✯ Purchased By Me ✯

*Check out this updated Tieks post.

I have lusted after Tieks ballet flats for a good 2+ years now.... I've heard great things about them, and that aqua colored sole always spoke to me. (If you've ever seen pictures of my apartment, the theme is black, white, and aqua!)

Thought I would share a few of my newest purchases... non polish related, lol. :-p

First up... my gorgeous Guess Trixia Uptown satchel. I saw this People Style Watch magazine and I started stalking the Guess website until they listed it. Luckily I got an email the day they added new spring items. And... the color I wanted was on sale. (Normally it's $128). Plus I got a 15% off + free shipping coupon, since I was a new customer. I saved $47 total off my pretty new bag. I don't normally like spending so much on a purse, but I really love this one. It's nice and roomy too (16 x 11).



The last time I bought Bose headphones was back in 2009. I got a pair of the original Bose ear buds on eBay. I started using them a lot after my job relocated in 2011 and I started taking the train to work. (45min -1 hour commute both ways). I usually ride in the quiet car in the mornings and I can listen to music on my Bose ear buds without disturbing anyone else, like normal ear buds do. But sadly... 5 years later the sound decided to go in the right side... so it was time for a new pair.


I got the Bose IE2 earbuds. They've definitely improved the design since the original ones came out. Now the silicone buds actually STAY ON the headphones itself... the originals it would sometimes slip off and you'd lose one. Now there's a little tab on each one to prevent that from happening. Also I really like the new StayHear tips even though they look like weird little elf ears, lol. They are really comfortable. The original Bose ear buds would slip out of your ears if you exercised, got sweaty or even just tipped your head funny. The StayHear tips actually don't budge. :-) I just hope they last me 5 years like the last pair did because they are not cheap... though you can find them on sale for $60-70.

Last but not least, I got a new pair of Easy Spirit e360 Reinvent sneakers. I have another gray/lavender pair, but I wanted black so I could wear it more without them looking dirty. I got these on sale for $50. I don't know if I can properly explain how comfortable these sneakers are... if you're ever in a shoe store and see them. Try them on, trust me! They are made out of that extremely lightweight rubber/foam that Croc's are made of. You literally feel like there's nothing on your feet when you put them on. The upper is a sock/spandex lining, so it's snug to the foot, like a custom fit. I can't rave about these enough, they are unlike any other sneaker I've ever worn. I just love them.


 

My 2nd Lush Cosmetics order finally arrived. (My 1st Lush experience). I had to get more of that citrus soap that smells like lemon drops (Sexy Peel). I also got facial soap (Fresh Farmacy) & a herbal deodorant (The Greeench). They also sent me a sample of demon in the dark soap. It smells like mint, it's yummy!



Let's talk deodorant. Before my job relocated to Center City in early 2010, I used to drive to work. It took 10-15 minutes. Now I have to commute on the train for 45min to 1 hour. Not to mention all the walking and anxiety of commuting. And the air not working sometimes on the train when it's hot out! I started having embarrassing issues with deodorant failing... I never had this problem before when I just used to drive to work! Arrgh!

Below you can see just how many different deoderants I've tried....


The Crystal worked for a little while. Then I guess I became immune to it. Tom's... doesn't last all day. Regular Dove and Degree same thing. I was using clinical protection Mitchum and that worked. I just switched over to Dove clinical protection when I ran out of Mitchum. That's been working pretty well, but it's expensive and I don't like the scent too much. That's why I decided to give the Lush deodorant a try. I'll update this post after I've worn it a week and let you know how it holds up!

Edited 5-10-13: The Lush deodorant held up pretty okay. It kept away odor, but it was not so good at being an anti-antiperspirant. Still, it is something I would continue to use. I want to try their T'eo bar.

And.... nail mail! Purple is my favorite color. It was even included in our wedding & reception. So you would think I would have more purple nail polishes, but I really don't. I have more blue and aqua nail polish. I ordered these two pretty polishes on eBay!

My cousin & I got together for her belated birthday last weekend. We hadn't seen each other... since last year! We're both either always busy working, sick, or it was snowing, lol. So it was nice to get together with her and have a girls day out. We took the train down to Center City Philadelphia so we could do some shopping on Walnut Street near Rittenhouse Square. It was a nice sunny day even though it was a bit windy and only in the low 60's.




Another thing my cousin & I have wanted to do is try French Macaroons! You see them everywhere online, in blogs. They are always so colorful and pretty. But boy are they tough to find around here! We found out there's a patisserie & coffee shop down near 17th & Walnut Street. Miel Patisserie. So we were super excited to stop there and try some French Macaroons for the 1st time ever!

