Smarterer - A Better Way to Test

Have you guys heard of smarterer? It's a beta site that allows you to create a test for whatever you desire . . . school, work, personal, etc. I just played with their BzzAgent test and I found that going through the program allowed me to learn about the service (and its history) better, quickly, and in an interactive and fun manner. It's a multiple-choice program that adapts to your answers and rapidly progresses in its difficulty level. You get points added / subtracted for each right / wrong answer and it's a timed response. I definitely felt a little anxiety watching that countdown, but I found that I enjoyed that aspect because it forced me to focus more. I liked the point system because it's like a game and I can definitely see how this would be a great way to learn if you're studying for an exam! Just enter some pertinent exam questions and have at it! If you miss a question, it'll reappear later on so it definitely enhances your memory retention!

Overall I had a great deal of fun with this site and I can't wait to create my own question and answer set!

Disclaimer: I was introduced to this site as a BzzAgent. All opinions are my own and honest ~ I am not being compensated for any comments made.

Julep Nail Polish Review - Blake

So I recently learned that Julep was having a sale on their nail polishes (AND free shipping all summer long)! I had to dive in!

I first heard of Julep when I was planning my wedding. I was looking for a place to host a pre-wedding mani/pedi with my bridesmaids and mother-in-law. Julep was having a grand opening in Bellevue AND they were selling $100 gift certificates for $50 at that time so I jumped all over it! We had a fabulous time getting our nails done - Julep is very clean and the chairs are movable so that you can sit closer to all your friends making it more conducive to chatting!

So I love everything about Julep-the nail salon (was very impressed that my French mani/pedi lasted throughout the honeymoon without a chip), the lack of chemicals in their polishes, and the fact that they are local! I had never had the urge to purchase their nail polishes until I saw their new packaging. I love the sleekness of the bottle. It looks sooo chic!

I bought Blake to try out (I had heard that their polishes are very opaque-only needing one coat?!) and was super excited! Blake is described as "Sunny yellow. Creamy and buttery yet fat-free." LOVE it! It's perfect for summer, especially if you have a tan! I've received sooo many compliments from co-workers to complete strangers! It's beautiful - however, it does need 2-3 coats to get it opaque and not streaky. The brush I would liken to Essie's brushes.

To purchase, visit Julep and enter code: GIRLFRIEND for $15 off $30 with free shipping all summer long! $1 will be donated to organizations that support women through their Powered by Girlfriends program for every nail polish sold.

Disclosure: Product was purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and completely honest. This post is not sponsored in any way.

Aussie Diaries: Shopping!

Honestly, shopping in Australia made shopping in the U.S. feel as though it is soooo cheap! I don't know if it's just because the dollar is so weak or if things are just that pricey over there! There are a lot of malls and shopping areas in Sydney - some brands that are unique to Australia include Supre and Cotton On (for cheaper stores) and Zimmerman, Sass & Bide, and Wish. There's a lot of boutique shops (which can also be found in the malls). The only place I really was able to go "crazy" was at Peter Alexander, which is a super cute pajama store that screams pink and is somewhat affordable (at least compared to all the other stores)!

If you're in to beauty ideas, there's lots of options for you too! Myer and David Jones are the equivalent to Macy's and Nordstrom's in the States and they have a variety of cosmetics for your viewing pleasure all in one place! Mecca is like a mini-Sephora and features a lot of international brands. Some Aussie brands include KIT cosmetics, Napolean Perdis (can be found at Target here), MOR cosmetics (can be found at Anthropologie and select boutiques), Jurlique (also found at Sephora), and Aesop (also found at Anthropologie and Barneys). I love buying beauty products from around the world and I was also told that if you buy the product from the land of origin, it is supposedly cheaper. However, I found that products like MOR and Aesop can be found online at ~$1-2 less (which isn't that big of a difference but at least would save you some suitcase room and oftentimes have free shipping offers). Jurlique, on the other hand, was ~$20-30 more in Australia than on the Sephora website! Needless to say, I was fairly selective on what I bought in Australia and what I could wait to get until I got home!

