~ First Look at the Swarovski Navette Pendant~

I absolutely love these new Swarovski Navette pendants. I can't wait till I get more in different colors. They are so gorgeous that a simple sterling silver leaf bail is enough. I don't want anything else to take attention away from them.


So far, I only have 4 colors in stock. This is crystal copper. It's basically orange, but you can see a little bit of green and purple in the reflections sometimes. It's an amazing effect.



My favorite so far is amethyst. The color is gorgeous and in this marquise shape, it just looks so regal. Did you know that navette refers to the shape?



Of course there's the standard black and clear. I am already envisioning some Lolita or Gothic pieces with the black pendant.



I am slowly listing them in my shop right now. The pendants can be separated from the chain and can easily fit into many other types of cords and chains. Feel free to contact me if you want just the pendants or want a different kind of chain. I am off to order more now :)

~ Prada Exfoliating Clay Mask Review ~

My friend saw this white box when shopping at TJMaxx today. On the back, it says Prada Exfoliating Clay Mask. What the heck? They have Prada stuff at TJMaxx? And it was only $20?!?!?! So, of course she bought it and I was lucky enough to be there when she opened it. We didn't know what to expect at all and we were all pleasantly surprised that inside were 14 individually packaged treatments.

She gave me and my other friend each a packet to try. If it's good, we are going to TJMaxx tomorrow to buy them all. Well, I just tried it. Don't I look just so hot with all this goo on my face?


I think it's pretty good! One friend says it smells funny. But, I think it smells just fine. It's a very neutral smell with a little nutty scent like almonds. It is a thick paste with rough particles in it. Definitely had to wet my fingers a few times to massage it on.


I love the little package! It's like a bullet or a guitar pick. I washed it and I am going to use it for my beads :D There's plenty of mask in each package. I put a thin layer on my face and I still had this much left. So, I layered it on.


It just takes 5 minutes! Good, because you all know I am a busy girl. When I was washing it off, it felt a little bit oily, like I am not washing it off completely. After I dried my face though, it felt good. I toned and moisturized with my Shiseido stuff as usual and now my face feels great! Very soft. I keep touching my face as I type this, waiting for the softness to go away. But, it has been about 30 mins and it's still soft!

I am very excited. I think it's a great exfoliator. My skin has definitely been pretty dull and flaky with the changing seasons. I have been waking up to peeling skin on my face. Not a pretty sight, I know. I am pretty confident it won't happen tomorrow morning. If it does, I will definitely update this post.


I am going to TJMaxx to grab some if there's any left tomorrow. $20 is a good deal!! It's selling for about $80 at most retail sites like Amazon right now. Go find some at your local TJMaxx! Ooo, just a warning though, one friend had an allergic reaction to it. She thinks it's the honey-like ingredient, so please test on your hand first.

~ Wish upon a Thousand Cranes ~

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. I recently saw a thread on the Etsy forum titled "*Please Help* with "1,000 Wishes for Jen" Origami Cranes for Brain Cancer" that motivated me to start folding these little cranes.


Jen is fighting a brain tumor. Even though I doubt a few paper cranes will cure her, I am folding for her because I think this will give her encouragement to continue fighting. Here's an excerpt from her CaringBridge website:

Just before the end of the school year in May, Fairfield Middle School Spanish and French teacher discovered she has an anaplastic astrocytoma, or grade-three tumor, after experiencing two occasions of speech and memory loss: one was when she couldn’t recall student names. The other time was when she was running and could not speak.

The tumor, which has attached itself to the front left side of her brain, is inoperable, she said, but it is responding to treatment.

Since discovering it was cancerous this June, Fox said she has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She also takes anti-seizure medication to ensure she can continue teaching.

You can go here to read more about this 1000 crane project here. The page has instructions for folding the cranes and address to send the cranes to. Folding these is not trivial and it does take time. But, your hands aren't doing anything while you are watching TV right? So, fold a few while you watch your favorite shows this week. I did a dozen while watching a little TV with my fiance today. You can use magazine paper. Just cut them up into nice 4 - 5 inch squares. See, that way you are recycling too!


Let's show Jen that life is worth fighting for :)

~ Favstar.fm - Awesome Tweets ~

I forgot how I stumbled onto this site. It might have been BitRebels or maybe on Facebook, but I've had some good laughs on Favstar.fm. What they do is go through a ton of people on twitter and count up the tweets that get "star"ed the most. You know the little star next to tweets that you can click on to save it as a favorite? Yeah, I didn't know that's public, but I guess it is.


There are some really funny tweets on here. Some of my favorites:

• The only guys who like girls with brains are zombies. @Aimee_B_Loved 1 day ago
• Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Because it might be a gyro. And then you have to pronounce it. And then you're screwed. @sween 1 day ago
• I'm going to help this flirting couple by staring at them. They can be all "What's that creepy girl's deal?" when the conversation stalls. @zolora 2 months ago

Actually, there are quite a few that I like but can't put on here. I would like to keep my blog PG-13. Ooo they also show the most fav'ed people. Wow! I wanna be on this list. I better start sharpening my twittering skills.

You can also see who fav'ed you. I was surprised that I had a few. I feel so special!!


So...a shameless plug here. Please follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/_HappyCloud_ . I'll try to be more insightful/funny from now on :D

~ Cozy Up at Thai Spice in Chicago ~

My best friends and I love to go to this cozy little Thai placed around Loyola University called Thai Spice. The food is always good and service is always wonderful. The owner, Tony, is very friendly! He remembers us every time we go and we actually don't go very often.

