It's Not Tomorrow Til You Go to Sleep & Wake Up Again

At least that's the way I see it. So without further ado, let's talk nutrition. 


Dave is one of at least 5 Davids I know. This particular David was a fat kid. Now he's a fit man. For whatever reason (we all have our own) something clicked and he started working out and eating more healthily. Now he's got muscles aplenty. 

I've always been a tall, strong tomboy/athletic type. If you look at a comic book heroine (like Storm, Rogue, or Wonder Woman), that is my goal figure-- only a little softer. I don't want to be too hard and muscley. 


So anyway, Dave's advice to me has been to have a protein shake for breakfast. This is a meal replacement for breakfast only. Carbs are to be cut by at least half and I'm to have at 1200 - 1800 calories per day. I've combined his advice with info I've gotten from when I was in Weight Watchers at Work (3yrs ago). Diets aren't temporary things we use t lose weight. They are the way we eat always. I want a high protein & fiber, low carb & sugar diet. 


What sucks is that the foods I like are all super carby. Otherwise, my diet is pretty good. I eat my veggers. I get protein. I could stand to have more fiber and less carbs. But I love sushi (maki especially) and pasta. I've cute pasta down to twice a month, but sushi? Nope. Can't do it. Dave recommended I say yes to a cheat meal once per week to keep my sanity. This way I won't fall off the wagon and binge on ice cream and maki. Sounds like a plan to me. 


Today I had Muscle Milk Light (lactose and sugar-free, 20g of protein) for breakfast. I had a banana for snack and a chicken ceasar wrap for lunch. For dinner, I went out with my friend Jamie to Cosi. In Philly, all eateries have to put nutritional info on the menus. I had a chicken pesto sandwich (comes with mozz & sun-dried tomatoes) with a side salad and a mocha freeze with added protein powder. The mocha freeze wasn't a good idea but I'm sure I've only consumed 1500 - 1800 calories today. 


Couple that with Jamie and I walking all over center city and I say that's Great Success!

Giveaways and Scans!

If you're a MAC addict or just want more, you need to stop by Jen's blog. The runner-up prizes are Urban Decay and Nyx products-- too brands I absolutely love. A link to the entry will also be posted in the sidebar shortly after this post.
* Giveaway ends August 16, 2010 11:59 PM PST 

Also, Mitsu from Universal Doll was kind enough to share a full scan of Yukai's October 2099 issue on MediaFire. Just as Mitsu reports, Yukai has Agejo looks and hairset, tourist info, tons of host club photos and more.


I know this is an early post. Be on the look out for a full post later. Today, I'll address nutrition and pass on some advice from a friend who went from fat to body-builder fit through hard exercise and creative diet.

Gyaru Mama!

This is me (duh) and my baby bear Xavier. This was taken about a month ago, but I like it. He's pretty cool. I recently taught him how to do the victorious laugh. It's cuter when he does it.

Right now he's in the kitchen taking toys out of my lazy Susan. He hides toys all over the kitchen in random drawers we haven't child-proofed. I think he doesn't want us old people playing with his toys. And now he's eating my iPhone. ^_^

So anyway. I find myself having the time to do my make-up every day, but not to really curl my hair. I often wear a scarf and a high ponytail (like in the photo). Lately I'm doing a lot of braid/pony combos. It's typically 90+ degrees here so wearing my hair down gets pretty hot. A gal's gotta adapt to her surroundings. These bangs are fun, but hot. Sometimes I braid them to the side/behind my ear and leave the rest of my hair loose. This helps a lot! It also looks cute and hippi-kei. I love that look. In the meantime, I need to find all my pretty scarves (from my mum-in-law) and start utilizing them. I am also going to add some silver multi-chain necklaces to my arsenal. All my necklaces are earthy. I love that, but I love having options more. Time to sell some textbooks. That ought to make shopping a lot easier.

CHI Product Review

How's this for funny? This is the first and last video I've posted for teh interwebz. I really hate my voice. It sounds like my nose is stuffed up all the time. Also, now I believe my husband when he says the Small Bear gets his funny facial expressions from me. This is an old review but it's still relevant to this blog.

