erin condren hourly life planner - my july

hi guys! this one's a little late, but i wanted to take some time to chat a lil in this'a one! ~Lin-chan ^.~
so. i have my blog email address linked on here over in my right nav. and yes, i have gotten emails in the past regarding peoples' interest in my posts, whether it be content or shade dupes. which is cool. but it's interesting seeing the emails that i received this month and knowing, wow there are people out there. some of them read this! or do they..? lol.
the first of which was a, 'hey you've got a site linked that is about to change ownership'. of which, said company website had emailed me about a week prior (because i've ordered from them) to notify me of the change. but to think that someone hyperlinked (or google scanning...?) that particular blog post and this other company took the time to email me regarding my post. i thought that was pretty cool. so i complied and updated the post.
the second company that emailed me offered services for analytics. now, you guys know this blog is for fun and is using blogger as my platform. i am quite aware of the many improvements that could be made here, i'm a web dev too, i totally get it. but remember, this blog is for fun and i don't want to stress myself over it and think of it like work. i do enough of that, spending 9+ hours in the office on the computer then coming home. i get that it wouldn't be relatively much of a time investment to make these changes, but it's time that i could be doing something else.
the third was pretty interesting. the contact person emailed me multiple times over the course of maybe a week or two asking for my opinion about a website. and i was slacking answering, because work life balance and the things i mentioned above.. but it got to the point where this kind person sent two additional emails, and i was like, ok i really should get back to this person. they really want to hear my opinion. so the night that i received the third email, i sat down and gave my honest opinion of the site. as mentioned above, i'm a web dev. in the past 10 years of me online shopping, i know what (at least) i think works or not. [no, it was not for an online webstore.] that being said, i also influenced quite a few UX (user experience) design changes for my client's international webstore which i worked on last year. anyway, back to my email response though. it's been a few weeks now and i haven't seen a response to my email, which ok, i guess, whatever. most of my response was regarding UX improvements and suggestions i had. maybe they contacted a ton of people and are sifting through the responses? i don't know. but i found it fascinating how adamant and excited the person seemed to be to hear from someone like me.
anyway, that's enough of my recent email escapades. as mentioned above, it was a surprise to see a few emails recently regarding lil ol me and this blog.

monthly calendar spread: this month, i got this cute watermelon spread from CricketPaperCo. this page is lacking in Once More With Love wacky holidays. that is not to say that i did not order some, but my package got lost in the mail and she was no longer offering this sheet by the time we gave to replace my order. major sadface.

week 1: so. the code deployment didn't go as planned to it was rescheduled..which i alluded to in my previous monthly post. in other news, house slab! w00t!

week 2: we retried deploying the major code upgrade that i participated in.. so i had a few long days this, making sure it worked out, and thankfully it did!

week 3: it's always exciting when we have client visits. especially when there are pre-client prep meetings for those invited to the special round-table meetings. the only problem with this client though, is that their general market does not involve what i do, so i was the odd man out in the meeting, but i got to represent i guess, lol! and our team had a meeting to catch up my coworker and i to get back on track of what our team is actually doing now that the code deploy is done.

week 4: in house news... WE'VE BEEN FRAMED! lol.

week 5

notes page: didn't take a photo this time since i didn't use this space. but the quote for this month is: follow your heart

july 2017: sephora play!

hi guys!!! the weekend's here, i've finally got some time, and here's this month's sephora play! (theme: beauty staycation) ~Lin-chan ^.~

bare minerals swag

1. bareminerals gen nude matte liquid lipcolor in swag -- this is pretty close to my natural lip color and looks nice. it dries down to a slightly powdery feel and doesn't feel like it's drying.
   repurchase? undecided
2. briogeo roscaro milk reparative leave-in conditioning spray -- i received one or two of these in the past and i liked them, but they weren't game changers by any means. i'll pass this one along.
   repurchase? nah
3. it cosmetics superhero mascara -- this was already in a past favorites!
   repurchase? yes!
4. milk makeup cooling water -- this feels nice, but it takes a bit to dry down. i'll have to try this out on a puffier day though.
   repurchase? nah
• side note - i am interested in trying out tony moly's panda's dream cooling stick!
5. boscia charcoal pore pudding -- so, despite the name (sorta..), this is actually a face mask. i think i've seen this before on the shelf at sephora, but never really felt the need to try it. but hey, i'm up for trying out new masks!
   repurchase? maybe
6. atelier cologne orange sanguine -- i received one (or more?) of these in the past and i really like it. 
   repurchase? probably not for the price and i don't wear perfume often.
7. 'coupon' for an extra 50 points on the next in-store purchase

