Newlywed in the City

A couple weeks ago we met up with some friends from church.  The girl hosting the gathering is known for her love of makeup (in particular, MAC Cosmetics) and her famous "makeup station".  I just had to see this makeup station which is situated in this awesome room with huge windows overlooking the city.  It was a makeshift vanity using a computer desk and tons of little plastic drawer cubbies filled with more makeup than you, me, your sisters and mothers probably own combined!  I have never seen so many MAC eye-shadow pots outside of the MAC stores.  My makeup artist friends don't even own this much makeup.

The host started telling us a bit about the eye-shadows, which were her favourites, etc.  Then she pulled out the keyboard shelf under the desk and WOW... there were at least 10 eye shadow palettes (each holds 15 shadows) and 3 blush palettes.  Even though I am not a makeup guru, I had true makeup envy.

My daily makeup routine consists of eyeliner, foundation powder, blush, and eyebrow shadow.  It's quick and all I really need to look put together and fresh.  However when going out at night I like to spice up my look with eye shadow and lipstick.  Lately I've been interested in perfecting the smoky look.  I've taken tips from magazines and friends but could still never get the technique right.

Lo and behold... YouTube has numerous channels where people broadcast makeup tutorials.  I love you YouTube!

The first thing I learned about applying eye shadow is that PRIMER is very important.  You apply it on your lids first and it keeps the eye shadow colour true to the colour in the pot, meaning the colour on your face will look exactly how it looks in the pot.  This is one of the problems I always have with my eye-shadows.  It looks so bright and vibrant in the pot but so dull and light on my face. 

So with the help of my friend from church, we went to Sephora and bought Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  I tried it today and this stuff is awesome!  Your eye-shadows will suddenly look different on you and have a whole new meaning. 

Next on my wishlist: Too Faced Smoky Eye Palette *drool*

When the Twilight series started becoming popular a couple years ago, I never bought into it even though my co-worker raved about the books and tried to convince me to read them.  I read the summaries at the back of the books and thought Vampires and a love story... no thanks.  I'm just not into Vampires. 

So when my friend asked me to watch New Moon with her, I instantly said no b/c I'd rather watch Precious instead.  But seeing how much she really wanted to watch it, I gave in and accompanied her.  Deep down I knew I'd regret it but thought I'd keep an open mind going in to see what all the hype is about.

While driving to the movie theater, my friend and my sister filled me in on what the books were about and what we were about to watch.  After hearing the story I found myself a little intrigued and actually started looking forward to watching it.  The movie then started and my sister and friend would lean over every once in awhile and whisper details of who was who and background info on what some dialogue were referring to.

It was only halfway through the movie before I began to get really bored.  The main character Bella is depressed throughout the entire film b/c Edward leaves her, so we see her mope around and do adrenaline-provoking stunts in the hopes of seeing Edward's face but which results in self-injury, which was very uninteresting.  The dialogue is poor however I've been told there's not much dialogue in the book.  The characters are not very likeable, and for the most part Bella wrinkles her forehead as if in deep thought, however for a person who has never read the book, I couldn't make out what those thoughts were.  And finally, there is no chemistry b/w Bella and Edward.

The only enjoyable part of the movie was Jacob the werewolf who was frikken HOT.  Thank you to the producers for keeping him half-naked throughout the movie!

Bottom line: DO NOT watch this movie.  The hype is way overrated.

This is probably my favourite command because she just looks so damn cute!

My sister and I celebrated our birthdays on Saturday which was our actual birthday.  We started the day off by having lunch with our favourite Uncle who happens to be our Godfather.  He took us to an amazing Japanese buffet where the food was exceptional.  He ordered a whole bunch of food that came within a matter of minutes.  I was a little intimidated that we wouldn't be able to finish everything and have to pay a fee for the food left over.  However I was worried for nothing b/c we ate every last piece of food on the table including dessert!  Afterward everyone came back to my condo for birthday cake and a little DDR.

That night we headed downtown for dinner and again, the food was fantastic!  So was the company.  At the stroke of midnight, we finally made our way over to a club where a booth and bottle service was waiting for us.  I'm not gonna lie... this might be the last year I spend my birthday at a club!  While I thoroughly enjoyed the music and the drinks, I was hung over for TWO days!  Not good... especially when I had to attend a baby shower the next day.  I've always hated the expression, "I'm getting too old to do this or that" but I'm starting to feel like I'm outgrowing the party scene.

Going backwards, we spent Friday night having dinner with my parents at home.  My sister and I also exchanged gifts.  Her husband, my husband, and I pitched in to buy her the Sony eReader which she's been wanting to buy since forever!  She loves it and has already started downloading ebooks and using it on the subway.

I was SOOO surprised when she handed me my amazing gift which came in a little robin egg blue box tied with a white ribbon.  I've worn it religiously since and already planning the charms to buy!

When I got home that night, I found two gifts and a card propped up on the sofa.  I was not expecting it at all b/c the hubby knew I wanted the new Blackberry Bold 9700 for my birthday but they're currently sold out everywhere.  So I told him I'd wait until more was in stock and didn't mind that it wasn't on time for my birthday.  Well to my surprise he called every store and drove around 3 different cities and finally managed to track down the very last Bold 9700 in the city.  Funny enough, after all that driving around, he found it in a store that was only two minutes away from our condo!  This little baby is not only a gorgeous gadget but powerful and functional in every way you'll need it to be.  I am having so much fun with it so far!

