Sausalito day trip & Mazda 6 saves the day

Mazda-HeaderWho needs a reason to go out and explore, especially when you’re living in California? The minute I get a vehicle delivered, I pop back into the house for a quick minute, leash Alfie up and we’re on our way.

Alfie-in-windowAnd because I can’t say no to this cute face! Usually I do this first so I can take photos while the car is spic-n-span and free of dust, but also — hello sport mode fun! I just discovered this over the weekend, that when you put cars in sport-mode… it’s automatically jumped up from being: okay this is fun, to: whoa this is awesome.

Mazda6Also, I’ve noticed lately a lot of review cars are red. I wonder if there’s a reason for that? 

I got the Mazda 6 last Thursday for review, so that’s when I took Alfie on a jaunt around town, exploring neighbourhoods. Since my husband was working on Friday, I decided to venture out to the climbing gym and meet my internet climbing buddies, turned into real life climbing buddies. You might know Esther and Jacob from their blog Local Adventurer! Esther-and-Jacob

BoulderingWe bouldered for about an hour, then left the gym to meet up with Lauren, and Jessica for lunch at the new Eureka restaurant in Cupertino. No photos taken, only Snapchat videos that are forever deleted (ahem, unless you follow me). But wow, what a gorgeous little area to hang out in! We were there for a couple of hours, and since it’s a new build that I haven’t checked out for a while, they also added a Phil’s Coffee (which is so picturesque it’s insane).

I only took photos of the palm trees, because I still feel like a newbie tourist here. I love it.Palm-tree

Saturday was pretty low-key and we didn’t do too much. Yawn! OH WAIT. CHANGED MY MIND. Except for the morning when my husband called me mentioning he got a flat tire on his bicycle and it was unrepairable due to the tube busting out of it.

Mazda to the rescue!Mazda6-to-rescue

Alfie and I hopped in the car and drove 30 minutes north on the highway (he wasn’t on the highway, I obviously had to exit lol) to bring him gear to fix the tire. He didn’t want a ride home! So we hung around with him as he fixed his tire, and we watched all the other cyclists pass by (a lot of them stopped and asked if we needed help), it’s a hotspot area for cyclists for sure! Wow. Mazda-to-Rescue

Sunday, we ended up checking out a new-to-us pizza place called 1000 Degrees Pizza since we had a free coupon to go try it out. We ended up doing a build-your-own 10″ pizza to split between the two of us and we added SO much stuff.1000-pizza

The regular cost would’ve been $8.95 which is a decent deal for a nice wood-fired thin crust pizza — my ultimate favourite kind of pizza. It was cooked super fast (assuming because it’s in a 1000 degree oven) and by the time we finished paying (for our drink) it was cooked and plated.pizza-up-close My husband really liked it, and I liked it too but I think I added too many toppings and I wish the center of the pizza wasn’t gooey/watery.

Eat-the-pizzaMaybe too much sauce? I’m not sure. I did enjoy the rest of the delicious pizza, since we polished off 3 slices each. Hee hee!

I told my husband I wanted to take him to the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge and check out the views of the city and the bridge from that side. Precisely what we did — and hundreds of other tourists. I guess I forget what it’s like in the city on weekends, especially long weekends! I usually take our visitors (or even myself) up to the city on weekdays. Definitely not as crowded.Alfie-smilesAlfie’s “I’m ready to go!” excited face.

Mazda-insideHere I am snappin’ photos of me turnin’ on the tunes and adjusting the power seats in the Mazda6 before the ‘long trek’. A lot fancier than my own Mazda!

Our first stop was to a vista point along the highway, we rarely do this – so I pulled in and checked out these gorgeous views of the hills. views

vista-point

Then we made it across the Golden Gate bridge and down to this spot. One view I will never tire of:Golden-Gate

Alfie-Me-Golden-GateOnce we hung out at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge for a while, I drove us up to Sausalito, which is a small city in Marin County north of the Golden Gate.

sausalitooLittle history lesson here for ya, but back in World War 2, Sausalito was a shipbuilding center.

Sausalito-maiIt’s a gorgeous little spot with tons of character, tons of rich people (just bein’ honest!) and a lot of beautiful and huge sail boats.

Palm-trees-dog-walk

SausalitoWe walked around the main street and had a bit of a snacky-picnic right along the water. It was such a beautiful day!

I was so tired yesterday from our walking around, and me driving all along the coast, but we ended up finishing up our weekend by going for a 6km run with just the two of us. Usually Alfie comes with, but since he was out with us in the sun the entire day and we didn’t want him to get too overheated. I am pooped!

