Boo: The World's Cutest Dog

Last month, my mom and I were browsing Amazon.com when I saw the cutest thing ever; Boo! Well, it was actually the plush version, but it was so cute that it made me buy it right on the spot! Not being a Facebooker, I had no idea what Boo was, so I looked him up and found this video (I know, I know: as usual I'm a little slow on the uptake). OMG, this dog is way too cute to be real! At first, I honesty thought he was fake because no dog should look like a stuffed animal, but I saw him moving on the video, so I thought he must be real. When my Boo arrived from Amazon, I almost hit the floor; the plush one looks exactly like the real one!! I stood him up on the floor and my mom came in actually thought he was a real dog! This is great because I was actually thinking of getting some kind of cute lap dog, but didn't want to go through the trouble of taking care of one (ok I admit it; I'm not a very responsible adult). Now, with my Boo, I can have the best of both worlds; the super, cute and cuddle small dog perfect for an apartment, but without all the pooping and having to take him out everyday!

Internships: Pros & Cons

Don't worry everyone; I'm not dead, I've just been crazy busy getting the hang of this work-life balance thing now that I'm working full-time. Today, however, I've decided to break my nearly month long silence with this post. One of the blogs that I avidly follow, 7% Solution, did a series of posts over the summer giving advice and tips on getting into college, how to adjust to college life, and what to plan for after college. These posts got me thinking, "Since I am a year out of college myself, I have a wealth of advice to give!" So here it is folks, my little two cents worth! I decided to do this post on interning because there doesn't seem to be a lot of first-person literature on interning.

Fall

Fall happens to be my favorite season ever; the crisp, fresh air, the vibrant orange and red leaves, the total absence of allergens and pollen! For a lot of people, Summer and Spring are the best because you can wear cute outfits that show a little skin. For me, Fall is great because it gives me a chance to layer clothing, and wear tights and boots! I actually like wearing sweaters, and sometimes feel that there is more variety in sweaters and cold weather accessories, than with what you wear during warmer weather. When it comes to work attire, Fall and Winter have it best. Most of your body is covered when it's cooler, so wearing things that are work appropriate aren't usually an issue. However, in Summer, you ending up bending so many dress code rules just to stay cool, you practically break in half!

This Fall, I've made a little fashion "to do" list:

• Wear more skirts (this is a general habit I'm trying to get into anyway)
• Work on layering skills
• Get more blazers (blazers are wardrobe essentials that can be dressed up or down)
• Brighten up my wardrobe (with Fall and Winter being usually very dreary seasons what with the cold weather, diminishing daylight, and snowy, adding a splash of color to your outfits can be a very uplifting experience!)

Also, this post gives ma a chance to make use of my brand new Polyvore account! Below are to a couple of my first sets I've created for a Fall look. Sorry this set is so plain, but I didn't have time to make it all fancy and done up (why can't there be at least one extra hour in a day?), but maybe next time!

DSW + Shoe Carnival Shoes

Oooo, so I just found out that Advent Children (the dubbed version, but I prefer the Japanese sub-titled version) is on hulu for free, which means I can now get my CGI lusting on without having to scour the Internet for reliable streaming sites!

Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about were my two online shoe purchases from DSW and Shoe Carnival. I'm usually very wary of buying shoes online because I can never tell what size shoes I actually wear. Most of my shoes are a size US 8, but I have two pairs that are a US  6.5, and one of them is a almost a half size too big, and the other fits perfectly. I also have a couple of shoes that are US size seven, and I usually get boots in US 8.5 so I can wear them with tights and thick socks in Winter. Basically, I can wear anywhere between US 6-8.5 in shoes. Because it depends entirely on on where I buy my shoes, and what brand I buy, I usually wait until I can go to a store to physically try on different sizes, but since I couldn't see myself making the trek via light rail to the mall downtown, I decided to just shop online (it also helped that my mom had two online discounts for DSW and Shoe Carnival).

Liebster Award

A very special (and somewhat belated) thanks goes out to aki! for tagging me for the Liebster Award! I'm a little late on this because I've had tons to do because of work for the last couple of weeks, but somewhere between last minute employer registrations, and catering orders, I find time to carry on. I'm also super excited because this is the second blogging award I've gotten!

The rules are that you tell 11 facts about yourself, answer 11 questions, create 11 more questions to ask others, and then tag 11 people.

Retro Hairstyles

From Marilyn Monroe to Katy Perry, the hairstyles of the 40's and 50's have withstood the test of time. Retro hairstyles add a touch of class, elegance, and sexiness, while at the same time being so old that they're avant garde! I've been dying to try out some retro styles to go along with a couple of retro themed outfits I have! If you're really interested in retro hair styles for yourself, YouTube is brimming over with video tutorials of many different retro hairstyles! Still, I have no idea how women used to keep these hairstyles up day after day!

Hello Kitty Double Wall Ceramic Travel Mug + Cookie

Sanrio has been having a huge jump in sales these past few months due to my stocking up on Hello Kitty products! I recently added to my collection of kawaii items with this Hello Kitty Double Wall Ceramic Travel Mug form Zulily.

