New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! I'm sorry my blog has been so terribly neglected but I *finally* got a smartphone so I am looking forward to posting a lot more this year! Last year was a big year for me - I got an offer at my dream job and ended a 2.5 year relationship that had to be ended. Now I'm on a mission to make 2012 the best year ever.

I turn 28 this year, graduate law school, take the bar, start work ... all kinds of big things are in store for me!

I recently realized that during law school I completely neglected myself and let my priorities for who *I* am fall to the wayside ... so this year I'm all about reclaiming them and getting back in touch with myself. So my New Year's resolutions are the following:

1) get back in touch with my love of movies and books (I'm determined to get through some Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Kerouac in the next few months)

2) pay attention to current events again (I started a subscription to the Economist and I've been plowing through it)

3) be a productive person (in every sense of the word)

4) stop cursing (this is a big one for me)

5) limit my spending (more on this later)

6) get really really fit while I have the time (always, right?)

7) get back in touch with my love of languages... read more in French, Spanish, and study more Mandarin!

As far as my spending goes, I've decided to force myself to go on a shopping moratorium for beauty products and figured this blog would be the best way of keeping myself accountable. I'm starting my own little Project 10 Pan and I won't be allowed to make any "fun" purchases until I use up 10 makeup or skincare products. "Fun" products are ANY skincare/makeup products that are NOT replacements. Wish me luck!

I've also set this image as the wallpaper for my phone:

It's been very inspirational and helpful for me lately... keeping me motivated!

Will post more very soon.

XOXO

Miami

I got to visit Miami last week because my friend was down there with her family. It was a lot more humid than I had expected (I didn't even know Miami was known for its humidity) but I had a great time and got to work on my tan a little bit (which was kind of silly given that I haven't had a chance to show it off at all here on the east coast!)

Here are some photos from my trip:

Gorgeous South Beach:

Delicious adorable key lime pie from random beachside bar:

Random mannequin with enormous boobs (there's a surprising # of these in Miami!):

Stunning lobby at the Fontainebleau hotel:

Spa at the Fontainebleau - "Lapis" -

My friend and I got "September specials" which were 50 minute massages for $99. I got the Swedish Rubdown and she got the Hot Stone. I was really happy with my experience with my masseuse Parker - I would highly recommend her to anybody interested in checking out the Lapis Spa! She was so professional and the entire experience was lovely. Also, the $99 gets you access to all of the spa amenities (which are gorgeous) and the pool!

Here are some photos poolside at the hotel:

Delectable looking pastries at the Solo coffeeshop in the hotel (I didn't have any because I was trying to be good!):

Cute little jars of honey the spa has out for your tea:

Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Miami - it has a very different beachy vibe from LA and the water is bluer - I would love to return sometime!

Europe photo dump

I took over 1500 photos in Europe but I am terrible at organizing them, so I just thought I'd share a few of the ones I have on my iPhone!

Not surprisingly, most of them are of FOOD.

My friends who are connoisseurs of Paris told me that I just HAD to try the macarons from Pierre Herme, and they were right! I was not disappointed - they were divine and the fillings were perfectly creamy but full of flavor.

The first stop on our road trip was in Reims, France, where we had delicious garlicky steak with the most AMAAAAZING buttery potatoes. I know I was on vacation but they felt so decadent that I had to give half to my bf ... also partially because he devoured his in 2 seconds and then began to eye mine ...

After which we enjoyed some ENORMOUS profiteroles. They were huge!!! And filled with vanilla ice cream.

Then we made our way over to Germany where I was ecstatic to find limited edition flavors of my absolute favorite chocolate bars. If you've never tried Ritter Sport bars, you must. They are divine. I loved the amarena kirsch - it tasted like cherries and had crunchy bits throughout (I think they were supposed to be the cone?)

At an adorable little cafeteria in Amsterdam, we found this fancy little Diet Coke. It came in a metal can that had been designed by Karl Lagerfeld, so of course I had to get it.

And lastly, I'll leave you with this photo of Amsterdam at night with the moon over one of its many canals. Amsterdam was such a gorgeous picturesque city - I can't wait to return to Europe!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Acadiana and Barrister's Ball

Last Friday, my school had its Barrister's Ball, which is like law school prom, essentially. My bf flew in from LA for the event, and we went out for a group dinner before the event to a local DC restaurant called Acadiana. Acadiana is well known for its seafood, and I ordered the New Orleans Style Barbecue Shrimp after seeing that it was voted "USA Today Top 25 Dishes 2005."

