It's that time of the year again!!!!

Year of 2009 was a phenomenal and life-changing year for me
I've met a lot of amazing ppl and made some good friends
I'm in vet school and feel that I fit in completely!!!
And most important of all, I'm slowly recovering and building my confidence
I finally feel like I finally found myself
What a long journey that was.....




But now it's time for new year resolutions!!!

1. Use my Nikon D80 more often.
I rarely took it out with me and I've been neglecting it since school started. My wrists would ache everytime I take it out since it's so heavy for me..... Even though I'm still very unfamiliar with all the functions and features, I'm already eyeing on another lens as my birthday gift. So I have to force myself to use it more often, as I have waited 3-4 years to get a dslr. I don't want to lose the ability to discover beauty in everyday life.



2. Be more independent.
To be honest, I'm already quite proud of myself for taking care of myself and Diamond. During the four months I was away from home, I only got sick once and got over it in 3-4 days. I cooked on my own most of the time. I actually find doing laundry and vacuuming the floor to be quite amusing. But I must grow even stronger mentally. I find myself reaching for my mom whenever I run into problems. If I just calm down and think harder, most problems would just resolve on their own. My mom gets so concerned whenever I tell her things like "I think I have a huge lymph node on my neck, what's wrong with me???" or "My roommate just did blah blah, she drives me crazy!!!" Sometimes telling her stuff like that only doubles and quadruples the anxiety. So I will try to suck it up and learn how to handle difficult situations on my own. But of course, I know whenever I need a pair of ears, my mom will always be there.




3. Find myself a form of workout and stick to it.
I heard that our school gym is really nice, and I wanted to check out the gym even before school started. It's been 4 months, and I have not been there once. They also offer many many kinds of dance lessons (locking, hip-hop, jazz, waltz, rumba, etc) The classes are not that expensive either.... but I'm just too afraid that I won't have enough time to study. Our neighborhood is quite and has such a refreshing and relaxing scenary (perfect for a walk). But I have never seen the other end of the road. Even when I wanted to take pictures of the beautiful sunset, I shoot through my windows... =____= So whatever it may be, I really need to get rid of the belly fat.... I'm so out of shape....



4. Improve studying efficiency and studying style.
As our workload gets heavier and heavier, I have no choice but to absorb and digest more materials in class. So I don't have to be like a ruminant and chew on it later on. Also, it's not college anymore.... (just manage to cram the night before and get a decent grade.) There's such a large amount of material that I need to be able to retain the knowledge. I need to integrate old material with new ones and infer more information from what is presented. I still have a looong looong way to go. But at least by taking neat notes and making an effort to really OWN the knowledge, 4th year rotation will come around much sooner and easier, or so I hope. And of course, by being more efficient, hopefully I could volunteer more and be exposed to more hands on experiences during school. And maybe update my youtube channel and blog a little bit more frequently?......






5. Network and make more friends (maybe more guys friends?).
It's a sad reality. Once you are in the real world, a lot of things depend on connections. It's not about just making a friend, but it's more about how many more connections this particular friend can bring. I have yet to master the art of disguising networking as friendsmaking. To me, it's all black and white. I like your personality, let's be friends!; I don't really like you, let's be "friends...".

I was also contemplating about my blank lovelife..... and trying to work out the equations reversely.... I do want children some point in my life, and I'm 10000% that I want healthy ones..... So I should at least get married before 30 and have some healthy and intelligent babies.. So that means I have to find some one either during vet school or immediately after I graduate. Meanwhile, there are literally no available guys in vet school, and vet school is too busy for me to go out and meet guys at random hangouts. So that leaves one option, online dating... but there are so many perverts online nowadays..... And of course, even if you do find that Mr. Right, it's 89834849380 times harder to finally hear him propose to you.

It's a tug of war between the desire to have a normal paced and happy life and the fear of meeting the wrong guy and suffering the extra stress that follows the wrong decision. Do guys understand the kind of stress that women go through???? We shall fight on!!!



Anyways.... forget about all the rambling. What are your new year resolutions? Wishing everyone a joyful and prosperous 2010!!!

