Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Étude house grand opening [singapore]

Hello hello:)
Decided to get back to writing:) 
I know this space has turned into a series of sob stories lately but I decided to write something light and happy today!:)
I rarely do hauls, but I just had so much fun at Etude house, I thought it would be fun to keep that joyful memory in words here<3

Here's a recap of my day at étude house with my best friend, Kiyoko:) !
After seeing Miyake's Instagram post of the Disney princess étude house collection, I was determined to rush down the day after for the Disney collection!
Because ya know, anything Disney equals Tammy's weakness<3

Unlike my best friend who is a professionally trained MUA and make up cosmetics enthusiast, Im just a foundation, base, eyeliner, lipbalm kinda gal so you're probably thinking Tammy in etude [beauty heaven] house what?!

Well..... Here's what I've to say to that!
As a designer myself, I gotta say my ultimate shopping weakness has got to be packaging! 😍😍 and it helps that I have a bestie that constantly takes me on make up adventures while I make her go with me on fashion sprees<3
My best friend took these interior pictures on my camera so all credit to her for most of these gorg pichurs.
Here's the Disney princess collection set up!:)

There's a total of four Disney princesses: Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Jasmine!
The cool part about this collection is that each princess has a specific cosmetic type allocated.

Belle : lipstick and rosy blushes

Cinderella : eye shadow

Snow White : bb cream, lipstick

Jasmine : mascara

And all four princesses for the nail polishes !

Im sure my bestie will give you a better run down on the application of the make up products so I'll just do a journey through the newly launched Etude house flagship store in Singapore and my mini shopping collection!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture of the entrance but it was the cutest! Think princess floral pinks, pom pom flower vases, pink carpets, some good looking boys fronting the gate, and if that's not enough to make your heart skip a beat then the next thing I'm going to show you just might do that!

It's as sturdy as it looks! It's gorgeous! The attention to detail was thoroughly perfected! I mean look at that pink mini staircase! I almost felt under dressed when I saw this carriage!

Beside the carriage were these yummy looking macaroons and cakes set up!
A fun photobooth set up! That you can take with your friends! You need 2 pink coins to use this special photobooth!:)

pink coins are redeemed with purchase!:)
<20$ for 1 pink coin that you can use to redeem an étude house charm.
<50$ for 2 pink coins!:)

Together, we collected 4 pink coins with our purchases; we decided to take one photobooth picture and use the other one for a charm!:)
This is the charm I got!:)

After doing a 360 panorama scan with my eyes of the place, I was ready to shop!!!
My eyes were pretty much on an impulse shopping spree but I managed to control my physical self to only buy what I could/might at least see myself using.

And this is what happened next lol.

I immediately picked up all the Disney princess nail polishes because that book packaging um, can we just agree, LOVE?! plus, I do loooovvveeee prettifying my short nails ! so I knew I couldn't go wrong with that purchase.
Here's a run down of every princess book;)

Jasmine from Aladdin
Magic lamp & antique mint
Blue dress & crystal shoes
Snow White
Kissing pop red & red apple
Purple rose & pink rose

My favorite? Definitely the belle colors!!
I couldn't wait another day, I immediately painted my nails 'pink rose' and was pleasantly surprised by how warm and rosy it was!
If I had to summarize this belle nail set in one picture, this would be it! 💗🌹 I can't wait to try the 'purple rose' color!
I promise I'll update this post as I go so you can see every single nail polish color from the collection! 

What caught my eye next, was the Belle blush, it was  available in two rosy colors. [hehe, see what I did there] I decided to pick up the lighter pink blush shade as the shop assistant suggested I pick that one because it would better compliment my fair skin.

