Not Much To Write About

I haven't posted in a while mainly because my life is kinda, sorta boring right now. No traveling, no crazy parties, just every day normal stuff.

Transitional phases suck!!

Here is how my typical day goes:

11:30am - Wake up

11:45am - Wash my face and brush teeth

11:55am - Walk the dogs

12:20pm - Check Facebook, blog and email

1:00pm - Eat lunch

2:00pm - Work on fiance's new website

3:00pm - Re-check Facebook (addicted much?)

4:00pm - Attempt to clean house or retouch photos from work

6:00pm - Fiance comes home! (Highlight of the day)

6:30pm - Cook dinner for fiance and dogs

7:30pm - Watch TV with fiance and dogs

9:00pm - Research for my new company

10:00pm - Go to work.

3:00am - Come home and pass out unshowered and still clothed.

RINSE & REPEAT

Did I bore you yet? Because I kinda bored myself.

Every once in a while I begin to miss my old life of going out 4 times a week but I know all of the things I am giving up right now will come back to reward me ten fold in a few years.

I just need to learn patience.

I guess my posts will be spread further apart until something interesting happens like the big move!!

And just because this post looks a little naked without any pictures, here is a pic of London (a face only a mother could love).

Portraits I've Shot

I love taking photos of people. Especially people who don't want their photo taken.

People who love being photographed tend to pose a lot (a.k.a me). But, those who are camera shy or just plain hate photos usually move around a lot more creating a more candid and natural photo.

Posing in photos can create a very flattering but boring photograph.

But, having someone engage and interact with you while you are taking their photo can create a photograph full of emotion and thought.

This photo was taken during a coffee break with my cousin Polina at a nearby cafe. She hates getting her photo taken and you can tell by how natural she looks as if we were in mid conversation (which I think we were actually). One of my favorite photos.


This photo was taken after I had done a full makeover on my cousin Jen before going out one night. Simple, sweet and beautiful are the words that come to mind when looking at this photo.


Yet another person that absolutely hates having her picture taken. I caught this adorable moment while she was making faces at my camera. Capturing spontaneity is what really makes an image pop.


Brian doesn't really mind having is picture taken but on this day he was avoiding my camera for some reason which in turn created an awesome photo. I love the lighting coming from the window on his left and his cheeky grin adds emotion to the photo.


When I first got my new camera I asked E.W. to grab London and stand in front of the window. *Snap* *snap *snap*. It only took me 3 shots to get the perfect photo. I love how they are both squinting from the sun and the relaxed and serene looks on their faces.


If any of my friends want their photo taken, let me know!!

Bling Your Hair With Hair Flairs

I love this new product I got to review! Check out my video on Hair Flairs. It's an awesome and cheap way to add an extra bling effect in your hairdo. Also, check out the Hair Flairs Facebook page for more stunning hair effects.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Turn Yourself Into A Disney Princess

If you had the chance to be any Disney Princess, who would you be??

This one's easy... I would be Princess Jasmine!

She is way above all other Disney princesses. She's both sexy and fearless. While all the other princesses try to play innocent and are all like, "Save me, save me!", Jasmine is riding around on magic carpets and looking sexy in her harem outfit.

Pocahantas is a close second because of her gorgeous long hair and tan, lean body.

I decided to photoshop myself into Princess Jasmine to see what I would look like if I was born into royalty in Agraba.


Not too shabby! I think I look pretty damn good as an Arabian princess. Hmmm, possible Halloween costume next year??

Here are the image sources I used:


I was inspired to create this image from an image I made 3 years ago of me as Little Mermaid. I intended to do an image for each Disney Princess but never got around to it.


Ok so now that I've done Little Mermaid and Princess Jasmine, who should I do next??

Pocahontas maybe??

I need inspiration!!

Carry Your Memory With Style - MoH Bands

Do you like my new bracelet??

Sike!! It's not really a bracelet. Well Kind of...

It's the new MoH™ Band!!

The MoH Band ™ is a USB Flash Drive bracelet. It adds convenience and style to the traditional flash drive and comes in various colors and styles. It is quickly becoming a must have product for any student!

It's very lightweight and secures tightly around your wrist so there in no risk of losing your files.


The bracelet holds 2 GB of memory and comes in 17 different colors. I got mine in "Black Magic" but my favorite is "Pink Couture".

I wish I had this when I was in school. I remember how annoying copying files over to CDs used to be. Sometimes I would even lose the CD and be left without my files! Well, it's pretty hard to lose your files when they are on your wrist.

