Cool cat.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

Subscription boxes are everywhere these days. I think you can think of any category and you would find there to be at least one subscription service that caters to it. I spend a lot of time looking at these different subscriptions, watching unboxings, and reading reviews on them. I haven’t gotten any of them until recently though. I was looking around for possible gifts, when I found out that Pusheen the cat had a subscription service. I figured why don’t I sub to this, it would be perfect for one of my friends. I decided to subscribe to it, just in time for the winter box. 😆

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Pusheen Box is a seasonal subscription box that costs as little as $39.99 + shipping, and promises a value of over $100. It includes a collectible figurine that embodies the season which the box is for, as well as other things that are, most if not all, items that are exclusive to the box. Mine arrived just the other day, and I can’t wait to show it to you! 😄

So the box came cling wrapped with the shipping tag on the plastic, which meant that there was no tape on the box itself. It’s Pusheen even down to the box, with its face on the front, tail on the back, stripes on top, and paws on the bottom. Fitting in with the season too, this box is “wrapped” with an adorable pink ribbon. 😄

When you open it, you’ll see Pusheen printed on the flap, as well as its social media accounts, all the items inside it neatly arranged, and a card that shows what’s inside the box. I think this one is just so so cute. 😆7e184a34-ffc9-46d2-82b3-27448f4ec64e

There are 8 things inside the box, all quite right for this time of year, and absolutely adorable. The vinyl figure is Pusheen in winter boots, a scarf, and a Christmas hat. There are two winter accessories inside: a scarf and mittens, and two things that go together but can be used all throughout the year: a tea infuser and a Pusheen shaped thermos. There are also some gift wrappers and gift tags, a stamp set, washi tape, and, possibly one of the coolest things I’ve seen here, Pusheen string lights. 😆

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Unfortunately, I did not open the packaging of the things inside the box because I am going to be giving this as a gift to a dear friend. 😕 That said though, I think this subscription box is awesome if you or someone you know are avid Pusheen fans. Also, the things you get inside aren’t just novelty things either. Most of them are things that you could actually use, so that’s really cool. 😄

Overall, I think it’s worth what you pay for it, but only if you’re a Pusheen fan. Although the things inside are fairly useful, it might be a bit too much if you aren’t a fan. 😆 So yeah, that’s the Pusheen box. Check it out if you want to, they’ll be opening orders for the Fall 2017 box soon I think. Also, let me know which other subscription services you think are cool. Thank you for being so awesome. 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Black (friday) magic.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

This post is coming a week and a half after all these things arrived. I was thinking about whether or not to do this post, but decided that it would be a fascinating thing, even just as something to go back to someday. So here I go: this is a haul. 😳

I’ve never done this before. I’m not really one to buy loads of things at one time. That said, I’ve also been very curious about the days that are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I told myself that I’d look at the deals but will not buy too much stuff. . . 😂 But no. . . The temptation got the best of me and I bought quite a bit of stuff (for me HAHA). 😅

Before that though, just a note, apart from the things I bought for myself, my friend asked me to buy some things for her to, so those added to my purchases that weekend. 😳 Unfortunately, some of the things I got aren’t available anymore, but I’ll mention everything anyway. 😄

From BestBuy, because they were half price, I got the Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds 2 Wireless In-Ear Headphones in White and Red/Black. 😅 I think it was interesting because it let me dip my toes in the wireless headset pool, and it’s nice to be able to try something new. 😄

From Sephora, I got the Stila Stay All Day, Sparkle All Night kit, the Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black Rollerball, The Original MakeUp Eraser® Heart (limited edition), and the belif Creamy Cleansing Foam Moist. I ended up returning the perfume though, because it turns out that I wasn’t too fond of the scent. 😕

From Ulta, I got the Nyx Box of Goodies Advent Calendar, the Tarte Limitless Lippies Deluxe Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint Set, the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation in Warm Honey, and the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer in Neutralizer.

From ColourPop, I got their Ultra Matte Lip set in Blues Baby, their Ultra Matte Lip in Tulle and LAX, and their Ultra Satin Lip in Lost. I’ve been meaning to get some of their products, and since they were on sale, I finally said why not? 😆

Lastly, I got the Vanity Planet Ultimate Skin Spa System. I’ve heard somewhere that electric face brushes aren’t all the same, but I still have been wanting to try one, and I managed to get this at a great price. 😄

I haven’t been able to try everything I’ve purchased, I will though soon. 😄 I’ve sent all the ones for my friend over to her. And I’m on a self-imposed no buy now. 😆 I know this list is kind of small, but it’s quite a lot of stuff for me. I’m not a shopper at all (except for food 😆), and I’m gonna start saving again now. 😳

So yeah, those are the things I got right after thanksgiving. It was a pretty cool weekend, and the temptation to buy more than I did was great. 😆 I hope you had a great thanksgiving and black friday to cyber monday weekend! That’s it for me for now. 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Thanksgiving.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

Hey! Sorry I haven’t posted in more weeks than I would like. Things have just been a bit crazy and exhausting. 😔 I’m back though, trying to get back on the horse, and today I wanna talk about thanksgiving. 😊

This isn’t a holiday that I’ve celebrated ever before. It’s not something we have back home. What I know about it is that people eat turkey, among many other things, spend time with family and friends, and say what they are thankful for. I also know about the craziness that is Black Friday, which starts, I think, on thanksgiving night or very early the next day. 😆

With all the craziness that seems to be going on in the world, I think this day is even more important. It gives us a chance to acknowledge the good things in our lives to balance out the bad ones. Although I am one to say that I don’t have much to be thankful for, I know I still have some things.

