Happy 50th Birthday Mummy!

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So exactly a week ago, it was my mom's 50th birthday! Dude, that is like 5 decades, that is a lot of time but hey, she still be looking good! I know this is like a week late but still, I wanted to dedicate a post on my blog to my mom, my inspiration, my role model, my rock, and everything that is the most important to me in the world. I am super duper grateful that I have someone like her to call my mom and to look up to. She is the most selfless and caring person you can meet; as my dad would sometimes say, she has way too much fun helping people who need her. Not only that, she has sacrificed so much for both my brother and I. Instead of being out there working like other moms, my mom tries to work from home just so she can spend time with my brother and I and make sure we are safe to and from school and well-fed. There is no one that I think can be a better mom as well as a member of the community like my mom and, even though I deny it sometimes, when I grow up, I do want to be somewhat like her, not exactly but just some, especially the aging part!

Now, let's get down to how we like to celebrate birthdays within our family! Since our family is small with only four people, we usually don't make it a huge thing, especially when it's mine or my parents' just because we're not the wealthiest of families to do big parties and such, so we love to go out and eat as a family! On the day of my mom's birthday, we went out to dinner to this little Chinese restaurant place near my house called King Harbor Seafood. As you can see, we went a little crazy when ordering food but it's ok since everyone in my family loves to eat! When you hear Chinese food, you'd probably think it is greasy and nasty, but this place isn't too bad! We ordered this fried chicken (cause you all know by now, I love chicken and so does my family) and it came out super krispy but not one bit oily and gross whatsoever! So that dinner was amazing and I think our entire family was in a food coma for like the entire night and the next morning as well. We may not be partying hard but we can sure eat our little hearts out!

Final Touch Bakery

And then of course, every birthday cannot be complete with a birthday cake! So every time we have a birthday, my aunt and cousin will always bring us a cake. For my mom's birthday, my aunt brought the one cake with the flowers, and may I add, these are fresh flowers used to decorate the cake, making it look super pretty! So for that cake, it was just white cake with and I want to say some kind of vanilla cream-like icing and frosting on and inside between the layers of the cake. Besides the frosting between the cake layers, there's fresh fruits! This one was a mixed fruit cake so it had strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and black berries. As for the second cake with the really detailed icing technique, this one was also white cake but had passionfruit icing between the cake layers mixed with raspberries. This one is a little bit tangier, different kind of taste than what you'd think cake is suppose to be but still pretty delicious! So if you know anything about my family, we love cake, so these two cakes, not small at all, were devoured in a matter of days! If you ever are in Orange County, specifically Westminster/Little Saigon area, do check out this bakery; the place is called Final Touch Bakery (I will also link the bakery below in the picture's caption). I'm sure they have locations in other places too but I've only seen one, so I will post their link if you guys are interested in checking it out. Cake is super duper important for all kinds of occasion and well nothing beats a pretty and delicious cake! Since it is kind of a Vietnamese-French fusion kind of bakery, if you get a chance to try it, you will find that the flavoring is not super decadent so you don't get that sick, icky feeling you can get after indulging in a piece of cake that is too overly sweet. It is the perfect blend between butteriness, sweetness, and a slight of tart if you want to add on the fruits!

That's it for now,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Foodie Tues-dee #2

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So today is Tuesday, which means it is also Foodie Tues-dee, which also means I get to tell you about some of my favorite foods!!! Lately I've been trying really hard to stay healthy, but my body will definitely get some cravings, and as we all know, it is better to satisfy a craving than to completely ignore it and then end up over-indulging, which is worse. My latest craving is just general pub food, but not any kind of pub foods! I have been craving foods specifically from the Anthill Pub & Grille, which is a nice, quaint, little pub on campus at the University of California, Irvine, which is also the school I am currently going to. The Pub not only has amazing foods but also a good beer selection and an amazing ambiance! Its nice and small, very well conditioned, so it's the perfect place to go hide out and pig out on a hot day in between classes!

One of the most infamous food you can order when you're at the Pub is the stoner fries! These things are flippin delicious, worth all the bang for your buck, but just ever so slightly not nutritious. The fries are seasoned very similarly to cajun fries and its topped with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheese, and a little bit of meat. It is just heaven in your mouth, definitely worth the heart attack if you eat these too much, so I don't suggest you to eat it everyday since it's probably better to live longer so you can enjoy more stoner fries! These are perfect with a beer and some good company. I usually try my hardest to minimize eating these stoner fries so sometimes I would cheat and just order regular fries. For some reason, the Pub just makes some gosh darn super good fries that I cannot walk away from! I remember, one quarter, my friend and I were pretty much at the Pub and we literally ordered every kind of fried potatoes served at the Pub; that is pretty much an order of stoner fries, regular fries, tater totes, and all in all, a walking heart attack. Now though, since I'm a tad bit more health-conscious, I decided to limit my Pub's fried potatoes consumption to pretty much none at all, but still, sometimes,  a girl's just got to indulge, especially around midterms and finals where I become overly stressed and food is my way to relax!