With the MoH Band, you just drag and drop your files onto the USB, slide it onto your wrist, and go.

This is portable memory of the future if you ask me!

As a present to my blog readers, I am giving out a 20% off discount for the Memory On Hand Bracelets.

Use the code: "TMSN20" to receive 20% off your entire order!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Philadelphia Flower Show - Paris Theme

I went to the annual Philadelphia Flower Show yesterday. This year's theme was Paris!!

I was hoping to find some awesome wedding ideas now that I'm engaged. Unfortunately, I didn't get any wedding inspiration, but it was my favorite theme so far.

According to my cousin, it was a spring in Paris theme so all of the flowers were bright and colorful. Not the whites and creams that I was looking for.

Tons of gorgeous flower animals stood at the entrance of the faux Eiffel Tower.


There was a old, French winery setup which had nothing to do with flowers but it was still cute nonetheless. Made me want to stomp some grapes like Lucy did.


And a magnificent French themed wedding cake!! This thing was enormous and I LOVED IT. If my wedding was themed, this would totally be my cake.

Love the Mona Lisa on the second tier down.


I would die to have these flower lamp thingies at my wedding. Die die die.


I love how two glasses of wine in a beautiful setting is synonymous with Paris. Alcohol, beauty and love :) Aaahhh, Mon Cherie.


I told my cousin this might be her bridesmaid dress for my wedding. She told me she won't come.


Who goes to France without having a cheese, wine and baguette picnic?? Ok, me blah! But I was only there for 24 hours and could only do so much.


Now for my favorite part of the show...the miniatures! There was a long wall that had tiny shoebox sized windows that each had it's own Parisian themed scene. It was so amazing how detailed every scene was. They even included real mini plants and flowers!

Doesn't it look just like as if I was standing on an actual street and taking a pic? When in reality, those table are about the size of my pinky finger.


Anyone up for a romantic, candle lit dinner looking out onto the streets of Paris??


Or how about a visit to a famous French bakery with mouth watering cakes on display?


Orrr...a glass of Champagne with a flaky French biscuit on a cozy corner might do!!


I really loved these scenes. If I had these miniature food toys when I was little, I would have been elated. I would also probably have had a tummy full of plastic toy foods because they look good enough to eat.

Can't wait to go back to Paris one day....

Japan Tsunami & Freedom Writers

I watched Freedom Writers (a movie based on a true story) yesterday and came up to the part that never fails to make me cry. The part where a 14 year old boy shares his latest journal entry with his classroom.

He tells everyone how him and his family were evicted from their house over the summer and that he saw no point in going to school when he was homeless, wearing old clothes from last year and couldn't even get a haircut.

In the end, he found sanctuary and love in his English class and it made all of his problems seem less significant.

Here is the clip for reference.

Usually, this part of the movie saddens me and I tear up a little. But this time around, it really hit me hard. I cried...a lot.

Here I am, debating on whether or not I can afford a $5,000-$10,000 wedding dress and this poor kid can't even afford a hair cut and doesn't have a bed to sleep in.

WTF is wrong with this picture??

I feel so selfish now. I feel like all of my past thoughts of having nicer clothes, a nicer house etc., are so disgusting now. I have such a blessed life already and I can't believe how much of it I take for granted.

Only 4 years ago, I was living alone in a run down studio apartment, not being able to afford my rent but I appreciated everything I had so much more.

I need to go back to that state of mind and start to appreciate how my life has changed for the better and know that I could lose everything I have any day.

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Then, I wake up this morning and see that someone's Facebook status, "Be happy that you woke up alive today. Many didn't."

A massive 23-foot tsunami, caused by an earthquake, hit the coast of Japan today and hundreds were killed. Homes, cars, and ships were ruined. 200-300 bodies have already washed ashore.

My heart goes out to all of the people that had no chance. They had no decision on whether they would live or not. It was inevitable. And the thousands of people that will be affected by the deaths and damages.

It's just so overwhelming how fast you can lose everything you've ever had or known in life...family, possessions and well-being.

Below is a very informative (but sad) video on tsunamis and the devastation they have caused throughout history.

Sorry for such a sad post today but it's how I feel at the moment.

My First Bridal Show With Nicole Miller

I surprised E.W. last week with tickets to our first bridal show!! It took place at the Bellevue in the Hyatt and neither of us really knew what to expect.

