Potential Birthday Wishlist (Vote in the Poll)

My 23rd birthday (gasp, wow!) is this Sunday, May 10 -- yep, Mother's day. Sadly, I won't be home with my mom and grandma (or friends from home) because traveling from DC to NY will be too hectic with the holiday.

I'm not big on holiday presents, and more into "just because" little presents. I'm the type of girl who likes going out to a nice dinner on a random week night or buying someone flowers as a surprise. I would rather just give/get gifts when the spirit moves me. And thankfully, I'm not normally for want of anything.

But this birthday, I'll admit that I do kind of want a nice present. I don't need to get it on my birthday itself -- in fact, I'd rather get it a few days/weeks later, to feel as if my birthday celebration is continuing, hehe ;) But now, the question is, what kind of present do I want?

I've narrowed it down to six items. As you can probably tell, I'm very indecisive -- that's why I'm still making up my mind three days before my birthday -- and that's why I'd like your opinions on which gift I should get myself/ask for from my fam.

In no particular order:

Bamboo Fun Tablet ($99 - $199)
From the company's site:"Bamboo Fun makes your computer your canvas, allowing you to freely express yourself by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. Touch up digital photos, draw by hand, create artwork and paintings, and even write in your own handwriting."
Pros: Very cool, and it comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements and some other programs to do creative work on the computer.
Cons: How often am I going to use it?

Wii ($250+)
I don't have a TV/cable in my new place, so a video game console seems like a fun thing to do as a replacement. I've played Wii sports before and it was a blast -- it's active and engaging. Plus, I can take the console with me when I move in a couple of months.
Pros: A more engaging replacement for television and lots of fun.
Cons: Expensive -- games add up in price. I don't have a TV so I'd have to hook it up to my 15 inch spare computer monitor. And will I get bored of it quickly? Maybe I'd be better off getting a Netflix subscription.

Compact digital camera ($99+)
I use my 7.2 megapixel Casio camera for work and play...but in three years it's gotten pretty beat up, and has started to give me some errors.
Pros: I'd love a camera that's smaller, sleeker and has better picture-quality than my current camera. It's an item I'd definitely use a lot, and a smaller camera would be easier to carry around.
Cons: My current camera is still pretty good.

SLR digital camera ($500-ish)
Pros: This would be awesome to help me further pursue my interest in personal and professional photography. (I sometimes take pictures for the newspaper I currently work at.) I could probably easily get a refurbished camera.
Cons: Expensive. I'm changing jobs in a few months (shh on the DL, haven't told my bosses yet...) and won't be using it at my next gig. So by the time it'd be worth it to use a camera like this for work, the one I get now will probably be outdated.

Memory foam pillow ($15 - $100)
Pros: We spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Why not do it comfortably? These pillows are freaking amazing, I feel so rested after I sleep on one.
Cons: None, except even though I know I'm going to spend a third of my life asleep, I'm too cheap to invest in a nice pillow.

iPod touch ($250+)
Music, apps, a nice big screen, planner, etc. This was a last minute thought, but...another cool item that I'd like to research more.
Pros: Works as a music and game player, as well as an electronic appointment book. Sleeker and slimmer than my current iPod (a video iPod that's about 2/3 years old) with more features and a bigger screen.
Cons: Smaller memory than my current iPod. I don't watch a lot of videos on my current player. And again, my iPod isn't broken. An upgrade would be really nice, but isn't necessary. (Guess I could sell my old one?)

Now that I think about it...I don't really need any of these things. But if I were to get one...which do you think I should go for? Comment or vote in the poll on the right.

MAC Hello Kitty Swatches...for my Mama?

In recent years, my mom has become a major Hello Kitty fan. (Just go with it, lol.) So I'd love to get her something from the new MAC HK collection, which I checked out in-store for the first time yesterday.


I think I'm going to go with a lip product because she'll probably use that the most. I was considering accessories but didn't see anything that seemed irreplaceable, especially since she has no special love for MAC so getting their compact versus a regular Sanrio one wouldn't make a difference to her. High-quality HK cosmetics aren't easy to come by, however, since most are made for 5-year-olds!

The question is what to get. The collection is so playfully (and appropriately) bold that nothing jumps out at me off that bat as fitting my mom. Shimmer is okay but globs of sparkles will look too immature and not flatter her. She doesn't wear neon pink, instead favoring more demure colors appropriate for a middle-aged woman. She has rosy fair skin and light blue eyes.