Not only that, this week is going to be a scorcher here in San Jose. On one of the days this week, it’s reading it’s going to get upwards to 39°C (which is 102°F), I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a pool/beach to swim in on that day. Wowzers!

How was your Memorial Day Weekend?

Mazda-wheelThanks to Mazda for loaning me the vehicle for the week, and for allowing these adventures to happen! And thanks to you guys, reading my blog – because this wouldn’t have happened without your help!

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Life Lately

LifeLatelyI’ve been trying to keep busy, but it’s hard! There’s only so much you can do in the run of a day, a week, a month. I’ve been avoiding the sadness but a few weeks ago it hit me hard and I fully embraced it and it sucked big time. I don’t mean that for you guys to comment in a big ol’ pity party, I’m just saying. I’m fine, everything’s going to be fine. It just sucks, and it’s hard and I don’t like it. I’m so glad my husband is so compassionate.

latteBut I’ll tell ya what I do like. Espresso. And four shots of it. I’m starting to love the taste of espresso (still not loving the taste of a coffee though), and I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to ask for an espresso drink somewhere, without paying $6 or $7 for it. Next time I might just ask for all the espressos with no additives (milk, or fancy frothy stuff) in it, then bring’er home and add some of my own milk. Am I being a penny pincher? My parents always told me I will always have a couple of bucks on me no matter how broke I get. Guess it’s from all those days asking for pure espresso shots. Really though, I don’t drink the espresso alldayerrday. It’s about once a week when I need to get shiz done. Ya know? Like yesterday when I blogged (I’m not even going to tell you how many posts I pumped out yesterday due to the caffeine intake). BUT IT WAS GREAT! By the way, anyone try the new Lancome Juicy Shakers yet? It’s the lip product up there shown in the tiny cocktail shaker shaped thing! Cute right??

Upclose-NicZoeI don’t dress up often since I don’t have a corporate job to go to any more. But I do like to dress up for blogging events from time-to-time. I put together this little ensemble over the weekend and liked how it came out! Fancy Nancy is sportin’ all black, with a bright red shoe. No matter where I go, these shoes get complimented on, and they were SO cheap!

Stand-with-purseOutfit of the day
NIC+ZOE day to night top and perfect leggings, Nexus 5X in my hand ;)
Moto 360 watch, hand-me-down purse
Etsy necklace, Brandy Melville gold ring, Charlotte Russe flats

NIC+ZOE is a really nice place to shop online for business casual clothing. They have some beautiful pieces and I already have a few more items on my wishlist I’d like to purchase from them (the top and leggings were sent to me).

What else. I’ve been enjoying running. Although, not for very long, but getting it done quickly. Sometimes Most times I hate running, but ya gotta get a bit more exercise than a bit of bouldering, and yoga-zen-time. So, running it is. You might’ve noticed I’ve been cycling an awful lot too. That’s because I have been. I got a new bike in December from Specialized, and after my first fall I’ve resorted to wearing street shoes and not clip-shoes (what are they called? Why are they called clipless, if you clip into them?). I’ve been exploring the city about an hour each time I go out on the bike and I still feel silly walking my bike across the intersections. But I’m still a bit wobbly and clumsy on it! I’ll get used to it one day. Back to running. I had a scary moment in a sketchy neighbourhood (which I’ll never run in again by the way). I had throat-burn from running so fast away from 2 scary guys who scared me for a legitimate reason.

Moto360-watchI got my first fancy smart watch! It’s the new Moto 360 Android watch in rose gold, and it officially launched yesterday. I’ve been playing with it ever since I got it. I feel like Inspector Gadget talking to my wrist to bring up the weather app, or to text someone. It also has a really interesting feature where you can change the strap on it very easily with the push of a button on the back. I have it in a tan pebbled leather, a black silicone, and the strap that came with it — this soft tan shade. I have to say, it brings me back to my childhood when a university student who lived next door neighbour bought me a watch with interchangeable straps for my 9th birthday. Memories!

colouring-bookColouring has been awesome too. Did you guys get any colouring books this Christmas? I swear it was a popular item. My husband gave me TWO colouring books, talk about spoiled! I’ve been using fancy calligraphy markers from fancy art stores in fancy San Francisco to colour and I’ve been enjoying every moment of it. About an hour a day I turn my electronics on airplane mode, put on some chill music, and colour, or just take a bit of me time. It’s been good.

How have you been?

