Tag Archives: Gel Nails

5 Things to Try This Month – November 2019

11/20/2019 Shirley

As we are getting closer to the holiday season, it’s time to think about what dessert I want to make for the Thanksgiving and stock up on glittery makeup for the celebration days.

Below are the things I’d like to try this month.

New Nails

I just got my nails done the past weekend. I was so tempted to do red glitters again, but I decided to hold off on my favorite nail colors until December. I went for full-on crystals with light pink and silver undertones. The result is a different kind of flashy effect than red glitters. I think it’s a great alternative for this month!

(Crystal Gel Nails for November!)

Beauty Event

On the first Saturday of this month, my girlfriend invited us to the Nordstrom beauty event. At the event they showcased the new beauty products and the current makeup trends. We got our makeup done and had a lot of fun shopping for makeup products!

(Lunch after the beauty event!)

New Beauty Product

When it comes to holidays, one of the many good things is that there are plenty of glitters to shop for. For someone who’s obsessed with beauty products that have glitters, it’s the perfect time to shop. Among many new eye shadow palettes I got this month, there’s NARS’ Inferno Eye Shadow Palette (which has ultrafine blends of shimmer, glitter, and pearl reflect light for eye-catching effects).

(NARS Inferno eyeshadow palette!)

New Coffee

Nespresso released its holiday limited-edition coffee. As usual, the holiday coffee is offered in both the Original line and Vertuo line. My favorite pick for the Original line is the Nordic Cloudberry. The aroma of the Cloudberry reminds me of the Summer time. And my favorite pick for the Vertuo line is the Nordic Vanilla Princess Cake. I like the way the Vanilla Princes cake adds a hint of sweetness to the coffee.

(Nespresso Nordic coffee for this holidays!)

Dinner

Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki is a new Japanese restaurant that opened in Spring 2019 in Seattle. There are only nine seats at the sushi bar. A reservation is hard to get. My dear friends made a reservation for us two months ago. We ate there during the second Sunday this month. In my opinion, everything exceeded my expectations. The food was delicious and the services was great! I highly recommend it.

Read about my dining experience at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki.

(Watching sushi chef Taneda preparing our food!)

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5 Things to Try This Month – May 2019

05/27/2019 Shirley

Among all the exciting things I did and am going to do in May, the highlight was a trip to watch Celine Dion’s final show in Las Vegas with my girlfriends and experiment with new gel nail design.

See below for some of the other things I am doing this month.

Gel Nails

After having fun with the purple glitter gel nails last month, I am still in the mood of experiencing more design and colors before I switch back to my favorite red. My latest gel nail design is brightly colored with sequins. The sequins on each finger are arranged from lighter to darker shades.

Celine Dion Concert

Celine Dion has been performing her show in Caesar Palace Las Vegas since the year 2003. She is ending her Las Vegas show residency in June 2019. Celine Dion is my favorite music artist and I am very happy that I watched her final show in Las Vegas this month.

(An up-and-close picture I took while she was on the stage.)

Beauty Product

Charlotte Tilbury launched a new makeup palette for face and eye. This palette comes with blushes in peachy and pink shades, and contour colors. It can also be used as eye shadows.

Coffee

Nespresso launched a mild and fruity coffee, Esperanza de Colombia. This coffee is part of Nespresso’s Reviving Origins program created to partner with Colombia farmers to improve their infrastructure and agricultural practices.

Reading Material

I came across a new book written by Melinda Gates, “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World”. I’ve always admired both Melinda and Bill Gates and the philanthropic work they do. I am looking forward to read about what Melinda has to say about her personal experience and the inspiring people she encountered in her life.

(The feature picture of this blog post was taken at Caesar Palace, right after I watched Celine Dion’s performance.)

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5 Things to Try This Month – April 2019

04/15/2019 Shirley

When I think of April, the first thing comes to my mind is the image of blossom flowers in various color. The second thing I associate April with is starting of the longer daylight time. I love waking up to the morning light shinning through my window blinds!

Below are five of the things I’d like to do for April.

