Brow-rious, Browtiful Day

Happy brow-rious (a play on 'glorious') Monday!

Okay, perhaps it's not such a "happy" day for many, but instead, it's more of a day of grumbling and mumbling, with the beginning-of-the-week blues, right? Well, I thought I would humor you with some brow-raising pictures.

First of all, I did something fantastic to my hair over the weekend. I chopped it all off on a whim--well, rather a very patient and talented stylist did for me. And with a new hair style comes a new brow style. For me anyway.

With my short locks, I really wanted to define my face much better, particularly since the hair around my face that used to frame it is gone!

So, I went to good ole Mac and bought a new eyeshadow to use to fill in my brows (Cork, if you're wondering) and now, I'm in love.

When I was younger, I used to want to have thinner, round eyebrows, but it wasn't until I really got into the beauty world that I realized that arches and angles are more flattering, and thin eyebrows look really scary.

Now that the thicker eyebrows are in again, I wanted to share some brow-spiration with you...

Audrey Hepburn: Because one of Hollywood's golden ladies had bold brows, of course I had to include her for brow-spiration. She was such a beauty.

Kiera Knightley: The ever-lovely Kiera has bold brows which accent her face so well that even her cheekbones stand out--okay, contouring and great color placement help immensely, but having strong brows helps to define facial structure so much more than you realize. I love how sultry thick brows make the eyes appear too.

Neve Campbell: The only exception I had to having thin, round Betty-Boopesque eyebrows was if I could have eyebrows just like Neve. I remember staring at the Scream video cases at her eyebrows because I love them so much. I love how they have just a slight arch--it's so subtle too.

Now for the interesting brows:

A few months ago, Sephora had these posters hanging around the window displays of their stores, and because I was so intrigued by the eyebrows, I had to take pictures of them.

 Dark brown paired with blond hair. For editorial purposes, this is definitely bold. Not something I would necessarily do for myself...but what they hey, you gotta make it different somehow, right?

Now this is one of my favorite looks--I think the makeup artist was channeling a bit of Lady Gaga since I do recall seeing a look Ms. Gaga had in her "Judas" music video...which, I actually did a makeup tutorial for...

The big bold line above the eyebrow--the darkened hairs. Yep. Gaga.

Here's my video, in case you wanted to see it. NO, I was not high, but I definitely was super silly. ;-)

And of course, if none of these brows are bold enough for your tastes, you can always refer to something like this: 

I don't know about you, but I think these eyebrows are gorgeous! I would do it...but I don't know if I'm bold enough... haha!
So tell me, are you *BOLD* for brows or are you a little timid?
I hope you all have browtiful day!
Yours,
Em

Sunshine, Makeovers, and Mario

'Allo lovelies!

Okay, so this post was supposed to be on Monday, but seeing as I haven't been in a snap-happy picture-taking mood this week, I am combining the past two weeks into a single post for ease--that, and this week would be horribly dull. =D

The last I wrote about, I was preparing for a weekend full of fun with my friends, mainly, preparing for a dinner party consisting of homemade gnocchi, vinho verde, and other cultural nom-nomness. Yes, I am so awesome that I make up new words from nonsense.

Okay, my brain is mush--I'm just going to get on with the pictures now:

Heading home from work and there were so many boats out on Lake Washington! I love living in the Northwest.

Late Friday night grocery shopping for gnocchi night...I left at 11pm and returned at midnight.

Since Saturday was such a busy day with running around, preparing for that night's gnocchi dinner, I finally had found a moment to actually stop and enjoy the sunshine--and I've got to say, Fred Meyer's deli has some delicious salad.

I am so proud. I used a cleaver and pounded this young coconut open. Yes, fresh coconut for a raw vegan dessert I made...

This is an almost raw, vegan coconut cream pie/torte. It didn't turn out nearly as pretty as the recipe picture, but it definitely tasted well. Unfortunately though, I forgot to take it out of the freezer before dessert-time, so everyone got frozen torte. =(

On Sunday, the temperatures were up in the upper 70s edging near the 80s--and me, because I'm a masochist, went and worked out at the gym. LA Fitness, baby! woot!

Lunch break at work--eating leftover gnocchi and salad and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine.

My second favorite flowers, blooming in front of my house. My favorite part about spring!

