it's off

I did a post last year regarding my bestie from Oz whose fiance suddenly did a 180 and broke up with her. Then he did another 180 a week later and said he was having cold feet and the wedding was back on.

Planning a wedding, once it starts, it's like a juggernaut, it keeps gathering steam. Up till mid-January, the venue, clothes, the officiator, the honeymoon, the necessary pre-wedding registration, bla, bla, bla, had been done. He had even converted as well. They were in Homeland till January 11 doing wedding stuff before making their way back to Oz. I waited till about 2 weeks ago before I got my tickets homeward bound for the ceremony and reception. The following weekend, the wedding was called off. This time for good.

In a completely quiet moment, he told her he could not go through with it. That he is unhappy (still, I guess) and that he only loves her as a friend. He said that he's worried that if he goes through with marrying her, he'll end up cheating on her. He's also concerned about any kids they might have, well, if something were to strain their relationship, she might just up and leave back to Homeland and take their hypothetical kids with her.

Well, long story short, he's been cheating on her for the past 2 years. 6 weeks after agreeing to get married, he flew to Vietnam to see this girl he'd been carrying on with. All I have to say is, he fucked it up. This dude did not realize how great my friend is, how lucky he was. For her, good riddance. Obviously he is not the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

I don't understand why in the moments where I loosen up on the whole relationship thing, something like this happens and it makes me close myself off again. It's like anytime I think I can be open to something, someone's relationship failure pops up like a reminder. A reminder to what, I'm not even sure. How the hell am I supposed to move forward?

had a $10 coupon from beauty.com

The last time I ordered some stuff from drugstore.com, I received a Beauty.com christmas catalog offering me $10 off any 40 dollar purchase. The catch is, you gotta get something from a brand featured in the catalog. The offer was valid till 31st January 2012. Which is coming up in a few days.

I was looking over some stuff but nothing truly made me wanna get anything. Murad is one of the brands I could get but since I already buy my Murad stuff from Strawberrynet with free shipping, I wasn't enticed to use my tenner to get their stuff from Beauty.com. I thought if I'm gonna use it, I want something that isn't so easy to get. Such as something from Urban Decay which is another brand featured in the catalog. Urban Decay products in my local Sephora have seriously jacked-up prices, if I can avoid getting them locally I do. Unfortunately, Strawberrynet does not carry Urban Decay just yet so if I were to get anything, I'll have to pay the shipping costs to Homeland. So I was waiting for something truly worth it.

Back in December 2011, I was watching a Youtube video review of the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette by Amarixe, a friend of MissGlamorazzi and I was really impressed with this reinvention of the original Urban Decay bestseller palette. The original Naked is always sold out online and even in stores, it's difficult to find. Anyways, Amarixe had gotten hers via the Urban Decay website since it was on a limited release but this iteration of the Naked palette also proved to be a bestseller as the site could not keep it stocked to even last an hour or two before it sold out again. Other retailers would only be receiving it in January. I wasn't particularly interested in stalking the website for the palette so I knew I could wait till it was released to other e-tailers.

I had completely forgotten about it till today when I saw an email from Ulta.com telling me the palette had launched. I immediately figured that that would mean it had launched elsewhere. I remembered my 10 dollar coupon and decided to check out Beauty.com. True enough the palette was available and in stock. I didn't hesitate too long before I got it :)

This palette consists of 12 full size eyeshadows, a dual-ended eye brush and even a mini lip gloss. The noticeable difference between this palette and the original is that the Naked 2 eyeshadow compilation has cooler undertones whilst the Naked palette is definitely warmer.

I'm really pleased I managed to snag this palette at a discount. Naked 2 retails at USD50 but with my tenner discount, I paid 40 dollars for this. I basically got a 20% discount on this. I'm happy.

DISCLAIMER:
Image comes from amarixe.com. She takes incredible product shots I was compelled to use her photo rather than the stock photo on retail sites. She's a great Beauty Guru too :)

watched an epi of 90210 and.....

ended up cutting my hair off. Again.

I have no idea why I always make decisions to chop off my own hair when I watch 90210. At first I just thought I'd lop off my fringe. After that got done, then I looked at my elbow length hair and just got sick of it. So I tied up my hair into a ponytail and took a scissors to 'em. Here's a rather crappy shot of the before pic. I call it Zlena's pre 90210 hair:

Here is the results after spending a good ten minutes lopping off the back. This is, of course, Zlena's post 90210 hair:

That's a shot of me a couple of days later when I was trying to make sure my hair was at least symmetrical in the front. I was going for a long in the front, shorter at the back do. In theory, something people would call the reverse mullet, I guess.

