Gyu-Kaku, Japanese BBQ

For Easter, my mum and I weren't able to get our schedules to match up to catch up, so a few days before we decided to drive out to Gyu-Kaku to try some Japanese BBQ. My mum's coworker highly recommended it to her, so she was really excited. For those who are used to KBBQ, it's pretty similar but the meat quality is a higher grade and the price is a bit steeper.

The menu was awesome actually, there's a lot to pick from and even vegetarian options. If you have a larger group you can order value courses, rather than a la cart items. 

My mum got red wine mixed with lemonade and I ended up with peach champagne with actual peaches in it. 

My mum and I settled for the Gyu-Kaku course, which had a pretty good selection that we both agreed would be tasty. 

Delicious appetizers, I really loved the fried tofu and spicy tuna.

 With the service, they tell you the precise times for each item, and bring them out one at a time so you're not overloaded, which was great. My fave pieces of our courses were the mushrooms and the shabu shabu.

I was also super excited that they took advantage of having an open flame and have smores available for dessert. They even give complimentary hot tea after you are finished.  It was the perfect end to a perfect meal. 

On top of it all, they have an app you can use to scan your receipt and earn points. Just by this meal I'm already earned enough points for a free dessert my next visit.

 They have a good amount of locations around the US [store locations], and I highly recommend it for a satisfyingly delicious meal, that has you leaving with a smile on your face.

<3CarisseIris

Girl's Weekend and Mini Haul

What? Finally a personal blog post? It's been awhile, but I've settled on blogging with my mobile for a bit, I lost my SD card for my DSLR, but for now this is a decent option for the time being.

My friends and I  have been really busy with work and school, life in general and we finally got a weekend free to wander about and just hang out like we used too.

 Friday, we ended up driving to Pasadena to wander around, and just chill out. Our first stop was Urth Caffe, because we were all famished, and it was something simple and healthy to fill our bellies. Plus, they have bomb tea and boba.

 I'm that friend that takes horrible candids, oops.

 My super yummy tea latte.

 I'm kind of jealous because my friend got amazing sandwiches, and I was only able to eat plain protein, if anyone isn't following me on twitter, I have a nutritionist now that's monitoring my diet and I was following a pretty strict regime this weekend.

We ended up walking about a mile down the street, and stopped at a few cute shops and just had fun walking and talking. We even found a cute dog treat shop in a little like, alley way? Called The Dog  Bakery and I ended up buying a few treats for my puppy there.

 If you've been a long time follower of my blog, I used to post a lot about Cool Haus, ice cream, cause my friends and I are totally obsessed with it. Luckily enough we ended up finding another of their shops, so of course we had to go in and get some Or at least, my friends got some~
 In the same store is also a Pie Hole shop, which is another place my friend's love, I've had their Earl Grey  pie, and it was amazingly good! That day they had Lavender Honey pies, and I wish I could have had one, cause it sounds amazing.

My friend got this yummy smores cookie with Kahlua and Doughnut ice cream, and at the bottom was Whisky and Lucky Charms ice cream, I had to take a bite, because it just sounded too good to pass up~ Shhh, don't tell my nutritionist, haha. But it was just as amazing as it sounds, no regrets on my end.

All, the whole group back together~ I've known these girls for well over 10 years and one since she was a baby. I couldn't be luckier to have these babes as besties. 

 That same store space had a beautiful section that was a florist's studio and I bought a beautiful bouquet that the girl made for me~ The store name is Gilly Flowers and the girl working there was just amazing, and such a great person to chat too about flowers, seasonal plants, gave me some plant tips and tricks, and the experience over all was just exceptional!

 Again, I always think my stuff looks nice splayed out on my bed.

 So, these are the treats I got my pup from The dog Bakery. Some items are perishable, and should be eaten within a week, the rest of the goods are good for a month.

I bought something called 'Animal Style', mint choco cookies, peanut butter doughnuts, Neapolitan pastry balls and a few spring cookies~ all dog safe and fresh made. My pup is absolutely in love with them, probably because they smell so good. I personally love how cute they are. 

 That evening I drove us to Cerritos to get some poke, and hilariously all the power was out, but some store were still open. The Kbbq place was still packed with a line like, down to the end of the building, it was pretty crazy.

 I thought the inside of North Shore was so cool, the atmosphere was really chill and the tea lights everywhere were really romantic. By the way, I'm obsessed with this place. We did end up taking our food home to eat, because since the power was out, it was extremely warm in the shop, uncomfortably so.

