the cotton on love continues.....

I am not going to say much. I'm just going to post the images I got of the stuff I bought and that will be that :D

Been looking for a shaping mini skirt slip - found in the sales section for a lil less than 10 bucks. Only clothing item I got.

Fell in love with this watercolour eiffel 15x15 canvas print when I saw it. Became obsessed to own it when I saw the price - on sale for $2.60 :D

In keeping with the vive le paris theme, I also got the above retro photo canvas 28x28 print of the eiffel tower. I feel the angle of the "shot" is as if we're peeking up (is this even possible????) at the eiffel tower through springtime Paris flora lending the print a whimsical air. Hehe, arty prententions become me I guess :D The price to experience this whimsy up close and personal? $1.95 :D

Also continuing on with the "places i've set foot in" decor trend I've been adopting of late, came across this old London map 50cmx40cm print - something similar to the NYC map magnets I got. It was pricier when I made my first Cotton On purchase last time but now, it was going for a song at $1.95 :D

I was actually sharing this purchase with my bestie who is currently holidaying with me right now to accrue enough items for free shipping to Homeland. So after I chose the stuff I wanted and she did too, we were still some ways off from free shipping. I decided to choose a couple more prints to help achieve our goal :D

Decided to get this very tres chic watercolour-style perfume bottle 15x15 canvas print. It was going for the same price as the watercolour le tour eiffel.

Then I went for another canvas print. I'm usually not a "hearts" kinda girl cos it just feels silly to me and like I'm some kind of sappy romantic - which outwardly I'm not. But the twee girl in me is :D Anyways, it was a nice print, not mushy. The 40x50 print was of a heart shaped out of floral motifs which I think gives it an "english country" vibe, hehe. This was slightly pricier than the others at $4.90.

Last but not least, to tip it over the edge so we could get the free shipping at exactly the minimum amount required, I decided to get this NY Soho 2012 spinout calendar. Again, keeping with the whole "been there" thing I've started doing. This was cheap - just 98 cents :D

Perhaps after the year is over, I can use some of the pictures in the calendar as wall art :) In total, my haul from Cotton On this time around was an astounding $23.20, hehehe. I love sales!

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to Cotton On. I am borrowing them to enhance my "journal" entry :D

f21 holiday shopping

As is the norm, my downfall was a 50% off coupon code. HOLIDAY50, you rascal! Was doing pretty well before you came into my inbox.....

Putting aside my rather crazy behavior of addressing completely virtual inanimate "objects" as if they are living, breathing beings (which in this case is the coupon code :D), I got really good deals and finally scored the absolutely most perfect blouse in mint green. FINALLY!

The first 4 items in the picture were from the sales section which is where the additional 50% off code was applied. It all started with the mint green high neck top. I've been getting a bunch of green clothing but never found a style and the right shade of mint green till I saw that blouse. It was going for less than a tenner and with the discount code, I got it for $4.99. Which lead me to getting the same blouse in an eggshell/beige shade. I then decided to get the hot pink lace maxi slip which I'm going to pair with my bought-eons-ago Walmart Norma Kamali grey maxi as styled in the pic. This I got for the slightly lower at $4.49. Lastly, I got the cute knitted geo slippers for wearing to bed. I've been taking better care of my feet lately, slathering on Soap & Glory's Heel Genius to soften up my battle-weary feet :D. These will serve well as sleep socks to keep the moisture locked for longer. These went for a mere $2.99

But of course, I abhor paying shipping fees and hence decided to spend more money to avoid that fate :D I was looking around for items which I definitely liked that were going for a bargain. I didn't simply want to get things to round up the total to the minimum 50 bucks. The first thing I saw was the chiffon maxi skirt in coral. I thought it was a really pretty shade. The RRP for this one was $12.50 - is that not a score? Then I spotted the drawstring harem pants I have in red but this time they had it in basic black. I totally jumped on that. I love those red pants, I think they are a very flatterng cut for coloured pants and have often wondered, when I look at the F21 inventory and spot these pants, why they never had it in black. WISH GRANTED! Snapped that up.....then snapped up another pair in royal blue :D I always did admire the blue and when I first decided to get the pants, it really was a toss-up between the royal blue and red. I picked red then and don't regret it but now I can get the royal blue to nicely round off the total.

Total charged to credit card was a fair $58.96 for all 7 items. They've shipped and are in Portland but yet to be delivered to my address there. I will be waiting for January to roll around before I ship these home as I'm coming into some substantial drugstore dollars next month. Have been trying to figure out if I want to use it onpractical stuff or frivolous stuff :D

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to Forever 21. I am borrowing them to provide some nice visuals for my "journal" entry :D

the realization just hit me.....

As is getting to be the norm when it's close to my time of the month, I suffer from a bit of mild insomnia. I will feel real sleepy but when all the lights are out and I'm lying down on my back, I end up staring at the ceiling and thoughts will start overwhelming my brain. Seems like I can't be relaxed.

Last night, there I was, in bed, feeling tired and sleepy but again, the moment the back of my head hits my mattress (since I don't really sleep atop pillows, I like to squeeze my head in the space between pillows, hehe), and I was thinking about my friend who is coming up today to spend the week with me. And that led to me thinking about the holiday I had to cancel because of my whole work thing that initially was about something else but now has evolved into a smaller yet still problematic thing. And I felt that stab of disappointment about having to cancel and simply stay here in this city.

I was thinking that even though I took leave, it just wasn't gonna feel like much of a holiday. I was still gonna have to make myself available to work calls and the like. And that got me feeling depressed. It led me to think that I have not felt rested on any of the holidays I've been on these past few times. I can't even recall the last time I was on holiday and I wasn't bothered by work stuff. I guess it can be said that I've let work infiltrate my personal life.

And you know what, it has. That's what I came to realize. I have allowed work to fuse with my personal space. I also realized that I don't know how to seperate the two. Which brings me to my dilemma - I feel that the reason this has happened is because I work in a company where my eldest sis is the MD and my other sis is the Business Development Exec. I have a cousin who is a graphics designer in the company, though he's leaving soon but another cousin is a 3D Visualization Artist. The workplace is pretty much incestuous for me <- for lack of a better way to describe it. Even when I'm supposed to be on holiday, work always permeates conversations because emails and issues and calls don't stop just because I'm on holiday. I may not be completely available but I am always around my sisters who talk shop and I end up 'working' too. I never get a break when I'm supposed to be on break.

Honestly, I need to learn to seperate my ME time from work. It's getting to the point where I actually don't enjoy going back to Homeland because I have an MD who does not realize the boundaries between work and home. For her, everything bleeds into each other. I am also at fault for allowing this to fester and grow until it's become a norm. What I need is just to have a break where I don't see my eldest sis cos she really is horrible at keeping the two lives apart. Since I can't go back to Homeland to be able to do that, I am thinking I just need to go somewhere either by myself or with someone and just truly have a holiday before I am driven nuts by this.

My other option is to leave this job. Not a thought I haven't considered. of course I have. I think I've mentioned before but I don't think I'll do it. Firstly, it's difficult to tell your boss who's also your sister that you want to leave. I have like put it out there before and though she said the right stuff like it is my life and she wouldn't take it personally, I know my sister well enough - she ALWAYS takes it personally. It's of course not all about her. Professionally, I have grown up in this company, I know what I bring to the table here and I know I do it extremely well (allow me this moment of pompousness:D). If I left and joined another place, I don't know how I would ultimately fit in that work culture. I don't even know if I want to remain in this line of work. Hell, if I'm completely honest, this wasn't even my choosing; this industry I'm working in! Lol. I just went with the flow and though I am good at what I do and I deliver, I didn't even choose to do this. Yet, I don't know what else I could do. How would I move on from this to do something that is of my own choosing? Perhaps I allow myself to continue so that I don't have to blame myself if things don't work out. As if I can say, "Well, I didn't choose this life for myself, somebody else made that decision for me." which is the ultimate accountability avoidance! And ironically enough, I feel I am the most accountable employee they have, hehehe!