I'm quite satisfied with the job I did. I think if I really wanted my hair to have more body, I'd have to go to the salon to get it shaped properly :D But I'm good for now, nobody has pointed out my hack job as overtly disastrous so I guess this qualifies as a successful DIY attempt!

On a seperate note, the reason there is suddenly a slew of posts today is cos I'm procrastinating. My company kickoff getaway is next weekend. I have a couple of presentations to complete but I feel so lazy to go through data and come up with summaries so I'm taking Saturday off and buckling down the day after. Hopefully :D

totally obsessed with.....Bruno Mar's It Will Rain

Hehehe, I know it's like one of the sappiest, corniest songs out there right now but the music is so appealing to me. Look, for a while I was listening to Blake Shelton's Honeybee on a constant loop so this is rather a step up from that ditty. No offense, Blake! I do love Honeybee :)

I just really like singing along to this song. For a romantic cynic, I sure like the sappy tunes.

kimi raikkonen overhyped

Lol, I know, seems rather blasphemous of me to be typing that what with all the Kimi worship I've done in the past.

In no way am I saying that I'm no longer a Kimi fan, I'm die-hard all the way but I have to admit that his return has basically turned the whole F1 community rather bonkers. All the speculation and over-speculations on how well he'll do, the expectations of him, the general insanity of his comeback, it just does my head in.

There is such a thing as too much news and all these so called professional opinions, whether favourable or otherwise, they are just getting to the point of ridiculousness. I just want to get news on the testing results and his current progress (which I'm doiing via the Lotus Renault official twitter feed) not have to see headline upon headline of Kimi Raikkonen comeback disaster/success.

And lets not talk about the fans and naysayers. The man realistically states his chances at winning the WDC and the naysayers jump down his throat for not being all gung-ho about his prospects. The fans who defend him are even starting to irritate me. Kimi is a fantastic driver and I don't believe all the motivation crap written about him but let's not beat that dead horse anymore. Fans, just stop trying to convince people he's motivated. I look at him and see his motivation and that's enough for me. The naysayers will see what they want to see. We'll just have to wait and see when Australia rolls arund at the end of March.

Which seems like a long way away. I can't wait for it. It's been too long since I've had a vested interest in a race. I hope Kimi's comeback gets off to a great start but I am aware of the realities of his situation. As much as I want to believe it'll be like he never went away, there are too many unknown variables (mainly the Pirellis) that will most likely hinder a stellar comeback. Prove me wrong, Kimster!

something retro

Is it rude that I'm calling books retro?

Since discovering how much eBooks make life easier, I haven't forked out as much money as I used to on good old-fashioned books. I didn't stop buying them completely but there was a marked drop off for sure.

Last December, TheBookDepository.co.uk had a 10% discount on books and I decided to get a few books. As usual shipping is free worldwide so that really helps with the overall cost of buying books online.

My first buy was the Discovery Channel publication Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours. Yup, my Deadliest Catch love is still going strong. Sometimes I do realize how weird it is that I'm so into a profession all about catching large crabs. I do, trust me. I finished reading this a couple of weeks ago. Made for interesting bedtime reading. This book was released after the third season aired so all the major players from that season were featured in the book. Basically it's a look behind the scenes of what makes the show.

The other book I got was from one of my favourite female authors, Dorothy Koomson. She's perhaps the only female author I will definitely shell out money for. I really love how she weaves her stories. It's mostly rather depressing with a tinge of light at the end of the tunnel. This latest release of hers in particular seems to have me more depressed than ever. I can't seem to pick it up to get any further cos I just feel sad when I read it. It's called The Ice Cream Girls. It's a story about two women whose lives were intertwined as teenagers when they were both charged with murdering their shared lover and the fallout from their past. As you can see, Dorothy Koomson does not shy away from controversial storylines. She's touched upon rape, cancer and the like and they may not be light reading but they certainly give you food for thought.

Last book from my online haul was from Imogen Edward-Jones Babylon series Wedding Babylon. I've talked before on this blog about liking her 'industry insider' tell-truths. This is about, what else, the billion dollar wedding industry. Haven't started on this since I have another Babylon book to start on first that I got ages ago. Sometimes the mood has to strike before you want to read something.

Another book buy I made in store was Lauren Conrad's Style. I've been wanting this for a long time and when I saw it promoted as a Christmas Special, I decided to get it. I've pored over it and have to admit that her style advice is relatable and spot-on. Some of the stuff she mentions seem like common sense but isn't done anyway. The tone of the book is very accessible which is the personality Lauren Conrad seems to project.

