i don't think i'm that blinded by fangirl-ism.....

.....but I don't understand when I read people's comments about Kimi being an inferior driver to Fernando Alonso. And what in the world is this 'complete driver ' reputation that Fernando Alonso has? I do not see him that way.

LOL, yup, I'm about to go on a Kimi rant again. Hey, I've been really good this year, all things considered. There were plenty of moments I wanted to say something but I held my tongue. Anyways.....

Objectively speaking (hehehe, I know it might be unbelievable but I can be neutral), Kimi Raikkonen as an F1 driver is one of the best in his class. He has excellent racecraft and a great racing attitude. He is the fairest driver on the track in the 2012 field - and I'm not talking about his looks here although he is very easy on the eyes :D Kimi is just naturally gifted in motor racing, he is smart and extremely fast and sometimes his race performances even defy logic.

So when I read forum opinions who say he is not in the same league as Alonso, or even Vettel, I'm completely and utterly baffled. I respect Alonso as a driver. And the feeling is mutual for the other 4 World Driver's Champions; Schumacher, Hamilton, Button and Vettel. I will not get into the nitty gritty of each champions' championship but each of them won with a healthy dose of skill, luck and top notch racing technology.And none of them were perfect! They all made mistakes at one point or another and continue to do so to this day.

But Kimi, well the criticism on him has always been more extreme than others. Whether it is because most of the world press do not find his disdain for media related activities amusing or the perceived, completely wrong image of Kimi as a "I drive only for money" F1 pilot, I hae no clue but the guy doesn't seem to be able to win his critics over.

His comeback is more than impressive! From the last two races, he has appeared as McLaren days Kimi. I am always excited to see his performances but in Hungary especially, the magic laps he put in on worn soft tyres to basically jump 3 drivers after his second stop was a most superlative effort on the Finn's part. And it was something he was prone to churn out back in his McLaren days. And he appears to have his "iciness" back. I've been wondering about his killer instincts in the last couple of races, not to mention some moments in his Ferrari term but he has definitely got them back. His moves in Hockenheim and the way he was not going to yield to Romain Grosjean was a throwback to his heydays in McLaren. I was ecstatic to have him assert athority in his overtakings as that has been his main setback during race days. He was too nice in the beginning of the season - most likely due to the fact he wasn't completely comfortable in the car but now, apparently he's finally found the setup that he likes and can improve upon, he is the Quick(er) Kimi of old. The magical Kimi. And I know that his rivals are starting to get nervous with the reemergance of this Kimi. Some of them even wondered aloud about his drives.

To put it simply, I basically think that those who don't think Kimi is a driver to rival Alonso, Hamilton, Schumacher and Vettel's abilities, are damned fools and complete blind idiots! LOL!

halfway point

I haven't talked about F1, Kimi, Kimi, F1 in eons it feels like :) Just to be clear, I'm still F1Kimi obsessed, simply quieter. But I thought TIWFM was due an F1 post.

This weekend at the Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary, will mark the last race of the season before F1 takes their usual scheduled summer break - resuming only at the end of August for the final championship push. The story thus far is Fernando Alonso leads the driver's championship ahead of Mark Webber, Sebastien Vettel AND Kimi Raikkonen.

In the last race in Hockenheim, Germany, Sebastian Vettel, who finished the race in 2nd but was given a 20 second penalty for overtaking Jenson Button off the racing track for said 2nd place on the penultimate lap of the race, basically upgraded Kimi's 4th place position to 3rd and with those extra 2 points, Kimi managed to move into 4th in the championship standings ahead of Lewis Hamilton. I have to say I'm really impressed with kimi's comeback. And not simply because I'm a Kimi fan, he has shown that he has not forgotten how to successfully do open wheel racing. To come back from a 2-year hiatus and be FOURTH in the driver's race, that's just AMAZING.

