Indigo haul & iPad 2

he reason I like sharing hauls with you guys is so that you guys can check out some of the cool things that are out there and if you are interested you can probably go and pick them out yourself since they will probably be available.
Today I had to go to the mall to pre-order a train set for my son at Indigo and while I was there I was checking out their home section. You guys probably know that I'm in love with Indigo's home section. I always check it out when I'm there and sometimes they have amazing sales. Although I didn't get anything in their sale section today I was very tempted. They had some holidays stuff for up to 75% off!

Anyways, here are a few things I picked up:

A Pantone notebook. I'm in the design field and anyone who works in print knows about Pantone colours.
Anytime I see anything Pantone-related I go gaga over them. This notebook (5.25" x 8.25") also
came in a blue, but I love the combination of yellow and pink.

This was $16CAD. I'm absolutely in love with this notebook. I'm going to keep this notebook in my
purse and write down lists and ideas.

Here is the inside front cover.

The inside pages are pink and lined. It even has a ribbon bookmark. 

Sometimes I'll buy things that I don't need just because I think it's so cool
I recently did a shoot with different milks (I'll post that up soon) and we shot one of the milks with
a cute, striped straw that looked very similar to this. I have a stash of cool knick knacks that I keep
in my craft box and this is going in it. I'm sure I'll find a use for it in the future- maybe for my son's
3rd birthday party?

This was $8CAD for 144 straws. It also came in red and white, but I think the blue and white is much
more unexpected. I love that it's environmentally friendly because it's made out of paper and printed
with soy-based ink. BTW, I love anything from Kikkerland. They make the coolest things.

The last thing I got from Indigo was a bathroom set. I've been wanting to replace our ugly set that
we had from a while ago, but it's been so hard finding a set that was pretty and affordable.

This collection was called the Jaipur Collection and it has a lace pattern. It's made of bone China and
so pretty! This one is the soap pump. This was $14.50CAD.

I also go the soap dish. This was $7CAD.

This is the tumbler. It was $9CAD. I'm going to use it as a toothbrush holder.

This is my old bathroom set. It was nice when I got it, but it was so cheaply made that the wooden part
started peeling and the pump kept leaking soap. I got this from Nood in Vancouver. I think they are
closing now.

I finally got the iPad 2. My work is reimbursing me for it because I need it for work. I got the 16GB
in white and I got the pink cover.

This is the basic apps that it came with. 

I love braids!

rowing my hair is literally taking me forever, but I'm insistent on growing it out to try out all these cool braids that I've been seeing on celebrities. I made a mistake of getting my hair layered long time ago so it's impossible for me to do any kind of braid. Right now my hair is almost down to the middle of my back, but because of the layers I still can't do any braids. Sigh.

Anyways, I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite braids.

Leona Lewis

Fish tail braid + Lauren Conrad side braid = ♥

I actually tried to recreate this style for my younger sister's wedding last spring, but again, my hair was not long enough. It didn't turn out quite right.

Amanda Seyfried

I like how loose and wavy this braid is. Almost like a mermaid...

And the queen of all braids... Diane Kruger

I love how she finished off her braid in this simple look. It probably is difficult to create though...

This one is not a full-on braid, but I love how bohemian it looks. She's so gorgeous here...

This one is a braid bun.

I love her fish tail braids here.

Love it here too! More loose and messy though.

This one is a modern take on the milk maid braid. She used bobby pins I think. So chic!

Never judge a book by its cover?

mmm... it's hard not to when a book cover is this nice.

I'm a sucker for buying books with a nice book cover. I mean, if you're going to buy a book you might as well buy something that you will love to see in your bookshelf, right?

I love how Penguin books commissioned illustrator, Jillian Tamaki to create an embroidered book cover of some of the well-known classics. These books will hit shelves in the fall and I can't wait to get my hands on The Secret Garden. That was one of my favourite books growing up...

Here's a photo of the work-in-progress.

Photos courtesy of Jillian Tamaki

I heart Spade

've always loved Kate Spade, but lately I've been LOVING it.

I've been looking for a new wallet for some time because the wallet that I'm currently using is so dirty (damn Prada nylon wallet!). Well, this is the wallet that I want next- the Grand Street Imogen Wallet in Jasper Blue. It's in a beautiful ice blue and I love the turn lock feature. But best of all, I love the retro coin snap purse at the back. Kate Spade is one after my own heart. Even the lining feature in the coin purse is so me. It's a bit pricey at $245 and there is a whopping $49 standard international shipping. What to do...

It has 18 credit card slots.

I love the paisley lining.