This is what it looks like on the inside! how pretty is the rose decor of the powder blush!
tammy's weakness
We also both picked up the limited edition pumpkin carriage cushion case too!
It comes empty so you can pick up your appropriate BB cushion shade refill for the case!:) and you can easily refill it when it runs out so no worries! You'll never have to say goodbye to this magical case;)
Look at the fine decor details on the mirror! I love it! 
The awesome staff at étude house recommended me to get 'magic pink' for my skin tone:)
How cute is the sponge! It's pink to fit the shade, if you get 'mint' you'll get a green sponge!:)

Woah! what a wordy post! hehe ! I had such a fun time shopping, walking through Etude house and
this post pretty much summarized how magical it felt!:)
Please do check  out my bestie's blog post on our etude house adventure too!

toodles till later
and this time I mean it, I promise I wont be gone for months again:)

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Begin again

hello hello

Song of the life moment?
Definitely Begin Again by Rachel Platten
It has just really spoken to me and made me want to pour my heart out.
Here's Tammy unplugged. raw.

We've all made mistakes, we've all done things that we're not proud of.
We can be forgiven for our mistakes but we can't forget them.
Life doesn't provide you with a restart button, or a conveniently placed space bar button to fast forward to a better place.
We don't have the luxury of highlighting only the good in every chapter of our journey but we always have the choice to ignore the bad and keep reading moving on.

Over the course of being injured, ill; I've been forced to make decisions, face the cold hard truth right in the face, witness the ugly sides of people I love
It hurts, it really does. 
Sure, I can sugar coat this experience and say that it has given me some sort of epiphany but I can't say it has- over night
At least, nothing magical.

More accurately, it was more of a gradual understanding process that you don't necessarily feel from day to day; just like how recovery is rarely observed in minutes or hours.
The magic of time is that, when enough of it goes by and you start reflecting that you realize how far you've come from the beginning.

It has given me the chance to begin again for myself.
To re evaluate what's important to me.
Understanding and being alright with the fact that what you put out might never be appreciated or reciprocated but you should do it anyways.
I can't lie, I did naively and perhaps selfishly hope that my current mishap would justify and in some ways be enough to erase everything that I've regretted.
I understand now that there's some things you just can't share. Not in a maliciously selfish way but in a self respect common sense kind of way for yourself.
Don't get caught up in the glitz of other people's highlight moments, everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
Put your heart and soul into everything you do, genuine passion will always be rewarded.
if money, status, anything superficial comes before that then stop, turn around and walk away because you've lost yourself and absolutely nothing is worth losing your most genuine passion for.

Friends, come and go.
Perhaps, you'll have people you can't ever fathom not knowing or no longer know but be alright when the time comes to let go.
You may punish yourself, be angry at them for how an ardent friendship can so quickly go dormant and cold but know that that doesn't change what you had; whether or not you two can find a way to revive that fiery friendship is another story.
The past you shared should never be tarnished, good memories will always stay golden.
People will judge you base on pictures, the things you say, the way you look but turn the other cheek.
Walk away from those that need an explanation and justifications from you, remember that you owe nothing.
Let them misunderstand. The ones that love you will work it out themselves to see the truth.

There's nothing worse than feeling alone.
So don't deliberately make anyone feel alone, better yet, go out of  your way to show your affections.
Be misunderstood for being clingy, let them have the satisfaction of thinking you're being overly affectionate, cause God knows, we need more people like you to genuinely brighten up each day.
Let it be enough for you that you know you're making one less person feel alone even if it doesn't necessarily reward you.
I'm better, just picking up the pieces and learning new life lessons as I go.

I need a wrecking ball
I want the sky to fall
God I feel so small tonight
I need a wrecking ball
I could crash and fall
could it break my walls
and make it right

can I begin again
can I begin again?
I need a tidal wave
come and wash away
All the mess I made
to make it right
I need to make it right

I need big move
I need a sharp knife
I need to cut these scars
right out of my life

I need a big move
I need a sharp knife
Need to be shaken up
I need a wrecking ball

feel paralysed 
like i'm Frozen in time
Just wanna close my eyes
Make it go away

When did everything fall apart
when did the nightmares start
why is it so hard
to find away to begin again
oh to begin again

But I need big move
I need a sharp knife
I need to cut these scars
right out of my life

I wanna a big move
I need a sharp knife
Need to be shaken up
I need a wrecking ball
I wanna a wrecking ball
Cause I'm a wreck
yeah cause I'm a wreck

I need a wrecking ball
Come and break my walls

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The fault in our stars

This space has gone through a transformation; from a [i wanna be a blogger] space into a [i'll rant here] to just being obsolete [nothing].
No more sappy whines about my injury- healing takes time, end of story.