Of course, there has been some minor teething issues as he reassimilates himself to F1. Qualifying has been a tad horrendous. He's only qualified in the top 4 once in the last 10 races and that was back in Shanghai. Which was a race that did not go well for him. It was the only race in which he failed to score any points. He was running in second and a couple of laps before the end of the race, his tyres 'went off the cliff', is what the F1 pundits like to call it. Basically, they just simply stopped giving him grip and he could not drive to the max of the car's capabilities without throwing himself (and the car) into the wall/off track/.

The pirellis. I don't think it's much of an issue for him. The tires were supposed to be the main 'hindrance' to Kimi's comeback but, aside from the China GP, he has shown that he's able to adapt to the Pirellis. That definitely surprised the whole paddock I would imagine. They were predicting a Michael Schumacher style comeback, lol. I never thought for even a second that Kimi would suffer the same fate as Schumi. I mean, I never foresaw the comeback being this good but I definitely knew he would not be so much on the backfoot like Schumi has been for the past 2 years since his re-entry to the pinnacle of motorsports.

Looking at how things have played out, it's my personal belief that if the whole situation at Ferrari had not gone down the way that it did, I'm positive Kimi would have stayed in F1. I believe it's his passion. I think that he only went rallying because he wanted Ferrari to suffer by taking the brunt of the full payout. I get that people say that his will to drive should be stronger than his will to punish Ferrari but Kimi is only human and if I was in that same position, I too would have taken the money, bided my time and come back as he did. He needed to wait out the 2 years, he did and now he is back with a vengeance!

In the first 9 races, Kimi was still on a learning curve but you could see the flashes of speed and brilliance of old. But in the last race in Germany, all I could do was be amazed at the driving he displayed. I think he did the most overtaking of the race and he wasn't as hesitant, lining up the car for what seemed like forever. He took the positions in a speedy and confident manner, making the maneuvers stick. I would usually get frustrated watching him being hesitant to do the overtake but in this race, bar for his move on Schumi which took him about 6 laps to line up, he took care of dispensing with the overtaking in a precise, concise and fair manner. If anybody is the most fairest driver in terms of overtaking in F1 right now, I'd definitely give that award to Kimi Raikkonen.

I'm really looking forward for this weekend. Considering that the McLaren Kimi made an appearance last race, I'm expecting to see more of him this weekend. I'm also going to be going stir crazy when it ends cos there's a month of F1 no-mans-land. And with Deadliest Catch airing it's last episode of the season this week too. Gosh, I'm going to be super bored.

hmmmm. may have just went a lil nuts.

Soooooo, well, I have a shopping habit - as is well-documented on this blog. Ok, I really wanted the stuff. And I did my due dilligence by checking out multiple sites for the best prices. I believe I did manage to score some pretty great deals.

Right, it was all prompted by 6pm.com and the fact that the Fitzwell Shona flats - those black quilted ones I was saying I really wanted - they are gone. It's only available in white, ugh.

I quickly did a search and it was confirmed, no more perfect quilted flats. Just like there's no more semi-perfect quilted wallet. Sigh. Am losing out on all fronts. But wait, is that the Steve Madden Kwilted in black I spy in the search results? Going for USD31.99?!?!?! I clicked to see if my size was available - the red font notification informing me there was only one left in the chosen combination. You can guess what happened next - no hesitation, it went in the cart and I checked out.

However, I was trying to up my 6pm.com Brandaholics points by about 86 more so I would receive my Brandaholics bonus of a 10% discount code. I was initially going to use the bonus to get the Fitzwell shoes and the Love Moschino wallet but since those aren't available, I have no clue what I'm gonna spend my 10 percent off on. Luckily, the code has a 3-month validity. I'm sure there'll be something I'll want before the expiry :)

Aside from the Kwilted flats, I also got myself this Cosabella Smooth Camisole for $26.99 and the Dockers Misses Khakis with Hello Smooth technology for $29.99.

