IN FULL BLOOM

It's finally spring! :D

Spring has blessed me with a bit of a creative streak, restlessness, and the need for change so I've been busy redecorating my room to welcome the new season. 'Tis the season for pastels, nudes, creams, and white and I can't be more excited for the end result :)

My room lacks a bit of life, so I thought I'd buy some greenery. I currently have some fake roses in the couple vases that I brought back from college. In college, fake flowers were perfect because they required no maintenance and I never had to worry about killing them. I have nothing against fake flowers even now, but they lack the freshness and radiance that actual flowers possess. Although fresh flowers can be quite pricey (especially this time of year), I wanted to treat myself to some. I decided to go with Baby's Breath, a flower I've grown fond of since one of my friends made me a Baby's Breath bouquet for my last birthday. How awesome is it that its full name is Million Star Gypsophila (or Gypsophila Million Star)?? It's a pretty rockstar name for a flower if you ask me.

These flowers consist of sprays of little white flowers which look like

1.) Baby's breath. Yep, surprise surprise. These flowers literally look like a baby sneezed directly into a pile of baby powder, letting forth a billowing cloud of white.

2.) Stars! From far away, one bunch looks like a cluster of white stars. It didn't really occur to me until I saw the label on the plastic wrapping with its full name on it, and I had this little ha I see what you did there moment. A several sprigs of these in a vase would look really nice against a black background; it'd have a mini Milky Way effect~

Smell-wise...they're not the best. If you take a whiff up close, the smell starts out a bit sweet (kind of like honey) and then gets abruptly sharp. I have a sensitive nose so I tend to avoid flowers with overbearing odors, but the Baby's Breath doesn't really bother me unless I keep taking whiffs up close. The scent is really subtle from as little as a foot away so it's not unpleasant.

I'm also very much in love with the containers I put the flowers in. They're milk-white on the outside, and baby blue+pink on the inside. I bought them from Michaels with the intent of making them makeup brush containers but when I got home to put my brushes in they sank beneath the brim because they weren't long enough. I need to find a way to pad the bottom so I can elevate my brushes but for now I can't be bothered. I'm content with the vase look~

What do you think of the flower+vase combo? Do you like the look?

Cheers, 

xx Cece

BIRTHDAY SHENANIGANS

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted--

There are many reasons for my lag. All personal, but we'll delve into that later :)

It was my mom's birthday a few days ago, so I woke up around 5 am to decorate our dining area and to bake a cake. I wanted to make her a Victoria Sponge and expected the result to look a little something like this:

...

Haha, joke. The cake that I made didn't have enough volume for me to create the layered cake effect. It came out of the oven looking sadly deflated.

As you can see, my result was NOTHING like the perfection seen in the first two images. I used a buttercream topping instead of whipped cream because my mom hates whipped cream. I made the buttercream from scratch and it was delicious...except I spread the icing on too thick. So clearly I overestimated my baking skills, but at least the taste was still there :D Better luck next time, haha *monkey covers eyes emoji* 

I enjoyed decorating a lot more than I did the cake-baking. I wanted to create a space that was very English cottage/shabby chic, so I bought a few things from Michaels to make that happen.

These are the items that I bought.

Shabby chic chalkboard sign - $19.99

Chalk - $1.99

Valentine Pennant Set - $2.99

Glass Test Tubes (2) - $1.99

Our house's interior has a very antique feel because my dad likes to collect antiques and little knick-knacks from swap meets, garage sales, thrift stores and the like. He's always bringing home the randomest things, and it's a good thing I share his interest in oddities because we end up fan-girling together. I wanted to play that up a bit and add a touch of "femme" with the chalkboard sign. I also thought it would be cute if my family and I left little notes to each other :)

