I'm back!

Getting back to the grind as summer is winding down.. I've been working a lot recently, which involves a lot of driving around to different locations, skipping lunch.. not good, I know. Just need to get into the groove again. Anyways, here is something to help you all with going back to work/school or just to help you indulge in your pumpkin spice latte cravings :) $5 for $10 at Starbucks! Enjoy.

I have done a bit of shopping lately as well. I'm now a VIB at Sephora, hah.. I can't say that I'm too surprised. Here is a taste of what I have recently acquired:

Found these on clearance for $6 at Target! score. They are more comfortable than you might think!

My new addiction.. these have permanently been in my purse since I bought them. I usually don't even enjoy Reese's cups but these are like the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter.

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Facial Peel: I am currently on the second week of this peel. AMAZING product. The hardest thing is staying out of the sun because the alpha hydroxyl acid makes your skin more susceptible to sunburn. My skin is looking pretty awesome right now--very smooth, even tone, faded acne scars. Pretty expensive but totally worth it. (it was also only $75 in the store, it's $78 online) Love it. It is definitely one of those things that is great to do after summer just to revitalize your skin after all that sun exposure, sweating & humidity.

Godiva Solid Shampoo. A Lush store finally opened in my mall so I stopped by to check it out. I still am pretty stocked up on my bath supplies so one of the salespeople convinced me to try a shampoo bar. This is supposed to smell like Jasmine Flowers, but to me it smells like something else.. something yucky. Also this is supposed to be a shampoo + conditioner in one type deal, but I find it pretty drying so I still use my normal conditioner after using this. I probably would not repurchase this.

Since I got a 10% off coupon for becoming a VIB, I decided to get the Marc Jacobs Dot perfume. Doesn't it have such a cute bottle? I got the smaller bottle (1.0 fl oz) so its not as fancy-looking as the 1.7 fl oz. bottle, haha. This is a floral scent that I can handle, it's not too overpowering and lasts all day. Brings the girly girl out of me :)

-J

Lush time of the year again!

So, the holiday collection of products Lush has never fails to draw my attention.. since it is that time of the year again, I stopped by for only a couple things, but of course that turned into much more.

Bath bombs! Satsumo Santa, Sex Bomb, and So White. I have only tried So White before, and it is by far my favorite so far. It has such a distinct apple scent to it. I absolutely love it. This is only available during the holidays so I got 3 of these. Then I decided to try Satsumo Santa. I'm not a really big fan of the really seasonal & christmas-y smelling bath bombs so this one caught my eye. It has a citrus-y scent and supposedly turns your bath water red-orange. Finally, I really wanted to try Sex Bomb since it seems to be so popular. I love the smell of Jasmine so I don't think you can go wrong with that.

Bubble bar - Pop in the bath. I am the biggest fan of bubble baths. They are just so fun and relaxing. This one was recommended to me by one of the people working in the store because I told them that I love The Olive Branch shower gel. This bubble bar is supposed to smell identical to that. I kind of got a really unattractive-looking one though, didn't I? They came in various color combinations. Despite the lack of visual appeal, I know I will love using this.

This was a major reason I wanted to stop by Lush. The way I've been using this Colour Supplement is by taking a smaller than pea-sized amount and mixing it with a pump of my moisturizer. Then, I buff it into the skin on my face with a stippling brush. After using this for about a week and a half, I am loving it. There is a great amount of coverage without feeling heavy at all. It is very soft in texture and leaves your skin very smooth looking. I do have very oily skin so I make sure to powder over it to set it. The dark yellow color matches perfectly with my skin; it especially helps because you can adjust the pigmentation depending how you mix it. It seems like a really small pot for $16 but I can see it lasting a while.

 I should have just stopped there.. but I got roped into a couple other things... I bought 1/4 lb of the popular Snowcake soap. I've tried this before and I love the almond-ness of this soap. It's not too strong smelling and really leaves your hands squeaky clean. It lathers nicely and is so soft&luxurious feeling. I didn't really need anymore soaps but this amount will probably last me until next year, so no worries about running out!