Now, besides all the fries and stoner fries, the Pub also has amazing sandwiches! My all time favorite is the pesto chicken with fries instead of chips. You will soon know that I love, like LOVE, chicken and I also love pesto, so putting the two together is just like heaven for me! On top of that, the side of fries and a slice of pickle just made this the bestest lunch I've had in a while! The reason why I kind of gave in and went to the Pub is because, literally, I had a dream that all my classes were at the Pub. I took that as a sign of me not going to the Pub for way too long, so while I waited for my friend to come on campus to study, I rewarded myself with this delicious little meal since I've not had it in way too long! So, usually, I'd pair this with a beer or soda, but since I am trying to be a little healthier, small steps, I decided to get a bottle of Pellegrino instead. It was just perfectly amazing and I cannot describe how happy I felt after that lunch! It was so delicious, great, wonderful, flavorful that I do not mind the fact that I just consumed a potential heart attack whatsoever!

So that's all for now,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Managing Manic Madness

Hello fellow interweb friends!

Well, this week is pretty much hell week for me. I've got tests hitting me left, right, and center this week. To start the week off, I had 2 tests, both were back to back, so I was already freaking out over the weekend and the day of. Then, later this week, I will have 2 more tests on the same day again. As you all may know from experience, when you have tests after tests, multiple ones on the same day, it is super duper stressful and manic and mad! So how do we survive weeks like this?!?!? What should we do?!?! Well, after four years of college, I still do not have a solution for this! If anything, my anxiety/response to these days have only gotten worse even though I've found a good coping mechanism to plan out my week so I can be a little less overwhelmed. 

So here are some of my personal tips that I think has helped me manage my mad weeks. I try my best to stick to these, but as we all know, as college students, procrastination is always the best way to deal with these kinds of hard weeks! 

Tip 1: ATTEMPT TO NOT PROCRASTINATE (Key word: attempt)!

• As crazy as that sounds, we all know it is not a good idea to procrastinate, yet we do not do it! The minute we started high school, we started to have more classes, and have multiple assignments due at one time, therefore, we start to "plan" out when we do our stuff to turn it in. At the end of the day, we always end up procrastinating, leaving things to the very last minute, where we would stress and be extremely anxious. As we go into college, since we become busier with school, work, and other wonderful things we take up as a way to relieve ourselves from school, our procrastination skills go to a whole new level! Not only do we leaving doing papers to the last minute, we leave studying to the last minute! Never have I ever seen a college student who truly, completely, fully read all their reading materials before a class unless it was on the day of a test or a quiz. I am my own culprit of the procrastination crime, except I'd like to think that I've mastered my procrastination skills, but still, it does not help me what so ever! However, it is still ok if you do procrastinate like me because my next tip makes it a little less tempting to procrastinate because the next tip will sort of entertain you and make studying feel a little easier on the eyes, literally.

Tip 2: USE COLORFUL PENS AND MARKERS!

• Just like the tip says, use loads and loads of colorful pens and markers! Now, if I have any male readers, you may say this is a girly thing to do, but it really isn't! The only part of this that would make it girly is the use of what you guys think are girly colors like pinks and purples. If that is the cases, well then I guess you guys better load up on pens and markers in various shades of blues, greens, reds, oranges, and what not! From my own personal experience, using colorful markers make studying a little less dull and it is a great way of organizing your notes and thoughts while studying. Whenever I have long articles to read and formulas to remember, I love using colorful pens and markers just because I can divide everything up into certain categories. Sometimes, when I am a little lazy, I may just assign specific class to a specific color and use the designated color(s) to take notes in. Because you take notes in different colors, your eyes will be more alert, making you automatically pay more attention to your notes compared to those who take black-inked notes on a white piece of paper. Colors really help bring life to your notes/readings while you're studying, which really helps you stay entertained and that is very important since a lot of us get bored of our studying materials and just set it aside and not really look back until we have to for a test.

Tip 3: USE A PLANNER AND COMBINE IT WITH TIP 2!