I fell in love with it as soon as I saw! There was actually another set of two mugs with Hello Kitty's face on the front, but I liked this one because it had Hello Kitty's whole body, and she's carrying a lunchbox (she takes her lunch just like me!)! I bought it for about $14, not including shipping, but I think the retail price was around $30 or $40. The mug seems very large when you are just looking at it, but because of the double wall thickness, it holds about as much as a normal travel mug. It is very heavy and well made, although I would have preferred it better if it were plastic instead of ceramic, mainly because of the weight, and the fact that if I drop it on anything other than carpet, it is probably going to chip, crack, or break. I like how the top is made like those disposable tops you get from places like Starbucks, but is made of flexible, soft plastic that actually makes a slight suction-like seal on the ceramic, thereby holding in the heat! 

I used it at work the day after I got it, and it worked very well, although how a travel mug could not work very well, outside of leaking, is beyond me! However, because the travel mug is heavy and made of ceramic, I wouldn't recommend it for people who are constantly on the go.I use it only when I'm at work, and for the majority of the time I'm at my desk anyway, so it really isn't a problem for me.

Then, over the weekend, I got an extra Hello Kitty surprise when I saw this Hello Kitty cookie at the grocery store!

Thick Walls Make Good Neighbors

Obviously, I don't have good neighbors, or thick walls for that matter!

Actually, my neighbors aren't really bad, but their noise level could do with some adjusting, and I'm probably one of the few young people out there who don't like loud music, especially when it's not my own. Over the summer they played their music excessively loud, literally, all day long from about 8AM to after midnight (I think it was mostly the guy who lives there with his girlfriend)! A lot of times, there music is so loud that I can hear it distinctly through two rooms, a hallway, and two sets of walls into our living room, and last night their music was actually making objects on our kitchen counter vibrate! With their music being that loud in my apartment, I can't imagine what it actually sounds like in theirs. I mean, I don't know how they are not completely deaf by now!

The biggest problem with all of this is that their living room wall is also our bedroom wall (I wonder what brilliant architect came up with that layout), and their sound system is right behind the bed! There have been times during the week when I couldn't sleep for hours because of their music, and I don't even bother going to bed before 2AM on Friday nights (luckily, I don't have to get up early). Sometimes banging on the wall works, and sometimes it doesn't, but outside of this their is nothing else I can do since my mom won't let me ask them to turn the music down. Oh well, I have always been kept awake by other people's noise: it's either hearing my neighbors arguing and breaking stuff all night, or sharing a bedroom wall with people who have loud, crazy sex for hours on end, or people playing loud music until the wee hours of the night. Guess that's one of the hazards of apartment living!  

Leopard Print Nails

The great thing about working full-time, other than having something to do during the day, and making money, is that I can go back to doing crazy things with my nails. Since crazy nails are generally a "no, no" in interviews, I had to stick with either clear, or neutral/light colored polish.


For my first day of work a couple of weeks ago, I decided to wear a leopard print tank under a tan blazer, to add a little "umph" to my business casual outfit. To match the tank, I used the Leopard Print Funky Nails. As you can see, my nail applique skills have greatly improved since I first reviewed Funky Nails. It seems that applying nail applique is a lot like applying false lashes and nails; you get better with practice! As you can see, the applique is better fitted to my nails, and doesn't hang over the tips of my nails. I figured out that you have to trim the part over the nail tips with a file, but going in an up-and-down motion parallel to your nails, not side-to-side like you would normally file your nails. This way you can trim the excess of easily without messing up the rest of the nail applique once it has been applied, which was a big issue that I had when I first used Funky Nails.  

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

You must look into people, as well as at them.

About a week or so ago, I went to Sang Kee Noodle House with my mom and a friend, and at the end of the meal we got our fortune cookies and left. The fact that Sang Kee even has fortune cookies is amazing, considering that I only know of one other Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia that gives our fortune cookies (this city is weird and I don't even try to understand it)! Still, you have to get your fortune cookies from a big bowl on your way out, since they don't give them to you when they bring you your check like most of the Chinese restaurants I know of elsewhere.

Anyway, back to the relevant discussion. When I opened my fortune cookie, I found the message above. I was surprised since fortune cookies usually have stupid phrases like "You will go on a trip", or something like that. This one was actually very true and inspiring. Throughout my life I've learned that you can't just go by looks, you have to get to know the person within.

Why Can't It Be Like The First Week?

This post has absolutely nothing to do with the Graham Colton Band, it's actually about my first week at work! It all just feels so surreal, like I'm still waiting to wake up and realize that this is all just a dream! Remember how I was always going on about how awful Career Services at my university was, well I can't say anything bad about them now since that's where I got hired! I'm actually working with the two graduate and postdoctoral advising teams, though, not the undergraduate advisors. As the assistant for the two graduate/postdoctoral teams, I not only manage their appointment calendars, I also manage and coordinate all of the events, and do some of the web development! Between the two teams, there are at least three workshops, panels, orientations, or career fairs (which have over 100 employers!) every week each semester, so you can imagine how busy things can get! Actually, it was the event planning that really made me apply for the position in the first place. From my other jobs, I know a lot of people really hate event planning, and get all stressed out and frustrated over it, but I think it's really fun and exciting! Besides, I work better under pressure!

I also like that everyone in the office is pretty chill, but still professional, and there is a good mix of age groups (obviously some older people, but also people in their 20s), and now I get to do real employee stuff like go to meetings (I actually have three each week to "throw ideas around", which is probably going to get tiresome after a point, but for now it's super exciting) and have my own desk!

