DECEMBER FAVORITES ♥

Film

The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies

I don’t need to elaborate on this one because I already wrote a whole long blog post on it already! Yay! Click here to read it. :-)

TV Series

Empress Ki

Okay, so ya’ll know that I’m into Asian entertainment.  Old news.  As of late, however, it seems like this is no exception when it comes to TV shows.  I’ve recently taken a liking to Korean drama, and I’ve certainly had to dig through the dirt to find the gems, if you know what I mean.  There are some really great kdramas, and some really bad ones, too. Ha ha.

          Anyway, I’m rambling again.  EMPRESS KI.  What can I say.  Period dramas are my one weakness.  This series is a brilliant combination of drama, action, romance, and comedy.  All rolled up with lovely music, vibrant costumes, and fantastic visual effects into a perfect little package of perfection. ♥  

Makeup

Hard Candy Glamoflauge heavy duty concealer

A huge part of dealing with psoriasis, especially for a young woman, is being able to cope with the physical effects during the healing process.  I don’t think that any product I’ve ever talked about here on my blog has helped with my confidence more than this one.  I’ve used many, many different “heavy duty” concealers and none of have worked as well to cover up the psoriasis patches on my face and neck.

          I use the shade Medium Light, which is technically a shade too light for my skintone, but I like this shade because of its slightly green tinge.  Anyone who deals with redness knows that green cancels out red, so this is a huge plus here.  The consistency is quite thick but smooth and non-drying, and one layer usually takes care of all of my problems.  It also works great for under the eyes and as a eyeshadow/lipcolor base.  Apparently, with a few layers, this concealer is known for being able to even cover up tattoos.

          Each $6-7 tube comes with a free concealer pencil, too.

Product

Etude House Happy Essential Foam Cleanser

Vitamin C version (yellow packaging)

I don’t need to say much about this facial cleanser except that it removes makeup effortlessly, doesn't irritate skin, smells like Fruit Loops (which is basically happiness), and has adorable packaging.  Oh, and it costs less than 5 bucks.  Mm-hmm.

Moment

various

December, being the month of Christmas, never fails to have more than its fair share of remarkable moments.  And these are the moments that I find most difficult to put to words.  Perhaps I am just lazy, which we all know could very well be the case, but I think that it shall suffice to say that the blessings of Christmas are both beautiful and universal and, luckily for us, they’re also annual.  Family and friends; peace, joy, and love; good food; exchanging gifts; movies, music, and magic~ Every year, I look forward to seeing what miracles the Infant Jesus will bring to this world.  We are all very blessed.  Let us be grateful! 

Deo Gratias, again and again~!

DECEMBER FAVORITES ♥

Hello, everyone! 


I hope you all had a beautiful and memorable holiday season.  ^_^  I sure did.  Christmas is my absolute favorite. ♥  So much family, friends, food, giving, and receiving!  I got so many great gifts…I’m incredibly grateful for all of the amazing people in my life!

 

I apologize that I didn’t get my contact lens review up last month, but it’s mostly because I found out that EyeCandy’s is no longer carrying the specific pair that I purchased! :O I wish I would’ve posted the review earlier, but oh well.  I’ll be buying another pair, and I will certainly write a review for it soon after. 

 

I’m starting to see sunshine outside, so hopefully that means better weather for photography is on the way!  I really want to get my ocarina review up for Songbird Ocarinas, too.  That one that I’ve been promising for a while now, too.  I’m so behind.  Ha ha ha…X)

 

 

~*~*~*~

 

 

Anyway!  Here we go again with another round of Monthly Favorites!

 

 

My movie of the month is a no-brainer.  Why, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, of course! Where do I even begin with this one? D: Alright, I admit that I was a bit skeptical about this film.  I am by no means one of those “Hey, that isn’t in the book!  BURN IT!  BURN IT WITH FIRE!!” kind of people, but I was a bit concerned about the addition of Tauriel to the story, and her implied romantic involvement with Legolas, who isn’t even supposed to be there, either! ಠ_ಠ ...Now that I’ve seen the movie, I still don’t like Legolas being present, no matter how awesome the barrels in the river scene was, but I was pleasantly surprised with the character of Tauriel.  She’s well designed and written, and yeah, pretty darn cool.  You go, elf girl!  That being said, I think that there may have been a little too much focus on her, especially with her adorkable romance with Kili.  Her scenes were entertaining, yes, but were they necessary and worthwhile?  It’s a point for discussion.

 

Smaug.  One word: epic.  Very well done.

 

That’s my two cents, anyway!  All in all: a very entertaining, well-balanced, beautifully made film.  Looking forward to the grand finale! :D

 

 

 

One of the Christmas presents which I received was Super Junior’s Japanese album, Hero (the deluxe 3-disc edition :3).  I’m in love with this album!  There’s just something extra-special about Kyuhyun’s voice when he sings in Japanese, rather than in Korean.  Each track is great, the DVD includes lots of special features, and all of it is attractively packaged along with a 40-page photobook. 

 

Two of the songs on the CD are ones that I had never previously heard, and I’ve really been digging them: Tuxedo (even someone who doesn't like k-pop would like this song) and Way (the vocals are lovely, and the chorus is so catchy!).

 

 

 

 

I had a food discovery in December!  One that honestly made me go “da-da-da-DAAAA!!”  Ciao Bella Gelato (Dulce de Leche)!  Yeah, I know what you all are thinking.  Ashley, why ON EARTH are you eating gelato in the frigid winter?  I really have no idea, honestly.  I just knew that I wanted to eat it, and so I did.  It had been years since I had gelato, and I was reminded of how absolutely amaaaazing it is!

Yum!

