Summer Picnic at Short Stay (Sat, 7/19/14)

Yesterday, Dallin and I drove up to Short Stay in Moncks Corner for his department picnic. Short Stay is an outdoor recreation center located on Lake Moultrie and is operated by Joint Base Charleston-Weapons Station's MWR department. It's available to the military, retirees, DoD civilians, and guests.

Moncks Corner is "out in the sticks" compared to where we currently live. Took us about an hour to drive there, but it wasn't that bad! When we first got there, we drove around looking for the pavilion of where the party was located. We saw the different campsites, villas, and cabins available. It seems like a nice place to go on a staycation. I will see if we can stay here for a 3-day weekend!

Anyway, the party was surprisingly fun. There were a lot of things for the kids to do (bounce house, games, cornhole, swimming, rockclimbing, etc). We don't have children yet, so we just ate food, chatted with friends, and walked to the lake. It was so hot today, y'all! I wore jeans again. Mistake. Again! That's what happens when you're too lazy to shave your legs. Oh, summer. How I both hate and love you. :)

Here are a couple photos that ended up on my phone:

Food catered by Sticky Fingers!

Food was catered by Sticky Fingers. I had a pulled pork sandwich with beans and cole slaw. I was starving, so I thought it was extra delicious. ;)  There was even a table serving 3 flavors of ice cream with different toppings! *droool*

Thought this pair of ducks was cute. :)

The "Beach." You can see the villas across from here

I don't want to be snarky, but lakes kind of creep me out, though I guess some people feel the same way about the sea. I'm totally an ocean beach girl though and it's what I'm used to. I like being able to see what's in the water. But I will get over it eventually. I guess I'm just completely spoiled after growing up in Hawaii!

Boat Pier

Sun was so bright, I probably should've also worn sunglasses with the big hat! :) My eyes don't even look like they're open at all! *squint*

This is me trying out the rockclimbing wall!

They had a rockclimbing wall and I decided to try it out after watching all the kids do it. It was harder than it looks! I got to the top of the "easy" side, but only got half-way up the "difficult" side. Haha. My arms were burning after. I definitely give the kids a lot of credit because their arms and legs are way shorter than mine! I think one of the difficult parts for me was letting go. I was trying to climb back down the "easy" side, but they told me to just let go. My mind was like, "you want me to do WHAAAT?" So, letting go of the wall was a leap of faith for me. I'm scared of heights, so knowing for sure that I would be safe made it a lot easier for me. Safety first! :) Kind of makes me wonder what goes through the minds of people that do this without a rope though. Hopefully confidence! :)

Driving back home!

The party was really fun. I love picnics and company parties. It's always good for everyone's morale to get away from work and just unwind. There were a lot of things to do for everyone and it was a great location, despite the distance. We had so much fun, we both took surprise naps when we got home. Thank you to whoever planned all of it! I'm already looking forward to next summer's department picnic! :)

Ringly

I first heard about Ringly a couple months ago and really wanted to pre-order it back then. However, I couldn't justify a $145 purchase of jewelry, even if it is wearable tech, while we were living off of one paycheck. I eventually forgot about it... Until now! When I heard about the Tory Burch for FitBit news, I suddenly remembered Ringly and put in my pre-order!

Ringly is a cocktail ring made from semi-precious and precious gemstones set in gold-plated brass and manages to house a light, motor, battery, and accelerometer. Using Bluetooth LE-technology, Ringly connects to your phone and sends you customized notifications through four vibration patterns and five colors. It is quite big, but not obnoxiously so (at least in my opinion). Actually, I think it looks sleek and pretty!

Some might say that the Ringly will still make people dependent on their phones because the whole point of putting away your phone is not getting notifications. It could be equally, if not more, distracting than just having a phone in your hands or on the table. However, being able to customize the notifications eliminates that. You can set it to only get notifications of important calls or texts or whatever you decide that you want to know right away, and you can forget the rest and focus on dinner or conversations with your friends.