Finally, if you're looking for souvenirs, there's plenty of unique markets to check out (The Rocks Market, Bondi Markets, Paddy's, and Paddington Markets). Paddy's is one of the biggest ones but a lot of their stuff is Made in China. If you want to really get something that's more unique and actually made in Australia, I would check out the other markets. There's confections, unique jewelry, up and coming designers, stationary, wooden gifts, artwork, etc! But remember to bring cash since a lot of them don't take credit cards!

My top picks: Peter Alexander pajama's, Haigh's chocolates (loved their dark chocolate scorched almonds), and Vegemite (at least to try - not a huge fan myself)

Aussie Diaries: Food!

One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to experience the food culture! I was interested in seeing exactly what "Australian" food was and to find new loves! Upon arrival, I asked my cousin-in-law what "Aussie" food was. He thought a little bit and said that there's a great steak restaurant called . . . Outback Steakhouse. *tires screeching to a halt* Excuse me?! Hahaha, for realz?! Outback? We didn't travel across the world to go to a place that's just down the street from us! We actually never came across one to check if their menu is the same . . . but yes, Outback Steakhouse is in 21 other countries (one of them being in Australia)! Too funny . . .

Sadly, Yelp (which I eat and die by) isn't available in Australia. Instead we turned to UrbanSpoon and Eatability for our foodie guidance, which isn't as good as Yelp, but as good as it gets. UrbanSpoon is a little bit more user-friendly. My cousin-in-law said that most Aussies just go to restaurants they happen across, then may check UrbanSpoon or Eatability, but don't really use it to base where they go to for food.

One of the first places we checked out was La Renaissance Cafe Patisserie, which is "famous" for their macarons. As soon as we saw the line outside the bakery, we knew it was going to be good! I experienced my first macaron in Paris and LOVED them! They're just so beautiful to look at (and to eat)! We tried the passionfruit milk chocolate ganache (fave!) and a marionberry one - they're quite pricey at $2.50 AU each.

Just down the street was another happening place called Lowenbrau, which is a German place. There we had their famous Schweinshaxn (aka pork knuckle) and a bowl of Klaus Goulaschsuppe (aka goulash soup). The pork knuckle was hearty (we only got the half portion) with a great crispy skin and really fresh sauerkraut. Pat kept commenting how good the sauerkraut was! The gouloush soup had a nice kick to it without being overwhelming! Lowenbrau set us back ~$40 AU, but as we quickly learned, EVERYTHING in Australia was pricey.

Aussies LOVE their meat pies (and I love food trucks) . . . so when you combine them, you get Harry's Cafe de Wheels! Well, it's actually not a food truck since it doesn't move, but it looks like one! Here we got their signature dish, Harry's Tiger which consists of a beef pie topped with mushy peas and mashed potatoes and gravy, a beef & curry pie, and their sausage roll. The "Tiger" was interesting - it's good and definitely something that you should try because it's so "unique". I'm just not used to mushy peas! The curry pie was a little too much curry for me and made it too spicy, especially since it was warm out. The sausage roll is super yummy!

Harry's Tiger Pie

So we totally gave up on the whole true Australian fare biz and just go with what's good! Mamak was rated pretty highly and when we got there, the long line was proof that it was going to be good. We went on a weekday evening and line was ~30 minutes for the 2 of us (always easier to just seat two). While you wait, you can watch them make roti, which is like Indian naan, only thinner. The service was pretty quick since they just want you to be in-and-out and the food came out really fast. We got the roti canai (original roti) that comes with curry dipping sauces (fresh and really tasty), Rojak (salad with shrimp crackers, tofu, and full-on sweet and tangy flavor - MUST HAVE), and Maggi roreng (stir fry ramen noodles). Nom nom nom . . . this place was so tasty and relatively cheap (~$30 AU for the meal), that we went back AGAIN a couple days later since we just happened to be in the area and saw that the line wasn't outrageous! Hahahah . . . this time we got the Kari ikan (fish curry which was filled with bones and so hard to eat) and Nasi lamak (which is the Malaysian "national" dish but is like a huge scoop of coconut rice with little mini appetizers next to it - i.e. anchovies, cucumbers, peanuts, egg, and we added curry chicken to make it more complete), and Teh ais (Malaysian milk tea which they swore is not like any other milk tea - actually, it just takes like Hong Kong milk tea!). This time we were disappointed with our meal and should've just stuck to what we knew was good! But we wanted to see if everything was tasty or just those few select dishes . . . now we know!

