New Year’s Day

Happy New Year’s!  I hope everybody had a safe night last night and your hangovers aren’t too bad.  I spent the night by first watching Star Wars (original episode 4) with my dad while eating lime & salt popcorn (yummy) and drinking a Strawberry Daquiri Sobe (if you’ve never heard of the drink, there is no alcohol in it.  Don’t worry.  It is my favorite store bought beverage ever).  It was a lot of fun!  Then, we played the game Elder Sign.  Kinda geeky, but I really like those kind of games and they’re my dad’s biggest hobby.  So it was fun!  That was my New Year’s night.

Just to let you know- I am adding in a blogging day for each week.  Sunday is going to be Movie Review day.  Each week this year (unless I am prevented during certain weeks for personal reasons) I will do one movie review.  At the beginning of each month, I will make a list of 4 movies for the month, and on each Sunday, I will review a movie!  Stay tuned until the end of this post for a few reviews I’ve already got done.

For New Year’s Day today, we had my baby sister, Momo’s first birthday party.  Her birthday is actually tomorrow, but it’s hard to have a party on a Monday.  A lot of family and family-friends came over, kids played, adults talked, and then we had cake.  She ripped into that cake so good!  She had it EVERYWHERE on her and on the walls in the dining room!  Everyone else had red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (so. good.) and Neapolitan ice cream.  Morgana got a picture with a poem from me, a rocking horse from Nan+Pops, a sippy cup from an aunt and clothes from another aunt and uncle.  It was a good party.  My mom did good cooking for that party so props to her!  I was the party photographer, of course.  I will probably have some pictures up tomorrow for my “Personal Post” (Check out my about page to see my weekly blogging schedule.)

Speaking of New Years, I have a few things to say about this year.  2011 was a horrible year for me.  It was wonderful in many ways, but I went through a very personal and difficult time and it denoted 2011 as awful.  2012 is a fresh start.  Each month I am going to make a goal for myself (personal goals- not anything I’ll be posting on here) and hopefully by 2013, I will have achieved a lot and brought myself back up to 100% as a person.  I am already a more positive person today and I’m doing my best to be extremely optimistic, kind and happy.  I also have a new mindset when it comes to relaxing.  My new thing is that I do not get to relax if I have things to do.  I can’t go to bed unless that laundry’s folded.  I can’t blog until I’ve gotten the sweeping done.  I can’t eat another cupcake until I’ve worked out.  You get the idea.  If I have a chore or obligation to be done, I can’t do anything fun or relaxing until it’s finished.  I’m hoping this will help me to get rid of any procrastinating gene left in my body.  Also, in my blog schedule, you might notice one thing on Friday’s post- it says “weekly picture.”  I’m pretty excited for this.  Unless for some reason I can’t blog on a certain Friday, I will post a picture of myself every Friday (taken that Friday) and by 2013, I’ll get to see how much I’ve changed over the year!  I think that’s a really fun idea.  So I’m happy to be getting that going this Friday.

Moving onto Movie Reviews!  I will do 3 reviews for you right now.  I watched 7 movies this weekend (I know!) but I’m only going to pick a few to review on here since this post is already a bit long.  Then, I will list my four movies to review this month! (There are 4 more Sundays this month!) BY THE WAY: My movie reviews NEVER contain spoilers.

Beauty and the Briefcase

Rated: TV-14

Time Run: 86 Minutes

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Director: Gil Junger

Writer(s): Michael Horowitz & Daniella Brodsky

Starring: Hilary Duff, Jaime Pressly and Jennifer Coolidge

Pros: Funny, sweet, romantic, silly

Cons: A bit confusing, dull, un=realistic scenes, too cliché, annoying credits at the beginning, predictable

My biggest problem: It felt like there really wasn’t a climax in this movie, the whole thing ran a little dull and predictable.

My favorite feature: It definitely was an enjoyable movie, it was pretty silly and girly.  I wouldn’t recommend this to many guys, because it’s a bit too girly.

