Yet Another Life Update // {P.O.V + Let's Eat Here!}

It's been 2 years since my last update. Let me let that sink in, 2 years (´⊙o⊙`；)

A lot can change in two years, and I hope that I was able to change during the time that has passed to a better person.

Anyways, let's get to it!

🔽What Courtney Has Been Doing Instead of Blogging🔽

- Started learning how to Ballroom Dance!! Competed in 3 competitions so far!

-Will be doing Graphic Design program this April ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨

-No longer works as a Barista...but now works as Medical Office Assistant

-Watched Vance Joy twice now. This makes it a total of 3 times 

- Begun doing Barre Fitness!

- Hiked Joffre Lake, The Chief and many more places

- GRADUATED with my Bachelor's!!!

- And now sadly, paying off my loans...

(Please note that the rest of the content below ↓ was written back in 2016...)

|| Places of Vancouver ||

If there's one thing to know about me, one of my hobbies, is hiking. I love exploring new places and looking at the scenery. Sadly, this year, I wasn't able to hike too much, in fact, I think I only hiked twice this year ●︿●

Luckily, I was able to explore a new place in Vancouver. During the last week of August of 2016, my close friend and I went to Rice Lake.

The side view of Rice Lake.

The water looked so clear here...in reality it was mucky and brown :c

Aesthetic picture, haha.

Posing, cause I need one for Instagram.

It was a peaceful hike, quite small, but it was nice and enjoyable. I do have to say that the water was mucky and not clear at all.

However, if you guys fine yourselves in Vancouver and want to hike, I would not recommend Rice Lake, only because there are other places such as Deep Cove, Cypress Falls, etc., that have a much better view.

Let's EaT Here!

If you must know, from the time away I was from blogging, I became interested in trying new food places in Vancouver! In fact, I made another Instagram account to document the places I tried and the dishes of food. 

(Check out my new instagram account)

Shameless promotion

Due to this new hobby of mine, I was able to find new places in Vancouver that I enjoyed eating at. And one of those places was Fanny Bay Oyster Bar. 

A closeup of the menu.

Can you feel the ambiance?

Located on 762 Cambie Street, it's actually quite easy to miss the restaurant, seeing how the entrance is a bit small. However, once you enter in, the place is quite spacious. They had multiple seating for dining, places to sit at the bar and as well, part of the restaurant was a shellfish market, where people can go buy their own seafood.

The time my friend and I went there, it was happy hour. This meant the oysters were $1 a piece!!!  ٩(◕ั ∀◕ั๑٩)

Oysters galore.

Because it was our first time here, we were a bit cautious on how many oysters we wanted to order. However, that thought went away as soon as we ate an oyster each. It was very fresh.

More pictures, because why not?

Given with the oysters was a complimentary bucket of fried potato chips. More so, we were given half a lemon, cilantro and cocktail sauce to give more flavor to the oysters.

Colorful sauces.

If that wasn't enough, at our disposal, we had also 3 more additional sauces. I believe we had apple cinnamon cider, mango and watermelon. From the three, I enjoyed the mango sauce with my oysters the most.

Overview of what we ate.

In addition, my friend and I also got the deep-fried oysters, which was the first time I tried it. I would actually described to be savory and sweet.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience of the Fanny Bay, I would recommend going there during happy hour! There's a lot to choose from for half the price.

Since I haven't technically posted a really long long post for a long time...I decided to finish this one up with some of the songs I found enjoyable. Hopefully, you guys will like them as well.

The Head and the Heart - All We Ever Knew

Reuben and the Dark - Heart in Two

Meiko - Stuck on You

Thanks for reading,

Courtney ♡

Recent Buys ♡ // {Goals + Food Snaps}

First things first, how is it already April??? 

Seriously, the time has gone so quickly, especially this semester. Funnily enough, this week for me, is the last week and the last days of classes (hooray)! Though, the downside is that, this means that April is FINALS week. Which means, that I'm going to busy burying myself with papers, notes and coffee, and hopefully acing my finals. :/ So this means, that this post will be pretty long and picture-heavy, like the usual.

Anyways, if you have read or been following my blog, you might have known that I kind of have a shopping problem, especially when it comes to clothes, and surprise, surprise, this post, is going to mostly dedicated to my recent buys/haul.

And because I'm a such a shopaholic, the things you seen here, were actually bought around the beginning and the middle of March, and now that a month has passed, I actually have new clothing pieces that are currently tucked away. [✿☉｡☉] (I need help!!!)

♡CLOSEUPS♡

♡♡DETAILS♡♡

All the items from Forever 21.

