moving to London Town

There has been a long absence from my blog, and for those who read my other posts, knew that I was in a transition period in my life, as I have left my work, family, and life in Jordan, moved to London towards the end of September, to do my Master's and hopefully settle here. 

The first 2 weeks were just settling and getting used to getting around in London, getting lost in Tubes and Buses,  getting my bank account set, started courses and been doing a lot of reading, as well as building friends and relationships and having a good time.

Still haven't explored too much of London, still more to come! But for now, let me share some pictures with you, going backward to September, as a small introduction to Peculiar Ami's new life in London.

My new Uni ID - I am doing my MSc in King's College London, obviously!

Staying At the uni halls till June! My Street :)

The road I take everyday towards the Tube station, I love the fall season, I love the leaves.. I've missed this!

My Uni campus - at Waterloo 

And this is an introduction, more to come :)

A Pumkinlicious day

This Saturday has been revolved around a Pumpkin we bought, and no it was not for the occasion of Halloween Celebrations!

As you can see this is what was left over from the pumpkin, my father baked some for some sweet pumpkin pie, while I used a quarter of it for some pumpkin soup I have been craving for awhile now!





It didn't turn out as orangy as I'd hoped, because the Pumpkin itself was pretty brighter, but it tasted delicious! 

Detox Month (Holy Ramadan) is soon over!

   I do love fasting, and I do love the Holy month of Ramadan for a whole lot of reasons! A month is a tad too long!! I love this month because it gives me a sense of appreciation when I'm hungry, and also I tend to be a little more considerate in the way I dress, the language, and even in lifestyle, as I stay away from alcohol. Please do not consider me as a hypocrite here, I can 100% agree why someone would think that, however my reason for fasting is not for religious purposes what so ever! It is healthy for the body, and for my own sake, really connects me to myself (a sort of soul searching so to speak). I love the fact that religion (and I mean that every religion) has a whole specific month dedicated to fasting, followed by a celebration holiday! And when I say detox, I don't only mean from alcohol (I know that would be the first thing that came to the reader's mind), but from the junk I tend to snack on (just because I'm bored, not because I am hungry), my coffee consumption is limited to once a day (after Iftar in this case), I curse less because it is the right thing to do, I dress more appropriately in public (not that I don't usually! I absolutely do!! but it becomes a more aware/ respectful for the community - so doing good!), my dehydration restored by soup / water, no Sodas, frappacinos, sugar added juices, teas...etc....Working hours are less, so I have more time to be lazy (read, cook, or sleep since I am always overworking myself), and since the nightlife is pretty dead (unless you are one of those people who stay up toll 5 AM in Ramadan) my life is more with close friends / movies/ casual hang outs, than the need to go to where all of Amman's socials are found on a Thursday/Friday night, and where I have to always "bump into" someone I know! Plus I lose weight! 

   Why I am glad it's over!? I miss my morning coffees on the way to work. For a while I tried to limit my coffee consumption, for the sake of Ramadan, to try to get myself to get used to one cup of coffee day. and man is this not going to be in my favor, as I will sip, enjoy and refill my black filtered coffee everyday now!! Plus, I love my pink Starbucks mug - just looks cute and right! I miss omelette! For healthy diet purposes, I've been eating a small portion of whole grain cereals for god knows how long. Why did I ever do that to myself? I want toast + butter! I want jam + pancakes! I want omelette's and orange juice! I want Falafel! (preferably not all at once... or  maybe... all at once! Either way will do!).And I miss coffee / tea time, or lunch with friends at daylight! Man am I a much happier person when I am socializing in day light! Gives me so much more energy. I am not saying I am not a night person (man do I love dancing and going to pubs / bars), but not all the time! Once a week is good! 

   I think having so many restraints and keeping us from what we want / like to do, gives us a sense of who we are! And sometimes we take for granted what we can always do 24/7 which is when we stop appreciating life and what's around it, and start to say "Man I am bored of routine" instead of "Thank you for everything" (and suddenly ONE REPUBLIC's song "good life" is playing in the back of my head! .. OFF TOPIC & RANDOM....) - so once a year, no matter the religion / culture / or background, when we dedicate a month to fasting and purity, it is part of the plan to being a happier person. These practices exist for a reason! So, ONE DAY left~~~! and breakfast!!! 