This is actually a picture of my desk, and no, that isn't my stuff on it. The person who worked there before was nice enough to leave a lot of very detailed manuals and instructions on almost every procedure and situation you can think of, which is what all that paper is! But why is the desk so important that I had to take a picture of it? Well, when I was working my first part-time job last Fall, my supervisor (I really think she had some issues, but I'm not going to go into that) got mad at me for leaving a note with a phone message on one of the desks I was working at, and said, "Don't get comfortable in one spot because you really don't have a place here." I thought this was extremely rude and uncalled for, especially since she yelled all this in the office for everyone to hear how she was telling me off! Anyway, now that I have my own "spot", every time I leave something on my desk, it's my way of saying, "Right back at cha, now what!" to my old supervisor (I found out recently that she either quit, or was fired from that job anyway)! Well, enough gloating for one day; enjoy the long weekend everyone!

My New Hello Kitty Cell Phone Charm!

I'm sure you've all guessed by now that I have a slight Hello Kitty obsession, but I totally have it under control. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was in Chinatown in Philadelphia, and bought me this super cute Hello Kitty cell phone charm! I was so happy; I've been wanting one of this ever since I saw them in Chinatown nearly five years ago! For some reason though, my friend thought it was a devil because it had horns, and he refuses to believe that cows have horns. Actually, it's Hello Kitty in a cow outfit, which I know because it has black spots and I've seen the plush version of Hello Kitty in the same cow suit. Besides, Hello Kitty is way too sweet and cute to be the devil lol (although her in a cow outfit doesn't really make much sense either).

Front view

Back view; there is even a little bell on the chain!!

Happy Friday!!!

Happy Friday everyone!

This Friday is particularly a happy one for me because I have a job! That's right, after almost a year and I half of job search, putting out applications, and interviewing, I finally have a full-time job!!! I'm so excited, and I want to thank everyone who has given my encouragement and support on Blogger! I technically start the day after Labor Day, but they want me to come in next week as an introductory period, which is great since I haven't worked at all in almost three months and will definitely need the time to get back in the swing of things, as my mom would say!

Hope everyone else is having as happy of a Friday as I am (and sorry for all the exclamation marks, but I can't help it!)!!!

10 Things That Make Me Feel Old

It always amazes me how fast things have changed since I was a kid! I remember my mom telling me about how they had 8-tracks and records in the 70's and then cassette tapes in the 80's, but in nearly the same amount of time, I've seen the transition from CD's to MP3's to iPods, to iPhones, to iPads, and who knows whats next! Of course progress is good and almost always needed, but as we find ourselves in the post-modern, postindustrial, post-information age, we must seriously ask ourselves "What's next?" I mean is it really a good to have new things popping up soo fast, and by the time you finally get the top-of-the-line-whatever, something else comes out that makes it obsolete (but I guess that's the whole point of a consumer economy)?  As far as technology goes, I like to keep it simple myself. I had a basic cell phone that could only make calls all throughout high school, and halfway through college. Anyway, it boggles my mind how many kids growing up today have no idea what a VHS tape is, or a beeper. Now, lets take a little trip down memory lane, and have a look at the top 10 things that make me feel super old compared with these young'uns  today and their fancy iPhones.

Coloful Nail Tips

Since I had an interview, I took the previous nail color off, but I still wanted some color, so I decided to do a little more experimenting with colorful tips. I decided to use clear Sally Hansen extreme nail polish as the base coat, and then used Avon's Nail Wear Pro "Cotton Candy" as the tip color, since it was subtle enough to go on an interview with, but still had the necessary amount of color to make me happy. The only problem that I'm running into is that the "Cotton Candy" tends to stay a little smushy, and doesn't harden well (ha, a little like real cotton candy, so this could just be a marketing ploy, but somehow I doubt it). I ended up having to redo the tips because they smeared even though the base and top coat were completely dry.

Black Mosaic Effects Tips

When I'm bored, there are usually 3 things that I do to fill my time: 1) Do weird things with my hair, 2) Do weird things with my nails, and 3) Lust after celebs/anime guys/male video game character. It's too hot for me to move around and do my hair, and after a point lusting gets a little boring, so I decided to do my nails! I actually haven't done my nails is almost a month since I started interviewing, and it's killing me!

Since my posts on Mosaic Effects are so popular, I thought I'd do another, but this time using the black top coat. I decided to try something different by using the black only on the tips of my nails, thus creating Mosaic tips! Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit for this marvel of nail ingenuity, because the actual tutorial was featured in one of the Avon magazines, but here is how it actually looks when you try it.

For this look, I used Nail Wear Pro "Cotton Candy" and the base coat, then painted the black top coat only on the tips. It actually came out pretty good, and the Mosaic effects hide the unevenness of the tips (for some reason I'm horrible when it comes to painting tips on evenly. 

All in all, it's a pretty cool look!

