The Adventures of Mandy and Tanya : Errands and Thrift Shopping

Dear Readers,

Thursday and Friday I hung out with one of my close friends Mandy (as you probably know from 2 of our other adventures that I've posted on here). Yesterday we went to the Los Cerritos Mall. We went to MAC Cosmetics and I bought the lipliner in Subculture that I ran out of. Its a great neutral shade to put under your light pink lipstick to make it last longer. I usually layer Angel or Syrup over Subculture or Stripdown.

Then we headed to the Dollar Tree in Whittier and also bought items I needed for a swap I am doing with someone in Canada. I was amazed at how many great things there were there! The most awesome score was finding a L'Oreal lipgloss that usually sells for 8-10 dollars in the drugstores and in Target/Walmart for 1.00!! I also bought alot of L.A. Colors stuff.

(what fun would it be if I showed everyone what I bought for my swap? lol)

After we were done there, we stopped by Target in the same shopping center and had to go get some E.L.F. stuff. I picked up a grey clutch for myself as well as an E.L.F. lipstick (that only costs a dollar) in the color Classy. Emilynoel83 claims it is a dupe for Angel and I saw it in person and no dice. I also gave Mandy an E.L.F. Matifying Powder Compact :]

(I thought it be a closer dupe to MAC Syrup but no dice!)

(top: MAC Angel, Middle: E.L.F. in classy and bottom MAC Syrup)

Then on Friday, we went thrifting. I've never been and it was alot of fun. First we stopped by a Goodwill near where Mandy lives in Santa Fe Springs. I had great success and found 2 clutches I really like and Mandy bought a puffy pirate shirt. (please excuse my dirty floor)

After we finished in the Goodwill, we headed to another thrift store called Savers. I was surprised it was a thrift store because it was so clean! I didn't find any clutches I liked. I did get a silver angel wing necklace, a silver cherry blossom bracelet and a purple dress.

I was not intending to get the dress. I tried it on and it looked really nice on me but Mandy agreed that it was too tight from the bottom as its a bubble dress so I left it. Then on the way back to Mandy's I told her I really liked the dress so we went back for it and Im glad I did. Then we went to Taco Bell where I got 2 5-layered beefy cheese burritos and Mandy got a chalupa. I've had a great couple of days with Mandy and today will be just as good. I have 2 parties to go to so I should get rest.

-With <3

Mail's In! Toot! Toot!: Surprises from Slough UK

Dear Readers,

If you recognize the title its because LolaMarie7 from YouTube uses this title when she gets mail. I thought it was cute so I decided to use it. Today I went to the Post Office to check my postal box to see if my swap package from my friend Uzma in the UK had arrived. If you've never heard of a makeup swap, a makeup swap is when you swap beauty products with someone else. You both agree on a budget. If its an international swap (like what I did) if its something you can't find in your own country you ask for that or it could be a random swap and you buy random products for someone to try. You must be careful who you swap with cause you don't want to get swap-lifted.

I swapped with a lovely girl from the UK named Uzma. She is such a sweetheart and swapping with her was quite fun. She is a reliable swapper and did keep in contact with me the whole time. She was looking for a Armani Exchange belt and I really wanted to try Barry M nail polishes and a Sleek palette so it was a perfect fit. Her package took about a week to arrive which is quite fast considering she sent it by her country's regular mail service (Airsure) and I shipped out via UPS. They are quite expensive but it was worth it cause I didn't want the belt to get lost. She sent me 7 Barry M polishes and a Bad Girl Sleek Palette. All the colors she sent were JAWDROPPING! I was so happy when I saw all the colors I was literally crying from happiness. She also included such a sweet card.

And heres a pic of the nail polishes:

The palette with the nail polishes:

The palette:

I really would like to thank Uzma for swapping with me. She is really awesome and should she want anything else, Id definitely swap with her in the future :]

Im expecting another swap package from Canada and another one from the UK (although I think the girl I swapped with from the UK has swap-lifted me and Ill have to file a mail fraud report)

-With <3

Coffee and Spring Break Reading

I've had a nice lowkey Saturday. I went to Urth Cafe with two dear friends of mine. At first i was scared because of the area, but the cafe was really nice. Juan got the Spanish Latte meanwhile Robert and I both got the Warm Honey and Vanilla Latte.