Mellow Friday (Bubble Tea + Indoor Market)

   Although I had an uneventful Friday, where the usual grocery shopping, late breakfast and lunch, and wandering around Amman routine took place, it was still a casually nice afternoon. I took my mum to the bubble tea shop in Amman, one of my favorite new discoveries that I am currently hooked on, called JuiceBangBang ! I am loving their Yogurt based flavored tea they have! So far I've tried passion fruit, avocado, melon, and papaya, and I can't decide which is my favorite. Dying to try the normal flavored teas, however I am trying to cut down on caffeine wherever I can! So on a hot summer afternoon (or evening) instead of stuffing your self with unnecessary calories from Starbucks (where in Amman has become full of obnoxious teenagers!), those chilled Organic bubble teas (Bubbles are made of Tapiocas) are so ideal! It is located in Avenue Mall in Sweifieh!

Never having entered that mall, after having our tea, we went in this not very spectacular mall, and found a small indoor marker (souq) selling all kinds of home made jewelery, dates and other food for Ramadan, and many more! So you'd think I'd get out of there without buying me a few things? ;)

   

Would also like to mention that the people in the market, and the staff of juicebangbang as always were the all smiley and friendly, something you don't see much in Amman (like City Mall?). A lovely day :)

Dubai July 2011 - Purchases

My recent trip to Dubai was again for business purposes (not that it is a place I would choose to travel for a vacation), however, a lot of after work activities made it a very eventful trip! For some reason, when you are travelling, you feel that normal life rules don't apply. My eating habits were completely ruined, as I pigged out on everything possible you name it! Especially considering Dubai has so many diverse backgrounds, the same goes for the selection of food and restaurants! in the 5 days I was there, I tried every possible cuisine I could find, Indian, Iranian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese (SUSHI all the way!). There was not one thing in sight I did not taste. As I arrived last night, the first thing I did was get on the scale. This result will not be shared. Lucky for me, Ramadan is coming up, and I usually tend to lose weight during this month! Another normal circumstance that did not apply to me, was me keeping a tight budget for my coming year of Master's, and that I cannot afford to spend money. I can say I did try my best, but was impossible to come back empty handed. However I did make sure I didn't buy anything that would make my luggage heavier (the usual scenario of clothes, shoes and BAGS!).
adidas Originals Watch / Cambridge Stones White 

and MAC products from the duty free!

From the left: MAC paint Pot Peintures in Soft Ochre - MAC lusture lipstick in Politely Pink - Studio Sculpt Concealer in NC20.I am currently into natural nude look that it looks like I don't have make up on. Any suggestions on a foundation that would also give me that look to go with these products during the day?? 

Getting ready for Master's

So, this is a little different than all my other blog posts.. As I haven't been blogging, I have been busy getting a lot done before moving to London, to continue my studies and do my Master's and spending time with friends with the time I have left.
Unlike other summer holidays, this one has a lot of changes for me, firstly, it is my last one year. One of my best friend is also leaving to England, and with the busy life, will be seeing her a lot less in comparison to now (As she lives down the street from me). Not to mention I am trying to spend as much time with my family, as I have never been away from them before. This change will also lead me to resign from my position in less than a month, give my notice, and find my replacement. I am an HR Specialist in adidas Jordan since its start-up in Jordan, and is my first job in the HR field! A little more attached to it than I should be, however, I am ready and looking for new challenges, starting with the Master's taught program I chose, Human Resource Management and Organisational Analysis, and hopefully what will come after it! This also gives me a chance to take a break from work where I can figure things out for myself and about myself, whilst my brain has a lot of learning going on! Looking forward to the knowledge and that confidence to boost my self esteem as a person and a professional!
On that note, I have been working hard trying to save money... Let me rephrase, I have been working very hard putting myself in an exhausting situation of not having time to myself (as in time to spend) by also tutoring as a side job (good for the pocket, and not good for my social life) to try and save as much as I can. Do not get me wrong some major spending has happened. However, I can say it was balanced and allowed me not to at least withdraw from my payroll :)
Yes, so I am giving up my lavish lifestyle of being one of the high income societies in Amman, socializing in the high end Amman lifestyle, being able to drive (Family SUV) to work (an International company) and a rent free house, to a life where I'll be living in... half a room where I share the kitchen (my favourite part of every household), jobless and no income, a place where I don't know a soul and don't know my way around, to taking public transportation and walking. However, this is all exciting for me, as this is the sort of the lifestyle I am used to and enjoy more as I tend to enjoy the simple things in life :) The jobless segment will hopefully not be applicable as I am intending to work part time (as there is a limit to the number of working hours an international student can work), preferably in my area, while enjoying the night life London has to offer me of coarse!
So what have I done this summer besides getting my papers sorted? throwing away a lot of clothes I wont be wearing (especially summer items), pairs of shoes that have fallen apart, buying my own hair dryer, and going through the sales season happening now, and not buying any summer clothes. TORTURE! The only thing I might be buying myself are makeup, but even that is a lot cheaper in London, so I am keeping everything on hold for now until then.
Please note that I am guaranteed to have excess luggage with me, but that has been taken care of, as I have already managed a WASTA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasta) to get all my stuff on the plane without excess costs as long as I fly on RJ going there! I have still not figured out how all this will fit in my dormitory room, but I am sure things will work to figure itself out in the end.
Starting two years back, every August 20th I have been buying myself brand items, a present from me! My birthday this year has not come yet, but I am likely to put that on hold, as my budget for 2011/2012 might be right, and I am sure surviving and living comfortably is 1st to carrying a designer bag to make myself feel good? Guaranteed in 2012, once I get my dream job (with a male assistant) I will buy myself two bags on my birthday then.
A very random blog, more like a DEAR DIARY moment, as mentioned, not many purchases have been happening to blog about. This WILL change once I move as I will be exposed to a good number of cheap items, so fingers crossed!

