Harder To Be Kind Than Clever

I have been working for a month. I am still in shock and going through a lot of emotional turmoil. Starting with being confident, to being frustrated and confused, to feeling defeated, and eventually back up to stop doubting myself... This emotional roller coaster ride has never stopped. However, there's one element is always consistent, that is I am shocked by how competitive my coworkers are. I am trying very hard to not get sucked into this whole crazy competitive world. I just want to keep remind myself it's harder to be kind than clever. In the long run, my kindness will pay off.

Keep Believing

Life gets harder and harder.
The only thing I can do at this point is to keep believing. Believe that everyday when I wake up, a new and better day is waiting for me. Believe that things will get better eventually...

My New Found Lululemon Addiction

I developed a new addiction a couple days ago: Lululemon!

As a yogi, I've been wearing Hardtail most of the time, and occasionally some yoga pants from Victoria's Secret just because they look cute. I see all of my yoga teachers wear Lululemon all the time, I was wondering what's so great about them. Since I am a total shopaholic, I had to check them out, so I went to a local boutique in Ann Arbor called Bivouac, which is the only place within walking distance for Lululemon products on University of Michigan campus. Soon after, I realized that was a huge mistake! :)

Right after I walked into the store, I saw this peachy scoop neck yoga tank and I fell in love with it at first sight. This design is just so cute and unique, the color really fits my skin tone very well, and the high quality fabric just seems irresistible. After I tried it on, I couldn't help but pulling out my wallet to pay for it. It hugs my body so well, I feel extremely comfortable in it. Even better, it gives me more support than those so called high impact sports bras I got from places like Victoria's Secret, Nike, Addidas, and Champion. I got two of these scoop neck tank, one is peachy(shown in pictures) and another one in light purple(the purple is very similar to the OPI nail polish purple in my previous post) and white. I also got a pair of pants with the colorful waistband. Now, I am joining all the other Lululemon addicts and wearing my lovely Lululemon to class. :)

Yeah, the Lululemon products are very pricey, but I think they might last longer. The problem I had with the Hardtail is that they don't last. I kill a pair of Hardtail yoga pants every 3 months on average. The Lululemon fabric definitely seems much stronger than Hardtail right now, I hope it beats Hardtail in endurance as well. I guess I wil find out later.

Mani/Pedi from Aveda Institude and My New OPI Nail Polishes

I've been getting manicures and pedicures from the Aveda Institute in Ann Arbor. The coolest thing about getting mani/pedi from Aveda Institute is that you get to keep one OPI nail polish after each service, which is included in the price. So you can get a mani for $25 or a pedi for $34, and this price includes an OPI polish and no tipping. Pretty good deal. The downside is that these services are performed by students. If you are unlucky, you might run into someone who's really inexperienced, then it could be bad. The trick is to ask someone who's gone through the "Salon Concept" program, because these are more senior students and they tend to know what they are doing.

So now let's talk about some OPI polishes I got recently. These colors tend to be more colorful and they have really cool names!!! The one thing I am always amazed by all the makeups marketing is that they can always come up with the cutest and romantic names for the colors.


*Lincoln Park After Dark

I am not a big fan of dark and crazy nail polish colors until recently. I've always been buying boring colors like sheer or light pink and etc. This is a very cool plum color. The one on my nail right now has 2 layers. If you want a lighter plum color, you can do just one layer, that's also really pretty. With the 2 layers, it's almost like black. :)











*Yoga-ta Get This Blue

This is another adventurous color for me. :) This is a dark sparkly blue color. Again, one layer makes it a nice dark blue color with sparkles, 2 layers would make it close to a black when you look at it from far away but yet has a blue shade to it up close. I absolute love it!







*Do You Lilac It?

This is more of my type of color. It's a really juicy light purple. :) I would always put 2 layers with this color because it's so light and one layer is not enough to get the color to pop.

Pitaya

This Pitaya store was opened on University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus fairly recently, last October I believe. You can also check them out online at: http://www.pitaya.com/

Their style is more like Forever21 or Charlotte Russe, cheap but yet fairly trendy teenage or college kid clothing. I've been shopping at stores like Bivouac and YCL a lot, so the quality of their items really don't impressed me, so I didn't feel like buying anything from there.