IMDb’s stars (out of ten): 5.2/10

My stars (out of ten): 3/10

 

Waiting For Forever

Rated: PG-13

Time Run: 95 Minutes

Genre: Drama/Romance

Director: James Keach

writer(s): Steve Adams

Starring: Rachel Bilson, Tom Sturridge and Richard Jenkins

Pros: Beginning was intense and sad (amazing), main character boy is cute, touching, intense, heart breaking, spirit lifting, made me cry several times

Cons: None.

My biggest problem: The ending didn’t fall short, but I did feel like it needed a bit more to it still.

My favorite feature: It was just a very unique and touching movie, it moved me a lot and brought me to tears over five different times.  It is in fact my favorite movie now.

IMDb’s stars (out of ten): 6/10

My stars (out of ten): 10/10

 

The Others

Rated: PG-13

Time Run: 101 Minutes

Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Director: Alejandro Amenabar

Writer(s): Alejandro Amenabar

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston and Fionnula Flanagan

Pros: Unexpected ending, suspenseful

Cons: Lighting too dark, drawn out

My biggest problem: I really dislike movies with really dark settings because it makes me feel like I can’t see what’s going on- even though in “dark setting movies” you can see what’s happening.  It just gives me a headache and frustrates me.  Almost this entire movie was in a very dark setting.

My favorite feature: The ending was very unexpected and surprised me.

IMDb’s stars (out of ten): 7.7/10

My stars (out of ten): 6/10

 

Now, my list of four movies to watch and review this month!

1. Mao’s Last Dancer
2. Never Been Kissed
3. Meet the Parents
4. Dandelion

That’s all for today!  See you!

 

 

A Little Review

In my previous post, I informed you of my purchases at Sephora.  I got a plum lip liner and a rouge lipstick from their store brand and also got the Bare Escentuals SPF 15 Matte foundation.  Today I used all three items along with a little blush, bronzer, eyeliner and mascara.

First, the lip liner.  I purchased Pleasant Plum lip liner by Sephora.  I absolutely loved this product!  It went on very smoothly and made it easy to create a precise line.  It was also a nice color to outline red lips, as it blended in a bit but also gave a bit of depth to the look.

Second, the lipstick.  I purchased Sephora Rouge by Sephora.  This is my favorite lip stick/color ever.  It’s such a buildable product and can go from a tinted gloss look to a deep, formal matte look.

Third, the foundation.  I purchased Bare Escentuals SPF 15 Matte foundation from Sephora.   I adore this foundation.  Although I will have to continue use with it before I decide if it’s going to be in my everyday routine, I love it so far.  It didn’t cover up my freckles or blemishes, but I wasn’t wearing concealar today and that’s not a foundation’s job.  It did however smooth out my coloring and create a slightly flawless look.  It didn’t settle into my face lines and make me look ten years older than I am like my old cheap Cover Girl liquid foundation did.  It just sat on top of my skin in a light and smooth layer without actually looking like it was on top of my skin.  It simply made me look like I wasn’t wearing any foundation at all and had marvelously healthy, glowing, natural skin.  It was quite wonderful!  Some reviews on Bare Minerals did say that it broke them out.  Most reviews actually said that Bare Minerals helped clear many breakouts.  So, I really need to wait a couple of weeks to see what my overall opinion on it is because you never know, I could be one of the people negatively effected by it.  After all, I do have very sensitive skin.

So anyways!  Here is two pictures I took today with the look.  The pictures do show a pretty good idea of the lip color.  It is a bit more wine-red than that, but the flash on the camera brought out orange tones.   Also, I did edit these photos, but the only thing I edited was my skin because I’m having quite a few breakout spots right now.  My eye color and the lipstick are 100% un-edited.

Click on the photos for enlargement and better clarity.

See you next time!

Christmas Photos, Haul, Personal Stuff

Hello!

If you have read my about page, you know that I have set days that I’m supposed to blog certain things.  Well, just a heads up, that blogging schedule will not happen until the January 1st, 2012.  Until then, I’m going to be a bit messy with my posts as there is quite a few things preventing me from being able to follow the schedule.  Keep that in mind!

I promised you all Christmas pictures, right?  Well, first let me tell you how Christmas went down.

