It's My Birthday Again!

I sound pretty exciting for someone who's getting older but I like birthdays, especially mine. My family's birthday are all fallen in January with a couple extra from my in laws side as well. There's a lot of coincidence that we all born in the same month but different years. It's like January sounds like a good month for having your baby born! I know I will try not to have my babies in January in the future so they don't have to fall into the January birthdays group and have their own birth-month!

Anyhow, I'm blessed with all the people around me who are very lovely that remembered my birthday! Woke up with birthday kisses by my better half, my colleagues surprised me with a great birthday cake at work and my phone was filled with loves from my family and friends around the world.

 I made some Oreo cupcakes to treat everyone! (wasn't expecting the birthday cake!!)

After work, Mr Murphy brought me to an American restaurant called Misty Diner. Great set up, I felt like I'm in America especially with the interior decorations. And the food!! OMG they are so delicious and big portion (I can't finish my main and can't make it to dessert at all)!!

Birthday presents wise, I was so spoilt this year. I got a couple L'Occitane perfumes and hand lotions from my colleagues, a red Coach borough bag from Mr Murphy, a Chanel sunnies from my mum and an Iphone 6 from my dad!! On top of that, I got a white Arizona Birkenstock for myself too! 

All these loves, attention and presents made me feel way much better about me getting older :p 

Love,

Carol

Some of the 'Gift Packs' from 2014 I bought for myself

When it comes to gift set (especially during Christmas time), I always hope someone would think as I do, get that gift set I 'woooh and ahhh' about for me. But, that's never really the case. Let's be real, no one would really know exactly what you want (or else, gift buying would be such an easy task for everyone!).

Most gift sets are limited time or edition only and they were normally released near Christmas. It's just the best time of the year to get your hands on some products! Also, did I mention their value are normally awesomely worth it! So, to not miss the chance of owning some of the products I'm drooling over, here are what I gave in and purchased for myself.

1. Nars Blush/Bronzer Duo (link)
One product and I get both of the most talked about products from Nars: Orgasm blush and Laguna Bronzer. It is definitely cheaper than buying both items individually (I think I paid 56AUD for this and it would cost me $49 for the Laguna Bronzer here and $39 for the Orgasm Blush here). However, it might be a smaller portion of them but let's be honest, it would take me a long time to hit pan and 2 product in one compact palette, great for on the go!

2. Nars Digital World Pencil Coffret (link)
Another Nars product! I always wanted to try their lip pencil but can't justify myself to get one (it's $34 each here). I finally picked them up when I saw the gorgeous packaging and the value for this set. Acrylic case with pretty patterns and it's $65 for 5 mini lip pencil (which is not that mini, it's the size of my finger, thats more than enough for me), SOLD!

3. The Body Shop Festive Mini Body Butter Trio (link)
Love their body butter and their limited Christmas scent (Vanilla Brulee, Frosted Cranberry and Glazed Apples) are just so damn delicious! I couldn't decide which one is my favourite so I bought this to have them all!

4. Sanctuary Spa Convent Garden Ultimate Glow Pamper Box
I just want to pamper myself with their spa smelling products :)

I was tempted to get gift packs from Lush but I got them as a Christmas present for my sister in law which she loves! However, I contributed in their awesome boxing day sale though :) Got myself some lovely items!

There are so many goodies around but these are the ones I allowed myself to splurge a little. I know it's a bit late to talk about them but just thought of sharing them here.

Love,
Carol

Read More Books!

One of my 'not so official' new year resolutions is to read at least 12 books this year which means 1 book a month. It's double the book I have read in 2014 (not counting the magazines, I have only read about 5 books in year 2014). Such a bummer!

With the influence of my better half, I have registered as a member in the website he uses to order his books, Book Depository. It's free delivery worldwide and they pretty much have everything on their website with ratings and good price tags! So I have been ordering from them and created my little wish list which also is my 'what to read next' list.

I have been doing well with the reading!

I started #Girlboss just before Chirstmas 2014 and finished this book just after New Year. I know I shouldn't count this as the book I have read in 2015 but just a quick mention here that I really like this book. Sophia Amoruso really inspired me with her story. Highly recommend this book!



Then I decided I want to read more about fashion and started the Paris Street Style. This is my official first book I read in 2015. It's a good read with lots of pictures that is very inspiring and interviews about French styles, French fashion stylist, French designer and so on. It's a book talking all about French style as the book title says it all. Side note, I like how the book cover itself is covered with blue stripes that is French favourite pattern.

After this book, I read The Richest Man in Babylon which was mentioned in #Girlboss. It's a book about how to handle your personal financial with the ancient babylon stories. It seems very easy to save up part of your income but I just got tempted here and there! This book outlined some pointers on how to save and what rules applied. Not a rocket science to figure those pointers but it acted as a reminder to myself, to discipline myself when it comes to my personal finance.

Now I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars. A bit slow to the band wagon, I know! Everyone was raving about what a great book this is but I just didn't have that urge to buy it to read. I saw this book was on sale for $12 at Target the other day and then finally, I picked this book up and put it in my shopping cart. It's very addictive! I just started this book and I'm now half way into it. It started to make me cry and get all emotional. Damn!

I have these books ready to read in my book shelf (I got a new book shelf for myself to store all these books). Gone Girl, Not That Kind of Girl and Outliers: The Story of Success.