 Rojak Salad

 Maggi roreng

Roti

Mamak Visit #2 - Kari ikan and Nasi lamak

 

 

One of my favorite Asian dessert places was MeetFresh! Whenever we were in Chinatown, we always had to think twice about whether we should go there or try somewhere new! I loved it that much! I love Taiwanese desserts and this place made me miss Taiwan! There's always a crazy number of people in this store but employees are pretty fast and cranking these sweet lil' desserts out. I never quite know what to order because everything looks so good! We got the Taro Mania, which was their promotional item which consists of grass jelly, taro mochi balls, and tapioca balls. The second time we went, we got their classic herbal jelly which consists of grass jelly, taro mochi balls, and shaved ice. I don't know what other people get, but their bowls are always sooo full of red bean, chunks of taro, lotus seeds, etc. I want one that contains them all!

 Taro Mania!

 Crazy Asians and their desserts!

 

 

Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King - c'mon, if you're going to serve Whoppers here, you should just admit that you're really Burger King!) was a quick stop for us prior to heading off to do some sight-seeing. I wouldn't even bother noting them in this blog save for the fact that they have an Aussie burger! Hahaha . . . see if you can guess what's inside!

Aussie Burger = beef patty, cheese, ham, bacon, eggs, and BEETS!

 

 

We also went to an Italian restaurant to get some pizza with the family (sorry, can't remember the name of it) and came across the Australian pizza! When asked if they really do eat Australian pizza normally (and not just for our benefit), they said yes, that's what they normally order!

Australian pizza = bacon and egg topping

 

 

Another really hyped about cheap eats in Sydney is Chat Thai. Where Mamak has the organization to handle long lines, Chat Thai does not. The "queue" as they say in Australia, was about ~45min for two people but once they seat you, there's a considerable amount of wait time for service and food. I kept saying, hey, those people came in after us, why do they already have their food?! All that can be disregarded if the food is amazing. Upon the advice of our waiter, we got the Pu Nim Pad Pong Karee (soft shell crab curry) and the Nahm Dtok (grilled pork salad). The crab curry was definitely unique, although it presents almost like a dry curry since there was hardly any sauce to it! The salad was outrageously spicy. Our waiter asked if we can handle spicy (and we can), but never asked how much spice we wanted and this salad was highly unenjoyable. It was work just to eat it and we told him so. He was nice enough to remake the order for us, but this time, the salad wasn't spicy, but it was super salty. There were huge chunks of coarse sea salt in it that again made it hard to get down. Needless to say, we left most of the dish on the table. The worst part of the whole meal was that they charge $2.50 AU per person for rice! $5 for a bowl of rice?! Insane! I definitely don't think Chat Thai lives up to the hype - it's not anything special (I've had better in my hometown), some dishes being inedible, and not worth the money!

 Soft Shell Crab Curry & $5 Bowl of Rice

Even the Mango Sticky Rice couldn't save the meal!

 

 

The Surry Hills neighbourhood is really where you wine and dine. We traversed over there in search of good eats and came upon Cafe Ish. It's very unassuming and one could easily just walk right by it. It's a Japanese-Australian fusion fare and quite small but cozy inside. We got some free triffle (yogurt parfait courtesy of some coupons found at the Visitor's Center in The Rocks), crab omelette, crocodile, and the wattle macchiato (no idea what that is exactly, but they're known of this coffee). Everything was really good - the yogurt parfait isn't anything of note, but the soft shell crab omelette was unique and flavorful. The crocodile  was ok - we just got it just to try crocodile (which tastes like tough chicken) and anything that is deep fried will taste good, right?!

 Crocodile skewers with miso-like soup

Crab omelette

The #1 place to eat (according to UrbanSpoon) is the Bourke Street Bakery. I love French patisseries and this one is no expection. They're known more for their tarts and so that's exactly what we got! We tried their creme brulee tart (MAGIC) and the lemon curd tart. According to their menu, they actually have a lot of things to try, but maybe because we got there in the afternoon, our selection was more limited. They do have a cookbook if you ever want to try your hand at making one of their delectable treats! I know I'm going to give a shot at the creme brulee tart - soooo amazingly good!

