Small Ulta Haul and Review

Hello All!
("All" referring to the three random readers viewing this...)
Never done a "haul" post but I went to Ulta yesterday and had a few opinions on the stuff I bought and just wanted to share it. Initially, I was on a mission. I saw a nail color on vintageortacky's (youtube beauty guru) video that I LOVED. It was a dark orange color from China Glaze called "Riveting". When I got to the store, I thought it would be a relatively easy color to spot, but it wasn't... long story short, I couldn't find it and went home with a different color, and a few other products. 

So instead of the China Glaze color, I found this one that seemed ("seemed" being the key word here) very similar, so I decided to try it out.

Piggy Polish "Damsel in this Dress"

This is Piggy Polish in "Damsel in this Dress". Btw, I kinda love cute, clever names in cosmetics, so how could I deny this?? Apparently, it's supposed to "go on toes" but I've never followed packaging labels and I'm not about to start now! This was around $8, which is a little steep for me but since I was going to buy a China Glaze color anyway, I figured what the hell.



I got home and tried it on, of course! It's a kind of a metallic, shimmer color. However, unlike most other nail polishes of this type, it only required two coats to get a nice even color, which I thought was a very good characteristic. I'm not wearing a top coat, so it might look a bit less shiny for that reason. Overall, I really liked this particular color and thought it was the perfect color just in time for spring. 

The other product I decided to splurge on was a base coat because apparently, if you use nail polish a lot like I do, you should probably wear a base coat to protect them. An unspoken rule that I had kinda been avoiding for a good 10 years.... but since my nails do get a bit yellow, I decided I should start taking care of them. So, I bought this: 

Sally Hansen Base Coat

This is the Sally Hanson Base Coat, which also runs at about $8. I don't really have a review right now since I just bought it (duh!). First opinion though, I don't like the color of the bottle simply because I can't see how much product I have left, but that's my only complaint so far. 
While waiting to pay, they had a some of the crackle nail polishes on clearance. I figured for $3, it was worth the shot. So I also bought this OPI shatter nail polish. 

OPI "Blue Shatter"

I tried this on over the Damsel in this Dress because my school colors are orange and blue and thought it would be a cute combo, however, I couldn’t even get the nail polish to “shatter”. It was kind of thick and hard to work with. I put one coat over but it was very thin and you could see through the color, so I applied another coat and it just covered the whole nail like a regular polish. I was disappointed to say the least, but was glad that I didn’t buy it full price. It’s still a nice blue color so maybe I can still use it.

That’s all for today! If you have any questions, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the day!

Very amateur painter

When I was younger, around 13, I watched a few episodes of One-Stroke painting on PBS. She made it seem so simple. Just a few strokes and you'd created something quite beautiful. So started my love affair with painting. It is relatively simple to do, but at 13 it was a bit complicated. My mom bought me some paints and brushes and I began to practice. My first tries were not even fridge worthy. They looked like painted stick figures. But I remained persistent and I kept practicing. It took me a good three years to finally paint something worthy of hanging on our wall. My mom has hung up several of them around the house and has even given a few away to some friends as gifts. When I started college, I had stopped painting for a while because of lack of time. I picked up a brush again a few months ago and found that thanks to muscle memory, I hadn't lost my touch.

I was going for abstract flowers kind of thing.

It's not too hard to learn how to One-Stroke paint. There are plenty of videos on youtube you can learn from.

I'm hoping to start painting more than just one-stroke. To branch out and see what I can do.

Pancakes kind of day

Woke up this morning with a big hankering for pancakes. I sauntered over to the kitchen to make some and found that we were out of pancake mix! What a travesty! That shouldn't even be allowed... but so began my quest for a recipe for pancakes from scratch (as well as how to create the universe).

This looked promising.

I had found a very good one before but couldn't find it again and since I was starving, decided to settle for the one shown above.

I only had 12 year old baking powder though. Why it hasn't been thrown out is beyond me. I decided to use baking soda, which was questionable itself. According to Google, a third of baking soda is required to substitute for baking powder.

They came out quite good, as can be seen below. They seemed to be missing a little something though...but once you poured on the maple syrup, all was right with the world.

By the way, that largest to smallest spiral effect they have going on was NOT done on purpose >.<

Just the way they happened to come out of the pan. 

And because I had blueberries and I kinda love them, I made a few with some berries.

So ends my adventures in breakfast making for the time being. If you've never tried making pancakes from scratch, I highly recommend. It's relatively simple and a lot more satisfying.

Memories.

I was randomly browsing my journal the other day and came upon this entry.

"Sunday, June 5, 2011

I didn't go to UC Davis. I stayed. Because it was safe. Because it was comfortable. Because I chickened out. So much changes in a year and yet so much stays the same. I'm still vying for the heart of a boy who I'm almost 100% positive no longer wants me. But it's that almost that keeps me back, that almost that makes me think there may still be a chance. So I stick around. I joke, I make bets and keep agreeing to his crazy ideas because like he said, it may be the last time I get to say yes. Because I keep thinking that this time, it's ME that needs a second chance. And it's that small ounce of hope, like when he says he has to take advantage because I never talk to him, that keeps me around."

 "I'm still vying for the heart of a boy who I'm almost 100% positive no longer wants me."


That line. To me, it's one of the best things I've ever written.

I have no recollection of writing this entry.

I wrote it on my birthday.