Geeky Gal?

Yep. That's me. I'm a huge dork. I figure it's a good idea to share a bit about me that goes beyond the gyaru-related things. I have layers, people.

Right now I'm trying to get together a group of gamers to go old school with me in some World of Darkness games. I used to play Vampire: The Masquerade all the time (and sometimes Dungeons & Dragons) but after high school I had no time. Of course all these years later I miss it.

A little over a year ago, I found a group playing Vampire: The Requiem (the most recent version of Vampire) via Craigslist and took a really long drive to go play with them. IT was fun as heck and inconvenient as hell. The GM is super cool so we still keep in touch.
So yes. I'm proud to be a geeky gal. I'm all about gaming but find I'm more interested in playing with others instead of alone. I've come full circle. I tried WOW for a while but it's not the same. I like having people over, ordering delivery, having a few drinks and throwing a d20 at someone's head when (s)he tries to make a ridiculous play. Ah, togetherness.

iPhone Bling

I absolutely MUST HAVE this case. It's so insanely cute. I am trying to stick to my budget, so $80 for a cell phone case is kinda unjustifiable. I'm trying to be a responsible adult here, people. It totally speaks to me though. 
                          
It's funny how paying $80 for a hair appointment or clothing so is fine, but not for a cell phone case.


Be that as it may, I'm adding it to my Amazon (Universal) wishlist. This way I (or someone else who loves me -- hint hint, Erik) can buy it later. I have a habit of forgetting websites. 


Am I the only one who loves window shopping online? I love adding stuff to my wishlists. It's a great passtime for when I can't really pay attention to anything else. This is usually because I'm paying attention to Xavier and rolling around on the floor or playing trucks with him. It's all kinds of fun, but I'm happy to window shop when I need a little break. What type of things are on your wishlists?

Farouk Biosilk Tourmaline Ceramic Flat Iron

Click for Full-Sized Image

$55 , bought for $53, Reg price $99.95

My hair is super thick and layered to my shoulders. I  have 2 types of curls- tight and soft, then the coarse naps at the middle-back of my head (about 3″ in diameter). This iron is FANTASTIC. Seriously. I have a Conair ceramic iron that does okay, but the poof comes back to my hair too soon. This Farouk Biosilk iron is big time goodness. It’s totally fighting the friz for me. I also use the CHI Iron Guard Spray. I almost bought a CHI (original), but this was $20 cheaper and allowed me to control the temperature. The CHI Turbo was more than I wanted to spend because I’m a pretty cautious spender. What else? Oh! Some irons get HOT on the outside, but I had this one all the way up to 420F at some parts and the outside never got hot.
My only concern is that the “on” light quickly flickers once it’s at full heat.  My Conair’s light flashes slow and steadily until it’s reached the desired temp. That makes sense to me. The way this iron flickers just seems a little odd, so I’m checking www.farouk.com to see what’s up.

Anyway, BUY THIS IRON. Seriously. I don’t leave a LOT of immediate reviews (not many at all for that matter). I’m in hair love.

PS -
I even left this review on Amazon (which is where I bought it).

PPS -
This post is from a while back (pre-micros, pre extensions) when my hair was still super healthy.

Sunset

Here's the whole deal. Hey ya'll. I feel like watchin Paula Dean now. Don't know who she is? She's a southern woman with a long drawl and kitchen skills. Between all the Friday Night Lights, CMT, and my Aunt Gina visiting (from Georgia), I feel like goin back down south for a while. There was just another huge family reunion. None of my southern relatives have met my husband or baby bear save for Aunt Gina and her chunk of family. Now I feel guilty... Okay. Onto the superficial & fun.

I used the 120 Palette to do these eyes and Maybelline Lash Stylist. The little comb just gives the best definition. The mascara is just... juicy! I used the brightest orange, the gold, the darkest brown, and black for this look. All are matte save for the gold. I was inspired by my outfit (which lacks extra accessories because guess who was lazing around the house all day).