Then I got a facial cleanser. This was one of those things that the employee pretty much convinced me to get.  Dark Angels, it's called, since it contains charcoal and pretty much looks like it. I have to say this creates quite the mess on your bathroom counter so you have to be careful. To use it, you break off a small piece (which is really easy to do, it's really soft) and lather it with some water before working onto your face. There are sugars to exfoliate your skin in here as well as a minty feeling. I was told that I could leave it on my skin like a mask for a minute or so before washing it off. So far, I'm really liking it. I don't use it every day because I don't want to be exfoliating my skin so often. It does contain avocado oil so that is supposed to replace the oil that is taken away by the charcoal, which leaves your skin very moisturized afterwards.

Mask of Magnanity. I got a sample of this mask, offered by one of the employees. It's supposed to be good for oily skin and has some exfoliating stuff in there. You do not need to refrigerate this, and I think it lasts up to 4 months. It is pretty similar to the Love Lettuce fresh mask (especially in appearance), except this one has a minty feeling to it and it is not as moisturizing. I'm not sure I would buy a whole tub of it though.

And with that, I'm probably set for at least an entire year before I need to head back to Lush.

-J

August obsessions

Our orchid plants have been flowering like crazy lately!! These were some we cut off since they were weighing the plant down, and shockingly, new bud have appeared where we cut these off from! Who knew?

Anyways, I just wanted to share some things that I have recently purchased (yea.. make up ban broken.. but I have yet to buy any nail polish!). I made my first Nars purchase for myself: Grand Palais eyeshadow duo and their eyeshadow primer. I got 20% off and free 2-day shipping, so it was a good of a time as any to get these :)

Mac Prep+Prime transparent finishing powder/pressed - awesome! Although I haven't used it enough to make a final verdict on it. I do like how the compact has a mirror in it.

Jergens Skin Firming Daily Toning Moisturizer--nice scent that is not overpowering, easily absorbs into the skin.. has glycerin (sucks in moisture from your suroundings) & collagen (firms skin) in it. I've been using this for about 2 weeks now, and I have to say that I have noticed a very slight firming of my skin, but it is not too significant.

Now, onto some food items I have been enjoying lately. First I've been drinking a lot more tea than coffee and in attempt to save money from going to Starbucks all the time, I got the Stash Double Spice Chai, Tazo Zen & Passion Teas at Target. Starbucks brews these same exact Tazo teas in their store so the Zen is the green tea they use and the Passion is the passion tea they have. I've just been brewing them in batches (no sugar added), storing it in the fridge and drinking to my hearts content! I add lemonade to them sometimes as well, which adds some sweetness since lemonade that you buy in store has sugar in it (I've been getting the Simply Lemonade). This Chai is not the same as Starbucks, but does the trick just fine. I do add sugar to this when I brew it; unsweetened Chai tastes pretty nasty to me. Store it in the fridge, and then when I drink it I add some milk to it to make my own Iced Chai Latte.

Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt--OBSESSED! These yogurts with the fruit ont he bottom are so delicious. They really hit the spot when you're craving desserts and so far I have tried the chocolate, lemon, blueberry & strawberry flavors. Chocolate yogurt is not really my favorite; I shall stick with fruit with my yogurt. These were 2 flavors that stuck out to me so I'm excited to try them out. I think I'm gonna take them to school with me to have with my lunch.

Fresh Express Sweet Butter is the best! My grocery store tends to sell these buy one get one free, so whenever I see that I have to get it. Yea, I know, bagged salad what a waste of money but it's so convenient and this lettuce is really really good with balsamic vinaigrette.

I have also been trying to eat more fruit lately, even though I do eat enough on a normal basis. Over the summer it's been mostly watermelon. I've always been a fan of bananas and clementines. One of our neighbors has a longan tree so we have a stash of them in the freezer right now; I have to be careful eating those because one too many and I get nauseous/break out. Recently cherries & peaches have been on my favored fruit list. I'm guessing that cherries are in season right now since they are more prominent in the store and they're freaking huge! And i just had to take a photo of this beautiful humongous peach. I prefer white peaches or nectarines, but peaches are fine too I guess :).