While walking in Chinatown one day, we noticed a huge line forming in front of this cream puff counter and immediately we jumped in it - if there's a line, there's a reason, right?! Emperor's Garden Cake and Bakery serves traditional Asian baked goods (i.e. pineapple buns, bbq pork buns, etc), but they also have a window that sells cream puffs! The cream puffs were 4 for $1 and the line was a good 20 minute wait. In the end, I could've passed on the cream puffs - they were good, but not amazing to me!

  

Another tasty option to try out is Pancake on the Rocks. There are multiple locations, but we went to the original - the one located in The Rocks. We went for dinner and were a little skeptical since we didn't really feel like having breakfast for dinner, but we were pleasantly surprised! It was pretty busy and so the service was pretty slow. We had to hail down waiters to bring us water and to take our orders and such. We decided on a savory and a sweet pancake - Chicken & Mushroom Pancake and the Hot 'N Troppo. We should have had them bring out the dessert pancake later because as we were eating our savory pancake first, the ice cream on the second pancake was melting! =( Both selections were really tasty. I just wished we had more time to try them all!

While in Melbourne, our tour guide told us that a classic Aussie thing to do is to go to a pub and order a "Parm & Pot" - chicken parmesan and a pint of beer! So we set off to Young & Jackson per her recommendation to do so! And unfortunately, they didn't have that there! So instead, we spied that they had kangaroo on their menu and decided to be uber adventurous and try that instead. We got the rare cooked kangaroo salad and the Morton Bay bug and prawn spring rolls. They also have an amazing cider bar upstairs which is awesome since I HEART ciders! I tried the raspberry apple cider which was really tasty and very alcoholic! Anyways, back to the food - the kangaroo tastes very similiar to beef only smokier and the Morton Bay bugs tasted like shrimp, only squishier. We're like, are these like real bugs that crawl around? And the waitress was really sweet and was like, no, they're in the ocean but they don't look like bugs. Ah-ha . . . okay! They're both something that you can't get elsewhere, so it's always good to try it once!

Morton Bay Bug & prawn rolls

 Morton Bay Bugs

 Kangaroo Salad

So in conclusion, I've realized that there is no real "Aussie" food - they love their pubs, fish & chips, and if you want to go exotic, you can try kangaroo, crocodile, Morton Bay bugs, and emu. But there's actually a lot of different ethnic groups in Australia and thus a lot of food tend to be "fusion"!

Aussie Diaries: First Impressions

This will be a beginning of a new series to document some "pearls" from my most recent Australian vacation! We decided to visit the land Down Under for our anniversary trip and it's somewhere that I've wanted to visit for a looong looong time. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to go see it. I'm not exactly sure why - maybe it's the fact that there's so many cute wildlife there or the fact that's it's the farthest possible place that I can think of?!

Anyways, luckily Pat has some relatives there, so we were able to stay with them for the duration of our vacation. We travelled to Sydney via Vancouver, BC, which was ~15 hour flight. I had thought it would be ~20 hours, so I was thankful for that since I am a horrible flier! We arrived in their "fall" and it was warm (70s) but the evenings dipped down to the lower 60s which made it a little too cold for shorts all the time.

I've always envisioned Aussies as these surfer-types - super laid back and friendly. However, that was not exactly the case. Whenever someone overheard us speaking, they would ask if we were Americans with a cocky attitude and a "I think you're stupid" kind of tone. But the instant we told them we were Canadians, they switch over to being friendly and say how much more they liked us over the Americans! That was a complete surprise to me!

Overall we had a great time in Australia and can't wait to go back and visit again!

Review: L'Oreal Paris One Sweep Eye Shadow and Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara

One sweep eye shadow and you have a completed look?! Hmmm . . . I'm intrigued! I received L'Oreal Pasis' One Sweep Eye Shadow in color for brown eyes which consists of a dark purple for defining, a medium taupe for all over color, and a champagne color for the highlight. This lil' package contains a unique applicator and a built-in mirror.



At first I was thinking this is going to be one hot mess because the colors will likely run in to one another and the sponge tip applicator is a little odd. You swipe one side of the applicator carefully through the colors (try not to rub it around). Then, place the skinnier tip of the applicator in the inner corner of your eye and swipe it across. Flip the sponge tip applicator around and repeat for the other eye.