So these three items you see here, are all from Forever 21. What I got were:
1. T-Shirt // "No one is perfect"
2. Crop Top // "It's just that I literally do not care at all."
3. Acid-wear Jeans

A sweater and a necklace.

Closeup detail of the necklace.

I'm actually surprised I got these items because they are from H&M and I never find anything from that store. What I got were:
1. Salt & Pepper Sweater
2. Spiky Silver Necklace

Shoes from Ardene's.

So I know people give flak for Ardene's shoes, but I find them comfortable, they can easily be matched with outfits and best of all, they're very affordable. What I got were:
1. Gray Slips-Ons
2. Black Flat Runners

Surprisingly, from my haul, I didn't buy anything that's pink, whoa. From all of them my favourite item has to be my acid-wear jeans, since it's very comfortable and it's my very first one! :D (I know, I know, pretty sad.)

Goals, Goals & Goals

Since school has basically finished and after finals I have free time, I decided to make monthly goals for myself! :D 

1. I need to get a job

-Like seriously, this way I won't feel guilty buying things, plus it will make me come out my shy shell that I have sadly reverted back to after I left my old job.

2. Try yoga for the first time

-I think it will be fun, plus it will help me learn how to become flexible and learn how to relax when I get anxious in situations.

3. Find volunteer opportunities

-New experiences, will help me grow and mature.

4. Attend classes that will help me lead to finding my career path

-This is so important because honestly, what I'm studying (health science & psychology), I can't even picture myself having a career in the fields. Don't get me wrong, I find the subjects that I learn fascinating/interesting, but as a lifelong career? I'm too sure.

5. Do something new

-Anything really, I need to venture out more.

6. Learn how to put eyeshadow on

-Hahaha, I really need to learn how to, because I want to learn how to create other makeup looks.

Of course, no blog post of mine is completed without Food Snaps

Seafood Udon at Bubble World!!!

Milk Tea Bubble Tea :)

Fries with omelette and bacon :A:

Salmon with rice from Denny's.

Hopefully, I will be able to update more in this month, but I'm not too sure, since my finals are spreaded out pretty evenly for once. 

As well, I know my blog posts has tended to sway away from just being a "beauty blog", but I like adding other segments to it, like lifestyle touches, hahaha, to me, it makes it so much more personable.

I'm going to end this post off with my favourite song at the moment, enjoy! :3

Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do

Thanks for reading,

Courtney ♡

❥ Adorable Finds ❥

Hi everyone! (⑅˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈  )

Today's post is going to be a bit different from the usual, because for this post, I decided to go ahead and do the typical "Cute Finds" you guys usually see on other blogs. I would say it's an unusual post for me since this is my very first one and I regularly tend to do reviews and hauls, that being said, I'm very excited to share what I found with you guys! ヽ（◕◡◕❀ฺ ）ノ

(Note: All the pictures you see here, are not mines and belong to their respected owners. I am also not affiliated with any of these stores).

♡ KAWAII KEYCHAIN ♡

From an Esty Shop called "KawaiiKiosk", who's a fellow Canadian! :) She makes the cutest accessories and jewelries.

KOREAN SWEET UNIFORM SET ❀

Seriously, the cutest uniform set I've ever seen *-* It's from a site called "Syndromestore", you get everything seen on the picture, the shirt, sweater, skirt and the bow tie.

♢ BOW POINTED SHOES ♢

If you're into kawaii/cute fashion, then you may have heard of "DollyDynamtie" already. I adore these oxford shoes, it has my two favorite combination, pink and bows!

❤ CUTE LOLITA MID HEEL BOW SHOES

So by now, hehe, you can tell I love shoes with bows. I really like the colour of the heels, brown is a colour you can easily match with anything. These are from a StoreEnvy called "Moooh!!".

ღ BREAD WITH EGGS BAG ღ

What's better than bread with eggs? How about bread with eggs that's a bag?! A foodie and bag lover, ideal gift. From a StoreEnvy, called "hhotaru". I've been following them on instagram, and they announced they are going to look for new sponsors soon!  

♔ LEGEND OF ZELDA - MAJORA MASK - TATL AND TAEL FAIRY BOTTLE NECKLACE  

A cool and creative necklace, perfect for those who are huge fans of The Legend of Zelda series. This is from an Esty Store called "YellerCrakka", the owner creates a variety of charms and jewellery that are related to games and movies.

✿ FAUX ROSES EMBELLISHED PINK SKIRT ✿

I regret not buying a similar skirt like this from Forever 21, it's totally my style! Luckily, Romwe, sells it as well.

HARRY POTTER CLOTHING CROPPED TANK TOP "ALWAYS" ☾

Simple, yet an unique tank top. Perfect for a Harry Potter fan, instead the usual 'A', the deathly hallows symbol replaces it. This product is from an Esty store called "PerksOfBeingAWeasly".