Gosh, all this self-examination is making me even more depressed, lol. I'm just gonna stop now and maybe think about planning a nice holiday sans phones, boss/sisters and work :D

second lil treat

After the massive (?, I guess in terms of volume, it is) purchase from Cotton On, I got that "itchy" shopping feeling again. Being depressed the past 2 weeks before that didn't really give me any desire to shop but once the major work headache was resolved, and I broke the duck with the Cotton On order, it's like a spiral, y'know?

I'd been lazily browsing those groupon-style sites for the past week and though I had my eye on a number of things, I managed a bit of self-restraint. I was especially taken by this bag -

- and with less than 3 hours left on the deal, made a quick snap decision to get it. I've actually coveted a Zara bag similar in style and shape to this one but made from buffalo leather. Emily of CUpcakesandcashmere.com fame has that one and when she's taking her outfit pics with that bag, I always find myself thinking I should have gotten one. Anywho, I am under no impression this is a leather bag. This one is likely plain PU. However, where it doesn't win on the textile side, my bag does also comes with a 23 (L) x 31 (W) x 33 (H) cm pouch cum wristlet so it's basically like I got TWO bags!

The bag's dimension is 32 (L) x 31 (W) x 37 (H) cm. It's pretty sizeable, no? I'll admit, I had a moment of buyers' remorse after I purchased it. After USD conversion it comes to about $29.50 which isn't all that expensive considering I've gotten bags that are close to 2k so that's not why I quibbled. It was mainly cos it struck me that I just got a perfectly wonderful TCS Batchel and the fact that this bag isn't even leather. I mean, I think I've shown on this blog how I can be a bit of a leather snob :D Anyways, I got over it since I managed to convince myself that this is the bag I'll use to its death. I mean it's hardly expensive and it's PU, I think I won't be so sad to see it roughed up should it get roughed up :)

It's spacious, just look at the inside of this bag -

As shown, the interior of the bag is some faux suede material I guess. Basically it's unlined. I don't believe it has any interior pockets either. That's really fine by me. I've noticed I don't really keep anything worthwhile in those pockets anyhow. I just like to throw things hodge podge into my bag and then organize them. Plus, I have my bag organizers, that is where I mainly keep all my handbag junk :D

The detail that really caught my eye about this bag were the top handles. I think the overall aesthetics come of as luxurious when you look at the handles alone. Well, that's simply the impression it gives moi. Perhaps others would not feel so enthused by them.

And for good measure, here's a pic of the stitiching on the top handle -

I'm not gullible to believe that the overall quality will be as top notch as what I'm seeing in these product photos but if they are even 80% true, I'll be happy. One thing that does have me confused about this deal I got is that I have no clue if there was just the one colour or there were actual options. The stock photos featured both black and cognac but when it came time to purchase, there was no option to choose. I would have preferred the black if there was a choice but I think there was only cognac available. Don't get me wrong, the cognac is gorgeous and I do fancy it as well - just I love bags in black :D But I think all the bags they had to offer are only in cognac. The majority of the product images were of the cognac bag.

Size-wise, I think this bag is huge. One of the photos they had showed Olivia Palermo carrying a possible dupe for this bag. I will insert that here -

And some of the pics with petite korean/japanese/chinese chicks holding the bag do make them appear as if the bag outsizes them :D But anyways, I am not as petite as Olivia Palermo or those Asian handbag model chicks so there should be no issues with me drowning in the bag :D

Okay, I'm done with this very image heavy post. As per usual, I put my disclaimer that all images do not belong to me. They are not mine. I just borrowed them from the deals site to illustrate the whole post. Plus, I do not know if they have rights to use that Olivia Palermo photo so please do not sue me for also using the photo to further describe the bag. Olivia Palermo, I love your fashion sense, chica! Muahs! (Don't sue me!)

i've cotton-ed on.....

.....to Cotton On. :D

Alright, ignoring my cheesy love of making puns - funny or otherwise - I did mention i had some online retail therapy courtesy of Cotton On. I've actually never gotten anything from the brand before this. I've entered their brick-and-mortar stores plenty atimes but never seemed to walk out with anything. They have nice stuff, I actually have no clue why I never got into them. Forever21 has me entranced, I guess.

Anyways, after the whole work debacle, I decided to treat myself to a few things. The first thing I got was this:

It's a metal plaque of the Eiffel Tower. This is actually from Typo, a knick-knack subsidiary of Cotton On. I had also previously gone in to Typo and saw they have wonderfully kitschy stuff, just a tad overpriced, I'd say. Online however, some of the things were on sale and this gorgeous, vintage-y depiction of the La Tour Eiffel was going for.........USD equivalent of $5.25! Is that not a score?!?!? I've been getting into wall decor of late and one of my interests is getting wall art representative of iconic places I've been to. For example, the London city prints I got from Ikea. I also have a jigsaw of the view of NYC from across the Brooklyn Bridge. So my La Tour Eiffel will add to the "wall travels chart" I'm working on :)

And honestly, I say you can have more than one representation of a location you've visited. Which is why I also decided to get this vintage NYC map magnet set.

I saw this and I just had to have it! I'm gonna frame this one up. Also on sale at Typo, this was about $5.40, just a tad more expensive then La Tour Eiffel. I love, love, love this.

Also something I fell in love with at first sight is this travelling mug. It's just so ME! My sisters think I'm moody and sarcastic and though I feel they malign me too much for my occasional crankiness and 'creative' way with words, I felt a kinship towards this mug when I read what it said.

"My Degree Of Sarcasm Depends On Your Degree of Stupidity". Such truer words never resonated with me as much as this did. Lol, I have no clue what this actually says about me as a person but there are times I guess I think I'm surrounded by idiots. Hey, I'm not proud of it and I know I can act/be idiotic too but I'm generally fabulous. :D. Right, delusions aside, I actually first saw this in the shop but the price tag was a turn-off. Online though, it was on sale :D It went for nearly $8.50 so I snapped it up.

As if I haven't bought enough tech accessories for this MacBook Pro I'm typing on, I saw this.....

.....and found myself having to have it. Okay, I was also in the market for a horizontal zippered laptop sleeve that wouldn't be as heavy as the Rebecca Minkoff I have so that when I stuff this laptop into my TCS Batchel, it won't add as much to the weight as the leather RM case/bag/sleeve. I have a vertical opening sleeve but since the laptop is placed horizontal and I usually just unzip the top to take my laptop out, I needed to find one that wouldn't add so much bulk and weight. This seems perfect. Added bonus, it's like the RM laptop case cos they actually provided straps to carry cross-body. Oh, and did I mention the vintage pink typewriter design? This tres cuteness went for about $14.15 on sale.

Of late, I have been strangely enamoured by peplum shapes. I have wanted a peplum top for some time now. It's most likely cos the fashion world is bombarding me with imagery that intimates peplums are the way to go these last couple of months. Coincidentally, I found a peplum style hoodie I got last year before all this peplum craziness began. I only discovered it again when I forced myself to trim my closet. Was so surprised that I had been ahead of the curve fashion-wise, hehehe. So, to continue.....