Alrighty, hope everyone had a great summer.. not really ready to go back to school, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

-J

Makeup-buying ban = lots of other shopping...

NEW SHOES! haha.. I got these purple Nike Eclipse II sneakers today at DSW for $40. My black Converse shoes are getting pretty beat up, so I thought these could replace those for me. They are SO comfortable and I got a free tote bag! Kinda tacky but the material is actually pretty sturdy. Not a big fan of those chain handles.

So, it's been a while, since I am not buying new make-up right now. Especially banning myself from buying anymore new nail polish. It's been hard, for sure, but so far I am doing so good! But.. instead of buying polish & make-up, I have been purchasing other things.. such as 4 new pairs of shoes.. and clothing. Anyways, I decided I wanted to share all that with ya so here it is:

I also got these colorful socks at DSW for $9. They are made by Converse

and apparently are made specially for the their Chuck Taylors.

I got this bikini for only $12 at Old navy! They were selling bathing suits for only $6 a piece, and they had plenty of different colors/styles/patterns so you could mix and match them.

Now, onto Forever 21...

Grey/cream dress with ruffly cap sleeves, $19.90 - perfect for the hot weather.

yellow eyelet A-line skirt, $17.80

neon yellow rimmed aviator sunglasses, $5.80

floral skort romper, $19.80. Love the corset style top--gives such a feminine shape to the body. The slight padding in the bust is enough that you don't need to wear a bra with this either! It also comes with white straps you can add on if you prefer, but I think I like it strapless better.

MORE SHOES...

Report coral crochet flats (Nordstrom rack), $30.

Merona tan woven flats (Target), on clearance for $13

Havaianas neon yellow slim flip flops (Nordstrom rack )$12.90

Neon orange & green Essential V-neck Tee, Victoria's Secret PINK, 2 for $26.

bleached rose colored lace cami (Banana Republic), $10 (super sale!)

white lace bandeau bra (Nordstrom Rack), $4.95

After listing it all out like that.. I think I will be taking a break from shopping, of all kinds (except for food!).

-J

Chicago Trip

So, I recently made a trip to Chicago and ate very well there. Above we have some mini cupcakes from Sugar Bliss - red velvet, carrot cake (my personal favorite), and their seasonal strawberry lemonade. Obviously I need to share all that goodness with you guys. Here is me trying to condense it into what will probably turn out to be a pretty long post. I was there for 10 days and made a restaurant list before I went. I basically was able to hit up all the places I wanted -- mostly places that I have never been to before this trip. I learned that if you see a slow roasted pork shoulder on the menu, you have to get it -- it WILL be delicious. Enjoy!

First off, I stopped by Ulta because the one in South Florida that I know of is just way too far for me to go to. I bought 2 things there: Fancy Fuschia (yes, I know.. ANOTHER nail polish) by Orly, which I am wearing at the moment, and the dual fiber stippling brush by Real Techniques which was created by Samantha Chapman (one of the YouTube Pixiwoo sisters)--these super soft taklon bristles are supposed to be awesome for applying liquid foundation and also help it last longer on the skin. Also stopped by the beauty store in Chinatown and picked up a pack of these hair velcro things that are awesome for keeping your hair out of your face while putting makeup on and a pack of facemasks by MyBeauty Diary (haven't used them yet).

I also went to Urban Outfitters and got this dress (red & black print, I think the apples are so cute!) and wallet in the coral color (so cute and very soft). Just need to make a note to myself: shopping alone is dangerous.. especially in Chicago.

Now, onto the food!!!

Chinatown - there is a restaurant (forgot the name, it's right across from Joy Yee's in the new section of Chinatown) now that features a chef who makes these hand pulled noodles, always drawing a crowd outside the restaurant watching him do his thing. I came here for a quick lunch and decided on the spicy braised beef noodle soup. It was definitely spicy and the noodles were pretty good!

