I've been gone but I think I'm back from the dead LOL. I guess I finally got something to write about? No? Not really. LOL. My posts are quite boring lately since I haven't done anything fun or productive in a sense that involves shooting. I totally skipped out on any Sakura shoots this spring and now most of the cherry blossoms are probably dead LOL and really, everyones just gotten pretty busy with life-work and etc. I got some stuff I've been dealing with as well u_u hindering any new LA adventures or whatnot.

I'm also probably skipping out on Wonder Con since I'm prepping for Anime Conji. I should be sewing right now but instead I'm sitting on the couch fighting back a food coma and watching Behind Enemy Lines. I just finished watching The Raven and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed it, was hoping it would be longer or would have more references to Poes other works, but its all good~ the dialogue on the movie was also quite eloquent as to be expected on a movie based of a literary man. One of my favorite stories from him is still Berenice.

Movie inspired me to pick up his collection again, unfortunately I lost my hardback copy when I moved =A= and would really wanna own a printed copy again. Boo. But on Amazon they have his whole collection on the kindle for $0.99 .___.


And then spurs the onlooking on Amazon for other literatures that could spark my interest LOL and I forgot I got a growing list of wish lists on my amazon, now if only we can rent books there like we would in the library?! LOL but what if you really like it then you buy it?! LOL. Oh well. I don't like hoarding books and prefer kindle versions right now since I still haven't settled down in a place u__ulll

MOVING Oh huzzah another instabits dumb to catch up on what I've been up to - absolutely nothing LOL!

Some quick product reviews I guess for starters that I think is worth mentioning :D (I also picked up Inglot shadows recently from their freedom palette. Super soft. Super pigmented. Decent priced too! For the price of a Tsubasa Masuwaka eye shadow palette you could create your own and it gives you more for your bank too)

Been needing dye to redye my hair u_u and manic panic is to constantly use for retouching and it doesnt really stain my hair well enough, its great as a color re depositor to retouch color but I forgot that what works best is something thats a stain. I use to use this a lot when I was in beauty school and runs about $6, you can only get it at pro shops or online for about the same price. My other go to is Jerome Russel, great stain and really lasts a lot longer on my hair. Bad thing about it, is it does tend to stain stuff (the Jerome Russel) but not Joico. Its not as nourishing liek Manic Panic but I find it lasts longer on my hair and lately I've been having to wash my hair more frequently than normal as well.

Staining power wise, its ok, its nothing like Jerome Russel in my personal opinion but I do use a color amplifier on it to really help lock it in and I also use a leave in spray conditioner that has UV protection to help lock in the color.

Clay Mask, this clay mask I got from Rite Aid and they had it on sale with a Rite Aid card it came out to be $2.99 versus the regular $4-5 it was. They also sell sample packets for $1.50 if you're unsure how you would like the product but I figured, OH WHY NOT. Its suppose to help clean out your pores, tone your skin and make your pores smaller and also moisturized since it has shea butter on it.

It DOES smell dangerously like chocolate and strawberries haha but its not edible. Well, I wouldn't recommend eating it at all to be honest...it does sting a little bit when you put the product any where near your eyes, your not suppose to but you know when you get close to your eyes, the fragrance from it makes your eyes sting and watery but it passes once the product settles and dries a little bit on your skin.
Leave it on for a bit, till it dries, give it 10-15 minutes. It really flies by quick honestly and rinse it off with warm water. And omg it left my skin baby soft lawl. It reminds me of the milk mask I was using before *w* did it do anything for my pores? Its too soon to tell, but I can definitely say the following day my foundation glided on like butter hurhurhur.

Over the weekend me and my friend was on a quest to go to a cafe that serves Brick Toast or Honey Box Toast, its a very common treat served in a lot of Taiwanese Cafes or Japanese Cafes. Unfortunately there isnt a plathora of them in San Diego like there is in Los Angeles and San Fran ):
We went through 3 different cafes, 1 was closed and we couldn't find its new location =A=;;; and the other one we went to was a hole in the wall hidden tucked away in a neighborhood area and I can honestly say this, I found the mother load of all FOBBY Asians D8 and the moment I walked in there with my friend, I swore, all eyes were on us .__.ll (granted I had red hair and she had bright pink....uwu) I, as a fellow FOB can say I felt...almost outcasted LOL and normally I have NO problem flaunting my great style LOL but damn haha. We also left right away because there was a sign on the menu saying brick toast was sold out. BAH, I'LL BE BACK! D8< Maybe with a wig lol

Been on a cooking craze lately as you can tell. I've made deep dish pizza 2 weekends in a row now D8 and I'm pretty much sick of pizza LOL. I love pepperoni but thats what got me real sick last time.OR so I like to think LOL! Made alfredo white sauce pizza with spinach and a deep dish pepperoni pizza. I've also made break sticks over the weekend. I made bulgogi stir fry as well! mhmm yummy.