• I am quite the planner freak. I have one of those big At-A-Glance calendars on my wall in my room. I also carry around a book planner as well as a weekly paper-pad that is color-coded according to the days of the week. All three of these planners/organizers are very well used and there is not one bit of free space left on the pages. To me, planners really help me visualize what I need to do and if the events are all color-coordinated, I feel an urge to constantly look back at it cause I think it's all just so beautiful and wonderful - this here is the main reason why my blog is called "Colors Galore" because I just cannot get enough of colorful things! Just the fact that I constantly check back at my planner because it looks so gosh darn pretty makes it that much more easy for me to stay with my schedule and get shizz done!

Alrighty guys, well that was all of my tips for you just to help you guys manage your stress as well as keep your life events organized in a pretty, colorful way! We all want to get our lives organized and make sure we get things done in a timely manner, so why not do it in a fun way?!?! I know for me, I have so much fun going through my planner and calendars to put everything in and sort all the dates out, from social events, to work, to school, pretty much my whole life! Sometimes when we only use black or blue pens in a planner that already has blank ink printing on it just makes everything look so boring and gloomy, but the minute you add a little color in it, it's like your calendars/planners come to life and have a little more spunk to it, making you want to "interact" with it more, which totally helps you to stay on track and not procrastinate! 

Best of luck with all your planning,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen   

I'm Just a Facade

Hello fellow interweb friends,

Disclaimer!!! This is a very long post about me and my insecurities. It's a heavier (no pun intended), more emotional post.

In my first post, I gave you a little hint into who I am and things I love and enjoy but didn't really let you know who I am. From what you can see in the last few posts, I am a pretty upbeat, happy-go-lucky kind of girl. However, that obviously is not the case. I try my best to stay happy and positive just to put my mind in a better place as well as keep those around me from worrying since I can cry very easily if I let my mind get the best of me. I guess I do a very good job at this because sometimes even I believe I am happy myself and if you ask any one of my friends, they probably can't tell you the last time they've seen me sad or cried unless they are one of my very, very close girlfriends who I tell everything to (and there are very few of those). Unfortunately though, as I was studying for my exams this coming week, I had a break down moment and I think a lot of that is because I don't open up about my feelings a lot, and so I kind of imploded. I know I have amazing friends that I can talk to about anything and everything, however, this is something that, whenever I think about it, I just start crying because I think the problem is so deep-rooted in me. I have many, many insecurities, from physical to emotional ones, and the past few months have definitely highlighted them all and they keep coming back to haunt me, no matter how hard I try to not pay attention to it. 

Source

First off, as a girl, I am super insecure about my physical appearance. To start of, I know I am not a huge girl, but after being reminded so many times that I am fat and big and not attractive, of course I will have problems with my body image. I've always been insecure about my body just because I don't fit your typical petite, thin Asian frame. I get reminded of that all the time since many people in my family and family friends cannot understand that my body is just different from your typical Asian body physique. On top of being reminded of how my body isn't as small as it should it, it's even harder when it comes to finding clothes. I feel like I have to find things to cover up my oh-so-big body cause I don't want people to notice my thicker areas and what not. I've dieted with various kinds of meal supplements. Lately, I've been eating healthier, juicing, and everything else when it comes to dietary fads under the sun. On top of changing my eating habits, I even started working out, but I don't know why, nothing is changing. My body is still as big as it always has been. I know I am probably smaller than others, but when I'm constantly being told and questioned about my size, I definitely will also end up looking back at myself in a negative light.

The negative body image costs me my emotional security too. I've always had a very hard time when it comes to my emotions and feelings when it comes to boys/guys. Because of my body image, when I get denied by someone I have feelings for, my immediate response to myself is that I'm probably too fat for him, not pretty enough for him, not smart enough, not fun enough, just everything negative that I can think about myself as to why someone wouldn't be interested in me. I finally thought I got over these insecurities when I got into a relationship with my recent ex-boyfriend. I thought I totally found someone who loves me for me and my size and everything that I am. Our relationship was amazing until things started going downhill. Him and I were together for five years, most of it was long distance because his own personal reason that I do not want to disclose to you since that's his life and I don't want to be disrespectful and talk about it on my blog without him knowing.