I'm leaning toward one of the lipglasses -- possibly Mimmy or Sweet Strawberry. Mimmy would be great to layer over lipstick, but since my mom is often on-the-go I don't know that she'd take the time for the two-step application process.

Sweet Strawberry could work since it deposits color, but I don't know how the berry shade would look on her. I look good in berries so that's a somewhat promising sign, however, my mom has red hair and tends to wear red lipstick whereas I have light brown hair.

Hmm...guess I'll go back to the store and try those two specifically on my own lips, and make a decision. Better do it fast, since some of the HK products are already sold out online!

Any ideas for what to get my mom from this collection?

Flower Earrings Made From Fish Scales

This weekend my friend V and I went to a chocolate lovers festival in Fairfax, Va. Aside from consuming a chocolate chip pancake breakfast and loads of little confection samples, we also browsed some local vendors displaying good. Above is a pair of earrings I bought my sister -- made of dried and painted fish scales. (So cool, right?)

The full display was so beautiful, it was hard to make a decision which to pick!




She's coming home to New York later this week after two months studying in Spain. I'm not sure when I'll give them to her, since I'm in D.C. anyway...I think she'll really like them, not only because they look pretty but because they are also somewhat extraordinary, at least from what I've seen.

Gifts from Maayari!

A few weeks ago (what feels like an eternity) I entered Maayari's Winter Challenge contest. Though I didn't win, she sent me some lovely gifts as a consolation prize and a very cute holiday card.

The stuff:
From bottom left:
-Lancome remove-all deep cleansing oil. Saving this for a day when I feel like pampering myself.
-Green tea soap. Mmm smells so good.
-Mango body butter sample from the Body Shop. I'm going to clean my room a bit, cook some green beans, hop in the shower and rub this on my legs tonight!
-Eyeshadow sample (le mystere #78) from the mineral makeup site aromaleigh.com. See swatches below. It's a very sparkly slate color that picks up the blue in my eyes.
-Rouge sample (sweetheart) from aromaleigh.com. Pretty bubblegum pink with pink sparkles. Guess someone's gonna be playing around with loose pigments...
-Wild and Crazy eyeshadow in 3150 Lily Song. Pale like me. :)

Thanks Maayari, and best of luck starting the new phase of your life in Philly!

Everything Old is New

Hey hey....Once again, sorry I'm so behind. As soon as the wedding passed and I was getting better from the virus, my throat became very sore. After frustrating few days of throat decline exacerbated by having to smooth out issues with my new health care plan (oops, never picked a primary-care doc so no one would see me or accept my insurance!) I finally got things worked out and my throat checked out. (Note: I hate throat cultures. Sigh.) My tonsils and the glands under my neck are more swollen than I've ever seen them. I looked so bad my boss sent me home from work. Restful sleep has been almost impossible to achieve. And on top of it all, I'm writing this month's cover story for my job. Awesome timing to be hit by everything, right? :)

Thankfully I had some good emotional support (even though I'd just left my mom's home to go back to work and the group house where I'm currently living)...and a hot plate in my bedroom so I can make tea whenever I want. I just started taking antibiotics four times a day for a week, plus ibuprofen for the pain and I feel like I'm getting better. I also got very lucky to come across a very nice medical practice and am going back Friday to have my throat reexamined. And my story seems to be going okay at work, so it's all good. (Done whining.)

Anyway, a very relaxing activity while I've been sick is crocheting. For those of you who aren't super familiar, knitting is done with two needles, whereas crocheting is done with only one hook. I've been shown how to knit but I don't do it on my own. Maybe one day. With crocheting, though I've worked on fancier things like doll t-shirts, hats and blankets, I like to fall back on the classic scarf. I promised a friend of mine I'd make her a teal one, so when I can't sleep, that's what I've been working on.

Once you pick it up, crocheting can be relatively easy and a real stress reliever. It helps me clear my mind and focus on one thing. Plus, it's nice to see the fruits of your labor at the end.

I originally started this project using the dark teal and white yarn, and crocheted about a foot worth of the scarf but took it out because I didn't like it. That was a few hours worth of work, in and of itself. But if the project didn't look right there was no sense in finishing it. This scarf though looks nice in person and I'm excited to finish it up and give it to my friend. Hopefully by the time I get to the end I'll be all better too. :)

Happy New Year!

Wow, it feels like forever since I posted. Thanks for the words of encouragement! Unfortunately this past week I got very little done that I set out to do while taking a vacation from work. I'm at home (my mom's house) in New York, but spent most of the time being sick. Blah. Just some virus I probably picked up at the office, but it was bad enough to prompt me to go to the doctor, which I really dislike.