Up Do's

Every since I started growing my hair out, I've been able to put my hair up in ways that I couldn't before when I was getting it cut regularly. Up do styles have a cornucopia of benefits (okay, so I probably didn't use that right in the sentence, but you still get the idea). For one, up do hairstyles are always in style, and can easily be transformed into elegant or classy styles, as well as casual ones. You can't go wrong with wearing your hair up, so expect tons of compliments; I actually get more complements on my hair when I wear it up than when I wear it down! Secondly, wearing your hair up really does help with keeping you cooler in the summer, trust me on this. When my hair first started growing out a few months ago, I used to wear it down almost everyday, but by the time I would get to work, my head would be hot and my face and neck would be all sweaty and oily. But then I started wearing my hair up, and the excess heat heat and sweating stopped completely! Even when I'm indoors I can tell the difference between my body temperature when I have my hair up vs when I have my hair down. Lastly, wearing your hair up deters creepy old homeless guys, and I speak from experience with this! When I wore my hair down, this creepy old homeless guy actually came up to me when I was standing at the trolley stop and asked me for my number because he had been watching me and like my hair! You can imagine how freaked out I was by this, so since then I don't wear my hair down when I'm out. This method has apparently been working, since the instances of creepy old men flirting with me have dropped completely (I have always thought this was quite perverted considering the fact that most people think I'm 12 or 13 anyway, and these men are obviously way over 30)!

Since I'm actually very bad with styling my hair, I have to rely on web searches and Youtube to find new hairstyles and how to do them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Be True

I've noticed that a lot of blogs have occasional inspirational posts, so I've decided to jump on the bandwagon with a few of my own, after all, who doesn't need a little inspiration every now and then (especially me right now since I just went through a whirl wind week)! However, since I'm very bad about keeping a set schedule, and there is no day that starts with an "I" (like Make Up Mondays, Fashion Fridays, Inspirational ...? Sorry, but I'm a little OCD about stuff that doesn't rhyme!), don't expect these to be on a certain day, they're just for whenever I feel like posting.

Since this is my first post, I'll keep it short, sweet, and to the point. I found this button on The Cutest Blog on the Block. Not only do they have great blog backgrounds and templates, but they also have great buttons! This one is simple, but true. If there is one thing that I have learned in my short, yet informative, 23 years of life, it's that you should always be true. No, I don't mean not lying to your parents about cleaning up your room, or getting a C on a test (guilty!), but you should always be true to yourself (don't be afraid to go with your gut instincts) and to others.

Military Fashion

I have honestly been meaning to post this for atleast two months now, but I kept putting it off things would pop up, but finally, here it is! The inspiration for this was actually this post on Fashion Nectar.

I have always had a strange fascination and adoration of military style clothing, especially when it is based off the more formal, ceremonial styles, and not basic fatigues. If the army was about looking good, and not killing people, and I wasn't the staunch pacifist that I am, I would totally join! But, unfortunately, this is not the case. I think what really draws me to military style clothing is the pulled together, highly polished and sophisticated look, in addition to the generally dark color tones (if you don't know by now, I'm obsessed with wearing dark colors). And of course, I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that no woman can resist a man in uniform!

Hello Kitty 2.4GHZ Wireless Mouse

In keeping with my Hello Kitty obsession, I recently bought a Hello Kitty wireless mouse that was on sale at Zulily. Although Zulily is primarily a discount site for parenthood and children stuff, they actually have a good bit of items that are generic and can be used for everyone. Of course, I already have a mouse, but this one had Hello Kitty on it, so naturally I had to buy it!

When it finally arrived three weeks after I ordered it (the downside to ordering from discount sites), I found it it had tons of specs and features (most of which are completely superfluous, but still cool!) that my old mouse didn't have!

Sang Kee Chinese Restaurant

I actually haven't been on my blog for nearly three weeks now, but you probably haven't noticed thanks to the ability to schedule posts (haha, so maybe that is cheating just a little). I've been busy lately with my seemingly never ending job search. It been a little depressing because I actually came the closest I've ever come to getting a job last week. I had made it to the second round of interviews for the first time ever, and the executive director actually told me during the interview that I was the strongest candidate for the job, and that if she didn't have to interview two other people, she would have offered me the job right then. You have no idea how depressed I was after I got an email a few days later saying that I was not selected for the job. Lesson learned: Don't believe what you hear in an interview until they actually offer you the job.

Anyway, on to happier subjects. Early this month, I paid a little visit to Sang Kee Chinese restaurant in University City. I actually had never heard of it before, but an acquaintance I was meeting for lunch suggested it. I don't think I've ever mentioned this before, but I absolutely love Chinese food, especially since I practically grew up eating it!

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer and Tinted Lip Balm

I have been very productive in the last couple of weeks. For one thing, I just found out that you can follow your own blog (I'm easily amused, can you tell?)! Second, I just tried out a few Burt's Bees lip balm products and decided to my thought of them! I had never tried any of the Burt's Bees product until now, partly because I had no idea what they were for ( I would see the displays in the stores but I never actually looked at the products, so I always assumed it was some kind of vitamin supplement), and partly because the look of that burly, Grizzly Adams looking guy on the front of everything (I'm assuming this is "Burt") is a little unappealing to me for selling beauty products. My mom recently started buying the sample kits online to try out the lotions, body washes, and creams, and she gave me three of the lip balms that came with the kits, so I decided to at least try them to see how they worked. I have the Lip Shimmer in Nutmeg and Fig, and the Tinted Lip Balm in Red Dahlia. She also gave me this super cute make up bag that came with one of the kits (sorry, don't remember which one though).