I've also been wanting to get the Bare Escentuals Active Cell Renewal Serum. So far, the cheapest place I've found to be selling this is Amazon. I think I spent the better half of the month stalking the Bare Escentuals prices, lol. Since I was coming off of the 6pm.com order high, I immediately decided not to wait any longer to checkout my Amazon.com stuff.

Oh yeah, I also got myself the Murad Time Release Acne Cleanser. I'm more than a third through with the tube I'm using and want to replenish before I run out. The BE serum retails for 50 bucks but I got it for $44.94 while the Time Release Acne Cleanser usually sells at 30 bucks but on Amazon I got it for $23.15. Which brings my Amazon haul to $68.09.

So this week alone I've dropped an even $221. However, in the month of June/July, I've managed to rack up a credit card bill - spanning both my platinum cards - of $749.79. Hehehe. Oh, Zlena!

reading.....fifty shades of grey

Okay, attempting to anyways. I. Don't. Get. The. Hype. This is the book that broke Harry Potter's sales record? I'm actually baffled. Honestly, good for the author, E.L. James, for getting herself published. It's truly great for her. I just don't know why this book is receiving the hype it's receiving. It really does read more like the fan fiction that it started as rather than an actual work of published prose. I know I'm contradicting myself here and truly, who am I to question the author's authenticity, right? But I just don't get it!

The protagonist, who antagonizes me at most points of the story, keeps going "Oh my" ALL THE FRICKIN TIME! I can barely go through a chapter without enduring multiple "Oh my"'s peppered throughout the span of one chapter. And her snarky subconscious is damn annoying. And apparently has a life of its own - either that, this Anastasia Steele is delusional! Don't get me started on that Christian Grey. Is it Christian? I'm too lazy to fact-check. The way he is written, you can tell the author has been reading quite a few period romances. I think she was trying to mold Mr. Grey after a Darcy-ish type. I sense a little Judith McNaught style hero in his persona but he doesn't charm me the way that Judith McNaught's roguish men do. He falls F-L-A-T in that respect! I cringe when I read him. That whole, "Breath, Anastasia, breathe" thing he keeps doing comes across as REALLY condescending and presumptuous to me.

Okay, it appears I am not liking the book much, lol. But I don't believe it'll cause the author to lose any sleep, she's raking in the money. And there's supposed to be TWO more of this coming. Sigh. So glad I actually found this online in some deep dark crevice somewhere. I would have been totally pissed with myself if I had ctually spent money on this!

thanks drugstore dollars!

I've been trying to find the cheapest place to get the Bare Escentuals Pure Transformation Night Treatment after the whole Sephora order gt cancelled and after waffling between Amazon.com and Strawberrynet, I finally settled on getting it in the shade Medium through Beauty.com :p

I had $13.06 in drugstore dollars that I needed to spend and the site also gave me an email link for an additional $5 off of orders of $40 on non-perscription items. So that amounts to $18.06. Given that most sites selling beuaty products mainly give 20 off (eyeslipsface.com being the exception :D), I decided that putting my drugstore dollars towards the $60 cost of the Pure Transformation treatment would go a long way to soothe me if the stuff does not work out for me. Hey, 60 bucks for a face powder worn at night is a lot of money, okay!

Aside from the "free" cash, I also had another offer - buy $75 worth of products off of Beauty.com and receive the Mara Hoffman Designer Bag. It's basically the same deal like my Erin Fetherston train case. Only this time around, with different products and less 5 bucks in the free gift card. I was really attracted to the case though - it looks so native and the colour combo is just delicious :D Have a look for yourself.

I like the feather design and the bright orange hues just make it a fun case to carry. The stuff inside is a bonus. The offerings this time around are as follows:

Since the BE Pure Transformation Night Treatment is 60 bucks and I needed another 15 bucks to get the case, I decided to buy my Murad Acne Clarifying Toner as well.

