and ya just what i need.

one thing i've noticed is that i can cheer myself up quite easily with the littlest things.

going to watch the avengers tonight with ma friend! i wonder if i'll like it... i've never been a big superhero movie buff. those type of movies don't excite me quite like harry potter does. but i'm going to keep an open mind!

it's officially summer! after i submit this last final for my linguistics class, that is. i actually should be in san diego right at this moment right now... but i'm not. and i'm missing out on sungod for the third year in a row. i officially suck! :'(  reason #2 why i need to cheer up today!

and so, the May project begins.

mermaidenry life.

Have I mentioned that I like mermaids? I wrote about them in my personal statement on my application to UCs. (i got into all three of the UCs I applied to!) but yeah, i love them that much! There's so much more to mermaids than what meets the eye. I think I can truly say that the story of the mermaid has captivated me, heart, mind, and soul (as cliche as that sounds!) But let's save this speech for another day. I really just wanted to blog about some of my mermaid-esque inspirations. 

So during my blogging hiatus, I redyed my hair red. I redyed my hair just a few days ago actually. It was turning its usual orange and I really missed feeling like Ariel, so I carpooled with my parents to WalMart and HomeDepot and walked to Sally's to grab some hair dye and shampoo. I like being a redhead a lot, but lately I've been wanting to explore different colors. I came across this hair idea a few days ago and have completely fallen in love with it! If I don't chicken out I think I'm actually going to try this the next time I decide to redo my hair instead of go red again. It's a different approach to the mermaid look right? Not that I'm going for that but it does seem to fit. (and when it fades it'll look something like the latter picture--wishful thinking, wishful thinking :) 

I might just keep my dark roots though. Something like this I suppose :) I'm still really loving the ombre look. And I think my sudden fascination with this teal blue and sea green color combo goes beyond hair. On the trip to HomeDepot with my parents I ventured to the paint aisle and fell in love with the combo when I saw it displayed together on the shelf. I think I might just paint my room those two colors before I go away in the fall this summer. 

On another note, here's some more of my mermaid/ombre/sea green & blue obsessions. 

so this is it.

I GOT INTO BERKELEY! whoop, whoop.

three week hiatus.

oh gosh. only one more day until i find out whether or not i get into UCB. wish me luck. i've been on a non-posting streak, but i think i'll get back into the swing of things soon enough... so much for my april project! well, now that school's going to be out maybe i can turn it into a may project. or better yet, a summer project. i'm so ready for school to be over. i think i have transferitis right now!

spring rain

it rained yesterday and today. and this has been the longest week ever! so i haven't really blogged. let's just say, i started the week off with a life-changing situation. not necessarily my own situation, but my friend's. and i can't lie, it's stressed me out a bit, turning my headache into a full blown cold (of some sort--i'm never good with identifying what kind of sickness i have). anywhoo... i'm home sick today. was home sick yesterday (and more than half of my classes got cancelled too so it just further compelled me to stay home and not waste gas). i think i'm less stressed now though, because it's not necessarily my problem, but it's still a stressing situation overall. for everyone. i haven't gotten a lot of sleep over it. not because i've been staying up thinking about it... but also because i've been staying up thinking about it haha. talking to other people about it. waiting to hear more about it. trying to help whoever needs help. but to no avail, really. let's just say... that there's going to be a wedding on saturday.

tomorrow i head out to uc santa cruz for the spring spotlight event. i'll be taking my sister, pa voua, and her sister. i need to rest today so i have energy tomorrow.

my posts have been so dull lately. here are some pictures from spring break and this week via instagram to brighten it up. instagram is so handy dandy. je l'aime.

my hummus lunch

thrifting at the goodwill!

night out for Pa Voua's birthday!

All the girls after dinner.

Pho for lunch before the party! 

the partay!

30 mile bike ride with my family.

easter lunch

tattoos, just like the old times, with my cousins.

easter day volleyball games.

headache breakfast.

quinoa salad.

blue like the sky with diamonds.

i did a lot of things this spring break that i can blog about. i made my friend, pa voua, a scarf for her birthday--the braided one listed below for my april project actually. i went thrifting and got lots of cute dresses. i got drunk and had a good night. i biked for 30 miles with my family and then we spent the weekend together celebrating easter and having a terrific time!

i did a lot of productive things which i would say made spring break a success. but, oddly it didn't feel like a success. even though, normally, i know it would have. i know i would have been happy. really happy. so... i've concluded that i'm unhappy. not just upset or angry and unhappy, but really, unhappy. and it's been such a long time since i've genuinely been unhappy that i'm not familiar with it anymore and i feel lost. heartless. cold. empty.

i confided in my friend. he shared this song with me, again.

a post for Kristina.

