mexico! (part 1)

I know, I know...I am so incredibly late in posting this. I finally got around to editing and organizing my thoughts on my Mexico trip I took back in December. It was such a memorable trip! It was my first time staying at an all inclusive resort and there are definitely pros and cons that I will get into during these posts. Overall I would say it is worth it if you pick a good resort and I would definitely do it again. Day 1 of my Mexico trip:

We stayed at the Grand Sunset Princess Resort in Playa del Carmen. I traveled with my two sisters, two cousins and uncle. We arrived around midday and it was...well it was breathtaking to be honest. My little sister, who is a teenager and VERY hard to impress, was even awestruck and dazed by the view.

Free champagne on arrival! The resort itself was very well taken care of; very open and clean. We picked a good time of the year to visit since the weather was warm and sunny.

We saw a lot of wild iguanas and cats if you can believe it. They mostly came out at night though while the iguanas preferred to soak up the midday sunshine. There were multiple pool areas scattered all over so it was never too crowded. I loved the pillar design.

We hit up the beach to make the most of our day. My bathing suit top is from ASOS and my bottoms are from NastyGal if anyone was wondering.

The beach had a bar and food area so that could be hit up if wanted. The food was just nutrition and nothing amazing. They had burgers, tacos, and hot dogs. I ate my weight in pico de gallo (the only decent thing available since it was so fresh!). I could have spent all day here...I love the beach! I didn't get much color though since it was in the afternoon.

Day one was mostly us settling in our rooms and hitting up the beach. Next time I'll talk about our second day where we ziplined through the jungle and visited a natural cenote...

NOLA 2014

Back in September my sister, cousin and I took an impromptu trip to New Orleans. We all had never been plus we had heard the city had renowned food spots, booze happy streets, and a rich history that the residents took pride in. I mostly took pictures with my iPhone as tugging around a DSLR around became tiresome and there was so much to soak in, but here is what I have to share about my time there.

The place we stayed at was Hotel Villa Convento which I highly recommend. It was within walking distance of a lot of areas we planned to see and the staff was really helpful and accommodating. The room we stayed in was really clean and nice at a really affordable price.

We were told we had to try the Hand Grenade drink at Tropical Isle. It apparently is considered a dangerous drink as people will consume a lot of it without noticing it contains a lot of alcohol since it has no lingering after taste. I can vouch for the latter, but we practiced self control and didn't order many.

I loved the old buildings with their intricate wrought iron balconies with bushy greenery to spruce up the scene. And almost all the shutters around were painted in fun colors. Such a nice sight to see.

How could we turn down something listed as The Seafood Tower on a menu? Impossible. We picked that out at Pier 424 Seafood Market which felt a little "chain-like" so it definitely isn't a must try if you are in town. We also tried out Imperial Woodpecker Snoballs which was refreshing and not too shabby to look at. But again, not necessarily a MUST TRY unless you are a huge shaved ice fan.

I definitely recommend checking out Carousel Bar; it revolves as you sit! It was very neat. It spins slowly so you don't really notice it until you've been chatting up for a while and suddenly you are on the other side of the room. We had our first Sazeracs here, wowza that's a strong drink. If you like stiff drinks be sure to try it out. I personally needed to chase every sip with some water.

French Market was a couple streets away from our hotel so we stopped by to check it out. It was fun to see all the different seasonings, sauces, and other fares they had to offer. We walked away with some Cajun spices to take home.

Royal Street had a lot of street entertainment during the day. It also is the location of Cafe Beignet. We had some beignets and a muffaletta for the first time. The beignets were okay, I'm not a huge fan of the massive amount of powdered sugar. I did enjoy the muffaletta, though I have a sneaking suspicion that if you don't like olives (I love olives) you won't enjoy this NOLA sandwich. We didn't bother making it to the infamous Cafe du Monde this trip since we had our fill of fried dough.

So far, New Orleans has had the freshest seafood I have ever tried. The shrimp were always succulent, huge, and sweet. The bottom picture is Mr. B's Barbeque Shrimp at Mr. B's Bistro and it is by far the best shrimp I have ever had the pleasure of eating in my life. I was skeptical as this dish was heavily raved about in my food research but the hype is so real you guys.