I checked, double checked and triple checked to make sure that the toner was alcohol-free - it is. At $22, I was okay paying one buck more than if I had gotten it off of Amazon.com instead if it would help me get the Mara Hoffman free gift :)

With the discounts applied, my card was charged $63.94 - not a bad total, if I do say so myself :D

DISCLAIMER: All images derived from Beauty.com

this is why i don't practice restraint :(

Here I was thinking I'll be good and wait till next month to make the purchase I want to make on 6pm.com but waiting cost me the quilted wallet/purse I wanted so, so, so badly :( Boohoo!

I am going through a MASSIVE quilted leather obsession right now. Ever since seeing the BCBGMaxAzria Quilted Large Satchel, I've suddenly been hit by a great yearning (crazy, I know :D) for all accessories quilted! So I have been looking high and low for the perfect quilted flats and the perfect quilted purse. And they must be black. I found the most perfect quilted flats in the Fitzwell Shona which I've talked about but I didn't share the quilted purse I had been eyeing on 6pm.com.

I saw this LOVE Moschino JC4056PP0VLI0 quilted wallet/purse on a chain and my first thought was, "Well the quilting looks perfect but that white stitching just puts me off." Case in point:

Look at how puffy that quilting is and you can actually wear this as a small handbag. There are 2 all-around zippered compartments and the purse closes with button snaps in the middle. It opens up to two sides of 6 card compartments each and has 2 currency slots at the top. It comes with a gold chain which snaps on on the inside of the purse so it can be carried on the shoulder. I loved everything about it EXCEPT the white contrast stitching. I mean, is that not tacky???

But the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced I could work with it. I could get a black fabric pen and colour in the white thread. I was so convinced that it would work, last night I actually spent time modifying the image of the purse in Paintbrush to see if it would look as good as I imagined it would. The results:

I'm not the best at image manipulation but what I did manage to do, I figure is a good enough representation of what it could be in real lfe. And I think it looks awesome. And it convinced me enough that I would get it come August. For $80.99, it was a real steal once I got through with it!

But this morning I woke up and I was lazily refreshing my browser and I got a message that the purse is no longer available. I'm devastated, disheartened, it even hurts a little. Yes, yes, in the grand scheme of things, it's only a purse, not the miracle that solves Dafur's problems. But lest we all forget, my blog is called "the inner workings of a FRIVOLOUS mind" :D

So my search continues now but I fear, I may not find one I like as much as I liked the LOVE Moschino JC4056PP0VLI0.....

DISCLAIMER: Original image screen capped from 6pm.com.

w00t, w00t! 6pm.com has shipped!

And that truly says it all. Okay, I'll try not to go w00t, w00t, ever again, LOL. No promises though!

After the billing addy debacle, I waited and waited for some kind of resolution either way and I just got my email shipment confirmation! My items shipped on yesterday and I'm guessing they used expedited 1-Day shipping cos the stuff is already in Portland and will be delivered by 3 pm today, Pacific time of course :D

This means that both my credit cards are good to go at 6pm.com. And man, do I have a couple more pairs of shoes I have my eye on. I'm done buying cheapie pleather shoes - my Dolce Vita For Target shoes have had to be repaired twice and the Cynthia Rowley For Target wedges have started to peel. I'm only doing leather shoes from this point on. Unless it's fabric of course, hehehe.

Which leads to the next lust item. These Fitzwell Shona flats in black nappa.

OMG, would these not be the perfect complement to the BCBGMaxAzria Quilted Large Satchel?!?!?! It is a lil on the pricier side at $62.99 but that quilting looks totally worth it! Totes gorgeoussss!

Then there are these totally cute Betsey Johnson suede pumps - the Maye in blush suede.

Now these shoes are a total steal at $35.99! I don't think I'll end up with them though since I'm waiting a lil while longer before I make another buy from 6pm.com and since there's only 1 pair left in the inventory that's my size, I'm thinking the shoes will not be waiting for me till I'm ready :P

And lastly we have these Sperry Topsider's which is the A/O Pump by Jeffrey. These are priced the same as the Fitzwell Shona at $62.99.