For me, the Ringly will also be useful for when my phone is in my bag. I end up missing a lot of phone calls and texts because I can't hear or feel my phone. So, it will be very useful to know when someone is trying to reach me.

These are all the reasons that I used to justify my purchase to Dallin. Haha. I don't think he cared, but at least it makes me feel better about it!

You can still pre-order! Early supporters get 25% off the retail price. :) They're supposed to ship sometime in Fall 2014. I can't wait to get mine!


Btw, I just started a full-time job on Monday after being unemployed for 2 years (hurray!). I've been feeling exhausted so far, so sorry for the lack of posts. (I just started blogging recently!). Hopefully I'll feel recharged after the weekend. :) In the meantime, I'll try to find the energy to write about stuff that I care about.

Thanks for reading!

*all opinions are my own! photo via ringly's facebook. links are non-referral/un-affiliated.

Curent Facial Mists

I'm not one to want to waste my money on a product that I don't need or something that I think is useless. So, y'all should just know that I think facial mists are a necessity! :) At least for me.

I use facial mists for three things, mostly:

1. A step between cleaning my face and applying moisturizer. Applying moisturizer after spritzing my face with a facial mist helps keep my face stay hydrated for longer (at least that's what I tell myself). Also, it just feels good and refreshing. It's probably my favorite step in my skincare routine.
2. Setting make-up. I use a translucent powder to set my foundation and concealer. Sometimes it can look a little "too matte," so after I apply all my make-up, I use a spray with a fine mist and lightly spray my face. I actually have skin that tends to get oily, so "matte" should be a look that I strive for. The facial mist actually helps me out, in my opinion, because first my face loses hydration and gets dry, and THEN the oil comes. The facial mist helps delay that, I think. :)
3. A refreshing pick-me-up in the middle of the day. If I start to feel gross in the middle of the day because of the humidity (or whatever), I use a facial spray to freshen up. I lightly spray it on my face and use a tissue to blot off the excess. And voila! I feel like new again!

One Love Organics Pretty Pore Complexion Toning Mist & Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz

The facial sprays that I'm currently using are the One Love Organics Pretty Pores and Botanics Rosewater Spritz.

One Love Organics Pretty Pores Complexion Toning Mist (link)
This facial spray is part of OLO's summer 2014 collection, so I'm not sure how long it will be available for. I splurged and bought it for $28 (2 fl oz). I love it! It's made from "100% pure fruit water extracted from the heart of organic pink grapefruits," as stated on their product site. Not quite sure what that means exactly, but this facial mist is really refreshing and smells great. Even though it's made from grapefruits, it's not super acidic or anything. In fact, it's incredibly gentle. If anyone can give me any insights on how they made this, please comment below! :)

Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz (link)
This is actually my third bottle of this product. It's only about $8-9 for a 5 oz bottle at the drugstore. I think that's super inexpensive and a good value for your money! I use this everyday. It's refreshing and I'm glad that I took the chance on buying it when I saw it in Target. Since it's so inexpensive, I don't even care about how much I use a day. I estimate that one bottle lasts 2 months for me (and I use it a lot). $8 every 2 months? Worth it! The OLO Toning Mist above is great, but I notice that I only use it sparingly and when I want to feel "luxurious." It's probably just subconscious considering how much I paid for it (and also since it's limited edition). But I love them both. :)


The following are facial sprays that I have used in the past (pictures/links via Sephora)

1. Caudalie Beauty Elixir ($18/49), 2. Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist ($35), 3. Boscia Balancing Facial Toner ($24), 4. Evian Facial Spray ($12/17)

I would buy all four of those products again. My favorite is the Caudalie Beauty Elixir, but it's super expensive. Maybe I'll have it one day again! T__T The Evian one is just a simple mineral water facial spray. They also have a travel-sized spray. Even though it's an aerosol, I'm pretty sure that you can bring them in your carry-on using TSA's 3-1-1 rule. They are super refreshing! The air up there, while flying, tends to be really dry, so having a facial spray would help a lot to keep your skin hydrated. I have a travel-sized spray that I will be taking with me to work. :)


BONUS: My cat!

