~ Halloween Preview ~

I know...enough about Halloween already! But, did you know that Halloween is one of the biggest holidays? What other holidays spawn hundreds of holiday merchandise stores in the malls and shopping centers? What other holidays can girls dress as ... sexually adventurous .... as their conscience or bfs allow and not be called names? What other holidays can guys dress as girls and be praised? What other holidays can you make yourself ugly and win contests?

This year is probably the only year that I have put this much thought and planning into Halloween. The past few years have been getting ready to pass out candy or trying to hide because I didn't have candy. This year has been a slew of emails with friends about outfits and schedules. I even tried on the costume again just now to make sure my shoes match and to find the right accessories.


I took this with my mac's photo booth. The camera was downstairs with my dad and I didn't feel like strutting down there in my .... sexually adventurous .... costume to get the camera. So here's just a sneak peak of what is to come tomorrow. We are going to do a photo shoot before we head out. Let's see if I can photograph people well.



This is the last time I am going to wear such a short dress. In public. :D Are you as excited about Halloween as I am?

~ Strolling Down Memory Lane ~

When I signed into Facebook today, I noticed that my cousin in Hong Kong tagged me in a bunch of pictures. I figured it was pictures from last year when I went there...till I clicked on the first one. Yeah, this is definitely not last year! I guess she was looking through old pictures with my mom and just snapped some pictures of the pictures and posted them on Facebook! Ahh...the memories...Though it's a little embarrassing, I enjoyed this public stroll down memory lane....

This is probably when I was a month old. My cousin Mandy (on the left) is about 3 weeks older than me. So, we have lots of pictures together. Yes, I looked like a boy.

This is from my grandparents' farm, on one of those Chinese holidays that we needed to burn incense and offer food to the gods and such. Hmm...I was just picking up the apple because I was told to right? I didn't look sneaky at all. That's Mandy with me again.

I have no idea where this was....

I really like my outfit here...I was all Chinese-looking....

I remember this ... I think. It was soon before we moved to Chicago. A lot of us went up to this new temple. It was a long walk. I was playing Gameboy. See? I was a gamer even when I was 10.

This is probably from one of the last beach trips. We went camping by the beach and I saw a horseshoe crab for the first time. It was amazing!!!

When I see these pictures of my family after I moved to Chicago, I am sad that I missed all these fun events. I am not saying it wasn't fun growing up in Chicago, but I really missed my cousins and everyone else in Hong Kong.

I am guessing these are pictures we sent back to my cousin from Chicago. I love my brother's glasses. So nerdy!

Probably the first Christmas in Chicago. I know she looks like my sister, but that's my mom :)

We had a lot of good bbqs. Once again, those glasses are hilarious! Thank goodness she didn't show any pictures of me with my glasses.

~ Nintendo DSi LL ~

I love the Nintendo DS. I love it so much that I got two...one for my fiance and one for me so we won't have to fight over it. I used to carry it around with me and play whenever I get a chance. But, that was before I opened my jewelry shop. Now, it's just being used as a prop for my accessories pictures.

I think Nintendo is really good with continuously improving their products. They improved the original DS by giving it a sleeker look and brighter screen. They improved the DS Lite by adding a camera and slightly bigger screen. Now, they have come out with DSi LL, which is basically just bigger, with a huge 4.2 in screen.

One may argue that a portable gaming system should be as small as possible. But, I think they did the right thing here. Nintendo DS has a very wide target audience, the casual gamer. Casual gamers like my mom whose hand cramps up from holding the little stylus for too long would love this new bigger DS with a fatter stylus. The new bigger stylus looks a lot sturdier and comfortable. She wouldn't mind that the whole console is bigger because she just puts it in her purse anyway.

Also, the big screen is a major plus. My mom won't have to put on her glasses and squint at the games anymore.

It comes in dark brown, burgundy and white. I think my mom will really like the burgundy one. It looks so much classier. It's coming out in mid November in Japan. I hope it comes to the US soon after. My mom needs a new DS. This is her second one and she has already ruined the screen by playing too much. She loves Magnetica. In the game, you have a marble in the middle that u need to fling outwards with the stylus. She has basically worn out that middle spot on the screen. And the hinges are loose.

If they come out with a yellow one, I am totally buying it. :)

~ Fun Tools from Gmail Lab ~

I am sure most of you have a GMail account. Did you know that there are a lot of beta features for Gmail? They range from fun to necessities. To explore these features, click on "Settings" in the upper right hand corner and then click on "Labs".