I was pleasantly surprised that it actually worked! It really only took "one sweep" to get good color pigmentation and it did not muddy the colors too much. I did use the tip of the applicator to darken the defining color a little bit more. It's a little hard to know when to stop your swiping motion since it's hard to see around the applicator, so I actually ended up bringing out the colors too far and had to clean it up a little bit.

Because I have monolids, the defining color is really hard to see when I open up my eyes. This is a really creative product, but it probably wouldn't work as well for those of us with monolids or those with larger eye areas. The colors are very neutral and wearable to work and it's easy to apply and take on the go. I can see this product being good for beginner makeup users, people running late, or thrown in a gym bag. But it may not work out for all eye shapes and those who are perfectionists with their makeup and likes greater control over how much color goes where.

TheL'Oreal Paris' Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara I tried is meant to highlight brown eyes as well (in Black Quartz).

Step 1 is your basic black mascara - I found that it was very light to wear, lengthend my lashes nicely, and held my curl throughout the day. It comes off with warm water.

Step 2 is the "illuminator" - it's a bronze sparkling color meant to be applied to the ends of your lashes to give it that extra oomph. I found that on overcast days (which is every day in Seattle), you really can't see the illuminator effect.

 Pre-Mascara

Overall I liked the mascara (but didn't feel the "illuminator" really added to the product). It lengthened my lashes so it actually looked like I had some and did not flake or smudge throughout the day.

Prices & Availability: One Sweep Eye Shadow = $9.95, Double Extend Mascara = $10.95, drugstores

Disclosure: Product was sent to me for review purposes as part of BzzAgent. All opinions are my own and completely honest. This post is not sponsored in any way.

Review: Maybelline SuperStay 24 2-Step Color

I've been trying out Maybelline's SuperStay 24 2-Step Color this past week and have loved how I don't need to reapply color throughout the day!

The product claims to have "No Transfer" and "Up to 24 HR Wear", so I put it to the test.

Maybelline SuperStay in Timeless Rose

As the name implies, this is a 2-Step system - one side is the color, while the other is a balm.

Step 1: Apply a thin layer of color to clean lips and allow it to dry completely (about 2 minutes) - the wand is a longer, slanted doe-foot applicator and a thin layer is all you need since it is fairly opaque and has a slight oily texture to it. The scent smells like cherries which goes away pretty quickly once applied. 2 minutes is about how long it took for my application to dry, and it dries to a fairly tacky finish.

Step 2: Apply conditioning balm. Reapply as needed. To remove, use oil-based make-up remover.

I wanted to see if it lived up to the product's claim of up to 24 hour wear:

 Normal lip color sans lip product

 6am: Fresh application - love the color, it's like my lip color, but better!

5pm

 

 9pm

6am the next morning

As you can see from the images, I don't think for me it lasted the entire 24 hours since by the next morning, but lips were pretty much back to normal. However, it did at least last ~15 hours for me, which is great! By evening, the color did fade a little bit, but it was still present. I'm always eating and drinking throughout the day and find it a "waste" to apply lipstick in the morning since I'll be eating it off shortly. I really liked how despite the fact that I was eating and drinking, my lip color still stayed on. There was no transfer to my cups, save for a few flecks.

The lip balm isn't as conditioning as I would have liked. I had to reapply every hour or so for my lips not to feel dry. It may be hard to wear the color portion on its own because it can be drying. I tried using my own Santa Maria Novella lip balm and it worked well with it. I also topped the color off with Stila's Lip Glaze and I think it may have reacted with the color because my lips became really chapped really soon after. I hesitantly tried using Lancome's Juicy Tube on top of the color just to give the color a slight gloss and moisture and it was fine together.

The Timeless Rose color is beautiful - with some microshimmer and I really like how it gave the "your lips but better" look to it. It's available in 30 colors, divided into four shade families: reds, plums, pinks, and naturals and can be found in most drug stores with a suggested retail price of $9.99. Check out http://www.maybelline.com/ for more info and color selection!

Disclosure: Product was sent to me for review purposes as part of BzzAgent. All opinions are my own and completely honest. This post is not sponsored in any way.