Wedge inspecting the goodies

Do you also use facial mists? Which one is your favorite? :)

*all products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own. links are for convenience.

Summer Block Party @ Frothy Beard (Sat, 7/12/2014)

Yesterday, we got a lot of heavy rain and lightning in the afternoon. Pretty lame for semi-outdoor activities, but great for the grass! Homeowner Problems. However, the rain went away after an hour and we decided to go to The Frothy Beard Brewing Company where we met up with some friends.They were actually having a Summer Block Party, but I had no idea until we got there. It was also my first time at this brewery, but I did have a pint of their Irish Red at the Flag Day Burger and Beer Festival a little while back. Delicious. This time I had a pint of the Zingiber Pale Ale which uses ginger instead of hops to flavor the beer. I actually can't handle hoppy beers AND I love the flavor of ginger, so I thought this beer was great. Very refreshing.

There was two different food trucks (Pep Rolls and Grill Kings), a popsicle stand (King of Pops), and live music! Grill Kings and King of Pops were cash only which was devastating because I didn't have cash and I really love BBQ and popsicles. Also, King of Pops had some really good flavors available this time. Boo! Lesson learned: carry cash everywhere just in case? I don't know. :) So, we got food from Pep Rolls, which is short for pepperoni rolls. They make whole wheat rolls that are baked with pepperoni in them. YUM! They also have a bunch of different toppings you can add. I had the Tommy D, which had marinara and mozzarella, and Dallin had the Sleazy Cheesy, which had jalapenos and nacho cheese. So NOT healthy, but they're pretty damn delicious.

The Deer Creek Sharpshooters

Me, cheesin' by these pretty flowers. They are blooming all over Charleston lately! Anyone know what they are?

View of the Cooper River from the Ravenel Bridge

Afterwards, we went to Trader Joe's to pick up some weekly groceries. We've been buying watermelon and stone fruit every week lately! So sweet and delicious! The picture above is from when we were driving back home over the Ravenel Bridge. The day was so nice! Such a stark contrast from the earlier rain and thunder.

Apologies for not taking any pictures of food or drinks. I'm the worst Asian ever. ;) But seriously, I'm not used to documenting anything. I do think it's quite fun though! :) I just have to make more of a conscious effort.

Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Caturday!

SO SASSY

Morning Cat Yoga

"That felt good"

"Let me stretch again for good measure!"

I enjoy waking up in the morning and getting ready to start my day because my cat is always there to keep me company and make me laugh! If I accidentally wake him up from his mid-morning nap, he always has this grumpy look, like, "What the heck, human?!" Sometimes, if it was a particularly good nap, he can barely keep both his eyes open. But he always feels better after a really good stretch or two, as seen in the pictures above.

I just found out a couple days ago that I officially got the job that I applied for months ago. I start on Monday! I won't be able to have the same lazy late-mornings with Wedge anymore, but maybe we will start a new and earlier "wake-up-and-get-ready" routine. Plus, we will always have the weekends! :)

A part of me will be a little sad on Monday while I think of my poor kitty alone at home. But a part of me also knows that he will be just fine looking out the window at the birds, squirrels, and bugs, making his hourly rounds around the house, and perhaps jumping on the forbidden kitchen counters all day. I just want my little furball to be happy!

Have you seen this video of a man being greeted by his cat after being gone for 3 days? I'm pretty sure that I watched it a hundred times already! Plus, this cat reminds me of my Wedge. :)

"meow-ow-ow-ow!"

Anyway, this weekend the humans and the cat will probably just be a bunch of lazy bones. There is laundry to do, of course. (The bane of my existence). But we also hope to visit a brewery called Frothy Beard Brewing with some friends later today. Other than that, we don't have any plans. But I like it that way. :)


What are you guys planning to do? Hope y'all have a great weekend! Stay safe!