~ After Christmas Missha Haul ~

When I shop alone, I don't do that much damage.  But, check out the shopping powers of me and my friends combined!  There's BB cream, face wash, face masks, face creams, nail polish remover and more!  And yes, I got the snail cream!

So, combined, our order total was $200.57.  Just enough to get the surprise gift set!  There's 3 small BB creams, 4 lipsticks and a cream eye shadow.  Nice.  The little BB creams will be good for the purse or traveling.

I will do a more detailed review of the creams and such when I use them later. It will probably take me a month or so to get to them :) No more skin care! Even though I just made an order at The Body Shop because they had a 1/2 off sale and I want to stock up on more Bath and Body Works stuff during their semi-annual sale. Damnit! Skincare products are like drugs!

~ Cake Dreams Winter Flavors ~

Recently, I stopped by Cake Dreams to grab some dessert for a friend.  To my disappointment, they don't have my favorite lemon or peanut butter!  *tear*  But, they did have a few winter flavors and the classic stuff like Chocolate Fudge and Red Velvet.

Guess which one is the Winter Peppermint?  If you guessed the ones with the peppermint candy on top, you are a genius!  :)  The one with the brown powder sprinkled on top is eggnog.  The cake itself is just regular yellow cake if I remember correctly.  It's the icing that's supposedly awesome!  I say supposedly because I forgot to eat the winter flavors.  I was too full from an awesome hot pot and I really wanted the raspberry one.  It's fruity so it's healthier right?

This is the gingerbread one.  The candy looks so cute on top!  So anyway, my friends said the cupcakes were good.  Let me know if you like any of these winter flavors.  I think I just want to wait for the lemon to come back... Can't wait till spring!

And by the way, these winter flavors won't be around forever.  According to their website, "SPECIAL DECEMBER FLAVORS:  Gingerbread with spiced orange icing everyday in December and Egg Nog and White Chocolate Peppermint of Fridays and Saturdays or by special order of 6 or more and 48hrs notice."  

~ Zuma Blitz Tips: Dark Sand ~

Another week and another map for Zuma Blitz.  I name this one "Dark Sand".  I love how the maps are so different that I need different strategies this week.  At first, I thought this one is hard.  The fruits are in the upper left and right corners.  When there are 2 rows of balls in front of it, not even a flaming fireball can reach the fruit.  Another issue is that most of the time, the middle track is covering the outer track and it takes a while for the balls of the middle track to reach the bottom of the screen.  So, you are limited to where you can shoot the ball.

However, there are a few redeeming qualities for this map.

1. The tracks are close to the frog so it's easier to aim.  
2. Because the tracks are in concentric circles, you get a lot of chances to get gap shots. 
3. Since your primary target is the balls coming in from the left hole, you can easily clear that track for an added bonus.  Yeah, I just figured out that you get bonus points for clearing a track.

This week, I have been using these powers when I have the Mojo.  I like bombs because the tracks are so close to each other that it's likely that there are a few bombs close enough to cause a chain reaction.  And you'll need the cannon to reach the fruits and treasure chests.  And I just unlocked Chrono Balls this week and it adds a second to every time ball that you get.  Pretty awesome.  But, at 2500 Mojo per game, I don't get to play with powers often.

This is why I like Chrono Balls.  Extra 36 seconds for the game.  Not bad at all.  I wold also recommend speed shot because you do need that little extra kick to get the gap shots.  So, if you don't have Chrono Balls yet, Speed Shot is a good alternative for this week.

Alright, I know now that 578k is nothing worth bragging about, but that's what I have so far.  Beat that~!  :)  By the way, playing on my macbook sucks.  I need a mouse with right click to effectively change the ball colors! 

*edit*  Muahahahaha :)

~ Merry Christmas! ~

I can't believe it's Christmas already~! Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a great time with your family and friends and made them happy with the thoughtful presents you got for them. I got festive with my nails today and I just LOVE them~!  Isn't this snowman so cute?