A few thoughts on NOLA:

+ The weather is the strangest thing. It is hot and humid but it would also be stormy and rainy randomly for brief periods before clearing up and being sunny like nothing happened. And I thought the Midwest had wonky weather!
+ Everywhere you go there is ice cold AC blasting even if their doors/windows were open. I think they do this to entice you inside their business as the heat was pretty intense.
+ We didn't get to visit a lot of areas that I wanted to make it to. I definitely plan to go back to visit the Garden District, check out some jazz clubs, and to get a tour of the cemeteries.
+ If you are a seafood fan, make sure you plan to visit during NOLA's crawfish season. I didn't even know crawfish season was a thing, but it is and we missed it and were very bummed.
+ Bourbon street was not really our scene at night time. It would have been when I was in college, but I'm a bit of a grandma these days and it felt too "frat like" for my taste. We visited all the Bourbon street places during the day when we had most of the place to ourselves.

my festival/hot weather face & bonnaroo experience

Two weeks ago I flew off down South to Manchester, Tennessee to attend the Bonnaroo Music Festival. I had never heard of this festival until my cousin urged for me and my sister to go with her. I'm always down for an adventure that deals with sun, entertainment, and food so naturally I agreed.

So what did I bring for my makeup? Well I knew ahead of time a few things before we headed off: 1. We were camping in tents 2. Southern heat can be brutal and 3. Running water would be difficult to get to. I initially had plans to wear a bit of eye shadow, mascara, and a little eyeliner smudged in my lash line. After the first sweltering day I ditched eye makeup completely for the rest of the trip and stuck to only the face makeup and balm you see pictured above, mostly for the SPF protection and added coverage of the makeup.

For my base I applied the Shiseido Sun Protection Liquid Foundation SPF 42 with my fingers. I bought this right before my trip because I heard great things about its SPF coverage and lasting power during the heat. I plan to continue testing this out during the summer weather so I will do a full review soon, don't fret. For powder I buffed on Maybelline Dream Matte Powder with my Eco Tools Powder Brush as it is cheap and takes away shine sufficiently. I finished off with a swirl of the Estee Lauder Sea Star Bronzing Blush with my very battered MAC 109 as it worked as a bronzer and blush all at once. I finished off with a quick curl of my lashes with the Shu Uemura Curlers and a swipe of Fresh Sugar Rose Balm for a nice rosy SPF filled tint.

As for the event itself, I took some pictures to share with you all!

OPI Cajun Shrimp + OPI Glitzerland & Sephora Only Gold For Me mani // Cousin & me on the shuttle to the festival.

Food truck area. I didn't try anything!

The popular Spicy Pizza // Clever Dad? graffiti

F21 hat and sunnies that saved my life // Only a glimpse of the crowd

Citrusy brews // Mushroom fountain that also saved our lives

Morning yoga!

Strange paper mâché butt holding men

Bonnaroo arch at night

A FEW THOUGHTS:

+ There are a LOT of people that go to this festival. I believe I read there were around 80,000 people per day on the grounds. Be prepared to wait in long lines and not have any space to yourself.
+ The people that attend are very open and nice. There is an unspoken rule of don't steal/be shady and if you have things to share, share it!
+ There is also an unspoken rule of no judging/be a free spirit. I saw a lot of topless girls, people acting bananas, etc
+ Southern heat is no joke. We all rigorously applied sunblock with a high SPF but we still got burned. Luckily my face was well protected with my Shiseido, floppy hat, and sunglasses!
+ The food was mediocre at best. I heard raves about the spicy pizza and the grilled cheese. I only tried the pizza since PIZZA IS MY SOUL and it was just ok. Nothing I would tell you to go rush out and try, if you could.
+ The mushroom fountain was such a relief from the heat. Glad it was there for people to enjoy all day!

All in all I had a good time but I won't be returning. It was too crowded, too hot, and I hate tent camping with no facilities. I saw some great artists, my favorites being Porter Robinson, Paul McCartney, and Pretty Lights. There were other performances I wanted to see like Of Monsters and Men, The Lumineers, and The XX but it was too crowded for me to even see the stage. I'm also disappointed that I fell asleep from sun exhaustion for Jack Johnson! I got to hear him do sound check at least and he sounded amazing.