• Woke up, spilled half a tub of coffee all over the kitchen floor.  Have I mentioned I had an extremely clutzy gene on Christmas?
• Opened presents under the tree.  It was Momo’s first Christmas, and she did really well with unwrapping her gifts.  I received my Canon PowerShoot SX130IS, a case and a memory card.  Because I had just barely opened it, I didn’t really know the settings or workings, so I didn’t get much pictures of Christmas morning.
• I spent a while fiddling around with my camera and studying the settings and controls.
• Got dressed, flat ironed my hair, did makeup (all that girly shtuff) and then packed for Nana’s.  (I sound like a ten year old when I talk about staying over at my grandmother’s.)
• Went to Nana’s.
• Spent time with family.
• Ate a yummy Christmas feast.
• Spent more time with family.
• Opened more presents.  Received a Sephora gift card for $50 from my grandparents, an adorable ring from my aunt, the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from my other aunt and $25 in cash from my great-grandfather.
• Ate some pie.
• Hung out with family some more.
• Went to bed.

That was my Christmas Day!  It was pretty fun.  It strangely didn’t feel as festive as Christmas usually does, though.

Anyways!  Here’s a few pictures I took on Christmas morning and then a little later before I headed off to Nana’s.  By the way, you can click any of the photos for a larger image and clearer quality.  Also, Espoir Photography is my photography company and you may not use any of my photos without consent.  You can find my company Facebook page here.

 

My Christmas Day outfit: (I apologize for the very dirty mirror.)  I wore just a long sleeved black shirt, a black scarf, a black belt, blue jeans and black Nike snow boots.  I have no idea where I got any of it.

 All photos taken with a Canon SX130IS.

Then, I ended up going shopping at Sephora on the 26th (day after Christmas and Boxing Day for the UK, Australia and Canada if I am correct) with my aunt.  Here’s a little haul of what I got!

Bag that my gift card and samples came in.  I love their bags, so classy and small!

 First sample.  Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash.  I used it Christmas night.  I thought it was fabulous, it got my face really clean and refreshed.  The next morning I noticed that it had broke me out like crazy.  Never using the stuff again.  I’m disappointed because at first I thought this stuff was wonderful and I was prepared to buy the full product right away.

Second sample. Dior Homme perfume.  I am wearing it right now!  I love it so much!  At first, I sprayed it on, smelled it, and almost threw up.  It smelled like a mix of wonderful perfume, cucumbers and tomato acid.  If that even makes sense.  After it dried though, it was absolutely marvelous.  I love the smell a lot and might have to buy a whole bottle when my sample runs out!

This was the box my gift card came in!  On the left is the card.  On the right was an awesome compact mirror!  Most amazing gift card ever!  So fancy!

What did I buy at Sephora?…..this:

and this…

 and this…

The first item was a waterproof lip liner by Sephora (I normally don’t like their brand, just a few brands they carry in the store, but I tested these two lip items and LOVED them!) It was in the shade Pleasant Plum.

This picture isn’t very good, but the color of this lip liner is almost exactly the color it looks like in this picture.  I would have swatched it, but I don’t like wasting lip liner at all.

The second item was a lipstick by Sephora.  I fell in complete, outrageous, lovely love with this lipstick when I tested it.  It’s so buildable and with a little bit of it can pass a really classy and everyday red-coral, but add some more and it turns into a very romantic and deep red.  It’s the perfect red, I swear.  It’s in the shade of Sephora Rouge.

This picture shows the exact shade of it in the tube.

Here’s Sephora Rouge’s swatch.  I could not get a good photo.  I’m going to have to definitely work on good quality swatch photos with this camera.  The color in this photo is almost perfect though, it’s just a bit more of a wine color than that.

The third item was Bare Minerals/Bare Escentuals matte SPF 15 foundation.

I got it in shade Light.  I have been wanting this foundation for a very long time.  A few of my close friends use it religiously.  I love matte foundations, powder foundations, and of course, foundations that have lots of SPF.  So, this is the perfect foundation for me.  I hope.  I’m going to try it tomorrow morning, along with the new lip liner and lip-stick I got.

So with that, I will probably be testing all of these products out thoroughly tomorrow!  If I do, I will of course take photos and do a follow-up review.

That is all for tonight!  This blog post took me an hour to write, upload & edit.  Phew!  Blogging is hard work.

Another update tomorrow, I hope!  See you later!