However, for the last couple weeks I wandered in there twice, and I found some cute things that actually made me pull out my wallet. :)

Here is a very cute floral dress ($29). I fell in love with this fun and bright yellow-blue combination. I've been looking for a floral dress for a long time, but just couldn't find a color/pattern combo that I really like except for this one. :D


Another floral item, but this one is cooler, it has ruffles!!! I am obsessed with ruffles lately, I feel like they make everything more classy and feminine. Also, I love this light blue and red and green color. After all, I am a wolverine and I will always go blue. :)
Blue Floral Ruffle Top ($26).


Now time for something plain, a white dress ($29). :)
This dress is simple and great for summer. I don't think this will ever go out of style, so I figure it's a good thing to have for the closet.


I think the braided straps are very cute.

Jane Iredale Mineral Makeups

I got some Jane Iredale mineral makeups because my esthetician highly recommended them. I've been getting facial from the same esthetician for a while, and she only uses produces from Glymed and she carries Jane Iredale makeups. So I trusted her and ordered a loose mineral powder, 2 blushes, and a lipstick. Overall, I have to say that I wasn't too impressed, and I don't think they are completely worthy of the price.

First item I got was the Amazing Base SPF 20 Loose Mineral Powder in Amber ($42.00).

Here's what the packaging looks like, pretty cool.


The powder is pretty easy to apply, I just use a Kabuki brush I got from the Body Shop to apply. The color looks great on me but I don't think the coverage is as great as advertised. I definitely have to use some concealer for certain spots before I put this on.

Here's list of ingredients used, supposed to be all natural and good for the skin.


I was all psyched when my esthetician told me that this is a "skin care makeup", and it's actually good for my skin and etc. I don't know if it actually helps to make my skin better, but it doesn't feel too thick or doesn't seem to clog my pores, which is good news. I haven't tried the loose mineral powder from other brands yet, so I can't comment on its quality in comparison to other brands, but so far so good.


I also got two PurePressed blushes ($26.00 each, yeah I know!) from Jane Iredale. I loved the colors on me. The main problem I have with these is that the color tend to fade away really fast. I wish they would last longer. I guess this is what you get when you go for something natural.

Here's the packaging:



The PurePressed Blush in Parfait: pinky blush, great color and it really freshens up my face.


The PurePressed Blush in Tawny: light peachy color, and very subtle.


Here are the swatches, Parfait on left, Tawny on right:


Last thing I got was a lipstick. I would not recommend getting lipsticks from Jane Iredale. I loved the color, but it is not pigmented as I would like, and I really had to layer it up to the color to show. When I do that, it somehow really brings out the tiny lines on my lips, and it's not very moisturizing.

Lip Colour by Jane Iredale in Erin ($19):


I did 3 layers on this swatch, and it still doesn't really show the bright pink color, that's how not pigmented it is. :(

American Eagle Outfitters Haul

I went to the mall the other day and stopped by the American Eagle Outfitter store at my local mall. I thought after 4 years of college, I would've grown out of the American Eagle clothing and the teenage fashion style in general. I've been shopping at local boutiques or online for more mature styles. However, when I got to store, I still found a lot of things I like and ended up spending $170+ there. :) So here's the haul for all the things I got, enjoy!


First, let's start with shoes. We girls always love shoes and we always seem to NEED another new pair of shoes in our closet. :)

I really like the flat sandals for this season, it's very simple and chic and comfortable. AE had a deal for all the sandals in the store for buy 1 get 1 50% off. And of course, as always, I fell for that kinda trap.

I think this pair is a bit more dressy, it would look great with short jeans or dresses, e.g. the blue dress below.



This pair is a lot more versatile, it would look great with most summer shorts, skirts and dresses, and white is my favorite color too!




I've been eyeing this light blue floral dress for a while. It was originally $49.50, so I thought it was a bit too pricey, then that day it was on sale for $19.50! :D



This tank top is so comfortable. I got 4 of them in different colors. I wear them to everything, like basics, going to yoga, going running or even as pj. It was 2 for $25, not a bad deal.



This is another good find. I didn't really like all the studs on clothes and shoes. I am more for the simple classic look, I don't like crazy studs or crystals and etc on my clothes. Even that's the trend for this season, I didn't get any items along that line until this one. I feel like the studs actually look great on this tank top, it's so subtle but yet so unique. I got this in both red and white, and they were only $10 each!!! :)




This dress looked awesome on me, and it was only $24.50! I really like the detailing on the strap and on the back. It looks exceptionally cute with the skinny belt ($19.50) I got.







This is what it looks like with the belt. It looked a bit too baggy on me without the the belt, the waist area was too loose.



Check out the buckle, isn't it cute?? :D I think I can use this a lot, especially on any of the dark color dresses I have.