sick sick sick.

Ah! I've been sick for so long it's unbelievable! Quite honestly I cannot recall the last time I was very sick, it had to be more than two years ago. It actually started as a small cold which led to a flu to a sinusitis attack. I will tell you experiencing all three at once was not pleasant. I need to update this, yes, I am quite aware I am rather overdue. I have lots to share of course, lots to write about as well. As per now please allow me to recover before I fill in all the fun details I am excited to share.

new clothes & photo booth fun.

Southern California really means summer 247. I think winter only came this year for 3 weeks & it feels like summer already. I really need to remind myself there is no point in spending a fortune on gorgeous winter clothes when I don't get to experience it like Northen California or New York or even the Northern parts of Europe.

I ordered these boots online a couple months ago & they finally arrived! I had been looking so forward for these to arrive, I just couldn't resist them.

• Vince Camuto Vanity knee high boots in black & tan : $139.00 each @ Vince Camuto Online Store.

I purchased both the black & the tan. At first I was thinking only the tan but then I saw the black & I knew I just had to have both. Although I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when I realised they were not suede leather but synthetic materials. The inside lining was also synthetic..I thought I read they were real leather & made of sheep fur, however they are still beautiful nonetheless. Notice the different colours of the buckles..these are killer steals.

^ What do you think? I am so in love!

It was nearly 26c (or 79f) & I really wanted to utilise all the winter clothes I bought. Mind you, I get cold very easily so I decided to wear this knit sweater I have been dying to wear since the moment I ordered it.

^I think it would go with either colour of the boots but I was feeling black for the day.

^I am trying to get a little creative & having some fun.

^RAWR!

I took these last week actually & I have so many photos & events I want to share. I have been overwhelmingly busy as of recently & I will try my best to work on my blog over the weekend or so.

a little skincare & products.

I received an excellent question couple days ago from an anonymous reader. They asked:

You have such beautiful skin! What do you use to cleanse day and night? And what kind of moisturizer do you use? Do you have any helpful tips for good skincare? What works for you? Sorry for all the questions but I'm dying to have pretty skin like you!

First, I'd like to say thank you for the compliment! Here is the funny thing, I actually am the worst at taking care of my skin :/. I actually don't pay attention to it and I sometimes fall asleep before I take my makeup off which is probably one of the worst things you could do. However I will try my best to answer these questions for you and give you some ideas of what I normally do! I have put together products I often like to use.

• Estee Lauder perfectly clean skin lotion for normal/combination skin : $30.00 @ Estee Lauder Cosmetics.
• Clinique extra mild soap with dish : $13.00 @ Clinique Cosmetics.
• Beauty Drops eye cream : .99¢! @ 99¢ store.
• Olay Complete Lotion with SPF 15 : $9.50 @ Target.
• Olay Refreshing Toner with witch hazel : $3.59 @ Target.

• Green body scrub exfoliator towel : $4.99 @ H Mart (Korean market.)
• Red hand scrub exfoliator : $3.99 @ H Mart (Korean market.)

^ Alright, so some of you may be wondering 'what is that green towel thing & the red pocket?' Well I think this is my secret to having a clear skin. These incredible bath tools are embedded with tiny sand-like hooks that are gentle for your skin to exfoliate the dead epidermis away. I use the red scrub to exfoliate my entire face with some pressure. The green towel is much more coarse so you would have to be much softer with this one. I use the green towel for my chin, my nose, and some spots on my cheeks. For beginners your face may feel raw, but it's so well worth it to remove debris and dead cells.

In the mornings & evenings I use the Clinique soap to wash my face. It has no fragrance so it doesn't sting my face like some soaps available. Next, I apply the Estee Lauder perfectly skin lotion and allow my pores to breathe it in. I always use my Olay Complete Lotion before I apply my makeup & before I retire to bed to allow my skin to feel hydrated throughout. Now I recently started to use eye cream & I was fortunate to receive one as a gift during Christmas from a friend of mine! When I first applied it to my skin I noticed how moist it was & how quickly my skin absorbed the product. I was really impressed by how bright my eyes looked after using it for a while and I had to ask where she purchased the cream and she simply said it was from the 99¢ store! I couldn't believe what a great deal it was! If you are from the U.S. area I believe there are quite a few 99¢ stores located around, so look for this product! I promise you will not be disappointed. Sometimes during the evenings (when I remember) I would apply Olay Refreshing Toner with witch hazel to prevent breaking out, especially during that time of the month.

^ Witch hazel is an active ingredient that helps fight acne! You can purchase 100% witch hazel from beauty stores if you'd like, but I find this toner perfectly fine with the fraction of the price. It has a rather very distinctive scent so I warn you ahead of time.

I also wanted to share with you a brand new lipstick I received when I was purchasing some new products.

• Estee Lauder lip colour in #303 crystal pink : free gift! @ Estee Lauder Cosmetics.