When we got there, we were greeted with a herd of women registering for the event. E.W. immediately stopped in his tracks and said, "Omg, if this event is all women then I'm leaving right now."

Thank god they told us that men had registered too because I would have had to make some serious puppy dog eyes to make him stay and that can be quite exhausting.

It was still 95% woman and 5% men which got me thinking... Why aren't there more men helping their fiances plan their weddings? Are they too fat and lazy to wake up on a Saturday morning? Do their opinions not matter?

Ladies, if your fiance is equally excited to plan your wedding as you are...you have found a fine, fine man.

Sorry for the photo quality in this post. I didn't bring my camera so I had to steal some pics from an event website.


One of our must stop booths was Tiffany & Co. of course! I looked at some potential platinum wedding bands for E.W. but didn't see any that I liked. They were all too plain or too thin.

I did see a GORGEOUS diamond band for me that kind of looked like diamond leaves around my finger but I won't get my hopes up. *crosses fingers*


The gentleman that helped us out at the booth took one look at my engagement ring and said "Can I just say, your fiance did an extraordinary job with that ring!"

I know I know :D


I actually never wanted to get a wedding band at all because my engagement ring is enormous and brilliant enough. I don't want another ringing distracting from it but the Tiffany guy said I can always put it on my other ring finger.

Good point! Why did I not think of that! Eh, but then again he's just trying to sell me another ring.


There were a few flower displays at the event. I would never have this particular one at my wedding (not my style) but I absolutely love it. So pretty and whimsical... like a fairy garden.


Towards the end of the event, Nicole Miller had a fashion show with her line of wedding dresses and cocktail dresses. And to be completely honest, I didn't like any of her weddings dresses. Not one. Most of them were wrinkly, plain and boring, and just didn't look like high fashion to me.

For such a big designer, I expect way better quality. I'm not a huge fan of her work and I feel like her line is too old for me. I guess maybe in 5 or so years my opinion might change. I did love her line of sexy sequined cocktail dresses though. I'm actually thinking of getting the one below for my engagement party or rehearsal dinner. Reasonably priced at $398.


Nicole Miller was sitting across from me at the show next to Lisa Nutter. At the start of the show, she put black sunglasses on. I wonder why? Is it like a designer thing? Do they not like seeing their own designs like actors don't like seeing their own movies?

It was weird.


There was so much food too!!! Like enough to feed a small country and a lot of it went to waste. Booo! Give it to me in a doggy bag lol. My favorite was the barbecued salmon over a sweet potato puree served in a martini glass.

It was delish.


The cake displays were not too impressive. I was hoping to see a huge, jaw dropping cake but I guess the vendors save those for bigger bridal shows. All we saw were dinky 2 tiered cakes and a ton of cupcakes.

Although the sweet potato cupcakes were insanely good.

What's with me and sweet potatoes??


All in all, it was a great time and E.W. and I can't wait to go to a bunch more bridal shows over the next year that we will be engaged.

Oh!!! And I finally got in touch with my wedding dress designer from Greece! She said her cheapest dress is about $5,000 which is a huge downer. I was hoping for her dresses to be a little cheaper. Now I have to make a decision whether I want to spend that kind of money for a dress I will be wearing only 5 hours.

Decisions, decisions.

Take A Moment For Yourself

Thanks to Crystal Light for sponsoring this post. To learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors, visit http://www.facebook.com/crystallight.

Life can be super hectic and sometimes whizzes by so fast before you even have a chance to enjoy it. For this reason, it's very important to take little moments out of your day to pamper yourself and enjoy being you.

Taking little moments out of the day for yourself will really help you appreciate yourself a lot more. It can be something as simple as taking a walk in the park, picking flowers from your garden or reading a book while enjoying a hot cup of tea.

My favorite way to take a moment out for myself is to soak and relax in a hot steamy bubble bath.

MMMMMmmmmmm.

To take a proper bath you need to make sure you use a high quality bubble bath or you will be swimming around in a big ol' tub with three bubbles floating around. Bubbles are very very important! They add to the whole experience.


Mood lighting is a must. To create a warm, cozy feeling, scatter a few candles around the tub. Just be careful not to set yourself on fire. I've done that once...ok maybe 3 times.

I like to use scented candles. This one smells like flowers.


I always need some kind of background noise so I like to turn on some music during my bubble bath. Lady Gaga is my music of choice of course.


And there you have it....

A Little special moment for yourself...

I usually have a glass of white wine by my side during a bubble bath but because of my decreased drinking over the past month, water will do just fine. Plus it's healthier for you.

