Weekly Wrap-Up #5: Birthday Shenanigans

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So for this week, the Weekly Wrap-Up will be a little longer and a tad bit more exciting just because it was my birthday week! It has been such an amazing week and I am so grateful to all of my friends and family that took their time out of their busy lives to celebrate it with me. I am now officially 22, which means I can blame all my bad decisions onto Taylor Swift since she has a song about doing weird things during your 22nd year of life! My birthday was on Wednesday, but since it was smack dabbed in the middle of the week and we all have things to do like work and school, so the celebration ended up being extended all the way to the weekend, which I'm totally not complaining at all because that's just a lot more food and fun with the most amazing people in the world!

Ok, so first thing's first, you cannot have an amazing birthday without an amazing cake! So this here is a cake from Final Touch Bakery, which is a Vietnamese-French "fusion" kind of place. It is vanilla cake with strawberry filling and custard-like spread between the cake layers. It is definitely my favorite kind of cake and so I was super stoked when I found out I got the strawberry cake. The decorations are definitely super amazing! It is just very simple but still detailed and elegant. The decor around the cake is a minty-green color and the flowers were a blushy-nude color. My cousin got the cake for me and she said that she felt it was perfect for me, which I feel like is the theme for my birthday this year!

On the actual night of my birthday, I went to Incahoots, a country club/bar in Fullerton! This was my first time so I felt a little out of place when I couldn't do any of the line dancing moves, but I was ok with that! I had so much fun trying to catch up to everyone's moves that I think I started tripping over myself at one point too. A lot of my friends couldn't come because it was kind of last minute and they all had plans, but these two beauties, Laura and Megan came with me! SO the cool thing about these two is that we met each other at Build-a-Bear, were we work, and got to be pretty darn good friends. Laura and I haven't seen each other in about a year, but we picked up as if we've seen each other almost everyday; I appreciate friendships like that very much just because you know they'll be there for you whenever you need them. Anyways, Incahoots was an interesting experience since it was my first time. I didn't know any of the moves, so I didn't really dance, but since I did know most of the songs, I just sang karaoke all night long. I'd definitely go back again, even if I can't dance whatsoever just because it is such a fun/up-beat place that just makes me feel happy.

Friday was pretty much when the festivities commenced. All my friends came out to Downtown Brea - Birch Street and we had dinner at YardHouse. YardHouse is pretty much one of my favorite restaurants to go to and they have pretty darn good happy hour, so we made it a point to come there before happy hour ended so we can have a little bit of adulthood fun because another one of my friends, Jenna, just turned 21 as well. Side note, this dinner was not just for my birthday; it was a joint birthday bash for me, Jenna, and another one of my friend CC who also turned 22 just like me! SO back to the dinner, we went to YardHouse, and as you can see, Laura was there again! I love this girl; she lives pretty far from where we were, so for her to drive out just to spend a little time with me is super special. Anyways, Friday night was so much fun! We ate, drank, walked around, sniffed candles, and ate some more. We had macaroons and then went to Rite Aid to get some Thrifty ice cream - the best $2 that I've spent in a long time. All I have to say is I have some super amazing and special friends who are always there for me and I am so grateful to have them in my life, and the best party is, I met some of the bestest friends from work and then one of them, I've known since the sixth grade!

Then comes all of the gifts that I got! Let me tell you, I got super spoiled this year because all these gifts are so fricken nice! So first off, it's the Dior Creme de Rose lip balm, which I've already told you about a few posts ago. Then I got a few jewelry pieces and a super cute dress. So here's the thing, when I got my presents, all my friends told me that they felt like these items were just screaming out my name, so they had to get it for me. I was quite flattered and surprised when they said that just because I thought I'm a very confusing person and like pretty much anything, which can make it a little hard to shop for, but apparently, my likes and style is pretty darn distinctive! I was definitely a very spoiled little girl when it comes to gifts this year and I have already used pretty much all of them because I just couldn't help myself! I am one of those super bad people who just wants to open their gifts right away and go crazy over all my gifts; I guess you can say I am very easily excited, but it's fun being excited when you open gifts though. 

So of course, I also splurged on myself a little bit this year and got my self 2 pieces from Baublebar! I got a super good deal on them because I had a $10 coupon from joining and then another $25 off for something else that I can't remember. So I used both of those and got myself these two necklaces and only paid $23 for them! The cool thing about Baublebar is shipping is free and it's tax free, which is a treat just because everything is so highly taxed in California! So I already used the ivory/gold sun-ray necklace because it matches so flippen well with my pink dress that I wore on my birthday! I felt like a super cool princess and super pretty too! I will definitely splurge on Baublebar jewelry once in a while because they are fairly priced and really good quality. Not to mention, the packaging is amazig because you get a velvet pouch to keep it in, making sure it's nicely cushioned and nothing bad, like scratches, happen to it. Then, over the weekend, I bought myself a travel sized Caudalie beauty elixir. It is a setting spray for your make-up, but I also like to use it just to keep my skin nice and moisturized. I mainly got it to use it on the 18-hour plane ride to Vietnam this summer, which I am super excited for - I will definitely be blogging about my trip so you guys get to enjoy the beachy/summery scenery that is there too! 

If you guys like these necklaces, there are even more pretty ones on Baublebar's website too! I will leave you with the link and an invite code if you want to go check them out: https://www.baublebar.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/239903/! Go get yourself something beautiful and there are always amazing deals on Mondays and Fridays!

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!)