This is what Cotton On calls the River peplum top. Sale price of about $9.90. I got this in a size S because looking at the size guide, S is the equivalent of a 6 in US sizes. Cotton On apparently uses Australian sizing for my part of the world. I really wanted to size up to M because of my broad shoulders but since I waited too long before checking out, the M was all sold out. Since I still really wanted it, I got it in S anyway. Hopefully it'll fit. I'm asking my sis to stuff it in the laptop sleeve so my bestie can bring it up next Saturday.

Next up is something I bought three different variations of. The Cotton On Sarah Sleep Tight Shirt.....

Just fyi, I am not planning to use this as sleepwear. It can call itself a sleep shirt if it wants but that looks more like going out shirts to me so I will be using these as going out apparel :D Plus, my sis did double confirm with me that they definitely look decent enough to pass as normal shirts. What I love about these shirts is that it's long, I like shirts that cover my ass. Yes, my butt makes me feel self-conscious. Which is usually why I get shirts that cover 'em. Two, it's menswear inspired, love the trend. Three, the coral red and black has a polka-dot style while the blue one is stripes - the two patterns I love most in the world! I just had to get all 3 of 'em! It was on sale for about 29 bucks each. would have gotten a fourth in all-white if there were sizes left but there weren't. The sizing for these shirts were just an ambiguous S/M or M/L only and since the size guide did indicate S = US 6 and M = US 8, I went for the S/M. My sis, upon unboxing, did say that I might have wanted to size up but I am completely going to have faith that the shirts will fit me. I think I may ask my sis to slip this in for bestie to bring as well.

This item was a last minute entry to the cart. I was just looking around to see if anything else on sale caught my fancy and for the price it was going for, I thought I might as well get it.

It's what Cotton On calls the Polly printed scarf in the pattern spliced zebra. No clue why the zebra print is spliced, perhaps it simply means incongruent. Honestly, that isn't important really. What was important was the fact I got it for $1.65. I wanted to laugh when I saw the price. I was ecstatic when my sis took it out of the box and modeled it - it looks damn good. I'm slightly regretting not getting the Missoni-esque print which was also $1.65. Perhaps in the next purchase if still available :)

Lastly, I needed to fulfill my collar necklace obsession. I have been searching for the perfect collar necklace that comes attached with the perfect price point. Some of the ones I've had my eye on have been ridiculously overpriced, in my humble opinion, but Cotton On gave me an option I couldn't refuse. On sale for about $9.85, the collar bead/faux pearl necklace in the hue named gardenia, which is simply off-white, really, was the one I was looking for. However, I didn't have time to screen cap it cos by the time I wanted to do this post, the necklace appears to be OOS. I actually wanted to get one in black as well but by the time I was ready to buy, that was OOS as well.

And thus ends my Cotton On haul post. In total, I spent roughly $119.15 for all 10 items. Not too bad. I got free shipping for spending above USD85, otherwise shipping would have been an additional 14 dollars. Considering the whole shopping->shipping->delivery process was really fast, I actually wouldn't mind paying the cost of shipping.

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to Cotton On. I did however, paste the Sarah Sleep Tight shirt images together. Just didn't make sense to do individual ones of the same shirt, no?

life updates 14.12.2012

Hmmm, the past couple of weeks has been horrendous personally. I mean I get that out there in the world there have been more tragic happenings but in my own personal stratosphere (am I using this right?), I've just had a completely exhausting start to December and I didn't enjoy it at all.

And it all boils down to a work crisis. I guess when you work in a foreign country where the government is still finding its democratic legs, you tend to face more unscrupulous people in power who are in it for their own selfish gains and not the good of the country. Gosh, corruption is just incredible!

And that is all I can really say about the work situation I found myself in. I really did not enjoy being a chess piece in these people's shitty game of real-life chess. You are playing with people's lives/livelihoods. Did they think about it when they started the shitstorm? No. But they had the audacity to throw it back on us when they realized they had been out-maneuvered. Ok, ok, whatever. For now, situation diffused. I just hate having that feeling where I constantly have to watch my back. I didn't enjoy the emotional breakdowns I had to endure in private due to all the added stress either.

Another thing that had me all up in arms is because of this 'lil' incident, I had to cancel my HCMC trip as I couldn't, in good conscience, leave the work situation during this rather sensitive period. I mean, yes, the stand-off did end on Tuesday night but like I mentioned earlier, that 'gotta watch my back' atmosphere is still lingering and since I am the.....bishop, I guess, in the proverbial chess game being played, I can't seem to just up and leave at this time. So I canceled my hotel booking, which my boss later did say she was going to ask me to do, anyways. I'm still taking the leave during that time as my friend's visit is still on but I just have to stay in this boring city where there really isn't anything interesting to do.

Ok, I may be unfairly tarring the city due to my recent experience but honestly, this town hasn't really got anything particularly touristy to offer that isn't morbid. After you visit a few interesting shopping spots which takes 2 days max, there really isn't anything to see which isn't depressing! A whole week is just too much to stay just in this place. Luckily, my gal pal is here just for some downtime with yours truly though this being her first overseas trip ever, I did want to make it special. Sigh. Thanks again to those higher ups who screwed over my plans.

And not only that, my frickin ELF order I made during Cyber Monday is stated as 'Delivered' on Monday 10/12 via the Fedex tracking site but my HopShopGo account did not list the package as having arrived. I contacted comGateway customer service on Wednesday, my local time, and after a few emails back and forth where they came back to me and said they checked and the package was not at their warehouse but they will keep a lookout for it, I then contacted ELF to see if the delivery address on their shipping label was the same as the one in the shipment confirmation email they gave me. The response I got was an apology for my lost package and they gave me the option of having my order total refunded or having them resend the items. I thought it over and considering the US postal services is going to be even more insane coming up to Christmas, asked them to refund the charge to my credit card. That made me a lil sad since I loved all the things I got and was truly excited to get them. Plus, the total cost was a bargain! Ah, well.

On a happier note, since the ELF package was MIA, I decided to get my other stuff shipped back to Homeland ASAP in order to make the Chirstmas delivery cutoff and through PayPal I had a HopShopGo promo code, PPLNOV10, where I would get an upgrade to express shipping, 10% off on my total shipping cost and, the best part, I got the 1st kg for free!. The free express shipping thing wasn't such a big deal since I was already a prime member so express shipping was a privilege of said membership. I was stoked for the 10% off but that deal for the 1st kg free - THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME! My total for my 4.5kg shipment was a mere $22.56! SCORE! I've already gotten my tracking number and it's supposed to arrive to Homeland on the 19th. In time for me to pick and choose what I'd like from said shipment for bestie to bring over when she flies up on the 22nd.

Oh, and I also did some online shopping. As a treat for myself to compensate for all the mental stress i had to endure. I made my purchase right after the work thing was diffused Wednesday night. I got myself a couple of things from Cotton On's site. It was my first time shopping there and I really do have to say it was a good experience as the package is already at my house! It got delivered this morning via Fedex. I had an unboxing with my sis just a couple of hours ago. Will probably do a seperate post on that :)

Ok, now that I have unburdened my thoughts unto you, I will go off to watch 'Last Resort'. I am so bummed it's getting axed due to low ratings! I'm in love with Navy Seal James! What am I gonna do if I don't get to see Daniel Lissing's gorgeous face on a weekly basis after this?

isit the clock ticking?