On the top of my head - My Current Wish List

1. Louis Vuitton - Speedy 30                      2. Balenciaga - Green Giant Part Time Bag or a Balenciaga - Beige Giant City Bag

3. Daisy - by Marc Jacobs 

Summer & Body Skin Care!

It is May - Summer is just around the corner, and this should be the time where the more skin you show, the more you should take care of your skin. In actual reality, the most essential time to take care of your skin is winter, because it's dry! But unless you're not showing it, it seems unimportant.
Only bought two creams so far an average drugstore product I've never heard of, but it smells marvelous and feels just as lovely on the skin, would not mind repurchasing it! And I will upload some of my body butter collections from body shop as well - some of these I've already finished, but will be repurchasing!
This barely counts as a post - it is just my introduction to the summer where more focus is going on the skin rather than makeup to get the healthy look where not much makeup will be needed - to make sure you take care for that smooth summer skin!

it's always the little things..Part 2 Blue Fig and a Gift

After a long weekend, the load of work to face this week is over average. Gotten used to the weekend sleeping habits I had a difficult time sleeping last night, barely got few hours of sleep. Of coarse today was one of those grumpy mornings were I could not be bothered to go to work, every e-mail was just another task I had to get done, and so the day went on. I am currently though in a phase where I am going back to seeing everything in a positive way. So anything that upset me today, my reason was that it is a 4 day work week and the weekend is soon, or that the tremendous load of work will only result to the week passing by fast. And as usual, somehow your life, or the day goes by a little bit more smoother, and things turn out to be better than you'd hoped.

This week is a natural call for work disaster, where today, our company had guests flying in for meetings tomorrow morning. As the guests are here, although not a duty, but I welcomed them to our city in Amman, and took them out to dinner (and I will repeat, after a sleepless night).This was not directly after work (oh no, I did not go home to rest), this was after my 9 - 6 job finished, and went and tutored an 8 year old girl (second job) from 6:20 - 7:20, and went directly to the hotel, picked the guests up, and went to dinner.

Knowing that would be my plan for the day, to be followed by a day of work and meetings, where after work I had to attend a wedding of one of the work colleagues, the duties overwhelmed me, and I was not looking forward to the week at all.

However, the night turned out to be more than pleasant, as it was a very chilled evening sitting outdoor at one of my favourite spots in Amman, called Blue Fig in the center of Abdoun, had a lovely dinner of Alaskan Salmon steak (please see the juicy details in the website, you could go to the menu --> Main --> 2nd page). I also usually love the salads (especially the salmon salads) and another favorite main dish of mine is the Alexandra Chicken. What can I say, I love Spinach!

Unfortunately, I was a little embarrassed to take pictures of my food like I always do, especially around work colleagues I am not that well acquainted with. I will be visiting BF soon though, and will make sure to do so on another post!