I did something different for every nail!  I draw so well right??  Please excuse my sad cuticles.  I need to use the cuticle oil that I have!

Ok, I lied.  It's stickers.  I think I have 5 or 6 sheets of these left.  Yay for crazy impulse shopping in Hong Kong.  I think I have enough nail stickers to last me 5 years.  I was thinking about selling it on Etsy, but I don't think it's allowed.  So, I will just use them all myself!  Or have a blog sale.  I don't know.  My inner hoarder is telling me to keep them all to myself :)

So, my friends came over and we had an online shopping spree at Missha and Bath and Body Works.  Bad bad bad!  But, who can resist 50% off and free gift and clearance with another 20% off???  The Bath and Body Works semi annual sale started online.  And there's a 20% off + free shipping over $50 coupon code!  It's "F102777". The body butters are 1/2 off and buy 3 get 3 free and after the coupon it's like $3 each!

Ok, seriously, enough shopping!!  I am going to be a good girl.  I think.  No Victoria's Secret.  No more anything!  Ok, gonna go do a face mask so I can make room for the new face masks that are coming next week.  :)

~ Thank You for the Christmas Presents! ~

I got a surprise package in the mail today. Gotta love my LGs~!  I love this mini card!  So cute!  and everything was so nicely wrapped.  To my lovely LGs, your presents will come when I visit!

I guess I should've put this under my tree and wait till tomorrow but.... I just wanted to open it.  It's Munny~!  And the surprise accessory is a very cool hat!  Hmm.... what should I do with this?  I think I am going to give it anime eyes.... and make the hat yellow.  With stars.  Maybe I should hotfix some Swarovskis on it to make it bling?  This is going to be hours of entertainment!

In the box was also another fun toy.  I have never seen this before, but it's called Piperoid.  It's like these paper tubes that you can use to create robots.  Fun!

I didn't think I will have a tree this year, but my dad found the little one I had from a few years ago and plugged it in.  So, I have been putting some of the presents underneath it.  This one is so pretty that I just didn't want to unwrap it.  I have already unwrapped and consumed my other presents... I just get too excited and can't wait till Christmas to unwrap presents!

Ok, so this is my little prelit baby tree.  Poor thing.  I can't even find the ornaments for it.  This is as Christmasy as it gets in my house.

So, thank you everyone for all your wonderful presents and thoughtfulness.  I appreciate everything!  If you are wondering what my husband got for me, hopefully I will be able to show you in a few months.  :)

~ Missha 50% off Sale and Victoria's Secret Semi Annual Sale~

Ok, what is up with these sales!  I feel like this year has some pretty good deals.  Here we are, 2 days before Christmas and I am still seeing sales!  Most tempting is Missha and Victoria's Secret.  Missha has 50% off everything except their BB creams.  I really don't need anything because I have enough skin care to probably last me a year!  But, I do kind of want to get their cleansing oil...  I have heard many good things about it.  It's only $12.5 for 200mL bottle!

And I am pretty curious about this Snail Cream. It sounds so disgusting! I don't know if it's because it just reminds me of all the slugs that we caught in our yards that we fed to our fish this past summer. But, it just sounds disgusting. I just keep imagining a slug crawling on my face, leaving a trail of age-defying slime. But the packaging is nicely yellow.

The nail polish is also dirt cheap.  Although I was not impressed with the ones I got from clearance before because the colors are really translucent.  I usually have to put 3 coats to get a decent color.  It was only $0.29 each so I guess I shouldn't have expected too much.  I think Missha is more known for the BB Creams and I have enough to last me a while too.  I do like this travel set.  So cute and 50% off!

Over at Victoria's Secret, the semi-annual sale has started!  Free shipping with $100 purchase.  I usually get a few boucle sweaters during these sales because they are just so awesome (review here).  But, they don't have that many styles this year and it's not that cheap.  The cheapest one is $19.  I want the $15 turtlenecks!  They do have really cheap leggings though.  Just $5!  But the colors are pretty bright...  They have regular color leggies for $10.