Of late I keep being ambushed by my own, umm, I guess I'll say thoughts. For the last 2 menstrual cycles, I've suddenly thought about the eggs that went to waste *insert sheepish, confused grin here*

I'll be honest, I have no clue if I even want to have children of my own. It surely isn't happening biologically if I'm not married. It's not like I haven't thought about having kids, I just don't know if I want them biologically. I have given some very fleeting thoughts on adoption which, if I really wanted to have kids, would be the route I most likely choose if on my own. Plus, biologically, if I do want them, well, I think I'm realistic enough to know that conception is a whole other ballgame. I keep hearing stories of so many people trying to concieve and it's difficult and heartbreaking and I'm completely sympathetic so if the day comes that I want to try to have a kid, I hope I remember that it's not always going to be a smooth journey.

Which brings us back to my body. I guess it could be my biological clock trying to have a say. Sometimes I think, well that egg could've turned into a kid but it's gone now. And I always end up surprised cos more than anything, I don't believe I'm prepared to go on a date let alone procreate :D Sigh, I get that these new "ideas" I find myself thinking are brought about with growing older. Especially for women where we're constantly bombarded with the "ideal" of "having it all". There isn't anything I can do about it though, how do I stop unconscious thoughts from making an appearance, right?

why do i watch it if it irritates me?

Every week like clockwork I'll watch the latest epi of MTV's Underemployed. Storyline-wise, I can accept it but the characters are just annoying! I dislike practically all of them bar Miles and to a lesser degree Sofia. The one who irritates me the most is the ad agency girl whose name escapes me right now but her annoying face is imprinted in my head taunting me. LOL, yes, I know I sound like a wacko.

Ah, IMDB has provided the answer- Daphne. I truly dislike her. Self-absorbed, selfish, deluded; the list of why I don't like her can go on and on. It irritates me further that she's supposed to be the most likeable one! At the beginning of the show, she was an unpaid intern who slept with her direct superior and then threatened to expose their affair if he didn't recommend her for payroll. Granted, she was willing to leave her unpaid internship if he was serious about starting a relationship with her but when he mentions he has a girlfriend whom he wasn't going to stop seeing, she uses the whole "you slept with me in your car" to get him to make her a permanent employee. Which he does, subsequently dumping his girlfriend and then wanting to continue shacking up with her. First she takes the moral highground and says since they work together it's best that they don't but then later in a scene at the guy's apartment, reasons for them being there escape me, she comes on to him. But what makes her really annoying is how she feels entitled to ask for a pay raise EVERY SINGLE EPISODE! She's so unprofessional, always bringing her personal life to work and I don't know at which company this would be allowed to go on but I don't see new employees going around constantly to their bosses office to ask for a raise because the letters to repay their student loan has started coming in. Who the hell do you think you are?!?!?! And girl, keep your mouth shut when people tell you to keep it on the DL! Or perhaps, PEOPLE, stop telling blabber-mouth stuff you don't want other people to know cos she's got a trapper that just won't shut!

And Viva, the new mom. God, is there a more annoying self-appointed know-it-all. Yes, you gave birth to a child, however, childbirth doesn't come with wisdom and knowledge as a door gift! Woman, you don't know all the answers to life so I wish you wouldn't act like you did! That dine-and-dash in the latest episode, wow, way to set the bar for your kid! I hate how she goes around making all these bad judgment calls and when her boyfriend (and baby daddy) commit nearly identical infractions, she gets all self-righteous as if her shit don't stink! Yes, I went there, I typed that out, hehehe :)

Which brings us to baby daddy, Captain Planet wannabe Lou. Dude, you blather on about the evironment and recycling and how earth is dying yet I saw you blatantly letting the tap run as you vigorously scrubbed the fingers you used to finger that co-worker of yours in your dad's office! If you were so environmentally conscious and not simply pretentious, you would have turned the tap off while you soaped your hands. Letting the water run is called wastage and you so eloquently told Miles after your jog/run that fresh water is a precious commodity and he should have some while he still can. And later in that episode, you allowed said water to run down the drain as you soaped your dirty little secret off! Continuity in character would be much appreciated, Producers!

:D Yeah, that was really getting to me, hehehe. Just needed to rant about them. Not to say there aren't things about the other two I don't like but they are to a lesser degree than those three who always sit on their almighty high horse. I mean, okay, if I wanted to nitpick, I felt Sofia being told off by the customer when she she was working in the donut shop was completely justified. What kind of establishment allows employees to take personal calls as they are serving customers. I wanted to tell her to put the damn phone down and give that man his donuts! And I have a feeling, the way that scene was filmed felt like the viewers were supposed to sympathize with Yelled-At-Sofia and give the indignant customer dirty looks and call him "Ass-hat". The only ass-hat I saw was Sofia. You do not get to attend to your personal business while you're on the clock especially when in the service industry! Just saying. And Miles, I can't really think of anything particularly annoying he's done. I guess I tolerate him because he don't act like he's perfect-yet-misunderstood. He fully realizes he's flawed and he embraces it.

Anyways, mad rant over - perhaps I'm just suffering from F1 withdrawal what with Interlagos having come and gone. And lemme tell ya, what an eventful race that was. Loads of angry, frustrated screaming at the screen when I thought Vettel had messed up at the start and was letting Alonso win it all. I guess Vettel heard me cos he fought tooth and nail to make sure it did not happen. At the end of it all, Vettel's the 3x WDC and I got to see Alonso look all despondent, mulling over how he's been touted as the most complete current F1 driver on the grid yet it's Vettel who is the highest placed WDC. Also probably wondering why he can't win it in a Ferrari when Red Bull is just an energy drinks team. It's been THREE LONG YEARS dude, you should be wondering WTF is going on :D Kimi came in his first year and won both the WDC and WCC. Next year, he helped Ferrari get the WCC. Since you, FAlonso, came in, you've given them squat! Karma's a bitch ain't she, Ferrari. Yes, I know what you did to Kimi - but thanks for that. He was too good for you anyway. Hehehe, how did this turn into an F1 thing? Even so, I feel better having got that off of my chest, muahahaha. Okay, can't wait till next week's epi *rolls eyes* :D

collective haul collage(s)

Every so often I get a lil bit hardworking to make these collages of my recent online/offline buys which are usually fashion-related. I like to post when I make the purchases but I tend to get lazy with a follow-up. But now and again, especially when it's new clothes, I'll take a pic of the outfit I'm wearing that day that incorporates whatever new apparel I just got so that when I've got nothing better to do than post narcissistic pictures of myself, I actually have them in hand, LOL. Anyways, this time around, I decided to make haul collages of the clothes, accessories and beauty products that I've recently received via online shopping and also those that I purchased at brick-and-mortar shops.

CLOTHES (and a few accessories).....

ACCESSORIES.....

BEAUTY BOUNTY.....

Yup, that's right, that is how much new beauty products I got in the past month or so. And I still managed to buy more, hehehe. But truly, I think I'm really set for the next year in terms of beauty products. I can't really imagine wanting to get anymore than I have this year. Even though I have made some progress in finishing off my beauty supplies, there's still a substantial amount to go through and I really hate to throw anything away. I'll be spending the next couple of months making sure I'm using the stuff that I've gotten this year.

Even clothes, I actually don't need anymore. I was cleaning my closet recently and I got so upset with myself that I couldn't fit all my clothes in my closet. Which is why I've been trying to minimize the spending on clothes. I mean, that Cyber Monday purchase, I had other stuff in my cart as well to make it to 50 bucks but I decided to just use the coupon code for the free shipping instead so I didn't have to overspend.

