Hello Kitty Warehouse Sale 2015

Disclaimer: Press Release

If you're in Los Angeles area the weekend of June 13-14, 2015, they're having a warehouse sale in Torrance. I received this through my email and I thought I would pass it along.

Disclaimer: Press Release

Born Pretty Hello Kitty Mouse Pad in Light Pink

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post is given to me. I am not affiliated with the company nor getting paid to advertise the product. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Born Pretty Store is most well known for their nail art products. They do sell other products including hair accessories, cosmetics, and so on. If you're into girly products or anything cute, check out their Hello Kitty line. I am going to review their Hello Kitty mouse pad.

Hello Kitty Bag

After couple of months, I finally figured out what I wanted from CSN Stores. It arrived this week and let me tell you how in love I am with it! :)

Isn't it cute!?!? I got a Hello Kitty Duffel Bag.

I'm going to be honest. When I first saw this online, it kind of looked cheap. For that reason, I had some hesitation but I gave into my temptation (cuteness). It's a lot better quality than I expected. It's also a lot bigger than I expected. The dimension of this duffel bag is 12" height X 18" width X 10" depth.

The quality of the fabric used is really good. It's sturdy, as well as, waterproof-like. It's good on those days when it's raining or at least I think so. The switching is well done too. It's such a good thing my mother was a seamstress. Through her, I learned to look for little things like this.

Front:

There's a big  pocket.

It even has Hello Kitty written.

Back:

It has a slide pouch you can put through a rolling luggage. How cool is that! It'll be easier to carry if you also use a rolling luggage. This Hello Kitty Duffel Bag comes with a matching Rolling Luggage.

Top:

I love how it has a zipper where you can attach a lock. It'll keep your things safe through the trip. The only negative thing I could think of is that it didn't come with a lock! :( I kind of imagine a lock with a cute Hello Kitty on it. Wouldn't that be cute!

The handle is just a simple black on the outside. When you open it up, it has the cute Hello Kitty pattern.

Sides:

It has a place where you can attach the should strap. It is up to you if you just want to use the handle or the should strap. Who knows you might want to use both! ;)  It also comes with a cute Hello Kitty face. I believe it's suppose to be a name tag. The bow on the face is suppose to be red, but it came out black. I don't know why. :/ You can take off the name tag if you want. It's not the best quality anyways. :X

The should strap has the same Hello Kitty patterns.

Interior:

The inside has ribbons and it's my favorite color, blue! I love it. :) It also has a pocket on the back of the inside with the same Hello Kitty pattern from the outside.

Overall, I am in love with this Hello Kitty Duffel Bag! It's really cute, blue interior, and greatly well made.

Thank you CSN Stores!!! :)

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post are given to me to review. I am not affiliated with this company nor getting paid to advertise this product. The post is written with my honest opinion.

Winner of CSN Stores, Dak Do-ri-tang V. 2, and Hello Kitty

Wow!!! I wasn't expecting this many people entering the giveaway. Thank you all for entering and I wish every one of you guys could have won, but I can only choose one winner... hehe~ There will always be a next time! :)

I had 212 entries and the number chosen through random number generator was number 10! Now for the winner *drum roll*....

The winner is Jannie!

Congrats Jannie and you have 48 hours to contact me with your e-mail address. My e-mail is aly_4realz (at) hotmail (dot) com. If you don't contact me within 48  hours, I will announce a new winner.

Thank you CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway! :)

I noticed in Korean variety shows they add Ketchup on certain foods. I don't know when this trend started or how it came upon, but it intrigued my curiosity... lol~ For that reason, I decided to try it on chicken on potatoes, carrots, and onions (dak do-ri-tang) version 2. Yup, version 2! I have version 1 posted. You should try both version to see which one you like!... hehe~ ;)

If you need some guidance with the ingredients, you can check my Korean Cooking 101. ;)

Ingredients:

chicken

garlic

ginger

potatoes

carrots

onion

soy sauce

water

garlic salt

sugar

2 spoonful of red pepper powder

Step 1:

You don't have to do this part, but I did it because it's more healthier to eat. If it's frozen, I defrost it with water but you can use a microwave... hehe~ Once it's defrosted, I peel the skin off as much as I can. Then I boil it in water with ginger and garlic. I wait until the fat flow to the top. It takes about 10-15 minutes. I throw away the water and clean the chicken with water.

Step2:

You can use the same pot but make sure to clean it or use a new pot... hehe~ I put the chicken, chopped some potatoes, carrots, and onion.

