~ VistaPrint Haul ~

I placed 2 orders with Vista Print on Nov 30th and Dec 3rd.  I can't believe it but I got the whole order on the 10th!  In total, I spent $65 and here's what I got:

• 1000 business cards with color printing on both sides
• 520 address labels
• 50 rack cards
• 2 wall calendars
• 1 poster calendars
• 1 small stamp
• 1 tote bag
• 1 business card holder
• 1 note pad
• 1 sticky pad

The only complaint I have is that there's a white edge on the Happy Cloud Moment's business cards and only on the front.  And I guess next time I will make the text slightly lighter. 

All the items has uploaded graphics on them.  I think it's a pretty good deal.  The business cards and labels should last me a good 6-8 months I think.  I know I could've saved some money if I just didn't get the color printing on the back.  But I really like the color!  My business cards also serve as my thank you cards and this time I put a coupon code in the back for my supplies shop.  I think you can still see the coupon code if you tilt the monitor a certain way in this picture.

Here are the rack cards and labels.  I used the labels for the first time today.  The guy at the post office thought that it was a picture of orange popcorn.  >.<  Dang it!  Am I the only one that sees them as earrings?

I love this little stamp!  I am thinking about just stamping it on kraft boxes for my jewelry packaging.  I am trying to figure out some new and more consistent packaging system.  I am thinking about making special earring cards and necklace cards using my new Silhouette SD.  

This note pad and post its are just for fun for me :)  I may use them to write notes to my customers too.  Or maybe I should just send them out to my favorite customers.

 

All in all, it was a good haul for me.  Not only did I get my business stuff, I also got the calendars as Christmas presents.  I was being efficient :)

~ Awesome Taiwanese Food at Bob's Noodle 66 in Rockville ~

Did you notice that I haven't posted about restaurants in a while? Well, I haven't been eating out much. My dad cooks awesome meals for me all the time :) Last weekend though, I ventured out in the cold and rain and had lunch at Bob's Noodle aka Bob's 66 aka 66 in Rockville. Let's get right to the food. This is a Taiwanese Hamburger.

I didn't even know this is called a Taiwanese Hamburger.  It's like bread and cilantro and a piece of really fatty pork belly.  Yum yum~!  Who doesn't like pork bellies??

This is definitely one of my favorites!  I love this sweet and tangy sauce.  You know what it is?  It's called Oyster Pancake, but it's really like an omelet with oysters.  Don't worry, it's kinda healthy 'cause there is a bed of spinach underneath it.

See the spinach?  I guess it has a good amount of oil.  That's why it's all shiny and glossy looking.  It also has some kind of gelatin like thingy inside.  Just thinking about this makes me hungry!

Another one of my favorites is this bamboo shoots with pork.  These are like baby bamboo shoots.  Very tender and yummy.  The pork is very tender too.

This is a classic bowl of beef soup noodles.  A little bit spicy and big chunks of tender beef.

This is the Three Cup Chicken aka Ginger Chicken Casserole.  This is so good~!  The chicken is well seasoned and tender.  Some of you may not like it though because it's all dark meat and the chicken has bones and skin on it.  I love the skin.  So bad, but so good~!

This is a stir fried noodles.   It's good, but not as special as the chicken.  If you go there for lunch during the weekdays with a few people, you should try their lunch special.  It's $18.95 with 3 dishes, rice and 1 big bowl of soup to share.  I think it's enough for 4 people.  Or you can get one of those rice dishes like Pork Chop on Rice or Chicken Leg on Rice.  The rice comes with little things like pickled cabbage and an marinated egg.  Very good~!  One rice dish is enough for 2 meals for me and it's only $5.50!! 

Ok, enough about food.  The venue is like a typical Chinese restaurant.  Service is ok, nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about.  It is located conveniently by Rockville Town Center, close to Maxim and Kam San Chinese grocery markets.  It's also close to Cake Dream so you can always hop over there for some cupcake desserts.  Just keep in mind that Cake Dream is closed on Mondays :)  Oooo, by the way, all the food pictures were taken with the Canon S95 and they have not been altered except for the watermark.  Just gotta love that camera~!

~ Love My New Canon S95 ~

My Canon S95 arrived last week! I haven't had time to play with it that much but I did take it out for a quick test drive.  We were eating grape fruits so I just took a few shots.  This is the special mode for taking pictures in the dark.

This is just auto mode.  I think they are pretty comparable.  It wasn't that dark though.

This is with my pentax DSLR with no flash in auto mode. 

This is taken at night without flash.  I think this one is pretty good considering it was so dark outside!

This is also taken without flash at my house.  Not bad at all for a point and shoot I think.  The video is also very good.  So far, no buyer's regrets.  It's definitely a lot easier to just carry around and take day to day pictures.  I tried to take pictures of Momo running with this but it just doesn't zoom enough. 