So those were some of my recent literary gets. I think I only got 8 books last year. I'm usually a 20 book kinda person. But eBooks have been much kinder to the wallet so as crappy as it makes me feel to get the stuff for free, I can't help keeping on doing it since it helps keep my habit going without bankrupting me. Sorry authors!

A5 jailbroken!

Ever since I started dabbling in jailbreaking, I can't seem to stay on the straight and narrow. I have been waiting impatiently for the A5 core to be jailbroken from the first day I got my hands on my iPhone 4S. And my waiting (and prayers) were answered when the jailbreak was finally released last Saturday/Sunday.

The Chronic Dev Team released Absinthe which would jailbreak any A5 core device. In this case, the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. Although some people experienced a few technical hiccups using Absinthe, I found that my jailbreak process went over with no complications. This was my first time jailbreaking my iDevice using something other than a Redsn0w release. I have to say, Absinthe really made things easier since I did not have to put my phone in DFU mode or anything of the sort. Just plug the phone in using the connector cable, run Absinthe and the application will do the rest. It didn't even have to be switched off.

Now I understand some people do not understand the allure of jailbreaking (like my sis) and some do it simply to get cracked ipas onto their phone. I guess for those who own an iPhone but do not live in a country that has their own app store, jailbreaking is their only means of having a fully functioning iDevice. For me, it's not entirely about the cracked apps. I just love being able to customize the phone to my liking without having Apple tell me what I can't or cannot do (notice the double negative :D). I mean I paid a huge sum for the product, I want to be able to set it up however I please.

For example, I get to use whatever ringtone I choose without having it limited to 30/40 seconds. Same applies to alarm tones. That cap on time for tones is something that truly annoyed me. I also love having SBSettings, which is an add-on I get from the Cydia store from BigBoss. It allows for all the main settings you use most often to be available for access with a swipe of your finger on the status bar. This means not having to go to Settings continously to switch Wifi/Airplane/Bluetooth on/off. One of my must-haves.

Another Cydia app I got is iFile, which is the windows explorer equivalent for the iDevice. I sometimes find using iTunes tedious so when I connect my iDevice to my computer over the air using either CyberDuck (when on the Mac Pro) or WinSCP on windows, I can do file transfers easily without going through the constant backing up and syncing I'd normally have to endure via iTunes. I just go directly to the app directory and put my files in the right folders.

Another thing I love is InfiniDock. This add-on from Cydia allows the user to have as many as 10 apps sitting in the dock. I can't understand why Apple wanted to restrict the number of apps you can put in your dock, in general I have 7 apps I constantly use at any given time and I hate to have to scroll through the screens or go into my folders for apps that I tend to always use.

Ok, if I went on, this post will go on for a number of pages. Those are just my top 3 Cydia 'enhancements' I guess. Oh, a special mention - I also love using Mobile Terminal. I'm really a command line girl at heart so this was one of the best things I installed (used in conjunction with OpenSSH) on my iDevices.

Just talking about the iPhone 4S, it truly has lived up to my expectations of it. It's fast, the camera is amazing and with all the available camera apps, it really makes my spending 950 dollars justifiable. I especially am impressed with the app ProCamera which allows for zoom within video recording. Something the built-in camera app does not do. I also love this other app that I've been playing with which is called Auto-Adjust. It basically adjust an images balance settings. I used this on some of the pics I took using my old iPhone 2G and it's really amazing how the photos are instantly given life. Really great for photos taken under low lighting where you can barely make out what the pic is about.

Anyways, its coming up to a week that my device has been jailbroken and I've been completely happy with the results. Thanks so much to Pod2G, whose site I stalked for a month plus and the Chronic Dev Team, MuscleNerd and all others who put in the time and effort to come up with the A5 jailbreak. I am grateful. Good job, guys!

despite my postal woes....

and to be specific, my awful Strawberrynet experience, I am still a devotee to the beauty e-tailer. So much so, I recently got a few more stuff from them. I know, I know, I keep buying beauty products like I'm stocking up to makeover the whole world or something :) At least I'm not as bad as those beauty gurus on Youtube. Having a whole makeup cabinet seems OTT to me. But their OTT-ness gives me plenty of ideas for what I buy for myself so carry on, keeping on, Youtubers!