Mia Francesca - Time to experience some italian food in Chicago! I ordered with a friend the Tri Colore sirloin carpaccio (SO GOOD) and the quattro stagioni pizza that featured the waiter mixed up the egg yolk on top when served at the table. I expected the crust to be thinner, so it was quite heavy and we could not eat it all!

Quartino - I forgot to take photos of the other food we got here but we mainly came for the duck prosciutto (2 servings of it in this photo, one with candied fruit preserves and the other with pickled vegetables). IT WAS MELT IN YOUR MOUTH DELICIOUS. At this family style italian eatery, we also got broccoli rabe, pizza margherita, paparadelle al sugo di manzo (homemade tuscan pasta ribbons in braised beef tomato sauce), and the tuscan sausage risotto.

The Purple Pig - "Cheese, Swine and Wine" is the motto here, and we definitely ate our fair share of pig during our lunch here. Here we have from left to right, top to bottom: Fried olives stuffed with chorizo, lardo crostini, charred cauliflower that had these delicious tangy pickles, morcilla (a.k.a. blood sausage) with fava beans, roasted bone marrow with herbs, and milk braised pork shoulder (this was the favorite).

Green City Farmers Market! I miss this place so much. There is so much awesome fresh local produce and always a ton of delicious foods to sample while you check out the spread. We actually spotted Rick Bayless here! How cool is that! We started out with a freshly baked croissant and then were inspired by a cooking demonstration by the exec chef from the Signature Room to make a summer salad with purple asparagus & radishes for lunch, along with bruschetta with beautiful heirloom tomatoes and toasted ciabatta bread sprinkled with thyme & olive oil.

Best lunch ever! It felt good to get in the kitchen to make this stuff, although it was 90+ degrees that day we basically didn't want to do much cooking (hence the store-bought rotisserie chicken).

Bongo Room - I miss this place! Brunch here was always delicious, but we made it for lunch on one of the weekdays. I have to say that if you go here, definitely go for a sweet item because they do those so well, and their savory items are just "eh." Here we have a beef tenderloin nicoise salad, pork loin sandwich with jicama slaw and chorizo omelette (the potatoes are really yummy).

Avec - this was the restaurant that I was looking forward to eating at the most. It usually has a pretty long wait time since they don't take reservations and seating is limited, so we went on a Tuesday night around 6:30 pm and got seated right away! The top 2 dishes were my favorite -- the famous chorizo stuffed medjool dates and the roasted pork shoulder with tiny rock shrimp, harissa, peanuts and hominy. We also got hanger steak, shaved brussel sprouts salad and bucatini with pork meatballs in spicy marinara. Everything was SO good. This is definitely a must-go-to restaurant if you ever visit Chicago. The only sad thing is that we did not have enough room for dessert.

Frontera Grill - Now, anyone who knows me will know that I am a huge fan of Rick Bayless. So it may come as a surprise that I've never had the pleasure of dining at Frontera, but now I can happily say that I have. I took photos of everyone's food, but I ended up ordering 2 appetizers instead of 1 entree. Well, I also had to get the Frontera margarita (it was pretty strong and very delicious). I ordered the trio of ceviches (which included: tuna with mango & guacamole, steamed calamari & shrimp with lime habanero jicama and cilantro, albacore with tomato olives and green chile) and the sopes rancheros (Crispy corn masa boats, savory shredded beef, roasted tomato, avocado, homemade fresh cheese). This was definitely the most expensive meal I had in Chicago but it was well worth it!

The next day we continued on our Rick Bayless eats to have a late lunch at Xoco (left), one of my favorite places to eat in Chicago. I love the soups there and it was very appropriate for this day, as it rained the night before and the temperatures dropped from 90+ degrees to 50 degrees (what the hell, Chicago!?) We got the Chicken Pozole and the Torta of the day which was a Mole Poblano braised pork (the sauce definitely made this sandwich). About 3 hours later, we headed to Belly Shack (right) for dinner. Here I ordered the Belly Dog which features pickled green papaya salad and fried egg noodles - sounds weird but it was AMAZING!! I only wish I was hungrier because I was only able to eat half of this ginormous hot dog. Friends also ordered the tostones which was excellent and came with a garlicky chimichurri , and for dessert soft serve with strawberry sauce, lemon zest & tapioca. Very interesting asian influences that worked really well together with these typical american eats.