Laced up

hile I was at Walmart a few days ago, I spotted the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. They were kind of hidden, but I had read a bit about them in beauty blogs so I immediately went through their stock and found the one that I had been interested in- Laced Up. It basically looks like there is lace overlay on your nails.

Basically these are like nail polish stickers that you stick onto your nails. It comes in a pack of 16 that comes in different shapes and sizes to fit your nails perfectly. I have short nails so I was able to cut some of them in half to not waste product. It took a while to do all my nails because I wanted to do them perfectly, but it was not hard at all. Just a little time consuming. If you're still a little hesitant on how to put these on there are YouTube videos out there that show you how. I suggest you watch those. Here's one that I happened to watch:

So what do I think of these? I LOVE IT! I'm thinking of picking up their other styles- Skinny Jeans (denim print), Check It Out (houndstooth pattern), Misbehaved (fishnet pattern), Wild Child (zebra print), and Kitty Kitty (leopard print). I think it comes in a total of 25 colours/prints. That's a pretty good range. Where I got it it was just under $9. It looks really professional and amazing on. So save your money next time you think of going to the nail salon and try these!

They claim to last up to 10 days. I'm on my 2nd day and so far so good. I was really hesitant to believe that these would hold up well, but I'm really impressed with it. Yesterday I was cleaning my house- scrubbing the sinks and all sorts of heavy work and not a dent. Today I was assembling my son's gourmet kitchen set and still no signs of any damage. Plus, my friends commented today how my nails were so neat. They couldn't even tell they were stickered on. My co-worker has the Skinny Jeans (denim) one and she said she would try it this weekend so I'm going to see how that looks on her tomorrow.

I love a great find

few weeks ago I was visiting my cousin's store to sell my jewelry and she happened to be displaying my rings on these really neat porcelain mini hands. I've been looking for vintage porcelain glove molds for a really long time since I first saw them at a photographer's studio, but the ones that I found were really expensive. The one I saw at a photographer's studio was used to hold mail which I thought was a really neat idea. However, when I saw the mini ones at my cousin's store I decided I liked these better. Plus, I thought it was a brilliant idea to display my rings on here. I asked her where she got the hands and she said she got it in NYC. They were a bargain at $5 each! She's in New York a lot to go to trade shows so I asked her to pick these up for me the next time she went. I saw her today at my sister's birthday party and she brought these for me. I couldn't wait to go home and show you guys what they look like. I think I'm going to use one as a display above my shoe shelf and use some for my bookshelf where I display all my June/July/August jewelry.

Now everyone can have a Birkin!

t's the most coveted and elusive bag of all time. The symbol of wealth and status. The majority of the population will never own one because of the hefty price tag. What is it? It's the Birkin bag of course. But now all of us can have one... How? Read on.

I came across 2 brands- Banana Taipei and Thursday Friday a while ago and since then have considered buying one of their products. They're not exactly fake designer Birkins. It's actually a play on the Birkin. Basically both companies print the original Birkin bag on their canvas tote bags on all sides, but it's obviously a canvas bag. I saw Misslovely with the Banana Taipei one and fell in love. Since then, I've seen another company, Thursday Friday, with their own version. I'm liking the Banana Taipei one better because it looks like it's better quality. I have emailed banana.tpe@gmail.com to see if they can ship it to me. Apparently it is $49.99 + shipping. *UPDATE* It's actually $69.99USD + $20 shipping. They are taking orders on February 15 at 12pm GMT+8. The one I'm eyeing is the one in Tiffany Blue:

The front. I love how the handle of the canvas tote is coloured to make it look like it's the continuation of the handle of the Birkin. The Thursday Friday one doesn't have coloured handles.

The backside.

The side.

The other side.

Even the bottom is printed. So ingenious!

Here's the Thursday Friday version:

Cute, but definitely not as pretty as the Banana Taipei.

Great finds

oes anyone else get a high when they buy something exciting? I do.

I wouldn't say I'm addicted to shopping, but my heart races when I find something good. But the weird thing is I always find something great when I'm not looking for anything specific to buy. Today I stepped out at lunch time to do a few errands. I had to get another tube of my favourite mascara and a birthday card for my younger sister. First I went to Indigo to pick up a pretty

birthday card. I'm very picky with cards. It takes me a long time to pick one. I know it's something that you read once and throw out (well, I don't!), but I still want to make sure the card reflects who I am. I finally settled on a card by Papyrus. It's a little more expensive, but so beautiful. I'm sure my younger sister will appreciate it. So I thought I was done with Indigo, but as I was walking towards the cash a book caught my eye. It was a wedding DIY craft book. I'm married and so are my sisters, but I couldn't resist peeking inside. I love anything to do with crafts and the front cover was so beautiful. There were so many craft ideas and I realized that they could be tweaked so that it wasn't wedding centered. I just had to get it.