Prep School Dropout

Well, not really. I never dropped out of prep school, or was even enrolled in prep school, I just though the title seemed to go nicely with the theme of my outfit =^-^=!! I've always wanted to go to prep school or boarding school just to wear those posh uniforms, but my parents could never afford it, so I've been stuck finding ways to create my own "prep school" uniforms. I bought a red tartan miniskirt back when I was in high school, and I already have a couple of white button-downs, so all I needed was a blazer with a crest, which I finally found!

Ozone Socks

I bought some socks from Ozone Socks through Fab.com about a couple of months back. Ozone Socks specialize in unique sock designs, styles and patterns. Now, just to get it out there, I'm super old school when I comes to socks. I believe socks are meat to be worn and not seen, so the idea of wearing patterned socks with so everyone can see them is completely foreign and alien to me, and is definitely going to take some getting used to. So why did I buy socks from this company, you ask. To be completely honest, these ribbed socks that I saw reminded me of the kind can-can dancers wear, and my usually somewhat repressed risque side came through (my super ego being completely powerless to stop it, of course) and I had to buy them. I also bought some weird sock/shoe/foot covering things, but I'll get to that later.

Because I was buying everything through Fab, it was all half price and would be shipped from the supplier, to Fab's warehouse, and then to me. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, the one thing I hate about wholesale discount sites is that it takes like a month for your items to get to you, and this was no exception (patience is most certainly NOT one of my virtues). However, after nearly three weeks and my order had not even shipped I contact Fab's Customer Service. Through a good bit of email corresponding with the customer service team, and a few more weeks of waiting, I finally got my order (the delay had something to do with the suppliers not shipping my items in on time, or something like that). Of course I was PO'ed by all of this but the Fab Customer Service teams gets brownie points for being so helpful! I've had to deal with a lot of customer service problems in my day, but I must admit Fab definitely has the best customer service ever. The people were really quick to email me, and they even emailed me while they were still looking into the order just to let me know that they were still working on it, instead of just leaving me hanging like most companies do. All in all, it was a not so great shopping experience that was handled very well and expertly by the people at Fab. Fab Customer Service, I thank you!

Avon Extra Lasting Pressed Powder

I've been searching for the perfect pressed powder, so about a month ago I bought Avon Extra Lasting Pressed Powder to see how it worked. One of the biggest problems I've run into with pressed powder is finding one that matches my skin. I have brown skin with yellow undertones, and most foundations and powders for brown skin tones have red or pink mixed in, so when I put them on my face looks much redder than my neck. I end up having that weird look that some women have when they don't know what shade of make-up to wear; the color of their face looks obviously unnatural  and doesn't match properly with their necks. It is also hard for me to get the right tone of brown. I've found the most foundations and powders are either way too dark, or way to light; it's like they try to cover every shade of brown in only three or four shades of make-up, and if neither of these match, then you are simply out of luck. I'd buy fashion Fair make up, which is specially designed for different skin tones, but it's way to expensive. Instead I decided to try Avon Extra Lasting Pressed Powder for about $9.99.

Sakura Dreams

Ok, so I've been meaning to post this for the last 2 months, but this crazy thing called life kept making me push it back, until I forgot about it completely. Anyway, thanks to sweetheart fashion, I've been able to discover this great online discount clothing store called Sakura Dreams. Most of you have probably already heard of it ages ago, but since I'm usually late on things like this, it's news to me!

Tea Time!!

Here is a little known fact about me: I love tea sets, and I actually collect miniature tea sets, who'da thunk it! Like all little girls, I love playing dress-up in my mom's clothes and having tea parties with real friends, imaginary friends, and stuffed animals. It wasn't until my aunt bought me a 25 piece porcelain tea set when I was around 9 years old, that my true love of tea set started. The tea set was white, with pink flowers and green checked ribbons painted on it, and because it was porcelain, and not plastic like my other tea sets, it made me feel like a real little lady. This was also around the time that my parents began frequenting antique stores, which is where I first discovered miniature tea sets. As I got older, my Victorian sentiment, which has been growing in me since I was younger, made me enjoy tea sets with a whole new passion.

Hello Kitty Fuzzy Babba Slipper Socks!!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!!

As you can tell, I'm in a super good mood today! And why? Because my Hello Kitty Fuzzy Babba Slipper Socks finally arrived (they actually arrived yesterday, but I'm still excited about it)!

My mom saw these on the Sears apparel website (I know Sears sells thing other than tractor, it's crazy!), and when she showed them to me I had to have them. She actually thinks my love of Hello Kitty is a little childish, and can't see the attraction of it to someone who is 23 years old, but this time she went on ahead and humored my little fancy by buying them for me. I was a little unsure what size to get because there was no size chart on the site, but I ordered a large anyway, which was a good thing because the slippers fit perfectly. We weren't even sure if the order went through at first because there was some problems with the website checkout, and we had to go through customer service to complete the order. Then the slippers were delivered a couple of days late, but it was totally worth the wait!