Yeah...been doing quite a lot  of drinking lately too =A=;; from Fuze to Home drinking. Gah I keep telling myself I need to wind down, and I like to think I've slowed down now. This photo was from I believe 2 weeks ago, we did close to 30 shots and did like hnroenheh mixed drinks LOL. Practicing my bar tending skillz whut whut...

Hello embarrassingly old selca of mine LOL. I wore this look when I went to the museum the other week lawl which also spawned the idea of possibly cos-ing Reira from NANA duuuuurp. IDK Lawl. I actually bought a Lightning wig but it turned out to be too long =A= but its a gorgeous color blend of silver white, and pink hues. Its too long! D8 and would require  ALOT of chopping to get it to be Lightning so I'm on the hunt to find another one u__u but I'm keeping the gorgeous pinku wig for idk what. I need to do a makeup test with it someday too but oh so lazy. Thought of using it for  Reira but I found another wig thats got brown x pink blends with it that I plan on getting instead since I prefer the Yuna Ito look more~ hurhur.

LOL WHAT IS THIS PREVIEW?! More like what have I gotten myself into lol So yeah, I guess I'm gonna go to Anime Conji and skipping out on Wonder Con coz I need to work on my cosplay. *w*;;;
Too bad  all those lenses aren't mine uwu I only ordered 1 coz urgh, Cosplay eats your money, now I recall why I backed out of it lol not to mention kills self esteem lawl Waiting for deals on lenses before ordering some more lawl. I *def* need new ones ):


I didn't work on it at all this weekend coz I was too busy trolling the dog, stuffing my face with milk tea and goodies and making Macarons....

Oh and apparently YSL is discontinuing their rouge volupte line owo in favor of a new line, I'm kinda glad that I managed to score myself 1 before their all gone, I doubt YSL is gonna have a sale on them at all on their counters but it wouldn't hurt to check in a few weeks / months? I also hear Armani is a good substitute for them. I read this from someones blog~ I forgot whos owo;;

Good bye peace and quiet. Tonight my brother and his new....fiance is going to come back from Hawaii and I get the daunting task of picking them up. (Their loud, obnxious and can be overbearing. I blame this on the fact that I work in customer service day in and out and would prefer to come home to some peace and quiet. I'm so done and ready to move to a place where I have my own room again....complicated lifestyle...)
Can you sense my excitement? I thought of posting this on my tumblr where things are less informal but this blog is looking too much less personal lately. So throw this in for the loop.

I keep finding new little projects to throw myself to and keep myself busy. I think I'm pretty much done baking for the most part - my mom forbades me to make anymore bread since I guess we ended up with a plethora of them...hey can't deny how good those matcha sakura bread is especially when you turn it into a brick toast.

How do I turn off the stupid widget of linked-in. Its kinda starting to annoy me lol....

I also spent a good portion of the last 2 wks at a bar called Fuze and boy, those sojus arent cheap after a while. And you'd think by now I'd get sick of the taste. I need to back off of that for a while. =A=lll
I don't live a very exciting lifestyle lol.
But hopefully tomorrow I get to go out to the Museum. The chocolate museums last day is on Sunday. Should I just skip that and go straight to the Museum of Man for the Torture Exhibit? Better than staying home with people yelling at League all day errday. I also need to wonder off to Wal-mart to gather some supplies for a new project I need to delve myself into.

Sad, its almost spring and I have absolutely no plans for a Sakura shoot. Wow. That sucks. I haven't had a shoot in a while and yet I'm debating on going to Wonder Con because I *really* want a 3Ds and would be able to trade in my brothers PSP coz he took mine anyway =A=
Really I just want it for Legend of Zelda, Cooking Mama and of course...HARVEST MOON where your cows get hair D8< (whut?)

yeah...

MACARONS!!!! Bread and mini hot pockets?!

Another shameless photo dump of baked goods that I spent my weekend on making. LOL. I haven't touched MGS all weekend but instead spent my entire weekend (starting Friday night) baking loool. Whut. Yeah, I'm not sure but I've been on a DIY kick lately. I figured its a new year, time to try new challenge right? And well, I've been working on perfecting each little recipe I run into lol and well, its just fun making them. Plus its fun eating fun flavors too haha.