So yeah, say thanks for the good things, as I did formally for the first time celebrating this day. I won’t name them all, but I will say this, I’m thankful for you. 😊 This blog is one of my safe havens, and I am thankful for anyone, even if it’s no one, that I am able to share it with. 😊 So happy thanksgiving, loves! I hope you were stuffed with food and love. 😄

’til the next post,

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Sweet escape.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

When days get really bad, and I’m going crazy, I tend to turn to food. Yes, this kind of means eating chips, or chocolate, or whatever unhealthy snack I can get my hands on. However, this also means gathering up ingredients and cooking/baking random stuff (usually dessert type food). In the past weeks, I’ve made brownies, cakes, and baked potato, but this particular food item is what I’ve made the most.

Have you heard of the leche flan? It’s a steamed Filipino custard dessert thing, and it is one of my favorites ever. For years I’ve wanted to make them on my own because I loved them so much, but I never had a steamer, and wasn’t too keen on improvising one back then. There is a steamer where I live now though, so you can imagine my excitement. 😄

I proceeded to search for a recipe on google, just so I had a significantly smaller chance of messing up, and ended up with the one from a website called Panlasang Pinoy (Filipino Taste). I’ll put the recipe below, or at least my version of it, but if you want to check out the exact one from the site I got it from, click here. 😄

The ingredients for this delectable dessert dish are:

  • 10 egg yolks
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 can of condensed milk
  • a dash of vanilla
  • 1 cup of granulated sugar

This recipe doesn’t need many ingredients, and it doesn’t involve many steps to make. Just put the yolks, milk, condensed milk, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk them together until everything is well combined. You then set it aside for a bit, and put the sugar in a pan over the stove until it’s melted into a deep caramel. Pour this into a glass or tin container. Although the traditional container for this dessert is called a llanera which is a shallow, oval shaped tin, you can use any heat safe container. Let the caramel sit there for a minute or two, and while you’re doing that, get a very fine sieve and put the custard mixture through it to remove any impurities. Put the strained liquid on top of the caramel, which should be hardened just a little bit, and cover the container with foil. Steam the leche flan for 30 to 35 minutes.

Just let it cool on the counter top after steaming. If you want, you can check on it by removing the foil and wobbling the flan. Don’t be scared if it seems liquid in the center, that’s just how it is when its fresh from the steamer 😊 After checking on it, put the foil back on, or if the container you used has a cover, cover it with that. After a while, put it in the fridge to chill. When you’re ready to serve, you have two options. You can either serve it in the container you made it in, or you can get a serving dish and flip the leche flan on it. After that, all that’s left to do is enjoy! 😄

Cooking is my favorite form of therapy. A big bonus is the final output, especially when I am able to share what I’ve made with other people. This particular dish is sweet and creamy, and is something that is satisfying to both the stomach and the mind. If you decide to try making this yourself, please do tell me what you think. 😄 So that’s it for now. This is one of my favorite desserts from my home country, and my favorite form of stress relief. I hope you liked it! 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Feel fine with the #flawlessvoxbox.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been a member of Influenster for a couple of years now, and this isn’t my first box from them either (although I’ve only managed to write a post about one now huhu). If you haven’t heard of it, Influenster is a website where you can sign up for free, review many different products and services, take some surveys, and depending on your activity on the site, you can qualify for VoxBoxes that are shipped to you for free, and are very good opportunities to try new stuff and then review them later on. It’s pretty cool. 😄

The VoxBox usually have a common theme or brand that links the items inside them together. The box that I got recently was called the #FlawlessVoxBox, and in it were quite a variety of items which, in their own way, can help make you feel rejuvenated and, for lack of a better word, flawless. 😉


The items in the box were the following: Dr Teal’s Eucalyptus Epsom Salt Soak, Simple Skincare Cleansing Facial Wipes, SinfulColors Kylie Jenner Trend Matters Pure Satin Mattes in Miss Klaws, Calbee Snapea Crisps Harvest Snaps Lightly Salted, Yogi Tea (One bag of Skin DeTox and one bag of Stress Relief), and the COVERGIRL So Lashy! by blastPRO Mascara. There were also information cards on SinfulColors and Ebates, as well as a mini sample of the Simple Skincare Micellar Cleansing Water.

