Packing and packing

In less than 24 hours, I shall be in the warm, beachy grasps of Puerto Rico. I can't wait for the change in scenery: the beautiful beach, the contrasting architecture, the weather. Gah, 5 days in paradise (hopefully)! A nice little vacation before I start my internship and pre-college process stuff during the summer. Time to forget everything and have fun!

So to not leave this blog post-less for more than a week, here is a glimpse at what I packed for this vacation. I'd like to think that I'm a relatively smart and neat packer, but take a look!

My personal carry-on bag: reading material, sketchbook, iPad, and of course, snacks. I can't sleep on planes (too giddy), so I pass the time with these.

Bought a set of travel containers...needless to say, they are quite handy (and cute).

T-shirts, tanks, romper, a dress -- ready for that gorgeous weather!

Colorful shorts are my specialty.

Swimsuits are a must!

And of course, my trusty sunhat to keep my face from getting burnt.

My own little luggage hehe -- all grown up now!

In other news, yesterday I found out which architecture firm I'm interning at this summer. I did a little googling and I was amazed at all their projects and how big it was! It's freaking global! A big project they're working on includes...the SHANGHAI TOWER! Holy smokes hot pancakes! I was so shocked, and I'm feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed. Ah well, I'll try to make the best out of my internship and learn a lot! I'll make this summer the best one yet! 

See you on the flip side! I'll be sure to take tons of pictures! ;)

Smoldering Lattes: an Infallible Concoction

I recently acquired two L'Oreal Infallibles to add to my collection. I adored the UK-exclusive Sahara Treasure Infallible I received from Jian, so it was about time I got a few more. I got Iced Latte, which I had been lemming for the longest time, and a new summer shade, Smoldering Plum.

The L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows have been making the rounds on blogs all over the world. Even though it's been months since its first release, new collections have kept the hype going. It's kind of amazing that a drugstore item could cause so much buzz and still maintain it. 

Iced Latte is one of the original shades and has been raved about constantly. The first time I laid eyes on Iced Latte, which was months ago, I knew I had to get it. Although I'm not sure why there was such a delay between my first encounter with it and my actual purchase of it. Laziness, I guess? 

Iced Latte is the perfect champagne color. It has a beautiful pearly finish, and it is amazingly opaque. It applies super smooth, and I imagine it would look fabulous as an inner tearduct highlight. It's just as I anticipated, maybe even more, and I can already tell that it will become a staple in my collection. 

I was just going to leave with Iced Latte, but then this other one caught my eye: Smoldering Plum. Skewed by the horrid store lighting, it didn't look very impressive. It looked like a burnt sienna color, but something still made me look. Though I was wary of why none of them were sealed (are they ever sealed?), I decided to unscrew the cap to get a better look, and thus revealed the most beautiful plum I'd ever seen. In my mind, the whole scene was just this giant euphoria of my hair being blown back and the eyeshadow illuminating in my hands. Yes, it was that amazing.

Smoldering Plum is a gorgeous plum shade with an understated coppery pink iridescence running through it. It's really hard to explain and photograph this eyeshadow, but you'll have to take my word on it that it's really something. If those velvet royal purple robes that kings and queens wore back in the day were turned into an eyeshadow, Smoldering Plum would be just that. The color itself, the consistency, and the pigmentation are fit for a queen. I can just picture how gorgeous and "smoldering" this shade would be for a smokey eye.

Swatches in natural lighting, no flash: Iced Latte (left), Smoldering Plum (right).

The swatches above are all from just one swipe of each eyeshadow. The quality of these eyeshadows is really superb. Iced Latte is so beautifully pearlescent and Smoldering Plum is just so deep and regal. I couldn't quite capture the iridescence in Smoldering Plum, but it really is there. If I had been in actual sunlight, the swatches would have definitely shown better on my camera (alas!). But I will definitely show this off in a look soon enough!

Next on my Infallibles list: Liquid Diamond, another unique shade that came out with their summer collection. It's this really complex silver that flashes lavender/lilac in some lights, pale blue in some, and just plain silver in others. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right but I think...I think I need it. So tell me, have you fallen to the Infallibles craze yet?

Recently

Hey y'all!

School is finally out and I am baaaaaack! Sorry for the impromptu hiatus. But anyway, I'm so happy to be blogging again! During the past two weeks, there was always something clawing at me to post, but I resisted that temptation. I needed to get mah work did.

So to update you guys a little on what I've been up to lately, here are some things that I've been recently doing!


Recently listening to:

Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men; love the use of different instruments and the general catchy-ness of this song. The lyrics are also really nice; click that play button!

Recently consumed:

"Swiss Mushroom" burger and fresh cut french fries; my friends and I have a yearly tradition to celebrate the last day of school at this lovely place called Eagle's Deli. Of course we kept the tradition going again this year!