I made the sauce while the chicken was boiling in Step 1. I added soy sauce, water, garlic salt, and sugar. The soy sauce and water ratio is about half and half. You add water to dilute the soy sauce. You don't want your chicken to be dark and salty in taste. Then you add sugar to sweeten the chicken. I usually taste the soy sauce and it seems good in my taste bud I know it's good enough... hehe~ :X Then at the end I add two spoonful of red pepper powder.

I dump the sauce into the pot... lol~ Then the stove onto high.

This picture doesn't represent my next step, but it's close enough... lol~ I learned through trial and error. As soon as you turn on the stove, add two spoonful of Ketchup. Don't wait towards the middle of cooking or the end. It helps in the beginning because it actually takes time for the Ketchup to be mixed into the chicken. If you do it in the middle or the end, you can taste the Ketchup which isn't the goal... lol~ :X You will cook about 30 minutes, and make sure to go back and mix it with a spoon every 5 minutes.

Here's the end product, but this isn't a good representation either... lol~ It will look for red if you mix the Ketchup in the beginning. ;)

Speaking of food, I thought I would upload a cake my brother bought... hehe~

If you are ever in this area, you need to try their cakes. It's the bomb!!!

King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant

2808 Sepulveda Blvd.

Torrance, CA 90506

http://www.kingshawaiianrestaurants.com/

Their restaurant isn't bad either... hehe~ ;)

Growing up, I was never into Hello Kitty. I don't know what happened because I love Hello Kitty now!... lol~ :/ My favorite and even now is Pochacco, but I'm so digging Hello Kitty nowadays. I bought two recently. :X

I bought this sticker from Target. It's in their $1 section.

I got this from Burlington Coat Factory. It's so adorable!... wheee~ :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the gift certificate to CSN Stores. They sponsored the giveaway and I am not getting paid to do the giveaway. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Los Angeles Korean Festival and My Haul

I didn't have a chance to visit all four days of Los Angeles Korean Festival. I did visit Saturday and I had a blast!!! :)

I knew they had been doing this for years, but I didn't know it was their 37th year! Wow oh wow!... hehe~ I took a picture of the main stage.

The first thing we visited was the main event, bi-bim-bahp (mixed rice), that occurred at 11:30 a.m. They mixed bi-bim-bahp in that big bowl. It took more than 5 people to mix the rice!... hehe~

After they mixed the rice, they gave a bowl for the audience to taste it. I was expecting a small size but they actually gave a decent amount. It was so delicious! I had seconds... lol~ :X

After eating bi-bim-bahp, I went shopping at the vendors. Not all the vendors are for shopping, some had games and gave away free stuff.

There's another section of vendors where they sell food and have free activities. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture but I did take one of the activity. You get to paint gold on a black background. I didn't take the whole painting because it was huge, people were blocking it, and the sun was in the wrong direction... hehe~ The other side had a building with a Korean flag (in the picture is American flag).

Here's another free activity; you make flowers and/or hanging flowers. This activity was the most packed!!! It was hard to get through and there was a waiting list to make these.

Here's the flower I got to make. I love it so much!... hehe~ I'm so into paper flowers. I have quite a few at home. :)

Since the activity was so packed, I didn't want to move to the other table to make this. I asked them if I can take it home to make and they said okay. I wanted pink and green, but I'm thankful they just gave me anything... hehe~ :) I took this picture after I glued the papers. For that reason, I didn't pull the green leaves down yet... hehe~ ;)

The last activity I visited was the stamping. The gentleman was holding my artwork and the lady was holding my flower... hehe~

Here's my first artwork the kind gentleman was holding... hehe~ This is my favorite out of the two I did! :)

This is my second artwork. It's such a cute character!

After visiting all the vendors, we went to the parade that occurred at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Here's a Korean marching band.

Here's the female dancers dancing with the rope. It was gorgeous!

Here's the last picture I'm going to share about the parade. There were more than these... hehe~ :P  They were performing a tak kwon do stunt; chopping the wooden block.

Now for my haul and freebies... hehe~

I came home with this huge, free bag from Verizon. I had my haul and all the goodies I got inside.

These are some of the free stuff. On the left is the free catalog mentioning the event and the important people of Los Angeles. I got 5 free fans. I gave all of them away except for the one with the black handle. That was my favorite one!... hehe~ I got some ginger candies which I gave to my dad, and some pen and pencils.

Here's some more freebies clockwise from top left; car CD holder, some wooden chair toy, squeezable golf ball, thermal band-aid that smells bad (lol~), travel tag that lights up, plastic light-up game, key chain that lights up and other (whistle and direction), and army style key chain holder that you put around your neck (the last two are in the middle.). Please excuse my explanation!... lol~ :P

I also got a free poster that I got to choose. Of course I choose the Korean drama I recently fell in love with, Baking Kim Tak Goo... hehe~ :)

Now for what I have bought...