two more weeks of hellofresh

hi guys! so hellofresh again. they sent us another postcard for like half off a box and we decided to opt-in again! we ended up getting two boxes again, so one full price ($70) and one was $30 i believe..? something like that--i don't get the bill, so i don't know. ^.~ anyway here's what we got and what we thought! ~Lin-chan ^.~
for those interested in the recipes below, please visit my google drive folder.

key differences in packaging this time are the inclusion of a nutrition facts card for all 8 choices for the week, and the ingredients are packaged into brown paper bags instead of boxes. and i think they had this in the past and i didn't mention it.. but they have indications on each seafood meal label to "make first".

week 1 meal choices:

1. Pan-Seared Garlic Chicken
2. Lemony Shrimp Risotto
3. Perfect Penne Pasta

Pan-Seared Garlic Chicken
paul made this. they accidentally sent us corn starch instead of garlic powder, but what true italian louisianian does not have garlic powder in their kitchen?! anyway, i wasn't a huge fan of the chicken. granted, i don't like chicken breast, but that's beside the point. it was pretty salty, not garlic-y, and just whatever. the potatoes with the jalapeno and cream cheese was great! i didn't initially realize the jalapeno was in it because there wasn't any heat. and broccoli is broccoli..?

Lemony Shrimp Risotto
paul made this. this dish was an ok one. maybe i don't like risotto? i love rice. pretty much by the time i finished the grilled zucchini and shrimp, i was kinda meh with the remaining rice and didn't finish it. on another note, why don't we make grilled zucchini more often? so good!

Perfect Penne Pasta

i made this. the food photo's in the pan still because i knew it wasn't going to plate as pretty, lol! this was really good. i surprisingly really liked the chicken sausage (which, i'm not sure i've had prior..). if i recall correctly, this wasn't terribly complicated to make, but if we were to make it again, i think it'd be annoying to chop the kale myself, lol! sidenote, i bought this herb stripper from amazon on prime day, and it definitely made stripping the sage a loooot easier.

week 2 meal choices:

1. Crispy Fish Tacos
2. Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken
3. Sriracha Turkey Lemongrass Skewers

Crispy Fish Tacos
i made this. i really enjoyed this. it's very reminiscent of the tacos from the restaurant by my office with a few key differences. they mix the 'pickled' vegetables with a sour cream-like mix and there's no avocado with this recipe. otherwise it's pretty similar. the tilapia fillets they provided were relatively larger and it said to cut it into smaller chunks for frying, then break them apart as needed for the tacos.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken

paul made this. i thought this one was ok, which is sad because i love prosciutto. the risotto was meh, and the chicken and prosciutto were kinda salty, which paul said he didn't add any extra salt to. he was also disappointed that there were like three strips of prosciutto provided, considering the amount of chicken that needed wrapping.

Sriracha Turkey Lemongrass Skewers

i made this. while this was relatively easy to make, i'm not sure we'd make it again. the coconut milk jasmine rice didn't taste like i did much, and we eat plain jasmine rice all the time. and lemongrass.... where do you even buy that?! (i love lemongrass scented things, and having some fresh to smell was awesome!) otherwise, this was essentially turkey meatloaf on a stick with sriracha mixed in (and on top if desired). while it was tasty, it wasn't like wow. and the carrot, onion, cucumber 'slaw' was interesting and refreshing.

july 2017 ipsy x gudetama bag!

hi all! it's the weekend, my july IPSY BAG* (theme: over easy) came this week, and i've got a lil time to post!  ~Lin-chan ^.~

here's my impressions:

