Before & After

New before and after up on my makeup page!

http://cathyshih.tumblr.com/

Fun at Arboretum

This past weekend I visited the Arcadia Arboretum

Climbed through a forest. Not really but it's fun to pretend.

Went inside a hut.

Queen Anne's Cottage under restoration and won't be open again until April. BOO!

Lovely Waterfall

Saw some geese. They don't get scared all at when you're close!

And best of all. Got to see beautiful peacocks. 

This was actually taken outside the Arboretum while driving through "The Village" neighborhood of Arcadia. 

My first time seeing a peacock tying to attract a mate! So gorgeous!

Going on a hike this weekend at the Griffith Observatory. Stay tuned for pix!

Doggie Star Cookies

I ran out of doggie treats recently but instead of running to the store and getting my dogs treats from Petsmart, I decided to bake them treats myself! This recipe is from the Pasadena Humane Society. 

 Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• ½ cup powdered milk
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ cup ice water
• 6 tblsp margarine, shortening or meat drippings
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 tsp. brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, milk, garlic powder, salt and sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in egg. Add enough water so that the mixture forms a ball. Pat out with your fingers the dough ½ inch thickness on a lightly oiled cookie sheets. Cut with biscuit or cookie cutter into shapes. Save the scraps and pat them out with the next batch. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Store in zip lock bag in the freezer.

 Star cookies in the oven!

 Fresh out of the oven.

 Yummy yummy!

My baby girls, Foxy and Ticky. They LOVE these treats! I got some smaller cookie cutters for next time! 

Studio!

My studio is almost complete! Just need to put on a few finishing touches. Maybe some flowers? Searching for a vintage mirrored tray and other miscellaneous knick knacks =)

It screams BRIDAL. GIRLY. VINTAGE.  and I LOVE IT! I love having this space to do my hair and makeup. And it's in the room with the most natural light of the house so perhaps I shall start recording tutorials very soon.

Dual layered lace and sheer white curtains from Ikea. Sewn together by yours truly.

Ikea. Ikea. Ikea. I have a love-hate relationship with you!

Going out look

Should I do a tutorial on this look??

New Studio Setup Preview!

Still a work in progress....but I am LOVING this space. Probably my favorite part of the house.

Beauty Routine Update

I have been using the Sircuit skincare line for about two weeks now! And I'm happy to report that I am really liking it. I tend to have naturally dry skin so it's nice that I don't have to reapply the moisturizer during the day but still feel like my skin is hydrated.

*x-trap cleanser: super gentle but you definitely feel that it cleans your face without leaving your skin all tight afterwards.
*day care moisturizer spf 15: smells really good and leaves your skin nice and dewy
*molecular hydrating mist: a perfect finishing touch to the moisturizer and I also use it to set my makeup. If I feel a little dry towards the end of the day I spray some of this to rehydrate rather than reapplying the moisturizer. I LOVE this product.
*cloud 9 night cream: I use this as a face and eye cream because it's so hydrating and gentle you can use it on your eyes rather than spending more money for eye cream!

After my juice cleanse I did notice my skin was breaking out a little bit and there was some redness. But after I went to get a facial from Marissa at Green Line Beauty, all was solved! She did an amazing job and I did not leave with a splotchy red face like how I normally do from other facial places! My favorite part was that she had these eye pods she puts over your eyes when she's using the magnifying lens with the super bright light during extractions. My eyes are really sensitive to bright lights so it was nice that she had something that made the process less painful. I've had estheticians that just put cotton pads over my eyes...um light shines directly through cotton pads....

Marissa also gave me a sample of Tammy Fender's Capillary Strengthening Serum which I am seriously loving. I'm so sad because the sample is super tiny and I am trying to make it last as long as possible! I started to get some broken capillaries on my face a few months back and it has been bothering me. But supposedly this will do the trick and strengthen capillaries as well as reduce any redness. It's $80 on amazon...maybe I will splurge on this for my birthday! I like this serum a lot more than the Sircuit O.M.G. serum which I also got a sample of. I feel that it isn't as hydrating and it has a really funky grass smell that I don't like. It's also $150 almost double the Tammy Fender! I also have a sample of the Sircuit sir activ exfoliator which I tried during my facial and loved it. I need to stop being lazy and exfoliate once a week...