At one vendor, I bought some beauty products... hehe~ :X I bought Princess BB cream ($10 originally $25), Cosline eyeshadow ($2.50), and Cosline sheet mask ($2). It should have come out to $14.50, but they only charged me for $12... woo hoo~ It's like I got the eyeshadows for free!!! :) I will review these products later.

From the same vendor, they gave me these samples for free.

Inside it has a toner and lotion for acne-prone skin. Since I can't use it, I will give them away... hehe~

At another vendor, I bought hair accessories and a bracelet.

Pink felt hair clip. It's so gorgeous and it was the last one they had.

Pink fuzzy hair pin. I gave this one to my niece. It looks adorable on her! :)

Brown fuzzy hair pin.

Gray fuzzy hair pin. I think I've recently been into flower hair accessories... lol~ :X

Blue beaded bracelet. It's very simple and classic looking at least for me... hehe~ They were all $1 each.

The last vendor I got the cutest thing... hehe~

A cute 3D Hello Kitty key chain. It's really heavy!... hehe~ The Hello Kitty is full of white crystals. The picture does not do justice!!! The best part it was 50% off. I got it for $7.25 originally $14.50.

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the freebies. I got the freebies from the Los Angeles Korean Festival. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

No Buy Deal

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! You will see why at the end of this post... hehe~ ;)

Anyways, Blair and I have been in talks for several weeks about being on a No Buy for several months. At first, I thought it was just a fun chat and then as time went on we actually agree to have a No Buy for 2 months. I think it will definitely help me from not buying cosmetics. For someone who isn't a makeup artist, I sure have a lot *sigh*!!!... hehe~ :X It'll also help me money-wise since I'm not a full-time worker. I need all the money saved to pay off other things. :X Here's what is in our deal...

RULES:
1. NO buying any beauty related products (skincare, cosmetics, hair products, and body-related products) from September 1st to November 1st.
2. The only time you can buy beauty related products is when you’re out of the product and don’t have a spare, and to buy for others as a gift.
3. If you fail, you have to use the beauty products you have and do a makeover. You have to make yourself look like a clown, not a pretty one but an embarrassing one, and post a picture of your face on your blog.

EXCEPTIONS:

Ahleessa: One or two time visit at a CCO.
Blair: One time order from Gmarket.

The credit goes to Blair for making the logo, and Ahleessa (I) for typing up the rules. :)

We thought it'll be fun to have a tag-type of deal and hopefully, people who want to join in can. It can be a new trend in the blogging world to save money... hehe~ ;) If anyone wants to join in during these two months, please feel free too. Post the logo and the rules. If you want, you can tell me your one exception and I'll add you onto my list. I will try my best to check up on you in a weekly basis... hehe~ ;)

Another thing I might do that we didn't talk about is write my weekly buys on my blog so I can have an idea how much money I spend in a week. The key word here is I will TRY... lol~ :X It's not a guaranteed!


I actually started my No Buy early... hehe~ I have been pretty good! It has motivated me to find other ways to get cosmetics. One way has been looking for freebies online... hehe~ ;) I will tell you two from Aveda. ;) I give credit to Soompi, as well as, my makeup buddy for these coupons... hehe~
I got a free Hand Relief lotion worth $7.99. Here's the coupon you can print out and take it to the closest Aveda (click here for the coupon). It expires September 30th.
I also got a free Foot Relief lotion worth $7.99. Here's the coupon for this as well (click here for the coupon). ;) I don't know when this expires.

I have several more but you will have to wait to see if I can get them. I don't want to post it without a guaranteed. Stay tune to my blog... lol~ :P


Now going back to the beginning of this post, I have been pretty busy crocheting dolls for my niece's 3rd birthday and my nephew's 100th days party.
I made a Hello Kitty doll and a giraffe.
For my niece, I made her a Hello Kitty doll. Yes, I had another niece who didn't get one yet (last one by the way)... lol~ :X Check out my other Hello Kitty dolls I made for my other three munchkins (click here for the other three).
For my nephew, I made him a giraffe. I found the pattern on Lion Brand Yarn. I think the picture of the amigurumi doll on there looks cuter than the one I made... lol~ :X


For the people who live close to me, I hope you guys are okay with the fire!!! Make sure to stay indoors with the windows close, drink lots of water, and stay away from the outside as much as possible. For the people who don't live close to me, there's a huge fire that has been increasing in daily basis since the fire started Wednesday (I heard it increased twice the size this morning compared to last night *sigh*) last week. It's so bad I smell smoke all the time and wake up with debris on my car!!! :(


PLEASE check out my blog sale (click here for the post)!!! :)