Recently been reading:

1984 by George Orwell; I'm part of the recycling committee at my school so at our annual end-of-the-year clean-out of the entire school, I found this near-perfect condition copy of 1984. I'm really enjoying it so far, have you read this classic before?

Recently purchased:

Sunscreen and some Infallibles; I'm going to Puerto Rico on the 30th for some family vacationing so I needed a new sunblock! I got the baby version because I thought it might have fewer harsh chemicals, but still offer good protection. It also doesn't have that nasty sunscreen-y smell! I also got these two Infallibles, which I will definitely post about later (especially about the one on the left). I would have gotten a third one called Liquid Diamond (it was this beautiful lilac/lavender silver mishmash that I can't even describe properly), but I didn't bring enough money!

Recently been playing:

Pokemon Blue; on my old school Game Boy Advance (I still have GB Color though)! Ever since finals have been over, it's been Pokemon all over the place...which partially explains why I didn't update on Friday/Saturday as promised. (Hehehe, sorry about that.)

Recently went to:

THE BEACH; we have been hit with three straight days (and counting) of 100-degree weather here in Boston...which isn't exactly very comfortable, but nevertheless summer has finally arrived! By the end of that day I had gotten 5 shades darker (despite packing on 9 billion layers of sunscreen every few hours), oh boy.

I think I might make this a recurring theme/series on this blog -- not sure yet. It's kind of like a spin-off of 'Week in Pictures'? Tell me what you think!

Popping in'

...to say hi! :D

Sorry for the minor absence. Thank you so much for all the positive feedback on my Domo post! It was definitely really fun writing it. Anyway, the reason for my absence is that...this week is FINALS (a.k.a. death) week for me, so I won't be updating until Saturday or Friday. There are 4 full days and 2 half days of school left, with the first few jam-packed with exams, presentations, and projects deadlines. Once I get those out of the way...FREEEDDOOOMMMM! I can't wait for the summer ahead!

And to not have this post be picture-less, here are some pictures of stuff in my life recently.

Scrumptious lemon cupcake from Sweet bakery; the lemon icing was phenomenal!

 

Maggie's hair gone wild.

 

Went thrifting on Saturday -- got all of this for $7! Will be cutting those shirts into tanks. :)

My outfit from a week or so ago! Peter Pan collars = luurve. The dress is from Forever21 and the cardigan from Talbot's.

Hope your week has been going well so far! Off I go to try and finish up my projects and presentations (not to mention study)!

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

It was another typical day on Maggie's bookshelf: the books were stacked on top of each other in disarray, the little trinkets were all on the verge of falling off the shelves to their doom, and the miscellaneous items were all just...miscellaneous. Everything was just the usual.

But on this day, Domo, an inhabitant of Maggie's bookshelf, happened upon an Urban Decay eyeshadow. The eyeshadow had always been there, but Domo had never really taken notice. There was someone familiar inside that eyeshadow -- it was his robot friend from way back when! Domo was extremely confused as to why his friend was stuck in there. In desperation, he let out a thunderous roar...

Note the comic book-like effect. 

But alas! His frantic outcry was to no avail; nothing happened. Domo started clawing at the little eyeshadow. His friend wasn't moving either. He seemed perfectly content in that little container. Domo flipped it over and read the label on the back. Whatever it was, its name was Ruthless.

Domo walked away, sad that he couldn't free his dear friend. But suddenly, the eyeshadow flipped open! It revealed a pale taupe rectangle with a pearlescent sheen. It had the slightest signs and marks of prior usage. Startled but still curious, Domo slowly inched back toward the eyeshadow.

I'm getting quite tan...

He finally realized that he had actually passed by this eyeshadow many times in the past. He just never really paid much attention to it. He stared at the interesting color it had.  Domo thought, huh, it must look good on the skin. And so he borrowed Maggie's hand to swatch the eyeshadow. Indeed it looked great on her skin. It was a lovely medium-tone lid color. It was the perfect natural smokey eyeshadow color. There was this nice golden sheen to it too.

Excited by the eyeshadow's pretty color, Domo began to dance. It was a simple, silly dance, but the eyeshadow seemed to feel compelled to join in as well. He lifted his little arms up and down as the eyeshadow opened and closed. It was a delightful little show. 

By now, Domo had forgotten his little friend stuck in the eyeshadow. The little robot seemed fine in there; he had his pet dinosaur to keep him company anyway.

Five Things

The weather's back to being gloomy and rainy and miserable here. It was pouring all day yesterday. It was nice while it lasted, but come summer, I'll have my stunners on 24/7...hopefully! Here are a few things that have been brightening up my day(s) lately.

{Benefiting from my mom's unwanted GWP}

{My love with affair with creme brulee continues...}

{Halving a giant hamburger with my best friend}

{Cute little frosted glass containers from Nordstrom}

{Feeling like an adult using my leather satchel as a schoolbag}

I can't wait to get finals over with and to start my summer! I can feel the happy already. What has been making you smile lately? :)