Juan's Spanish Latte

Robert's Warm Honey Vanilla Latte (look at the butterfly!)

My Warm Honey Vanilla Latte

Robert and Juan shared a pecan pie, it was too sweet for me.

After the cafe, We went to my favorite spot in Torrance to overlook the entire city. I had fun swinging on the swings. We had to call it a night shortly after since Juan was cold! He was a trooper though :]

I've also decided since this week will be my spring break that I will read the whole day Sunday and Wednesday. I have a list of literary works that I am going to try to finish on that day although realistically Ill probably finish 1 or 2 of them. The books I plan on reading are as follows (in no particular order):
1. Song of Susannah by Stephen King (got through first chapter, never finished it)
2. Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri (half-ways through never finished it)
3. the Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot (half-ways through never finished it)
4. Purgatory by Dante Alighieri
5. The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo (I want to re-read it)
6. Goethe's Faust
7. Paradiso by Dante Aligheri
If there is time, I am also hoping to re-read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. I know that reading all this is a long shot. I have no lyrical inspiration for the upcoming stuff my band is working on so Im hoping these books will help

-With <3

Renee Fleming: Opera Meets Rock

On Tuesday of this week my dear friend Mariana Ramirez (who also happens to be an opera singer) and I went to see Renee Fleming in recital at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Hall Concert Hall (whew! what a mouthful!) in Costa Mesa. Those who know me, know that I am a HUGE fan of Renee Fleming. Since I am also classified as a full lyric soprano, I listen to Renee sing all the pieces I am doing to learn them. I am in NO WAY saying I sound like her because I don't but I definitely aspire to be as good as her.

Mariana came over around 5ish for dinner at my place (poor thing was stuck in traffic). We had cevieche tostadas (lemon cured fish) for dinner. Afterwards I had fun doing her makeup. We realized we were running late so I changed and we went out the door. Luckily traffic there wasn't that bad. We arrived to the hall which looked like a red carpet premiere.
We went to will call and picked up our tickets then scurried over to the elevator and to our seats. When we sat down we thought that we would miss a part of the concert but Renee Fleming ran really late. She opened up with "Adieu, Notre Petite Table" from Manon by Massenet and ended the classical set with "Vissi d'Arte" from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini which then an intermission followed to set up for the next part of her recital which she would sing songs from her album Dark Hope which is an alternative album. During the intermission Mariana and I decided to look around the hall. It was so gorgeous!

She sang "Endlessly", "No One's Gonna Love You", "Soul Meets Body", "Hallelujah", and "In Your Eyes" (Peter Gabriel version). The crowd waved lit cellphones and sang along with her. I didn't feel like I was in an opera recital at all anymore. Afterwards, Renee sang an encore of "Summertime" from Porgy and the Bees, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz and "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Gianni Schicchi which was Renee Segerstrom's favorite aria (both Henry and Renee were in attendance). The recital ended around 10:30.

After the recital, Mariana and I came back to my place and had Strawberry Banana tea with poptarts and then she had to leave. All in all I had a great time with Mariana. I think that with Renee Fleming doing a cross-over album, classically trained sopranos (like myself) who want to go into heavy metal will be a bit more welcomed at least I hope this is the case. Im just sad that Leigh Anne couldn't make it. I'll probably have a blog post dedicated to her :]

-With <3

Moringas all around!

I went to The Body Shop because I wanted to try the Japanese Cherry Blossom body butter from there. I know I have the Bath and Body works one as I stated here recently but I have been hearing good things about The Body Shop so I thought Id buy one of the 1.67 oz ones (50 mL if you are not in the USA) to keep in my purse so when my hands get dry I can moisturize them. It turns out that they only had the big 6.75 oz ones (200 mL) which is definitely not convenient so I decided to try out one of the smaller ones in a different scent. My brother and I smelled all of them and we both decided the Pink Grapefruit and Coconut were definitely too strong. I ended up being torn between the Strawberry and Moringa. The Strawberry reminded me of Strawberry ice cream and Moringa reminded me of walking into a garden. I remember my friend Victoria telling me that Simone Simons of Epica uses the Moringa body butter. I decided to take the Moringa. Each of the 1.67 oz containers cost 6 dollars. The lady at the cash register told me they were on sale for 2 for 10 dollars so I took two. I love the scent.