The slippers have this super soft fleece-like lining which makes you feel like you are walking on air. The outside is also made of a soft, black faux fur for added comfort, and the buckles have these cut little pink buttons to help fasten them in place. Alos, unlike most slippers I've seen, these have little rubbery bumps on the bottom to keep your feet from slipping on hard floors. Like I said earlier, I'm glad I got the large because the small/medium would have been way too little (I think the sizes run a little small anyway), and I probably wouldn't have even been able to put my foot in, but this size fits my feet perfectly! These slippers are so nice and cute, I almost don't want to even wear them and mess them up!!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

Since I've dived head-first into the exciting world of nail strips, and, as you all know, I completely swear by Sally Hansen products, I decided to try out Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. This post is basically going to be a review of how the Sally Hansen product compares with the Funky Nails, which I reviewed here. There is also a post on CurlyGirl Beauty reviewing the "Frock Star" style, so check it out if you want to learn more!

Big Hair

I have always had a fascination and love for big, puffy, curly hairstyles (must be a Southern thing)! I don't know what it is, but big hairstyles always remind me of a strange mixture of regalness, coyness, and childish cuteness. I try not to use hair extension myself, but when I do create a curly hairstyle I always feel like the perfect little princess (so what if I am a little old for playing dress up). Curls are also great for adding a little sexiness and flirtatiousness to any occasion, and can be easily dressed up or down. 

The world of high fashion practically reeks of big hairstyles. Every time I see a fashion magazine with some of those fanciful locks, I always think, "I could totally recreate that style and pull it off even better!" Of course, if I did manage to recreate it, I would just look ridiculous walking around like that, but it's still nice to dream a little! Here are some big hair pics that I found that I'm adding to my "if-anything-were-possible-and-could-actually-get-away-with-this" style wish list. Actually, it was unbelievably hard to find pictures of big hairstyles, so I couldn't get as many pictures as I wanted.

Book Shopping

There are only two things that I like more than clothes and fashion: computer games and books.

On Tuesday I actually got a chance to do a little book shopping, which is something that I have not done in nearly a year since I graduated. I had an appointment near the campus bookstore, and since I had some time to kill before my meeting, I decided to go in. At first it was a little weird going into the bookstore, and not have a course book list to consult. I remember thinking in the back of my mind "Well what should I get since I don't have any required class books?" So, instead of going on the second floor where the coursebooks are, I stayed on the first floor for the first time.

Naturally, I headed straight for the section labeled "Fiction." I didn't feel truly at home, though, until I found the 19th and early 20th century fiction books. This doesn't mean that I absolutely hate contemporary and modern literature (in fact some of the best books I've ever read have been written within the last 20 years), but, at least in my opinion, contemporary and modern literature lack a certain kind of aesthetic style. Literature now seems to be so blunt and straightforward, and not as lyrical and veiled as it was a hundred years ago. This actually reminds me of when I took a history class on the rise of the bourgeoisie in Europe during the 19th century. The entire course was based off of 19th and early 20th century novels. At the end of the course we had to read Rabbit is Rich, and I must admit that after reading things like Pride and Prejudice, The Red and the Black, and even Germinal for nearly 4 months, everyone in class was pretty shocked at the bluntness of Rabbit is Rich...

Anyway, back to my actual topic. Not having a list of required books that I needed to buy, I began doing something that I hadn't done since high school; I started to read the back cover of books to see what they were about. I know, amazing, isn't it!!! I saw a lot of Jane Austin, but as much as I love her strong female characters, and that smexy jerk Mr. Darcy, I didn't feel like spending money on any of her other books. I did see The Woman in White right next to Jane's navels, and completely fell in love with the plot of mystery, intrigue, madness, and an evil count, so I had to buy it (Also, I think there is a Hidden Object Game based off of this novel, or maybe they just borrowed the title).

I also saw The Secret Agent, but almost didn't buy it because it was written by Joseph Conrad. Although this is supposed to be one of his best novels, I've had to read Heart of Darkness, not once, and not even twice, but three times, and every time I hate it even more (and yes, I also hate "Apocalypse Now"). Most people get all antsy with Heart of Darkness because of the inherent racism in it, but honestly that's to be expected, considering that the book was written in the very early 20th century (it really annoys me to no end when people judge things in history based on modern day ideas and concepts instead of looking at the historical context anyway). What bothers me about Heart of Darkness is that it is boring as I don't know what, redundant, and badly written plot-wise, even for a guy who could barely speak English when he wrote it. However, the theme of anarchists blowing up things left and right has always been a subject of interest to me (heck, I've been studying imperial Russian history for the last 4 years), so I bought it too.

I would have also gotten The Map of Time, a time traveling steampunk mystery novel featuring H.G. Wells as the main investigator (a little reminiscent of the move "The Time Machine" from what I gather), but it was $16.99, and I was already spending $20, so decided to be all cheap and just get it from the library instead.

International Lust List

Alright fan girls, get ready for all manner of sexiness!

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's a general "Monday" thing, but for the last few weeks, I've been having very pretty pissy Mondays. Not that anything particularly bad has been happening, but I've been having a down-and -out feeling about my life in general (I know, so emo). What better way to combat those beginning of the week blues than by looking at super sexy men! This is my list (in no particular order) of the sexist male celebs from around the world.

♥ Zac Efron (American Actor): After breaking up with Orlando Bloom back in high school, Zac and I have been going pretty steady (still waiting on him to leave Vanessa though). I seriously question his acting ability, so I've never actually seen any of his movies, but he does make for great eye candy nonetheless.

