About New Year's Eve (and random FOTD)

I'm not a really big celebrator of New Year's Eve. What will I be doing this year on Dec 31 at 11:59PM? Still undecided. There are always lots of different parties going on but I just haven't committed to anything. It just isn't really that big of a deal to me?

But then again, I say that about every event throughout the year that is typically used by most people as an excuse to celebrate and party hard -- New Year's, Halloween, my birthday, Valentine's Day...why is it that I just write them all off as overrated?

Don't get me wrong, I love spending special occasions with friends and loved ones. But as for partying hard...well I don't really need a particular day of the year to do that! Haha...maybe I'm just naturally low-key.

Anyway, expect my New Year's resolutions to be posted soon.

And it's random FOTD time! I finally tried out my Kat von D palette from the Sephora F&F sale :)

♥ miss.erica

Merry Christmas!!

...or happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas :)

My immediate family is not religious or anything, but we still celebrate the holidays together. I hope you all are having a safe and wonderful holiday season with lots of love and full bellies!

Last night was our annual huge family dinner at our place. I ate til it hurt, and then all the cousins sat around and played board games. It was good times. The pictures below are very indicative of my activity during the holidays, which largely consists of eating. That's me finishing off the spoon and bowl of coleslaw at the end of the night :) Photos taken by the very talented cousin of mine, who's self-taught hobby is photography!

Among other things, I received 2 new perfumes this year for gifts. Escada was on my blog wish list given to me by my coworker Steven (he's a resourceful one, that one), and I also received Ruel No. 925 from a friend's parents. My perfume collection is growing!! I wonder if I will ever get through a single bottle...I'll do a perfume post soon of all my fragrances :)

A funny "keep your parents up to date with technology" story:

My mom asked my sister and me for a CD player for Christmas. We were just kind of like "ummm....okay no." So we ended up buying her an iPod Touch and a speaker dock (it doubles as her birthday present, since she's born early in January). So far, she lurrrrves it, and it just goes to show you how intuitive Apple products are. I've now seen many older people use it, and I've seen a baby no more than 1 yr old playing with an iPhone in a restaurant hehe...

As for Christmas Day, my family did the same thing we do every year...we opened presents, then had a nice breakfast of leftover turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and everything else. Soon we will be gathering around the MJ table (how nice to have 4 people in the family!) and then going to see Avatar in theatres later this afternoon.

I love the holidays :)

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

♥ miss.erica

Ugly Winter Sweater and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Okay so it's not ugly...but EVERYONE knows what I'm talking about when I say "ugly Christmas sweater". Anyway, this is as close as I have to an ugly Christmas sweater (I say "winter" in the title to be inclusive of those who don't celebrate Christmas hehe).

This sweater was actually bought for me by my grandma (who seriously has better taste than my mom). Anyway, she bought it from Hong Kong and I lurvessss it except it's a bit big!! It's an XL (no joke). And although XL in Hong Kong really isn't that large...I mean really, grandma, an XL?!?! lol anyway...I wear it regardless. It has a fuzzy lining and it's super warm :)

Random FOTD:

I'd like to take this time to share my story about how I learned that Santa isn't real (inspired by Anne)

I once had the hideous bowl cut as a child. Yes, it's true. I went skating at the local public skate arena, and Santa Claus was there!! Yippeeeee! So I lined up to see him, hopped into his lap when it was finally my turn, and Santa says to me "Ho ho ho! Have you been a good boy this year?"

A real Santa would know that I was a girl even if I looked like a boy, right? lol...scarred for life.

I wish you all a very lovely Christmas Eve!! I hope you have a safe and fun-filled holiday :)

♥ miss.erica

Farting in the shower...

...is seriously one of the worst things ever. I don't even know why I let myself do it.

It's like...the steam...and the heat...and the fact that there are no clothes to bar the fart from your nose.

I swear, shower farts are amplified tenfold. At least.

♥ miss.erica

To the girl from The Boathouse Restaurant...

I met a girl outside a restaurant last night in downtown Vancouver while we were both waiting for valet parking. She was looking at me strangely so I was kind of worried that I should have known her but I swear I didn't recognize her. After a few seconds she shyly asked me "...are you on YouTube?"

This was definitely a first for me. I was really surprised and self-conscious about it lol...I think the shock-factor made me forget my manners :( I kind of just laughed and buried my face in my friend's jacket :P

If you're the girl I bumped into last night, I'm so sorry for not formally introducing myself or asking for your name. I've just never had someone recognize me in person so I was flustered and embarrassed and I wasn't quite sure how to react! If you're reading this, please fire me an email because I feel really really bad about it!! You were super sweet and supportive, so thank you and I hope you don't think I'm a jerk for how I acted lol...

Anyway...I hear about other YouTube gurus being recognized all the time, but I never thought it would be me since: a) I'm definitely a small fry on YT, b) Vancouver is really not that big of a city compared to say LA where some other gurus come from.

I'm definitely flattered but still humbled. This blog and YouTube are my part-time hobby and I never thought it would snowball like this. Hopefully I can learn from this embarrassing experience and not be so rude next time (if there's a next time)!