Source

Recently though, after 5 years, we decided to go separate ways. Problems started coming up around the last year or so because that was when he started to be "busy" a lot and spent less and less time with me; sometimes, we wouldn't really talk or Skype with each other for a week or so. Since our relationship was long distance, to me, even a small text or a short Skype session made all the difference in the world because I loved my time with him and just hearing his voice calms me from all the troubles going on in my life while he's away. So anyways, my insecurities came up again when I started noticing that he's being more distant with his "busy" life. I started to think: "is he bored of me now?", "what did I do that's making him not wanting to talk to me?", it even came to thoughts like "is he no longer attracted to me so he is slowly walking away from our relationship?". It got to the point where I thought of some really negative things, and for some reason, I always end up thinking that everything going wrong happened because of me. When we completely ended our relationship, all these questions came rushing back to me. I tried to tell myself that he did love me and that we broke up for our own reasons I prefer not to disclose here just yet. 

Source

However, as I start to feel like I'm good with myself again and stop letting my insecurities get the best of me, everything started to come rushing back. A few months after my break-up, some old feelings for an old friend that I've known forever came back. Now, these feelings have been there for him for as long as I can remember, but it's one of those things where timing was never on our side, so it was never really put out there. Since I've known this friend for so long, I decided to tell him, and of course, it resulted with a rejection. I completely understand why he didn't reciprocated because he's been through quite a bit and we have polar opposite view points on life and relationship. Being typical me, I smiled and let things be as they were. When we run into each other, a mutual hello and a smile ensues, I kept things between him and I as normal as ever. It's been about a month or so since I told my friend my feelings for him and was rejected. Even though I understand his reasons for not reciprocating and appreciate that he can actually tell me why, it is still hard to hear that you're not wanted, especially as a girl with all the insecurities in the world. As a side note, this is not the first time I've been told "no" by a crush who is also a good friend. Since they're my good friends, it makes it that much harder because they know me so much better than just any random guy. Because they know me as a person, my character, how I am and the way I act, the only reason I can think of for not being wanted is my physical appearance. Of course, everyone wants to have the good looking girl on their arm, the hottie-patottie as a girlfriend, and since I keep on getting rejected, I feel like there is something wrong with my appearance. 

I am still finding ways to protect myself and build my self-esteem. I eventually want to be completely happy with myself again and find someone who appreciates me for all that I am to share my adventurous fun side with. I know they say you have to love yourself first, and so I know I need to work on my own view of myself but it's hard to feel like I'm constantly being put down by certain people around me as I try to improve myself. In a way, me building my self-esteem again is like a recovering/healing period for me, and I just really want someone to be there with me. I know I have all my friends around me that can be the people who can help me, but it is different with you have the support of a significant other. I appreciate all my friends for the support and love they give me, but still, whenever I had trouble and my ex was there, it was a different kind of support that makes me feel kind of invincible. I think that all comes from the idea that he could have had anyone in the world to love and care for and he chose, so his love and support made me feel that much stronger. I want to eventually find a person who can make me feel invincible again and in return, I will do everything in my power to make them feel happy and loved and cared for and as happy as can be. 

Source

For now though, I have to make peace with myself first. I'm not quite sure how I will do that just yet besides making different lifestyle choices to improve on myself physically. As we all know, our body is our temple, we need to take care of it and respect it. I need to find a medium ground where I take in all these criticisms but don't use it against myself. I want to find a balance to where I take the critiques as something to feed my motivation instead of letting it tear me down. Hopefully, the next time I have these emotional breakdowns, it is because I've realized how amazing I am (not to sound conceited or anything).

Source

Thank you for all your support just by reading this post,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Weekly Wrap-Up: "Giddy Hard" Life

Hello fellow interweb friends!

To wrap up this week, I wanted to share with you what I thought was the most exciting part of my week since things like school and internship aren't always the most entertaining. Being a girl, I am a huge shopper at heart, but to make things even worse, I am a huge bargain shopper! I definitely do have a shopping problem, I already know this, but I try to justify it by only buying things that are on super duper sale with great deals, hence this blog post! I definitely know that I am a shopaholic because I am one of those people who gets something, even as little as a ring or a pair of earrings, every time I go shopping. My mother thinks that it's a blessing and a curse since every time I go into a shop, I always find something and it's always, for some odd reason, on sale, therefore, I end up buying it, which is the curse part. To me though, I honestly don't mind! Haha! The more I buy, the more likely I will clean out my closet and be able to donate my clothes to other people who need it more. 