Anyways, I haven't simply been buying clothes, beauty products and bags. I've also got some stuff for my place. I went to Ikea last month and got some prints and had them mounted on black frames.

The quality of the image is a bit rubbish but I'm not aiming to submit this in an interior magazine or anything, hehehe. For the hodge podge collage, I got the butterflies from Ikea and the Van Gogh prints are actually greeting cards I bought at the Musee D'Orsay gift shop when I was in Paris back in 2010. The London city prints was also from Ikea. I just saw it and it brought back good memories of the time I lived in the UK as well as my UK trip in 2010. The same trip I went to Paris. Ah, good times, good times. Ok, that's all the pictures I have for my narcissistic post :D

pre-Thanksgiving shopping

Yup, I'm retroactively posting my online sprees again :) Anyways, I actually completely forgot about them. One purchase has even arrived and I'm already using it. Purchases were mainly from Beauty.com and one came from Amazon.com

So first was this Bliss FatGirlSlim Treatment Kit for USD38. I've always wanted to try Bliss's FatGirlSlim range but somehow never seemed to go through with the purchase till now. This kit is pretty good what with it containing the travel-friendly 2 oz versions of the FatGirlSlim cream, FatGirlSlim scrub and FatGirlSleep as well as the Bliss Body Simulator.

I had a $10 off $40 purchase and used it on this and a travel version of ColorScience's SPF 30 Sunforgettable Mineral Powder Sun Protection orb.

Total spent was $50. I've already received this order which shipped along with my F21 Vets Day gets, Amazon.com Tarte haul and drugstore.com GNC purchases.

At the beginning of November, I had a Beauty.com FnF 20% off email-only promo which I used on getting the full size of the Bliss FatGirlSlim which retails for $32 but I paid $25.60.....

.....and FatGirlSleep, which is 6 bucks more pricey than the day version but I paid $30.40 after 20% off.....

..... as well as this CARGO Fresh Face Complexion Kit in Medium/Beige that I had been contemplating getting for the past month.....

I'd heard rave reviews on the blu_ray™ HD powder, which is in shade 30, that comes in this set and it's full-size too. Plus, the powder alone costs $32 and this set was $42 sans discount. It also comes with a full-size of their OneBase foundation/concealer in the shade #25 which on its own retails for $27, a travel-size of the blu_ray™ Activating Face Primer as well as a travel-size bronzer in medium. All in all, it's a really good kit to get what with 2 full size products in it. After the 20%, the kit costs $33.60. That's a really good deal, pat on the back, me :D

And lastly, my Amazon.com order which was for a BeautyBlender and BlenderCleanser Combo set consisting of 2 BeautyBlender sponges and a full-size bottle of the BlenderCleanser.

I'll admit I have been wanting to buy this for years now but could never bring myself to spend so much on a makeup sponge :D These are really expensive retailing at $39.95 for this set. I got it off of Amazon for $23.55 - SCORE!

Since I wanted free shipping, I topped up my order with these Van Gogh bookmarks that cost me $1.50 for a set of 12.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of Van Gogh's works so I was excited to find these at such a deal and that would bring my total just over the $25 minimum I needed for free shipping :D. Total spent at Amazon.com was $25.05, hehehe.

Ok, so really, it's no wonder I had nothing to buy during Black Friday, I have practically purchased whatever I wanted prior to that :)

awww, i failed CYBER MONDAY blackball test :(

Hehehe, I may have been able to resist Black Friday but Cyber Monday got me! Soooo close, though, so close! Maybe next year, eh?

Granted, my total spent was only USD50.67 which is relatively tame for me. I got 3 tops from F21 for $17.22 using the code CYBERMON for free shipping with no minimum. Then I used code 50WIDE at eyeslipsface.com to get some makeup for 50% off totaling $33.45 inclusive of the $6.95 for shipping and handling. Honestly, I have a feeling my F21 order which consists of the following.....

.....will end up having only that last blouse shipped. The first 2 blouses, which I already own in mustard and liked so much I decided I wanted them in all the shades, were already sold out/OOS when I decided I wanted to get them as a last minute Black Friday buy. I had put them in my cart early Black Friday but then thought better of checking out and when I finally decided I wanted them, the cart reflected as OOS. However, when I was looking for anything interesting from the Cyber Monday deal, I put that ruffled collar shirt in my cart and was surprised when the bag showed 3 items. I took a look and found that the first 2 blouses were going for even cheaper and now available. I didn't really want to think too much about it, nor did I want to spend too much money so I checked out with just those 3 tops. Hopefully F21 still have 'em in inventory cos I really do like those blouses.

At eyeslipsface.com I got quite a bit of stuff. Mainly things that I've resisted getting since I was waiting for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. A few items were repurchases like the mineral foundation in warm (which I got 2 of) and the makeup cleansing cloths (stocked up 4 counts). I seem to go through the mineral foundation rather quickly :D

Aside from the two mentioned above, I also got 2 of the makeup remover pen. I'm a total klutz when it comes to eye makeup - I just can't seem to get the hang of putting mascara/eyeliner on without getting them on places they don't go! Especially mascara, I always wonder how people coat their lashes without having them stain their eyelids or undereye area. I also got the mascara and shadow shield because of this as well. That's what the half-moon shaped silicone sheet on the end of a stick is :) Other stuff I got are a pair of slant tweezers -never owned a pair nor have I truly ever tweezed my eyebrows, 2 jumbo lip gloss sticks in the shades Pink Umbrella and Movie Star - am kinda obsessed with jumbo lip crayons right now, the new cream version of their famous blush and bronzer set in St Lucia, replacement eyelash curler pads, the Studio custom 3-palette Beauty-On-The-Go compact case, a Studio custom palette in Spotted & Sporty as well as the Studio custom Beauty-On-The-Go gift set that contains the singular Beauty-On-The-Go compact case as well as 2 custom palettes in Life Of The Party and Girl Next Door.

I've been wanting those custom palettes for ages now. Especially the one in Spotted & Sporty. I've read the reviews and some are flattering but most are not. Still, I held off for months and I still want the set so I just went for it this time since its 50% off. Minus shipping total was $26.50.

Anyways, hoping that this is it - I'd like it if my Cyber Monday spree ended at a very pracitcal 50 bucks and some change :D

Dorothy Koomson always does this to me!

I'm emotionally exhausted! I just completed her book, "The Woman He Loved Before" and the entire thing was an emotional rollercoaster! She always does this! There are so many exclamation marks in this post! :D

Anyways, I've been on a bit of a Dorothy Koomson binge lately. I finally got myself to finish "The Ice Cream Girls" earlier in the month. Oh my god, I just don't know how she manages to put pen to paper and come up with these soul-jarring prose.....EVERY TIME! The way she manages to create these characters that draw you in and have you emotionally invest in them is just mind-boggling! And like I've mentioned before, her books are not just fluffy romantic chick lit, they usually revolve around a serious female-centric topic/issue that's relevant in today's society.