I hoped you guys enjoyed my first ever "Adorable/Cute Finds Post", and hopefully I introduced you guys to some cool, unique stores as well! :) And since this post is a bit shorter than I'm use to, I'm going to throw in one of my favourite songs from Girls' Generation/ SNSD! 

(✿◕ ‿◕ฺ)ノ))。₀: *゜

All My Love is For You - Girls' Generation/SNSD

Thanks for reading,

Courtney ♡

Ootd #3: Romper Love

What's this? Another post in February?! I am seriously surprised at myself, at how much I'm dedicating my time to this blog, but then again, I have so much fun writing it . (*⌒▽⌒*)θ～♪

Anyways, hello, my favorite people, (^ _ ^)/

This post today will be dedicated to a topic I haven't done for quite some time now, my outfit of the day or the shorten term, OOTD. If there's one thing you need to know about me, is that I love taking pictures of my outfits. If I'm hanging out with friends, I will make sure they will take a picture of my outfit before the hangout has ended or if I'm by myself, I will try to find a nice, long mirror, preferably, a changing room from a store.

And recently, after scrolling through my instagram account, I came to a realization, that I like skirts and dresses a lot, so, I decided to change it up (is it sad to say that this is my first romper, ever?), and show you guys what I had worn a few days ago, hopefully, it's a bit different from what I usually wear and my usual style.

Black, white & gray, so colourful, eh?

Where did I get the items?

Romper, ring & socks: Forever 21

Booties: Urban Planet

Purse: Coach

When I first spotted this romper, it was in a section, which also happened to be my favourite section, at Forever 21 called "Girly Girl" (it was selling during the time I was still working), I knew I wanted it, before it sold out. It's cute and super girly, but the main reason why it appealed to me, was because it had a sense of Japanese fashion to it, (in my opinion) which I loved.

A better frontal view.

The thing that I really liked from the romper piece was the simple fact that I could tie a bow to it. It made the piece really cute and adorable, and as I said previously, it's what made the romper have a Japanese style to it. Although, I wish it did come in different colours, perhaps a light pink? But that's just wishful thinking.

Up close and detailed.

As you can see more clearly in this picture, the thing that bother me about the romper was that it has too many buttons, which is kind of annoying and a hassle, since they're really tiny too! So if you have long nails, it would take you a while to unbutton and button it.

❤ Here are just additional shots for my accessories:

Using my trusty Coach purse.

The socks are very comfortable.. The boots? Not so much.

{Bonus Shots}

I tried taking a picture of my outfit with my dog, Tobi, (he's a Lhasa Apso, in case you were wondering) but every time my sister took a picture of us, either Tobi would look away from the camera or I would look away....LOL :(

Tobi, where are you looking at???

Not my finest hour.

My favourite shot, despite both of us are not looking at the camera.

[[Music Mania]]

Interstellar - Main Theme

So I'm bias, I was watching the Oscars the other day, and I was so sure that Hans Zimmer was going to win the Oscar for "Best Original Score" for Interstellar, and when he didn't I was floored. The main theme for the movie, is such a beautiful, yet haunting piece, and I wanted to share it with you guys, if you haven't watched Interstellar, which by the way, I highly recommend you to!

The Legend of Zelda - Song of Storms

Hehe, for you gamers out there! :D So I take ballet class every week, and the last week, my instructor, who usually plays instrumental pieces for us to dance to, played the "Song of Storms", and I was like it's "Zelda!!!", but nobody understood the reference except me. (✖╭╮✖)  

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Cecilia and the Satellite

So if you live in Vancouver, Canada, there's a radio station called 102.7 The Peak which is my favourite station, since it plays rock, folk and indie songs, and they played "Cecilia and the Satellite" one day, and I just love it. It's really catchy, so might as well share with you guys.

Well, this was a short post, considering for me. I would have written more, but I didn't take any new pictures of anything to include.

I know don't do outfit posts a lot, so I hope you enjoyed this one! I'm also looking for new songs as well to add to my playlist when I go to the gym, if you guys have any suggestions, are you able to share some of your favorite songs with me, please? :)

Thanks for reading,

Courtney ♡

[Review]: The Face Shop Black Label Lipstick in No.11 Lovely Pink

Hello everyone~!

