

Before I start this post.. I actually took a look back at my blog to August+September of last year and found my post about the first day of senior year!! Crazy!
It really doesn't feel like it's been since my graduation, but it has been over a week. The graduation felt like it took forever when I sat there, but now that I look back, it went so fast. It felt like I went through 4 years of high school for that night and I can hardly believe that it has already happened. Before graduation, our school had set up two days for us to practice. Though the practices were long and involved sitting around, I'm tankful we did them because without it, I'd be clueless of what to do!
My graduation was set to take place at 6, but for the students graduation, we had to arrive an hour early to prep. My family basically came with me at 5 since it made the most sense and coming early meant better seats for them to see me! =)

Before graduation, I had some prepping to do. I didn't plan to do much with my hair, but I wanted to play around with eye makeup. In all honestly, I rarely wear that much makeup.. usually just eyebrows and eyeliner, but with bigger events, I like to add some mascara and eyeshadow. (hehe not that much of a difference, but it makes me feel better!) For my makeup, I went for a slight smokey eye using my naked palette and my eye shadow tattoo.

I wish the quality on my phone was a bit better here! 

Now you might remember in one of my previous post where I showed off a gold baroque dress and I had mentioned how I wanted a baroque styled dress for graduation. Well I got two and I actually liked the way the other one fit me so I chose to wear it for graduation under my gown! What sold me on this dress was the pattern of it and the length of it. I've found myself to look the best in either skater dresses or bodycon dresses so I wanted one of those for graduation. The only thing that bothered me about bodycon dresses though is the length. Those dresses are already quite short, but I feel like on me, they are even shorter and I wanted to avoid anything like that for graduation. Luckily this dress reaches me knees and I find it to be very classy on!

I didn't know how long graduation would be, but I knew that I might be limited on time for pictures. After graduation, would be the time for pictures with my friends, so I decided to take some extra time beforehand to take pictures. I do have pictures with my sister haha, but I just don't share them because of her request. =) We started with taking a few photos indoors and then moved ourselves for more pictures. The weather for my graduation could not have been better. It was almost 100% guaranteed to be outside and it was warm, but not burning or even that humid! We were lucky!!

On our way...

The whole graduation took a couple of hours and I'll admit that it felt dragged on, but it was such a surreal moment for me. I sat there and just looking into the stands was crazy. I've never seen them so packed.. (not even for football games haha) and it was just overflowing with people. Everyone was energetic and it felt like they were all here to celebrate us. I looked around at us just sitting there and I felt very accomplished but also a bit sad at the same time.
As speeches were being given, I couldn't help but think back to my whole high school experience. I thought back to everything good and bad that has happened and how I've made it. I started high school as a freshman. I was super quiet and always hid myself. I kept to myself most of the time and had my mind focused on one thing only. Now as a senior, I've definitely figured out more of who I am and I speak my thoughts more. I've also gotten the idea of "balance" in my head and I'm putting it to use with my life. =)

whoo got prizes from the party!

 Right after my graduation, I had about an hour to myself to be with my friends before I was shipped on a bus to go to my all night grad party! I'm not going to go into to much details, but overall, the party was super fun and well worth it! (literally.. I got more money back in giftcards than was paid!) There were different events at the grad party and I got to try some new things and learn that I will never do it again.. lol paintball! I thought it was a great way to end high school. The night flew by and the strangest thing is, after the party was when I felt the saddest. When we were on the bus to go home, I realized that this was it and I almost started balling. I held it in though hehe. I think the mixture of graduation and a couple nights of no sleep caused this hehe. =) I just can't believe it's over, but I am so ready for college! It's a bittersweet feeling really!

I know I said that I wouldn't decorate my cap, but at the last minute, I decided to do so. (haha I'm slightly indecisive if you haven't realized) I know it's cliche to do a quote, but a quote was a must for me! I had a few quotes to choose from, but I ended up with 2 that I loved-

"Life is precious and it's what you do with it that keeps you alive on the inside. It's not enough just to live and take that gift for granted. Each one of us has fears, but the more we work to overcome them, the more we are able to enjoy our lives."

And

Always remember, there's a little girl inside of you... Treat her as if you just met her today. 

I loved both quotes, but I ended up choosing the 1st one and making it shorter it so it would fit on my cap! I thought the message from the 1st one was more fitting, though the 2nd quote holds a special place in my heart. =) Hehe, both quotes are from Demi Lovato in case you were wondering! =)

Do you still remember your high school graduation?

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Haha.. I might get some fun answers here... but when was the first time you pulled an all nighter? Mine was for the grad party.. and never again do I pull on unless it is an emergency! =)