There was also another package that was neatly wrapped which turned out to be this:

I know... I'm so spoiled and feel extremely guilty inside.  But at the same time I love my new gadgets and I am now technologically caught up with the rest of the world!

I think I suck at comforting people when they're going through a rough time.  A lot of my friends and people in my life come to me when they're going through something difficult in their personal lives.  I think it's because I'm patient and a great listener and overall they know I want to be there for them.

While I try my best to relate and understand how they're feeling, I have to admit that a lot of times, I have a hard time knowing what to say to make them feel better.  It might be because when I'm going through something, I like to deal with it privately in solitude.  I don't need people to give me their opinions or comfort me to make me feel better.  I certainly appreciate it but don't rely on it.  To me, time is the best healer.

I also have the belief that everything happens for a reason.  At the time it's not always clear why certain things are happening and it's hard to see the positive when you're surrounded by so much negativity.  But I try to take a step back and see the situation for what it really is and understand why it's happening.  In my experience, things always work out for the better.  Unfortunately not everyone can see that.

I'm currently trying to comfort two people in my life.  One is experiencing a potential breakup with someone she's been with for four years.  While I've been there before and can understand her pain, what I would really like to say to her is that it's time to move on.  He's a royal asshole and she's such a great person who deserves so much better.  She can't see my point so instead I'm trying to help her think of how to make things work b/c that is what she thinks she wants.

Another friend is gravely upset that she didn't get the career opportunity she wanted and got another opportunity instead.  Again, I can understand the disappointment.  What I would like to say to her is suck it up, you got another opportunity which I think is a lot better considering all the factors and circumstances, and is probably the better choice to advance your career.  She knows this but would rather sit in depression for the remainder of the month rather than celebrate that she even got an opportunity at all.

For me personally, I would rather face the truth head-on rather than think about "what did I do to deserve this?" or "what if I got it?". 

I don't think I'm being insensitive.

Every once in awhile I get a really good email forward and this one made me laugh so hard.  I thought I'd share so you can have a good laugh too.

Fall Classes for Men at

 THE
ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
By Friday, October 30th 2009  

NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM 

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays--Step by Step, with Slide Presentation. 
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.   
Class 2 
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself? 
Round Table Discussion. 
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.   
Class 3 
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?--Group Practice. 
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.   
Class 4 
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor--Pictures and Explanatory Graphics. 
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.   
Class 5 
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video. 
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning 
At 7:00 PM   
Class 6 
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups. 
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM   
Class 7 
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum 
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.   
Class 8 
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health.
Graphics and Audio Tapes. 
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.   
Class 9 
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost--Real Life Testimonials. 
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined   
Class 10 
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations. 
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.   
Class 11 
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing 
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined   
Class 12 
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques. 
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.   
Class 13 
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late. 
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.   
Class 14 
The Stove/Oven-- What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration. 
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.   
Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors. 

Send this to all the guys that you think can stand the heat, and to all the ladies for the best chuckle of their day!

I can't stand a disorganized email inbox so today I decided to try and tackle the 72 pages worth of emails in my inbox.  There's really no point since I've created a new email address with my married name which I plan to start using, but it gets under my skin that my inbox is that messy.  I especially can't stand how there are 28 unread emails. 

I've been at it now for almost an hour and only managed to clear out 7 pages.  I'm giving up for today b/c this task is taking waay too long.  I'm beginning to think it's just not possible to go through them all and have 0 emails in my inbox.

Information overload is never a good thing.

I can eat pizza everyday b/c I love it that much!  This morning I decided to make my own pizza, the way my dad taught me when I was younger.

What you'll need:

I love how the leaves change colours in autumn and fall off the trees to the ground.  Apparently so does someone else who just cannot resist dragging her tiny body through a pile of leaves when out on walks!

Steve and I recently combined our Shoppers points and had $150 to redeem.  I was contemplating whether I should purchase a Nintendo DS or the Nintendo Wii.  I did a bit of research online and decided to buy the Wii b/c I wanted to try out the Wii Fit Plus.  We bought the Wii three weeks ago when Shoppers was having a promo where if you have 75,000 points (which we did) you can redeem $200 instead of the regular $150.  In the end we purchased the Wii for $116 (tax included) which is a total steal.

We went home so Steve could hook it up and I created my Mii profile.  I did the body test where you stand on the balance board and some calculations were made.  I learned that my balance was mediocre, my BMI was borderline normal/underweight, and my Wii fit age was............ 43!  Gawd damn I was floored.  Am I really that out of shape?  I vowed to get into shape ASAP.

I was then prompted to create a goal to gain 2kg in a span of one month and put together a workout plan.  The whole process took about 20-30 minutes and then I finally started the training.  The next day I followed the same workout plan and redid the body test.  My BMI improved a little, but I was now underweight, and my Wii fit age was..... 30!  So awesome since that's way closer to my real age!

Today, which is 14 days after my second attempt at the Wii workout, I turned on the Wii and played some of the other games instead of following the workout plan.  I tried: Perfect 10, Island Cycling, Rhythm Kung-Fu (so much fun!), Segway Circuit, Rhythm Parade (totally rocked this!), Boxing, and Basic Run Plus.  I also did some Yoga and strength training. 

In total I spent 40 minutes working out and I felt good.  I was anxious to try the body test again, unfortunately the results were not that impressive.  BMI is better than last time.

At least I'm on my way to reaching my goal.  However.....