I recommend this festival if you are a die hard fan of the music (I am not, at least not for this genre), like peaceful and giving people, and don't mind roughing it for the weekend. I got a bit cranky with the "down with mainstream" and "I've heard of this band way before you" attitude towards the end but it was nothing that ruined my entire trip. Just different minds all in the same place.

toronto pick me ups

I forgot to mention in my Toronto travel post that I picked up a few goods that are harder to get here in the United States (or just in my area). I actually had a goal to find some damn Bioderma before I came home. I came, I conquered! Here is my little Toronto pick me up. I bought all of this at Shoppers Drug Mart.

NEOSTRATA TONER LEVEL 1
I mainly picked this up out of curiosity of the brand. But I am also trying to incorporate more toners into my life. I am still using my LUSH Tea Tree toner but when that is used up (which it will be soon) I plan to replace it with this.

NUXE REVE DE MIEL
Picked this up as a back up since I don't have any access to Nuxe near me. Love this, will keep repurchasing.

FREDERIC FEKKAI DRY SHAMPOO
Currently I am using Oscar Blandi's dry shampoo. It is the best I have tried when it comes to dry shampoo but I still think there is room for improvement. I have heard about this Frederic version but haven't spotted it anywhere near me so it was a nice surprise finding this.

BIODERMA
FINALLY. I have been wanting to try this out for ages but didn't want to pay the online prices. I was most excited about purchasing this. I contemplating buying more than one but I didn't want to be greedy and overestimate its performance just to be disappointed. I have used it a few times and it is nice. It feels just like water and takes off makeup decent enough. It doesn't perform better than any other remover I have tried though. If it was easily available to me I would repurchase but it isn't so amazing that I will go to lengths to purchase it from other inconvenient sources. Convenience is a powerful contender.

Have you tried any of these products? I am most curious about anyone's experience with Neostrata. Sound off in the comments!

my travels: toronto, canada

This past weekend I tagged along a spontaneous trip to Toronto Canada with some friends. It was a short and sweet vacation with good company. Here are a few photos from my travels.

1. rooftop view of Toronto at Sky Dragon Chinese Restaurant 2. night time view from the CN Tower 3. CN tower 4. sister and me inside the CN tower 5. looking downward and through the glass floor in the CN tower 6. no spiderman allowed in the CN tower

1. pretty Canadian money 2. Chinatown cuttlefish and duck 3. fresh greens in Chinatown's market 4. unknown and beautifully colored root in the market 5. pipe dragon inside Tea Shop 168 6. Chinatown wares

1. dumpling making ladies in Chinatown 2. duck, wonton, noodle soup from King's Noodle 3. roommate, sister, myself ready for a night out 4. crispy pork, greens and rice from King's Noodle 5. seafood, wonton, noodle soup from King's Noodle 6. hot and sour soup from King's Noodle

1. inside the Guvernment club 2. the lucky bridge inside Pacific Mall 3. my sister in the air puff security sensor in the CN tower 4. arcade fruit ninja inside Pacific Mall's arcade 5. wanda's Belgian waffles with ice cream and chocolate syrup 6. wanda's nutella strawberry crepe, we liked her waffles more!

1. Chako korean bbq 2. bland mango salad at Com Tam Pho 168 3. com suon at Com Tam Pho 168 4. surprisingly tasty pho at Com Tam Pho 168 5. fish ball and tripe stick snacks from Pacific Mall 6. my first time trying Tiger beer. decent!

A FEW THOUGHTS:

+ I noticed a trend with Toronto beggars, they all have pets! And they use their dogs/cats to attract attention. I have never seen this tactic before and I was perplexed.

+ The people I traveled with only wanted to check out the Asian cuisine and scene. I wish I could have tried a variety of other foods and scenes! There's always next time :)

+ The CN Tower was very touristy but we just couldn't resist. It isn't very expensive for admission like other tall buildings (*cough Empire State Building) and the view at night is very pretty. Their security air puff machine was neat, it blew puffs of air along the length of your body.

+ Chinatown in Toronto was bigger than I expected. I wonder what they marinate their cuttlefish in to make it such a magnificent shade of fluorescent orange? I didn't think any of the food there was spectacular. But I was very jealous of their markets. Tons of variety of fresh produce, dried roots and seafood, and much more.

+ The Guvernment was a neat place if you are into going out. They mainly play house music but I believe there are other levels that open up with other music depending on the night.