I started to use the Canon to take pictures of my jewelry and supplies too.  Can you tell which one is taken with the Pentax and which one is taken with the Canon?  I think they both look fine so from now on, the I'll be using the Canon.  It's just easier and I think it's better for macros.  The Canon S95 has a lot of features that I have yet to explore.  I will post more studies soon!

~ Origins Haul & Ginzing Eye Cream Review ~

For Cyber Monday, Origins had a great sale and I grabbed a bunch of skincare products.  I got 2 masks:  Drink up Intensive and Clear Improvements, which my mom just loves.  I also got two moisturizers:  Starting Over and High-Potency Night-a-Mins.  Staring Over has some anti-aging properties.  I just think it's time to start on the anti-aging stuff...it's never too early right?  I also got the Modern Friction and Checks and Balances face wash because I have heard so many good things about them.

 

 All those things listed above are stuff that I wanted, but for sure I don't need them considering how much skin care I have already!  What I needed was this:  the GinZing Eye Cream.  I just love this!  I got this as an example from a prior purchase.  I only use it in the morning and at night I use Clinique's All About Eyes.  This really works!  My eyes are less puffy after using this for a few days!  If you can still get your hands on the gift set that includes this, a mascara and lip gloss, please get it!  It's the same price as the cream alone with out the extras. 

~ New Facebook Game: Zuma Blitz ~

I just love Popcap Games!  I have been addicted to their games for almost 10 years!  Ever since they introduced Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, I have been playing every week, trying to score higher than my friends.  A few days ago, I was playing Bejeweled and noticed an ad for Zuma Blitz.  I have played Zuma before and it's a good game, so I clicked on it and my addiction began!

Zuma is a simple game.  Color balls come out of 2 holes in the rock and follow tracks toward the golden skull at the end of the tracks.  You have to shoot color balls from the frog's mouth at the center.  The balls you shoot will squeeze between the balls on the track and if your ball create a group of 3 or more of the same color then they disappear.

This game is pretty much the same as Magnetica on Nintendo DS.  It's a pretty addictive game.  My mom actually broke her DS screen playing this game.  Zuma Blitz has a lot of other add ons though.  The add on are similar to the ones you see playing Bejeweled Blitz.  You have the score multipliers (x2) and you have these "fruits" that you can shoot at for bonus points.

 

And similar to Bejeweled Blitz's coins and powerups, in Zuma Blitz you get Mojos depending on the number of balls you hit and you can use those for powerups.  The difference is that you need to earn XP (which you earn per game) to level up and unlock these powerups.  You can also get Idols when you are lucky, which you can use to purchase Mojo and other items. 

 

 They also have spirit animals that represent the number of times you get a certain score.  Whenever you "level up" a score level, you gain a "new circle".  Note the words near the bottom, they are kinda funny.

 Now, the most interesting thing about this game is that you get Life, which are the little hearts at the top of the screen.  When you first play, you get 5 hearts that are all filled.  Every time you play a game, a heart goes away.  When you don't have any more hearts, you can't play anymore.  You can either wait for the Next Life or buy more hearts with real money.  This is pretty ingenious!  You can play for free, but if you really want to play a lot, you have to pay!  What a great system!   I love it 'cause it's a way to control my addiction.  Sometimes though, they may be nice and give you a chance to flip a coin and refill your life gauge.

 

Don't worry, you get your hearts refilled when you level up using your XP.  And you get idols and Mojos too.   I think this is a very well thought out game and they learned a lot from Bejeweled.  I always thought that there's no point to level up for Bejeweled.  Now, there's a reason to level up for Zuma and I just want to unlock more and more features!  Ok, after writing all this, my life bar has refilled.  Time to play!

 

~ Dollar Sale at Happy Cloud Supplies ~

I got my 900th sale last night for Happy Cloud Supplies!  I suddenly had the crazy idea of trying to reach 1000 sales by 1.1.11.  Is that too crazy??  Well, to help speed things along, I am having a Dollar Sale!  Really, I have marked down 14 items so that they are only $1!  I am practically giving these away considering my etsy fees!

If you are planning on getting multiple items, please let me know and I can set up a custom listing for you.  Depending on the response to this sale, I may mark down more items.  Please help me spread the word!  I am thinking of doing something special when I reach 1000th sale.  Maybe another $50 gift certificate giveaway?

~ Havanese Puppies from HALO ~

My brother and SIL loves HALO and started to help out by becoming foster parents for rescue puppies.  Check out the four that they picked up!  2 of them went to another foster home and 1 of them got adopted already.  They are super cute!  To learn more about them, head over to Mimolo :)