Worst....Blogger....Ever.

Hey Beautiful people!

Sorry I have been MIA...I opted to enrol in another class post-grad to increase my chances of getting into a masters. This has completely consumed my life along with serving/being a research assistant. September should hopefully be a bit more relaxing... I will be applying for programs, back down to one job and doing a bit of volunteering on the side.

Happy July and see you in a month! .... Fingers crossed I do well in this class ;)

xx A

A quick change

I get bored of things so easily...so if you notice my blog template etc. changing all the time that's why haha. I haven't been happy with my blog layout, but i'm still new to blogger so I sort of fiddle with it every time i come on in hopes I'll be happy with one of my changes. This one I actually think I like! So yay, I think I'll keep it for awhile :).

 Simple is sometimes best. I find even my favourite colour changes quite frequently so I thought white might be a good bet (since it technically contains all colours -> science nerd :) ). 

I wish I could remember how to do HTML but it has been years so :P oh well! Anywho hope everyone is having an amazing weekend.

xx Alanna

Hello May, out with the old

Hello beautiful friends,

It's a stormy evening at home so I felt it was the perfect time to do a bit of cleaning and time for a new post as well! 

My makeup cabinet was beginning to get a bit cluttered and I realized that a lot of the makeup I had, had actually run out. So, here is a quick post of some of my used up products and what I thought of them :).

Please excuse the bad lighting.... my room is super dark even on the nicest of days :)! (the picture just looked better in black and white vs colour hehe)

Products shown from left to right : Stila - All Day Waterproof Liquid eyeliner (top), Philosophy - Hope in a Tinted Moisturizer, Tarte - Maracuja Creaseless Concealer, Revlon - Colorstay Eyeliner, Benefit - They're Real Mascara, bareMinerals - Starter Kit (Bronzer and Mineral Veil shown), Revlon - Eyelash Curler 

Okay...I'll try to keep my write-ups brief...I do love to ramble ;)! Starting off with Hope in a tinted moisturizer; this product was recommended to me because, for the most part, I have dry skin. It comes in quite a few shades which is nice, however, I found it clung to any dry patches of skin I did have. So I probably wouldn't purchase it again because flakey looking skin on my face really bugs me. Also it wasn't exactly cheap at $40 per tube. 

Next on to the Tarte Concealer, can I say LOVE?! This stuff is amazing. It's perfect for people with dry skin because it has maracuja oil in it, and like it says it's creaseless once applied. It seems expensive but I assure you that little tiny tube goes a long way as you only need a tiny bit at a time. I believe my first tube (which was a bit to light for me so I went a shade up) lasted me ~8 months. 

The Revlon eyeliner I haven't used for years to be honest. It used to be a favourite of mine until I discovered Stila. It's a crayon liner, I remember for the most part it would last all day but sometimes would smudge, but hey if you need a cheap eyeliner it's not bad at all!

The Stila liner I have purchased 4 times since discovering it a few years back. It is amazing if you like intense eyeliner. It lasts most of the day. One con I do have is I find when I curl my lashes after lining pieces of the liner come off, but no biggie just go over it again and you're good to go! 

The benefit mascara I received as a birthday present from Sephora and boy does it do what it says! I completely understand why it has such a cult following. It lengthens and separates your lashes; however, it doesn't really add any volume. I had Badgal lash before They're Real and found it did a much better job of creating extra volume. So, depending on how you want your lashes to look benefit has a great selection of mascaras. 

The bareMinerals foundation I probably wouldn't buy again. If you have almost perfect skin this is the product for you! It definitely gives you a natural non-cakey look, but I found for covering things up it didn't really help all that much. The bronzer is decent, it has a fairly red tone though. I prefer Benefit's Hula bronzer, which has a brown tone, a lot more. The mineral veil I have no complaints about, it's a great finishing powder! The brushes... are awful; they shed everywhere and the little bristles end up all over your face after use. 

Finally, the revlon eyelash curler. Honestly, I never knew the difference between a good and bad eyelash curler until I recently invested in the Shu Uemura eyelash curler. I found in comparison the revlon one missed my outer eyelashes and it took multiple squeezes of the curler to actually curl. Also, by the end of the day my eyelashes were back to their natural state. The Shu Uemura curler you still have to crimp your lashes a few times but way less than the revlon one and the curl lasts overnight for me. 

Righty-o, well that wasn't really short sorry about that haha (rambling ftw!). Hope everyone has a wonderful day, afternoon, evening, night wherever you lovelies are. Till next time :)

Ooops...I went Shopping! Clothing Haul Spring 2014

Hey All, 

Just wanted to do a haul post of what I've purchased over the past few months. Some of these items are from a month or so ago (so don't worry I didn't just go nuts in one go!) and were all purchased slowly over the last little while! I had considered doing a look-book but just haven't had the time to do so...maybe I'll do it for a few of the items, we'll see! 

Also I'm going to do a second post on makeup/beauty in the next little while so keep you're eyes peeled! For now enjoy :). 

Crop tops galore! All from Charlotte Russe and all for under $10. This was a "trying something new" thing for me and anytime I try something out of my comfort zone I never spend too much on things so charlotte russe was the perfect store for these cute tops! The top 2 have a bow back and the bottom 2 have a twisted strap, super cute! Purchased on vacation in California! 

This cute striped 3/4 length sleeve shirt from J Crew Factory. A perfect light knit for spring for ~$30. This was also a purchase while on vacation.

A comfy sweatshirt material blazer by "Black" for Saks Fifth Avenue. Again purchased on vacation from the Saks off Fifth outlet. It was originally $110 but I got it for 50% off, yay sales! 