Before the food came out, they gave us some biscuits with a sweet and sour sauce/butter mix. The biscuits were nothing spectacular - better than KFC but nothing to write home about. The spread was unique but didn't amaze me either.

We went with a big group, so our food took a while to come out, but the shrimp finally arrived:

I was actually quite disappointed with my dish, as the sauce was much too salty and the food just tasted oversauced. They served a small individual-sized loaf of bread with it, and I think you're supposed to use the bread to sop up some of the sauce. The bread was actually delicious on its own - very soft and tasty without being bland, but the sauce was just too salty and ruined the whole dish.

My friend's duck was much better, and my boyfriend's pork was marginally better. Overall, I'd give this restaurant a B. For the price, I think you could do much better in DC.

Acadiana

901 New York Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20001

202-408-8848

For the ball, I wore a one-shouldered navy evening gown from Ralph Lauren with a jeweled accent on the shoulder. I wore nude bejeweled sandals (not pictured) and carried a small clutch. The ball was held at DC's National Historical Society, which was a gorgeous venue.

It ended up getting REALLY crowded by the end of the night, so I didn't stay that long, but it ended up being a fun night overall.

I actually recycled this outfit the next night when my boyfriend and I went out for a fantastic meal at Adour and to watch a ballet at the Kennedy Center. I'll do another post on that night soon!

Twitter

I caved! I got a twitter and I've begun to tweet. Please follow me if you're interested in hearing more of my musings and I will follow you back as I am always looking for fellow beauty and fashion fiends~

My username is soosoobean because my Korean name is Soo and that was a nickname one of my friends gave me.

Do you twitter?

Mornings and Life update

My favorite part of day is the morning, when I get to just chill out in my room with no disturbances whatsoever, relaxing with my coffee. I get up extra early just to make sure that I'll have my coffee time of at least an hour! During that time, I like to catch up on emails, blogs, and youtube vids.... the rest of the day is always hectic and filled with other people, but the few hours in the morning are all mine. :)

I know I'm terrible with updating this thing, but the holidays have been absolutely amazing! I got to enjoy some time with my family (including my cousins and grandma), and visited Canada and Vegas. I got to check out the new City Center at Vegas and it's gorgeous! Granted, I can't afford too much of the stuff in that mall yet, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly at the Cosmopolitan's gorgeous new bars - The Chandelier and Bond.

Makeup-wise, I picked up MAC's new Special Reserve Highlight Powder from its Champale collection in "Chez Chez Lame" (the gold shade). It's SO gorgeous - it gives this beautiful candle-lit glow that just makes your skin look amazing without making it look like you're wearing makeup. I highly recommend it although I know it sold out in many locations.

I'm so excited about the new year! I'm taking some really challenging classes this semester, so I'm excited to see how they turn out. I'm not one for new year's resolutions, because I believe in trying to improve myself and my life as it unfolds, but in the spirit of the new year, here are the things I'm currently working on:

1) be nicer! (you know how Sandra Oh's character Christina on Grey's Anatomy is blunt almost to the point of being rude? That's me. -_- I really want to become nicer and more considerate)

2) work out more regularly; eat better - ALWAYS a challenge for me.

3) get out and explore the city more! (this one is HUGE)

My weekends start on Friday so I suppose I should start being productive now... I've just been sitting here enjoying my lazy morning with my cup of coffee so far, but off I go!

XOXO

Currently Obsessed With...

The Tracy Anderson Method

Tracy Anderson is a celebrity trainer who trained Madonna for a long time, and is responsible for the sleek, tiny physiques of Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Cox, and a slew of other celebrities. I became interested in her method when she covered Fitness Rx for Women a while back and read about how she believed that any woman could change her body structure into the "teeny tiny" figure that Hollywood loves.

She's all about doing dance-inspired moves and lots of repetitions with low weights so as to exhaust the main muscles and engage the accessory muscles to create tone without bulking up. I've begun doing some of her exercises I found in various magazines and on youtube, and they've been so effective that I ordered her mat workout dvd on amazon and can't wait to get it. I'll post an update once it arrives and I have a chance to try it out.

You can learn more about her at her website.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so so thankful for so much in my life these days, with the most important obviously being my family, my boyfriend, and my wonderful friends.

Hope you guys have a great day and get to eat lots of tasty food!

Some of my favorite things...

Blooms: Roses, all colors!

Food: steak and cake (and it even rhymes!)

Drink: water and coffee for everyday, champagne for special occasions

Thing to Wear: jeans and high heels (although not necessarily together) ... also love juicy tracksuits for lounging around the house

Destination: Madrid - I'm seriously craving some churros con chocolate right now. mmmmm....