So go to into detail about the amazing deals that I got this week, I will start with these two jewelry boxes. The floral on has deeper slots, so I think it'll be really good for things like necklaces since I have a lot of big, chunk ones, so it'll require more room. I only took a picture of one, but in reality, I actually bought 2...I mean I couldn't help it since it was only $2 when they're usually $30-$40 per box! Same goes with the coppery, swirly detailed jewelry box. The only difference about this one is that it is more shallow, so it will be perfect for things like earrings, rings, and my very few bracelets. My mental plan is to set the two floral boxes on the outside on my little stand with the goldish/copper box in the middle (I will update you guys once I settle these into their places). Anyways, as you know from my previous post, I think earrings are super important to pull together an outfit, especially stud earrings, so I have a lot of those laying out and about. With this box, hopefully I will be more organized with my earrings and won't lose anymore! I get so sad whenever I lose one earring in a pair, but I guess that pushes me to live a little on the edge and try to wear mismatched earrings?!?! Hahaha, well the chances of that is very slim, but if I ever do wear mismatched earrings, I will definitely blog about that for you guys!

On top of the jewelry boxes, I got more jewelry holding stuff! This next one is more like a stand with little plates. It will definitely be used for my earrings that I wear often just so I can easily reach for it. Once again, this little trinket, instead of being $20-something dollars, I got it for $2! Like, how can you say no to a jewelry holder when it is less than $5?!?!!? I have a strong feeling I might have this little stand in the bathroom as a holder for my earrings when I take them off for a shower or something like that. For me, on days when I have to rush out of the house for school/work/internship, I quickly grab whatever earrings I leave around in the bathroom after I wash my face and brush my teeth and all that good hygiene jazz. With that said, this little stand is perfect for the bathroom, especially since some of the decor in my bathroom has florally/swirly designs on it too!

Now comes the room/home decor! Do you guys see this pretty little daisy tree...?!?! Well, let me tell you! This beautiful creature was also only $1.99!!! When prices are this amazing on things that are so flipping cute and wonderful and useful, we all definitely need to have time to shop! So this daisy tree, though I will mainly use it as a decoration, can also be used as a jewelry holder since the petals are bendable so you an adjust it to the angle you want it at in order to hold some things. There is even  little tray at the bottom to store loose change or, in my case, more earring pieces. Because of this little haul, I am now so excited excited to kind of redecorate my room. I am loving that all these little trinkets and gadgets are all of different style, making my room having a little more character. Of course, all the florally things give it a little girl touch, but the gold box and the gold detailing on the daisy tree will add a little baroque feel to it all. 

Last, but not least, knowing me, how can I not purchases any clothes, especially when deals are just so amazing?!?!? With that being said, as I pictured below, I walked out of Urban Outfitters with all the home goods as well as these two adorably wonderful skirts! They are what are called "skater" skirts right now, I think, not sure on the style name. Pretty much what that is is the skirt is fitted at the top and then fans out at the bottom, giving it a nice loosey flow. The grey/black print is made up of a cotton-stretchy material and is super duper comfy. The minty green colored with floral lacing is a little more dressy, but it still has a wonderful flow at the bottom. I cannot wait to wear both of these skirts soon! I was super tempted to wear the black and grey one out of the store the minute I bought it, but I didn't cause I thought I'd save them for a special night out or something or another!

I got some other little trinkets as well but decided not to post them since I think this is already an instahaul overload! I will definitely include a little picture of the other little items that I purchased from this amazing sale at Urban. It is nothing much, just a funky-drunky flask and some nail polish that I, for some ungodly reason, had to have! I mean, the flask was just yelling out my name and I've always wanted to get a flask, so I thought why not?!?!?! I do plan on using it for all of its alcoholic uses, but no worries guys, I will try to use it responsibly! And as for the nail polish, just the fact that it was $0.99 and it is super glittery and sparkly definitely made it become a must-have item in my book!

As you guys can tell, I obviously know I have a huge shopping problem, especially when it comes to things that are on sale. All I can say for myself is, this girl cannot deny herself of a good deal! I hate it when I leave a store or the mall and completely regretting it that I didn't get anything when I had the chance to, and when I return to buy the very same item, it is all out! I haven't come up with some sort of catchy saying for that philosophy yet, however, I do believe we must life with a "giddy hard" state of mind! If you guys wanna know what the "giddy hard" lifestyle is, just let me know and I will definitely explain, if not, well you're missing out, just as Elizabeth Baker (aka Lizzle) and she'll tell you how amazing living the giddy hard lifestyle is!

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Happy National Elizabeth Baker Day!

Hello fellow interweb friends!

DISCLAIMER!!!: This is a longer blog because I want to dedicate it to my best friend and sister, Elizabeth Baker for her birthday. She is one of the most important people in my life and I thought I'd let you guys enjoy the amazing friendship/relationship that we've built together as we grow together. This is not the bestest story you can ever read since there's not much "character development" or "storyline," but to me, our story is still developing and so are we, so this will be a story that never ends!