Hanging out with a friend who is working on the most amazing virtual reality experience ever. If you're interested in finding out more about how their virtual reality experience will change the face of gaming, go to their website, www.vrcade.com. This will blow your mind away. =)

I feel amazing when I finish an accomplished jog--this had been my first real jog since I bruised my ribs a few months prior. I was so excited to run and not be in pain! I be singing a Hallelujah Chorus up in here! 

And the best thing to do after a long night is to relax and cuddle with my furbaby, Ernie, who has begun sleeping by my side instead of at this normal place by my feet. He is so adorable! <3

Now onward for this past week!

Friday evening, I took a Bolt bus up north to Bellingham to visit my mom and sister--for Mother's Day.

Just outside of Bellingham in the Lake Sammish area--this is why we are called the Evergreen State!

And for Mother's Day, my sister and I treated her to Chinese...but not before I could do a Mommy's Day Makeover! To find out more about my Mommy Makeover, click the link to read all about it! =)

Later that night, I had a hair crisis...I looked like Pebbles from the Flinstones...obviously I didn't look so pretty myself. Haha! (Granted, I was getting ready for a shower, hence the 'ugly no-bra' look I've got going on...)

And because my sister's boyfriend loves to game...and still owns an original Nintendo System, (AKA NES) I was able to play one of my all-time favorite video games from my childhood. 

And finally, for a sneak peak into this upcoming weekend:

A photo of my sister with her furbaby, Wendell, after filming a special makeup tutorial with her...more details to come with that tutorial upload later this weekend! 

And as we were waiting for my Bolt bus to come and whisk me back to Seattle, we had a few moments to kill...quite obviously. My sister brings out the silly in me. I don't know what I would do without her. <3

And finally, wearing a wispy skirt because of the amazingly sunny weather. 

I hope you are inspired by the past couple weeks of my life. When I reflect on these pictures, I think back to all those moments where I think I am going to go crazy, but see them differently in picture form.

I cannot wait to upload this tutorial for you, so stay tuned, my lovely friends!

Much love,

Em

Meet My Momma

Hi Lovelies!!

I didn't get the opportunity to post my weekly blog on Friday or throughout the weekend, so keep an eye out for that later today.

For the weekend, I traveled northbound to be able to spend Mother's Day with my momma. I don't get to see her that often, but I wanted to make sure that I could spend some time with her to let her know how special she is to me.  That would be why I didn't get a chance to post my Bellezza di Vita/Beauty of Life blog post on Friday
. Forgive me, please! (Because I love you! ;-D )

When I was little, I used to think my mom was a beautiful queen who had magical mommy powers. When I was a teenager, I started to think of my mom in a completely different way--mostly in a way that isn't very nice, particularly since our relationship was really shaky and rough. When I moved out at 17-years-old, our relationship mended and has gotten much better over the years since. Every time I get to see my momma, I get really excited. Instead of having simply a mother figure whom fictional stories relate to as being annoying, I have a wiser, older friend whose counsel always makes me feel better. I suppose this is how mother-daughter relationships are supposed to be once the daughter is of age and on her own. My mom is a mentor.

Thinking about Mother's Day, I think back to all the wonderful 'moms' I have had in my life and how each person has given me gifts of wisdom, love, and support.

Here is a list of the best 'mom' wisdom I've received from all sorts of lovely women:

Always do the best that you can do and things will always be okay.
Don't forget who loves you.
Home is where you plant your flowers.
The one
who counts first is you, everyone else comes second.
Be the best version of you possible.
You're beautiful.
Love yourself. Love God. Love others.
Be kind.
Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Others will back down when they see you rise.
On that note, don't stoop to others' levels of immaturity by paying them back in spite, hurt for hurt.
Smile and laugh as much as you can--but don't be foolish in your timing.
Dream big because you can do anything you want. Don't let others tell you otherwise.

Because my own mom has taught me how to be confident in myself and has always been my (distant) cheerleader, I wanted to give back to her a feeling of confidence.