Since I have fair skin, it's hard to find a perfect pink shade to match my skin tone. This lip colour looks great when I apply foundation on my lips and lightly apply the shade onto my lips. It gives a gorgeous subtle look that makes your lip look natural.

*I quickly wanted to mention that I don't think it's just these products that are helping me with my skin. I believe it also has to do with what you eat and what your diet is. I also received a great question about my recent diet change and weight loss so look out for that post next time.

formspring answers

Hi everyone! I recently started to receive many questions on my Formspring and I apolgise in advance for not responding so quickly! I just returned home and had to unpack let alone I needed to finish my homework assignments! Because of time difference, I had to make sure I finish it on time to submit it to my professor in CA time.

I had some VERY interesting questions and requests on my Formspring account regarding makeup, skin products, my diet & exercise routine, and so on and I am more than thrilled to write about these as soon as possible. I will try my best to get on to that tomorrow or the day after. Until then, I'm going to enjoy my nice cup of cioccolata calda and relax for the day.

-Hannah x

14 January 2011

I got a request to post the most recent photo of me, so here I am in sunny Southern California on the 14th of January.

I look rather upset but trust me, I'm not! It was clearly the sun in my eyes.

Until then, cheers!

wall art is quite fancy too.

Hi everybody! I apologise for the lack of interesting postings this past week. I just flew to New York for business purposes & I am due to return home shortly. I was meaning to write last week so these photos were saved until now. My winter term for school had started as well and there are quite a lot of reading & paper assignments required therefore I have been spending some time away from my computer.

^ Gosh I love to read. It's my favourite pleasure when I am alone, and I especially don't mind it when there are a lot to read for school. I'm taking English & Vintage Literature and Advanced Medical Terms for Nursing. My course just requires a lot of memorizing but quite honestly it's not much of a bother as long as I am interested in my courses. Do you like my green shag rug by the way? It's the only thing that is keeping my feet warm under my cold wooden floors.

I wanted to share with you a beautiful work of art I was honoured to receive on my 23rd birthday by Mr. Boss.

He began collecting the artist for a long time & introduced me to some of her works. I'm not a fan of 'low brow' art, but her style is not morbid or grotesque like most of the low brow artists, it's rather more romantic and exotic yet with a twist of mystery within all her works of art. I couldn't believe I was given my favourite work of art I had noticed on her website.

^ Here is a close up of the face of the art. I forgot what the art was called, but she said she was inspired by Queen Elizabeth for this particular one. To me it reminds me of Marie Antoinette.

^ Notice the details on the work of art, so elegant with many fine details. I immediately fell in love when I saw it online. & I actually believe those are croissants in her hair.

The reason why I fell in love with this particular piece is the elaborate hair the artist gave her & the use of the dark colours. It just really reminds me of Marie Antoinette and if many of you know me, I am dearly in love with Marie Antoinette's history, her gluttony, & her overly fancy dresses she often wore & the dark colours just matched so well with her deadly sins. Plus she enjoyed cake!

Have you noticed my favourite colour is green? I even painted my walls green just because I loved it so much!

^ I added these wall art deco stickers that I found from Target years ago. My room was looking so boring with plain green walls and the pink & brown flowers gave a bit touch of nature since I adore the country very much.

Anyway, I should take a stroll out tonight & visit the local cafe down town & take a look at the Christmas lights that are still up. It snowed yesterday evening you know.

- Hannah x

lucy's butter chicken.

My mam is an excellent cook. She makes breakfast, tea time, & supper daily for my family and never misses a day. She has a full time job and is a full time mom, I am so blessed to have someone like her in my life.

Lately, I've been asking her to make some of her famous chicken, well, to me at least. I call it Lucy's Butter Chicken. Now don't be alarmed with the title, you'd be surprised how little butter it requires for this wonderful dish. As some of you may know, I don't consume red meat, however I limit myself from chicken & pork. This is a favourite I always ask for.

• chicken (game hen, quarter legs, or young chicken)
• 1 1/2 Tbs butter
• half white, yellow, or purple onion
• garlic cloves
• oregano seasoning
• salt & pepper

This is a very VERY simple dish to make. Wash the chicken clean under hot water. Cut a few slices in the chicken seasoning it with oregano, salt & pepper.

Turn the pan on under medium heat and place the chicken upright with the sliced onions and garlic cloves. Add the butter, dabbing it on the chicken and allow it to simmer in its own juices for at least 1 hour.

^ Plate & serve! See, this was a very easy dish to create AND so full of flavour. It's incredibly tender, and the onions & garlic cloves are so soft to eat. Sorry for the poor photo, I started picking at it because it tastes so great before I took the photo. But I'm sure everybody will enjoy this as much as I do. Thanks mother!

a stomach bug.