I'm now about to sink my teeth into her latest book, "The Rose Petal Beach". Honestly, I have no clue what it's about and wasn't even aware she had a new one out. It was part of a collection of her books I downloaded recently. For the first time ever I found some Dorothy Koomson mobi books and this was one of 'em. I actually would shell out money to buy a physical version of her book cos I feel she deserves it and it's my way of supporting her writing endeavours. Once I see it on The Book Depository, I'll get it. In the meantime, the mobi version will whet my appetite for all things Dorothy Koomson :)

still liking the 'mature' men

Right now it's the pre-qualifying show for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 and I'm watching it on SkySports F1 and I have to say I am developing quite a crush on former WDC, Damon Hill. Damon's (hehehe, I'm pretending I know him on a familiar level) now one of the presenters for the SkySports F1 coverage. As a former F1 driver, he's very qualified to be trackside gabbing about all things Formula 1. And every week that I've been watching him do his job, I'm more and more liking him :D He's a good-looker that one. Of course, Damon's not my first older guy crush in F1. Back in 2009 I blogged about the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix and mentioned how I'm a big fan of Martin Whitmarsh. But now, Martin has to compete with Damon for my complete affections, lol

and the winner is.....

MY WALLET, BANK BALANCE AND SELF-RESTRAINT, WOOHOO! BLACK FRIDAY, YOU LOST THIS YEAR!

Hehehe, can you tell how excited I am that I've managed to resist getting anything? C'mon, gotta admit it's a lil bit of a surprise that shopping obsessed moi did not buy anything during Black Friday :D Even I'm a lil surprised. Ok, more than a lil. I was waiting for this sale event but when it came around, nothing - and I mean zilch, zip, squat, nada, nowt - appealed to me enough to make me want to check out. And I visited numerous sites, put a bunch of items in my cart but when it came right down to checking out, I chickened out, hehehe <- LOL, am I a nerd or what?!?!

Anyways, kudos to you, Zlena! Good job on not going on a needless Black Friday spree. Pat on the back, old girl! Now, all that's left - let's get through Cyber Monday next :D

Ooh, on an unrelated but somewhat related note, F1 is coming to a close this weekend and the WDC race is still ON! I am hoping a certain young German driver will win it all since I am a big disliker of a certain Spanish pilot. But of course, I always want a certain Finnish dude to win the race at Interlagos come Sunday :D And on that note, off to enjoy my hazelnut coffee.....

dedicated to lotus's 2012 no 9

So I'm all about the haiku right now. Here's another one to commemorate Lotus F1 winning their first GP of 2012, courtesy of my most favourite F1 pilot.

  "ICEMAN Kimi, 

The GP of Abu Dhabi, 

You drove to VICTORY!"

LOL, sheesh, I have no clue why I'm doing this - just inspired to write rubbish Japanese poems of late is all I can say. Hehehe, oh well, at least it's something different from my usual long-winded nonsense. KIMI RAIKKONEN! You're AH-MAZING! MUAHS!

a haiku to UK forwarder, ForwardToMe

"UK-based ForwardToMe 
Shipping is tres' pricey! 
Thank god it's for fast delivery :)"

Okay, I've actually forgotten exactly how to do Japanese poetry, school was a loooooong time ago but the gist is there, hehehe. Bloody hell, I'm paying an exorbitant FORTY FOUR POUNDS for shipping! But according to my sis it's like next day or two-day delivery and my consolation is that they use DHL so that's good.....but damn, that's still really expensive. It's a good thing I REALLY wanted the set then ain't it? However, it essentially closes the door on the whole EU shopping front. That's just too much to pay for shipping, man.

i'm probably spending too much when.....

my dad is sending me FB messages about my current credit card total, LOL.

I was on Facebook just now to look at the FB page of this retreat where we're having next year's company kick-off meeting in January and noticed I had some messages in my FB inbox. When I looked at the list, I saw something from my dad - the message starting with, "Sweetheart, FYI...." dated October 28th which was last week. Just goes to show that I'm not like the majority of Facebook users who practically live on the site :D

Anywho, I originally thought it was about my aunt who was having a mastectomy back home and that my dad thought I was not in the loop. Lo and behold, I opened it up and he had copied and pasted the online credit card statement for my perusal. Hehehe. Hey, half of the bill is his purchase! I was back in Homeland last month and we went to Ikea. There he decided to get a new dining table and some chairs to go with it and told me to use the MC Platinum. I did! I think he totally forgot about that and thinks I spent over 3k on online stuff :D

On the whole 'my aunt had a mastectomy' issue.....well, she had a biopsy the week before and after the results came back positive for cancer, she immediately went in for the mastectomy. She's out now and in recovery. This has kinda put all the women in my family on alert. We've never had any brushes with breast cancer before this. On my dad's side I've had relatives who have passed on due to pancreatic and bone cancer respectively but we've never had a history of breast cancer till now. I'm kinda unsure about everything after finding out about it on Monday that she was going in for surgery. This aunt is my mum's sister so now that's like a double whamm on the cancer gene - both sides of my family seem to be contributors. All I can think to do is just to be more aware of my body and what it's telling me. Other than that, it's all in God Almighty's hands.

summary of F1 for the past 3 races

Still all about the literal :D

Oh, Im still watching, however painful it gets to see Kimi trying so hard and going nowhere. When you look at the rev limiter topping at 310KmPH as he's trying to defend/overtake, it just all looks so sad for the Iceman. Sigh. What is there to do? That's the limitation of the car he drives.

Anyways, I realized when I was wondering about RoGro being retained for next year, I didn't actually mention the position Kimi finished in nor the race country even. Though I did say that it was Kamui Kobayashi's home GP so since that's a Japanese name, it does lead one to conclude that it was the Japanese GP. Okay, so Kimi finished sixth there.

Next, it was the Korean GP. It's a new track for the Kimster. Came on the F1 racing calendar just last year. He finished 5th there. Overall, not too bad. And at the recently concluded Indian GP, which, again, is another new track for Kimi, he came in 7th. Didn't gain a spot nor lose a spot so all in all that's a win I guess. I believe he is no longer in third in the WDC as everyone else who was behind him finished in good positions ahead of him and it wasn't like he was miles ahead of fourth place Lewis Hamilton, anyways. Lemme just go check to confirm.

Well, well, colour me completely surprised but the Kimster IS still third in the WDC ahead of Hammy and Webbo! He's at 173pts to Hammy's 167pts and Webbo's 165pts. I guess what Kimi and Lotus needs to do now is really start getting podiums again cos at the rate the Red Bull have improved, Webber is bound to steadily finish well and never discount those McLarens. Till Abu Dhabi.....

goin Maracuja crazy

I ordered some Tarte products from their highly raved about Maracuja oil line. I've been liking serums/oils as my facial moisturiser of late. I got the BareMinerals serum a couple months ago which is okay but I've stopped using that in favour of Josie Maran's Argan Oil. I found a bottle my sis left in Workland and have swiped it as my own. I am truly liking the Argan oil. My thoughts on the BareMinerals serum, it's okay, not outstanding but with the JM Argan Oil, I feel like it truly does make my complexion brighter. On that note, I decided to get the Tarte Cold-Pressed 100% Maracuja Oil. The oil retails at USD46 for a 50ml bottle, just slightly cheaper than the JM Argan Oil which retails for $48 and 4 bucks cheaper than the BareMinerals serum.

I figured, my sis doesn't know I used her JM Argan Oil so I can't finish it off. I have a feeling she'll freak if she knows I'm even using it right now, lol. I read that the Maracuja Oil behaves similarly and since I own the Maracuja creaseless concealer which I am loving, I decided that going full-on maracuja couldn't hurt, right? This seller on Amazon had it for $35.00 so I saved 11 bucks on this if I had had to get it off of tartecosmetics.com or QVC.com.