I also picked up the Sircuit sol-avert spf 30 just for a little bit  more coverage during the day. I feel it is a little bit dry when you first put it on but I mist the molecular after I put this on and it works pretty well. It doesn't leave a greasy residue and absorbs really quickly, which I like.

This is my face without any makeup! Just wearing the above products. 

Homemade Uncrustables!

Recently made these as well! They are super easy to make and yummy. Perfect for a on-the-go mornings and afternoon snack.

All you need is bred, uncrustable maker, peanut butter & jelly!

Start by spreading peanut butter in the center of both slices of bread

Add the jelly on one slice of bread

Press down on the uncrustable maker

Remove crust

Ta-da!

Put in ziploc bags and store in freezer. Take out 30 mins prior to eating to deforest. Or put in microwave for 10-15 sec.

Baking Adventure!

I had a baking adventure with my lovely friend Jeanie! It was just out of the box, nothing spectacular but it was yummy nonetheless!

Our ingredients. Totally forgot to buy icing, but we don't like icing anyways.

Look at how happy she is whisking away!

We decided to pour the mix into 6 cones and 6 directly into the muffin pan

Some came out perfectly!

Some spelled over =(

Cake mix in pan + cake mix in cone

Our lovely creations!

It was a wonderful way to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon. Just two girls chitchatting and munching on these yummy cupcake cones!

Post Ritual Cleanse

YAY! It's finally over! I successfully completed the 3 day Ritual Juice Cleanse. While it wasn't as tough as the Master Cleanse (10 days) it definitely wan't a walk in the park either. Anytime you go from eating...to NOTHING, it is very challenging. I think any type of "fasting" diet the first 2-3 days are the hardest. For me the hardest was during dinnertime when I had to prepare/watch my husband's dinner. But I made it! And I think 3 days was just perfect. Not too short and just long enough. 

Out of all the juices my least favorite was juice #4 because it was Agave, Alkaline Water, Lemon, Cayenne. This juice reminded me most of the master cleanse and it was super tart. I did not look forward to this juice at all. My favorite juice was juice #6 which was Alkaline Water, Raw Cashews, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Agave. It was a delicious way to end the day! And the raw cashews gave me a chance to kind of chew. 

First meal post cleanse: Tender Greens.

Harvest Salad

Sauteed Kale

Not as satisfying as a big mac from McDonalds but to me it was absolute heaven to be able to chew again! Tender Greens is an all organic restaurant that uses only the finest ingredients in all of their dishes.

I'm so happy to be able to eat again! Now the focus is on post cleanse healthy eating. 

Have a lovely Sunday! 

Eat Right 4 Your Type

I recently read "Eat Right 4 Your Type" by Dr. Peter D' Adamo. It was a very interesting and quick read (by quick I meant I only skimmed the other 3 blood types and focused on my own blood type.)

According to Dr. D'Adamo, people with the blood type A are considered "The Cultivator and are suppose to be vegetarians because animal foods will make type A feel sluggish and less energized than when eating proteins." Without going into full on book report mode basically Type A people should avoid red meats, chicken and turkey is okay, should eat mostly seafood (salmon, cod etc but avoid crab, lobster, oysters, scallops), and avoid all dairy (HOW CAN I DO THIS?! I LOVE CHEESE!)

I did a little research and could not find any substantial proof to Dr. D'Adamo's research. In fact most in the medical field say there is no link between food and blood type. But a lot of his patients swear by it and say the blood type diet drastically changed their life. I think anytime someone decides to make a change in their diet and conscientiously want to eat better will become healthier. The blood type diet may be just another "fad" diet but like all the other diets it does come with very good advice. Eat less processed foods and sugars, cut down on caffeine and alcohol, eat more vegetables. This book proved to be an interesting read and while I may not follow the blood type diet to the T, I will be trying to eat less red meat and more vegetables in the days after my juice cleanse.

If you're curious about what the "correct" diet is for your blood type then I highly suggest this book!

Good Night!

Good night from Foxy :)

Juice Cleanse Day 1

It's here!






All 3 days are in my fridge.






Juice 1: spinach, romaine, kale, celery, cucumber, green apple, lemon.

Verdict: Yum! Tastes like green apples.