The shop is really cute. They serve coffee, some food items. They have gorgeous looking pastries and chocolates. And soooo many flavors of French Macaroons. I wish I could have tried every flavor! (They are $1.50 each). I ordered an iced coffee & a Cappuccino and Pistachio French Macaroon. My cousin ordered Blueberry Lemon & Salted Caramel.


Oh. My. Gosh. They were beyond what we both imagined. At first we were scared to try them because of all the hype and we were afraid they wouldn't be what we were thinking. But wow. French Macaroons are small, they have a crispy exterior, but when you bite into it it's more a chewy cake consistency. And the filling... oh my wow.... the ones I ordered had a very rich sweet cream center. The Blueberry Lemon one I tried of my cousins had the most amazing sweet blueberry center. They were so good we got some more to take home.

I've wanted to try nail stamping for awhile. :-) After reading this blogging post on Nailed It, I decided to order the stamping plates from Winstonia Store. You get 20 plates for $15, though you have to also order a stamper/scraper separately for about $3.95.

Stamping is... um... tedious at first... LOL. You need a lot of polish remover and a lot of cotton balls when you're practicing. I'm still not so good at the full nail designs yet, I need to practice more. I'm better at the smaller individual designs. It does work best when you're at the table. There's a great Stamping Tutorial on Swatch And Learn that really helped me.






Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I purchased the Winstonia Stamping Plates with my own money. 

F.B. & I decided to have a little "staycation" getaway. Saturday into Sunday we checked into the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square section. The hotel was just two blocks down from the Academy of Music. I found a nice rate on our room on Agoda.com

Check in was at 3pm on Saturday. We took the train down to Suburban Station. We got downtown around 2pm, so we decided to walk around a little bit. We checked out The Shops at Liberty Place. It's a small mall right near City Hall.

Glass dome roof inside Liberty Place

City Hall

Our Hotel

There was a Starbucks downstairs inside the hotel! They also had a Tiffany & Co, Williams & Sonoma and some other shops downstairs.

Our room!

We headed to dinner after checking in. We ate at Ruby Tuesday at Liberty Place. Then walked around a little after dinner. And I got some Starbucks when we got back to the hotel, hehe.

Sirloin steak, broccoli & mashed cauliflower

Top shelf long island iced tea

Mojito

F.B. with our chocolate lava cake for dessert.

Art school across the street from the hotel. We could see ballerina's practicing in the studio from the sidewalk. :)

Academy of Music was 2 blocks from the hotel.

Light outside the Academy of Music.

Starbucks & Chocolate back at the hotel!

Courtyard out our hotel window

 Check out was at 12pm. I forgot to take pictures of us when we came back to the hotel after dinner, I was tired. lol. So that's why my hair is wet here.


We checked out shops on Chestnut Street & Walnut Street after checking out. Walnut Street has a bunch of high end shops. The one I really wanted to stop at was L'Occitane!

My loot from L'Occitane! Almond soap, Verbena soap, Almond oil body wash, Verbena hand lotion, Almond lotion, Rose solid perfume.

We decided to head to 30th Street Station to take the train back home. It was sunny, but very cold and windy out! We walked from Broad St all the way to 30th Street Station.

Comcast Center

Church on 17th Street, I liked the red door.

Bridge near Schuylkill Ave.

Oh hi work... see you Tuesday...

30th Street Station, Amtrack building in the back.

Bridge near Schuylkill Ave.

30th Street Station

I got a cute Philadelphia tote bag for work and a metal city souvenir from the book shop inside 30th Street Station. Yeah... playing tourist in my own city again, lol. Ever since my office moved downtown back in December 2010 and I've been riding the trains. I've definitely been checking out more of downtown Philadelphia than ever before.

F.B. tired on the train home.

Me waiting in the car, while F.B. get Wendy's for dinner!

We had a really nice weekend. But boy with all that walking, we are exhausted!

P.S. This was the note F.B. left on my coffee cup and I found when I got to work Thursday morning. (I make my coffee at home in the morning and my travel tumbler goes into my work bag until I get to work).


Other Philadelphia Adventures:

• September 2011:  Philadelphia Trip: 8/31-9/1/2011  
• July 2011: Philadelphia Zoo
• May 2011: Hot Day in the City! 
• December 2010: The Nutcracker  
• April 2009: Playing tourist in my own city