One of the visitors loved the place, and described it perfectly. Her not knowing that BF is a place known as a breakfast spot, her description was, of a nice upper class restaurant to come with your girls, (like in Sex And The City, and have breakfast in).The place is classy but cozy, good food and service (could have better valets in the summer though), and most importantly good food. As a mid twenty year old living in Amman, I must say it's not easy to find a place where you can comfortably go to with just a girl crowd and not feel any pressure of being "looked at". BF also has managed to keep its quality of food high over the years, as generally a lot of places tend to lose it.

It is my fifth year in Jordan, and this is the place I never stopped going to, and hopefully will continue to in my next 5 months in Amman. Please stay this way, until my next future visits when I come to visit my family.

Another incident that made my evening, is I got a little gift from one of the work visitors from Dubai Duty Free, and surprise surprise, a little Clinique! It was so unexpected and thoughtful, that it kicked all other insignificant upsetting issues I woke up grumpy to in the morning, that by the time I got home at 10 30 PM completely exhausted, I had a smile on my face. This is peculiar Ami. It is always the small things that make my day. Which is why I explain my life in a short sentence, where I quote Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail" - Small but Valuable.
Peculiar Ami

Going Organic Part 3

For those who don't know me, and read my last posts of Going organic, might think I am an extreme health freak and don't eat any bad carbs, dairy, etc... etc...

For those who do know me, will know my obsession and love for food. If it was up to me, my dream job would be a food critic, to travel all over the world and try all kinds of food (while looking good on camera). That would be ideal as I get all my passions as a day job - travelling (not yet a passion - but would be if an option!), fashion and make up (one's gotta get dressed for the camera! presentation is everything!), socializing and talking to people for the fun of it , and most importantly food!.

What is my reason for going organic? I am that girl who eats 8 times a day and is never full! I am the person who never says "No" when offered food. I never taste anything, I just eat it. I am not picky (unless it's tasteless cooked veggies - I prefer them uncooked). So all day long, whether I am offered McDonald's French fries, chocolate, ice-cream, or anything with cheese, I never say NO.

So when it comes to areas I can control (breakfast and lunch and snacks) I try to go with less calorie options, but I do make sure I make up for lost calories. 

Hopefully, that will not always be the case. Now I am living with my family and in 4 months time, my plan is to move to London, England. We will see if I will get better at eating healthy once the food and groceries are my choice, or will I be eating out a lot and ruining the whole thing?

As for now, as the organic section is like a new discovery for me, and this is my newest purchase that is sooooo yummy!

Why do I need this? Once again, I am always hungry, and I always need to be snacking on something! This is my daily eating schedule when it is under control!

7:00 AM Breakfast - Organic Oatmeal that I previously blogged about - Apple Cinnamon + Coffee.

11:00AM - By this time I am in the office, not really hungry, almost still full from the breakfast, but I grab for my granola bars, otherwise I go to my work colleagues ask if they have anything yummy to eat - which is usually a box of oreos....

1:00  PM - Lunch time - I try to bring a salad from home, a sandwich, or whatever left overs from Mom's dinner the previous night. Never enough! So I make sure I eat a banana before it as well.

3:30 PM - The lunch was not enough even with the banana, by this time everyone can hear my stomach, and I can't concentrate on work... so I eat my apple,

6:30 PM - I get home -  staaaaaaaaaaaarving, and eat like a maniac whatever my mom has made me! Although I have been healthy and organic since I woke up - by this time I pig out with a laaaarge dinner portion followed by chocolates or cakes. Since I'm attaching pictures, a recent pasta I made (as you've noticed, the only thing I can make, but quite an improvement from just frying eggs and mashed potatoes!). Aubergines with tomato sauce, oregano, and Parmesan cheese.

8:00 PM - Not really scheduled, but guaranteed I will open the fridge and find something, and if there's nothing, I will make myself a grilled cheese sandwich. The above mentioned schedule does not include the coffees, teas, drinks, juices, and other things that have calories in them. Now this was a controlled average working day. The weekend is a completely different schedule that we will not be discussing here. 

Peculiar Ami 

Eye Liner & Lip Butters

April has been busy for me, as I had my family visiting from Japan. The first  week of April I was a full time tourist in Jordan, taking my family around and site seeing, of which I will update on a separate post.

That means that my purchases and shopping in April was limited, and not a lot of expenditures this month (thank god). I am thinking my relatives should visit more often and keep me busy, but then again the rest of my relatives are actually based in Jordan!