I decided to add a bit of my own flair to the gift that I bought her. The bottle with "pills" you see above was something I bought a while back in a shop called Morning Glory. The reason I used quotations is because they're not actual pills - they're little rolls of paper in disguise. The capsules are easy to pop open, and once you do you see a slip of paper rolled up and secured with a metal band. I filled one of the test tubes with these pills, with each pill containing a handwritten note of love or encouragement. So the idea is that whenever my mom would feel lonely or tired, she could bust out her handy dandy test tube full of love letters just for her. Medicine for her heart *again, the monkey covers eyes emoji*

I don't think Morning Glory exists anymore, but if you search "secret letter pills" or "pill messages", these pills are available online :) These are super cute as gifts for literally everyone - family, friends, and significant others. Careful how you use them though, because they can be quite conspicuous and people can mistake them for actual pills. Yeah, I've gotten many a weird glance for slipping these pills to people.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I liked writing it :D

Ciao for now~
xx Cece

HALLOWS EVE

EEK! It's time :)

For you to listen while reading♪

My thought process currently:

Butterfingers.

Candy corn.

Tim Burton movie soundtracks.

Popcorn.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Red Gravy.

Orange red and black.

Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Spiders.

Cotton webs.

Spooky cakes.

Spooky mismatched socks.

Those plastic rings you get from store-bought cupcakes.

My class' Ghostbusters performance in the 5th grade.

Alice in Wonderland.

Striped stockings.

Lit candles.

Pumpkins.

Pranking friends.

Dark plot twists.

American Horror Story.
Universal Horror Nights

Buncha Crunch.

Pumpkin Pie.

Sadako from the Ring.

Horror movie marathon.

Whoppers.

Harry Potter. I wish I knew what Pumpkin Pasties and Butterbeer taste like.

The Addams Family.

Dark rooms.

Dress-up.

Makeup.

Speaking of makeup. This Halloween, I thought I'd be Wednesday Addams. It was hard to choose between Wednesday and Lydia from Beetlejuice...but Wednesday took the cake in the end. I realize that Wednesday Addams is a popular choice as far as characters and costumes go...but who can really blame me for wanting to be her for a day. She's so badass ^_^

Yes unfortunately my look will include my glasses. My contacts are missing and I'm too blind to cope without my specs o-o

Imagine if at night you saw an Asian girl in corner of your room smiling and giving you a peace sign. Initially, you'd think "oh a little girl an innocent pose how cute" but I realize that it's impossible for anyone to look cute in the dark especially if they're lurking around in your room with the obvious intent to kill you. I know I'd be mortally terrified - the second image captures my reaction perfectly.

And here is my finished Wednesday Addams look, complete with the pigtails and the spooky black-and-white filter ooOOooOOoo ;)

Have a spooktacular Hallows Eve and stay out of trouble  >:)

xx Cece

ELIE SAAB COUTURE

I cannot get over the Elie Saab piece that Lily Collins wore to the Rome Film Festival. Majorly fan-girling and I can honestly say that the gown she wore is among one of the most beautiful gowns I've ever seen.

Is it not the most exquisite thing you have seen in your entire life. I've seen this dress a couple of times on Pinterest and it was instant attraction - the degrade print, the material, the details. The illumination of white silk on the runway. Elie Saab really has a knack for capturing and accentuating the feminine figure with all of his creations. Truly an artist worthy of reverence - I'll prepare to be blown away by an equal (if not greater) magnitude of awe in the near future.

Cheers,

xx Cece

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY (PT. I)

The weather is nice again, which can only mean one thing - I am on cloud nine :)

I woke up today in a surprisingly cheerful mood despite the fact that I had an absolute crap time trying to sleep last night. I was lying on my bed, just thinking about various issues in the world when one thought led to another and hours later came to find that I had stressed myself out to the point of just blankly staring at the ceiling. 

