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

Sephora Mini Haul

Hello fellow interweb friends!

As you can tell by the title, I kind of did a little haul at Sephora this week! Now, just a disclaimer, I only bought all this because I had an employee discount there this week because I work at the Build-a-Bear Workshop in Downtown Disney by Disneyland. It wasn't entirely an employee discount, more of a "cast member" discount that Sephora does for us people who work on Disney property twice a year; the discount wasn't much but 20% is pretty big when it comes to make-up products, especially the ones that I bought today. As all you girls know, high-end make-up products never really go on sale or get discounted at mall counters and if there are discounts, it's usually if you have some kind of membership, whether it be a credit card or reward card (VIB for Sephora) and more often than not, the discount is only like 15% or a free sample size item with purchase. In other words, 20% is like HUGE when it comes to these things, so I had to take advantage of it and get myself ready for summer, especially since I will be vacationing with my family this summer in Vietnam. 

So, first thing I picked up is the Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20 in the color beige. I personally love tinted moisturizer, but since I have combination skin, leaning a little towards oily, I had to get the oil free one just to prevent myself from getting any potential break outs. To me, tinted moisturizer is perfect for spring/summer time make up - it's a staple product for me during spring and summer time just because I use as minimal make up as I can so I don't clog my skin but still protecting it at the same time from sun damage. So anyways, tinted moisturizer with SPF not only makes you look good without too much effort while protecting your skin, it is perfect when you want to get ready fast. For instance, during the day time, you can quickly dab it on and use a brush or blender to blend it into your face, put on some mascara, a little bit of colored lip balm, set it all together with some setting powder (in my case, I use the mineral veil from Bare Minerals), and BAM you have a semi-fully made up face withouth the hassle of putting on five different layers. Now, that's my preferred face routine for the summer when I just want to have minimal coverage, which is pretty much all the time. However, when I do want a little bit more full coverage, then I'll put on the tinted moisturizer and then quickly brush over some powder foundation. This will give you a little more coverage and then you can also add on some bronzer and blush to get a fully made-up face with all the other goodies like mascara and lipstick/gloss/stain. 

Now of couse, it is always important for me to use some kind of a primer underneath just ecause, like I mentioned earlier, my skin can get pretty oily. The primer that I got is the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Protector. This product took me a while to decide on just because it is a little bit more expensive, but I've only heard of super good reviews from various YouTube beauty gurus. At first, I was going to get my all-time favorite Bare Mineral Prime Time Oil Control primer since it's been working wonderfully for my skin, but I saw the Becca primer so I decided to try/squatch it on my hand and let it set for a while and then compared the two. The Becca one, just as its name says, gave a super matte finish without making my skin look dry or fake whereas the Bare Minerals one, though is good, didn't give as fine of a matte finish. Just because the end product of the Becca primer was better and since I have oily skin, I decided to fork out the money and get it instead of my Prime Time one. When I got home, I decided to take it out and try it with my Laura Mercier tinted mositurizer, did my usual make-up routine to try it out with my other face products to make sure the Becca primer is just as wonderful as it seems. Wow, I was pretty impressed by it once I put it on because I did not see any traces of oil on face til like maybe 5-6 hours after, and even at that point, the oils were super minimal. Not only did I noticed the difference, but my mom also noticed it too! So pretty much, though the Becca primer is more expensive, the product payoff was definitely worth it, especially since I also had a discount on it. Now, since I know it keeps my skin looking matte but still natural, I will use it a little more freely around the more oily areas of my face like the t-zones, nose, and chin. I only say this cause I used it very frugally my first time around since I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.

So, besides those two face products, I also got a new tube of mascara, and as you can tell from the picture, it is the Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara. Now, I am a huge mascara junky, so I've pretty much tried a variety of mascaras just to see how well they work and these have definitely been my favorite. I originally got a sample size of a Laura Mercier mascara, I can't remember which one to be exact, in my 500 VIB Perks Point from Sephora. I completely fell in love with it because it lengthened, volumized, but still kept my lashes looking natural! To me, that is huge because a lot of the ones that volumize and lengthen tend to make your lasshes look clumpy and flake off a lot, but these ones did not! Since I loved the sample sized mascara so much from Laura Mercier, I decided to get a full sized one and tried the Full Blown Volume Lash one and WOW, this one completely blew me up and I fell in love! Before, I was using an Lancome one and those are super expensive but didn't keep my lashes as natural looking, so I totally thought I hit the jackpot with this Laura Mercier one. So to pretty much summarize my excitement and love and ethusiasm for this mascara, I just got a second tube of it! To me, when I re-purchase make-up items that are a little bit more expensive means I completely and uterrly love it and cannot live with out, and that's the case with this product. 

The other product that I got is the Lancome Rouge In Love lipcolor in the shade 353. This one one is actually for my mom, but since I do love this particular lipcolor line from Lancome, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about it. So last year, for my 21st birthday, I decided to buy a new lipcolor for myself so I can use in Vegas. My birthday is in May and I love bright colors, so I was determined to find something along the lines of a coral-salmon-pinky-orange color and the only one that I fell in love with after multiple tries at the make-up counters is the Lancome Rouge In Love Lipcolor in the shade 322M (Corail In Love). These lipcolors are just amazing because they are super pigmented, moisturizing, and long-lasting! Now, if you've tried many different long-lasting lipstick/stain/gloss/etc., you guys all know, most of the time, they do not stay as hydrating as they proclaim themselves to be, but MY OH MY, these ones really do stay hydrating for a long time compared to most! Like I mentioned before, I got this for my birthday and Vegas, so I used it on my second night in Vegas to go to a night club and pretty much every other time I went out, night or day. So pretty much what I want to tell you is that after many meals, multiple drinks, sweaty clubs, typical Vegas happenings, my lipcolor still stayed on without making my lips dry and show off every nasty ridges on your lips when they are dried. Now, if you're like me and you like bright colors, you know those are the worst to have on your lips when they look dry just because it makes the lipcolor seem cheap and badly made and you just look bad in general, so for the Lancome Rouge In Love lipcolors to not do that, I think it is definitely worth the money and a must have if you want to find a good lipstick that can keep your lips looking hydrated and nicely colored. Another good thing about this line is that there are many shades, maybe over ten different shades, from nude to bright red. The shade my mom got, 353, is a slightly nude/pinkish color. It is very flattering for all ages and can be used in every season of the year, which makes it super versatile as well, so I might go back and get one for myself, but for now, I'll just "borrow" hers!

And one more thing, if you shop at Sephora and you have not signed up for the Beauty Insider membership, you need to go do it right away! There are so many perks of being a Beauty Insider because for your birthday, you get a nifty little gift! For this year, Sephora is giving away a little Benefit package and inside of it, there's a "They're Real" mascara (which I'm excited to try because the brush/applicator looks amazing and I have a feeling it will get into each and every last). And the other little trinket is the "Watt's Up" highlighter. Based on the item description, it is a soft-focus highlighter. I've never used a highlighter before so I'm kind of excited to try out this little one!

Hope you enjoyed this,

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen 

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