I can't believe it's already February, time goes so fast, doesn't it?（　ﾟ Дﾟ）It's kind of surreal, since it means I'm almost halfway done the semester of school (Ｔ▽Ｔ). Anyways, since it's the month of February, I decided that during the entire month, I will dedicate my posts that is something related to pink, red, and things that are (or I considered, haha) girly. ❤ 

So, if you must know, I absolutely love lip products, they are my favorite type of makeup products I like to use and buy. And as you may have seen, I posted pictures of a lipstick that I had bought a while ago, from my previous post, about my small collective haul of January.

And as of today, I present you guys, with the review of The Face Shop's Black Label Lipstick in No.11 Lovely Pink.

Packaging of the lipstick.

Due to the lighting of the photo, the packaging may look like its gold, but it's actually not. The lipstick is held in a gray-silver, gunmetal package. The packaging is like any typical lipstick, however, I like the fact that, despite dropping it on the hard floor a couple of times, it didn't crack, showing me that it's very sturdy. Although, the case is not immune to scratches, as I have a very bad habit of throwing my lip products in my bag, which in turn, my lipsticks get banged around a lot in my purse.

No. 11 Lovely Pink.

I bought the shade in No.11 Lovely Pink, the colour is a neutral, opaque rose-pink. It's perfect for the natural look. Even with one swipe of the lipstick, the colour is noticeable. Though, with two swipes, you have a slightly darker pink, which still makes it great for a natural look. There is also a light scent, which is pleasant since some lipsticks and lipglosses I owe, do not have a nice smell to it.

It's a very sweet  & natural colour.

Applying the lipstick is easy, as it is very smooth. The texture was another plus as well, since the product has a very creamy texture. Even better, the lipstick is very moisturizing, and it didn't dry my lips at all, which I found great, since I have experienced with other lipsticks, that make my lips really dry and chapped.

Closeup of the lipstick.

There were a lot of positive things about the lipstick, but I did find a few things that I didn't like about it. First, the duration is average at best. If you don't eat or drink or make your lips touch anything, it lasts up until 2-3 hours at max. However, if you do eat or drink, the lipstick colour comes off quite quickly, so you do have to reapply a bit. Another thing that I didn't like about it was the fact that it smudges easily.

You may have notice that the lipstick is dented at the top corner, T_T, don't worry about it, mines is just like that because I accidently moved the lipstick onto the cap, when I was trying take a picture of my collective haul.

Gotta add the swatches!

Here, I just swatched the lipstick to show the colour and what it looks like. To the left, is one swipe of the product and to the right, is two swipes.

(Here are pictures of what the lipstick colour looks like, when worn.)

Headband from Forever 21 & Top from American Eagle.

In better lighting.

What are the Pros & Cons?

Pros:
- smooth application
-creamy & moisturizing texture
-scent is very light
-nice neutral pink
-pigmented

Cons:
-not long lasting
-smudges quite easily
❊❊❊
Would I recommend this product?
Yes I would recommend this product and the line of the lipstick, it does it's job, and it gives you a nice colour, and a big one for me is that it doesn't dry your lips.
Would I buy it again?
Yep! But in different shades, of course. You can get it online or if you live in Vancouver, from The Face Shop either at Metrotown or Richmond Centre. Last time I checked, the one in Metrotown was having a 20% of sale for cosmetics.

 

❊[Overall Thoughts]❊

The packaging is sturdy and simple, but is still susceptible to scratches.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♡

The application is easy, very smooth gliding.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

The colour is a neutral, opaque rose-pink, very girly and pigmented.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♡
The texture  is light, creamy and moisturizing.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♡
The duration is average, it depends if you eat or drink.
❤ ❤ ❤ ♡ ♡
The overall results are:
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♡

{Food Snaps}

(Cause I haven't done these for a while, and knowing me, I don't like writing short blog posts, so I have to find a way to make it long.) 

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Salmon & Tuna Don from Sekai Udon Bar.

Closeup.

"The High Tea", a 3 tier stand of  sweets and desserts from La Petite Cuillere.

"The Afternoon Tea", a 2 tier stand. The plating and dishes are so girly. :)

Entire view of the tier stands and the numerous desserts & sweets.

Any time is good, when it's tea time!

I know I have been doing reviews only, lately, (I do enjoy writing them though :p) but I will be doing different posts later on. I want my blog to have variation to it! Plus, this post was actually suppose to be a post about "Lazy Makeup/Lazy Hair Tutorial", but I didn't think it went well with the theme of February, which is why I decided to change the post topic.

Anyways, knowing that I don't have a good track record of updating on the actual day,  I will say it now:

❤ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! ❤

Cake for you!

I hope you guys have a great one!

And to end this post, I will leave you a music video/audio of my new favourite song that I just discovered. It's called "Rollercoaster" by Bleachers. Hope you enjoy it!

Bleachers - Rollercoaster

Thanks for reading,
Courtney ♡