Thanks for the good time Toronto. I'll be sure to be back, this time to hunt out your other foods beside Asian.

philadelphia

i recently took a trip to new york and during my stay there i ended up taking a couple days away from the big apple to explore the historical city of philadelphia. i am not a huge history buff if i am being honest, but i can respect our country's roots and can say overall i had a pleasant time. it is worth a day trip if you are near the area and want to experience part of our country's origins. some food spots are really great, not to mention the old buildings are stunning and are at every corner you turn.

a few things:

+ the famous love sign! this was in JFK Plaza, aka Love Park. the fountain normally isnt pink, they changed the color for the day for breast cancer awareness.
+ being in philly and a huge foodie, i HAD to try out the philly cheese steak sandwiches (with cheese whiz of course). we tried the two top competitors: pat's king of steaks and geno's. pictured above is pat's, which was my favorite of the two. the meat was juicier and the bread was more flavorful. the cherry peppers were free (and yummy!)
+ the famous rocky steps are picture below the cheese steak. can you believe i have never seen the movie?
+ my favorite part of my philly trip (besides the food i ate) was visiting the eastern state penitentiary. it was fascinating! the surgical light pictured is the actual authentic one used that was left behind due to the bulk
+ the japanese house & garden was closed when we went unfortunately. i bet it would have been really neat inside.
+ if you are ever in philly you MUST try Barbuzzo. i was very skeptical of the place as the menu seemed a bit "healthy" and not very meat lover friendly but every single thing we ate here was so fresh and delicious. highly recommend the goat cheese dishes!

what i bring with me when i travel

recently i took a small trip to minnesota to visit relatives. i thought i would share what products i brought with me when i went as well as reflect back on what i ACTUALLY used. what i bring with me when i travel always varies. it depends on what i will be doing on the trip (parties? family events? low key outings?) and how long i am gone. my trip was a little less than a week long and i planned on low key outings with maybe one night out.

THE BAG
this is what i fit everything into. it is a GWP bag from estee lauder i received from my friend.

THE FACE
i am happy to report i used every item here! i also brought a mixture of revlon photoready and neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup for foundation, but it is contained in a not aesthetically pleasing container so it is obviously not pictured.

BONNEBELL GLIMMER BRONZER
i use this to add a nice glow to my face. i havent reached for it in a while so i thought i should start using it again.

CARGO TONGA BLUSH
love this shade. i never really understood this shade until i got paler. extremely natural color, it looks like my own skin flushed. highly recommend if you are light-med in skin tone...especially light.

CARGO MED MATTE BRONZER
i wont blabber about this anymore. i always use this for my bronzer, i am trying to use it up. look at that pan mark!

MILANI LUMINOSO
i have been neglecting my milani blushes so i brought this along to force myself to use it. i like it but sometimes it looks too orange on me.

MAYBELLINE DREAM MATTE POWDER
i just bought this which i mentioned in my last post. i like it so far.

MAC LIGHTSCAPADE
i keep reaching for this highlighter. i love the subtle glow it imparts.

THE EYES
i used almost everything here.

theBALM SHADY LADY VOL 1
i wont go into this any further since i've done so many posts on this lately (swatches and a look). i used this every day while i was away.

MAC QUAD
inside is cork (one of my favorite e/s ever), brule, brun, and club. i didnt use any of these shades, i was too busy with all my options from shady lady.

MAC PAINTPOT in QUITE NATURAL
i usually like to bring a paint pot along when i travel since it doubles as a primer and lid color. quite natural is a matte dirty brown. if you want to see swatches see my paint pot collection post.

EYELINERS, MASCARAS, and SUCH
i used both feline and lineur intense (this one is about done...need a new one!) everyday. i also made myself proud by bringing only one mascara. the nyx jumbo pencil was untouched the whole time. i had no need for a black base.

THE LIPS
every single thing pictured was not used! i brought a good variety but ended up going gloss and lipstick free the whole time. too busy eating family food :) pictured here is mac lipsticks in media and creme d'nude (these are new, post coming soon...), stila glosses in raisin and grapefruit, and mac lipgloss in florabundance.

i didnt do TOO terribly in overpacking (i normally do). next time i'll cool it on the lip products since i tend to ignore those the most when i travel. and not so many eye shadows next time.

what do you bring when you travel? also, what do you put all your cosmetics in when you travel? i have been trying to find a bigger/more sturdy case...

new york trip part 5: times square, china town, little italy & final thoughts

the last post! i forgot a few pictures that i should have put in part 4 so i will include them here...









































































a few things:

+ times square is always full of tourists. i understand why new yorkers shudder and probably avoid this area. but...it IS pretty & cool if you have never seen it. especially at night. it is full of street performers...like mr. candyman here.