♥ miss.erica

tumblr?

Finally got on the wagon and started testing out tumblr lately, and I'm having muchos fun with it! I've been randomly reblogging things from other people I follow (mostly photos and quotes). It has nothing to do with this blog as of yet, but I'm just trying it out to see if I should make the switch (or at least consider some kind of integration with this blog)

For random thoughts on life, romantic and cheesy disgusting things, and things I would otherwise like to share, check out my personal tumblr.

Are you on tumblr? Let me know and I'll follow you!

♥ miss.erica

Random updates and FOTD

Lancome video:

As per my previous blog post, my Lancome Powermakeup video is now up! So choked cuz the lighting was off so everything was washed out...which kind of defeated the purpose of the bold lips look. In any case, I hope at least that the idea gets across.

I would greatly appreciate your support by viewing the video and spreading the word :) My chances in the contest increase with more views!

Yoga:

Went to a few more hot yoga sessions before my 30 day trial expired (Yes, they extended it from 2 weeks to 30 days for the holiday season! Spread the holiday cheer ^^). I have got to say, I'm enjoying it more and more, but it's been difficult to go regularly, since 4 of us carpool together as a group, but everyone's been getting sick :( I officially renewed my pass for 20% off classes hehe so now I have 20 more classes to go to :D

Costco goodies:

Costco is friggin awesome. End of story.

...........ok that's not the end of the story. Truth is I picked up some pretty awesome stuff there last time:

Tazo tea set with box. A variety of Tazo teas with a nice wooden box. I think this is fantastic for about $30...it was so good I picked up one for myself and one for a gift. My FAVOURITE is Passion Tea.

Kirkland makeup brush set. This typically comes out around the holidays each year (apparently), and it's a great value for about $20. Review to follow.

Work:

I don't think I have really talked about work much on this blog. I have 2 part-time gigs right now: one is a research project for one of my favourite university professions, the other is a retail job at a computer store on campus. I have secured a full-time position in the field of IT consulting for next fall (yeehaw!)...so these are just jobs to keep me busy and help me save up.

It's interesting to compare managerial styles. I have had my share of good and bad managers. In my current job, the university professor is fantastic -- motivational, encouraging, inspirational, empowering, trusting, and overall just an awesome, funny guy.

The retail manager is just a douche-bag (excuse ze francais). He provided minimal training when I joined, then makes me feel like an idiot for making mistakes because I "should've known" even though I was never told. Oh and get this...he makes me feel like an idiot for asking questions too. So what's a girl to do? ALSO, the other day during a very clearly manager-employee conversation, he randomly asked me a personal question about my romantic life that I'm almost certain violates the Human Rights Code. That shit ain't cool.

FOTD:

Gawsh my hair is getting long. I'm thinking of getting those short bangs again. It's time for a change :)

♥ miss.erica

(from fuckyeahhlove)

♥ miss.erica

Men do NOT understand female insecurities.

Agree or disagree?

♥ miss.erica

Lancome package arrived!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative at Lancome and invited to participate in an exclusive YouTube contest for 15 Canadian beauty video bloggers. At the time, I thought it must be too good to be true (I'm still shocked and dazed)...but after some correspondence with the rep I realized it was the real deal.

Anyway, the point of the contest is to create a Power Makeup Look using Lancome products (including their 3 oscillating products: mascara primer, mascara, and foundation). In addition to these 3 products, I was given $200 to spend on the online store to help me create my look (yes, $200...I still can't believe it myself).

I will be posting the video to YouTube within the next couple days, and plan to give full disclosure of the nature of the video and how the products were obtained. But until then, I still have to test out all of the products and tweak my power look. You can definitely expect the type of look I generally do on my channel: everyday wearable that's versatile and adjustable.

In the meantime, I wanted to share the excitement of opening this package with you ^^

Feel my excitement build?

Oh myyy...shiny boxes and new things!

Everything unwrapped. Can you BELIEVE how much stuff there is?!

Full list of products:

• Oscillation Powerbooster
• Oscillation Mascara (Black)
• Oscillation FDT (Beige 30)
• Juicy Tubes Jelly (Touched by Light)
• Effacernes Undereye Concealer (Clair II)
• Artliner (Black)
• La Laque Fever (Electric Pink)
• L'Absolu Rouge La Base
• Holiday Eye Palette (La Nuit Seduction)
  
• They also threw in a perfume and lipgloss sample :)
  

A HUGE thank you to Lancome for their incredible generosity with this contest!! They were super nice throughout the whole process, and even did a fantastic colour-matching job for me (even though the only info I could give them was that I'm medium-ish with yellow undertones).

I'm still pretty amazed that Lancome would identify me and choose me to be a part of something this cool. I'm definitely a humble small-fry on YouTube, and I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to participate in things like this.

Stay tuned for the YouTube video, and would greatly appreciate your hits/views on it when it is posted (that's one of the factors taken into account for the contest!)

♥ miss.erica