♥Love Your Skin♥

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ok, so not quite yet, but soon! For all of you out there with Valentine's plans (I'm so jelly!), preparing for your date is so important! Buying gifts, picking out the right outfit, and finding the perfect accessories is always on the top of the to do list. But one mustn't forget about their skin! Having bright and glowing skin is the ultimate accessory!

So here are some of my favorite skincare products and tips to keep your face glowing :)

For everyday cleansing, I like to use Cetaphil (normal to oily skin formula) once in the morning, and once at night. I used to love trying new cleansers and washes, but ever since I found this one I have been in love! It is hands down the best cleanser for oily skin without drying it out, and works as a great make-up remover. 

For exfoliation...

I love Garnier's "The Brusher". This came out over the summer, and is a great alternative to the Clarisonic. Unlike other handheld exfoliating brushes (like those from the drugstore and sephora), the bristles are made out of rubber instead of harsh hairs which can end up scratching the skin. With these bristles, the brusher gently exfoliates and make the skin glow from within :)

My other favorite exfoliator is the ever famous Cure Aua Gel! Can I say love too much in one post?! This stuff is absolutely amazing! It has the smallest, most gentlest micro beads ever invented on the planet (scientific fact). This works a bit differently from other exfoliators as it leaves white residue on the face. But it's not residue...it's your dead skin cells and dirt! Then once you rinse it off completely, you're left with a face as soft as a baby's bum! No lie.

My next favorite skin care items are face masks. Just saying makes my heart happy! They are just so fun and easy to use. My faves are just about any Japanese or Korean brand, but right now I have a bunch from a brand called Naisture. While I have never heard of this brand, they sell them at H Mart, so that means they can be trusted right?

                         After trying these, I must say that they are very moisturizing and relaxing to use. Even greater than that is that they were only $1 each!!! Crazy right?! So when I was on vacation in New Jersey, I just had to buy a million of them. And as shown in the pictures, they come in Sweet Honey, Moisture Green Tea, White Rose, Lovely Strawberry, Fresh Aloe, and Juicy Pomegranate. With all of these choices, you're sure to find one you'll love!

Now for some final advice...

Don't forget to drink plenty of water and eat lots of vitamins and minerals! Although you can fake a glow with makeup, the best are those from within!

Happy Valentine's Day,

Sierra Anastasia

Finding New Inspiration

Hope everyone is doing well!

For a little update, I am officially moved back into my room in Maryland. Last night I unpacked most of my stuff and semi decorated my room. It's still kind of sad tho, since I don't own furniture besides a bed lol! Besides that, I got a bit of sad or disappointing news. I didn't get that super secret job that I applied for. But to be honest, I'm not that sad about it (or at least telling myself that?). The job included a lot of actual work hours when to be honest I am a quite lazy person lol. For work though I have no problem being super productive, but I do need a little time to myself! I think I really just wanted the job as a way to get back into Japan, but honestly I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as I would have had little time to shop and wear cute clothes (the job required business suits only)! However now I have to figure out what in this world I want to do!!! It's really a terrifying feeling not knowing what to do with your future. 

But for now I know that I love to shop! 

So, in honor of my love to shop and the fact that I want to save money, I decided to make a post on some of my favorite (looking) clothes from sammydress.com. This is an online wholesale website that sells clothes that are manufactured for cheap prices. While I have never bought anything from this website, I do buy a lot of stuff from overseas from ebay. I think that this site is very similar, but more direct! If I ever do buy something from here, I will definitely make a post about it!

Sheer, lace, and florals!

They are just so romantic, feminine, and light and airy. Love the effortless and comfortable styles that are just so girly and cute!

Polka dots and stripes! Feminine yet sporty and casual.

And for bottoms...I love skirts the most!

More florals, soft fabrics, and flirty styles!

I think that these are great for year round cuteness, and especially great for Valentine's day :)

Love always,

Sierra Anastasia

***All pictures of clothes from http://www.sammydress.com/***

Leaving Home Part Deux

Because the last post was getting too long,

I decided to make a second part to document my last day here in California. Fortunately, besides one leaking fish tank mishap (was actually fun), I had a great last day! Right now I'm just doing a last check on my luggage, praying it's under or at the weight limit, and writing this post :)

To continue celebrating, my friend and I continued to go to our favorite places. 

So of course we had to get froyo! Menchies is a pretty popular frozen yogurt chain here in California and is super yum! I decided to be semi healthy (as if) and chose to mix blueberry acai tart and purely tart frozen yogurt. For the toppings, I picked old fashion granola, chopped strawberries, and a chocolate covered strawberry. Yummy would be an understatement!