New Facial Toner

I have a dry combination skin so I need to exfoliate my skin regularly. I recent found a new facial toner which has lactic acid and salicylic acid. The product is supposed to exfoliate, hydrate, and balance the pH of the skin to prepare the skin for the skin regimen. The toner is called Lotion P50 Original “1970” by Biologique Recherche. I just bought a bottle of this toner and can’t wait to use it tonight!

New Gel Nails

If you know me, it would be no surprise to you that I have my gel nails done in glittery red most of time. After having glittery red gel nails (with different design and accessories) for two months, I am forcing myself to switch to something else. For this month, I decided to go with glittery purple and white colors.

Seasonal Mille Crêpes

For the month of April, Lady M is offering a seasonal Mille Crêpes in pistachio flavor. Pistachio is one of my favorite nuts, so I had to try the pistachio mille crêpes. My verdict on trying the pistachio mille crêpes is that I really like it. The pastry cream in the cake is made with pistachio paste and it goes greatl with a cup of my Nespresso coffee.

Michael Bublé Concert

Michael Bublé is one of my favorite music artists. He will perform in the Seattle area this month and I can’t wait to see him. I’ve been thinking about what to wear to Michael Bublé’s concert, and I have it narrowed down to a couple of choices. I probably will wear my blue velvet blazer with a lace dress.

New Marvel Movie

After watching Marvel’s Avengers: The Infinity War last year, I’ve been waiting for the next Avengers: The End Game. The movie release date is April 26. I bought the pre-sale tickets to watch the movie on the night before the release date. I can’t wait to watch it!

(The cover image for this post was taken at the Michael Bublé’s concert.)

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5 Things to Try This Month – February 2019

02/22/2019 Shirley

February has always been one of my favorite months of the year. Not only is it around the Lunar New Year, it’s also my birthday month. As I get older, birthday has became just a normal day. Although I don’t plan on celebrating it, I want to spend the day with my parents and thank them for giving me the opportunity for being who I am.

Below are some of the things I am doing in February.

New Gel Nail Color

After last month’s pink glittery gel nail I am switching back to my favorite red glitter color. This time I also have gold hearts for the Valentine’s Day!

February 2019_Gel Nails — Red Glitter Gel Nails for February 2019

Seasonal Mille Crepes

I was in California in the beginning of February. One of my favorite dessert places is Lady M. Lady M has seasonal mille crepes flavors which are available in-store only. For January, they offered passion fruit mille crepes. I ordered a whole passion fruit mille crepes by the end of January for February pick-up in store. I picked up the passion fruit mille crepes and enjoyed every bit of it. (Of course, I shared it with my nieces.)

New Hair Dryer

I used to let my hair air dry after I wash it. By skipping the blow drying process, it saved me some time and avoided the potential damage to my hair caused by the hair dryer’s heat. Recently I started to blow dry my hair, but it took me forever to dry my long hair in low heat. I finally got fed-up with the tedious long drying process and bought a Dyson hair dryer. I love how fast the Dyson hair dryer dries my hair while it keeps my hair shiny!

New Hair Shampoo and Conditioner

Ever since I got some highlights to my hair last month, I could tell that my hair is slightly damaged. My hair dresser suggested to me to use a nourishing shampoo and conditioner made in Washington state. I’ve been using it the past few weeks and I love how soft my hair is!

Hello Kitty Café

While I was in California, I visited the Hello Kitty Café in Irvine. The café is smaller than I expected, but they have all sorts of of desserts, including colorful macarons. They even have Hello Kitty sparkling rose.
(picture of the sparkling rose and desserts)

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5 Things to Try This Month – September 2018

09/13/2018 Shirley

After a couple of hot weeks in the Northwest, Seattle’s temperature finally cooled down. Although we are reaching the end of the Summer season, there are still things I want to do before the Fall.

Cook for My Mom’s Birthday Celebration

My mom’s birthday is in September. I want to throw her a birthday celebration at home and cook her dinner. I am still trying to decide what to make for the appetizers and cook for the main courses, but for sure I will make a new dish I learned, clams with white wine, tomatoes, and sausage.