I've been re-inspired in more ways than one to just, I guess, get my life back together. I don't care to write you a pretentious review but I do however have the urge and love to only share what has illuminated my thoughts, and for the lack of a better phrase, "put the spark back into me". I hope my little rambles in this little space can inspire you, even if it's for just an hour


 If you're still here, stay with me for just a bit longer. I promise this won't be [just another] The Fault in Our Stars review. or well.. according to me it won't be because I wouldn't even call this a review, just my two cents.

Before I get into proclaiming my love for John Green's writing, here's a disclaimer for the present world of blogging; these are my raw and most genuine thoughts, money-free. unbias. That's my promise to you- you can quote me on that.

Like everyone else, I've heard countless comments about this book. With the handful of scattered out of context summaries of what I could vaguely pick up from my eavesdropping from street cafes; I quickly deemed it as [A walk to remember 2.0]. I did however give the trailer of the movie a go and was intrigued by the wit of the characters [yes, the smoking metaphor] so I decided I needed to know more about them. I have a weird pet peeve that I'm sure most book readers share; I always feel obliged to read a book before watching the movie adaptations, sort of my miniscule form of absolute respect for literature.

I couldn't wait another minute, literally purchased the e-book and got my reading adventure going. I was in absolute awe how quickly the words had captivated my attention. Before I could go any further, I realized I was at the end of the book.

Spoiling the book is not my intention so don't worry!

Much like Hazel, I too had a favorite book that ended too quickly, coincidence? perhaps
Hazel is to An Imperial Afflication
Tammy is to The Catcher In the Rye

I read the Catcher in the Rye in 2006 and it quickly became my favorite go-to book when I just needed some clarity, and to this day- it still is. I remember finishing the book and could never figure out why the ending fell short for me then.

To dramatize my reading process, I was in literary shock when Peter Van Houten aka fictional author brings up Holden Caulfield during his heated altercation with Hazel about  how he can't tell her what happens to any of the other characters just like he can't possibly tell her what happens to Holden Caulfield's sister. I remember being upset over J.D.Salinger's death in 2010 like it was yesterday. Not because I was blessed enough to know him personally to justify feeling hurt but because I felt like I had lost the opportunity forever to find out what happened after chapter 26. Did Holden Caulfield ever regret letting Phoebe take the risk and reach for the gold ring-aka letting her grow up and face the world and its faults too soon? soo many questions but no answers- like I would even be lucky enough to meet him then but you get the gist.

I haven't felt so connected to a character's experience for such a long time, surprised, is an understatement. I'm obviously not going through anything close to terminal illness, but I could empathize just like anyone else for the characters' predicament and learn a thing or two about living in the moment.

Don't get me wrong I fell in love with Hazel and Augustus love story as much as the next girl but I would say I was even more in love with the moral, symbols, metaphors, the incredible wit in the authors' words; and perhaps my favorite thing about this book was its' ability to indirectly answer all the questions I had for my favorite book.

What really teared me up was the reading of The Red Wheelbarrow, like Hazel; I, too had that poem memorized. It was for an English class that I started off hating to only be completely grateful for by the end of it. The class was taught by the same English teacher that we read The Catcher in the Rye with. He was easily the best teacher I ever had, he passed on in 2010 to terminal illness. I wish I had the chance to tell him how he had changed my life and put my life back on track at a point of young rebellious confusion.  Reading The fault in our stars gave me a strong rush of nostalgia for my favorite memories in English 10 with a teacher whose passion for literature is unparalleled.

See? Told you there was no spoiling, just literally my personal connection to the book.
So, if you've got some time, give this book a read:) I hope it captivates you as much as it has enthralled me. Now I'm ready to watch the movie:)


Friday, March 14, 2014

all of me

What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
What's going on in that beautiful mind
I'm on your magical mystery ride

My head's under water
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind

'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh

How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you're crying you're beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood
You're my downfall, you're my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues

My head's under water
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind

'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh

Give me all of you
Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts
Risking it all, though it's hard

'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you

I give you all of me
And you give me all of you
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