I’ll follow up with another post when I’ve tried all of them out! In the meantime, feel free to click the links above to check them out for yourself. 😄❤️

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Let’s get down to business.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

I’ve had this blog for a while now. I’ve “relaunched” it several times in the past few years, the last one being just about 3 months ago. Since this last refresh, I’ve posted mostly my thoughts on experiences in my life. Even before then, most of my posts leaned more towards my inner most personal thoughts. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, nor am I saying that I’m going to stop posting the dialogues (or really, monologues) of my mind. I do want to change though, at least a bit. I want this blog to be more than that.

So. I’m going to try to add more varied content here. I’m thinking about writing review-ish posts about things that I like right now and things I’m discovering. I really want to reach more towards the surface of my mind, while at the same time not really putting a stop to reaching deeper into it. I want to post content that will help me grow and broaden the scope of this place and my writing as well.

To be quite honest, I’m not exactly sure how to do this. I’m nervous that I won’t be able to keep it up, or that I won’t be able to write anything worth while. I’ll give it a shot though, because the true failure lies in not having tried at all. That said, this post is to be a mark of another change. If you would, could I ask you to help me out? I’m not sure what specifically about, but all tips and suggestions are very much welcome. 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Fall is here.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

When I was a kid, I loved watching Rugrats, a show about a group of babies going on their own baby adventures. There was this episode where one of the characters sings a song for a pageant of some sort. The song goes: Fall is here! Fall is here! It’s a wonderful time of year! It was really amusing. Anyway, I know it’s a pretty random thing to start something off with, but I had to. It’s always the first thing that pops into my head when I think of this season. 😄

All my life, I’ve lived in a tropical country. Back there, we only have two seasons: really hot and really rainy. It’s quite fascinating, then, to go to this new place and experience more than what I’m used to. I have never seen either the trees going aflame, or the serene white sheet of snow. And here I am now, experiencing all of this for the first time. I’m excited! 😄

I step outside my house and feel the chill of the cold air that, I’ve been told, is still only just beginning. On my drives to work, I see the trees that line the road, the tops of which are starting to turn red. Everything’s changing, and the earth is shedding itself to welcome the new season.

I’m really excited for what’s to come, but at the same time, I’m nervous. The climate here is so much more different from what I’m used to. I’m already so cold, and I’m told this is nothing compared to what’s to come. That said, I’ll enjoy this first fall of my life, and will take everything in. 😄

I’m curious, what else happens during fall? What are other things to look forward to apart from the beautiful changing of colors and the chill? Let me know! 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

Work it out.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

Being thrown into the world of adulting having been told in school and by people around you that you would find a job easily, either because of the school you got your degree from or the degree itself, is very misleading. I heard it a lot in the last few years, and I graduated with a certain confidence, not so much of it but still, it was there. What a shock it is to me then, now, a few months later.

I’ve been anxious and nervous, sending out applications everywhere and having only rejections come back, if anything at all. Where is that ease that was promised years ago? Why was it that no one ever spoke to us about the difficulties of searching, regardless of our background? I think that’s something that those who are about to enter the workforce should also have.

That said, right now I am employed. I’m still on that search for the job where I can use what I’ve learned in university. For right now though, I think this is good, at least I am starting, and earning, and learning. Again, the search continues. Here goes nothing! 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

On the move.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

In my last post, I talked about packing my things and going to a whole new place, halfway across the world. I’ve been here for a month and in that month, quite a bid more has happened. I guess things don’t get to stop yet.

We, that is my mom, her husband, and myself, have spent the past month in the process of moving. From looking for a place to actually moving in, I forgot how tiring it is. I’ve moved twice before, once from a house to a condo, and another from a condo to another condo. Both times didn’t seem as exhausting as this time around though.

Anyhow. A few days spent searching online listings, a few days going around and looking at places, a few days (and quite a bit of money) looking for furniture and other home things, a few days gradually moving in all our things, and here we are. We settled here at the start of this month, and I’m quite happy.

Before we moved into where we are now, before I got here, my mom and her husband lived somewhere that was only big enough for them to live more or less comfortably. Since I just added a body to the household, a bigger place has become a necessity.

It’s nice to finally be settled and comfortable in a new place. It’s also really nice to get a chance to rest and maybe start a new routine. 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️

The start of something new.

~ koi ~ Leave a comment

When you’ve lived in one country your whole life, the notion of moving is not something that would ever cross your mind. So when migration is brought up, add to it the idea of travelling halfway across the world alone, it can be the most terrifying thing.

The thing is though, this wasn’t my choice. I went along with it yeah, but I would have much preferred to stay home. It’s the downside of not really being able to speak my mind.

So yeah, I packed a part of my life and spent about 20 hours alone, making my way to this new place halfway away from my home. Now I’m here in a strange place, about to start this new part of my life.

I’m terrified of how this would come about, I’m worried of not finding a job, I’m scared of having to partly abandon my introverted side to reach out to people and make new friends. Just so I’m not so alone.

It certainly will be challenging, nerve-wrecking, and scary, but I think I’ll make it through somehow. It helps to have communication lines with those who are important to me. They keep me sane, and help me push forward. Let’s see what happens. 😄

’til the next post,

🐰❤️