+ we HAD to stop by inglot. i actually didnt know there was a location right in times square, another accidental find. i ended up picking up an eye shadow quad, you can see which shades HERE.

+ yummy noodle...wasn't that yummy. it was rainy and we were hungry so we just picked a random place. the noodles were ok, the squid was bland, and the congee was disappointing (and seriously lacking cilantro.) i hate when congee isn't good because i love congee!

+ is little italy always outdoors like this? when we stopped by it seemed like a festival was going on. we were so full from the disappointing yummy noodle so unfortunately we didnt get to try out any italian restaurants. we did get a canoli cream, which i thought was just ok. i am part italian, so i am quite partial to my grandmother's canoli creams. i did manage to get sausage and peppers on the go to eat later (which was absolutely delicious!) so at least i got to try SOME food.

+ we only stopped by max brenner's...we didnt buy or try anything. this place was seriously packed so i am guessing it is pretty good? you new yorkers tell me!

+ we went to the famous ramen restaurant, ippudo. this place has so many rave ratings on yelp...and i have NO idea why. i am not a ramen expert but i dont get the hype. we had to wait over an hour for the table since it is really popular...and they don't take reservations. when you go in all the staff greets you heartily by shouting something in japanese (wish i knew what!) and the atmosphere is really nice and modern. we got baby octopus, the pork buns, a spicy ramen, and some pork broth ramen. the baby octopus was really tasty and had a very nice chewy texture. on yelp almost EVERYONE raved about the pork buns, which weren't impressive. it tasted like pork slathered in mayo...so if you like mayo you will like the buns. as for the actual ramen...i wasn't wowed. it wasn't horrible, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't hype worthy to me.

+ haru was very nice. i loved everything we ate here except the mochi (i am very picky when it comes to mochi.) the fish tacos were my favorite part of this meal!!

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well, if you made it to the end of my trip, i congratulate you! this was a very long series of posts. to close out this series i thought i would give my final thoughts on nyc...

+ food in new york is phenomenal. seriously, phenomenal. i have only been to a few states and countries...but so far in my travels new york food beats everything i have come across. i ate so much good food that when i got home i went on a salad and clear broth diet for over 2 weeks because i indulged too much!

+ although the food was phenomenal...it was also expensive. not even just the fancy places...in general everything is more expensive than what i am used to. be prepared to spend lots of money, no matter where you decide to go. the portions are smaller too which i didnt mind because the small dishes almost ALWAYS had a lot of flavor. ill take small portion w/ big flavor over huge portion and bland any day!

+ you know how they say new yorkers are always in a hurry? it is true. people are constantly moving and you can bet your bottom dollar that their normal walking pace is equal to your speed walking pace. also, new yorkers are the rudest/angriest/audacious drivers in the world! constant honking, yelling, and impatience. avoid driving downtown at all costs, trust me.

+ the metro is your friend. it is cheap and gets you where ever you want to go! taxis are expensive and not as fast. go with the subway.

+ there are people everywhere, anywhere, at all times of the day. you could go out and see a million different people every day. there is no such thing as personal space...or space in general. new yorkers really know how to utilize their space! it is actually impressive how many tiny crammed rooms i saw.

+ new york is so diverse! i knew that already but to actually see so many ethnicities everyday...it was a breath of fresh air. i have always lived in towns were whites are the majority...not the other way around.

+ i already know i need to go back to new york because i miss the food already, i didnt get to see a lot of places i wanted to go to (central park, fifth avenue shops, soho, brooklyn flea market, etc), and i would like to meet up with Julie someday!

HUGE MASSIVE thank you to Julie, she recommended about 95% of the things i ate, saw, and explored. this girl knows what she is talking about and has spectacular taste. every thing she told me that was good or overrated she was absolutely right about. thank you, truly, for your outstanding guide and advise Julie!

the end! back to beauty related posts until my next trip...