Beauty
Birthday's
Coffee
Food
Lush
Philadelphia
Shopping
Travel
Lush Cosmetics & French Macaroons!
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.
One of the things we really wanted to do was check out Lush Cosmetics. My cousin had already gotten stuff online from them and I've heard about them so it was fun to actually visit the shop. The staff was incredibly friendly. They let you try out products, they give demonstrations. They were nice and laid back.
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.
Other Philadelphia Adventures:
One of the things we really wanted to do was check out Lush Cosmetics. My cousin had already gotten stuff online from them and I've heard about them so it was fun to actually visit the shop. The staff was incredibly friendly. They let you try out products, they give demonstrations. They were nice and laid back.
My Lush Haul: I got Sexy Peel soap... which smells so amazing. Like lemon candy drops. It makes my whole shower smell good. I also got Lemony Flutter cuticle butter. It smells of lemon and lavender. And Mint Julips lip scrub. It tastes like chocolate mint.
I loved the Sexy Peel soap so much. I just ordered 2 more bars online. And a facial soap I liked the smell of. And one of their all natural herbal deodorants. Can't wait until they arrive!
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.
Leftover French Macaroons.
(I took home Raspberry, Pistachio & Cappuccino).
(I took home Raspberry, Pistachio & Cappuccino).
To finish our shopping adventures. We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's near Liberty Place for an early dinner. I got a yummy salmon salad. And we both got top shelf long island iced teas. We did so much walking downtown! We were exhausted on the train ride back home.
Other Philadelphia Adventures:
- January 2013: Weekend Getaway!
- 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
Nails
NinjaPolish
OPI
Orly
WinstoniaStore
Another Nail Polish Post.
I've gotten some new polishes in the past few weeks, so I've updated my Complete Nail Polish Collection post.
Here's some of my recent nail colors and designs.
I did feathers with my Winstonia Store stamping plates. No Flash because my camera was washing out the feather design.
Then another week, I did a tropical theme. I have Ninja Polish Caribbean Reef on my ring finger. (When my cousin & I visited Lush Cosmetics last weekend, I had 3 of the salesgirls trying to check out my nails when they were testing a product on me, lol!)
*All polish was purchased by myself.
I was able to get a mini collection of some of OPI's Euro Centrale for $8 on eBay. I've really been wanting the first two. Can't find my Czechbook & Suzi's Hungary again. It also includes You're Such a Budapest & Oy-Another Polish Joke.
My 1st Orly polish! I've been wanting Miss Conduct forever!
I loved OPI's Where's my Czechbook so much I wore it for 3 weeks, with different designs. lol. The 1st picture is more accurate of how it looks in person.
I did feathers with my Winstonia Store stamping plates. No Flash because my camera was washing out the feather design.
*All polish was purchased by myself.
Pets
Rainbow Bridge
Rats
Aspen: 2010 - April 2013
Aspen passed away on April 16th, 2013. He was a few months past 3 years old. He was born sometime in 2010, though we didn't adopt him until April 2011 from Star's Rat Rescue of South Dakota.
He was also featured in my work's newsletter with his brother Curry who passed away Sept 2011 in an article about pet rats & rescues. Aspen was frail in his old age and had lost the use of his back legs due to Degenerative Osteoarthritis, but he still got around pretty well.
He was also featured in my work's newsletter with his brother Curry who passed away Sept 2011 in an article about pet rats & rescues. Aspen was frail in his old age and had lost the use of his back legs due to Degenerative Osteoarthritis, but he still got around pretty well.
Nails
SallyHansen
WinstoniaStore
More Stamping Adventures...
I still need practice stamping. But these still turned out cute, even though some of the designs didn't stamp on fully, and some smeared a bit. My left hand is more messy than my right hand in this picture.
Other Blog Posts:
Adventures in Nail Stamping...
My Complete Nail Polish Collection
I call these my Katy Perry nails, hehe! Candy Themed. :-) I did these with my Winstonia Store stamping plates.
I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White & Lively Lilac. And Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away & Fuchsia Power.
Other Blog Posts:
Adventures in Nail Stamping...
My Complete Nail Polish Collection
30th Street Station
Anniversaries
Coffee
Food
Holidays
Loccitane
Long Distance Relationships
Marriage
Also, I'm now obsessed with these iced & frozen cappuccinos from Wawa. They have a specialty drink bar now and you can customize your coffee drink. Soooo good.
Easter, an Anniversary & other ramblings.
It's been 9 years since F.B. & I defined our long distance relationship, back on April 1st, 2004! (See our Relationship Timeline). The picture above is the card he got me. :-)
We had a quiet Easter dinner here at home. I made homemade pound cake, (using this recipe). It turned out gorgeous!