So my next stop was Sephora. I've been currently using my holy grail mascara, Makeup Forever's Smoky Lash mascara, but my tube dried out. I wanted to pick up another tube. But, when I walked in I saw the Hello Kitty Collection for Sephora. Now, I'm not a huge Hello Kitty fan, but when I first saw the press release I just fell in love. I wasn't a fan of MAC's Hello Kitty collection because I thought the packaging was not very pretty. But this one was so true to Hello Kitty's original style. I was eyeing the hand held mirror because my previous mirror broke. I was debating whether to get the Lioele Princess Mirror in Baby Pink, but I decided I liked this one better. Plus, it was even more stunning in person. It was huge too and surprisingly light! The downfall was that it was pricey ($46CAD) and left visible fingerprints. However, it was too pretty to pass up. I've been also looking for a small compact mirror to carry with me. The Hello Kitty collection had one, but I found it really hard to open. The hinge was not very flexible. I decided to get the eyeshadow and lipgloss compact instead. The packaging was uber cute too. I could use that as my mirror when I'm traveling now.

I'm now going to post pictures of all the things that I got today. Plus, a freebie at the end!

Isn't the birthday card so pretty? I didn't know it was a birthday card because the outside had a pig, but the message inside said it was a birthday card.

Here's a close-up. The little swirls are all shiny copper. I hate cards that have glitter because it gets all over my fingers then on my face, but this one had none :-)

A simple message inside.

"A wish to you for a sweet, carefree lighter-than-air day! Happy Birthday"

This was the book that I fell in love with. It's called Handmade Weddings by Eunice Moyle, Sabrina Moyle, and Shana Faust. What do you know, Shana Faust is the former Deputy Style Editor of Martha Stewart Weddings. Figures!

I just love the paper-wrapped favors. I'm thinking I could wrap soaps in personalized wrapping. It would look amazing! Can't wait to try this.

Here's another great idea. I'm known as the girl that wraps presents nicely. Last Saturday I went to a baby shower and everyone guessed what my present was because of my wrapping.

Just gorge! Beautiful photography.

So here's what I went to Sephora for- my Smoky Lash.

Packaging is not that exciting, but this is an amazing product. Goes on super black and dries quickly. It also make my lashes look super volumized and loooong.

Here are the 2 Hello Kitty products I picked up. I'm on the waiting list for the brush set.

This is the Say Hello Eyeshadow and Lipgloss Palette

Even the expiration date jar has a bow!

Isn't the compact so cute?! This is how I imagined Hello Kitty cosmetics to be packaged.

It was hard to see the detail of the compact in my last photo so I'm holding it up against my grey wall. The lid of the compact has an iridescence to it.

The Say Hello palette has the purple colours. The other one had more neutral colours. This one swatched better so I got this one. Plus, I have so many neutral palettes.

The 2 colours on the right (top and bottom) have shimmers, but they aren't chunky. The 2 left ones look like a satin finish.

I'm not sure if the lip glosses are of high quality. They look really sheer, but it's good to have in case of an emergency. The white, pink (bottom left) and plum (bottom right) have glitter and the mauve one (top right) doesn't. I didn't swatch them in the store. I was more into the packaging more than anything...

This is a pretty thick palette. 3/4 of an inch?

Here's the back.

This is my prized possession- the hand held mirror. This is the box it came in.

The backside has Hello Kitty's face. So cute! I know it looks heavy, but it's really light. That's great because I use my hand held mirror a lot when I'm putting on makeup. I don't want my hands/arms to be tired.

Another view. Don't you love how her bow isn't flat? It has facets so that it sparkles.

Here's the actual mirror. I wish the mirror was more round than oval because I feel like I don't see the entire length of my face, but I'm nitpicking here.

And now for my freebie!

At work, I get a lot of free stuff. Mainly beauty products, but sometimes non-beauty related stuff. Today I was by the freebie shelf to get some chocolates (we have a stash of junk food there for the late nights) and I saw this beautiful tea pot and tea cup set.

I've been looking for a teapot because I got a pretty loose leaf tea and teaball set for Christmas from David's Tea. This teapot looks vintage and I can't believe nobody snatched it up yet!

Here's the tea pot and tea cup separated. I'll feel so elegant when I'm enjoying my afternoon tea...