So here's the breakdown of face, hair and clothing. Don't even think of giving me shit over my eyebrows. As usual, I used MAC Studio Fix powder (NW45) and  MAC Raisin blush. For lips I used Viva Glam VI lipstick and Viva Glam V gloss. The gloss gives a more pale-nude look so I like to only use it over a slightly darker color to balance it out.

Open eye looks good to me. 

I'm not so happy with the blending into the crease.

I need some kind of dark brown belt
to make this dress more interesting.

My husband bought me this a while ago.

Funny Fits

So I bought this dress at Dots for $4 cheaper than it costs at Forever 21. I'm just sayin... shop around, people. The top is from Torrid and it looks horrible on me. I'm honest with myself. It looks shit. It hugs my love-handles instead of my hips because it's not meant for tall people. It's meant for a short chunky girl, not a tall one.  


I'm not a big girl with an hour-glass figure. I wish I was but I'm not. I've got huge breasticles and straightish hips with little waist definition. I'm long everywhere- limbs, torso, face and nose. 


I love the ethnic/boho prints in skirts and dresses. I have a small collection. I also have tons of  earth-toned clothing, though at least 60% of my wardrobe is black or black based.


 Anyway, I wore this yesterday, not today. Today I'm in a black dress with a b&W blazer (not quite houndstooth) and black cutesy flats. I had a job interview. I'm really hopeful because there are HUGE benefits, including gym on location and an organic farmers' market as well as random guys selling purses and stuff on the street lol. 


Time for mommy business. Blog later!

Well, Well, Well...

Fabic set up and pinned for sewing.

Guess who's pulling out the sewing machine tonight? ME.
I got this fun fabric from SpoonFlower a while ago. It's a stretch knit so it's not perfect for a hobo bag, but I'm gonna make one anyway. And I'm gonna make an うさミミ (usamimi) to match. Why? Because I feeeeel like it. I will post images of the final products in due time.

I need to start sewing more. I have plenty of fabric so why not? I have this nice and light cotton gauze fabric. I need to buy a ruffler foot so I can make a short-but-not-too-short-and-skanky skirt. I can't buy mini skirts because they're always way obscene on me but just fine and dandy on a 5'4" chica. I'd like to not look like a woman of the night while pushing my baby bear in a stroller. No thank you. It's bad enough I have to buy "tall" pants with at least a 34" inseam (and 36" is preferred), else my ankles show when I don't want them to. Let's not have my panties showing, too.

Now I've gone off topic, but that's how I roll. I do have a plan for this blog. It will have reviews and rants and hair/make/fashion experiments. When I remember where the cord to my scanner is, I will be very happy to post scans of coordinates in the j-mags that I feel are fat girl friendly. I will try to replicate them and note any adjustments made as well as why. I will also be posting on some of my domestic things, a la I Love Mama. Hopefully, this will be as fun for others to read as it is for me to write.

In the meantime, Anyone reading this should head over to Blooomzy's blog for an awesome giveaway of kawaii stationary, lush lashes, hair masks and other goodies. Go try your luck!

Night night ^_^

FOTD - Blue

So after waiting forever for Xavier to take a nap, I finally got to get a full face of make on. The details for what I used are below the the images. I didn't bother with faux lashes since I'm not actually leaving the house tonight. I wish I was! My husband's band is playing at the M Room and I love it there. The bar tenders are cool and the sound guy is a sweetheart and a friend. <3<3<3 I wanna be out, but tonight I stay in like a good mama should. But back to today's face, ne?


1. Eyes

2. Lips

3. Face

I'm so channeling my mom in her twenties in this image. She used to be crazy for blue eye shadow. It was the eighties though, so ya know...