I know some people think the Sperry Topsider heels look weird but I find them tres attractive :D Something about the marriage of boat shoes and heels make me want them, lol.

Anyways, the one I most definitely, without a doubt am getting is the Fitzwell shoes. The others are just in the list for fun. Unless of course the price goes down a lil more than they will be up for some serious consideration :D

DISCLAIMER:
All images screen capped from 6pm.com - my new online shopping haven du jour

i'm a sephora VIB & i'm lovin' it

So my bestie who works in Singapore is off to Orlando tomorrow for work. Since, she's going Stateside, that's always an opportunity for me to get stuff :D I decided to go easy on her and just buy myself teeny beauty products and not anything ginormous.

I was waffling between Amazon or Sephora because there were certain products I wanted that were going for much cheaper through Amazon but then there were other stuff that only Sephora sold. In the end I went with Sephora since I found a 10 Off VIB welcome promo code which helped bring down my grand total and got the following:

First on my list of must-haves is the Bare Escentuals Pure Transformation Night Treatment that retails for a very pricey $60. With the coupon code, I end up paying $54 for this. Stil pricey all around but I was willing to fork the money over. I've been wanting to try this since it was packaged under the RareMinerals name. Since then, this product has had a makeover but the essential benefits remain the same.

Next product I found myself wanting is the Tarte Amazonian Clay Bronze Finishing Powder & Deluxe Kabuki Brush Set. I know, I know, more face powders. You'll understand in a bit - it was 15 bucks for the full-size powder AND retractable kabuki brush. FIFTEEN BUCKS! Hello??? How could I pass that up?

Another Tarte buy is the Tarte Shining Stars Limited-Edition Best Sellers Collection. This little kit contains some of Tarte's bestselling products. I was intrigued enough to purchase this just for the cheek stain which I've been dying to try out ever since I got into makeup waaaaay back n 2006. I've also heard seriously good stuff about the LipSurgence Natural Lip Tint product so was definitely happy to find it in this kit. A little smorgasboard of Tarte goodies!

One other item I've been obsessively wanting to try is Soap & Glory's The Fab Pore Facial Peel. So I got it! They used to sell Soap & Glory products at Target.com but I think once Sephora had a deal with Soap & Glory, the Target arrangement seemed to have disappeared. Oh well, it ain't like I can shop at Target anyways so who cares! This retails for $25. I guess this is gonna be my first ever Soap & Glory product. Am rather excited to give this a spin.

The next two items are simply repurchases for me. I love the Murad Clarifying Toner and the Murad Time Release Acne Cleanser. I especially love the toner even more now that I found out that it's alcohol free :D These products costs $22 and $30 respectively.

Of course, any Sephora purchase entitles you to 3 free samples. I chose to get the Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel, Perfekt Lash Perfection Gel (totally loving the sound of this product!) and Algenist Regenerative Anti-Aging Lotion. As it's pretty obvious, I have a tiny obsession with anti-aging and facial resurfacing products :D The aging train has finally caught up with me and I'm scrambling to save myself, lol.

Overall, the entire purchase came up to $169.65. I had to pay $10.35 in tax since I'm having this order shipped to Orlando. I'm very nervous about it as it'll be my first time shipping to a hotel. Although I googled delivering packages to hotels and the results are very normal, I just don't want such a pricey order to disappear on me. nor do I want it to arrive too late which is why I placed the order this morning. It's 18/07 night in the States right now so I'm hedging my bets that they'll process my order 19th and either ship it on the 19th itself or the next day at the latest. With Sephora's 3 business day shipping, I hope to have my package arrive on Tuesday at the latest. If not, it has to arrive on the 26th since my bestie is leaving 27th morning. Fingers crossed I'm not gonna be out of nearly 170 bucks!

DISCLAIMER: All images screen capped from sephora.com. Guys, process my order!

