Weekend Wrap Up through iPhone

Lovely food-tray at the T Room for a friend's baby shower

Artwork that took my breath away! You have to see it in person to know what I mean (currently at La Luz de Jesus Gallery). This piece is called "Born Again", acrylic on wood panel, by Nathan Ota.

A cozy dinner at our favorite Brazilian spot, M-Grill, compliments of Mr. R in celebration of my new job :)

Mr. R's cute message.....made out of meat, his other love....

Woof Woof for the Holidays!

The holidays are just around the corner and I LOVE how shopping malls are starting to deck their halls! I can't wait for it to start getting colder here in Los Angeles!
So from my many hectic last-minute shopping experiences in previous years, I've decided to look for Christmas gifts NOW, and of course with the handy-dandy Internet, shopping is so much easier!....although I still love the hustle and bustle of shopping malls :)

For my fellow dog-lovers, these are the cutest little guys that I'm currently lusting after! They are sold at the Tortoise General Store (TGS), and are the hand-made creations of a crafting group called Osu! Shugei-bu (fyi - the artists are all men in their 40's...who would've guessed!)

And guess what....they all come with batteries so you can walk these little bad boys!


Here's my version of a robot-dog....although this little boy has a non-stop battery, and left a little surprise for me next to my boots this morning! grRrr....too bad his little face always melts me and I can't stay angry. :)

My Boyfriend's Woman

I must say that my posts have been quite random as of late. From rants to wants to weekend recaps, I've strayed away from focusing on my muffin tops. That's what life is though I guess, random.
Anyways, I wanted to talk about my "boyfriend's woman", or at least that's the name I've given to the Harvard-grad, highly regarded actress, Natalie Portman. Having once mentioned that he fancied the actress, I have stuck by those words as peanut butter sticks to jelly, and am quick to give him a glance when her name is ever mentioned or she makes an appearance in a trailer or whatnot. Yes, it is juvenile, and yes he says she's more my woman than his, but I have to admit, after seeing the upcoming cover of V magazine, she is a little bit my woman now....

via My Fashion Life

I am absolutely infatuated with this cover! From the placement of her head to the magazine's title, to her make up, and her HAIR, love it all! She just looks so bad-ass but beautiful at the same time. I've got to admit that she definitely has some angles going on....look at that jawline and those eyebrows! Omg, I love the hair!!

Fall Cleaning!

I've been trying to organize my purses and clean them out when I realized I never really use a make up bag. Because my work atmosphere is pretty laid back, I don't go in all made up or actually even care what I look like unless I know a client is coming in or I have a red carpet to cover. I do realize however that whenever I reach in my big purse to search for some lip balm, I either end up frustrated not being able to find it or its been pushed and squeezed every which way with the top off...UGH!
So with my mission to "fall cleaning" my purses and keeping the insides clean and lip-balm-gunk-free, I'm in search for a cute make up bag. Here are some that I found....some are more realistic contenders than others :)Here's my #1 for now, a Toki Doki with cute little monsters....except I really can't see myself spending $50 on a make up bag....from Macys.

via Jildor Shoes

If I'm going to spend that much money, might as well purchase a classy one that would be age appropriate for a while hehe. Love Tory Burch~Here's a very cute set from Dillards. It's on sale and it comes with two pieces, love the little details and picnic-y look. I like that you can use the small one for everyday use and the larger one for travel.

I think it's only appropriate that as a Muffin Top Lover, I would look into fellow pastry-designed bags, and I do love my cupcakes! So cute! Found at Debenhams. Too bad they're located in the UK.

I'm all about uniqueness, so of course I perused through etsy and found this cute little guy from seller, thepurplehedgehog.

Here's a cute little fellow from etsy as well, made by seller MishmashDesigns. Love how there's a little pouch in the front for easy-access items.

Of course, you can never go wrong with a LeSportsac cosmetics purse....so cute, and functional with its durable material and multiple zippered pouches.If I could only afford it, I would LOVE this Marc Jacobs cutie (available at Bloomingdales)....one of my favorite designers....so purty :)
So many cute ones to choose from....like candyyyy :)

Remember Remember, the 5th of Novemeber....

The evenings now carry a nippy wind of...70 degrees, the leaves are dirty green, I can no longer wear flip flops everyday, and everyone is enjoying their extra hour of sleep...which can only mean, it's Autumn in Los Angeles!
Does your body ever feel a little off after springing forward or falling back? For some reason, my body seems to get out of whack and I get a little disoriented. I do love however that the holidays are-a-coming and I can't WAIT for Christmas!
This past Halloween weekend on the other hand was not the best as *rant coming ahead*....I did not receive my paycheck! Well, actually I did receive it, but was not allowed to deposit it until November 2nd (today), although the monies were supposed to be in my account by the 30th! Unfortunately, upon trial, there seemed to be insufficient funds and I was unable to deposit my check yet again. I was told to try again later this evening.... EEK! My rent and bills are all out and I am definitely in panic mode!
I'm actually at work now but am unable to focus as I'm extremely worried, and to be honest, my desire to work is out the window having not yet been paid.

Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, where everything just seems to go wrong? I've been very stressed out lately, actually pretty upset and about to lay out some V for Vendetta! haha..not really, but it sounds cool, since it's November now, almost the 5th.
Anyways, my Muffin Top of the Day actually occurred over the weekend when Mr. R and I went children-viewing at the mall (that sounds so wrong!)
I absolutely LOVE seeing little children dressed up for Halloween, and since nobody comes trick-or-treating to my apartment, the mall is the best place to see all the cute little dinosaurs, princesses, superheroes and pumpkins running around, high on sugar.
My MTOTD moment happened when two little boys, maybe both about 4 years old, serendipitously bumped into each other, one dressed up as Woody from Toy Story, and the other as Buzz Lightyear! It was one of those Kodak moments, when it was just meant to be! They were the same height, even looked similar and were both as cute as can be! They gave each other high-fives and their proud mommies took some pictures while I stood in the background squealing with delight! It may seem like nothing, but it totally made my day, and even though I'm down today, I think about it and it makes me smile.

What are your Muffin Tops? :)

Image via Google

Skin Care & My Inspirations

I'm still on the hunt for great skin care products and secrets, so if anyone has any recommendations or great tips, please feel free to advise!
I've recently purchased the Wild Rose Brightening Serum from Korres, and so far I'm loving it! I've never really known the difference between serums, lotions, essences, all that good stuff, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try one out.
I'm pretty on the light-pale side, but my face gets red easily and I am sensitive to the sun, so I thought I would invest into something that helped with sunspots, and would give just an overall brightening effect. The product does exactly what it promises, and gives a very healthy youthful glow right after you apply it. Hopefully it has just as good of a long-term effect, and I will see changes for the better soon! It also helps that the product is made of all natural ingredients, so it should work well for people with sensitive skin like myself!

Image via Korres

I also recently tried out an at-home skin remedy that is supposed to help with brightening and tightening. I read about it a while ago, and I recently saw it again at Viva Woman and thought I would try it out. The ingredients are fairly simple and affordable so it's great for this economy.
All you need are..
one egg white (no yoke)
one tbsp. of honey
That's it!...mix together, apply evenly onto the face, let sit until it hardens, and rinse! Easy enough!
I've only tried this once, so I can't tell you the effects yet. It is recommended to do this every two weeks, so we'll see how my skin turns out in a few months! I've read about another at-home mask that consists of yogurt and oatmeal, so I will try that next too! Maybe I should do before-and-after shots! :)

My inspirations for healthy clear skin include these lovelies..

My absolute favorite skin in Hollywood belongs to Anne Hathaway! She can definitely hold her own against all the tanorexic ladies. Love the tone, love the glow, just love everything about it!

I am Korean, and most likely my skin can probably relate best to other Asian-skin, so I am doing my best to achieve Song Hye Kyo-like skin (if possible) haha. I love how it always looks healthy and glowy while not overly-done. I'm sure there's photoshop done in this picture, but oh well, her skin looks good regardless!

One of our clients at work is on MTV's "The Hills", and unfortunately I must watch every week to keep track of what's going on (to be honest, I would probably watch anyways lol). But I am actually a bigger fan of "The City" because although I've never been, I'm enamored with the beauty that is NYC. I also loooveee looking at what they're all wearing, and I think Whitney Port has absolutely gorgeous skin, especially on the show when she's not fully made up.

Last but not least, I'm a big fan of Rachel Bilson's style in general, but I also love how she keeps her make up so natural. She's unafraid of letting her freckles shine through, and I think it's cute! She never looks overly-done, and she always seems to have the perfect shade of blush to complement whatever she's wearing.

All images via Google

What do you do to keep your skin healthy and bright? What are your favorite products you swear by?

Propaganda and Zombies

So over the weekend, I stood in line along with hundreds of fellow Angelenos, and waited almost two hours to receive my H1N1 vaccination. Before receiving the shot, I did my fair share of research...on the Internet of course, which actually caused more disturbing thoughts on misleading propaganda and the end of the world..not what I wanted to see.
To make it worse, after I already received the vaccination, Mr. R talked about the movie, "Invasion", with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, where the aliens were administering deadly vaccinations to kill off the human race. I then thought of the hundreds of zombie movies, where everything sprouted from a horrific pandemic.....uh oh what did I get myself into?..
From the many opinions I read online, it looks like many are actually against the vaccination, and are very wary of its long-term effects. From the scare that the media is throwing at us, combined with the propaganda you see everywhere urging people to be hygienic and get vaccinated (even a Clorox commercial said to get the flu shot!), it doesn't come to a surprise, that many are skeptical. Some people just don't believe any good thing comes without a cost....
Some even believe that the vaccination itself will cause a pandemic and kill off many, acting as a population control. Others believe President Obama is behind this "genocide" and that this H1N1 vaccination is a form of evil which the government is controlling.
To be honest, I don't know what to believe, and I've already been vaccinated with both the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations, so I can't turn back.
One thing I can tell you is that on the day of receiving the vaccine, I did come down with the WORST headache, and in the middle of suffering, I thought I was slowly turning into a zombie..
Fortunately, I am better, and hopefully I will be protected from the different flu viruses this year, and that will be all....no zombie stories, no long-term effects.

What do you think about propaganda and its influence? Do you think it's just a great marketing strategy to do what America does best?...Sell Sell Sell!! Or do you think the people up there are really looking out for us?....

Here's an awesome propaganda poster I found...hahaha...hilarious!

Image via digghistory