Our Easter Dinner. Roast Beef, Onions & Mushrooms, Roasted Seasoned Potatoes, Creamed Corn & Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. We still have leftovers.
I also made lemon butter cream icing to go with our pound cake.
Peeps & the Little Chick are from my co-worker.
Also, I'm now obsessed with these iced & frozen cappuccinos from Wawa. They have a specialty drink bar now and you can customize your coffee drink. Soooo good.
I took advantage of the 20% off coupon L'Occitane sent me in the mail. I got Almond soap, Verbena soap & Rose soap. Love them.
I've been having green smoothies in the morning for breakfast now. I do 1 whole banana, 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt, Half cup of almond milk, Big handful of fresh spinach, tablespoon of PB2 powder, & some protein powder. Might do some strawberry or blueberry, fruit smoothies this week too.
New favorite wine (Besides Sutter Home Sweet Red). I never had Pink Moscato before! It's really fruity and tangy. LOVE!
Typical commuting to work week. I ride these trains 2 times a day, 5 times a week. 45min to 1 hour commute...
Pictures are from my Instagram: @tunaynamahal82
Indie
MayaCosmetics
Nails
Maya Cosmetics- Nail Polish
After seeing these pretties on another nail blog I had to get them! :-)
Sanctuary is a gorgeous aqua color with blue shimmer in it. It's a bit on the thick side, I only needed two coats.
Sanctuary, with Wyoming Skies over it. No flash: the color is more accurate without the flash. The sparkles lay flat with no issues. I topped it with one coat of Seche Vite fast dry topcoat.
If you haven't already. Check out my blog about my Complete Nail Polish Collection!
Anniversaries
Blog
Holidays
5 Years of Blogging!
5 years ago today.... (yes on St. Patrick's Day)... I started blogging...
I've recorded and documented so many things here on my blog. It's my space to just be me. To blog about whatever is going on in my life. It's been a space to blog about our long distance relationship, our marriage, our immigration process. My Pets, my nail polish obsession, sharing recipes, trips I've taken in the Philippines, Philadelphia trips, etc...
I've also made a lot of friends blogging. Like Shannon, and Patty, Karen, Jacki, Stephanie, Georgia, Shawna, (and other friends). New blogging friends like Kelly & Faith. I get to keep up with family & friends by reading their blogs, like my SIL, My cousin Katie, my childhood friend Leah. Thank you for letting me read about your lives too.
As everyone has probably heard, this week Google announced, Google Reader will be shutting down in July of this year. I use Google Reader to follow so many blogs I read, because it's a simple format and easy to use on my cell phone, tablet or computer.
There's a petition that has currently reached over 122,000+ signatures and counting on Change.org.
It's been covered hundreds of times in media around the world. Google will be watching closely over the next few days to see if the story dies out or if it keeps growing -- and that's up to you. Sign the petition and please share it on Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully Google will see we don't want Google Reader to go anywhere!
But... if they still retire Google Reader, you can still follow my blog through BlogLovin. And you can import all your blog feeds from Google Reader to BlogLovin by clicking here.
P.S. I've started using The Old Reader. I think I like it better than Bloglovin because it's a very simple reader, like Google Reader. You can import all the blogs you follow too. :-)
I've recorded and documented so many things here on my blog. It's my space to just be me. To blog about whatever is going on in my life. It's been a space to blog about our long distance relationship, our marriage, our immigration process. My Pets, my nail polish obsession, sharing recipes, trips I've taken in the Philippines, Philadelphia trips, etc...
I've also made a lot of friends blogging. Like Shannon, and Patty, Karen, Jacki, Stephanie, Georgia, Shawna, (and other friends). New blogging friends like Kelly & Faith. I get to keep up with family & friends by reading their blogs, like my SIL, My cousin Katie, my childhood friend Leah. Thank you for letting me read about your lives too.
As everyone has probably heard, this week Google announced, Google Reader will be shutting down in July of this year. I use Google Reader to follow so many blogs I read, because it's a simple format and easy to use on my cell phone, tablet or computer.
There's a petition that has currently reached over 122,000+ signatures and counting on Change.org.
It's been covered hundreds of times in media around the world. Google will be watching closely over the next few days to see if the story dies out or if it keeps growing -- and that's up to you. Sign the petition and please share it on Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully Google will see we don't want Google Reader to go anywhere!
But... if they still retire Google Reader, you can still follow my blog through BlogLovin. And you can import all your blog feeds from Google Reader to BlogLovin by clicking here.
P.S. I've started using The Old Reader. I think I like it better than Bloglovin because it's a very simple reader, like Google Reader. You can import all the blogs you follow too. :-)