New Foundation and Primer

I recently ran out of my foundation and had to look for a new one. I wanted a lightweight texture with hydrating elements. The Nordstrom sales associate suggested that I try Guerlain’s Perfecting Météorites Primer and the Lingerie de Peau’ Fluid Foundation (in the shade of 00N-Porcelaine). The result of using these two products on my face is great; my skin feels hydrated and looks smooth. Since we are moving towards the Fall (when my skin gets much drier), I feel confident that these new beauty products will work well for me.

Peachy Lipsticks

Peachy lip color beauty products are perfect for warm weather! My usual preferred lip makeup products are in pink, fuchsia, and red, but I want to try some peachy colors before the Summer is fully over! My two new peachy lipsticks are Sexy Sienna (luminous matte texture) and Coachella Coral (K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipsticks) by Charlotte Tilbury, one of my favorite makeup artists.

I’ve been using these two new peachy lipsticks everyday. And sometimes I would add the Dior Ultra-gloss (bright pink glittery lip gloss in color 686-Fancy) over them for a glamourous night look!

Summer Water Activity

It has been years since I did a water jet ski. Since we are getting closer to the end of the season, my friends and I want to go water jet ski by the lake.

Gel Nail Color

I usually try to alternate between red gel nail color and something else each month. But this month I decided to get red glitters like last month. When it comes to certain things, I am a creature of habit; as long as there’s red color, glitters and crystals on my nails, I am happy!

(Picture from Salon Lulu.)

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5 Things to Try This Month – August 2018

08/13/2018 Shirley

Summer is a popular wedding season. It’s no surprise that my best friend is choosing August to have her wedding. After a few weeks of searching for the prefect dress to wear to her big day, I finally found mine.

Below are a couple of other things I plan on doing in August.

New Beauty Product

I am currently running low on my existing eye cream. I’ve been hearing some nice things about Estee Lauder’s new eye cream, Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery. This product contains hyaluronic acid and Estee Lauder’s ChronoluxCB ingredient to help promote skin’s natural repair process. The price for this new eye cream is relatively inexpensive compared to other high-end skin care products I’ve been using; therefore, it’s worth it to me to give it a shot for experimental reasons.

(Estee Lauder Eye Cream)

Dress for Friend’s Wedding

My dear friend’s wedding is less than two weeks away. I finally found the perfect dress (Self-portrait Embroidered Mesh Dress) for me to attend her wedding. I just ordered it and can’t wait to receive it, soon I hope!

(My New Dress for My Friend’s Wedding)

Gel Nails

After last month’s girly light pink and iris gel nail color, it’s time to go back to my favorite red glitter nail color. Since we are still in the Summer season, my gel nail artist added golden seashells and sea stars to the finish look.

(picture of the red gel nails)

Baking for Fun

The other day I came across a baking recipe for the Almond-Orange Pound Cake from Williams Sonoma web site. The idea of a dessert with both almond and orange seems very refreshing for the hot season. I plan on trying out the recipe this weekend!

Wine and Cheese Party

I got invited to a Wine and Cheese Party for this weekend. The event is hosted by some friends at their home. Although they told me I don’t have to bring anything, but I plan on brining a bottle of my favorite Long Shadows red wine. The question will be which red wine to bring!

(Long Shadows Red Wine – Feather Cabernet Sauvignon)

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5 Things to Try This Month – July 2018

07/24/2018 Shirley

July is a great month for me. Workwise, I just finished a project that I’d worked on for months and can take a few days break before I go into the planning mode for the next one. Personal-wise, I get to enjoy the 4th of July with my nieces and go Disneyland park hopping with them.

Below are a few of other things that I will do this month.

Making Flan

My nieces have been my big fans when it comes to eating the desserts I make. The flan is one of their favorites. While my elder niece spent her Summer with me, I made flan for her many times. Each flan is about nine inches and she can literally eat more than two-thirds of it per day! Nothing makes me happier than when she enjoys the things I make for her!

(My homemade flan covered with berries.)

Homegrown Mushrooms

Last week my mom and I visited our local Farmer’s Market and bought some home-grown mushroom kits for both baby oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms. This is our first time growing mushrooms at home and the idea seems exciting. It only has been five days since we started the mushroom kit and we already have seen a great result on one of the kits. Just in a few days, we will be able to taste our first mushroom harvest!