I don't buy VS undergarments anymore, but I did see some very tempting deals.  Though I do prefer shopping for those items at Nordstrom rack because the prices are just about the same as the sale prices at VS and I think the quality is better.  They just lack the sexy VS models that makes every woman want to be like them.

VS also has a pretty good sale for their body and beauty products.  Lotions, perfumes, lipglosses, makeup palettes up to 50% off!  I like these little ornaments.

Ok, let's see if I can control myself.  I do need to order more beads soon too.  I need to make more money!

~ Zuma Blitz Tips ~

Every day, I find more reasons to play Zuma Blitz. Did you know that every week, they use a new map and reset the scoreboard? So by the time you get bored of it, they give you a new one with new challenging curves and places for the bonus fruits. This is last week's map.  It was hard to get the fruit because it's behind new balls.

This is the map for this week.  I like the Christmas theme.  Santa looks funny in Zuma land!  I think this map is  harder than last week's map.  Once the balls get into that final curve, I get confused because the two tracks of balls overlap.

So, with 2 gold medals under my belt (I swear I am not bragging), I thought I would share some tips here.

Tip 1:  Become the flame!  If you shoot off the balls quickly, your frog changes color from green to yellow to orange to red which is the hot frog.  Then, you will shoot out fireballs that can cause a lot of damage.  You can shoot it at the fruits/treasure chest even if they are behind other balls.  You can get 3 shots each time.  Aim for fruits, timer balls and multiplier balls when you have the flame.  If you hit a canon ball on your first or second fire shot, you'll get a fire canon shot!  Be aware that you can shoot the ball into the void so just keep shooting fast!

Tip 2:  Every map has 2 tracks of balls.  I like to stay on one side for a little bit to minimize the amount of time I am using to move the frog.  

Tip 3:   Keep your eye out for the timer balls and multiplier balls.  They are both very important.  If you don't get to them, they will go away.  But, be aware that you can still get the bonus time or multiplier within a second of the ball becoming normal. 

Tip 4: Start shooting as soon as the first ball comes out.  At first the ball comes out real quick so aim well.

Tip 5: Use Last Hurrah with Bombs and Cannon for maximum effect.  Why?  Because lash hurrah gives you points for all the special balls and if you have the cannon and bomb balls in the track you'll get more points.  This is my maximum combo so far.

Tip 6: Only use Inferno Frog if you are a speedy shooter.  If you can get to the hot frog about twice a game, it's probably worth the 750 Mojos for it.

Tip 7: Fruit Master increases the chance of fruits appearing.  So, it really depends on the map.  If you find that the map of the week has good fruit spots, then it's probably for the 750 Mojos.


Tip 8: Speed Shot is supposed to increase the shooting speed by 10%.  I really don't notice a difference.  Don't waste your Mojo on this one.

 

Tip 9: I like Chain Blast, but I am not good enough to use it.  It gives you a blast if you have 10x chain meaning you shot out 10 balls and they all make a match.  That's not easy.  So, I rarely use this.  I can't wait to unlock the Chrono Balls and Multiplier!

Tip 10: Recognize combos when you see them.  See how in the picture below, if you shoot a yellow ball where the red arrow is, the yellow will match and disappear and the purple will move towards each other and also match and disappear and then the outer yellow balls will also match and disappear.  BAM!  Combo!  It's hard to try to set this up.  But, this situation naturally arises quite often.  So, just learn to see it and shoot at the color in the middle to create a combo!

Tip 11: Gap shots give you a extra points.  That means you matched a few balls and now there's a gap in the track and you shoot through that gap to match balls behind it.  So, sometimes, you may find that you can shoot at the strangler balls at the end, but that matching those may cause the gap to disappear.  So, don't shoot them.  Keep the gap there.  