Next, my friend and I enjoyed our favorite cheap wine. We always buy it from the Mexican super market for like $3!!! Will always love Boone's Farm and their cheap sangria fixes. Then, to commemorate our extreme baking skills, we baked super yummy choco chip cookies. I'm going to claim that we made them from scratch but you can be the judge :)

Galletas con Leche!

Lastly, I figured out an outfit that is comfortable for my plane ride. Although most people dress very casually for plane rides, I like to be semi dressed up because that's just how I like it. Whatever floats your boat right? Well as promised, it incorporates the sweater I showed in my last "haul" post.

Enjoy!

Well, now it's time for me to finish getting ready for the flight and to begin my panic/anxiety attacks about flying :)

***Con mucho amor,***

Sierra Anastasia

Leaving Home

So although I am not from California, 

and have only been here for about 5-6 months, I have to say that it has become like a home to me. I have lived in many different states and cities, but each place I go definitely becomes a part of me. So in lieu of my departure, me and my friend decided to give Sylmar one last hoorah! 

First, we went to our favorite sushi restaurant near the house. Every Monday-Friday, this place has half off sushi rolls! Besides the great pricing, we always get a good laugh out of the name of the place. Courthouse Sushi!!!!! And their mascot is a fist with a wig and gavel...how could you not love it?! 

The roll pictured here is called the "Vanessa", featuring tempura shrimp inside with spicy crab, avocado, and eel sauce on top. When I usually go there, I always get spicy crab and shrimp but really wanted to try something new. This was quite good and not too overwhelming with tastes. 

On to one of our other faves!

Next, we walked over the The House of Brews, a local coffee house with lots of cozy character. The first picture shows me stalking the fruit tart from the very beginning :) For drinks, I got a Matte Latte (their supposed version of a green tea latte...which in fact was tea with steamed milk instead of coffee...I was extremely disappointed) and my friend bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte (which she enjoyed very much...as it was a real latte lol). 

For deserts, I got a fresh fruit tart while my friend enjoyed a mini lemon drop cupcake. The tart was absolutely delish, including the freshest raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, AND kiwi! The custard was a nice thick consistency and surprisingly the crust at the bottom was laced with a dark chocolate. This totally made up for the bum latte lol. 

Lastly, we took a few pictures of the pretty scenes there. My favorites that we came upon were the railroad tracks (which you can hear the train in the distance all throughout the night) as well as the lights that dazzle above customers during their nights out in the small town. 

For some reason, I always feel like railroad tracks are so inspirational. Especially in this picture, I feel that it shows where I am in life. I can see where I am now, assume that I am moving forward, but have no clue where I will end up! Lol it's kind of sad and poetic at the same time.

And then lastly, evidence to my addiction to lights! They are just so shiny, and for some reason also inspire me with their low-lit glow. 

As I made my way to the store that I worked at for the last time, I felt very nostalgic, especially towards the lush greenery that often greeted me in the mornings. I really did enjoy the long walks or bike rides to work and always appreciated the scenery. So, as a final goodbye and tribute, I decided to snap this quick photo. I think that it really represents California's diverse and unique green life that I have come to love and will miss dearly. 

Hope you all enjoyed this small dedication to my time in California,

And as always, Much love,

Sierra Anastasia

So I may have lied...

Hi Hi!

So in the last post I proudly declared I hadn't done any other shopping in 2013...but it was a lie!

Well, I wasn't completely off base...I hadn't done any other "in store" shopping but completely forgot the fact that I had ordered something on ebay.

So I present my new wallet:

Isn't the color just amazing?! the wallet is really super cool because it also features the baby pink lining. And as if to be even more diabolic, it doubles as a cell phone case/holder (complete with opening for your headphones)!!! It's hard to get much cooler than this, except for the fact that it was only $4.99 on ebay. I ordered it from a seller in China, so the downside was that it took about 16 days to arrive =/ Also, the quality is not top notch, but for the price, I'd say it's worth it (plus I'm not planning to play any extreme sports with it). 

Opening for money (accordion style)

The back part is the space for your phone as well as the general opening for headphones which allows the wallet to be compatible with many phones. On the left is the hole for adding charms :)

Overall I really like this wallet because of the soft hues and simple gold detailing (from the crown on the front to the snap closure). It's very easy to use and quite light weight. Just hope it lasts a while!

Now that I have admitted my lies,

 guess it is time for more updates, or continuations of the past updates.

For starters, I am still in the packing process for moving back home. A big part of this was getting rid of clothes and junk that I did not want or have space for anymore. So instead of directly donating the stuff, I decided to go to a consignment shop. Although they only took like two out of fifty things (?!!!?), I just donated the rest and the woman gave me a $15 store credit. So with that in hand, I decided to look around....and of course found something! Now be warned, it is pretty wild and crazy but also totally amazing!!!

