male make up artists are just as dangerous

i don't usually wear pancake batter on my face. but i had a wedding to be in so i thought i'd invest in some and look nice for pictures. originally i went to the local drugstore looking for makeup but felt convicted to stop breaking open seals and testing out foundations in the mirrors of the sunglasses rack.

off to ulta i go! when it comes to makeup, all i know is the limited experience i have doing my own face, my own way. so i assumed i could entrust my skin to this place where magical on-site make up elves reside and lead me to the perfect choice of pancake batter.

i walk in and am instantly approached by a dude. neatly waxed eyebrows, distinct cheeckbones, slight curl of eyelashes and tight black pants. am i skeptical? shore. but what do i know about the world of fashion and beauty? i kindly tell him my dilemma of not wanting anything thick that would melt off my face as i stand erect in the sun while my friends exchange vows - but wanting to give my face that ethereal, soft glow that's so sought after in wedding pictures. when it comes to knowledge of different products, he seemed to be able to sound convincing enough for a critic like me. apparently you can't just buy pancake batter. there's moisturizer, primer, the batter itself, powder, and finally a finishing spray. seriously?! lemme just wear a kabuki mask.

so we decide on a bb cream with spf. despite the horrid smell of spf, i conclude that the aboriginal mountain people blood in me is gonna want it when the sun starts turning onto me at 4pm. my private make up consultant sits me down on one of their highball chairs and proceeds to paint my face with some sketchy looking brushes he keeps in his fanny pack.

he starts out with the lightest color on hand. in my head i'm thinking, really?! mind you, i'm not one of those pale, i'm-afraid-of-the-sun asian kinda people who wear face shields while they're driving (some people will know what i'm talking about =/ ). i have mountain people blood in me so generally i look closer to ethiopian during the summer months. going with a light cream on me means you must have some issues with the rods in your eyeballs. so i ask him to try a few darker shades just to make sure i get the correct shade of expensive goop.

here's my own personal mistake that i'll 'fess up to. ulta has the worst form of fluorescent lights in the store. everyone knows these long white rods of light turn even the most attractive skin into a pale, grayish blue green tinge look. the putrid look of your skin under such conditions makes it nearly impossible to distinguish subtle changes in shade as you're testing out different batters. i should have known this and not let the tattooed artist decide the fate of my skin.

so now that he'd painted my face into a mosaic of nude colors, i had the great joy of distinguishing which color was best for my skin. as i said earlier, i'd originally walked into the store with the hopeful anticipation of placing my face in the hands of an expert. as he tried to convince me that i needed the light color, my inner 1/16 aboriginal taiwanese conscious was chanting "serious?!?? clearly i am not light". but the naive trust that i'd innocently given over to the experts was pulling me to concede with the guy who shaped his eyebrows every morning. and so i found myself at the registers with my smashbox bb cream in light.

fast forward a few hours later. i'm standing in front of my sink under the gangsta light of my 1940s bathroom sink, smearing glop all over my face. what the heckama?! i look like a freaking vampire.

ughh.

so the story comes to a close. i only hope to impart to you the wisdom i've gained from this experience: when a dude tries to tell you he knows how to paint your face, be skeptical.

one of these things is not like the others =]

Joys of living

These days I don't have much reason to go to costco other than to fill up my dino's belly. Since I don't eat much and can only afford novel electronic items once every fiscal year I generally just leave it to my brother to help rack up the cash back on our shared account.

However today I realized there's one particular item that can determine the sole reason why I would go to Costco.  Now that I pay a rent premium for my own bathroom, im also looking at having to purchase my own toilet paper - something I have not done for 5 years!  I'm currently going through the 4-pack I swiped from the big house before turning in my keys (I dare you to judge me), and I'm finding how spoiled I was to be treated to a never ending supply of the fluffiest version of Charmin.  Unfortunately this high end brand of toilet paper runs out really fast! All that fluffy means less squares per roll compared to your average joe roll.

What this means for me is a need to think creatively and efficiently about this toilet paper buying adventure that I am soon needing to embark on. Earlier this week I shared a TED video about efficient paper towel usage. By using only one sheet of paper towel, the presenter was able to thoroughly dry his hands aND save trees at the same time.

I do not believe the same can be done with toilet paper. I'm more likely to selfishly claim adequate amounts of paper per use than to be thinking about Saharan deforestation.. or where ever toilet paper pulp comes from.

Thus, my brilliant realization! Nothing will complete it's job more satisfactorily and efficiently than Kirkland Signature brand toilet paper from Costco! It's complete honesty that I'm so excited to go get my gigantic 10 pound pack of toilet paper!!!