 Later that evening we went to peruse Target, and I ended up buying this ridiculously large and useless Pink Easter egg.

After a Long night marathoning Netflix, we went to Huntington in the morning, my friends had Bruxies and I walked down to North Shore again, to get more poke.

Funnily, everyone ended up sleeping over at my place again that night and leaving on Sunday~

All in all, it was a great weekend, and I was glad to see my girls again, all together.

Oh! Also, my friends all now have their necklaces~ I'm such a corny friend [gift details here]

<3CarisseIris

Natural Looking Full Coverage Makeup Base

What You'll need:

Concealer

Face powder [if you want more coverage a matching powder to your skin tone will help]

Foundation brush or stippling brush

BB cream or tinted moisturizer

Optional~

Makeup sealer [I really love Ben Nye's Final Seal]

So, I'm sure those who follow my blog are aware I don't really have the best skin, but I do know how to cover it well enough. Since I hit the gym every day, I do feel more confidant working out with natural looking makeup on to just cover up my blemishes a bit. And yes, I know it's not the best to go to the gym with makeup on, but I still do it. But I thought it would make for a good tutorial for those who do need a bit more makeup coverage and don't want to have a full 'cake face' going on.

1. Concealer. Use a bit of concealer to cover up problem areas on your face, and if you need to, a bit of your dark circles. I use the ring finger on my non-dominant hand to blend it out, since that finger will have the gentlest touch and won't over blend out all the product I put on.

2.Powder. Just apply powder on top of the areas with concealer, to make sure your concealer is set into place. I like to use a makeup sponge or powder puff to press the product really well into the skin.

3. BB cream or tinted moisturizer. This step will take away the matte look of the skin from the powder and make your complexion look more even, and natural. So, using a dime sized of product, give or take, and your foundation or stippling brush, tap on the product onto your skin and over the areas you concealed and powdered. Areas that you didn't touch you can gently buff the product into the skin. Tap and buff around until you are satisfied with how your skin looks. You don't want to blend or drag your brush over the areas you covered or else you will disturb the makeup and can end up removing the work you previously put down. If you applied a bit too much, just gently dab it with your finger pad or with the brush. When you are done, you should have a relatively dewey and natural looking finish to your skin. 

4. Spray a makeup seal onto your skin. Especially useful on hot days, if you plan to swim, or if you are going to work out. It'll keep your makeup on your face and in place.

Finish off with brows, a touch of mascara and lip balm if you feel you need them.

That's it. Full coverage, and a decent natural finish, that will last throughout the day.

<3CarisseIris

runDisney and New Balance~ Cinderella Running Shoes

The newest trend in magical glass slippers~

 So, I've decided to start amping up my exercise routine and lifting every day and doing either running, kick boxing or zumba every day.  It's time to get fit again. So, my friends and I were looking to doing the runDisney Disneyland Marathon, but didn't have the funds to sign up this year, but while looking things up, my friend came across some pictures of official runDisney shoes by New Balance.  [There's like, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie... etc~ kind of shoes, so there's a decent selection]

And so, these shoes you can get by either signing up for the marathon and buying them after registering or by going to specific conventions and purchasing them there. Honestly, the later was too much of a hassle for me, and I NEEDED these Cinderella shoes, and you'll see why below. 

Anywho, I found a pair on eBay, bid and bought it at a decently inflated price.

Not even a day after, these shoes were at my door, and how uncanny they came in the same day as my Cinderella MAC makeup. It's all in perfect timing. Like, fairy godmother magic, but like, I paid for...

Now, how pretty and magical are these shoes?  They're a pastel blue ombre, with sporadic silver sparkles and glitter stamps. The shoe bottoms look like Cinderella's dress and it's gorgeous. 

Above, are a few details on the shoes that I loved. The shoes had some glass slippers on top, a magical pumpkin carriage inside the shoe tongue, pretty magic sparkles everywhere and a Cinderella picture on the heel. Just perfect, and not too obvious it's Disney from afar, at least to me.. Though, I ordered a good few Cinderella tops to exercise in, so it'll obviously be overkill later on. 

But, the shoes are comfy and perfect for exercising. I always love how New Balance supports my feet when I exercise, so no complaints coming from me. They're the perfect fit, like they were magically created for me. Though, I highly doubt they will fall off, like the glass slippers in Cinderella's story. 

And, unlike those, these shoes were made for running away in style and comfort.

I'm excited to use them tomorrow for my morning work out. 

<3CarisseIris