UPDATE (20/07/2012):
Dang it! Sephora was suspicious of the order being sent to a hotel so they canceled it! And asked me to email them if it was an error. I did tell them it was but now I might not have enough time to get it sent to the hotel while my colleagues is there. So I said if they can guarantee the shipment arrives there between 22/07 to 26/07 than by all means re-process my order, otherwise, leave it. Uggh! Not lovin' bein a VIB so much right now!

this has slightly baffled me for some time.....

I have no clue why I ALWAYS receive junk mail intended for dudes. My junk mailbox is always filled with viagra promos or penis enlargement offers. I have no clue why I'm getting these type of emails. Shouldn't these spammers be sending me breast enlargement/vibrator type stuff? I dunno whether to feel insulted by the type of spam I get but I'm definitely amused :D And apparently this deluge of this type of email only seems to happen to me. My sisters and friends don't particularly get as much as I do. And on my hotmail account, I keep getting this porno version of facebook emails - fucbook.com, LOL.

There's really no point to this post other than to record my amusement of the junk mail I get :D

woah! that was fast!

It's been just a lil over a week and my replacement leather stras have already arrived!

I'm amazed at how fast the shipping was! Anyways, I was initially worried about the width of the straps but looking at it in the pic my dad took, it's looking pretty good. Plus, the thickness of the strap looks pretty substantial as well. Oh, I'm so, tres happy that my straps reached Homeland safe and sound and in a jiffy! Definitely buying from ValueBelt$ in the future!

with age comes.....

Weird health ailments :D Ok, so this is something I've been "suffering" from for about a year now. Actually, I can't even begin to diagnose the real cause - it's either I pulled a muscle on my upper right butt cheek OR I have a pinched nerve in that spot.

What I do know is that it is a pain in the butt. Literally AND figuritively. Tres annoying. I may not know what's the actual cause of the pain but I do know how I got it. Believe it or not, this injury came about because of climbing in and out of SUVs.

Yup, you read that right. I first experienced the pain when I was climbing into the company Lexus 450 and imagine my surprise (not to mention pain) when I felt a sharp searing pull/pinch in my right butt cheek! So I admit, I usually don't step on that lil platform before getting in, I like to just get to the top step. That platform's flimsy!

Anyways, every now and then, more so now than then, I feel the sharp pinch. Sometimes even when I'm walking. I've tried massage but the relief is very brief. Don't get me started on balms - hot, cold, creams, gels, plasters - I've tried 'em. To very little success - the pain comes back.

There's really nothing I can/am doing about it now other than coming on here to complain about it. Perhaps if I find some permanent solution, I'll get back to ya :D

whether a reaction to my sister's news or not.....

I just dropped $262.95 at 6pm.com. Okay, yes, I have been looking at the stuff for a while but I thought I'd get myself a celebratory/commiseratory gift as well. Gosh, I'm such a horrible bitch aren't I?????

So putting all my ISSUES aside, let's dive into the lovely stuff I decided to buy. First in the list is this pair of Miraclebody jeans. It's the Katie Straight in Mystic. I got to know about these ages ago when it was on Oprah's favourites list. But the price was right on 6pm.com. It was selling for $39.99, down from it's RRP $110.00.

The next thing in my cart was the Miraclesuit Shapewear Miraclesuit Hi-Waist Thigh Slimmer. I have *ahem* thigh issues *ahem*. I'm always looking for shapewear that will compress my *sigh* saddlebags *sigh*. This was $29.99 from it's RRP of $38.00.

I recently became MASSIVELY obsessed with quilted bags. Hmmm, well, I was previously obsessed with the Stam which is quilted and now I do own one. However, since I haven't paid my sis for it, it is staying in her handbag cupboards till I'm done with payment. Just got through paying off my bracelet - go figure with all the unintentional shopping I end up doing ;p Anywho, this bag has been haunting me, HAUNTING, I tell ya!