After a bubble bath, I love to put on the comfiest thing I own and snuggle on the couch with my two chihuahuas.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I like to take a moment out of the day for me, myself, and I.

What do you like to do?

Remember, visit http://www.facebook.com/crystallight to learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors. I was selected and paid for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Universal Studios Beats Disney Any Day

Besides going to Wizarding World in Orlando I had a chance to revisit Universal Studios on Sunday when my fiance finally got done working.

I've been to Disney twice now and I truly love Universal much more. I'm more of a thrill rider and less of a novelty rider. I love roller coasters, fast moving rides and scary rides. Disney is targeted more towards kids and their thrill rides are definitely lacking IMO.

I'm sure when I have a kid of my own one day I will enjoy Disney more. Especially for the educational aspect.

The day we went to Universal, the weather was a perfect 80 degrees. Not too hot and not too cold.


We stayed at the Dolphin Hotel which is actually a Disney Hotel. Last year we stayed at the Swan Hotel which is directly across the lake and pictured below.


We went to a show at Universal called Animal Actors which is a show featuring animals that have starred in Hollywood films. They were so damn smart! Like smarter than your average human being smart!


Can you guess who this celebrity dog is? Yes, it's the one and only MIB 2 dog sans the talking :)


This orangutan was hilarious! She mimicked every facial expression that her trainer did and had a full on interactive skit with him. Look at the little drama queen!


This parrot was trained to steal money! HAHA the genius of it all. An audience member was asked to stand up and place a ten dollar bill on the palm of his hand. The bird flew out, grabbed the bill, and flew back to the trainer.

I bet you many criminals would pay top dollar for this birdie.


One of my favorite areas at Universal is the part that looks like old school New York. You know, back when people called trash "refuse".


E.W. and I had an impromptu photo shoot on one of the hidden street corners of old school New York. I so wish that I lived back in that era. No Iphones, Facebook, Twitter....wait no blogging. Hmm, I'll have to rethink that statement.


I did an old school b&w shot of E.W. I would probably have been a marvelous photographer back in the day. Famous even!!


Jurassic Park used to be the most popular area of the park back in the 90's when the movie first came out. It's now long forgotten with the new Wizarding World commotion but it's still a great area to come and reminisce.

Remember how terrified you were when you first watched Jurassic Park? I think I might have peed myself. I remember bringing a blanket with me to cover my eyes during the scary parts.


Yes that photo on the bottom left is of me as a dinosaur. Why do I look like an Egyptian/Asian dinosaur? Don't ask me. And yes that is the actual dinosaur leg that we had for lunch. Kidding, it was a giant turkey leg that tasted strangely like ham.

Next we went to Toon Land which is kind of like stepping into the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". All of your favorite cartoons and comics come to life in this section of the park.

Marmaduke was being a very naughty dog and pulled me halfway across town!


Some ship from some cartoon I do not know of.


Best part was spraying riders off the side of the ship. Once in a while, a few riders would get angry with us. Hellloooo, you are on a ride that makes you soaking wet. Why get mad when you get sprayed just a little more?? Once you get off the ride, you can go spray innocent riders and see how fun it is for yourself.


E.W. made fun of me for posing so pretty on an electric chair. He asked me to make an ugly face and I just couldn't do it.


This guy was super creepy. When he leaned down over me he started moaning and grunting making me extremely uncomfortable. I ran away as soon as I got the picture.


OK, I confess. This photo was taken on the one day we went to Disney World but I really like the picture so I wanted to stick it in. I thought I could get away with it but then noticed Lady & The Tramp behind us. DUH. I don't feel like putting the Disney pics up just because that would be awfully contradictory to my blog post title.


Another favorite part at Universal was the I Love Lucy tribute museum. Lucille Ball is my #1 idol. I can watch her shows over and over again. She is one of 3 people that can make me laugh out loud.

All of you I Love Lucy fans are going to love this. This was how her set was built for the show. You can see the Tropicana on the right, next her kitchen, the living room, her bedroom and the nursery. Behind the set are the bleachers where the live audience would sit. And you can't see from the photo but there are a bunch of Philip Morris ads all over the studio.

Didn't Desi Arnaz die from lung cancer??


One of the famous outfits that Lucy wore on the show.


At the end of the day, we watched the Mardi Gras parade that came through all of Universal. Tons of floats and stilt walkers throwing beads at you!! Nobody threw beads at me though so I had to steal some from E.W!! Booo.