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Things I Like:
#79.

My mom just gave me this True Color Mocha Latte Eyeshadow Quad by Avon in Latte, Beige, Iced Coffee and Espresso. I like it mostly because of the coffee-themed color names and partly because they're colors anybody could pull off.

I finally got around to painting the cup that Lem got me 2 Christmases ago. It's not even close to perfect, but I think that gives it character.... Right? Anyways, it probably holds the amount of liquid equivalent to two mugs, so I can drink tea until I pee my pants without having to go down to the kitchen for a refill.















I've been to Cafe Deux Soleil a few times before, but I've only ever gotten drinks there. My girls and I decided to have lunch there. All their food is vegetarian, and some of it is only mediocre... But the wrap I got was AMAZING. It's just vegetables and rice... But it's not JUST vegetables and rice. There was so much flavor and the bean sprouts were wonderful. I was full, but I kept eating because it was just that good. I would definitely go back again just for that wrap.

I love hitting up hipster vintage places. There's a certain smell to shops like that, and it always feel welcoming. I'm pretty cautious when it comes to buying used clothes, and vintage shops tend to jack up the prices a little bit, but I still love the process of looking through everything. And occasionally, I'll find something good!

This is what my friend Abby has hanging over her bed. She always decorates her room really nice, and it never fails to look really homey. I wish my room was neat enough to make it worth decorating like this.

Home-made cookies. There's not much more to say.

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Things I Like:
#77.

I was looking through my blog, and I forgot how much fun it is to do Things I Like posts, so here's a short one about two of many wonderful gifts that I received for my birthday!

I guess word spread around that I really like nail polish. The first three are from American Apparel. Two are lovely pastel shades, Dynasty and Rouge, and the third is Smoke Dazzle Metallic (I'm currently rocking this right now). The one on the far right is Magnetic Polish from Nails Inc. It's SO cool and makes me feel like I actually know something about nail art. When you put it on, it's just a solid color, but then when you put a magnet over it, patterns come out! I know there's some scientific explanation about how the electrons move and blahblahblah, but to me, it's more like magic. Screw Sauder, I think I'm on my way to becoming a manicurist!

My cousin got me this gorgeous journal, and I'm so excited to use it! I'm actually going to forgo writing in it to start yet another mini-project: an art journal! Going through high school, I did band, so I always felt like I missed art classes. They were always so chill. I'm not great at drawing or anything of the sort, but I'll definitely have a lot of fun finding more creative ways to show where I'm at in life apart from writing.

I was going to do more because I received a lot of amazing gifts (like that one-meter long bar of chocolate the boys got me.. I mean, where did they even find that?) ... But I'm not going to because I'm suddenly lazy. Goodnight!

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Continuing on tonight's theme, these are a few of my favourite things (lately):

1. My white wool cardigan

I picked up this cardigan up from Value Village a few weeks ago (in the men's section, because as usual, the girl's section was lacking). It's perfect for the winter because it's thick and toasty. AND unlike most wool cardigans that I've found, it's comfy and not scratchy at all. It is also classy enough that I can throw it on when I'm feeling lazy and not look like a total slob. This will be one of those things that I still keep in my closet even when I'm 50.

2. Instapaper

There are always a few things you always check on the internet right when you get home: Facebook, Twitter, and for me especially, blog posts and articles from the Huffington Post and Bigthink. And if you're anything like me, you're not always in the mood to read huge long pieces of writing, even if they do sound SUPER interesting. This is where Instapaper comes in handy! It has the same idea as Youtube's Watch Later playlist. You get an account and then get a "Read Later" button on your bookmark bar. Then whenever you want to bookmark something to read later (get it? Bookmark? Read later? Ha..Ha..), it's conveniently right there!

3. Cat eyes

I used to be appalled at the thought of ever trying to wear cat eyeliner, because I've seen it done terribly on too many people, and I've always thought that it would look too unnatural on my Asian eyes. But lately, I've realize that it can be done tastefully and subtly. And why yes, I did just manage to slip a picture of Hayley Williams in this blog post. I'm really tempted to ramble on about how bad ass she is and how much I wish I could be a rocker chick like her, but I'll save that for another day. Even if you don't appreciate it, I know Esther will.

4. Concerts

Today I went back to my high school (I know, no surprise. I'm there pretty much every week or so) for a music concert. It's always strange to come back as alumni. There's always familiar faces, people who have impacted you so greatly and strange nostalgia. The music program always reuses pieces so I found myself singing along to the songs and feeling the urge to bust out my saxophone again. That also means, my little band geeks, that since I knew everything by heart, I could tell where every mistake was, even if the rest of the audience couldn't.

5. Community

Newman recently got me hooked onto this show called Community. It's incredibly hilarious, and every character has his or her own little quirks. I usually don't like it when the main character's a douchebag (I just always want them to win!) but I actually don't mind it for this show, as evidently shown by the rapid speed at which I'm whipping through episodes. Finals period is probably a really bad time for me to get addicted to TV, but I guess it's also a good way to kick back and try not to be stressed out for a little while.

6. Waves Coffee

A new library opened up by my house last year, and I was super stoked to not have to go to the dinky old library by the Royal City Mall anymore. The new library has a modern design, with windows all around it so it's very bright and well-lit. The only problem is that there are NEVER any seats there. I actually don't think there's even any study spaces. I would always walk in, walk out and then head down the street to Waves where there's wi-fi and a semi-quiet place to study, and it's opened later than the library too. Now, I just skip the library and go straight to Waves. I wonder if they get annoyed at all, because I always  sit there for 6 hours with my nose in a textbook and only ever buy one drink...

