Dark Lady

Hello everyone..hope you all had a fun and spooky Halloween. Did you get to dress up in a fun Halloween outfit? Halloween has never been my thing. As weired as it sounds, I do not realy get so excited about any holidays or special occasions that much anymore. That is probably what happens when you get older and I am the case. However, I decided to take Halloween to the next level and be a bit more exciting this year.

Here I am in an extreme (well extreme for me 'cuz I ususally don't wear makeup) makeup, accessories and a corset insprired top that I have had for ages. It is almost (or already) too trashy to wear on a regular basis but heck..today is my only chance to make a good use of it.

Halloween this year is somewhat quiet. Is it just in my neighberhood or what?!! Where is everyone? It would have made a big difference if it fell on either Friday or Saturday. Who would want to go party on Sunday night? I know I wouldn't. Definitely not fun knowing that you have to wake up early and go to work the next day.

Random Monday

Blog oh blog I miss you so. I have been so behind in posting lately. What a productive month?! As a matter, it has been a pretty good one (I think). So where had I been all this time? I was behind the scene tweaking and designing and installing one of my favorite blogger' blogs - the fabulous blog of Collette - Statements in Fashion which debuts the new look tonight.

Web design is my passion and obsession. It is not what I do at work but more like a hobby for me. I absolutely love it. If you follow my blog from the beginning, you know I revamped my blog about 5 times (or more) already so it was so much fun to do it for someone else. I am so honored that Collette puts her trust in me by letting me redesign her blog. I have one more blog design project in work at the moment, so more fun for me! If you are interested in having me redesign your blog, please email me at narakista@gmail.com and I will get back to you with a quote. So that's pretty much what I was doing but I really miss blogging, reading, sharing and commenting.

My little girl eats oatmeal for breakfast on most days and I do feel sorry for her having to eat the same thing over and over again. So this past weekend, mommy was a bit more creative this time. I made her a fruity french toast for breakfast. Boy, I didn't realize beging a mom requires such creativity. I can spend all my time making new food for her but she ends up not touching it T_T

Here is a secret of my perfect, long, loose curled hair that everyone asked about in my older posts. It is as easy as 1 - 2 -3. I simply put a wig on an voila~

Having long and loose curls have always been my dream. It is only a dream because I do not have enough patience to wait for my hair to grow that long. Not talking about all the time you have to spend washing, drying, styling and maintaining. I bought this wig last year but had never worn it due to the fact that it is way too hot to wear such thing, I could die from overheating lol. I expect to wear it more often now since the weather is heading to the cooler side. Plus it is fun to wear a disguise ;)

The package from Yesstyle arrived today but no one was home so the mail man/lady took it back to the post office and left me a sweet simple note...Grrrr! HOpefully, my hubby can go get it for me tomorrow. I am SO excited.

And the challenges continue...

Warning: this post is all about venting and whining :D

My little girl turned 21 months old last week. It is not only another milestone for her but for me as a mother too. It is hard to believe that I have been a mom for almost two years now!


Watching her grow and accomplishing new milestones are incredibly pleasant to my eyes, hearing her giggling and calling "mommy" are like the sound of music to my ears. Motherhood brings the best and worst out of me. It shows me the kind of strenght I never realized I have and the meaning of unconditional love. On the opposite , I have become more exhausted and irritable than ever. My husband and I agree on one thing - we never realized what it takes to be parents until this second year. We thought the first year was hard, Boy this second year is even more challenging! In order to be parents..here is the list of things you will need as a weapon...

TONS of:

1) Energy: to keep up with a very active little person. The older they get, the more energy they have (unlike adults - the older we are, the less energy we have T_T). My husband and I have NO idea how parents in their 40's and up can handle that.

2) Understanding and sympathy

3) Kindness

4) Patience: this one is extremely hard for me because I am a very hot tempered person and do not have such quality. I could only handle so much of her fussiness before I whine and throw a tantrum myself. However, i have become MUCH better and continue to improve in this area.

5) Creativity: you will have to learn to be creative and imaginative even though you are not that type. It takes so much of creativities to get a child to eat, to prevent him/her from crying or throwing tantrums, to keep him/her entertain while awake, to encourage him/her to be confident, to trick him/her to take a bath or go to bed, to stop him/her to do something they are not supposed to do without making them upset and the list goes on and on.

6) Dedication: we devote our time, love and attention to our little one. My husband and I barely have time for ourselves. I have always been jealous of most couples who have the same work schedules and be home at the same time. We have different work schedules and haven't had weekends off together like other couples. I kind of get to experience what it is like to be a single mom, it is very difficult to care for a young child by yourself most of the time when your husband is not there. For the worst part, my parents live in another country and my in-laws are still working full time. I wish i had an on-call nanny whenever I need a break!

I know a terrible two is nothing compare to the time she grows into a teenager. I may die from stress lol.

My daughter is the BEST and SWEETEST thing that ever happened to me but I sometimes sure miss "the freedom of doing whatever/going whenever I feel like" kind of feeling. Life is so different when you bring a child into a picture. It is not always picture perfect but that's what makes life much more fulfilling and meaningful.

