All Out Glam - Clinique

I got this new pallete collection from Clinique. It was a birthday gift from a very good friend. The name of the collection is called A seasons Worth of Pretty. When I got it, I was overjoyed. My friend knew that I am still starting out wearing make up and learning how to create different looks.

The good thing about this palette is that it has it's own make up guide. It has 5 different looks and a beginner like me can get benefit with it. I don't have to try and test different color instead I just follow the direction. It was an ease doing it. I love it!

So my look for the night is the All out glam:

Love My Internet

Guest post from: Kent Lara

I love my Modesto wireless internet because it’s the only thing right now keeping me from losing my mind. I can take my laptop with me on my sales calls and talk to my sister via email – she’s the only one who knows how much I hate this job. I don’t like to admit it because I moved out here just to take this position but I’m really, really unhappy and I wish I had never thought to make such a big change. There’s something to be said for the comfortable and the familiar and I don’t have either of those anymore…who would have guessed it would take me this long to figure that out? I miss my family way more than I thought I would and even my dad who usually drives me crazy is really popping up in my mind a lot. There’s something about home that’s calling to me and I thought that I couldn’t wait to get out – I guess you never know until you try it though.

Into this Music - Bound to you

Just listen to the melody of the piano.. I really like this song very much!

Christmas Greeting Card

This is my first time to do a photoshoot at home with my husband and our decorated christmas tree. As you see from other christmas post, I already have picture taken with good exposure. Here's my final greeting card that I sent for my friends and family.

Buying Gifts for Loved One

Christmas shopping is in the air. I myself did my own shopping this week. It was a little tedious to find something for the loved ones. But it’s really good to give, so the time and effort of doing so makes it go away. Though I didn’t go to the mall, I was only driving around stores near where I live. It doesn’t save me time and gas but I was glad I got the most of it. I maybe have lack one item but I decided to get it later when it’s already available in the store I am hoping to get.

Not all of us are lucky enough to have a job and have extra money for the holiday. I am thankful in the sense that I have a job and have a little savings so spending is not a problem at this time. For people who wish to find alternative means to show loved ones to give for the holiday, maybe consider send Flowers UK for the lady or gardening tools for men. There are still lots of ways you can do not to spend anything but you just have to get that creativity sparks in your head. Any simple gesture coming from a loved one can work. What matters most is the thought.

Emil Villa's San Leandro

After a quick glance in Oakland Hills when we did our site seeing a few weeks ago, we dropped to this restaurant. It has the same aura like in Campbell. We were the last customer for the night. It looked empty and so quite. The waitress was very patient and our meals was cook good. We were happy to get a decent meal.

My place needs a cleaning

My carpet now looks terrible. It’s really in a bad shape. There were few dark spots from previous occupation and I have not tried cleaning it thoroughly since we moved. It created a bad spot all over the place. How I wish to have a professional cleaning company like Steam Team to have my place cleaned. They are very reliable in that aspect and make the job well done.

Also, my bathroom needs a cleaning too. I started cleaning it a few weeks ago but there were spots that are hard to clean. It needs stronger chemicals and more scrubbing to do. For sure a floor tile cleaning tips Austin is a solution to fix that problem. If you have the same problem like I do, consider this site at http://www.thesteamteam.com for more details about other services they provide.

Global Winter Wonderland, Santa Clara

I had the great time at Santa Clara's Global Winter Wonderland. Hubby and I arrived past 7pm. To get to the ticket entrance you have to pay $10 for parking and $20 for Vip Pass. We chose the $10 and park ourselves. We walked towards the entrance and stood in line for more than an hour. The cold and the chill made it hard to wait but patiently waited. We were starved since we didn't eat dinner that was a bad idea. But we didn't know how the lines to get the ticket. The expectation was to get in line buy a ticket spend an hour but didn't happen. It took us over 3 hours. I had no regrets at all because I like all what's inside.

Oakland California Mormon Temple

I went to this place Saturday night to see how the city looks like on top of the hills. This church happens to be situated on the best spot to see the city. The attraction to this church is not only it's design but it's Christmas decoration too. Probably, it's more beautiful when it's the golden hour or the blue hour. But still getting there was absolutely nice.

For My Brother

My brother is scheduled to have a Gastrostomy tube replacement next year. I was a bit frantic where to get the specific tube to replace it. His doctor prescribed a brand and dimension. Then, I was calling around and emailing my nurses friends. I asked them if they know where and what pharmacy to buy the actual replacement. Two of them responded and it gave me the idea that it’s hard to buy when the patient is out of the country and not local in the area. But I appreciate the thought that they actually responded to my email.

I was glad that the day after I emailed my friend, I got a call from my cousin who is also a nurse who lives in L.A. He told me that he knew where to get it and I don’t have to worry about it. His going to take care of it and will send it to the Philippines. Because of that, I feel like wanting to give him a gift for Christmas or whenever time permits. Maybe, I could look for items at http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/. They have so many good and quality items for nurses. I might as well consider the uniform for nurses as a gift. It might not be as grand but I think my cousin will appreciate the thought. I know from experience that my cousin is a giver and he doesn’t expect people to give him something in return.

How to Photograph Your Christmas tree?

This is a very challenging part of photography. Up to this very day, my pictures are not good. Either blurry, too warm and dark. I have been reading about it yesterday and a few today as to how will I get that picture moment correct color saturation.

I bought my tree on Saturday and bought decor yesterday. I decorated the tree with a new theme for the year - Purple! I like that color for my tree. I did start of buying purple ornaments last year but I didn't get enough so I mixed my tree with gold. This year I was so happy when I shopped at Michael's in Cupertino. They have all the purple I want. So I finished my tree last night and I start to photograph the tree.

My challenge was to get the correct color setting. After several tries and attempts, pictures were kind of blue, some were green, some were too warm and of course the noise was terrible. I had few pictures of me and the tree. I looked blue. Yikes!

The setting I used was f5.6-8, iso 400, wb incandescent (tweak the color wheel towards blue), exp -1.3-1.7, ss 1", and sb 600 1/16 with green gel. Now when I read about my setting I was wrong with using aperture and the gel.

So tonight I hope I can get my exposure right. Low aperture, iso 200-400, wb incadescent (color wheel towards yellow orange), will start exp to 0, ss 1/4-1" and Sb 600 1/4 with CTO gel. I will cross fingers...

Here's my correct exposure for the night! yay! I love it...

Eye Make Up - Smokey Blue

My inspiration to create this look was simple. I browsed my closet looking for clothes and I found this blue dress I had worn once. So it gave me the make up idea to work with dark blue and make it smokey.

The shades I used for this pictorial was from coastal scents. Nothing really fancy about it. Though for me the colors are not great because I kept on putting layers upon layers to get that dark blue. Honestly, it's a little bit time consuming but practice wise it's good. I am still happy that I get that palette.