I was casually browsing 6pm.com and came across this BCBGMaxAzria Quilted Large Satchel and just fell for it. Forget RM's Covet and/or Jane. At $99.99, I'll take it! Originally this was a pretty reasonable $278.00. I did flip flop on this multiple times, wondering if I really wanted to give up my RM picks but in the end, today's news swayed me into instant gratification mode. I'm still tres happy I got it!

Got this next one when I was browsing HauteLook.com with a bit of disinterest and came across this gorgeous pair of pump-style wedges. OMG, do these not look like the most perfect pair of work shoes ever?!?!?! I mean, it's black, not too high, not too low and closed-toe. Bestest part is it's 100% leather!!!!!

For a very lowly $39.99. I couldn't pass it up! I needed a new pair, if you saw the sorry state of my long-serving (and long-suffering) Snowfly London pumps, you'd agree with me in a jiffy! Original price for this Jessica Simpson Kellie Wedges: $79.00

And after I decided I must, must, must have the Kellie wedge, I then decided I must, must, must have this Cynthia Rowley Soft Wrapped Piping Flap Clutch.

C'mon, I know 2 purses is a tad excessive but this is a Cynthia Rowley going for $59.99 from it's original price tag of 200 smackaroos! And I don't own any maroon/burnt red purses. Plus the whole old-timey feel, I love that - I'm a vintage chica at heart and this appealed to me massively. Granted, this is from seasons' past, eons even but I still have a hankering for it so that's that.

And thus ends this shopping escapade. But no worries, it continues. My bestie is headed to Orlando for some conference and is taking in shopping requests. I have a few items in mind :D

DISCLAIMER: All images screen capped from 6pm.com - my new fave shopping haunt!

UPDATE (16/072012):
I made my order using my AMEX this time around and I got an email from 6pm.com asking me to correct my address :D That's just weird that my MC platinum went through no hitch but my AMEX Platinum caused this order to hit a snafu. Lol, I guess that's my "punishment" for trying to irritate my sis :) Anywho, I emailed them with the right address so we will see if it passes, hehehe.

i had my suspicions

Well, I'm going to be an aunt....for the fourth time ;)

My eldest sis just told all of us she's about 6 weeks preggers today. Luckily for me when my other sis was BBM-ing me about it, I was at home for lunch. My reaction after it sunk in was to burst into wracking sobs. I managed to get myself under control by the time my eldest sis called me to tell her news. Now that I've had a bit of a cry about it, I'm feeling better. I don't guarantee this is the one and only time I'll be shedding tears but maybe when the baby comes, I'll have no reason to be sad/upset any more.

Please God, I just pray for you to wash away my ill-feelings towards my brother-in-law and the choices my sister has made. It's her life, her decisions, let her live them and give me peace from them. I just want to be happy for her, not ambivalent.

third times the charm

After traipsing around the city to every Lioele store and beauty counter (okay, so I exaggerated a tad), I finally got my hands on the Beyond The Solution BB Cream! W00t, w00t!

It cost me $14.40. This Lioele outlet had more interesting products than the bigger first store I went to when I got the powder compact. I was trying to restrain myself from getting the pore clarifying stuff :D

Ok, ok, I know I've gotten TONS of face makeup products. It's all in the name of research, I tell ya! Hehe, however I justify it, I am conscious of the fact I've gotten a gajillion stuff and I am making strides into actually using the products I've gotten.

Currently I'm using the ELF Tinted Moisturiser SPF15 in Honey, ELF All Over Cover Stick in Honey, ELF Studio Pencil Concealer and Brush in Fair (I combine the two concealers) and set it with the ELF Mineral Concealer in Warm. I will then dust on some ELF Mineral Foundation in Warm and set everything with a once-over using the Lioele powder. I then spray on the ELF Studio Makeup Mist & Set. Next I swipe on some Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart and then use my ELF Studio Matte Lip Pencil in Coral to offset the redness. Hmmm, all typed out it seems rather excessive, hehehe. But I swear the results are very natural :D

doing something about it

Ok, I spent 10 minutes moping about my laptop strap then I decided to google to see if I could get a replacement. And it led me to Etsy.com where I found this great seller, ValueBel$Plus. I looked at the inventory and decided to get 2 straps instead of just the one!