Sorry, no hair post this past weekend. Things didn't work out as planned, no picture, no shopping - nothing :(

I will try to do a post about that next weekend.

DRESSEE~**

Maybe I shouldn't have found Yesstyle because I just can't stop browsing!!! From hundres of brand ranging from clothes to beauty products, I find myself browsing and my wishlist keeps growing! I would like to share one more South Korean brand "DRESSEE" which I found on Yesstyle. This line seems a bit more grown up and sassy than the one in my previous post. Don't they look perfect for Fall?

{Photo source: yesstyle.com}

I want to thank everyone of you for sharing your shopping experience with yesstyle (also to those who never shop there), especially Sophia and Amy. Since no one has experience with these particular Korean brands, I decided to give it a shot. I REALLY hope the quality lives up to my expectation because their items are not cheap.

I ended up loading my cart with 4 different items as if everything were free: 2 outfits (one from OrangeStyle and another one from DRESSEE) and 2 beauty products. Not really what I planned on doing on my first order but I guess I was crazy. I don't know what I was thinking. Too much retail therapies, I know I will be mad at myself when credit card bill arrives next month lol. So here is my commitment, I will cut back from now so that I won't blow my saving!!

Three out of four items are ready to ship within 2 days but one outfit from OrangeStyle will ship within 7-14 days. Most likely, they will not arrive until the end of this month. To be honest, I have NO idea what to expect (wish me luck ladies).

I'll do a post when my mysterious items arrive ;)

LOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE a cute little detail of gold strings

Korean Clothings

I can't remember or pinpoint exactly as when Korea has become a new dominant POP culture in Asia. From popular Korean series, famous actors/actresses/models/singers, beauty products, fashion, automobiles to Kimchi, it is so obvious that Korea represents a new era of POP culture. It is still going strong and continues to spread its influence all over the world. Six years ago when I still lived in Asia, everything was all about Japan - fashion, hair, makeup, idols, food and etc. Today Korean is taking place and makes its appearance everywhere.

What I miss most about living in Asia (besides my parents and the rest of the family) are those affordable, high quality/trendy/super cute clothes that fit but won't break my bank. I have always search high and low for good quality brands from Asia but most of them (especially those in my homeland) do not sell online. After vigorously searched the world wide web for so long, something very promising popped up on my screen.

I am beyond excited to find http://www.yesstyle.com/ the other day. I believe their company is based in Hong Kong but they also have a return center in CA. You can spend day (or even days) browsing countless brands of clothes from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Australia at this site. One clothing line from South Korea really caught my attention...OrangeStyle. It seems to be of very high quality and well made, at least from the stock photos. Price points at Yesstyle are high (cost as much as US retailers). I checked out OrangeStyle site which lists prices in Korean Won. By using a currency coverter, prices are much cheaper but unfortunately you have to be able to read Korean in order to order (dang! I can't :( ). After finding that prices are much cheaper if you order directly from the brand, my frugality stopped me from clicking "buy now" button at Yesstyle so I decided to contact the brand to see what they can do. Hope they will email me back. Boy - I want EVERY SINGLE item!!!

Has anyone heard of Yesstyle or ordered from them before?

{Photos source}

I am so in love with the versatility of this jacket. It can be worn for both work and play..very sophisticated.

Okay...up to this point you probably know I am a neutral colored kind of girl because the colors of above items are oh so plain lol.

Since I received a few questions regarding my hair, I will try to do a post about it this weekend. Please stay tuned :)

Happy weekend

Can time fly any faster? So much to do, so little time! I feel so old every time I complain about time. With heavy workload and hectic life, it is so hard to find time for relaxation or just take a deep breath nowsaday. Since things at work slow down now, I decided to take a little break and recharge my battery. I am MORE THAN happy to have a 4 day weekend this week at home.

I am a stay at home type of person and have always been that way. It is fun to go out once in a while but I don't feel like going all the time or every single weekend. I am glad my husband is the same way, we are simply boring and old people.

I made a trip to the Mall today for retail therapy. It is good for the soul but bad for my wallet but that's okay. I gotta do what I gotta do ;)

This wallet is soooooo cute. Not having enough slots for all your cards, this wallet is perfect for you.

Okay..after hearing so many positive reviews of M.A.C., I decided to give it a shot to find out what it is all about. I went to M.A.C. counter to get a foundation and a powder today. With the help from a MUA, I think I found a good match for my skin tone. Liquid foundation is not something I use EVER but this one is lightweight and feels pretty good on my skin.

Last stop, Sephora...I have no idea how much money I have dumped at this store since I always manage to go and purchase something every single time!

Butterflies~**

Today we celebrated my husband's grandpa 90th birthday. What would it be like to live for 9 decades and see all the happenings in the past 90 years in this world? What would it be like to experience the life the way most people can't experience? What would it be like to live an enriched life he does?

Life is like a butterfly. Life is so fragile yet beautiful. If we can get past the difficult times in life, many beautiful flowers are awaiting us to explore and enjoy.

Top: Ruffle blouse from Charlotte Russe

Jeans: Abbey Dawn by Avril Lavigne