Picture Blog

I tried on the grey lenses today. They are much more subtle, but still visible under strong natural light and flash light. I like how the lenses are really glossy and make your eyes reflect light. Here are some cam whore pictures...

2nd time is always better!

I was trying on my circle lenses from lenscircle.com few days ago. Since this is like my very first time putting on lenses, I had such a difficult time. And I have to say I was a little intimidated by how long it took me to even put on one lens. But I'm glad that I tried again today. It was soooo much easier this time. The lens popped into my right eye in like in 3 seconds. I was shocked!!!






haha.... needless to say, I felt so pretty after I successfully put in lenses to both eyes. I envy girls who have natural hazel/green/blue eyes. Not that brown eyes are not pretty..... different colors just make you feel so.... exotic! haha.....




Here is my short review....









If you are interested in purchasing from them, feel free to enter the special coupon code that they provided me and receive 10% on your next entire order -----------------> ECHOLI10

Before.....

After...

And then of course, I couldn't help but camera whore a little.... =P

I love posing with Diamond. Now our eyes match.... well sort of...

My verdict: I really love these nifty little things that can transform your entire look and boost up your confidence. Definitely a great tool for parties.

Getting sick before finals is NOT fun at all....

There were whole bunch of people who got sick in my class.... I was feeling extra proud of myself for not getting sick at this time of the year. Guess what? My nose is congested and my throat kinda hurts--definitely signs of a cold..... I was planning to catch up on school work during the Thanksgiving break. =(



Usually my mom would yell at me for not being able to take a better care of myself. But this year my mom blamed on herself, because she just sent me a package few days ago that contains some DayQuil. And being a little superstitious, she was like "Maybe you wouldn't get sick if I didn't included those medications." LOL..... nah.... this is about time for me to get sick as I have an extremely weak immune system. I'm just crossing my fingers that I will fully recover before next week approaches or else I will definitely suffer. Cold viruses, you guys better behave and get ready to die when my immune system is ready to battle!!!!





As a side note, I was trying on the circle lenses I bought the other day. It took me really long to put even 1 lens in..... and I teared up so much afterward. Haha... at least I'm no longer a lens virgin. Any tips on how to put in the lens more effortlessly? Maybe I'm just not used to it yet.






Anyways.... Everyone please tuck yourself in warm cloths or blankie. Stay safe and healthy during the holidays!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Any thing you guys want to snatch on Black Friday?

FOTD

I was going to do a makeup tutorial on this look.... but I was in a rush to go to our Thanksgiving dinner event. I know some ppl requested it, but I probably won't have much time to show it in a video........ I used MAC pigment in Blonde's Gold on my inner corner and used three shades of purples on my outer corner. And just drew an eyeliner and applied some mascara. Voila!






Please excuse my unruly eyebrows... This is what happens when I have exams one after another.... I've been wearing sweatshirt and jeans or scrubs every single day.... I have my glasses on like 24/7. When I try to keep up with school, I just abandon taking care of my face. The nerdiness definitely overshadows the beauty if there's any..... haha....

I bought this dress from Forever 21 for 7.99!!!!! And I never wore it out. And of course.... this time, I didn't actually wear it out either. I changed to another more warm dress the last minute.... When it comes to coldness, I just chicken away. I really don't want to get sick before finals week.... you know....

Anyways, the dinner turned out to be great!!! Nothing beats a relaxing weekending night with friends, delicious food, and nice music!!!!!

Somebody asked me how I did Diamond's diet plan..... It involves some understanding of animal nutrition and some calculations. Ideally, you should be able to see your kitty's waist line curving inward. You shouldn't be able to see the rib cage, but you should able to feel it. If your kitty is losing that distinct waistline and the fat pad is dangling, your kitty is most likely overweight. You can cut down the food and/or make your kittey exercise a little bit more. It's hard to say how much you might want to cut down because it depends on your cat's current weight and the ideal weight you want to achieve.

Diamond is around 10.5 pounds right now. I think her ideal weight should be around 9.4 lbs (this could be somewhat subjective). I've been feeding her about 200 kcal/day. (I feed her 1/3 cup of dry food and 1/2 of 3.3 oz wet food everyday..... if you really want to know the details... ) It definitely varies among different food brands and manufacturers, so definitely check with the brand you are feeding your cat. So in case you want your cat to be around 9.4 lbs, try feeding it 200kcal/day in conjuction with exercise.