Heat - Later that night, we had more hot dogs haha. This new place just opened up in Wicker Park, conveniently located very close to my friends' apartment where I was staying. This late-night gourmet hot dog joint was opened by an ex-head chef of P Diddy's. We ordered the Duck & Orange dog (so good), Char dog, and the Pheasant & Cognac dog. Since it just opened, everything came with an order of truffle fries and free soft drinks. The duck was definitely most savory out of the 3.

Bistro Zinc - we decided on french for my sister's graduation dinner, a bit indulgent and very delicious! I got the Vol-au-vent (stew du jour) with mashed potatoes & puff pastry. Friends got the Truite Sautee (trout pan fried on a bed of spinach in a tomato-caper vinaigrette), Salmon with this awesome charred onion vinaigrette and mushrooms & asparagus, and the quiche du jour that tasted like it had some goat cheese in it.

Feast - my favorite meal ever is brunch. I walked by this place while doing some shopping in Wicker Park and I knew I wanted to eat here. This ended up being my last meal in Chicago. I got the Steak Benedict and my friends ordered Chilequiles and the Garbage Omelette. Their mimosa is made with freshly squeezed orange juice & prosecco. Their potatoes were excellent and definitely filled me up really quickly. Afterwards we stopped by iCream, which is this place that you can create your own ice cream and they make it right in front of you in cuisinart mixers with liquid nitrogen! This process creates such a creamy ice cream, it was really delicious. We decided not to be so bold as to make our own mixes so we went with some that are already made: Mom's favorite (chocolate with nutella and raspberry mix-ins) and Pomegranate Tea (pomegranate green tea with blueberry mix in).

I hope you will get to experience all of this deliciousness in Chicago at one point in your life, but you should go soon before it all changes!

-J

May Hauls

Soooooo, I have been doing a lot of shopping lately, especially since school ended. Nothing like a little (or A LOT) shopping therapy! I finally found the Cosmetics Company Store at my outlet mall (hidden in the Saks Off Fifth store) so that was exciting :). I also stopped by Sephora & Ulta!

~CCO~

Mac Beauty Powder in Summer Rose $15.50 – beautifully packaged blue-toned light pink blush

Bobbi Brown Creamy concealer in Warm Beige $15.50; believe it or not I never used concealer before this. It's extremely easy to blend and did match my skin pretty well before I got tanner after a trip to the beach...

Bobbi Brown Long-wear Gel eyeliner in Thunder Storm (24) $14.75: This is a glittery charcoal liner, which is subtle yet gives enough definition to the eyes. Addicted!

~SEPHORA~

Dr. Feel Good (by Benefit): “a velvety complexion balm” that can be worn alone, under or over makeup used to mattify your complexion and smooth our lines or pores. Contains vitamins C & E. Nice clean scent, still trying it out to see how much I like it.

~ULTA~

NYX Nude on Nude Palette: 20 eyeshadows & 10 lip colors, comes with a 2 double-ended applicators, one for eyes and the other for lips. I am loving these eyeshadows! I never really took the time to wear it before but since getting this, I have loved trying new combinations of different shades and since these are neutral shades they are very safe to play around with. I find that the shadows last pretty well even without a primer underneath. I have yet to try out the lip colors but the Orange one is calling my name :).

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips: 320 Kitty, Kitty (leopard print) and 350 Misbehaved (black fishnet over a shimmery rose gold color). As a nail polish lover, these have always intrigued me so I had to get some.

I also purchased Lolly by Zoya, which is a beautiful matte pink (photo of it in last post!).

Essie Fifth Avenue nail polish-bright red orange (I'm wearing this right now with fingers & toes matching!): I actually found this at my local TJ Maxx store, they were selling these polishes for $3.99, who could pass that up, especially such a beautiful color!??

-J