1. beau gachis illuminator brush -- this is a really soft brush! i think this is the perfect size for highlight or under-eye powdering.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
2. ciate london wonderwand gel-kohl hybrid liner in black -- so this is a very interesting liner. on the other end is an angled brush.. not a sponge tip or smudger, but an angled brush.. interesting. otherwise, the product itself is a no-go for me. as seen in my swatch, i made a single sorta straight line with one pass and it bled that much. i don't think so. also, after taking the photos, i rubbed at it to see if it had set or not after maybe 5 minutes, and it did not. it did however stain my arm to the point where it was difficult to remove, but i guess that's a pro for some people. anyway, since it was so smudgy and bled upon application, i don't think so.
• likelihood to repurchase: no
3. ofra eyeshadow in gold rush -- this is a pretty gold. and i like ofra's formulas.
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe other shades
4. trifle cosmetics raspberry ripple blush trio -- why is this thing so microscopic? i mean, i get that it's a sample, but i'd rather one of these three blushes in this size compact than 3 tiny, eyeshadow-sized pans to not even attempt to put a blush brush into. just saying. formula and product-wise, i think this is a pass. i'm not huge on these colors personally, and they applied only ok. swatches below were two passes over both the product and my arm.
• looking at their website, this is full size. who in their right mind would willingly pay $18 for this thing?!
• likelihood to repurchase: no
5. hempz ultra moisturizing herbal lip balm -- i haven't tried anything from this brand before, but i've heard good things about their body lotions! this is a very nice, light lip balm. it has a slight tea-like scent to it and glides on nicely. it's not sticky, and feels just right!
• likelihood to repurchase: maybe
6. gudetama ipsy bag -- (gude gude = lazy, tamago = egg) omg. who else remembers going to the mall and going to the sanrio store?! i love their characters and gudetama is no exception! btw, i didn't photograph the bag of the bag, but lolz at gude-butt.
• side note, anyone else remember last year's new character Aggretsuko? love her too!
7. who else loves the gold mailer?!
8. they also included a booklet advertising ipsy cash which is some sort of cash back program. i haven't looked further into it yet since i'm not sure if i want to do it yet or not.

liner, gold rush (over bare skin), blush trio

*Affiliate Link.

june hauls - beauty and planner

hi guys! so this post turned out a bit different than i normally do.. i prewrote bits and bobs here and there and kept adding to it, and this one became more of me talking naturally than me listing the things, which was what i was sort of doing. so let me know if this format is better. i usually prefer reading posts that get to the point of things, but this was a nice change. ~Lin-chan ^.~

so our anniversary was last month and teh paul got me some goodies. namely the sky organics bath bomb set (which you can get on amazon), story of seasons: trio of towns (woookit teh kyoot capybara!), and a dishwasher basket for chopsticks!
i also got this month's target boxes, because yall know how fast i've been going through these razor handles recently! i have no idea how i keep breaking them, but it feels like i'm breaking handles faster than i'm replacing the cartridges! ~.~ and teh paul was interested in the men's one this time.

got some colourpop birthday 'sale' goodies. got the gemini by night palette, pinky promise, and the limited: birthday cake super shock shadow.

i also placed a sephora order because free nars orgasm lipstick? heck yes. the thing that's interesting though is that this tarte paaarty blush looks different and is in a lighter color packaging than the sephora birthday freebie. swatching them on my arm though, they're pretty close but not exactly the same. i'll have to start using this to see what it's like. and i added a marc jacobs velvet noir mascara for 100 points.

golden gate bridge, the hidden hills, manhattan coffee run, moscow sunrise, pinky promise (all swatched without primer),
birthday cake, orgasm lipstick, paaarty blush (new, old)

nars orgasm lipstick

picked up a few things at the walmarts. got another concealer and brow gel, as per usual. i saw that they had these soo ae lip masks, so i wanted to give them a try. and they're carrying those nail polish bottle holder things, which i've been kinda wanting, for like $2-3! annnd kiss salon color nails are ok, but i prefer the gel fantasy or impress kind, but out of the designs available, i liked these.