Any other books you have in mind for recommendations?

Love,

Carol

So it's 2015 already!

I can't believe it's 2015 already!! I have been so busy for the past couple months with the festive season and especially working in a retail world, December has been flat out for me.

With the new year starting, based on what I have observed on the social media site, there are quite many people were having a bad 2014. Aside from the missing plane tragedy, the terrorist attack incident, disasters here and there and so on, stuff that we can't help with, people aren't really happy with the year 2014.

Not to brag or any other purpose, I thought I had a quiet year until I got sucked in to make the Facebook year recap video based on the pictures you took over the year. I actually had quite a good year. These are the highlights of my year 2014.

• Volunteered at Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival 2014. Got my experiences and the insight of how backstage of a runway really is in Melbourne. 
• A week holiday in Paris, France with my husband. 
• We bought a car.
• Got a job in Ugg Australia and got promoted as a supervisor. 
• Family holiday in Shanghai, China. 
• Celebrated our first wedding anniversary. 

For all these, I'm very grateful and I hope 2015 will be as good or better (who doesn't want a better year?!)

I'm here to wish you all a better year ahead even though it's 7 days late to wish you all but I do hope everyone of you have a better year and more positiveness in 2015!!


Love,
Carol

Great Ocean Road Drive

Last Sunday was one of the great days (the perfect weather for picnic by the beach) for us who stay in Melbourne. So, my husband and I decided to have a drive down to The Great Ocean Road. It may be a trip with hours of driving but driving with nice view! I'm not the driver but I'm sure Keith had a nice time too, though he was really tired after the 'day out'. We started our journey around 8am and got home around 6pm, so if you fancy a day trip away from the city, you can consider a drive to The Great Ocean Road.  

Here are some pictures I took from the trip. 

We first stopped at Aireys Inlet to say hello to the Split Point Lighthouse.

Then, we stop over at Lorne Main Beach for our picnic and made some new friends (the cockatoos)

We had a quick visit to the Erskine Falls in Lorne too!

I would love to stay over and enjoy the sea next time but I really enjoy this drive.

Love,
Carol 

French Shopping List

The husband had a trip to Paris for work earlier this month so I quickly listed down a little shopping list for him. So here are what he helped me get from the good old french pharmacy.

1. Bioderma Créaline H2O in value pack 500ml x2 (17.90 Euro). Stocking up time!

2. La Roche-Posay Serozinc 150ml (5.90 Euro)

3. Caudalíe Eau De Beauté 100ml (28.80 Euro)

4. Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse 100ml (19.90 Euro)

5. Lierac  Diopticalm 10ml (15.10 Euro)

6. Klorane Shampoo with Magnolia 200ml (5.90 Euro)

7. Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk 150ml x2 (13.90 Euro)

8. Klorane Nettle Oil Control Dry Shampoo  150ml x2 (13.90 Euro)


Then, I got a couple items from Kiko Cosmetics too. I love Kiko Cosmetics as they have good quality products with very affordable price.

1. Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 43 pearly cornflower blue (6.90Euro)

2. Ultra Tech Mascara (5.20 Euro on sale)

3. Precision Eyebrow Pencil in 02 dark chestnut (5.90 Euro)

4. Water Eyeshadow in 222 Orchid Purple (5.90 Euro)

Then I got two other items from the local supermarket, Auchan.

1. Bourjois Dissolvant 1 second 2in1 Mains & Pieds (9.50Euro)

2. Garnier Le Soin Miracle (11.90 Euro)

These are the stuff in my French shopping list. Loving how my beauty drawer look now with all these stocked up.

Love,
Carol 

Duty Free Haul

Remember that time when I travelled to Shanghai?! Well, I may have done a little duty free shopping when I was on my way back to Australia. Who can resist duty free shopping? So here are the beauty items I bought to spoil myself.

1. Chanel Perfection Lumière velvet in 30 Beige. I have been using this foundation and I love it. For a combination to oily skin gal, I tend to have shiny T-zone at mid day (with my usual makeup on for work) and this foundation enable me to stay 'matte' for a longer period. This is my first Chanel foundation, it has medium coverage, light feeling with SPF 15, I love it.

2. Yves Saint Laurent Kiss & Blush in 1 Fuschia Désinvolte. Love the colour and the multipurpose product! I mostly use this product on my lips than my cheeks.

3. Benefit Benetint (travel size). Another, lip and cheek stain product. I have the full size version and I love it. It smells of rose and very buildable. 

4. Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara in 01. Waterproof, doll lash effect, wide eye look and 24 hours hold... need to say more?

5. Clinique Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm in 03 Roly Poly Posy. Quick blush application on a stick! It's creamy and pigmented. I just draw a line on the apples of my cheek, blend them with my finger and I'm good to go! The shade I have is gorgeous!

6. Estée Lauder Pure Colour Lipstick in 10 Orchid Surrender. I was drawn with the word 'orchid'. The lipstick is creamy but I'm still not sure about the colour on my lips.

My husband was on his business trip to Paris and London a week ago. He being the best husband ever, came home and surprise me with this gorgeous item which was on my wish list.

7. Chanel Les 4 Ombres Multi-effect Quandra Eyeshadow in 234 Poésie. This is their latest fall collection which I believe is a limited addition. They are so pretty that I still don't really want to use them yet

What do you get from duty free shops?

Love,
Carol