Happy Organization Time: One girl's obsession with organizing her crap

I found something today that has been on my wish list (which is a mile long, fyi) for about 3 months now. It's a fold up cosmetic/toiletry case that comes with a hook so you hang it against your wall. I've always disliked taking those clear (or gift with purchase) cosmetics bags on vacations or weekends back home. They take up too much space in my weekend bag and everything eventually becomes a jumbled mess. It also drives me up the wall when I have to look for something I want in a vortex of unorganized products.

This, on the other hand, is light, compact and incredibly adorable (huge plus, come on now).

So when it's folded, it looks like this:

It has a strap at the top so you can pull it out easily. The silver hook I was talking about is hidden inside the case so you can't see until it's opened. Discrete and very useful!

When it is fully opened, it looks like this:

There's a sizable mirror on top if you don't have one on you. There are four compartments in total. If you don't wear make up, you can always throw your moisturizers, lip balms, hair ties (?) in there. It's actually quite impressive how big it is once you open it!

(annnnnd.....my mind just went to the wrong place)

So how much can you store in there?

Well, these are the things I managed to store comfortably in there and still have the case close.

Compartment 1: Face products

- Almay tinted moisturizer in Neutral. The original bottle is too big so I've always poured some of it into a little Tarina Tarantino sample bottle.

- Benefit Boi-ing concealer in 01 and 02

Compartment 2: Cheek products

- Bobbi Brown cream blush in Powder Pink

- Make Up Forever HD micro blush in #9

- Mac Blushcreme in Ladyblush (Almost out of that one T_T)

Compartment 3: Eye products

- Benefit's Big Beautiful Eyes kit (very neutral. I always come back to this)

- Lorac eye shadow in Serenity

- Stila Smudgepot in Kitten

Compartment 4: Misc products

- Clarin's beauty flash balm

- Mini bottle of Urban Decay's eye primer

- Fairydrops Mascara

- Korres lip balm in Pomegranate

- Nars lipstick in Love Devotion

So as you can see, you can definitely fit a lot of things in there. I'm pretty happy with my purchase. I still need another one for skin products so I'll have to look into a cheaper alternative on my next organization journey. ^_^

I shall stop sounding like an infomercial and leave you alone now! :)

Weekly Collage

- My mom went on a business trip in Wuhan for a month so she took a detour to Hong Kong to relax for a few days. She had never been there before and came back with a bag of very girly, frilly goodies. Of course, I squee-ed at the Iphone case she bought me and snapped it on. I used it for a few days but realized that I just couldn't whip out something that ridiculous looking.

I tried prying it off but the thing was stuck on there with the jaws of life. A coworker of mine ended up wrenching it off. I am now very thankful for my classic Moshi case.

- I went home for a few days and my mom fed me a ton of Asian food because she insisted that I looked too thin (it's plausible after living on oatmeal and chicken). For breakfast, I was given a bowl of black bean soup, an egg and flour omelet and a seasoned black tea egg.

Om nom nom, I miss my mom's cooking

- This is a nice shot of my house! I'm really excited to help my dad decorate for Christmas next week. Fun fact: the kids in my neighborhood used to call my house the Haunted Mansion during Halloween. My parents are really shy and doesn't know how to interact with children so they hide in the basement and turn off ALL THE LIGHTS on Halloween.

- The Eaton's Center has really stepped up the Christmas decor this season. They have these giant light structures in the shape of reindeers now. There were all these adorable kids running around them because they didn't know what they were!

- I know, I know. You see this every week. The Boy and I grab breakfast at William's Fresh cafe every Friday morning. I discovered this week that you can actually order poached eggs instead of the flavorless scrambled one. This is a much better option, I like dipping my whole wheat toast in the egg. Yum!

- My hunt for the perfect Ipad case has concluded! I had my eye on a black leather one I saw at the Apple store but it was almost $100 and I kept debating if I wanted to splurge on it. I went to Aritzia and saw that they had the Marc by Marc Jacobs Ipad case for $55. It's very sturdy, well made and it looks great. I really like Marc by Marc Jacob products. If I had an infinite amount of money, I would probably live in it.

- Lord, my attempts to write my essay has been futile. I'm really trying here. The most I've hammered out is an outline. Thank god I still have 2 more days.

Sunday Survey - November 27th, 2011

01 Mood: I would say it's pretty balanced. I am definitely counting down the days until graduation but at the same time, I would like a grown up job before I am thrown out into the wild. Fingers crossed, I'm reeeeeally working on it. I hope my first interview goes well!