(My homegrown shiitake mushrooms.)

Disneyland Park Hopping

In the beginning of July, I am taking my niece back to CA. Since it’s a holiday weekend, we are going to Disneyland park! My brother’s family lives in Orange County, so we’ve never considered staying in the hotel at Disneyland. However, this time my brother’s family and I will check-in to the Disneyland hotel the day prior to our visit to the Disneyland parks and take the advantage of the “Extra Magical Hour” opportunity to get into the parks one hour before they open to the general entry. We will also do the park hopping between Disneyland and the California Adventure theme parks.

(Disney California Adventure Park.)

Girly Gel Nails

While my niece was enjoying her Summer vacation with me in Seattle, I took her with me to my gel nails appointment. Initially I was concerned that she might be bored sitting in the nail salon with me for one and a half hour, but I was glad to see her wanting to participate in selecting the nail colors for me. After scanning through the gel nail magazines, she picked the combination of light pink and light iris colors with glitters for me. Since we were going to Disneyland in a few days, the color and the design of my new gel nails are perfect for the occasion!

Dress for Summer Wedding

July is a popular wedding month in Summer. I need to look for a new dress for a wedding I am going to. Since floral patterns are in vogue, I want to pick one with a floral design that would be perfect for the wedding reception. I think it will take a lot of work to fine the ideal dress.

(Floral Printed Dress by Zimmernann.)

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5 Things to Try This Month – April 2018

04/30/2018 Shirley

In the Pacific Northwest area, it’s common if it doens’t always feel like we are in the Spring season until we are long into April. And April is the perfect time to adopt some Spring elements to spice up our daily life. For example, getting some butterfly-inspired jewelries, trying new pink lipstick products, and getting a new pair of sunglasses.

Below are some of my suggestions for this month!

Spring Jewelry

When I think about Spring, I think about blossoms, flowers and butterflies. And for this season, Swarovski released a butterfly-inspired Lilia Ring Set in multi-colors and Rose gold plating. This ring set comes with three rings in different size (bigger, medium, and small) with different colors of crystals. You can interchange the ways you wear the rings to your liking. I prefer to wear the bigger ring and small ring on one hand and the medium ring on another. Or wearing just one of them to match with specific outfit colors.

Dior’s New Lip Product

Dior released a new long-lasting liquid lipstick, Dior Addict Lacquer Plump. This new lip beauty product from Dior comes in 16 shades, and I bought four: Dior Pretty (neutral pink color), Afterparty (raspberry color), Dior Fever (fuchsia color), and Disco Dior (pink color with glitters). After wearing them for a couple of times, my thoughts on the Dior Addict Lacquer Plump are: it is lightweight on my lips, the liquid lipstick colors are pretty and stay on my lips while I eat and drink, it’s hydrating when I first put it on, but my lips get dried after a while. I’d need to put on my Dior Lip Maximizer to keep my lips moisturized. Overall, I like the new Dior Addict Lacquer Plump and give it a thumbs up!

Cat Eye Sunglasses

If you are looking for a new pair of sunglasses for the season, you might want to consider a pair of cat-eye design sunglasses (instead of the oversized sunglasses). In my opinion, sunglasses are one of the accessories that I could never have too many of. To match with your outfits and styles, you will need sunglasses in different shades, frames, and materials.

Saint Laurent New Wave 215 Grace sunglasses

Luxury Goods History

Recently, a friend mentioned a book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. It is about how luxury fashion goods were transformed from wealthy elites privileged to the general public accessible, and how globalization enables the expansion of the luxury products in terms of production and marketing. I am only on the first few chapters, but I am already fascinated with the history of the fashion houses and how they transitioned from family-owned private shops to the multi-billion dollar conglomerate-owned fashion labels. Reading such book with extensive fashion luxury history really helps me to appreciate the evolution of business.

Red Gel Nails

After last month’s light green glitter gel nails, I am back to my usual favorite red glitter gel nails with Swarovski crystals. Even though I get red color gel nails about six times out of the year, my gel nail artist does a great job on making design changes on the Swarovski crystals she put on my nails each time. For this month, she put a large and three small crystals on eight fingers, and a gold color wire kiss with a small crystal on two fingers.