Eek! I think I may have caught the stomach bug yesterday evening during a wonderful supper I had with the other family. We made a beautiful antipasto insalata e panino al silame, but I think we may have added in one ingredient that did not want to sit well with me. I went to exercise this morning since I went on a four day mini vacation away from home and stayed at my mate's house & I felt rather ill and almost fainted and practically almost vomited. I reckon it must be something I consumed. Also, I noticed how tiresome I got during exercising since I skipped four glorious days away from it. And whenever I am at my mate's house, I allow myself to get really comfortable, practically ruining my diet. But I cannot allow this to happen any longer! I am going to lay in bed & begin my reading assignments & update a few websites. I am hoping I feel better by tonight so I can exercise once again. I usually like to do this activity during the evening, mostly because there are always less people around & the equipments are rather free to use without anybody waiting.

When I returned home I became a little girl again thrilled over news of your favourite crush. Mind you, I fancy a gent who is too popular in the sport world. And of course, hardly know that I even exist.

^ I finally saw this cover when I was browsing the local bookstore. I had to snatch it, whether I even read Sports Illustrated or not.

I spoke to the owner of Sports Talk who saw my response to kill, fuck, marry question & he let me in a note that I should change my response from Rupert to Tim to whom I want to marry because he said Tim is a bloody fine lad. Haha! Apparently, he had concerns more of his friends' sake than his & that proves Tim clearly worry more for the people he associates with. I thought that was rather cute of him.

Anyway, I am going to retire to finishing some work that I need to complete. I'm in a rather arte culinaria mood..last night I came home nearly half past 1 am and made nearly 40 white chocolate & red currant biscuits for my father. I hope he enjoys them. I took some phyllo dough out of the ice box just now..perhaps I will make some traditional Turkish baklava before my walnuts begin to go bad. I accidently left them out in the sun & I think they are beginning to turn colour.

Blue 5 Design Art Gallery Show 08 January 2011

I was so impressed with the Blue 5 Design Gallery grand opening show hosted by Mr. Boss. He did such an astonishing job with curating the show, I had to capture as much memory as I could with my little point and shoot camera. Now mind you, I partially ruined the camera in Croatia when I accidently knocked it over the water taxi on our way across to ocean in Split. However, I tried as best as I could to make these images as clear as possible. I apologise in advance however for the glare that seems to be in most photos, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy these!

^ Right before I entered the gallery, I was presented with these beauties! I couldn't help but snap a photo of them before the cookie girl went along her way.

^ They even had free cappuccinos made for all the guests! This was just too excellent for me to pass. Of course I got my sweet cappuccino to go while I browsed the lovely gallery.

^ I never thought of this idea..adding fruit or vegetables in water. I think I will do this over summer when I have my tea parties with my girlfriends.

^ One of the artists and friend, Shane.

^ Here he is, the infamous Mr. Boss doing his work.

^ I loved her outfit and she looked absolutely adorable, I just had to snap a photo of her although I don't think she knew I was.

^ Oh there she goes again, tempting me with all her sweets.

^ There goes Shane, being rather a creeper!

^ Here is another one of our friends and artist, Kevin, with his younger sibling.

^ Notice the gorgeous details on the framework by Lara Dann. She did an excellent job with her beautiful masterpiece.

^ Here is Shane's masterpiece.

^ I honestly find this one intriguing & I kind of like it.

^ I am utterly in love this work of art. I think this artist did a grand job with their masterpiece & I can see this hung just along the hallway of a home.

^ This is Kevin's work of art. I think this is my favourite out of all the artwork I witnessed that evening. The original image of this girl is actually a national photo that can be recognised anywhere and Kevin took the advantage to make it look a bit twisted to his own taste. I absolutely love this so much.

^ Some may not understand this work of art, but back in the late 60's & early 70's this type of art called monochrome was very popular amongst the artists. What Mike did here was put layer after layer of paint to create his work.

^ Here is Mr. Boss' work of art & our friend, Brandon's work of art underneath.

^ Mike's other monochrome.

^ This is my second favourite next to Kevin's work of art. I love the way her body is positioned as she as painting. This one sold immediately otherwise I would have purchased this myself!

We had a music group called The Blue People Group that arrived to the gallery. It was quite different and they arrived in a blue body suit with speakers attached to themselves.

^ Mr. Boss associating with one of the talented artists.

^ I'm a big fan of shoes, and I couldn't help but snap some photos of the guests footwear.

^ There goes the Blue People again, examining the works of art this time with their thoughts projecting out of the speakers.

^ I reckon it was rather loud to be honest with you.

^ Mr. Boss looking rather sharp for the night.

^ Mr. Boss' mother, wearing the pink sweater I gave her on Christmas night!

Mr. Boss' mother and I retired back an hour before the art show ended. We had quite of a drive ahead of us & I felt safe taking her back early just in case there were any night traffic that evening. This was a very successful event for Mr. Boss for it being his first time curating an art show. He only spent a month organizing it and he did quite well. I'm looking forward to attending many of his shows in the future & hope the best comes for him.

Here I will end my post with this, a photo of my black shoes, my black coat, my black purse, & my black pants! Buonanotte!

-Hannah x