02 Last movie you watched: I'm about to watch Horrible Bosses. I've heard good things about it and god knows I love a snarky comedy.

03 What I’m watching: Nothing new, actually. I have a roster of favorite shows that I catch up on a weekly basis but generally, I stick with what I like. I did try to watch New Girl yesterday but I find Zoey Deschanel intolerable as an actress. I do think she's gorgeous, has a beautiful voice and a great fashion sense but I prefer her music over her acting.

04 Best thing about this weekend: Absolutely nothing. I have accomplished very little this weekend. I had planned to finish my essay but all I've really done is scribble very disjointed ideas in multicolored Staedtler pens.

Oh, and I've doodle along the corner of the paper -_-

05 What makeup are you wearing today:

None. I don't wear makeup unless I'm going out and I've holed myself in my room for the past 48 hours. I've been living on a diet of oatmeal, buckwheat noodles and chicken. I'm also out of soy sauce, which is code for Asian Danger.

06 What skincare am I using today:

Morning: Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser, Neostrata Daytime Smoothing lotion with sPF 15.

Night:
Cleanser: Origins Mega Mushroom Cleanser followed by Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Moisturizer: Origins Mega Mushroom Moisturizer. Neostrata Daytime smoothing lotion on chin

Eye cream: Olay ProX Eye Restoration Complex

Lip balm: Lush's bubblegum lip scrub followed by EOS lip balm.

07 What am I wearing today:

PJ bottoms with snowflake prints and a purple Gap Body sleepwear top.

08 What am I reading: I'm still on the Night Circus. I'm about a quarter way through. It's still quite good but I sense hints of Twilight brewing within its midst :S

09 Makeup Lust: Urban Decay cream eye shadow in Whipped (a very pretty shimmery gold)and Korres' lip butter glaze in Pomegranate. This is my favorite lip color and I'm running very low on my current one. The squeezy tube is resembling a dying toothpaste.

10. Listening to: Michael Buble's Christmas Album (my staple :p) and IU's Mia. For anyone who hasn't heard of IU before Good Day, she debuted with this beautiful song called Mia. The music video always gives me chills. Click here if you want to check it out :)

11. Clothing Lust: None

12 Haircare Lust: None

13 Skincare Lust: The Beauty Diary Strawberry Amino Acid cleanser. It's supposed to smell lovely and the packaging is adorable. I tried ordering it but my usual Asian shopping site is all out of them. I placed a notification on the mini set so hopefully I can get it soon!

14 Current obsessions: Cosmetic packaging.

15 Aim for this week: Keeping depression at bay and working on my programming plug-in. I'm falling badly behind in that class

60 random things in my room: Part 3

If you would like to read the older posts, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. I'm having a lot of fun with this tag series. I'm also beginning to realize that my material possessions revolve around fragrances and moisturizers.

60 random things in my room: Part 3

25) Cheap $2 sunglasses - I bought this in the student center 3 years ago. I'm the kind of person that has lost (amusement parks) or broken (tripped at a bad angle) horrendously expensive sunglasses in the past. As a result, I've made a deal with myself that when I get a grown up job, I will buy myself a pair of Rayban Wayferers.

Except this time, I won't be 13 and running spastically in my neighborhood.

26) Silver heart-shaped key necklace from H&M - I love collecting H&M jewelry, they have really interesting designs sometimes. The little heart shaped area opens up. I wanted to put a little picture in it but, there's this huge bump in there that ruins the whole locket concept. It's still pretty to look at but it would be better if it came with silver wings :p

Ah.....the search for the winged heart-shaped key necklace that isn't tacky continues.

27) Peachy pink scarf from H&M - This scarf is amazingly warm and very thick. Prospective Canadian winds, you have met your match! The only downside is that if I don't arrange it properly, it likes to snuggle around my neck like a knitted cobra.

28) Giant pack of Sensodyne from Cosco - One of my front teeth is extremely sensitive so going for dental cleanings makes me look extremely constipated (that's a lovely image). I rub some extra toothpaste on the sensitive zones and this really helps over time.

My mother also bulk buys them from Costco so that's an Asian Win right there.

29) DKNY Be Delicious perfume - This was my first real fragrance! I got it (Well, not this exact one. This is a new bottle) for Christmas in 2004 and I was so excited because like most teenagers back then, I was using some musky body spray named Ocean from a neon blue bottle.