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5 Things to Try This Month – March 2018

04/02/2018 Shirley

March is the beginning of Spring and it’s time to try new nail colors, new coffee, and a new cuisine. See below for the things I am doing this month.

Enjoy the New Nespresso Double Espresso

I am always looking out for Nespresso’s new coffee flavors. This month they released two new capsules (Double Espresso Chiaro and Double Espresso Scuroin) for the Vertuo system machine. I tried it at home and it’s delicious, especially with some frothed milk.

Switch to Green Nail Color

For this month (St. Patrick’s Day and beginning of Spring), I am switching from my all-time favorite red gel nail color to green. Instead of the dark green color, I got a light green color with glitters and Swarovski crystals. I love my new gel nail color and I think it’s perfect for everyday this month!

Break Into Light Color Shoes

Since we are in the beginning of Spring I can start breaking in the light color shoes I bought for the warm seasons. One of my recent favorites for casual attire is Puma’s Glitter Platform Sneaker in Gray Metallic. Unlike most of the glitter shoes I have, these Puma glitters are sealed under a glossy coat, so you won’t see individual glitters falling off.

Valentino

Update Work Wardrobes

With the starting of a new job, I plan to update my work wardrobes with more dresses. Among the brands I like, The Kooples, offers many dresses that are perfect for work and I can wear from morning to Happy Hour.
For example, the The Kooples’ Contrast-Collar Lace-Inset Mini Dress I recently got would be perfect for the office, if I wear it with a sweater cardigan and flat ballerina shoes (with short heels). After work, I can skip the cardigan and switch into a pair of stilettos. This is an ideal dress that takes you from day to night!

Experience a New Cuisine

I like to try food that I’ve never tasted before. This month my friends introduced me to the Kabul Afghan Cuisine restaurant in Seattle. We had kababs combination, which includes chicken, lamb, beef, grilled eggplants, Basmati rice, and Afghan Bread. All the food we had at the restaurant was delicious, but I liked the beef and the rice the best! We finished our meal with the dessert, Ferni, a custard pudding flavored with cardamom and rosewater, and topped with ground pistachios.

Kabul Afphan Cuisine Ferni Dessert — Shirley Style food advantures

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5 Things to Try This Month – January 2018

01/31/2018 Shirley

January is the beginning of a new year. There are plenty of things to experiment with (i.e. adding a new skincare routine or reading a new book to refresh your statistics knowledge). Below are the five things I’d like to do in January.

Replace Gel Nail Color for Fun

I go to the nail salon to replace my gel nails every four weeks. I usually get my nails done in red and change the designs and decorations (i.e. pearls and crystals) each month. For this month, I wanted to try a different color. I chose hot pink color with silver glitters, crystals, and pearls.

Experimenting with a New Skincare Device

It’s the beginning of a new year, and it never hurts to try a new skincare routine. I’ve being hearing about some benefits of the microneedling process on skin. This process involves penetrating the skin with tiny needles (by a dermatologist or licensed aesthetician) to induce the collagen built-up and improve the skin complexion. But the treatment is pricy (about $500 or more per session). The potential benefits of microneedling is enticing, but I am not sure if I want to spend quite a bit of money for a session just yet. For starters, I’d like to try an at-home microneedling device to see if the professional microneedling treatment is worthy to invest.

Watch the New TV Show Versace

In December I saw a commercial for the new TV series, The Assasination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”, and I was intrigued by the story. The series is based on an actual event. And it’s released in January.

Read a Book to Refresh Knowledge

When I read any article that includes any statistical information, I try to keep an open mind on how likely the numbers actually represent reality. I know there could be some bias with the author’s intention to persuade the readers to agree with their point of view. Recently, I came across a book, “How to Lie With Statistics”. The book is light reading and helps to remind me how there can be bias in statistics information.

Shop For Sales

January is a good shopping month. A lot of stores (especially e-stores) are offering additional sales, up to 70 percent off of the original price.

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