All you have to do is click on "Enable" for the features that you like. Don't forget to click on "Save Changes" when you are done.

Here's my list of "must-haves":

• Offline: Use your GMail in your browser even when you are offline!
  
• Signature Tweaks: Places your signature before the quoted text in a reply, and removes the "--" line that appears before signatures.
• Canned Responses: Email for the truly lazy. Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.
• Forgotten Attachment Detector: I do this all the time!!! I have done it at work, and even when I was sending resumes to recruiters! This feature prevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments. Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.
• Undo Send: Ok. I do this sometimes too. Just hit send when I wanted to save, so this is really good for me. Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.

There are some fun ones like Mail Goggle that makes you do some simple math before it allows you to send an email. So, no more "omg I can't believe I just confessed my undying love to my hot TA while I was drunk!!!".

There's one that puts a random quote as your signature for you. There are features to let you preview YouTube videos, Flickr pictures, and more right in your email. There's also language translation tools, google docs and google calendar gadgets.

Just go explore :)

~ Momo's Puppy-Cut ~

We cut Momo's hair this weekend. My dad got these clippers from China and it's fairly quiet. Momo is ok with it so we clip him every month or two. Saves us a good chunk of money that I can use to buy more supplies for my shop :)

We have to put him on that little table so he wouldn't move too much.

Hehe...caught him yawning!

Getting his front paws is a little bit harder. He is curious what the clippers are and always want to sniff at it. So, I had to distract him with treats.

As soon as he's done eating, he's back to sniffing at the clippers.

Look at his feet! See the big difference before and after we cleaned it up? No wonder he was slipping and sliding around the hardwood floors. He's definitely running faster now that he has traction again.

Look at all that hair that we clipped off. This is a little shorter than I intended...

We cut the hair around his belly kinda short. He looks so skinny now. But both my dad and finance like him like this.

Still cute right? I think I need to cut the hair under his chin a little bit more.


My dad likes to go to Petco or Petsmart to watch people groom the dogs. So, he's been getting better. It's fairly easy actually. Only took us about 20 minutes. We also shaved his butt. Sometimes, his poop gets caught in all that hair....not very pretty. Is that TMI? hehe

~ The Big 28 ~

Wasn't it just yesterday when I turned 18 and I was celebrating with my friends at my parent's restaurant? And they gave me a book where each of them wrote how they met me, what they love about me, a pet peeve about me and full of pictures of them with me. That was one of the sweetest gift ever. Then, I went over to the gas station and purchased my first cigarettes with my friend Conrad. No, I don't smoke. It was for him.

10 years later, and I....look the same! :D Ok, I am just kidding. I had short hair back then so that's different :D Here's a picture of me and my mom on my 18th birthday.


Here she is a few days ago. She's traveling and can't be with me on my birthday but it's ok. She always calls on my birthday. I think she remembers very well that she was in labor for 24 hours 28 years ago. Thanks Mom! O yeah, I think she looks better now than when I was 18 :)


So, yesterday, my friends and I went to Niwano Hana for dinner. There was a small mixup with the location. Sorry to my two wonderful friends who went to the wrong place and had to drive around!!!! But, dinner was great! The owner (I think...) stood up on a chair and took a group picture of us. He's so funny!


I like to think he was trying to match with me :)


The third take outside the restaurant. It was warm, then got really cold.


Then, we went off to karaoke. I love karaoke with my friends. We are all good performers!! We sing some Mariah Carey, Madonna, Britney, and more!



Check out those hot red shoes!


My fiance got me the most awesome cake from Stella's Bakery. It's tiramisu and it's seasonal. I went in September to get one for him, but they said they don't make it till it gets colder.


Thanks to everyone for celebrating with me and for all the wonderful presents! I wonder what my birthday celebration will be like when I am 38......gosh that looks like such a scary number right now....

~ Second Time on Etsy Front Page ~

I usually don't blog twice in a day, but I am too excited not to share. Woke up to 300 views this morning! Checked craftcult real quick and found out that my Venom Necklace was on the Etsy front page at 4am! No sales though and just 2 hearts on the necklace. Still, I am happy to have been picked :)

~ Impromptu Swarovski Crystal Jewelry Party ~

On the last Chicago trip, I held an impromptu jewelry party at my friend's mom's office. Well, it was more like I brought jewelry for my friend's mom and everyone came in to look and started buying stuff and ordering stuff. There was a little bit of bargaining and it was the first time I was on the selling side. I just had no idea what I was doing. I definitely gave some really good deals that day. But, I sold a lot and I got a huge custom order. Here are some of the pieces I just finished. I am thinking about listing some of them in my shop.