Season: fall

Musician: Lady Gaga

Book: anything and everything Harry Potter! also love Ayn Rand and Le Petit Prince

Color: red and pink

Scent: in love with lavender. As far as perfumes go, I'm currently being rather fickle and alternating between Viktor and Rolf's Flowerbomb, Hanae Mori Butterfly, and Creed Spring Flower.

Extravagance: I try to incorporate a little bit of extravagance into my everyday life. I consider it to be good motivation for me to continue working hard, so I generally don't feel guilty about splurging on myself and my loved ones.

Quote: "Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe." - Gail Devers

"You can sleep when you're dead"

Birthday Beauty Haul!

I had an amazing time turning 26 this year. My boyfriend flew across the country to come see me, and we ate lots of great food, did some sightseeing, and then topped it off with a night of fun with some of my best friends.

I wanted to share with you guys some of the fun beauty items that I received!

My boyfriend knows that one of my favorite scents is Bath and Body Works' holiday scent Twisted Peppermint so he got me a ton of goodies from that line, which just recently re-launched this year. It is a gorgeous candy cane scent - peppermint with a hint of sugar and vanilla, so that it just leaves your skin smelling like cotton candy!

I got this adorable hand soap and lotion set:

I haven't had a chance to try the hand soap yet, but I've used their hand soaps before, and love them. I couldn't resist tearing into the hand lotion, though, and it's amazing! I wish they sold this separately - it is smooth and thick, gorgeously scented, and sinks in quickly without leaving any greasy residue. I also like the handy pump packaging - it causes me to moisturize my hands more often (always a good thing as I tend to neglect them).

He also got me the matching body wash and antibacterial foaming hand wash:

I don't know if it's just me but I just love foaming products - there is something so decadent and luxurious about them. I also love that it's antibacterial - nobody likes germs!

My bf also spoiled me by getting me Creed Spring Flowers and Philosophy's Gingerbread Man scrub!

I've been lusting after this perfume forever but always balked at the high price tag. It was designed for Audrey Hepburn's wedding and smells absolutely amazing - the website describes it as having top notes of peach, melon, apple; middle notes of jasmine and rose; and base notes of musk and ambergris. It smells really feminine and gorgeous without smelling too young.

I also really wanted the gingerbread man scrub as I love everything gingerbread cookie related since I love the holidays and love the way gingerbread cookies smell! Philosophy scrubs work really well, so I can't wait to use this sometime soon.

My friend Jo also got me a bunch of goodies - one of which was this adorable mini cupcake lipgloss set! They're just too cute to use - they have different scents and they are just ridiculously cute. I have been wanting to buy something like this for a while but couldn't bring myself to buy it because it seems like such a frivolous item. I love looking at these though - they make me happy!

Overall, it was one of the best birthdays ever, and I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Now I'm just waiting on my Sephora FF package to arrive - it's supposed to get here tomorrow. I only got a Dior e/s quint in Mystic Smokys since I got just about everything else I want at my birthday! I am thinking of making a few more orders to buy some Christmas presents though.

What about you guys? Are you waiting on anything in the mail? I've been going crazy with tons of shopping from F21 lately, but I'm trying to be good now!

(BBW product photos are from their website)

Guilty Pleasures

So lately, I've been indulging myself a lot and began wondering about guilty pleasures. Everyone has them. For me, they include:

* watching HSN or QVC for over an hour while they sell cosmetics... my fav is Adrien Arpel. I always cringe as she slaps her 80s makeup on the poor models faces. WHY does she never put makeup on their nose??? For the love of god, COVER THEIR NOSE!

* plowing through a tub of ice cream or a chocolate bar (LOVE Godiva, Sees, and Cadbury) by myself

* reading cheesy chick lit (pretty much everything by Jane Green) or cheesy books in general (I'm reading Twilight right now)

* watching Saturday morning cartoons that I'm WAY too old for (what can I say? Ninja Turtles still rock. Although they no longer have that sweet van that shoots pizzas anymore.)

and sometimes they can be as simple as enjoying a really great cup of coffee or tea and indulging in a two hour long phone conversation with a friend, or just zoning out and forgetting about responsibilities for a while. Like they say, it's the little things in life that count.

What are some of your guilty pleasures?

Happy New Year!

Resolutions:

1. lose weight (as always) - get healthy! stop eating so much digiorno pizza and the like.

2. be more patient and understanding

3. get good grades!