This comes in many many different versions but I personally prefer the original and the Pink Blossom. If anyone likes fresh and fruity scents, I highly recommend this!

30) Shiseido Facial Cotton wipes - I always balk at the price of this ($9) buuuut these are undefeated in quality and kitteny soft against your skin. The boy bought me my first pack during summer time and I just finished them yesterday so this one is new. They may be pricey but they last you a good 4 - 5 months, longer if you don't use them daily!

31) Eucerin's Aquaphor - This is great for everything. Dry lips, dry patches, cuticles, etc. It's a dermalogical jack of all trades.

32) Slightly tacky tissue box - I can't figure out if this is tacky or cute so I've settled on slightly tacky. I like the red because it matches the trimming on my furniture and the greenish accents makes it look slightly Christmasy. I was thinking of buying one of those limited edition Christmas Kleenex boxes but it's basically $4 for fancy cardboard.

I just couldn't do it! T_T

33) EOS lip balm - Not going to lie, I bought this because it looked really cute. My Aquaphor moisturizes my lips better but this smells incredible and tastes really good. This one is in the flavor Summer Fruit. They also come in a wide variety of flavors.

I really want to try Strawberry Sorbet next.

34) Fruits and Passions hand cream in Pear Peony - I was in Fruits & Passions a few months ago and fell in love with Pear Peony. I don't use scented body creams so I didn't think it was worth paying $30 for the body cream. I wagered with myself at the end and bought the little mini sized one. The pear screws open at the bottom to reveal a small compartment of hand cream. I keep it by my desk lamp so it's more of a decorative item now.

35) Marc Jacob's Daisy - This is the original Daisy that my mom got me on a business trip. I was completely in love with it last year. I'm more on the Chloe boat now so its been sadly neglected. It's not as fresh smelling as the DKNY. It's marketed as a youthful fragrance but I think it's actually quite musky. This also comes in a pink version, which I like a lot better. I might ask for it for Christmas.

36) Bioderma's Sensibio - This is amazing. I know I rave about it a lot but it's a great cleanser / toner / make-up remover. For a few month, I used it for my entire face and I would go through them extremely quickly (god, that was expensive). These days, I use it on my chin because it's the most sensitive area of my face. I pour a small bit onto my Shiseido cotton pad and carefully swipe it on the selected areas. I also use it to clean my make-up brushes because a tiny amount on a cotton pad removes everything. Mind you, I only use two make-up brushes on a frequent basis!

Weekly Collage

- Mmmm. This is a BLT & A (Avocado) sandwich from William's (also known as my second home). Although it is a delicious sandwich, I also calculated that I could have made this for a toonie.

- Please ignore the pink box with the little girls in the background (DAMN LACK OF DECORATIVE STORAGE CHOICES). This is my favorite brush at the moment. It's a Real Techniques angled foundation brush. I use it to blend my tinted moisturizer every morning.

It's great at giving you a very very light coverage and blending is wonderfully easy. My Mac foundation brush gives me unnecessarily heavy coverage so I like this one much better. It's also easy to clean and I love that the brush can stand on a solid surface!

- I bought this Azami soy sauce for the sweet logo. It tastes the same as the Kikoman but the red against the black makes me feel like a bad-ass when I'm cooking chicken.

- I overdid my candle obsession. I was using this candle for about 10 hours a day and managed to use it up in a week! This habit is getting expensive. Candles are for nocturnal uses only from now on.

- Favorite tea of the moment: Tetley's Cleanse with lemon and honey. I never put sugar in my tea but this one tastes mildly sweet and really relaxes me before bed. I ran out so I bought a new one from Fortinos (along with Roobio and Mint chocolate -_-).

- I'm great at cooking two things: Chicken and soba noodles.

I boil the noodles for about 20 minutes and then heat it in a pan with a mix of spices and sauces. I know it looks slightly scary in the bowl but I assure you, it's delicious ^_^ (asian fob face guarantee!)

- Haphazardly cut snack apple. I'm going to buy some nutella for dipping this week.

- Best. Omelette. I've ever made. Usually I have trouble flipping it but this one came out nicely! I was so amazed that I almost didn't want to eat it.

- I'm burning a new candle now. It's Slatin & Co's "Mint chocolate". Smells amazing and looks like a pool of chocolate when it melts. Sometimes I stare at it and wonder if it would taste like chocolate syrup.