In a similar vein, I also decided to try out the Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation 12-Hour Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in the shade Medium. I wear the concealer in medium and it matches, if a smidge lighter than my skintone. It's pricey at 42 bucks for a 1 oz bottle but the same seller on Amazon I got the Maracuja oil from was selling it for 10 bucks cheaper. I decided to go for it. I was looking for a nicer liquid foundation. I'm suddenly not such a big fan of the Revlon PhotoReady I had been using so figured this would be worth a try.

This Tarte haul amounted to USD71.71 inclusive of $4.71 on shipping and handling. A pretty good savings all around.

F21 Vets Day Haul 2012

Literal post title un deux :D

So I ended up getting the mustard top I talked about in an earlier post but went for a different green top. I think this sea foam green blouse is so much prettier. And, I also got another blouse in my fave colour of all time, blush pink. Well, it seems like it's my fave colour since I buy a lot of clothes in this hue.

I also got 2 pairs of twill skinny pants in mint and peach. I've been wanting pants in these 2 colours for some time now so since it went for 21 percent off of $15.80, I thought, okay, I'll get both of 'em. So that brings my coloured pants collection to 5 aside from the dark purple, light purple and tomato red I already own. Although I'm loving mustard, I don't think it's a hue I can convincingly pull off so I'm forgoing that as an option but am seriously considering some burgundy pants next :).

Lastly, F21 has been coming up with some cute brooches so I got a few. Am loving the pearlescent oval brooch the most. And that two finger cheetah ring was a last minute inclusion. I saw it and just fell in love. All in all, $98.89 was spent.

DISCLAIMER:
Images screen capped from F21.com but collaged by moi :)

my UK Lush haul that i made my sis drag all the way back to Homeland

After that very long-winded post on the Soap & Glory The Best Of All Christmas set that I got, I figured I'd just cram all the necessary info in the title and be done with it, lol. First up, I got.....

It's that time of the year - Chrismastime! And all the luverly companies are coming out with their holiday sets! I love this time of year in terms of retail therapy, good bargains galore! And I don't even celebrate Christmas! So, I decided I wanted this Christmas Candy Box as it's called. Retails for GBP19.99 and contains a 100g bottle of Snow Fairy, Rock Star soap, Popcorn lip scub (new flavour), Candy Mountain Bubble Bar and a Butterball Bath Bomb. Since I have no bathtub and have to wait till I am in an equipped hotel, I am now hotly anticipating the upcoming family getaway to Hard Rock Hotel in Penang, Malaysia! Woot, woot for beach holidays!

Next, I wanted another solid shampoo bar. I just finished up my Godiva bar. The one I got back in December 2010, lol. Shows that it lasts ages. Okay, I didn't use it all that frequently till a couple of months ago. I still have some of the New shampoo which was also a purchase circa 2010. Anywho, I decided to get Karma Komba this time around. Retails for GBP5.25/55g.

I just wanted a clarifying shampoo and apparently this one does the trick really well. I also wanted the Dr Peppermint shampoo but according to my sis who was informed by the Lush SA that that's only a US of A product. Then why make it available on the UK site, no? I argued with her but to no avail. So the one shanpoo was all I got.

Last but not least, a Lush product I had heard quite rave reviews about - Lovely Jubblies Breast Cream. It is a pricey conconction meant to be slathered over the decolletage area for firming effects. I, however, am buying it to slather underneath my eyes. I hear it's great for firming the undereye area. That's not to say I won't be trying 'em out on the area it's intended for. Aging and all that jazz, every little bit helps :D

At GBP16.50 for a 100g pot, I hope the eye firming effects are true cos if not, I'm gonna have to fork out some money on my third pot of Kiehls Abyssine + Eye Cream. I feel the Kiehls eye cream is my holy grail eye treatment but I'm still open to trying other products. Especially if they're gonna be cheaper not to mention comes in a 100g tub!

All in all, total Lush haul costs me GBP41.74. Sheesh, I'm really racking up the GBP debt on my sister's babymoon, lol.

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to Lush.co.uk

it's been awhile.....

Was busy just living. Plus there was no inclination to blog. Been shopping loads though :D Got stuff from F21.com during the Veterans Day Sale, some things from Beauty.com and drugstore.com respectively, went shopping at H&M as well as F21 stores and also a few travel size Soap & Glory products from Sephora. Ooh, and of course, my TCS batchel from Asos which my sis picked up when she was in London. You'd think that I'm good on the whole spending my money front, right? And don't worry, I'm likely to detail the above shopping escapades in all its painfully minute detail, as I'm wont to do, LOL!

However, for a shopaholic like moi, there's always something else to yearn for. There was something that I desperately wanted from Soap & Glory but knew I wouldn't really have a chance to get my hands on except for when my sis went on her babymoon. But even though she found what i wanted at Boots, she refused to bring it back to Homeland for me. Apparently it's too heavy - whatever *said in the sulkiest teenager-y way possible with petulant eye roll for good measure* Honestly, she had every right to refuse me :) She was already bringing me back the TCS batchel as well as some stuff from Lush - yes, I can be totally ungrateful when I want to. Love you, sis!

I had an inkling that she mightn't bring it back so I decided to scour ebay for any listings and I did find a seller that was sellng this thing that I wanted for GBP49.99 off of the RRP of GBP60. And they shipped to Homeland. So when my sis said she wasn't bringing the thing back for me, I immediately went on ebay to go checkout. Well, I would have if the seller hadn't just changed the listing to ship within the UK only. Great! Now, I'm doubly disappointed!

I guess my sis felt guilty or whatever for not getting the stuff. She started researching freight forwarding companies that operate in the UK and found this company called FowardToMe which has a similar operation to comGateway and HopShopGo. It costs 2 pounds to register. Then she asked me if I really wanted the Soap & Glory The Best Of All Christmas gift set that I had been yakking about. I said I did so she got it off of eBay and had it shipped to the ForwardToMe addy that's based in Preston. Which is close to the small place I used to call home, Lancaster :D

I've been wanting to try out Soap & Glory for yonks now and after getting the travel sizes of Soap & Glory's Glad Hair Day Shampoo and Conditioner as well as the infamous Hand Food, I really wanted to get my hands on some more of the brand's product. When i came across this set, the need to get it was just so strong. It contains a multitude of bestsellers from the Soap & Glory stable - best part is it's all full--size products!

The set is described as the ultimate head-to-toe indulgence kit and includes.....

1. The Righteous Butter™ Body Butter (300ml) (GBP10.50)
2. Hand Food™ Hand Cream (125ml) (GBP5.00)
3. Sugar Crush™ Body Scrub (300ml) (GBP8.00)
4. Clean On Me™ Shower Gel (500ml) (GBP5.50)
5. Smoothie Star™ Body Milk (500ml) (GBP10.00)
6. Heel Genius™ Foot Mask (125ml) (GBP5.50)
7. Peaches & Clean™ Cleansing Milk (200ml) (GBP7.00)
8. Super-Colour Sexy Mother Pucker™ Lip Plumper in Punch Bowl (3ml) (GBP9.00)
9. Thick & Fast™ Super Volume Mascara (10ml) (GBP10.00)

That's a whole lotta stuff (including the snazzy looking zippered box it comes in) and for a very great price too! Individual prices of each product is as I've listed above which totals to GBP70.50 if bought seperately. This set retails for GBP60 but I got it for GBP49.99! Means I save GBP20.51 which can definitely go towards the shipping costs. Okay, so I will end up actually paying GBP56.94 as shipping to Preston is GBP6.95. Nevermind, it's still cool, I still save some money :D So, I'm a happy camper, I really can't wait to get my hands on this!