So back to my beauty buys. I got my Murad stuff when my cousin came to Workland last week with her Uni group. I have to say, I am REALLY loving the Murad Blemish Control Starter Kit. I'll do a rundown of those products later. But it really inspired me to splurge on another Murad product, this time from their Resurgence line - the Renewing Eye Cream. It comes in a 15 ml pump bottle and some of the claims of the product are:

• An extraordinary treatment to firm & restore delicate eye zone
• Intensely boosts collagen synthesis to reduce fine lines & wrinkles
• Wild yam & soybean increases moisture, elasticity & firmness
• Eye brightening complex eliminates dark circles & puffiness
• Your eyes dramatically appear smooth, luminous & youthful
• Suitable for all skin types

I lifted the info straight off of Strawberrynet.

It sells for USD76 on the site but the RRP is UD73 on drugstore.com I think. So I'm getting it for 3 bucks more but free shipping really does make up for the higher price. This is perhaps, the priciest actual skincare product that I've gotten since my Clarisonic. It took quite a bit of convincing to pay that much for an eye cream I don't know will work on me or not but I decided to take the plunge because of the rather great reviews it has received. If 50 plus, 60 plus women are saying they see a difference after using this, at my age, I should be able to make those fine lines that have started to appear underneath my eyes practically invisble - I'm realistic, I know when there are lines, they don't go away, they just become less visible to the naked eye. That's all I can ask for :D

Another product I got was the Jane Iredale Amazing Base Loose Powder with SPF20. I decided to get it in the shade Radiant which appears to be a warmer tone of my PurePressed Base Riviera. I am really beginning to love Jane Iredale's mineral makeup line. I decide to give the loose powders a go because I think it'll give me a more even coverage then using the pressed compacts. It's described as follows (also lifted verbatim from the Strawberrynet site though image was screen capped from janeiredale.com):

• Mineral base loose powder makeup with broad spectrum sun protection
• Shields skin from the damage of UVA/B rays
• Provides optimal coverage of dark circles, discoloration & minor imperfections
• Water-resistant & long wearing
• Leaves you a flawless, natural looking complexion
• Free of oil, talc, dyes & parabens

Looking at the image from janeiredale.com makes the tone of the powder darker than I imagined. But on Strawberrynet, it did not look so....tanned is the best way I can describe the shade. I would have screen capped the image from Strawberrynet but the shade is out of stock since I purchased the powder. The powder is being sold for $47.50 though it's RRP is $42.00. Again, factor in shipping to Homeland, I'll pay the additional five dollars and 50 cents :)

Now, it wouldn't be a Strawberrynet purchase if it wasn't driven by a promo. My sis had a 'We Miss You' discount of 7% and since she was making a fragrance buy, by adding my skincare and makeup purchase, she didn't have to pay for fragrance shipping. Plus, we also got an additional 3% for getting 4 items as well as her loyalty discount which is at 3% right now. In total, I got a 13% discount on my stuff which meant I did save in the long run. After the discounts, the Murad Renewing Eye Cream came up to $66.50 and the Jane Iredale Amazing Base Loose Powder cost $41.56. So I may not have saved too much on the powder but it beats paying 20 bucks to have it shipped back to Homeland :D

having no luck with the postal service

It seems like I have been jinxed with bad postal service for 2012. First, my Strawberrynet package, the one with my over 100 dollar purchase of Murad skincare as well as my friend's fragrance stuff, went MIA.

It took a lot of subtly threatening worded emails as well as calls and personal appearances to finally get my package back. Supposedly it was mistakenly delivered to another address. I'd believe that if the address it was delivered to had some similarities to mine but it was way off. Plus, the person who signed for it, proceeded to take the package back to her home and opened it. Also, once it was delivered back to us, the shipping label had been ripped off. See where I'm going with this. It's a good thing I was actively tracking my package and knew that it had arrived at my district mail sorting center. If not, I could have said goodbye to that package and woe is me cos then there'd be a whole lengthy process of police reports and whatnot. If it's not clear, I believe the package was intentionally delivered to that address as they are all part of a syndicate that takes packages sent during holiday season and sell them off. The recipients are none the wiser if they don't know they should be expecting a package.

Anyways, aside from that, my Blackberry case from eBay has not arrived either. I was lucky with the Strawberrynet parcel cos it was sent via registered mail so I was able to track it, however my case was sent via normal post. There was no other option, if I could, I would have added some insurance for it. Nonetheless, the listing was covered by eBay Buyer Protection so I received my refund from the seller. I just feel bad for these sellers who lose money, not to mention, inventory due to dishonest people working in the postal industry.