Okay! Here's the list o' ingredients:

• Concealer - MAC Select Moisture Cover in NW45
• Eye Primer - Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
• Face - MAC Studio Fix powder foundation in NW45
• Cheeks - MAC blush in Raisin
• Eyeliner - MAC Fluidline in Black Track
• Mascara - Maybelline Lash Stiletto (Volume)
• Eyeshadow 1 - Nyx in Pacific (inner eye V)
• Eyeshadow 2 - MAC in Freshwater (most of lid & blended up
• Eyeshadow 3 - MAC in Embark (crease & blended up)
• Lips - MAC Viva Glam VI lustre lipstick

* Please disregard my bare-shoulderedness (yes, that is a word... because I said so)

Red Lipstick Gal!

I'm so so so happy right now. My hubby and I took Xavier to the mall today to walk around for a few hours, have dinner, and walk some more. Of course we did a little shopping, but nothing major and no clothes for me-- just X. Our first stop was the MAC counter at Bloomy's.

In case you don't know, MAC has the Back to MAC program where you turn in 6 empty product containers and get a freebie. At the standalone stores, you can get a free lipstick, lip gloss, eyeshadow, and something else. At department store counter stops you can only get lipstick. This is fine. I was really eager to look for another nude (something closer to a true nude for an NW-45 gal such as myself)  or a new red (since they no longer make the Looks Like Sin Cremesheen lip gloss.

After trying a few different lipsticks-- including some peaches for some odd reason-- I settled on a red. It's a lustre lipstick called Spice it Up (pictured) and I think it looks great, as does my husband. I love that mode-kei is including red lip sometimes.  I think it's a win and am happy to know this lipstick isn't a limited edition color. I can't tell you how pissed I was when I found out MAC had the audacity to not keep Looks Like Sin around. I've bought like five tubes and eventually ran out of it. You can only rain-check the inevitable for so long, right?

 I bought some MAC Ornamental lip gloss, a while back but it is more of a gold-red.  I still haven't finished the tube. I realized I didn't love it then gave up and stuck with my go-to nude Viva Glam VI. I have been going with that for what feels like ages now. It's a mauve type of vibe and seems to be better for me than the oft-recommended Viva Glam V. I'm referring to the lipsticks of course. The lip glosses are too sparkly for my taste.

While at MAC, I decided to take some advice from a commenter and buy the Fluid Line gel liner in Black Track. OMG x 10. Finally a black-black for lining my lower lash line. I have this problem where the lower eyeliner never stands out. I've complained about it before. I even have failure with the MAC water proof pencil, despite recommendations from all over. I think that pencil is one of my most pointless make-up purchases, but you live and you learn. I've been using the Maybelline's Line Stiletto in black on my upper lash line since it first appeared in stores. It makes for a killer cat eye and lasts a really long time. Add the fact that it costs less than $10 and that's a WIN sandwich right there. I'll just use the MAC pencil for my waterline, but not for that dramatic black-around-the-whole-eye look. For that I'll use the gel liner.

In closing, I'd like to say that no matter how obsessive this post may sound, I am not a MAC addict. I can see how some people get there though. The foundation is a perfect match. Raisin is my perfect blush. Viva Glam VI is my best nude so far... but I may have a new one soon. That'll be a few posts from now. I love make-up!

Fitness Goals

When I was younger, I was a warrior princess. Well I looked like one. I was 6ft, 185 pounds of muscle (with annoying little love-handles and big ol' boobies). That is my realistic goal. I don't wand to weigh 130 like I did when I was twelve or thirteen. I want a realistic, healthy adult weight. Once I hit 185, I'd like to get to 170, but that's not as important. A friend of mine is a body builder and obese by BMI chart standards, but he only has less than 5% body fat. I don't want to be that ripped, but 15% is good in my book.

I know what, when, and how much to eat, but I'm not good at confusing my body. Cardio is my tricky spot. I am perfectly capable of going a few miles on an elliptical machine, but walking outside in this 90+ degree weather is not working for me. I just melt. Luckily I love belly dancing. I practice in a 2.5 hour class on Saturdays, an on my own for an hour every other day. I used to do it every day, but started slacking. I will get back to that starting tonight.