Very limited in number compared to my other purchases, so thought I'd share for now as I haven't blogged in quite sometime, as I am sure there are a lot more purchases to come!

Over the years, when defining my lash line I have been continuously using a pencil liner, where in few hours time would smudge out, and so I would have to carry it with me everywhere. Since January, I bought both a liquid and a gel liner and have gotten quite attached to the gel liner. Although a drug store product, I have been using it non stop and has become one of my everyday make up holy grails... I always use black, but now that spring and summer are approaching, I don't want the definition around my eyes to be too strong so I just purchased the brown one today. I am using Maybelline, and the best thing about this product is that you don't have to buy a brush separately, the package comes including a brush that is not that bad:

I have also recently bought a Lemon Lip Butter from Body Shop, as my wish to wear lipsticks and color is decreasing with spring, and my coconut lip butter was running out! This tastes and smells lovely and in comparison to the coconut one (which I still adore) is that the smell and taste isn't as strong or heavy, and quite perfect for summer!

More posts to come in May on my Perfume Collection, Skin Care Products that are working for me, My family's visit and my days of a full time tourist to give you an insight of what to expect if you're ever visiting Jordan (Will have to research some links to post on my page, so you can actually read more if interested, as don't expect me to type in he details!).
Love, Peculiar Ami xxx

Going Organic Part 2

I am generally the kind of girl who cannot do anything, especially COOK! However, I will be living on my own soon, and trying to figure out how to make at least some simple dishes. Interestingly, this is becoming my new habit, and unfortunately only get to do it in the weekends, because I never have the time. I have cooked a few things before and posted them on my facebook page to share with friends, so these are not the only pics, but the first ones I am sharing here... The first one is a chicken mushroom feta pasta, and the second (I made today) is a Pasta made using eggplants and mozzarella!

Going Organic

A few months back, watching one of Beauty Crush 's vlogs on youtube,  that was about her fitness and diet update and healthy lifestyle, and she mentioned that it was inspired by the book Skinny Bitch. I have seen that book a few times in the bookshop in the self-help sections and thought it would be rubbish. After Samantha (beauty crush)'s reveiw of the book, I managed to download a pdf version of the book

For those who know me, they know that after reading this book, I went from a vegan for a day, vegetarian for two, and a pescetarian for a week, and then back to the old eating habits, as it was too much to handle at once! However, this book made me at least realize what I am doing to myself when I am eating unhealthily, and how I try to stay away from some kinds of foods.

In Amman it is pretty expensive to buy organic products, so the plans of this new eating lifestyle is temporarily on hold...! But these are some of the things I started purchasing, I am not stepping into the pescetarian lifestyle just yet, but a healthy one!

I am sure once I move out and live abroad it will be easier to apply this organic way of life and eating, as there is organic icecreams and soy milk for much cheaper. And truth be told, it does feel different eating without much chemicals and additives (poison basically) being inserted to your body.

Peculiar Ami

Revlon Purchases HAUL

Saturday - 19th March 2011 - 10:17 PM

Thanks to bloggers, online makeup gurus, and youtubers, I began my obsession with make-up, however, the expensive products! which are making my pockets really empty!!!!

However, during a recent trip to Beirut, waiting in the duty free area for over an hour at 5 AM (to catch a 7 AM flight), there was no better way than to start this day purchasing make-up goodies from the duty free.

I do like drug stores products if they are good, from Bourjois to Rimmel, however, nothing ever drew me to Revlon Products for some reason! Having seen some make up tutorials here and there with Revlon foundation, I decided to purchase it, and of coarse I never only purchase one necessary product! I had to go and swash everything on my hand, and buy a bunch of other things.

However, this was in the duty free, so all these 4 products were about 30+ $ , equivalent to one MAC blush, so I felt really good buying these.

Being drug store products, I really did not expect much of them or for them to be that great, but from the foundation to the blusher, these items have become a daily use for my everyday makeup, and does not make my skin break out at all! They are lovely products and feels great on the skin, and I would recommend them to anyone, and can almost compare them to the high end products. LOVELY!!

Banana Shampoo

Saturday , February 16th 2011 - 4:30 PM

Without mentioning details, i have recently feeling down, not getting out of the house much and feeling the need to stay distant and as far away from people as possible. Of coarse nothing anyone can ever say will ever make me cheer up except some retail therapy of coarse. However, the usual retail therapy does not work on those days as no matter what kind of t shirt, pair of jeans or even bags you wear will make you feel lifted, as these are all exterior and will not change how you feel.