 

 

 

 

Before I reveal my book of the month, I’m just going to make a little note:  I’m not biased.  At all.  Mm-hmm.  ;-P

 

Violet Eyes by Katharine Bond (a.k.a. my best friend slash writing partner slash partner in crime ehehe).

 

Hmm, I was going to talk about this AWESOME★ book a little bit, but I think that I’ll go ahead and write a full review for it instead!  Look for that next week.  :)

If you're interested in purchasing this book, check it out on Amazon!

 

^o^

 

 

 

 

 

 

While shopping on Black Friday, I came across these Sand Lacquer nail polishes by Forever 21.  I had never tried F21 polishes before, so I only bought two of them; a purple and a blue/green (pictured).  …I wish I had bought the entire collection while they were on sale, because these polishes are so gorgeous! ;__; Like liquid snow (er--water?  What?  You know what I'm trying to say!).  So sparkly!  GREAT for holidays and special occasions.

 

 

 

 

Finally, a video game to end this post.  Another Christmas gift!  Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS.

 

Yeah.

 

Goodbye social life.

 

~*~*~*~

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE~!! I HOPE THAT 2014 BRINGS YOU ALL MANY BLESSINGS AND MUCH HAPPINESS.

 

 

Love & cheesecake,

Aianarie xoxo

NOVEMBER FAVORITES ♥

Here we go with round two of my monthly favorites! :D

This time I’ll begin with a movie, Thor: The Dark World.  I’ll admit that it was incredibly difficult for me not to go to the midnight showing, or even during opening weekend.  I had previously promised to take my brother out to see it for his birthday, so I ended up waiting 2 WHOLE WEEKS!  That aside…it was well worth it.  I’ll be brief and without spoilers.  Asgard was beautiful.  The landscape shots, the architecture, the costumes.  I wasn't as impressed with Malekith as I would've liked/expected to be, but I'm blaming General Zod in Man of Steel for that one.  He was the last movie supervillian that I experienced, and yeah.  Wow.  But I digress. 

 

Thor x Jane = love.  Loki was amazing, in every way imaginable.  The ending of the film certainly made me curious about the God of Mischief’s future role in the Marvel universe!  My second favorite character was Darcy.  She was hilarious!  And reminded me of myself in a few scenes…

 

…Here is the trailer!

 

 

 

 

The local radio stations have started playing Christmas music…DUN DUN DUN.  So it begins.  I live for this time of the year!  I’m super excited to finish up this term and start decorating, shopping, and baking to my heart’s content. ♥ But I’m going a little off-topic (again) here.  As for my favorite music during the month of November, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when I say that I’m still addicted to k-pop.  Now that I’ve officially immersed myself in the world of Super Junior (in particular; I listen to other k-pop, too, I promise), I’ve come across some of their lesser known/less popular tunes, a few of which I’ve been absolutely loving.  Promise You by their subgroup Super Junior-K.R.Y. is one such song.   Also, Sorry Sorry (Answer Vers.).  How—no, WHY—does this video have less than a million views? o__o

 

I’d say that my absolute favorite for this past month has been Daydream.  Such a beautiful song!

 

 

 

Other (non-Korean, ha ha) music picks for November are Waiting for Superman by Daughtry, Honestly by Kelly Clarkson, and Strong by One Direction.

Lots of ramen and chocolate pocky have been consumed by me as of late.  Neither of these is particularly new to my diet, so I’m not sure if they count as a “monthly favorite,” but it doesn’t hurt anything to mention them here.  :)

 

 

As the weather gets colder and colder, our summer tans fade away, and we’d all look like Noh masks if it weren’t for makeup.  One look that I’m particularly fond of for myself during fall and winter is blush.  I don’t wear blush during the summer because all the sun exposure usually causes it to melt into my foundation and…yuck.  Besides that, blush doesn’t really show up well under summer’s rays, at least against my skin tone.  I like blush when it’s cold because it provides subtle color and an overall warmer look to the face.  It’s like a holiday glow! ^_^ My favorite everyday blush right now is one from e.l.f.’s Studio Line.  The color is called “Tickled Pink.”  It’s a perfect dark pink that isn’t too faint or too vivid.  It stays on quite well for up to 8 hours.  And you can’t argue with the $3 price tag!

 

 

 

Video games were pretty much non-existent in my life during the month of October, but I’ve been slowly easing them back into my schedule lately, because truthfully, I really miss gaming. ;__;  Back in June I received a bunch of 3DS games for my birthday, so I’ve been playing those.  I absolutely love Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.  This is the first KH game that I’ve owned.  I played the original game years ago, but to be honest I don’t remember much about it.  This installment is just so.  Much.  Fun.  The characters and storyline are fantastic, and I love the suspense of not knowing which Square Enix or Disney element is going to pop up next.  I’ve also been playing Tales of the Abyss and Fire Emblem Awakening.  I just started those two, so I’m not going to comment on them right at this moment.

 

I’ll end this month’s favorites with an accessory.  Ya’ll know that I am a huge Lord of the Rings nerd.  I’ve been wanting an Evenstar pendant for as long as I can remember.  Ever since the Noble Collection came out with their rather pricey replica, it’s been near the top of my materialistic wishlist.  For a while it seemed like a bleak dream, because I’m a poor student and starving artist.  (Ha ha ha)  Just recently I found another, wayyyy cheaper replica on Amazon.  I bought it without hesitation!  Because it shipped from China, it took a while to get here, but!  It’s quite a lovely thing.  I wear it often, and am looking forward to wearing it with my Arwen look for The Hobbit premiere!

 

 

…And that’s all, folks!  I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  As always, if any of you have any questions about anything I’ve said here, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line!

 

Within the next couple of weeks, I will finally be posting either my ocarina review for Songbird Ocarinas, or my contact lens review for EyeCandy’s.  Or maybe both.  Who knows!  Christmas break is on the way, after all! :D

 

‘Til then!