It does take a while to see the results. But remember don't give your cats extra treats (which are usually junk food) and definitely don't give them any table scraps. Cat foods are formulated to meet all the dietary needs specifically for our feline friends. I think putting a cat on diet is the hardest on the owner. Because everytime you look at them, they give you that look @ . @ "I'll behave, please feed me?"

So it's tough love..... be consistent and don't give in to those round shiny eyes.... because nobody want their little furry buddies to get overweight and develop diabetes or bone disease later in life.

Where did October and November go????

Hey guys.... I just want to stop by and say hi! I've been really MIA lately. I'm doing well, just a little beat up by vet school. But I'm still enjoying the process!!! I heard next quarter is going to be a lot worse, so I better kick up my pace.

Diamond has been doing very well too. I have carefully calculated the calories that she needs daily and proposed a diet plan back in september. Since she's relatively older, I don't want her to get diabetes or orthopedic diseases from being overweight. It will take until January to finally reach her ideal weight. But according to my plan, she has actually already lost some weight. I can vaguely see her little waist line now. hehe....

I just can't stop talking about science and medicine right now. This afternoon, while my friend and I were in the anatomy lab. We were both complaining about how our wrists hurt. I was like when I over flex carpal joint, it hurts a lot. And we just couldn't help but laugh at our nerdiness.... LOL......

Anyways... expect to see a few videos from me in the next few days....(maybe a haul video, and a makeup look video?) Then it will be another long gap, since I'll probably try to catch up and start reviewing for finals.

Anyways... I'll see you guys soon. Diamond says hi~~~

Halloween Look: Corpse Bride

So our Halloween party is this coming Thursday. My friend and I went to this second hand costume store last week. I found this off white laced chiffon dress. It's a little bit torn around the lacey part. But overall, it looks very pretty and very appropriate to use as the Corpse Bride's wedding dress. It's funny because I've always wanted to see the movie, but never got a chance until I bought the dress. I should have watched it long time ago though.... just for Johnny Depp!!!!!!

















So this was my desperate attempt at imitating the Corpse Bride from Tim Burton's movie. Here's the dilemma: if I don't make myself look scary, my whole outfit would just look too bridal-ish (let's be honest, I'll just scare away all the boys); but if I look too scary, I might win the scarest costume, but I don't know if I'll have friends afterwards.




LOL.... that was a little extreme. But I've tried to whiten my face by putting on really light foundation and contour my face with dark blue eyeshadows many many times. Honestly, I thought I looked way more like a real ghost than the animated version of Corpse Bride. Until today, I'm somewhat satisfied with the result. Of course, I'll be wearing my false lashes and spraying on my white hair dye for the actual party. I've never really dressed up as anything, so this is kinda exciting.












Dress $6.50
Fake Flowers $2
Veil (my mom bought it for me at Joanne's, so I don't know the exact price) maybe $5 at most?
Long laced gloves - given to me by my aunt....
Temporary hair dye $2



So I'm going to say this entire outfit costs less than $20!!! Perfect for my tight student budget!






Here are some scary photos.... so beware....

YOUR e.l.f. ORDER HAS BEEN SHIPPED!

Yay..... they probably heard me. LOL So as it turned out, the warm bronzer is out of stock, which is fine with me since golden bronzer is the one that I really wanted to try out. But seems like it's going to take about 10 days to arrive here..... More waiting....

Rant

So I placed an order on ELF three days ago..... and the order is still being processed!!! I get very inpatient when it comes to getting my package asap.... And guess what, I think two of the items that I ordered are not available..... BOOOOO!!!!!! I have a feeling they are the golden and warm bronzers that I've been craving..... Who doesn't want the nice glow even in the fall and winter?


Oh well..... I shall wait patiently for them to process my order and wait even longer for the slooooow standard shipping. Then I'll find out what exactly is missing from my order. I'm never happy w/ ELF's shipping..... Is it because I used a coupon code, huh? So you are mad at me for not paying the full price, and process my order in the sloooooowest way possible???? You better ship it out to me tomorrow!!!!! Please~~~~???? *insert a cat in the boots face here*

FOTD & DOTD

School has been really busy lately..... besides classes, studying, cooking and feeding Diamond have taken up most of my time. I already have two tests next week..... crossing my fingers that I will do fine.