mac was having a 25% off coupon, and i've been wanting these since i saw a particular instagram post of theirs... anyway, so i got an extra dimension eye shadow in smoky mauve and an eyeshadow pan in blackberry, and i picked their false lashes extreme black mascara as a sample.

top: smoky mauve, bottom: blackberry -- swatched without primer

went and renewed my sally's card and if you don't know, they usually give you an up to $8 gift of your choice (ion extreme moisture creme) with your $5/year membership. then a few days later, i got a $5 off my next purchase coupon.. and they were having 20% off macadamia natural oil..so i had to get another one of their hair masks!
i also placed an order with sigma because their loose glitters and shimmers were on sale and zeal is absolutely gorgeous. i'm kind of disappointed with astral and stellar compared to swatches i saw online. i swatched them dry for the photo, but i also put them over primer and didn't see much of a difference (zeal was even better!). but i'll try them a bit more and see what happens. by the way, my swatch of zeal below isn't true to color. zeal's like a blue-brown duochrome, and my swatch came out kinda orangy looking. ain't nobody got time to re-swatch!
T and i went to sephora on a quest. or rather, i was on a mission and she agreed to come along. i really wanted to try the new becca highlighters, and i picked up opal flashes jade because it's friggen gorgeous.
sephora is doing some app only specials (like one-day-only pre-sale thingies) and this it superhero mascara and brow power bundle (full sizes) was a must at $24. two-fer! now i have 3 spare brow powers! muhahaha! i also got the urban decay optical illusion primer with a code.
lastly from sephora, they supposedly sent out a $10 or 15 off $50 coupon to VIBs for two days only. LOL i didn't get one, and i somehow managed to find a code floating about the internets. (if you aren't already, you should follow trendmood1 on instagram!) anyway, i got something for the sis in law, and the viseart petit pro palette, which T and i were pretty impressed with when we saw it in the store.
and finally, ulta had their 20% off almost everything coupon again. so i got a couple usual clinique skincare things which i didn't bother photographing, and i had to get another hoola lite. yall, i don't understand how i hit so much pan so fast on the first one. i got it in march! three months?!

zeal, stellar, astral, opal flashes jade, viseart petit pro palette (all swatched without primer)
(man, this photo doesn't capture the prettiness that is zeal and opal flashes jade...)

planner stuffs -- here's the link to my etsy list of purchased planner stuff
got my one of my two PBC sale orders in the mail from thecoffeemonsterzco. for the second, it's been over a month since she mailed it, but i haven't seen my oncemorewithlove order yet.

stickeriffic participated in monthly planner madness, so i got some of her goodies too! got a couple cactus sheets and washi, clear stickers, unicorn boxes, and llamas!

wonton in a million collabed with once more with love to make this super adorable bundle!

createdbydanielle1 had these gorgeous weekday stickers and i couldn't pass on her sudoku stickers! love!!!
planner studio made a bundle that i couldn't pass up, and i ordered a few other sheets as well

erin condren hourly life planner - my june

hi guys! i'm about a week late on this'a one but i don't care! it's a holiday weekend-ish (except i worked today...). anyway, lots of stuff is a rollin with our house, if you've seen on instagram. they poured our slab last week! ~Lin-chan ^.~

monthly calendar spread: this month, i got this gorgeous spread from My Newest Addiction. ugh so pretteh!

week 1

week 2

week 3: i finally hit two years at work! and as sad as it sounds, only 4 of us went to lunch together, lol. apparently i didn't write it onto this page... we had fun though, we went to the breakfast restaurant that opened beneath our office and caught up, since we've all been pretty busy and don't get to talk with each other very often anymore. the count: 11 of 20.

week 4: this was a pretty busy week. there were meetings left and right, a client came to visit, we had our quarterly meeting, i had to work friday night, annnd we had another promotions breakfast, which was weird. i didn't get promoted this year (thus far), but i got invited...so uhhh free breakfast is cool, i guess... and steam sale! paul got me stardew valley! annnnd those omwl stickers for sunday...well fb friends know what happened if they saw my status for that day. in the end it worked out ok so we're not too worried, but it has changed some of our behaviors and habits.

notes page: didn't take a photo this time since i didn't use this space. but the quote for this month is: be strong be brave be you