24 + 1

It's that time of year again... *sigh*
Time to +1 to my age counter, time to get older! In just a few hours I'm turning 25 (shudder).

I remember when I was a kid, how excited I was at the thought of my birthday approaching. The gifts, cake and the party at my house with my classmates!

But now... I kinda dread that day. It just reminds me that time keeps moving forward always and we grow older everyday. Kinda makes me nostalgic when I think that my teen and early twenties years are over! They went by so fast!

Anyway, I'll have to make the most of my remaining young years before I reach the much dreaded.... 30!!! Argh!

Happy birthday to me!

How to.. give a second life to old jeans

I was looking for a good pair of deep blue skinny jeans the other day... but after looking for hours in stores, I gave up.  Either they didn't have my size (XXL has become the new S), or the style (I only need ONE zipper in my jeans thank you), or the colour (I'm not sure flashy blue suits my skin tone).  So I decided to make my own skinny jeans.

I already had a lot of jeans that I wasn't wearing anymore.  They fit me perfectly but they were bootcut style.  Following this method, I transformed three of my favourite old jeans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIX3PAJDRQ8&feature=related

into skinny jeans :)  Now I get to wear my favourite old jeans again.

From bootcut (left) to skinny (right)

CAUTION: Sewing can be dangerous both physically (needle pricks) and mentally (those darn threads keep knotting up!!!) and requires a LOT of patience.

August already!!!

Man I can't believe how fast time is going by this year.  Everyone is saying how fast more than half the year went by.  I swear there must be something going on.. like the Earth is spinning faster or something :p

This year is the year I take care of myself.  I felt like I spent all the previous years of my life mostly studying.  Working part-time/freelance gives me plenty of free time, I can't complain about that (but I can complain about the paycheck! duh).  But the most important thing is that this year, I'm spending my time the way I want to.  I'm spending much more time with my family and my boyfriend, cuz I felt like I had to catch up on all the times that I couldn't go out or spend time with them because I was too busy studying or doing an assignment!  After all, there's nothing better than spending time with a beloved one, even if it's just having a meal or watching telly together.

That's why this year is my semi-sabbatical year!

iPod shuffle 4th generation

Yaaaayyy I finally bought my first ipod.  I had set out to buy the ipod shuffle 4th generation in blue, but at the store finally decided to buy the silver one :) It comes in the cutest packaging ever!

Not only it's my first ipod but it's my first mp3 player!  I've been feeling the need for an mp3 player lately cuz I get soooo bored during my walks/work out (what? only 5 mins passed since I last checked my watch??).  The ipod shuffle is perfect... tiny, portable, fashionable and wearable thanks to its clip.  Exactly what I needed for jogging and gym!

Pros:

- Small, portable, fashionable and wearable

- Available in attractive colours

- Voice over function tells you the title of the song or playlist!

- Easy to use

- Cute packaging is made of solid plastic and can be used for carrying the ipod, earphones and usb cable around

- Using an auxiliary cable, I can connect the ipod to my car and play my favourite, latest downloaded tunes!

Cons:

- As I'm an ipod newbie, it took quite some time to download itunes, and after that to get used to the software!

- 2 GB storage only.  I thought it would be enough but apparently not.  And I don't even have that many songs.

- Price? Not the cheapest mp3 player out there.. but I guess the smaller the player, the bigger the price :p

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the ipod shuffle 4gen and it was totally worth the buy!

How to.. curl hair with straightener

Since my hair got quite long, I have been considering purchasing a curling iron in order to vary my hairstyle... I always wear my hair down and straight.  I was looking for some reviews on curling tongs on youtube when I stumbled upon some videos showing how to curl hair with a straightener.  I did try this once before, as I had seen a video by one famous youtuber, but it hadn't worked for me.  I guess her technique wasn't that good.  So I had given up hope of curling hair using a straightener.  But some days ago I saw this video and decided to try it out and it worked!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF1e-mEhwzE&feature=feedlik

Using her technique I achieved this look:

I took thinner sections of hair to make it more curly.  I like the fact that it keeps the length of the hair, it's not so curly as to make all my hair spring up and become half its original length.  This type of curl looks young and modern and it's exactly what I wanted to achieve :)

It took me 30 mins max to do my whole head, which is a miracle as I have used my sister's curling tong before and it took me at least an HOUR.  I find this technique easier to do than with traditional curling tongs especially for my long thick hair.  Since you slide the straightener down through the whole length of hair, instead of holding the hair around the tong (as with curling iron), it heats the whole length of hair evenly.  So it makes the curls stay on for a pretty long time too.

For a more curly look, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpl9KYzmJ6s

Amazing all the different looks you can achieve with a straightener!  And I thought it was meant for straightening :p