Aside from dancing, I do strength training. More muscle means more calories will be burned while resting. This is a good thing. I don't want to just be thin. I want to have a fighting chance at surviving a zombie apocalypse. I need to be able to carry my son to safety. I need to be able to super-assist my husband and go all Xena on some undead asses. I'm not joking, either. I'm dead serious, but I won't go further on the coming apocalypse. Back to exercise.

I am a fan of doing push-ups. A site I love for having a great multi-level plan is One Hundred Push-ups . I recommend this site to everyone. Doing push-ups is good for everyone (unless you're so out of shape that it's dangerous). The wonders it works for your arms, shoulders and chest is amazing. Wanna keep your girls as elevated as possible? Do push-ups. Wanna rock a strapless sweetheart top? Do push-ups. Wanna have a sexier back in a halter top? You get the point.

I'm one of those chicas who has a creaky knee because I fell out of one too many trees as a young tomboy. Taking this into consideration, I try not to do too many squats. They are GREAT for thighs and butts, but having to nurse my knee back to health every other night is not my idea of fun. My work-around is simple:

• Whenever I do crunches, I add 25 reps of  leg open-close thingies between sets of crunches.This way I can stay on my back and keep my body moving. I do 5 sets of crunches, so my thighs are tired by the time I finish.
• After crunches, I get on all-fours and do my push-ups. The plan is to complete the 100 Push-ups plan on my knees ("girly" push-ups), then start all over again on hands and toes (real push-ups).
• After push-ups is a great time to do kick-backs since I'm already on my hands and knees. This is good for the booty. I've been trying to get a ghetto booty all my life. This practice of pushing one foot back and up is apparently good for that. At least that's what the personal trainer told me. This better work. 
• When this is done, I do a few yoga poses to stretch it all out (cat-cow-plank-cobra-plank-downward-facing dog, then standing)

 So this is what I do to get stronger. I've been at this regularly for a month. I must stress the regularly part. I was losing weight until I was put on bed rest while pregnant. Then I gained it back and then some. Post-delivery my hip was shot and it hurt to walk. I got fatter. Then I was depressed an ignored the problem. I couldn't see it then but I can now. I get discouraged like anyone else, but I search for thinspiration to keep me motivated. It's tough since most of the 6ft tall women I find are only like 120-135 pounds. That does absolutely nothing for me. There are a few healthy figures out there and I have my old photos to look at. For now, I'm just taking it 10 pounds at a time. Mini goals FTW.

Hmm

How funny it is to contemplate the way certain things boost your confidence. Having longer hair makes me feel prettier. It doesn't matter if it's my natural hair, braids or loose extensions. I just need hair to be around shoulder-length. Also, I noticed faux lashes make me feel cuter. I have big doe eyes, yes, but my lashes aren't thick/full. I typically use mascara because faux lashes irritate my right eye.... Can't just go about town with one eye poppin.

Anyway, that's what I've been pondering

My Hair - Before and After

This is what my hair looked like before. And FYI, I seriously LOVE that headband. I got it at forever 21 for like $9. 

So I should have taken this photo in the salon when my curls were stronger, but I like this relaxed curl look a lot. Here goes:

And this is what I wore today. You can't see, but there are black calf-length leggings and black patent leather heels to match my belt.

It's Exte Time

Today is the day! I'm going for some medium length, warm brown extensions today. I'll be leaving the house soon and returning a weaviful masterpiece. I loved having my microbraids but they were a beast to take out... It took like three days! I'm definitely not going there again. Nope.

I'm only going for sewn-in exte now. , I have love for the way the fusion method looks. I'd even wager pinch braiding or micro rings would be okay  for partial extensions, but I don't see those methods working for me. My real hair is between chin and shoulder length now because of the breakage from bleaching. Now all the relaxer is gone and all that is left is my super thick, 3/4 curly + 1/4 nappy head of hair. I would be paying more for lower quality if I were to go the route of fusion, micro rings, or punch braids. My hair within the exte would just be a poofy frizzball... eww x10.

So anyway, I'm excited. This should be fun times. I think I'll get is styled like this but with a side/angled bang. 

You know... I forgot to post this before, but here is a link to my tumblr photo-post of my typical daily make-up and brushes.