I would like to tell you a little story about my very special whose birthday is today!

Once upon a time, more like 8 years ago, there were two little awkward high school freshmen girls named Winnie-Win and Lizzle. They had most of their classes together and they managed to be one of the few that took English at 7 in the morning (instead of 8 like other school children). This English class was supposedly taught by a very strict and harsh English teacher, however, as the girls looked back,they thought she was actually very nice and isn't bad at all! So anyways, freshmen year progresses, they were assigned a project to do together, and that was the first time they actually got to talk to each other and become friends!

As high school goes on, they got closer and closer, pretty much inseparable. Winnie-Win and Lizzle got through all the late nights and stressful early mornings (since they never learned their lesson freshmen year and continued to take zero period classes all four years of high school). They even managed to get through multiple sessions of summer school as well as a whole summer volunteering at the Discovery Science Center. It was during the summer they volunteered that Winnie-Win and Lizzle realized how close of friends they have become, all thanks to a little boy named Kyle telling them that they are like systems, despite the fact that the two girls are completely different in looks! Anyways, to Winnie-Win, Lizzle is the first and only best friend that she's had since her childhood friend had moved out of state after graduating from the sixth grade. To hear that their friendship is more like a sisterly relationship, Winnie-Win was pretty stoked!

Senior year comes, high school is about to end and Lizzle and Winnie-Win will soon be separated because they must grow up and go to college. Though the thought of going to different schools completely saddens them, they enjoyed every bit of summer they had together. The best parts of their summer were when the two girls acted super rebellious and decided to go use different hotels' swimming pools for fun! They lounged around, while Winnie-Win was getting tanned, Lizzle was burning up like a lobster, but still, with a few reminders to put on some more sunscreen and use ones with higher SPF, the girls managed to last for hours at these sun-stricken pools!

Summer comes to an end, girls go off to their separate colleges, but whenever they meet up,it is as if they were still in high school and no time has passed at all. They enjoyed their quaint but exciting food adventures and of course more days at the pools while they burn together!

Four years have passed, and Lizzle is about to graduate from college. Winnie-Win cannot be proud and excited enough for Lizzle. Today, April 19, is Lizzle's birthday! Sadly, Winnie-Win cannot be there to celebrate the actual day of her best friend's/sister's/(every other thing that is amazing and great) birthday, but for sure, the girls will be making up for it the next time they meet up!

So pretty much, that brings us to present day-real life! After 8 years, those two freshmen girls are still pretty darn awkward but super proud of it! But hey, my philosophy is great friendship are built on the two being able to be super weird and awkward around each other.

Back to the more important part of this, I am so excited to be able to tell this amazing story about how I met one of the most important people of my life. Lizzle, or as I'd like to sometimes call her, Elizabeth Donna Baker, I wish y have the most amazing day/year with only better and brighter days and years to come. I feel like we're an old couple who is going to grow old and grey together as we watch each others' teeth fall out! But it is ok because as you know,I will always have toothbrushes in my bags so we can protect our teeth and hopefully keep them in for a little longer! I love you my Lizzle and I cannot wait to celebrate with you!

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen 

(story to be continued...with all the celebratory events!)

Let's Talk About the Free Stuff!

Good morning fellow interweb friends!

A few weeks ago, I got a letter for a recall on my car and when I read that it was about the Safety Restraining System (SRS), or as we all know it, the seat belt thing, I thought it might be important to get it checked out, especially if the service is free. Not only is it free, but it also guarantees my safety and prevent me from spending money on fixing it later on. So anyways, I got an appointment to come in today, at 8 in the morning - wowzers, that is like super early for me when I don't need to worry about school or work! So here I am, as I write up this blog, sitting here in the Toyota loune waiting on my car to be serviced, thought I'd write about my very sweet and quaint experience!

So I pull up my car into the Services area and was greeted very quickly and within a minute later, a customer service agent was at my door, welcoming me into his office to get all the paper work done. Within seconds, I found out that I'm getting a complementary car wash as well as a tire pressure check! I completely scored there since I've been meaning to go get my tire pressures checked but haven't gotten around to it yet. The best thing though is the car wash. Haha as my mom says, my car barely gets washed or never at all, so today will be its first wash since like maybe February...hahaha let's just say, taking car of my car's physical appearance isn't very important to me, the only thing I care for is the gas that keeps it going. So within the first 5 minutes of me being at the dealership, I've already gotten loads of free stuff! This is just perfect cause all the complementary perks are all things that I currently need!