First one I chose is this cute silver chain strap. This was $13.99.

I figure if I'm replacing the strap I lost, I might as well customize the look. I think this chain strap will look gorgeous with my RM MAC laptop bag.

I also got the cross body strap below as the proper replacement for the bag. This strap looks pretty similar to what I lost. The best part is it retails for $8.99.

I got both shipped directly to Homeland for $11.32. Total spent was $34.30. Did I really want to be spending money on this? No. But am I glad I have choices now? Resounding YES!.

DISCLAIMER: Images are directly from ValueBelt$Plus and do not belong to moi!

am sad and very pissed with myself

So, it's 99% confirmed I've lost my Rebecca Minkoff MAC laptop strap. I've made my sis check everywhere I can think off and she can't find it. Which leads me to conclude I've left it on the plane. What has me so pissed is I'm usually very anal about checking stuff before I leave. I was particularly hurried that day and that has potentially cost me my strap. Ugh, I'm not liking me so much right now :(

Yay, yay, YAAAAAY! 6pm.com totally ROCKS!

I kept this on the down low since I wasn't sure if the sale was gonna go through or not. I've been antsy for the past couple of days anticipating a cancellation. I'm already in a mental mind-freak about potentially having left my new Rebecca Minkoff MAC laptop bag strap on the plane and was prepping for disappointment on this front as well but.....

I got my HG flatforms! I was just scouring the internet, ready to give in to the PlanetShoes.com price of $71.92 on Amazon.com when I decided to run a Google Shopping search one last time. I arranged the results according to the lowest price first criteria and the first results that appeared happened to be the Ophelia in Whiskey going for $44.99! I was ecstatic.

Without any further thoughts, I immediately clicked on the link, chose my size then put it in my shopping cart. I then looked around to see if there was anything else and nearly got a pair of Naturalizer Payton wedges that were going for $24.99 - LEATHER! Then the voice of reason came back to me and I took 'em outta the cart :D.

I've browsed 6pm.com before and I know it's a Zappos affiliated site but I've never been compelled to buy anything from either 6pm nor Zappos before. Perhaps I thought that better bargains were had elsewhere. Anyways, I guess the price tag of $44.99 for the Bass flatforms were a 4th July special or something cos the next day when I was obsessively refreshing my account page to check if the shoes had shipped, I saw the price had gone up by 15 dollars to $59.99. Still cheaper than most places. Oh, also on the next night after I had gotten this through 6pm, Ideeli.com had them back on but there were no more size 8.5. AND the price was $49.99 - 4 bucks more! So all in all I got the shoes for the cheapest price available right now! WOOHOO!

F21 BOGO July Haul

Can't really say this will be the last BOGO F21 haul for this month since they extended it after Independence Day. I was squeezing in a buy before the promo was ending but yesterday I find that they re-opened the promo after their July 4th one ended. I saw two tops I wanted and am waiting for other stuff to catch my interest :D On to the items I got in my latest F21 purchase.

The main item I wanted was the pale pink scallop cardigan. I was also really in the mood for neutrals hence why there's so much white and beige hues. The only 'radical' item is the tiered retro shift dress. For some reason the pattern and color combo just attracted me so I went for it. I think mainly cos I have this Carl Hiaasen book set in the Florida Keys and there was a flamingo on the cover which led me to thinking about birds of paradise - the flower - and from that rather wacky train of thought came the desire to get the dress :D I also really like the other patterned dress that I got; the abstract print dress. It reminds me of an impressionist print - ooh I'm going all artsy pretentious, hehehe. And I totally love the oval rhinestone ring I picked up as my round-up purchase. For $4.80, it looks like one of those Amrita Singh pieces I usually see on HauteLook.

My total came up to $52.77.