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Glowy Dior | Springtime look

Header-Glowy-DiorThese are one of my favourite types of beauty posts to write. Where I teach you how to apply the makeup, and where. Because I’m a spring baby, I thought I’d use everything by Dior to create a glowy springtime look, using products from the Dior summer collection Milky Dots.

I’ve talked more in depth about the products listed in this ‘get the look’ post if you wanted to read more about it, check them out below:

Side-viewLet’s get do it to it, to re-create this look!

1-41. Beauty Counter Vibrant Eye Perfector: Use any eye cream you have on hand.I prepped my under eyes first for concealer and used this lightweight eye cream. Will I repurchase? Nope! It’s not heavy enough for my super dry under eye area, so I’ll use this up.

2. Dior Capture Totale Le Serum: A radiance boosting serum that will instantly hydrate and replump the skin. Serum is an important part of any skincare routine as it keeps your face completely moisturized (which down the road will slow down the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles).

3. Dior Capture Totale Dream Skin: Applied in a pressing motion, apply more in the flawed areas. This helps reduce skin flaws after time. It feels a little thicker than the Le Serum, and the quality of the Dream Skin product is truly amazing. However, I haven’t used it enough to reep its benefits.

4. Dior Glow Maximizer Light Boosting Primer: Mix the glow maximizer in directly with your foundation (what I tend to do), or apply it on the areas on your face prior to your foundation to direct where you want your skin to glow. For me, I want all the glow — everywhere. My dry skin needs it! It’s a two-in-one product as it provides your skin with glow, but is also a primer to apply prior to makeup to make your look last all day long without wearing off.

5-85. Dior Forever Foundation (shades 010 & 030 mixed together): I prefer mixing two foundation colours together to get the perfect skin colour no matter if I’m pale, or self tanned. This is a fantastic medium to high coverage foundation that looks like a naturally satin-finish to the skin. Forever foundation is not glowy, nor matte, it’s the perfect in between. I applied the Forever Foundation using the Dior Fluid Foundation Brush for flawless, yet a luminous finish to the skin.

6. Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Primer & Concealer (shades 001 & 002): For the sake of the tutorial, I used both shades, the lighter one directly under my eyes in a triangular shape, and then I popped a little of the darker shade just below the lightest colour. Blend it all in with your ring finger and you’ll instantly have a brighter under eye area.

7. Diorskin Nude Air Tan Powder (001 Golden Honey): Wow, I really need to start using this bronzer a lot more. I love the natural sunkissed look this shade gives me. I applied it underneath the blush (right under the cheekbones) and onto my temples, and a little bit down my nose too. You want to apply a bronzer where the sun naturally shines onto your face. Personally, I apply it everydangwhere I can. I used the Dior kabuki brush #17 to apply the product.

8. Diorblush Sculpt Professional Contouring Powder (002 Coral Shape): A matte coral blush (with a highlighter in the compact too!) was applied to my cheekbones to give myself a flushed look.

9-119. Diorskin Nude Air Summer Glow (001):  I lightly dusted the super fine summer glow powder to the cheekbones to faux a bit of glowy skin. I used a MAC 187 brush to lightly apply the product.

10. Diorshow Brow Styler (001 Universal Brown): I love this shade of eyebrow pencil so much that I’ve already gone through one, and I’m currently on my second one. It’s the perfect shade to fill my eyebrows in with.

11. Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette (536 Escapade): 3 neutral colours of eyeshadow was applied using the MAC 239 brush, and then blended together with a MAC fluffy brush. I then went in with the 366 Bain De Mer eyeshadow palette from the Milky Dots collection and used the vibrant blue under the lower lash line.

121412. Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Waterproof mascara: This mascara completely gives your lashes incredible volume and holds the perfect curl. However, it’s waterproof and of course a little difficult to remove at night, but totally worth it since it won’t cause racoon eyes half way through the day. I curled my eyelashes first using the Tweezerman eyelash curler to prep the lashes for mascara

13. Dior Lip Glow Liner (001 Universal Pink): If you’re familiar with the Dior Addict Lip Glow lip balms, this is the same but a liner version! Colour in your entire lips with this, or simply line them and prep them for gloss/lipstick to ensure that your lip products won’t bleed when wearing them.

14. Dior Addict Milky Tint (356 Milky Peach): Polish off your look with a bit of colour to the lips with a gorgeous coral lipgloss.

Dior-Glowy-Finished-look

What do you think of the overall look? Would you wear coloured eyeshadow? I think it’s fun to play around with, especially featuring in a subtle area like around the lower lash line.

Let me know your thoughts! Should I keep doing these tutorials? :)

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