Happy new year everyone! May this new year bring you as much joy as my imminent toilet paper purchase :)

Christmas present for myself

Over Christmas my brother came home with the brand new Samsung Galaxy III.. didn't take long for me to decide I wanted it too ;) My trusty incredible had lasted me over 2 years but recently its been having storage issues that prevent me from accessing any of my apps. Ever since Verizon rolled out their new shared plan, I've been weary of upgrading and losing my unlimited data plan. Interestingly, the guy at the store looked up my data usage and I only average 0.8G per month. That's a long shot from the 2gig limit I now have for the same price! Time to watch more movies on my phone!

Cool features on the phone include front facing camera, lightening fast shutter speed that can catch my bunny in action, and whistling cat call whenever I receive an email :D

Unfortunately my long awaited internet connection is not so satisfactory.

Rules for dating

I debated for a long time whether I would share my wisdomous insight (HA) on this particular subject for a couple reasons. Mainly, I'm not exactly qualified to give advice seeing as no relationship I've ever been in has ever progressed to a permanent situation. Also, I'm weary that these things can be very abstract and dependent on specific circumstances/individuals to warrant a broad sweeping analysis. And finally, too close to home.. I finally decided that while I have no qualifying experience and my track record stands at 0 wins, by the grace of god I'm doing okay so maybe I.could.share a few reasons why.

1. Cover yourself completely in bubblewrap on your dates. You think I'm joking?? Hmm.. then you're right ;) What I mean is, hands (and everything else) off. Maybe I'm maniacally puritanistic but I believe physical relationships are so much easier to progress in compared to everything else - and if there is an imbalance in building the spiritual, emotional and physical deals, it's possible to have a false sense of intimacy that will inevitably lead to sad stuffs. If things don't pan out between the two, there's less debris to clean up, less baggage to bring into another friendlationship, and little regret.

2. Guys - don't tell the girl she's the one you want to marry soon after she accepts your interest in going out. This is just asking for super freak out and you're going to scare her away! By all means, think about and pray and stuff because its important that at least one of the two is thinking intentionally and all that. (In fact, its admirable that you do!) Just don't say it out loud just yet. Especially after date 2. Doing so could potentially up the pressure ante for the lady to respond. And if there's anything guys can learn about girls, it's that we're terribly inept at arriving at that place of surety so soon.

3. Now that I've shared how nOT to display your ardent intentions, I'll go ahead and confuse you some more by asking you to be completely focus-minded and precise about the reality of the relationship. It's my belief that if you feel, at 6 months into the relationship, that things are kind of funky, chances are things aRe funky. Take a good look at what's going down, get some trustworthy,  unbiased counsel and be prepared to move forward - whatever that might look like.

Disclaimer: Im a self-proclaimed non-commital. And I might run away from things at the slightest hint of uncertainty. That's not good.. But in my defense, I really do think that when gut instincts are coupled with solid counsel and the divine kind of conversations, its okay..

4. Trust god (yadayadayada) not just in your life but in [his] life as well. This dating sort of thing is not easy and oftentimes I complain that getting treated out for dinners and schmoozy outings just isn't worth all the fuss! So when friends tell me just trust god, I roll my cynical eyes and dismiss the prospect of ever meeting Mr. Hotstuff.

But life itself has given me more than enough reason to believe that God intends everything for good, for learning, for growing, for his greatest purpose. The challenging part is believing his same love and mercy for the other person. That if things don't work out - even when I've completely botched the process, it is for God to redeem, not me. To know this is so freeing and so easy to let go of hurt, anger, disappointment, failure, doubt, etc.

At the end of the day, we're all really messed up people despite the best of intentions and more often than not, I speak more for myself here, we're going to make a hot mess out of the whole thing. It seems like everything I desire to honor and glorify god in all I do is super tested when it comes to dating - but the story is that he is still sovereign and faithful.. and gigantically forgiving. If nothing else is worth it, experiencing all of who god is through the process is worth a shot.

So happy dating!

To pray like zechariah prayed

Him and Elizabeth were old - well beyond their once young and spritely selves. But then when the angel of god appears to him, he says "your prayer has been heard". So weird! Why in the world would zechariah be praying for a kid??  Being old, possibly knowing his physical and emotional limitations to raising a child, having a kid is cray-cray. Although being barren in those days was tough, he'd probably accepted it and learned to manage without diapers and teenage rebellion. Life as he knew it would continue with just the two.

And yet it seems like his desire for a child was something he secretly and continually prayed for.

I could learn something here.

fiiiiive golden riiiiiingsss

every once in awhile my hospital hosts benefit sales to help fund service projects in the community.

jeweler:  who are you buying a ring for?
me: me.
jeweler:  really?? you must have someone who buys you jewelry.
me:  nope.  that's why i'm here.
jeweler: aw, that's unfortunate.
O_o

well, that certainly boosted my self-esteem to nosebleed heights.  but more importantly, i came away with pretty cute bling for cheap :D