Here is a gold/green look that I did today using Loreal HIP Duo Eyeshadow in Flare and a Missha deep green single eyeshadow. I rarely use greens, but I like the result today. I might start to use greens a little bit more often.

Now moving on to my weird dreams last week... maybe I've been really stressed and overwhelmed by school lately.... so the dreams are kind of depressing

So first one, I went to a museum w/ my friends. The museum has many floors, but the staircase is like those spiral staircases. But it's very narrow, so narrow that it could only fit one person at a time, and the hole on the ground where the staircase goes through is like the same size as the hole for the firefighter's pole.

My friends and I decided to go to the basement of the museum. I had such a hard time coming down from the stairs and trying not to fall. That floor had paintings. In one corner, there's a desk covered with white table clothe and there are brochures and some pamphlets. I walked over to take a look, but there were a lot of wires on the ground. I had to make every step very carefully not to trip. Then one of the guys who organized the desk yelled "Don't go there. You won't be able to afford the damages, and I don't want to organize the orientation desk again." I felt so offended. It's sad, but true. haha.......

Second dream was about me going back to China to visit. I was wandering around a place where I used to pass by on the way to school. Then I saw three of my elementary school friends, whose names I could still recall. I ran up to them, and said hi. I intentionally didn't introduce myself because I wanted to test them how fast they could recognize me. So I stood there and grinned. Instead of recognizing me right away, they stared at me for a long time and simply couldn't even tell I was their classmates.

Very depressing right? I think they are full of self-doubt..... But I don't understand where it comes from.... I'm pretty content with my life right now, even though I am poor and I am away from all my friends.

I've been MIA

This week has been a long and exhausting week. Our orientation started, and I've been away from home from 7:30-6:30 everyday.





The rewarding thing is that we finally received our white coats from the White Coat Ceremony, which signifies the beginning of our long and intensive four years of training. Here are some photos.....




This is what I wore to a semi formal luncheon and then to the ceremony. Top from Sears ($12?). Skirt from Nordstrom Rack. (90% wool! $26). Heels from Marshalls ($39.99). Remember those high heels I was raving about few weeks ago, how they are really comfy...... NOT!!!! ! We had do a substantial amount of walking from the parking structure to the lunceon. My feet kept on sliding down to the pointy part of the heels. When I'm standing still, my feet are all right. As soon as I started walking, my feet hurt like hell....... Needless to say, my toes are full of blisters right now. Most other girls from my class also had the "limping" problem toward the end of the day. Another pain being a girl. I always joke aobut how I wear shoes that don't fit me like I'm Cinderella's evil step sisters....... If you know the original story (Anderson likes to put these gruesome graphic details), you'll get what I mean. I will have to wear flip flops for a while now....

Yippee!!! I'm going to be a doctor in 4 years. =D

Although my parents weren't able to make it to the ceremony, I was very content that I'm finally wearing a real white coat (w/ responsibilities, not just another lab coat). haha..... Still having mixed feelings about going back to being a full time student, but I'm very happy that the orientation has ended on a good note.

And since I have the burden of being a professional in the public, I have to watch what I say or do online. (Only my parents and my very close friends know about my youtube channel.) So if anyone from my class catch me doing videos or posting random beauty blogs, I think I'll be super embarrassed. So I shall keep my alter ego as a secret identity.....

Lastly, (as usual), I'll leave you a pic of Diamond. She's been naughty lately. One day, I was sniffing her (why you ask me, I don't really know either.) So my face was very close to hers, and without a sign, she bit on my eyebrow. I could clearly remember that I heard a sound and realized that she had punctured through my skin. I had to pull her back and squeeze out her dirty dirty fishy saliva out of my tiny wound. Then I was complaining to my parents how Diamond pretended to be all cute before I adopted her, now she's becoming ferocious! My mother was like "Why ub the world would you put your face there??!?!?!!" IONO...... haha..... I still love Diamond.