A few years ago, she almost died. After being sick with a liver cyst for nearly five years, she finally had the operation necessary to save her life. However, being sick robbed her of her confidence because she started to age more and gain weight. I never saw her as being any older or any less beautiful, but she certainly felt less confident, regardless. For Mother's Day, I was able to give her a Mommy Makeover--even though the makeup lasted only a day, I think she felt a lot better knowing that I didn't have to apply a ton of makeup "cover up" her flaws or use some magical makeup product to make her look younger. (haha)

Here are the before/after shots of my momma:

Here are the steps I took to do a Mommy Makeover:
1. Defined her eyebrows
2. Applied some BB Cream to the center of her face and blended outward to cover up dark circles.
3. Created some shimmering accents to her tear ducts and eyebrow arches.
4. Smoked her eyes with brown shadows to create depth.
5. Liner and mascara.
6. A little bit of coral blush to add some color back to the face.

And that's it. Six steps to make my momma feel confident.

Let me know what you think of her makeover. =)

Much love to you mommas and mommas-to-be out there. I hope you had a beautiful day.

Em

May Already?!

Happy Friday!!

I am so excited for this weekend--I have a lot of awesome plans with friends, which is going to be the pick-me-up from such a chaotic week.

Let's start with last weekend, shall we?

Saturday morning--looking at the mountains from my back yard.

Later, I went shopping for a new dining room table set--of course, I got distracted by this amazing desk! It was silver with beautiful embellishments...See the price?! It was reduced to $1599!! Craaazy!

I found a beautiful comforter & bed set that I would love to have. Alas, it is out of my budget...for now...Hey, it doesn't hurt to dream, right?

Okay, so here is what I ended up buying--sorry for the blurry factor. My sales agent was waiting for me to come sign the paperwork for delivery. But I am very excited. This is a milestone for me. This is the first piece of furniture I've ever bought that I do not have to assemble myself nor wasn't a hand-me-down. I had it delivered and I feel all grown up now. ;-)

And of course, I found the most amazing chair ever! A zebra striped high heel shaped chair!! Of course, I had to get a picture of me in it, courtesy of my roommate!

I promise I wasn't alone! They all slipped off for some shenanigans in the kitchen. A round of poker at my friend's birthday party! I love Texas Hold 'Em poker now...it has become a new favorite thing to do with friends...

Sunday, albeit a massive shoulder ache, I was still able to gut out my garden bed and prune one of my trees. Unfortunately, this garden bed was severely overgrown with ivy and blackberry vines. I really want to be able to grow strawberries here instead. Yum!! Thankfully, there are blackberry bushes all around the back side of the yard so I don't feel guilty for chopping them away. They grow like weeds here in Washington, in case you didn't know.

My Ernie-Bernie Baby Boy, AKA Furbaby--sitting with me outside while I whacked away at blackberry vines.

And of course, a more relaxing way to spend my time--editing a video! 

Click this image to see the video I actually uploaded on Monday night! I am going to be doing my nails like this again soon--I love this rich purple, and the holographic effect is really cool. Unfortunately, it's really hard to catch with a lens, but either way--it's up to you all to just try it!

And of course, while I was editing/uploading the video, I got inspiration to paint my nails again--pink on pink, anyone? Why post this, you ask? Well, I actually don't paint my nails that often. It's a rare occasion that I do... read HERE to find out why.

This was my first cell phone ever. I remember when I bought it (I was 17) and how cool I felt for it. Mind you, it was about 2006. This had an mp3 player and a rotating lens for the camera. And it was in color! I found this while digging through some my things while waiting for my video to finish rendering. It's amazing how quickly technology evolves!

Monday morning...making it to work---my office is to the far left. You can't see it though.

While on break, I decided to upload some of my video thumbnails for YouTube. This replaced a ghastly image of my face looking demented while I did a half smile in between words. It's so surreal that I filmed that video a year ago... here it is:

On Wednesday, May 1st, downtown Seattle erupted into chaos as a march turned into a riot. I was very fortunate to just miss the craziness of the situation...but this was by about 15 minutes. I won't share my whole experience from that day here on this post, but please do click this link above to read about the life changing experience I had. I owe a lot to Michael.

And finally, I'm ending the work week on some high notes. My roommate's cat, Julius, always gets me to laugh--he is all that and a bag of...kitty potatoes! hehe

And today, for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, my managers treated us to beers and salsa with chips. And because I am not a beer drinker, I got this yummy bottle of strawberry margarita stuff instead. They know me too well now. haha! And, because I'm not much of a drinker, I was able to savor this for about three hours! ...for real.

I hope that you all have had a great week and an even better weekend ahead!

Remember to stay electric and be the beauty in life! You are love, people. You are the light and the beauty.

<3,

Em