Okay! Time to get movin!

 

I Love Mama

Accepting my onee-dom is rather easy. As I type this, my son is playing with his farm animal puzzle while eating cheerios & yogurt melts (because god forbid he eat what I cooked). I'm convinced that I sound like 40-something, but I'm 26 til October and my son isn't even 2-years-old yet.






It's safe to say that reading I Love Mama makes me happy. Is it weird that it motivates me to cook more cute foods for X? I really like the stuff I see. Unfortunately, I can only read part of the recipes. Time for a trip to Maido okini to get help with buying ingredients and such. I need to make cute and healthy things like this all the time!

Stupid Eyeliner

So today I did perfect gyaru eyes save for the bottom lash-line. I was able to do the mascara on my bottom lashes and one of my new brushes to apply a little more [powder] foundation under the lashes to make the black pop. I was seriously missing the black liner on the bottom though. I need to either find my sharpener or buy one. I don't like the incomplete look. It'd be one thing if I had super full faux lashes on. Sometimes that helps make the look okay without bottom liner. But to not have the liner felt incomplete and I think it's because I made every last lash stand out on the bottom. They needed to be connected [via eyeliner]. Well. You live and you learn. 

FYI: The new Shany brushes are still going strong. I used them for full face application, but added my Nyx blending brush since the kit didn't come with one... BTW, WTF is up with that?

Shany Cosmetics Brush Kit

I recently acquired this set of brushes from Amazon. Luckily I received the red ones and not some other mystery color. Most of the brushes are made of squirrel or badger. I believe the fan brush and brow brush are both nylon. Overall, the quality is okay. These inexpensive but stylish brushes are nothing to write home about. To be honest, I bought it because it was under $20 and I was going to spend that on a liner/definer brush by MAC or Sephora anyway. Now I have more in the collection to help me brush up (NPI) on my make-up artistry skills. 

Plus it came with this nifty red pleather case which is just fun times if you ask me. And sure you didn't ask, but I'm telling you. So BAM. 

Yep. Between the array of brushes to practice with and the case that came with it, I'm 100% certain I got more than my money's worth.I will be sure  to readdress the purchase later to let you all know whether or not they stood up to my heavy-handed style of clumsiness. 

The brushes I currently use are great quality and varied (by brand). They range from Sephora and MAC, to Nyx and Bare Essentials (an all natural bamboo fibre line of brushes from CVS). How funny is it that the latter batch of brushes is my favorite? 

Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz. 

A Bit About Me

This blog is my outlet for all things gyaru. If you've stumbled upon this little chunk of the web by mistake (or simply at random), the term gyaru is the romanized form of the Japanese word for Gal... which is actually a loan word from English. Ah, linguistics. 

Anyway, I could go on about the whos, whats, and hows of gyaru style and culture, but there are plenty of other bloggers who've done it already and done it well.

Now...

Fifteen things about me

I am exactly 6ft tall.

I’m a wife and mother.

I am a pretty nifty photographer.

I love gyaru fashion more than any other form of street fashion.

My goal dress size is 10/12 because I REALLY don’t like when bones show.

I can read/write/speak Japanese on an elementary level, with random adult phrases thrown in. Improving vocabulary is an everyday process.

I absolutely LOVE The Backyardigans and can’t blame it on my son.

I’m pretty straight-forward and don’t take kindly to bullshit.

I’m an intermediate belly dancer with very little interest in performing. I just love to dance.

The only food I really care about are sushi (esp. maki) and ice cream.

I have huge boobs but God didn’t see fit to bless me with a sista booty and it pisses me off.

Cultural Anthropology is a HUGE love of mine, as is Egyptology.

I have numerous health and fitness apps on my iPhone and use them all. My faves are: MyNetDiary, 100PushUps, 200SitUps, and iMapMyFitness.

I love to learn new languages but need to pace myself.

I am a big True Blood fan and love Alexander Skarsgard (plays Eric) because even though he doesn’t have dark hair, he IS super tall. I swoon.