Something that will make your body feel a bit different or better are usually creams and other drug store materials.

Although I did not buy anything too fancy, using them sort of made me relax as I the aftermath of using them when I went home was sort of like a getaway spa alone at home, which is exactly what I need. No distractions, no wonderful view or 5 star service, just by myself, a time to think.

Banana scent shampoo from Body Shop <3 

and a cheap product of Cocoa Body Butter that smells lovely

every day scent!

Saturday, February 19th 2011. 5:44PM

As an average typical girl, one thing we love ad adore is perfumes! Just when you think that there's enough for a girl to talk up (fashion, makeup, chocolate...and the rest of the never ending list...etc), one thing I haven't talked about is perfume!

I do love all kinds of scents. In my room, i have those oil burners, and make sure my room always smells of something (the oil aroma I currently posses are Coconut, Jasmine, Lavender, and Lemon).

I love Perfume. My favorites are the fresh smelling ones, i am not too crazy for sweet scents, so I am definitely not a fan of Nina Ricci type of perfumes. I love Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Burberry... you name it! As much as I love them however, I kind of don't like spraying those pricy perfumes on me during the day for work. Not that it is waste, because I do put them on to smell good for me, but for roughly 60 dollars a bottle, I just don't have the heart to do it.

Even though I do live by Coco Chanel's quote " A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future".

Which leads me to the purchase of the day! I went to Zara to see what is left of the sale, (naturally did some damage in Mango ... oops!) , on the cash stand, i bought a perfume for the price of 9 JOD (roughly 9 Euros , for a perfume that is sold in Europe for 6 Euros... Damn customs and taxes!) called Rose, and though a little sweet, it is the natural sweet smell of a rose, and just feels natural when wearing it. A small bottle that I can carry with me to work and spray on without feeling guilty and can go about my day and work smelling lovely!

To have more to blog about, this would be my first post for perfumes, and will be followed by the perfumes I currently own, and my wish list!!

Love,

Peculiar Ami

Hair Treatment

Saturday, February 18th 2011 11:27 PM

Being half Japanese, my Asian genes dominates most of my features, including my hair. I naturally have thick strong black hair and it has a lot of volume. When I was younger, my hair was very straight, but you can say right now it is somewhere between straight and a few waves. The longer it is the wavier it gets, and when I have my hair short, it is just simply straight!

Although I love make up, and fashion, and all other girly things, hair is not something I put a lot of effort into. I do not straighten my hair at all - last time I blew dry my hair was 3 years back, other than that I would occasionally curl my hair for weddings or parties.

Even on a regular basis, I don't even tend to do some styles with my hair by putting some pins up. It is always pretty much the time. Split on the side, and falls straight down.

I will be trying to be a little more girly and put more effort into doing my hair properly!

However, luckily for me, my hair is also very healthy. And since I stopped blow drying my hair, I have a lot less split ends now, and I only go occasionally to trim the ends so it can grow longer.

For the past year I have been putting a lot of effort to making my hair longer, and is working quite well. I have also noticed the better eating habits, the healthier everything in general tends to be, from my nails to my skin.

I have heard so many times before girls commenting on how they are trying to grow their hair, and the problem they face is the split ends they have to cut off.. Basically going one step forward and two steps backwards. A product I use to help protect my split ends have saved my hair!! However, I have also stayed away from the hair straightener and anything that might damage my hair. I do not color my hair either. I only dry my hair after I wash it, leaving a little wet, so I keep the moist in it. Over drying the hair with high temperature is the worst thing.

My hair savor product I have been using for 6 years now is:

The Bed Head - Ego Boost - Split End Mender.

After I wash my hair and towel dry it, just before drying my hair with the hair dryer quickly, I put a few pumps on my hand, and just place it on the ends of my hair, to protect it. You will notice as you dry your hair, that the ends of your hair are the last places that dries, so the heat does not get to your hair. :)

This has been working great for me, and I have never dried my hair without it since it entered my life! Hope this works for you as well.

xx

Peculiar Ami

Valentines + A weekend of money spending

Monday, February 14th 2011 - 8:43 PM

Although this is suppose to be a time where I am saving money, and not buying too much so I don't have to carry a lot with me when I move, except necessary items, the weekend of February 11th & 12th, I seemed to find exactly what is absolutely necessary and pissed my money away!!

