Heartbroken...my laptop decided to die last week...so until I get a new one, my iPhone will be doing all my interweb bidding!

And I have so much to share.

Until I get my mac (yup I'm changing over to the darkside!) I'm on hiatus!

Hasta mañana

Peace.

weekend thing..

thank heeey-zues it's the weekend.

I've been thrown back into this les miserables winter from a glorious 3 weeks in a fantastic southern hemisphere summer...depression much?! I kid, but I did have a pretty "exciting" first week back...crashed my car - well slid on some ice into a ditch at 1am, fell over in the convenience store and pulled a muscle in my quads and just it's so damn cold! But I'm not going to moan to much...coz it's the weekend and I intend to have some fun tonight.

So to get me and maybe you in the mood these are a collection of shots (not the kind you drink) from my fantastic summer holiday....and maybe my new hair will feature. enjoy.

actually that's it.

more coming soon. pinky swear.

peace and cocktails.

boom i'm on my way....boom i'm coming home...

(the title may or may not be paraphrased lyrics from a Ginuwine song).

In my inbox this morning, in my honor.

Made me laugh and made my day - all day.

Let's sweet mothers - all day.


***PRESS RELEASE – BELIEVE THE HYPE!***

Facebook, Entertainment Tonight, Campbell Live and Twitter are all reporting a recent rumor of a returning Kiko for the Xmas Season.


Deported to Japan last year in July/August-ish as a spy in Japanese schools, Kiko BOOM San of the Orphanage Kiko Base will be taking Land of the Long White Cloud leave. Due to her thorough investigation into the corruption of the origami paper company (that caused papers cuts) also being owned by the band-aid/plaster industry, Kikos gotsta lay low (like her disguise below).


On behalf of the Kiko’s collective I demand that you BELIEVE THE HYPE! In honor of a returning Kiko to the BIG 04 next week, there will be a Kiko’s Copious Amount of Kai for Christmas at Sweet Mothers Kitchen @ 6.30pm on Tuesday 21 December after work.

all that glitters....

Ok well, maybe not all that glitters...i'm not really huge on glitter actually...but I love earrings. BIG earrings. BRIGHT earrings. Earrings that have PURPOSE!

So, my new (ok, not so new) thing, ok let's rephrase - todays new thing to talk about is wearing big earrings, I don't do small - it's either all or nothing.

Yeah..there are lots of pics of my face. Get used to that.

a pair of earrings for every occassion, outing, swimming, snorkeling (there is no pic here but it happened), playing with babies, posing....

and the conveniet place where my earrings are displayed.

(sadly half of the green pair - my favourite, is now lost somewhere at a ryoukan in Tokushima..)

Which brings me to my next favourite pair. My neice choose these, she was 6 at the time. She has great taste. Big earrings + hoodies = awesome style and comfort.

With every outfit there is always room for big earrings. (full stop - or period if you are so inclined).

Peace and dangles.

concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

After a hard days shopping we went to New York for dinner.

I had the cob salad and friend chicken with spicy bbq sauce

and dessert was New York cheesecake and chocolate cake with ice cream and the best burnt caramel sauce. ever.

yeah.

and i managed to pretty much get all my christmas shopping finished,  やった!

peace and minnie mouse ears.

making up is hard to do...

I feel like everyone is writing about their makeup routines and their beauty habits, so i'm joining in! Since the colder weather has set in and I can finally wear makeup without it sliding on off and leaving me with a sweaty and freckled face.

For a friends birthday recently I decided to do a full face of makeup (as opposed to the slightly quicker and less "done" look I wear everyday). A few friends commented and said they really liked it, and I have to agree! I also really like how it looked in the photos...

done and dusted.




(and for the record I always pose like this.)

baseline.

So after I wash my face I moisturise with Clinique Moisture Surge and use Clinique Surge Extra Refreshing Eye Gel. I then use Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot - pre-foundation skin primer.

THE face!

Ok so it kinda looks like a lot and well it kinda is, but i think its worth it!

• I mix the Dodo Pearl Base (which is like a tinted primer/liquid bronzer) with Innoxa Oil Free Makeup SPF15 Flawless Matt Finish Foundation in Natural Beige and apply that with the foundation brush.
• I then touch up any blemishes with the Dermablend Concealer using the smaller end of the foundation brush or my finger (the heat from my fingers warms it up a little which makes it easier to apply).
• After that I use L'Oreal Bare Naturals Gentle Mineral Makeup in Natural Beige to give some colour and set the liquid foundation.
• Finally I use Revlon Skinlights Face Illuminator Loose Powder in Warm Light as a bronzer to give me clour and a bit of a glow, using the other brush in the picture.

The eyes have it.

• First I apply the Dermablend Concealer to my eyelids to ensure an even coverage and make my eyeshadow last a bit longer.
• Next, i've been using this eyeshadow for so long and I love it..although looks like i'm going to need more! Napoleon Perdis Prismatic Eyeshadow Quad #13. I use the darkest brown as the main colour and then accent in the corners with the gold and lighter bronzy gold colour at the top.
• I line my eyes with Maybelline Eye Definer - Liquid Eyeliner in Noir Black.
• I finish off with Maxfactor Masterpiece Volume and Definition Mascara.

I left my lips quite neutral - i'm not big on lipsticks...unless it's red! I just used a simple lip balm and L'Oreal Glass Shine lipgloss in Mauve Twinkle.

So that's it! This is my "for special occasions" face, my everyday face is a lot less time consuming but much the same colour wise. Hope you enjoyed this peak into my makeup life.

peace and primer
xx

giving thanks is easy to do..

It must be Autumn, and I must have a lot of American friends, because it's thanksgiving season yo! I celebrated my first proper thanksgiving this past weekend, with the whole shabang...turkey, stuffing, candied yams, mashed potatoes, gravy and finished with my favourite in the whole wide world pumpkin pie! This actually sounds a lot like Christmas dinner in my house (minus the candied yams).

Enjoying time in the company of friends and family, eating good food and sharing reasons for being thankful are things to celebrate and this couldn't be a more perfect time for me to share my thankfuls with ya'll..


but first things first - here's me getting busy on a turkey leg.



These are the things that I am thankful for...

• All the small things that make me smile. I don’t acknowledge or notice these enough. Fantastic sunny days that are becoming so rare! A student extending his English vocabulary to say “Maire Sensei, you are elegant”! The greatest pleasure that the smallest of flowers can bring, especially flowers received. Cute, random, surprise messages left on my facebook or on skype, my song being played when I least expect it, hugs – when I least expect them, the deliciousness of a small cheesecake...
• My fantastic friends. Ya'll are fantastic. Nuff said.
• The cooler weather. It is finally here and I can start having great hair days again.
• My iphone. yup.
• That it's November and I get to go home next month! (Thanks Ma and Pa!)
• This month was what it was, so I can move on, learn from my mistakes and become a better me.
  

So on a related but unrelated note I made pumpkin pie! It wasn't for said thanksgiving dinner but for a friends baby shower the week before...this is how it all went down..

this is it..
Probably over it already.

In lieu of cooking spray I took it way back old school with the ol' rub some butter around the pan and then sprinkle with flour...


Something about cooking in Japan makes things 100x more difficult and I make 100x more mess then necessary..

Wizz this shit up...

and viola!!

I forgot to take a pic after it was cooked but it was delish! Well kinda, not my best pumpkin pie by any standard, but passable. And before you say anything yes I cheated, I used brought pastry...don't judge me.

So let's be thankful for all the fantastic in our lives, and let the less fantastic become background noise until it eventually fades into silence.


Loves
Peaces
Thankfuls
BOOMS.