After finding out all the schnazzy dazzy free things and got my receipt for the service today, I went into the lounge to wait since the customer service man says my car is going to take about an hour or so. Ummm, this lounge is loaded with all these super cool gadgets and trinkets that makes coffee and popcorn! There's a popcorn maker in here, that makes you free popcorn!sadly, I wasn't very interested in the popcorn machine and felt a little awkward of taking pictures of everything so I didn't. However, that coffee/expresso machine is a whole other story!

So a little known fact about me, I am quite the coffee drinker. I have coffee all day, every day, even multiple times a day. Since my appointment was at 8 and I value my sleep too much, I didn't get up early enough to go get my usual Starbucks drink, so when I saw this heavenly machine, I was ecstatic! I tried to keep calm and let all the elderly new friends that I made get their coffees first, but when it was finally my turn, I was mesmerized! Hahaha talk about being technologically behind! I played around with the machine and got myself a cafe vanilla. Even though it's pre-made in the machine and I couldn't do my little mix and tricks on it, I think it came out pretty darn nice! Then, right next to the coffee maker, there was a plate full of Famous Amps cookie and Knott's boysenberry shortcakes! I was so super duper tempted to grab a bag, or two, but had to practice super duper self control. Even though those treats are super delicious, I thought it would be better if I acted strong and brave and just walk about from the beautiful goodness of buttery sweet goods!

So I conquered my temptations, got back to my chair, and then starting playing with this little twirly-whirly gadget that's probably meant for kids under 5. Not gonna lie, I did get some weird looks from the other people who are also waiting for their cars but hey, the thing is there to be played with so why not right?!

Pretty much, I just rambled on about all the free goodies that I got today while I waited for my car to get done. It's been an amazing experience so far, so maybe I might want to get my car serviced at the dealership more often just to enjoy the complementary goodness, the heaven of free delights while I wait! Hahaha, well hope you guys can experience the fun that I've had the next time you go get your cars done!

Until next time,
With love,
Uyen

Things I Cannot Live Without

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So I thought I'd start a thread about different things that I completely love and can pretty much not live without! This is going to be a wide range of things that I've been introduced to and fell in love with and I think it is only best to share things I love! It can be from random apps, school supplies, beauty products, skin care shizz nizz, etc. 

For my first "Things I Cannot Live Without", I would like to share to you guys this magical bottle of lotion that I purchased from Bath and Body Works that I pretty much use everyday. As you can  see, it is the Sensual Amber scent from their Signature Collection. I decided to take a picture of this bottle of lotion in this very sad and empty condition just to show you guys how much I really use it and how horribly in love with it that I have to tip it over to fully use up every little once that is in this bottle (sadly, I realized I can't literally use every drop or else I would). 

The scent, to me, is super therapeutic. It is definitely a very feminine yet kind of musky smell. It is not super strong or florally even though there's a small hint of flower in it. I can't describe it very well, so I thought I'd just look up Bath and Body Works' description of their product! 

Based on the scent descriptions from Bath and Body, Sensual Amber is a mix of: vanilla, creamy sandalwood, patchouli, a little bit musky. Mixed in with all the spice-like aromas, there's a hint of: white roses, orange flower, lotus, iris, bergamot, wild berries, and succulent plum.

Since I am using it as a lotion, I thought I'd also talk about some of the ingredients that is in it. So the main purpose of lotions is to keep our skin moisturize, which this lotion does very well, same goes for the majority of the Bath and Body Works products. The main ingredients in this, like all other lotions, are: shea butter, jojoba oil, and vitamin E. Here are the functions/uses of these ingredients:

1. Shea butter: helps restore skin elasticity, reduce scarring, helps eliminate dry spots, relieves symptoms for rosacia, eczema, and psoriasis.
2. Jojoba oil: prevents clogging in hair follicles, helps with acne, psoriasis, sunburn, and chapped skin.
3. Vitamin E: treat scars, acne, and wrinkles by speeding up cell regeneration, retain natural skin moisture, freshens up dry skin to make your skin look less dull and discolored.

Hopefully, you guys will give this scent a try! It is wonderful after a nice bath, maybe even before bed since the earthy-spicey scents are usually very therapeutic and warm, perfect sensations to have as you dry to fall asleep. Not only that, the smell is so amazing that it will make all your clothes smell wonderful as well as your bed sheets!

Until next time,

With love, 

Uyen

Wednesday's Wardrobe

Good day fellow interweb friends!