Here are the appetizers: Beef Salad and Chicken salad. The beef one has cucumber. Yummmmm.



I don't remember what these were but everything was great. All the curry I ever tried there was great!



I remember this was Pud Kee Mao. The noodles on the bottom was pan fried and cripsy! Very good stuff.


I only have pictures of the food 'cause we were too busy catching up and eating to take pictures of the best part of the restaurant, the authentic seating by the window! I love sitting there. I think there are 4 tables like that at the restaurant. You have to take off your shoes an sit on the pretty cushions at the low tables. All the nice decor just makes me feel like I am in Thailand, except when it's snowing outside...

They are only opened for dinner I think. It's on Devon...1320 W Devon. I have never had issues finding parking there. You do have to parallel park on the street though and depending on when you go, you will have to feed the meter. The place is never packed when I go there so it's very cozy. I do go there very late though. So, go say hi to Tony. He gives complimentary homemade chocolate cake around the holidays.

~ My First Little Haul from Sephora.com ~

Last week, a dear friend emailed me about a Sephora promotion for bare essentials mineral makeup. I didn't look at it because I don't need more makeup. But, then, I got curious over lunch break and took a look. Then, I saw their sampler sets and sales items and my inner raging shopoholic self took over. I did finally get it under control and only ordered sales items. Look at all that!


I just love their sampler sets. I like to try new things and they are also perfect for traveling. Here's what I got:

• Sephora Favorites Skin Saviors Moisturizers Deluxe Sampler ($40 Value) - Skin Saviors Moisturizers Deluxe Sampler $15.00
• Sephora Favorites Face Quenchers Moisturizers Deluxe Sampler ($100 Value) - Face Quenchers Moisturizers Deluxe Sampler $18.50
• Sephora Favorites Get Pink'd Pink Lip Deluxe Sampler ($80 Value) - Get Pink'd Pink Lip Deluxe Sampler $18.50
• Sample - Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow in Ruthless and Freakshow $0.00
• Sample - Laura Mercier Foundation Primer - 0.1 oz $0.00
• Sample - Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Lip Gloss in Doug $0.00
• Sample - Fresh Soy Formula f21c Face Cleanser - .14 oz $0.00
• Sample - Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Day Crème SPF 15 - 0.08 oz $0.00
• Peter Thomas Roth Lashes to Die For The Mascara Deluxe Lab Sample $0.00

Shipped with tax was $55!!! Who could've resisted? To me, the best deal is getting the sampler sets that are on sale, buy enough for free shipping ($50), and check out retailmenot.com for coupon codes you can use. You can only use one and they have a variety to choose from, mostly just deluxe samples of different products. They also give you 5 free samples for every order. Supposedly, it's for a limited time so act now~!

Notice that I didn't get the Bare Essentials sample because I rather try the mascara. I am feeling a little obsessive about mascara lately. I was drooling over this LashStash Mascara Deluxe Sampler ($104 Value).

It has the following all for $39!
- 0.16 oz Hourglass Superficial Lash
- 0.09 oz Urban Decay Skyscraper Multi-Benefit Mascara
- 0.13 oz Korres Abyssinia Oil Volumizing and Strengthening Mascara
- 0.14 oz Benefit A Little Bit BADGal Lash Mascara
- 0.2 oz Smashbox Lash DNA
- 0.03 oz Laura Mercier Thickening and Building Mascara
- 0.07 oz Fresh Supernova
- 0.1 oz Sephora Lash Stretcher
- 0.14 oz Tarte 4 Day Stay Lash Stain
- 0.12 oz Cargo LashActivator

You know how you are supposed to throw away mascara after like a month for hygiene reasons? That's why I don't buy mascara. In a month, I would've used it twice. Maybe. But these little ones will be fun to use and put in the little purse/tight jeans pocket when I go out.

I will be doing mini reviews for the products I got later on this month. I am totally swamped with work and custom orders this week so no time to play barbie. Ooo yeah, I also joined the beauty insider club and they sent me an email offer for free lipgloss because it's my birthday. I can go to the store and get it. I have to go to the mall anyway to get a halloween costume so that's perfect! Happy Birthday to me :D

~ New Sections + Shop Layout ~

Ever since Etsy rolled out the "Rearrange your shop" function, I have been thinking of ways to organize my jewelry in the shop in cool ways. I have seen rows of contrasting colors. I have seen arrangement by columns. I...still like arranging by color. So, last week, I finally found time to redo my sections and rearrange my shop. It took a couple of hours (ok, I was playing Bejeweled in between pages) but it's finally done. 159 items arranged and organized!

Here's my first page. I decided to show off a little of every color on the first page.

Then, I have the rest of the items arranged by color like so:

My sections used to be colors. I have reverted it back to the basic sections for jewelry shops: Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets, etc. Supposedly, it helps with SEO because I have relevant text as section headers.

I am not that concerned with SEO at the moment. I know I should look at it, but I...don't have time. But, I did notice that ever seen I changed it, more people have clicked on individual sections. In Google Analytics, when I look at Content by Title, the section headers definitely come up more often.

By the way, wondering how I got the screen shots of such a huge page? It's easy! In most browsers, there's a zoom function. You can zoom out and make everything look smaller. I used Chrome, zoomed out twice and took the screen shot on my 19 inch monitor. Go have some fun with it. Take screen shots of your store and show me how you arrange your shop :)