1. EXTREMELY NECESSARY ITEM NO. 1: An adidas Originals casual wear training suit because one day before I was watching "stomp the yard" and it always fascinated me how everyone dancing looks so good, funky, hip and young. Although I wont be dancing anytime soon, you do need a good pair comfy wearing track suit to go grocery shopping with! and everyone's rockin' Juicy Couture and is just too cute for my taste!

Hot!

2. EXTREMELY NECESSARY ITEMS NO. 2 : Make up

Revlon - Lipgloss - Pink Crystals (no. 21)

Bourjois - Lipstick - Sweet Kiss (no. 41)

L'Oreal Paris Blush - Rouge/Concrete

Revlon - Lipstick - Soft Nude (No. 070)

The attempt of buying drug store make up was not to spend money on expensive label makeups, a phase I was going through, spending over 100 $ on make up like MAC and Clinique!

However, the outcome was the same, as the quantity I buy is much more, so the amount of money I spent in the end is just as bad. These products however, I am loving, and you don't feel as bad when using them because each is roughly about 10 $, unlike my 28 $ MAC lipstick... used on occasions and with so much care...!

3. EXTREMELY NECESSARY ITEM NO. 3 : BOOK

Also as I was running out of creams (ones I blogged earlier this month) and went out to buy these necessary items that were running out, could not help but stop at the book store (Yes, I do have around 10 books I still haven't read, but I love entering book shops and purchasing books). Most of the books I read are usually mystery and adventurous fictions, as I love novels written by Dan Brown and Steve Berry, they are so complex. However, recently (winter) I find it really hard to stay up in bed and concentrate while reading, so I needed an easier fun book that doesn't require my brain to be 100 % operating, and been reading those girly books. A friend of mine introduced me a few Sophie Kinsella books, and although I never thought I'd say this, those girly silly pink novels are so spirit lifting. It is amazing how much you can relate. Although I do love chick flicks, movies don't really tell you how they feel when they break up, you just see them crying in their PJs in their Manhattan apartment eating Hagen-Daz... But in the book when the character tells the reader : I feel humiliated, I am so embarrassed, I was a joke to him, I can't show up at work tomorrow. You can't help but completely understand how she feels. Two books I read for Sophie Kinsella are "Can you keep a secret?" and "Remember Me?". I preferred the first one

Completely went off the topic, I bought a book written by the same author who wrote Sex and The City :

I bought the book for the obvious reason, the cover was so cute!! And next to it is my fluffy doggy book mark, although purchased many months ago, thought I'd share as it makes book reading so much more exciting!!

4. EXTREMELY NECESSARY ITEM NO. 4: Valentines Gift,

Last but not least, today is valentine's day, and although single, I am a happy valentiner! It never bugs me that I am single and have as much reason to celebrate. On the contrary, instead of spending money on someone else, I get to spend money on myself and get what I want (instead of getting a present, which a lot of the times is lovely, but not exactly what you want...).

A Heart shaped Strawberry Tart!! (^_^) - and just like Valentine's Day is suppose to be, mine with filled with LOVE! well my tummy was <3

Peculiar Ami

What you'll see on my office desk...

Wednesday February 9th 2011 - 9:30 PM

Something a little funny to share after reading my last blog, the kind of boss lady in the office I want to be. This is what you will actually find on my current desk, I took of the pictures today.

Not sure if the color is clear, but this is Ami's pink (microwave friendly) mug that no one is allowed to use because I bought it! 

Another pink think you will find on my desk is:

Which in it you will find a bunch of paper clips and all in the color: 

PINK!!

Although they are finishing up. I actually took the time and went through all the color paper clips in the office, selected the pink ones to have in my box! The pretty box used to be filled with Pink Memo papers (which I finished and will be going soon to get some new ones soon, as I recently used white plain papers, and felt like there was no point labeling something when the label is so plain.... It's a LABEL, it should stand out!)

Besides these office essentials, there's always a lipstick or gloss laying around somewhere, a mirror, my iPod charging on the company's computer...etc. You can always find snacks (a box of digestives, cereal bars, or an apple)

As everything in the office is black and grey, My desk (hence the HR department) is always funky and lively with colors!

xx

Peculiar Ami