Tip 12: Please note though sometimes it's hard to see the strangler balls and you may try to shoot at balls behind them then you'll be feel really stupid.  So, keep your eye out for the stranglers.

Tip 13: You do know that the the color on the frog's back shows the next ball color right?  You can right click to switch it in.  I don't use it often.  It's a waste of click. 

Tip 14: Sometimes, I see a time ball or a multiplier ball on its own so I shoot two balls of the same color at it to get it to blow.  You get the time or multiplier but you break your chain.  So, only do that if you don't have a chain going already.  And if you have a chain, just keep shooting quick!  You will get the hot frog and you will get to use that to get the time and multiplier anyway!


Ok, time to play some more!  Show me your score by sending me a screenshot.  Here's my current score.  Beat that~!  Yes, I know I am competitive.  But a lil trash talking just makes the game so much more fun :)

~ Why Eat Out When You Can Eat This? ~

I know you miss all my posts about restaurants and stuff. I am sorry, but I just don't feel like eating out much nowadays. Why? Because I am awesome home-cooked Chinese food every day!  Let me show you a typical dinner at my house.  It's usually 3 dishes and a soup.  We try to balance the meat and veggies.

This is steamed chicken wings with black mushrooms and Chinese sausage.  The chicken is so very, very tender!  This is probably one of the healthiest ways to eat chicken wings.

This is a close up.  See how translucent the Chinese sausage is.  Very good stuff!  I think the brand is "Ga Ga".

This is corn beef with potato, Chinese style.  Well, not really Chinese style.  More like my dad's style.  This is awesome on its own or over rice.

We are pretty big on soup.  And I am not talking about canned soup broccoli and cheese.  This is soup made with various veggies or herbs with either chicken or pork or beef.  It is more broth like but it's supposed to be very nutritious.  This one is made with melon, mushrooms and chicken feet.  Chicken feet provides a lot of collagen.  It is probably better for your face than a collagen face mask!

All done.  I don't have to do dishes.  I don't have to cook.  I don't have to pay.  Awesome :)

~ Coreana Moisture Essential Cream and Special Water Active Cream ~

When I was in Hong Kong, I bought a lot of skin care products and one of my favorites is the Coreana Water Active Cream.  It's more like a gel and it just feels so good on my face.  It's easy to spread and just a little goes a long way.  It took me about 3 months to finish a jar and I use it day and night.  It's awesome for summer because it's so light and it makes my face feel so soft.

As much as I love Water Active Cream, I do need something a little more moisturizing for the winter.  When I bought the Water Active Cream, I got samples of the Coreana Special Care Moisture Essential Cream and a matching Serum.  I tried it and the serum felt really oily.  But the cream was nice.  So, I asked my mom to get me one for the winter.  It also has a gel-like consistency like Water Active Cream but it feels a little bit thicker.  It leaves my face nice and soft and not greasy at all.  Just awesome!

Here's a picture of the actual cream.  Both have a light sweet scent.  And I love the frosted colors of the jars! Yes, I am a sucker for packaging.  I would tell you the ingredients but it's all in Korean.  Anyway, if you can get your hands on these, give it a try!

I use this Hydra B5 Soother as serum before applying the cream.  It is a great serum, about $50 for the bigger bottle.  My face has never felt better :)

~ Snow Day ~

I woke up to a light blanket of snow on the ground. I thought nothing of it and got ready to work. It wasn't till I was on the road that I realized visibility sucks and all the cars were crawling on the highway! I should've just stayed home because the boss gave us a snow day anyway. And on the way home, I almost hit a car! It was so scary! I was only going like 5 mph, but my car just wouldn't stop and I was an inch away from my neighbor's car. I think there are like 2 inches of snow outside now. It's not bad at all, but it was just coming down pretty hard.

 

Ok so I took both my Pentax K100D and Canon S95 out for some pictures.  Can you guess which one is taken with which camera?

I only have a few pictures of Momo in the snow today.  He didn't want to stay out for some reason!  To see more, check out Mimolo.com!