This weekends adventure was making matcha sakura milk loaf. The recipe I used was this one and I customized it just a bit by adding Vanilla Extract and Milk Powder to the mix.

If you add a helping of condensed milk into the batter, its gonna make it more runny, so you need to add more flour to balance it out so it forms more of a solid mass.  And honestly, this recipe turns out a pretty  bland, I would honesty adjust this and add more sugar to if you want something with a sweeter flavor. But I ended up toasting it up the next day and drizzling condensed milk over it which made a huge difference!  

The sakura extract actually comes clear so I just added pink food coloring to make it more cherry blossom like. Maybe next week I'll make them into mini breads and fill it with sweet cream inside. LOL!

Wow, you'd think for someone who claims to be a photographer and actually takes decent photos that I would actually take the time to take better photos. Even if it is just on my cellphone LOL

its kinda funny/envious that I see people on instagram /really/ take the TIME to do very well presentations. Blegh, thats always the one thing I suck at when it comes to baking - presentation. The way I see it, if I'm gonna be the one eating it or no one else special.Then Why bother lol...but no really, presentation does play a keyrole on making things much more appetizing x__X now that I figured I can *make* these babies, its time to perfect making them look *nicer* le sigh....

next project was MACARONS the elusive finicky little fuckers that cost a good arm and a leg at most bakery stores. And for good reason too!

For anyone who hasn't tried these, omg you are MISSING OUT. Their basically meringue type cookies - crunchy on the outside but once you get past their shell like exterior the interior is nice moist and chewy then you get the fillings in between! Which is usually cream or jam.

 I've been pretty much intimidated on making these by my self and without the use of almond flour, I used ALMOND MEAL. Which is essentially the same - but less refined? You can always make your own ALMOND FLOUR and there are a lot of videos and how to's to make your own. I wanted to ahead and try using almond meal first which you can get at your local Trader Joes for about $3.99 a bag versus buying a small bag of almond flour from whole foods which runs at about almost $10 for a small bag. Yikes!

I did my research before embarking on this challenging quest on making macarons. I've probably watched  a shit load of videos and read a bunch of blogs on how to make these babies. I also noticed a lot of the recipes call for Cream of Tartar, I didn't have that nor did I want to spend anymore in case this was a total fail. So I finally found a video and recipe that didn't require for cream of tartar and one that was simple enough to follow!  Recipe and instructions added below as well as my own foot notes to add

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature


Directions:

Sift confectioners' sugar and almond flour until combined. Whisk whites with a mixer on low speed until foamy. Add sugar while Increasing speed to medium and whisk until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the egg whites into the flour and powdered sugar mixture and fold until mixture is incorporated.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 15 minutes. Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with 1 teaspoon filling of your choice (buttercream, jam, etc). Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

*makes 30 (approx.) cookies

My own personal notations that I took into account when making these and I know a lot of people also suggested the following when embarking on the quest to make these:

Make sure the eggs are all room temperature! I'm not sure if it really makes a huge difference but I wasn't about to go and waste a bunch of ingredients so I followed these notes to a T!
To make your eggs room temp. just dip them in a cup of warm water. You can keep the yolks aside to make custard filling actually :D so nothing is wasted!

Sift everything!!! You want to avoid as many chunks on there as possible.
Pipping - now this is definitely where I need some practice on. Haha. The bigger the hole the better. Don't try to be a smart as sand use a tiny hole and swirl it around like a snails butt. It doesn't work that way. Your cookies will come out looking pretty flat and sad looking lol! So be sure to use a good half inch cut to get a nice even drop! If your not sure how uniformed your circles will be - do what I did. I drew on the parchment paper.

Next and I think  this is pretty important. DONT USE WAX PAPER. Use parchment paper. I used wax paper on one batch and it just wouldn't come off cleanly ;A; such a waste~ And double up the parchment paper to prevent the bottoms from burning especially if your oven doesn't have even heating - like mine )': 

lastly I made mini hot pockets lawl

3 Cups Flour
6 Tablespoon of ice cold water
5 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

You just get marinara sauce or tomoato sauce, roll out your dough into the little molds. Brush on your tomatoe sauce, stuff in your fillings - cheese and pepperoni. FOLD and bake~ hurhurhur

I cant wait to try spinach and cheese in them next *w*  or you can be really bad and use custard filling LMAO. But if your a college student living in a dorm and have a toaster oven, an easy way to do this as well is to get those pillsbury crescent rolls, and stuffing the shit out of it with cheese and pepperoni and throwing it into your toaster oven.