These high-waisted jeggings by "Bulldog" from Pacsun were by one get one free, again purchased on vacation for a grand total of $50. 

On the Left: Bird Trousers from Asos $20 

On the Right: Harem Pants from Garage clothing $35

Originally I hated garage as a teenager but recently they have had some really cute things, definitely a must check out if you were like me! 

To get an idea of the Harem pants here is a picture from my instagram! They are worn high-waisted I paired mine with a top from Aritzia and a very old, faithful, cardigan from Costa Blanca (Aka it's like 6+ years old!).

Shorts from on the left side J-Crew for $25 each (from my vacation) and the brown pair on the right are high-waisted from Plenty purchased for $60 (they're sooo comfy! I can't wait for warmer weather).

These socks are genius! They're sock liners purchased from Aldo, 3 pairs for $10! They are great for converse or low boots, you can't even see them. 

Shoes from left to right: Aldo ($60), Lower East side for Payless ($35) and Converse juniors, yay for small feet! ($25 from the outlet in California) 

Back view

Left: Matt and Nat wallet from Plenty ($30)

Right: Marc by Marc Jacobs Karlie Bag from Aritiza ($288)

Echo Design Scarf from Plenty (also available from Indigo Chapters) for $40. This was a mistake purchase, always look at the price tag people! 

That's all for my purchases guys! I've clearly spent wayyyy too much money since starting to work full time; going to need to fix that. Also good news, my graduation status was finally approved, YAY! I'll have my BSc in Cell biology and Genetics formally as of May 26th :). 

Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Simple Acts and a Review

Hello All!

Sorry for the delay in posts, I've been working full time with 2 jobs, volunteering on the side and we are moving; all of these things are resulting in my complete exhaustion.

But I thought I would share a little story about something that happened this monday, April 14th. While I was driving over to my boyfriends I was stopped by an elderly woman waving her hands as she crossed the road. I pulled over, a bit confused, and rolled down my window to talk to her. She explained to me that she was a bit lost and had missed a few busses and asked for my help. She also told me that she probably got lost because she can't see very well anymore. In the end I managed to help her get home safely to her retirement home and helping her out definitely made my day. :)

Okay on to the Review!

Waffles Gone Wild

So fun fact.... I am a bit obsessed with waffles. Reciently I have been heading out to restaurants just to see what they have to offer. I discovered Waffles Gone Wild via a friends instagram when she posted a picture of a delicious strawberry and ice cream covered waffle... can I say YUM!!! So that was it, I was on a mission to try this place. I mentioned it to my friend who works in the lab with me and we decided to give it a shot at lunch. 

The place is located just off of Bayswater on Broadway in Kits. It's a bit hard to see because its so teeny! When we arrived, because it was so sunny out, my friend and I decided to sit on the patio which consisted of 2 little tables. The inside, also small, had a few more tables. It is set up very much like a cute cafe that along with waffles also sells bubble tea, coffee, teas and smoothies. 

Here is a shot that I took at lunch.

I had the Ham and Cheese waffle on the bottom my friend had the apple and cheese at the top.

Never would I have thought a savoury waffle would be good! It was such a strange concept to me but boy was it delicious. The waffle had a caramelized sugar on it which created a contrast that enhanced the taste of the salty ham. Along with the waffle was a delicious salad with sweet cherry tomatoes and various lettuce drizzled with a balsamic dressing that was to die for!

Another bonus was the price! My god, the meal looks small but I was in fact full after eating. Total, since I didn't have any thing to drink, my meal came to just over 6 dollars! Insane...where can you eat out for that price these days in Vancouver other than like mcdonalds...which even then can be pricy! 

Love love! I will definitely be visiting this place again to try out the dessert waffles :). 

That's all for now :) thanks for reading <3

Kakapos

Hey all :)

I wanted to do a quick post about my all time favourite animal... the kakapo! I absolutely love these little guys :). They have been called one of New Zealand's ugliest animals, but I couldn't agree less, they are adorable!
Kakapo's are critically endangered - there are currently 126 left in the world. Thankfully they had a successful breeding season and a few eggs are still left to hatch :). These wonderful creatures are from a time when predators were not present in New Zealand and there for evolved to be flightless.  They instead run and climb. When settlers arrived in New Zealand they brought rats and cats along with them and this was detrimental to the kakapo population - cats ate the birds and rats would feast on the eggs nested on the ground.
Thankfully, a wonderful group of people, part of New Zealand's Department of Conservation, have been helping these little guys to try to increase their numbers in the wild - The Kakapo Recovery Program. This is an organization I hold close to my heart and they have made a huge difference so far and are continuing to do so.

Picture from the Kakapo Recovery's FB page. 

If you want to read more about their efforts you can check it out here. They are also on facebook and twitter.

Also check out the adorable spokes bird, Sirocco, on facebook and twitter.

I had been wanted to donate to their efforts for quite sometimes and finally had enough extra on a paycheque to do so (they take smaller donations too :) anything helps! I just wanted to do the adoption option). So I chose to adopt marama who is a very small female (I'm small and felt I could relate haha ;) ). The minimum to adopt is $100 nz, but they send you a cute package with a stuffed animal, bookmark and some stickers. I hope to one day be able to help out more be it through donation or volunteering. And, maybe one day I'll be able to see one of these beautiful creatures in person :).

An instagram picture of my adoption package

Fun fact about me: I hope to one day donate money to conserve the worlds bird species (I'm slowly donating what I can now but hope to do a lot more). Can you imagine a world without birds? I wouldn't want to live in that world.