DISCLAIMER:
Images were screen capped off of www.soapandglory.com.

it's about 6:45 am here.....

And I am currenly having a spirited debate with my sisters regarding that boyband One Direction and their crotch-grabbing antics in ther video clip for the song What Makes You Beautiful AND how in/appropriate it is for my 5 year old niece to be viewing them. AND I'm actually defending the group, LOL! OMG! It's too early for this!

i should just call my blog "the incorrigible shopper" and be done with it!

To avoid repetition, always going on and on about buying clothes, beauty products, bags and/or shoes, I'm now diversifying and have ended up buying a 4-day holiday! LOL, well, that's halfway to the truth.

One of my oldest bestie decided she wanted to spend Christmas with yours truly so we ended up planning a trip to Ho Chi Minh for a couple of days. It'll be my third time there but there's something about the old French colony that I like so truly, I don't mind going there again. And my friend has never been so I'm really her tour guide du jour :) I went on Booking.com and booked us into a hotel within a couple of metres to the famous shopping haven, Ben Thanh market. Plus, if I remember correctly from my most recent of trips, it's also a lil ways away from the infamous Notre Dame cathedral and Post Office.

As my girl celebrates Christmas, I was thinking she could go to Christmas Eve mass or Christmas Day mass and I could go hang out at the mall nearby. Then either we go for a fancy dinnner at an upscale restaurant or CHristmas lunch at an equally fancy place :D. Plans aren't set in stone except the hotel bit. That's booked and paid for and I have to say it was a real bargain considering that it is over Christmas.

On a different kind of shopping, the day my F21 EXTRAFIFTY haul arrived in Portland was also the day I was informed by the F21 PTB (Powers That Be to the uninitiated) that 2 items from my order were canceled cos they were, frankly, OOS. I will not be getting my swiss dotted tnak in peach nor the multi-chain necklace. Oh, well, at least the rest of the stuff was available. Somehow, I am most excited about the wedges and the sunnies with the green/brown frame. Gosh, when the hue of the shades' are typed out like that it sounds a tad vomit-inducing. Anywho, all my stuff has arrived and I made my comGateway shipment on Sunday night. However, no movements as yet in that department as far as I can tell. I'm hoping my packages will be delivered whilst I'm in Homeland this upcoming week for my personal holiday. The projected delivery they gave me was the 19th but am crossing my fingers and toes that it wil get there before that as I'm leaving back for Workland on the 17th. My next homeward-bound trip will be in early November when I'm going for a beach retreat with the fam.

Ok, enough chit chat. Toodles, blog!

i seriously wonder if RoGro will be retained next year

Yet again, Romain Grosjean is investigated for causing a first corner/lap incident and is subsequently penalized with a 10 seconds stop/go penalty. Considering this is his nth time being "the reason", I'm starting to think Lotus F1 might be considering him too much of a liability to retain. I mean, he is involved in an incident every other race, more often than not. You can't have just the one driver hauling the team up in the points!

Honestly, when the confusion happened in that first corner, I was cheering like mad cos Alonso went out and retired. I don't particularly think that the RoGro incident was the precursor to Alonso's off-track moment. It was him banging wheels with Kimi, trying to chop (ok, maybe more like fiestily closing the gap) him off.

Sigh, on a related note, that E-20 is just not fast enough. Currently we're on the penultimate lap, Kimi is in 6th, up one place from where he started on the grid. I can't calculate right now if he will still retain 3rd in the WDC race. Hamilton is in front of him in 5th. Ooh, race finished with Vettel winning. That's great cos I'd rather have Vettel win the WDC than Alonso :D

UPDATE:
OK, Kimi is still THIRD in the WDC standings. Barely ahead of Hammy by about 5 points if I'm not mistaken. And that incident with FAlonso, I have no clue why the dude is crying to the media about Kimi messing up his weekend. Yeah, yesterday Kimi spun in Spoon and brought out the yellow flags. Nando blamed that as being the reason he got 7th (but started 6th) on the grid. Then during the start, Kimi was already on the left side of the track and Nando was the one who kept moving to the left, basically running Kimi off track - there was nowhere for Kimi to go. By the time Alonso's tires clipped Kimi's front wing, Kimi was already alongside a third length of the Ferrari. but Nando is going on twitter saying Kimi yet again spoiled his chances by not braking. Uh, hello, I believe it was Kimi's right not to yield to you, Nando. It was you who should have been more aware and backed out of that move. Ass! Also, good for Massa who podiumed in second and Kobayashi who got a third, and his very first podium finish, at his home race.

random fashion gets from jan '12 to sept '12

Title explains it all really.....

i got the batchel!

Gosh, the word batchel just looks and sounds weird but the bag is not. Well, all in all, that's one of my less incoherent starts to a blog post

Anywho, bugaboo - sheesh I've got baby products on my brain, thanks preggy sis for making me do all your baby/maternity product shopping for ya! Now I have an inordinate amount of info on nipple creams, bottom sprays and c-section balms floating around in my brain! If the thought has floated in the mind - no, I'm not high though I have been pretty doped up what with being out of commission for the past 3 days so perhaps my mind's a lil out there and I really should not be blogging? But I've started so I might as well continue on.....

That's my batchel - it's The Cambridge Satchel Company 15" Leather Mock Croc Batchel. I got it off of Asos.com for GBP125. YES! Pricier than what I originally wanted to spend plus no embossing but in the grand scheme of things, this was a better purchase since I'm into instant gratification (of course, it ain't truly instant gratification but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN - DON'T MAKE ME EXPLAIN IT! *says Zlena to herself*) and apparently The Cambridge Satchel company website is not. Confused? Apparently it can take up to 30 working days from your order date for you to get your satchel if ordered from the company direct since they make the bags as the order comes in apparently. Since I'm trying to save on the shipping and the waiting and the potential hassle with customs, I decided to find alternative places to get my batchel.

ENTER ASOS.COM! Surprisingly, the site has a pretty badass selection of The Cambridge Satchel bags. They even have some that are 'Exclusive to Asos'. Mine apparently isn't one that is exclusive to Asos but I have not seen it anywhere else either so it appears pretty exclusive to me. And also, it was under the 'Men' category. But who gives two hoots! I say it's unisex! I feel like I need to explain myself in regards to my choice. It's mock croc embossed, that's cool. A plus is that if the bag gets roughed up, the potential defects won't show through so obvious. Apparently the normal smooth leather of the bags will easily show scratches so I knew if I got a smooth matte or patent leather bag I would then be eternally irritated if I had to look at an imperfection every time I laid eyes on a bag I spent 125 frickin pounds on! So that's why I settled for the mock croc in the end. And it's black so it will go with everything! I am going to rock the hell out of this bag, I tell ya!

My sis who is always copying my good taste (even though at first always saying what horrible crap everything I seem to like looks to her) got the 14 in Oxblood satchel which is an exclusive to Asos piece. I turned her onto that one knowing full well that she would definitely fall for the shade. Her satchel was 5 pounds cheaper than my one inch bigger batchel (hehehe, dirrrrty!).

So cos we spent more than 120 pounds, the order qualified for free next day delivery so by noon-ish tomorrow, my batchel and her satchel will have arrived to our contact in Winchmore Hill. I feel like I should be ending this post right here, right now. Zlena OUT!

DISCLAIMER:
As per usual, images do not belong to me so don't sue! The lovely mock croc batchel image was screen capped off of Asos.com :)