I told my lovely friend, Kristina, that I would help her find some affordable makeup at the drugstore when she came home for her spring break! Unfortunately, though, time was not on our side. But because she is a silent reader of my blog,  I’ve compiled a list of products for her so that the next time she makes a run for Target or Rite Aid she’d know what to look out for! Here goes:

I never wore makeup up until about three years ago, when I started college. For some reason, the summer after high school I became completely obsessed with youtube makeup tutorials, and spent hours upon hours just watching people do their makeup. So I learned a lot about makeup products that way… and even now to this day, I don’t like to buy a new product unless I check out reviews on youtube and see what other people are saying about it. I’ve found out the hard way that if I just buy something on a whim, it could go terribly wrong…. So most of the things I am listing actually come from lots of hard research I’ve done via youtube. Therefore, I can say that you can somewhat trust my judgment!

Foundation: The basics!

Sometimes I don’t want to wear makeup at all. But if I’m going out I have to at least have moisturizer and foundation on. If you can get a moisturizing foundation (or tinted moisturizer) that’s even better! I’m assuming that Kristina and I have the same type of skin—normal/dry.  So here are some of the products that I’ve used in the past that I’ve liked.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Glow Sheer (Tinted Moisturizer)

This product’s great for the summer when you don’t want your face to feel caked on with makeup while you’re sweating. It’s light and works well for people who have nice skin (which, Kristina, I know you do) and don’t have much to cover up. I know I said that I do tons of research before I buy products, so shame on me, but this product was actually one of those products that I bought on a whim which just happened to work out really well. I love it! It’s so simple. You just put it on with your fingers! And you have healthy, dewy looking skin.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin

I liked this foundation but when I bought it I was really infatuated with the tinted moisturizer previously mentioned so I didn’t use it too much. I can tell you though that I bought it because a youtube guru was raving about how similar it was to the NARS foundations. But, since I’ve never tried the fancy NARS foundations I can’t really confirm that statement. It is great though.

L’Oreal True Match

Another great foundation. I bought it because Kandee Johnson used it for a lot of her makeup tutorials, including highlighting and contouring with foundation and such.  

Revlon ColorStay

I think Revlon Colorstay is the classic “good foundation from the drugstore” foundation. They have two separate formulas, one for combination/oily skin and one for normal/dry skin. I use the normal/dry skin. People complain a lot about the distinct smell, but I really don’t mind.

Revlon PhotoReady

PhotoReady was such a big thing when it came out. Everyone was making reviews about it. Personally, I didn’t like it as much as Colorstay. It’s wayyyy too shimmery for me. I’m assuming you’re supposed to wear it for when you want to look picture perfect, but I don’t understand how that would work if your face is shining like Edward Cullen on a sunny day. I just thought I’d include it since I have used it, and I do like to mix it with other foundations. Keep in mind that with foundation you want to get the right color! But if you don’t get the right color and you don’t return the product, you can always mix it with other foundations you have to try to get the right shade for you. I actually did that for quite a long time since both of the foundations I got worked better together (L’oreal True Match and PhotoReady).

Blush

I really like ELF makeup products because they’re affordable! Most of their products range from $1-$5 and can be found at Target or online. I think their blushes work great! They have lots of different colors to choose from and I’ve used both the $1 blushes and the $3 studio blushes. Both of them don’t last long and will eventually wear off as the day progresses, but for the price I’d say they get the job done pretty well. There’s nothing wrong with reapplying blush every few hours! I’d maybe recommend the $3 blushes over the $1 ones, but I actually think they work pretty much the same. I guess it just depends on what shade you want since they will have different sets of colors to choose from. You can see from the packaging that the $3 Studio blushes look like NARS blushes. I’ve heard lots of comparisons about the two as well. (pictured is the $1 then the $3 studio blush)

Mascara
My go-to mascara that I always wear is the L’Oreal Voluminous. I’ve never really ventured too far away from it because I like it so much! It gives a pretty dramatic and lush effect though, so if you’re not really into that you should probably try something that has a thinner more precise brush, like the Maybelline Oscillating Pulse Perfection (which vibrates) or Rimmel Sexy Curves (which I use for my under lashes). Unlike Voluminous, the brushes of those two are made up of plastic bristles instead of hair-like ones which will not give you a full voluminous effect.

Eyeshadow
I never wear eyeshadow. I went through a phase where I wanted to buy a lot of eye shadow products, but then somewhere along the way I realized that I hate wearing eyeshadow on a daily basis and never do anyways, so it ended. But while I was in that phase I picked up a few ELF books from Target which I thought were really good for being only $5! If you’re investing in eyeshadow, I actually recommend going straight to Sephora or Ulta because there are so many different textures that you can find at those stores, like glittery shadows, or matte shadows, or satin finishes, ect. The ELF eyeshadow booklet I thought did a good job of incorporating these different types of textures. The color payoff’s really good, and theres also a good enough variety of colors within each book to start you off if you don't already have a lot of different eyeshadows.

I hope this helped! You should also check out the Beauty Department for more beauty tips. I love that place!