Because I was in an especially chirpy mood this morning, I decided to make a list of things that make me happy. Something to remind me that there's always happiness to be found in the world. Also, there's something special about seeing your thoughts written down - I feel like it truly encases your thoughts, solidifies them, and makes them facts. Here's Part 1! I'm a girl of simple pleasures and there's no way I can fit even a tenth of the things that make me happy onto a single page. I also thought it would be fun to explain a few of these :)

*Chocolate - Holy guacamole, is an explanation even needed here?! Keep your chocolate hidden from me because I will eat every piece of chocolate in sight until they're all gone. I'm ashamed to disclose the number of Whoppers I can down in one sitting -_-

*Train rides - There's something about a solitary train or bus ride. Train rides and bus rides are the times when I get to take a small step back from the hustle and bustle of the world and just think. I just like to listen to music and reminisce as I watch the city zoom by. Trains have magical properties, truly.

*Old-Fashioned Boys - Let's just say that I'd much rather prefer the old school gentleman to the modern jock.

*Laughing Out Loud - I really don't hold back on my laughter - when something amuses me, I tend to laugh quite heartily. There are times when I have felt insecure about my laugh, just because I have been told off for it a good number of times...but the people I surround myself with always give me a reason to laugh and always counter my insecurity with acceptance and warmth. Befriend people who make your insecurities seem small :)

*Spontaneity - Life is already full of planning and schedules and rules as it is, and sometimes we just want something different. We tire of routine and crave a bit of freedom from it - perhaps through unconventional means. Spontaneity takes different forms for different people, and to me spontaneity is that extra packet of fries, leaving notes for strangers, car/bus/train rides without destination, dyeing my hair white, gift-giving, this blog post. Anything really, as long as it's all with good company.

Ciao for now~
xx Cece

DREAMY DAYS

It's just one of those days.

The sky is covered with clouds, and all I want to do is just stare outside and reflect on life. Ideally it would be raining too, but LA doesn't really offer that option (phooey).

It's times like these that I really miss living in Connecticut  - cliché things like watching the rain pour down your window and cuddling in a warm blanket while drinking tea are actually viable options. In my head I'm doing all these things...but in reality I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and my blankets are kicked over to the farthest corner of my room.

And so I've opted for a bit of a creativity spill onto paper while listening to the Amélie soundtrack. Little tasks like these tend to sort out my mind, if even a little (and a little goes a long way).

And now if you'll excuse me - I'm off to re-watch the new episode of American Horror Story: Freakshow :) Ryan Murphy exceeded all of my expectations for the 4th season with last night's episode, and he is surely a mad genius. I haven't been this excited for the series since the 1st season :) If you haven't already - GO WATCH IT. And may you be safe from the clutches of the evil killer clown >:)

Toodles,

xx Cece

CL FOR ELLE

OH. MY. GOSH.

Let me take a breather for a second...HOLY CRAP.

Have you guys seen the photos of CL from Elle's October issue? I absolutely cannot, I repeat CANNOT get over some of these photos - they're sheer perfection. Here are some of the photos that were released on Koreaboo --

If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought she was the Korean Cara Delevingne.

Her charisma is on point (per yooj) and her style is impeccable. Fine fresh fierce - the girl's got it on lock. Rock that monochrome.

For those that don't know, CL is the leader of a very popular pop group in Korea called 2NE1. I haven't listened to much K-Pop recently, but my admiration for 2NE1 still stands strong due to their fiercely unique charm. If you don't know what they're all about, go check them out and prepare to be blown away :)

Some of the things from the photos that caught my eye were:
1.) Her rings and things - you don't need to know me well to know that I have a major accessory    
                                         obssession (guilty).
2.) Her white nails - YES. White is the definition of elegant, fresh, and classy. And also my favorite
                                  color :)
3.) Her hair color - maybe one day I'll be daring enough to expose my hair to bleach but for now - I'm
                               content with just admiring :P
4.) Peter-Pan Collar - I've really been into collars recently. Feminine, chic, and youthful - what's not
                                   to love?
5.) Her eyes - Despite having monolids, her eyes really pop with makeup.


Hope you guys love the photos as much as I do!


Cheers,
xx Cece

(Sources --> Koreaboo, My Daily, Korean Magazine Lovers)