♥ Jared Leto (American Actor and Singer): Jared's been a personal favorite of mine because a) he is actually more than a pretty face and can act pretty well, and of course b) he's super cute. Not really a big fan of 30 Seconds to Mars ,other than "Bury Me" (I can't help but feeling they are sort of a knockoff of The Used). Come to think of it, there was a guy in my second year Russian class who looked a little like Jared Leto.

♥ Alex Petyfer (British Actor and former model): I don't actually remember when the first time I came across Alex was, since I've never actually seen any of his movies.

♥ Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese-Thai Actor): I first saw Takeshi is House of Flying Daggers, which is hands down one of the best movies ever!

♥  Dave Navarro (Spanish-American Guitarist): I had never actually heard of Dave until he married Carmen Electra, but he was pretty famous before then playing for Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and then Jane's Addiction.

♥ Vladimir Ivanov (Russian Model): All the more reason to perfect my Russian!

♥ Ben Barnes (British Actor and former Model): He was basically the only reason I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian all the way through (I thought it had a super weak plot, especially compared to the first movie). He was also the only reason I watched The Picture of Dorian Gray at all, except also to see Collin Firth be a bad guy.

♥ Taylor Kitsch (American Actor): I don't usually go for buff guys, but every since I saw Taylor as Gambit in Wolverine, I've made an exception.

♥ Jin Akanishi (Japanese Singer, Actor, and Idol)

♥ Zack Fair (Final Fantasy Video Game Character): So Zack isn't exactly a real person, but he is definitely one of the hottest video game characters ever, even if he wasn't really a character in Final Fantasy VII.

IKEA Anyone?

By evening after my last post, I was feeling all pissy again over that very distressing Career Services experience (I really need to not let stupid stuff like that bother me). Anyway, whenever I get angry or upset, I also listen to music, depending on my mood. This time I put on my headphones, turned the volume way up (to expedite the deafening process), and listened to "bad" songs to get back at the world, like "Poker Face" and "I Kissed a Girl" (I know, I'm such a delinquent). Of course, no me-against-the-world mood is complete without some emo music thrown in, so I added a few classic Fall Out Boy songs (their songs always remind me of high school, for better or worse), the Verve, Weezer, Everclear (although I guess they would be more angry post grunge rock than emo) and Oasis to the mix.

Today, though, I went to IKEA with my mom. Despite being in my 20s, the age group that usually worships IKEA, I had never been until today. Thanks to Philadelphia's wonderful transit system, we had to wait on the bus for about 40 mins, then ride two buses for nearly an hour to get there and then the same amount of time to come back. The IKEA is actually in a seedy looking part of the city (as if most of Philadelphia isn't seedy looking enough) that is full of strip clubs and dilapidated warehouses next to the Delaware River, so it is actually closer to New Jersey than downtown Philadelphia.

Once inside the store, though things got a little better. I'm not really one for household/furniture shopping to begin with, so I wasn't too enthused about the whole thing, but more curious to see what all the fuss was about. Put me in a clothing, shoe, or accessories store, and I'll go crazy. But put me in a furniture store and the whole time I'll be bored to death. Of course, we got lost in the showroom area, but we found a lot in the marketplace area, and actually bought more than we had expected. Well, my mom bought more than she had expected, and bout a set of chocolate brown mugs with saucers to go with my lime green tea kettle, and some Swedish Milk and Hazel Nut chocolates.

We also went to the restaurant, since I had heard that the food was really good there. I decided to order the Swedish meatballs and mashed potato combo meal because Swedish meatballs happen to be the best thing ever in my book (well close to the best thing ever at any rate). The mashed potatoes were the homemade kind using real potatoes, and where very good, as was the gravy on the meatballs. However, the meatball themselves were not even made of real beef, but that processed crap they give you in school cafeterias. Overall, I give the food a 4 just to be nice, and my general shopping experience a 6. My personal view of IKEA from this experience is that it is grossly overrated. I think people go on about it so because that is the way IKEA is advertised and marketed, so people just do what they are expected to do.

Update to "Bittersweet Goodbye"

I hate cherries, but I needed a picture of something

There's no better way to dampen your spirits than a nice little visit to your campus Career Services!

So, as you know from the last past, today was my last day at my job. It was pretty emational and full of hugging and and kind, parting words. I was even given a little gift bag: a Lauder c bag (always good to represent), a very good quality Lauder water bottle (can never have too many of these, and this one was way better than the cheap ones the university hands out to undergrads at events), a Lauder black leather traveling wallet (for carrying your passport, money, ID, etc when you travel), a 2 GB USB drive, and a personalized card form one of our coordinators, whom I became great friends with (I admit that I did get a little misty in the eyes when I read it...and I promised myself I wouldn't cry!).

All was going well, until I had my appointment with Career Services after work. This was my first trip to Career Services in almost a year. I actually had decided to not go back after my last visit, but had recently quite accidently got in contact with one of the counselors (long story), so I felt abligated to make an appointment. Honestly, every time I go to career services I feel defeated and depressed, and this time was no exception.