7. Chocolate-Covered Coconut Macaroons

No blog post like this would ever be complete without something about food! Honestly, I haven't been going out to eat as much lately because of finals. I tend to study so hard that I forget to eat... It's really bad. I know. My body will hate me for this. However, this does not seem to be a problem when I go study with Jancy. We hit up the new Super Walmart at Guildford (OMIGAH, IT'S HUGE!) to pick up some snacks before a study session, and I bought a box of chocolate-covered coconut macaroons, which is underneath the Ferrero Rochers and beside the Smart Popcorn in the picture... Holy crap, I could not stop eating them. I mean, I'm not really much of a junk-food binger, but I consider dessert as my favourite food and my sweet tooth tends to get the best of me. Good thing I'm dating a Dutch boy because I heard that they eat dessert before dinner.
PS: I promise you that we did not eat all the food in the picture above.

Anyways, that is all for tonight. A long day of studying lies ahead for me tomorrow (after a few episodes of Community................).

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1. Fuhhhhhhhhhhh... I keep telling myself it doesn't phase me, but who am I kidding? I only do that because I hate being that person. But then again, they treat me like I'm going to pick myself up and dust it off (just like every other time right?) for a reason.
2. I wish I was either better or worse at keeping my composure.
3. So many things would be beautiful if only we allowed them to be.
4. I sometimes fear that my dreams hold truth.

Things I Like:
#38.

A Spring palette for Spring Break!
(Colour Quartet For Eyes - No. 1 Pastel Shimmer by Clarins)

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Mentally preparing myself for a long day in no better way than blogging for the sake of it. The Evening of jazz is tonight, and I'd rather not spend my morning thinking about it when that's all I'm going go to be doing today.

Things I Like:
#32.

I've always mooched off of Esther's sandwiches every time she makes a Safeway run, because they're pretty much heaven, but today, I finally bought one for myself. It was seriously worth it. They're around $5, the staff is super nice and they don't rush you so you can take your time to make the perfect, ultimate sandwich. And it's true what they* say, "Safeway doesn't sell just-average sandwiches. Only awesome party in your mouth sandwiches."

I feel like I've been talking about food a lot lately, so I'll blurb about make-up for a bit. I love the bronze and yellow-gold combination of the Eyeshadow Duo in Full Frontal by Two Faced**. It is extremely pigmented, so you don't have to use much at all, lasts forever and applies smoothly. It's almost neutral, but it does have a lot of sparkles, so I can see how it's not for everyone... And for some reason, I thought the bronze was purple for the longest time, and I have no idea why.

*By they, I mean Esther
**Why yes, it does make me a little nervous that I would like a make-up brand called Two Faced, but it's good quality eyeshadow, okay?

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... That was really difficult.
It was difficult to process.
And just made this process more difficult.
Time to re-access my values again.


Things I Like:
#27. 

Salmon Sand by OPI, You Don't Know Jacques! by OPI and #22 by Emnono Color (a.k.a. some no-name Asian brand that I found in Hong Kong so I'll never find it again which means I have to savor it)
I've been really digging these colors lately.

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Things I Like:
#9.
Today, I went running (finally), watched the Social Network (finally), listened to music, and took a bubble bath.
I feel better now.

If you sign up for a membership for Sephora, they give you Philosophy's shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath in Vanilla Birthday Cake on your birthday for free (They also have something for guys, but I don't know how many guys would sign up for a make-up store membership..). As much as I love smelling like vanilla, I miss kinda miss this stuff:

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Should I or should I not?
"It's not like I'm doing anything wrong" usually means something's not right.
I'm not pushing for anything.
Well, maybe a little bit. I just want this without that, because that complicates things. A lot.
But maybe it's impossible to separate those things.

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It fills me with joy seeing you on your turf, in your prime, and doing what you love and what you're good at. The anticipation is killing me. And yes, there's a double meaning to that.

Things I Like:

#4.

There are many things I like today.

3 Things: Headphones, socks and Sara Bareilles.
Today, Josh gave me the most adorable teddy bear ear buds I've ever seen in my life. My little brother can be nice to me. Sometimes. They're not the most wonderful quality and will probably break in about a week.. But they're so cute!
I also enjoy the iPod sock that Caleb gave me. It keeps my baby warm on cold winter nights like tonight. He pointed out to me that if I put it on upside down, it turns into a toque.
Another thing that's been keeping me going these days is Kaleidoscope Heart, Sara Barielle's new album. It's phenomenal. I look forward to mornings when I can sit on the bus and actually listen to each song.

And this is the part where I get to be a girl. Sorry for those of you who don't care much for make-up. You can either deal with it or just skip over this part.

If I could only buy one eyeshadow quad (I'm talking drugstore brands here, mind you) for the rest of my life, it would be Revlon's 12-Hour Colorstay Eyeshadow in Priceless Metals. It comes with 4 colours: Bronze, Copper, Gold and Silver. They're all metallic, which I love because it's hard for me to find matte eyeshadows that I like and I'm not a huge fan of really glittery ones either. The browns are neutral enough for me to wear on a daily basis, and the gold goes well with my skin tone. I usually use silver to highlight the inner corners of my eyes, so it's pretty much perfect. The only complaint I have about it is the brushes it comes with are basically useless. The colours all blend together well, and not only does it stay on for the entire day, it keeps my eyeliner from smudging too!

That is all.