Today was not a very exciting day for me. I just had school, hung out and caught up with my good friend, Taleen. But I thought I can start a second weekly series and it is called "Wednesday's Wardrobe" where I will be showing you my outfit of the day and what accessories/shoes I will style my clothes with! So below is a picture of the individual items of what I wore today. I wasn't sure about posting a picture of myself with everything on since by the time I thought of taking a picture of myself with everything on, it was already way late in the day and I looked like a jumbled up mess with baby hair flying everywhere!

As you can tell, my style is pretty girly and colorful. I love colorblocking, hence the hot pink pants and white peplum top. I like very simple jewelry. Usually, I don't where this many items all at once, but since I was meeting up with some friends, I thought I'd try to look nice. My favorite must have items for everyday uses are: my watches and earrings. To me, earrings completely pull together a look. It ties your outfit together with your hair even if you are just having a messy hair day with a topknot bun. As for shoes, for school, I prefer wearing flats. Flats come in all different colors and styles, and since I tend to wear blocks of colors, it is usually pretty easy for me to pair it with some flats. Today, I decided to wear flats with a little bit of a leopard pattern just to "live on the edge" for a bit; the spikes probably helped with that edginess I tried to pretend to have! 

So here's a list of what I worse and where I got them:

1. Peplum top: The Limited
2. Pink Jeans: J.Crew Toothpick
3. Chain bracelet: J.Crew
4. Watch: Marc Jacobs
5. Earrings: Nordstrom
6. Flats: Steve Madden

 

Thanks for checking back today,

With love,

Uyen

Foodie Tues-dee!

Bonjour/ciao fellow interweb friends!

This will be the first "Foodie Tues-dee" post to start of my first weekly series! I love love love eating foods so I thought I'd share it with you guys too! Just like music, food is a universal language that everyone can enjoy together, whether its just through pictures or tasting the food itself. 

This little place, Panera, is what j consider to be "healthy" fast foods. There are so many options and my most favorite part is that you can have the best of multiple worlds! Like my lunch here, I got to enjoy a delicious mozzarella and tomatoes with basil panini and some French onion soup! My taste buds got a little visit to Italy as well as France without me having to fly anywhere! Haha I know it's for sure not he same to eat these delicious foods at Panera instead of its country of origin, but still, what's a poor college suppose to do?!?! 
 

Anyways, I guess I have to leave my wonderful foodie escape to go back to my internship! 

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Most Basic Loves In My Life

Hello fellow interweb friends!

I have been inspired by a very lovely couple of best friends from the Blog-o-sphere as well as the YouTube world to start this little blog (thank you Zoe from Zoella and Louise from SprinkleofGlitter). I do not know anything specific about my blog just yet, but I know for sure, I will use it to portray my crazy love for colors. I am quite a colors addict, hence my blog's name, Color Galore. My closet looks as though a rainbow got really sick from partying too hard and just vomitted all over the place, which I do not mind what so ever!

Here is an every so slightly glimpse into my colorful world after I a little bit of spring cleaning.

Now, to start off this post, I will show you a little something something that I truly love for as long as I can remember. This little photo, though eyeless, pretty much sums up some of the most beloved things in my life. Though it is simple, it encompasses 4 very important men in my life and they are: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. 

When I was in junior high school, my uncle made a CD for my parents. One of the songs

that I fell in love with right away is "Blackbirds" from the Beatles.

Ever since then, I have found a love for their music, humor, and love for the world. 

They are a musical delight, the best of friends (in their early lives), and just pure wonderful talent. Besides great music, this picture does a wonderful in adding a splash of color to the boys. Since they are from the 60s, the color scheme then was pretty fuzzy and not as bright. However, this is a very beautiful modernization of these four lovely men, perfect the opening picture to my "Colors Galore" blog. 

Last but not least, I have a very unhealthy obsession with foods, fried foods, sweet foods, just anything that is edible and delicious, I cannot control myself! Since I am Vietnamese, I love all my Vietnamese foods. Still, I do enjoy foods from other cultures too! Some of my guilty pleasure foods include: McDonald's chicken McNuggets, all kinds of pastas that have some sort of pesto or alfredo sauce, French fries, cheeseburgers, flat break pizza, hummus, and the list goes on! 

That's just a little glimpse into what my blog may be about! I know this is a lot to take in, but I forgot to tell you earlier, I am a pretty random person and I go off on tangents as if I'm a 2 year old distracted by the bird flying by!

With that said, 

Lots of love,

Uyen