Anyway, I pulled myself together in time to go to my college roommate's wedding on Jan. 1.

It was absolutely fantastic. They are so cute! The affair took place in Connecticut, so the morning of the 3 p.m. ceremony I hopped in my car wearing my dress, sweatpants, an athletic jacket and sneakers. It was almost a three hour drive so I wanted to be comfy! And the zipper of the dress gets stuck in the material -- despite the fact that I got the original zipper replaced -- so once my mom and I properly zipped it up in N.Y. I figured I wouldn't take any chances with a wardrobe malfunction at the wedding hall...

Wanting to make sure I got there on time, I went straight from my house to the reception, not to the motel where I was planning to crash with my friends later. The venue was pretty empty when I arrived around 1:45 p.m. Then, out of the blue, the groom and his best man pulled in next to me. The groom is also a friend of mine so I got out of the car to chat with him and give him a huge hug (while looking like a mess with my sweatpants and sneakers under my dress, no makeup, my hair all screwed up and that long-drive glaze, lol). Not like my appearance really mattered, since he was was so excited for the big event! This day was a long time coming -- the two of them had been dating for four years, even though we're all so young...just 22 and 23 years old. It was nice to chat with the groom for just a couple of minutes, then he was called inside and I gathered my things to do a quick change in the bathroom. ;)

I bought them a futon cover from their Bed Bath and Beyond registry and brought a little gift to the reception: A silver-plated fortune cookie in a decorative box, in which I put a hand-written 'fortune' that said "To good health, good fortune and a great life together!"

I also made them a card (though forgive the crappy photography).


Another card I whipped up recently was this holiday-themed one, which I included in a care package to my best friend who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia.

Another not-so-stellar photo. I could have put something really classy or professional-looking in the middle, and toyed with a bunch of options, but ultimately I just grabbed a crayon and wrote that. In this case, I felt like it was a more personal throw-back to days past in our friendship. We've been best friends since seventh grade. Plus, sending funny cards is sort of our inside joke. I know this, with the glittery paper, the presents and the 'wooting' heart-person, will make her burst out with a big smile!

So that's what I've been up to while not sleeping or vegging in bed. Now I'm finally off to see my dad for the first time this week, and then....who knows what adventures await.

A Lovely Little Gift for a Little Sis: MJ Daisy

A week or two ago I came across Marc Jacobs Daisy, a fresh, floral scent with notes of strawberry, violet, jasmine, musk and vanilla. It's light, feminine and not too sweet. "Massively pleasant," is how one review put it, and I tend to agree. In fact, I agree so much that I'm willing to take a chance on gifting it.

Daisy is one of the few fragrances I've tried in recent memory that I can remember liking both on initial application and several hours later. Not ready to spend $50 or $60 on a full size bottle, I was ecstatic to come across this solid scent ring for $20 at Marshall's. (It's limited edition and currently out of stock at Sephora online, where it's advertised for $30.)

It was in a sealed anti-theft container so I didn't get to see the actual product until I checked out. I was a bit disappointed by how small the perfumed area is -- about nickel-sized. It makes me feel like I'm going to dip my finger into it three times and use it all up (but that's just because I'm a little paranoid). The scent is just as good, however. And the packaging is admittedly really adorable.

The daisy is top-heavy, probably not something you'd wear on your finger all the time though it's big enough to do so. I think it's more practical to use as a keys or purse charm since it comes with a key chain. Personally, I adore its gold-colored pouch. I'd probably keep it there, tucked safely away till I feel like adding something sweet to brighten my day.

Or rather, my 19-year-old, art student sister's day. She and I are not very similar - she is more interested in ornate, abstract and bold things whereas I like delicate, sweet things - but we both appreciate quality and some similar elements of style. As much as I like this product, I think it'd be a great gift for her because it's classic-looking yet a bit surprising/outside the norm at the same time.

She's leaving for a two-month study abroad project in Barcelona, Spain next week (oooh so jealous! lol), so I think it'd be a nice little thing for her to take on the trip.

A Board Game for Beauty Lovers

This ain't no Pretty Pretty Princess...but it might be a grown-up beauty addict's dream come true.

In Monopoly: Sephora Edition you go to jail for bad hair days and use Beauty Bucks to invest in real estate like Stila in Gloss Gardens and Nars on Cheek Street -- all while vying to run the most successful Sephora store.

It's not a new product but it's new to me, and maybe to you too. Sephora Monopoly is available at Sephora.com for $23.25.

Personally, I'm more of a Scrabble girl, myself.