Sigh, you hope people will be honest but is that really too much to ask of our society. I hope it eats at their conscience.

let the 2012 shopping begin!

My choices are limited - I can't buy anymore bags which I've declared to any and all of my co-conspirators (yet somehow my sis still plays devils advocate ALL THE TIME - y'know, there is such a thing as having too many Balenciaga's, Sis!). I am also swearing off buying clothes online till the next end-of-year sale season arrives. Yes, I gave myself a lil wiggle room there, if I am getting clothes in person, perhaps whilst on holiday, it's okay. Bags are a no-no year round. Since those are my biggest weaknesses and are off limits, what can I do about my insatiable thirst for shopping? There's always books, shoes and beauty buys! And the 2012 shopping marathon began with a shoe purchase. Two of them if we're getting all specific :D

Shoes! I love shoes! I bought the most amount of shoes in a span of one year in 2011. Ok, the most shoes I got in a year was probably when I was in my last year of uni eons ago. The 2011 shoe haul is more of a recent events kinda thing. Anywho, I was thinking of swearing off shoes as well but then I'd be setting myself up for imminent failure. Therefore shoes remained on the buy list.

Back to the buy. Haute Look had a Corso Como sale about 2 days ago. To avoid temptation, I have been deleting the emails coming in from the various sample sites I'm subscribed to as soon as they come in. Of course, I'll have a quick glance at the subject first to see if there's anything interesting before trashing them. But the Corso Como event was actually something I was reminded of by Haute Look two days before it started. So it was really already implanted in my subconscious and when the day of the sale came around, I made sure I was in the event right as it started. I mainly wanted to be sure I would be able to snag something if there was something to be snagged. Sales like Corso Como, especially when the Ballasox range is involved, often run out of sizes or even sell out practically in a blink of an eye.

Once I was in and had managed to snag 2 of the Ballasox flats, I ruminated on whether I truly wanted to get them. I had a 15 minute window for each shoes to come to a decision - yay or nay. At the price point these shoes were going for, I could not go with any other decision but yay. I got another of the Festive flats but this time in snake-print embossed leather. The official shade/style is called black naja.

And the other pair was the Factor flats. Similar in style to the Festive flats but with a penny loafer design. I figured these were a rather cute spin on the traditional ballet flat design. Plus, I've been thinking about getting a pair of penny loafers anyways.

And they are both patent. The shoes were marked down significantly. The Festive flats were $29 and the Factor flats were $25 bringing y total to $61.95 inclusive of shipping to Portland. it basically translates to a BOGO free type of deal.

Honestly, was this a purhase I needed to make? That's a no. I just wanted them simply because I liked them and they were to good of a bargain to pass up. My original Corso Como black flats are still in great condition, I rarely wear them cos I'm trying to preserve it for some reason, but now that I've gotten another, I can finally use the ones I already own with impunity. I mean, these flats retail at 60 plus dollars AND they are leather. The only time I can reasonably justify a purchase of these shoes is when they are on sale. Only then is the total cost of shoes and shipping worth the money.

So these have gotten the ball rolling feet-wise. And trust me, I ain't done just yet. I am currently also totally coveting a pair of wedges on Sole Society but am holding out for a sale or a promo before I make a commitment. It's these pair, right here.

These are the Talia wedges and I am loving the colour-blocking on these shoes. The faux snake pattern on the heel totally sold me on this shoe. And I guess I'm still in love with blush hues. But I'll wait, give it a couple of months, maybe get them as a small birthday gift for myself in March :)

Ok, that's it, for now, on the shopping front :)

DISCLAIMER:
Images of the Corso Como flats were derived from Amazon.com and the Talia wedge is a screencap off of Sole Society.

hi 2012!

So here we are, on the cusp of a brand spanking new year! I think for the past couple of years I have avoided making declarative new year resolutions after failing quite a few of my 2009 items. I've learned my lesson, new year or not, everyday is a time of change. You don't need to begin a fresh start at the birth of a new year, Change is just something that should be done when you feel it's right. It's the idea of a "blank slate" that has people clamouring to turn the corner in a new year. To me, you make your own blank slate - it can be whenever you feel like it. Don't wait for change to happen, make change happen for you. If there's anything that 2011 has taught us, it should be that :D

But anyways, I'll still throw in my 2 cents of what I'd like this year. I hope that I achieve all that I want to achieve this year. I hope we don't encounter too much more natural devastations, I think the world as a whole deserves a break from all that was thrown at us in 2011. And I guess my last hope is that I find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be.