Ariel's bracelet and necklace set...




They really liked my Sunshine in Provo necklace...except they all wanted different colors. One color scheme is derived from my Nadia's Earrings in Violet Velvet and the other is from Stranded Necklace. I also made one in just golden shadow.




One of my all time favorites: Princess Mori's Necklace...


Earrings to match the Old World's Necklace....


I just sent everything out this morning. I am a little bit nervous. This is the biggest order I have mailed out. I got insurance on it, but I am still scared that something is going to happen to my precious creations.

Next time, I am going to prepare better and mark everything with price. I didn't do that and it was a mess to try to remember how much everything was. And I just wrote down on scrap paper what people ordered and it just wasn't very clean. With everyone talking and asking questions, it was just so hectic! Fun though...I definitely look forward to next time :)

~ Halloween Costume: Sexy Belle ~

My dear friends have been telling me to get a costume for the past month and I just haven't had the time. With Halloween looming in the corner, I finally decided to take a couple hours to go shopping. I am very happy that my dear friends joined me in this adventure even though I was the only costume-less one.

So, I actually only tried on one costume because (call me snobby if you want) the dressing rooms are so ghetto and we were there late and .... ok I was lazy. This is the one I picked. I just love yellow!!! I had to get extra small and it was the last one at the store! I am usually a size 4/6 but this one is actually loose! The material...is definitely not worth $50!

Now I have to figure out my hair, shoes and jewelry. I think I am going to make some special earrings with yellow crystal hearts. I am not going to get white mary janes just for a costume though. I already spent enough on the dress and the petticoat.

This is the first time I bought a costume for Halloween since I was 12. I am starting to feel like this is a big scam just like bridesmaid dresses. You pay so much for an outfit that's not well made and you only wear once. Maybe twice if you really stretch it or trade with a friend. Oh well, I am excited to dress up next week :)

~ Sephora 20% Off Everything ~

I got an email from my friend with a Sephora coupon code (FF2009) for 20% off. It's valid till November 2nd. Inner shopaholic is banging on the prison bars to be let out! So...I took a quick look on Sephora.com :)

Right off the bat, I spotted the Ultimate Blockbuster. I don't think I need anything else if I get this. It has all this for $48!!!

• 84 x 0.04 oz eyeshadows
• 3 x 0.19 oz blushes
• 60 x 0.03 oz lip glosses
• 2 x 0.03 oz lip liners
• 3 x 0.03 oz eyeliners
• 6 x 0.02 oz cream eyeliners
• 6 x 0.02 oz matte eyeshadows
• 6 x 0.03 oz sparkling eyeshadows
• Double-ended eyeshadow applicator/ eyeliner brush
• Double-ended sponge-tipped applicator
• Lip brush
• Powder brush

The cutest perfume set ever! I love these Harajuku Lovers Perfume!! I actually have one that I wear occasionly. Honestly, I only like how they look though.


Of course, this mascara set is in my cart :) $104 value for only $39. And now another 20% off???? How can I resist? Damn their smart marketing ploys. Makes me want things that I don't need.


I have heard many great things about Smashbox. This one looks nice...the Wish Eye Wish Palette
The bottom slots are cream eye liners. I have never tried it but it sounds good! $234 Value for $44 and now 20% off? Man...this is getting really hard.


This got my artistic side screaming with excitement! It reminds me of my PrismaColors color pencils It's pricey though....over $200! But I want it...the 25 Aqua Eyes Collector Set. Supposedly, Aqua Eyes is an award-winning, waterproof, and long-lasting eye liner pencil that contains a unique formula that adheres to the eye lids and resists water—even under the most extreme conditions. Its creamy texture glides on effortlessly for precise application and intense color, and by smudging it immediately after applying to the lid, it can double as a shadow. There is a smaller set....


There are a lot more! I think I may just get a little something for myself and a bottle of nice cologne for my fiance. Ooo, I am almost out of eye makeup remover, so that's a valid purchase. I really, really don't need makeup! I am going to keep telling myself that and see if it'll stop me from buying everything I listed here. Good thing I have till Nov 2nd to decide!