I like to call this the shaggy princess look :D I love the texture of the oversized sweater as well as the colors, a creamy peach with pearlescent white shag. The ticketed price was $30, but with 15% off and the $15 deduction, I only paid $13.20, so don't think it was too bad of a deal. I am planning my airport outfit based on this shirt so am very excited!

Thankfully, that is the end of everything that I bought. I feel like I am really growing up since I am learning to control my natural urges to buy buy buy. In complete other news/updates...I went on a date today. 

*Shock* *Shock* *Shock*

To make it clear: I don't go on dates. It's just kind of my sad reality (especially since I can't remember the last time I went on one and am pretty sure it was been 3-4 years). So anyway, it was with something that I had met on Ok Cupid, AKA online. Since this was my first time meeting someone from online, I was super nervous! Added with the fact that I suck at general social interaction with a specialty in screwing up those dealing with the opposite sex...I was mortified. But in the end, I actually had a good time and am glad that I forced myself to go through with it. Someone's maturing :)

For the "date", we met at Little Tokyo in LA and then ended up going to Korea Town...where I ran into the love of my life! Lee Min Ho!!!!!

There was a very neat booth where you could take a photo with him! Can you believe that?! So, holding in my fangirl screams, we took a photo with him! 

We look great together no?! Lol, so obviously there was someone else in the photo too, but since this is the internets I just cropped them out :) I imagine that after this photo me and LMH went for a drive in his nice red car xD

Since this is getting long, and it's getting late/early, I shall end it here. More updates and fun soon I hope!

And as always, 

I leave you with much love, 

Sierra Anastasia

Shop, Shop, Shop...but only a little

Hi stranger :)

I guess I just want to update my blog a bit since it's been so long.

For starters, I am moving back to the East Coast! I never wrote a post about this I don't think (bad memory), but about 5-6 months ago I moved to LA. But, since I couldn't find a "real" job in this horrible economy, I am moving back home to try and save up some money. That being said, I did interview for a super secret job that, if I get, I shall announce! But, for now I am shipping back to good old Maryland. My flight is on Monday, so for now I shall say goodbye California and you're insane weather patterns!

So for other random updates...I have become obsessed with instagram and eating sweets. It's like some sort of vicious cycle where I want to make instagram posts and so I grab something sweet and cute to eat! But then I end up eating the sweets :( So basically I am becoming a giant whale of a human being and must change this ASAP! Hopefully being home will help me to control my random eating habits so I can lose about 10-15 pounds. Worse than gaining weight all over is the fact that I'm pretty sure my face is getting fat :O I have worked so hard in the past to lose the weight that I guess I'm just disappointed in myself.

But moving on to more exciting updates...I think that I went shopping for the first time (officially anyway and not involving food) in 2013! This is a great milestone for me, an emotional and generally avid shopaholic. But in preparation for attempting to be an adult and other secret projects I am truly trying my best to save money. But even though I stopped buying clothes it seems that I replaced my habit with buying food. This will change though...as I no longer work retail (I'm free!!!!!) and for now don't have a job. But positivity is the key to everything right?

Anyways...sorry for the long blabber(a mixture of sleepiness and stress), here are the very few pix of what I bought!

Cutest belt ever right?! I admittedly rarely use the belts that I buy but I just couldn't resist the sparkly bow!

It must have mystical powers. So obviously by the well placed bag, (^^) the belt is from J. Crew. To be honest, today was my last day at my mall and I was like I need to own something from there! So this is my first ever item from J. Crew. I mainly don't go there because it's expensive and the style is a bit simple for my tastes, but I found this on sale with additional 50% off so I'm now content.

           

The last thing I bought (what?! Only two things?) was this long maroon dress from Banana Republic. To begin, this store fits under the same label as J. Crew...not my price point and not my everyday style. The only reason I went in was because of their 40% off of sale sign (hate when marketing works). But honestly, I had seen this dress a few weeks ago on sale and really liked it but kinda hesitated. It's a pretty plain dress except for the color. The good thing about it is that it is pretty long and is a similar fabric to corporate suits. Sooooo if my super secret job interview works out well then I think that this would be great! It's pretty bah humbug but with a tad bit of pizzazz :) One can never go wrong with pizzazz. 

*long inhale*

I shall stop here today since I'm pretty sure that this is my longest post ever. I will as always promise to try to update more often (we'll see how it goes). Maybe I'll go get a life and then have something to report on. 

But toodles for now! 

Love.

Sierra Anastasia

A New Year

Happy New Year!

So although I'm about a week late, wanted to wish everyone a happy new year :)

Did anyone make any resolutions? I feel like I always make resolutions but never actually go through with them...so this year I have no official "resolutions" but still intend to make changes.

Hopefully if I don't list them out I will really do them? 

Let's hope so...

So anyway, to start off the new year properly, I will share some photos of my year so far!

Love always,

Sierra Anastasia