The career councelors like to fill your ears with a lot of empty talk that only wastes valuable time, especially since all apointments are only supposed to last 30 min, no matter what. The counselor I talked to today had a generally defeatest attitude throughout the whole meeting. I began by telling her that I was looking into working for universities, to which she replied (paraphrasing a bit of course) "Well universities don't really like hiring people who have graduated in the last year or so because of student confidentiallity. Actually we had a lot of graduates from 2011 and 2012 apply to our last position, and we didn't even look at those applications." Wow, talk about being encouraging! Although this maybe true, to tell someone this is basically saying, "If you're a recent graduate, don't even bother applying because no one is even going to look at your application." People are often frustrated and discouraged when they go to Career Services in the first place, so the job of the councelors should be to encaurage as well as give advice, not crush any glimmer of hope that person my have at finding a job. Basically, all she did was go over my resume and a cover letter and give me some formating suggestions, which are, of course, always important, but that anyone could have basically given me. Of course by the time she finished doing this, our 30 min were up, and the little advice she did give me (to keep doing informational interviews), was something I had been doing for the past 3 months now.

I'm not saying Career Services is a waste of time, but I have gotten a billion times more great, applicable advice and tons of encauragement in the last 3 months from my supervisors and other administrators than I had gotten in nearly a year from Career Services.

Sorry for this rant, but I just had to get it off my chest, and now I feel all happy and wonderful again, and ready to enjoy my Friday!!!

Bittersweet Goodbye

This picture has nothing to do with my post, but it's cute!!

Today is my last day at my job at the Lauder Institute. This is a very bittersweet parting for me, even though I knew it was coming. On the one hand, the job itself was actually quite boring, and I absolutely hated lifting those huge water jugs to refill the water cooler, not to mention that I'll be out of a job for who knows how long (can't imagine there is much of a need for temps in the summer at a university). On the other hand, I now have more time to thoroughly devote to my full-time job search, and wasting massive amounts of time writing my blog networking. Originally, this was a part-time temp job that was supposed to only last for two months, from the beginning of April to the end of May. However, I was asked to stay on another week, partly because they needed the extra help for an international education conference that's going on this weekend, and partly because they just liked me so much =^_^=

Although Friday was my last day, the office had a special farewell lunch for me on Thursday, since our managing director wasn't going to be in on Friday. The food was delivered from Gia Pronto, and everyone from the office ate with me in the conference room/lobby area. Despite being across the street from my former dorm, I've never eaten there before. We ordered pesto chicken, prosciutto and mozzarella, vegetarian, and turkey and ham paninis, which was all very good (I'm sure I ate way more than I should have!).

I've become very close to almost everyone at the office, and even though I've only been working there a little over two months, it feels like I've been there forever (heck, even the UPS and facilities guys knows me)! Not only has everyone been super friendly, they have also helped me with my full-time job search. When I graduated last year, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, but many of the people at my job introduced me to people and resources that I would never have found out about on my own, which have given me a better understanding of myself and my career goals. In fact, just working at the Lauder Institute, and in its international environment has made me want to use my language and culture skill to pursue a career that deals with some aspect of international "stuff" (not sure exactly what yet, but it's a start, and much better than where I was 3 months ago)!

The last part-time job I had didn't end too well, mainly because my supervisor didn't exactly take much of a liking to me (topped off by the fact that she obviously wasn't much of a people person anyway). Even there, though, I made invaluable friends and professional contacts. Despite this, the experience left me feeling like a complete failure, even though I wasn't at fault. Working in the Lauder Institute, though, has helped me regain my sense of self, and has even given me new confidence as my goals become clearer. I have to admit working at the Lauder Institute has definitely been one of the best work experiences I've had in my long 5 years of working and interning, rivaled only by my 4 year job at the IT office at the School of Nursing. I will certainly miss everyone at the Lauder Institute!

Funky Nails!!!

Funky Nails Applique 12 designs kit

A few weeks ago, I decided to buy the Funky Nails kit on nomorerack.com. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Funky Nails, they are the fashion nail applique polish which feature various designs and patterns. I usually don't buy into the "As Seen on TV, Easy to Use" stuff, mainly because it rarely works as well as it's advertised, if it works at all. But in this case, I liked the designs, and the kit, which comes with twelve nail designs/patterns, was only $6.99, so I thought the least I could do was try it out.

Since I was planning on wearing my red dress with white polka dots to work on Wednesday, I decided to use the red and white nail applique set. I would have used my red nail polish and white mosaic effect, but the red nail polish sometimes stains my nails. First thing that got to me was that the picture instructions, and the written instructions on the back of the box are different, and can be a little confusing if you're paying close attention.

The first step is to clean your nails.Then you have to trim the nail applique set to fit you nail size. After this you soak the nail strips in water. The best thing to do is to soak the strips until the nail applique starts to come off by itself, otherwise you may tear it as you are remove it from the strip. After this step, all you have to do is put the applique on your nail, let it dry, and then put on a top coat for extra protection and shine.

The good thing about the Funky Nails, besides the cool patterns, is that there is no mess as with liquid nail polish. Of course, the nail polish itself doesn't have to dry, but you will have to let the applique dry on your nail after soaking in the water. The application on the applique takes a little practice to get it to fit on your nail perfectly, and without bubbles or wrinkles. After wearing the applique for a whole day, even with a top coat on, the applique had started to peel around the edges of the nail.

Obviously, the applique is not as durable and long lasting as liquid nail polish, and can be a little difficult at first to apply. However, because of the fairly quick application process, and the great designs, Funky Nails are really good if you have a particular outfit you want to match your nails to, or a special occasion that you are going to. This way you change your nail color easily without going through the trouble of using regular nail polish, or false nails.