Travel: Legoland in Carlsbad

The week after I arrived back in the US, a couple of my friends and their children from San Francisco came down to LA and SD to hit up some of the local theme parks. I couldn't go to Disneyland with them since I already had plans that weekend, but I was able to go to Legoland in Carlsbad for the first time.

When I got there I had really no idea of what to expect, except for the fact that there would likely be LOTS of legos. I was not too far off, in addition to legos there were rides based on the various genres of lego and a special Star Wars themed area.

One of my friends has two sons and they absolutely love Star Wars so it was really fun to watch them get so excited to see the special event area. I have to admit I thought it was pretty darn cool too!

While its no Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland definitely has appeal. I would probably wait to go there again till when I have children of my own though.

Here are a couple of pictures I took with my iPhone from my trip there, don't the Star Wars things look cool!?

Duty Free shopping and a last minute splurge

I had always had a minor interest in Shu Uemura products, but since I already had everything I "need" in my make-up stash and we were saving money I never really looked into the brand while I was living in Japan. I have to say I sorely regret it, I do love my MAC products but there are some really lovely Shu Uemura ones as well.

What prompted me to stop by the nearby Shu Uemura shop in Shibuya was a chat I had over lunch with Nic Nic about concealers. I was using MAC studio sculpt at the time and was looking for something new as I was never really "wow'd" by it. She suggested I look into the Shu Uemura ones. I dropped by the Shu Uemura counter in Tokyu department store in Shibuya that same week. I knew I could probably purchase what I wanted in duty free, but since it was concealer I really wanted to check out the products and make sure I could get a color that matched my skin. I asked the girl there which was the easiest one to use (I am somewhat lazy at times) and provided the most coverage for under-eye circles and redness around my nose. She introduced me to this doubled-sided concealer crayon. I tried it that day and was so happy with the coverage and results there that I couldn't not buy it. It was a bit more than what it is listed on the Shu Uemura USA website, but it was worth it to me. In addition this particular concealer was not in the duty free at Narita so I was glad I bought it when I did. This was my last minute I am leaving Japan splurge cosmetic item.




Speaking of duty free I did find the Shu Uemura items there and picked up the following palette. I liked the natural and pink shades and felt it matched my skin better than the other palette they had in duty free. I tried looking up this palette online, but I believe it is sold exclusively for duty free and wasn't able to find a link for it.

So without further ado, here is my face of the day using my new Shu Uemura products.

face:
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
Shu Uemura cover crayon in 9YRL/5YRM
Shu Uemura blush from the travel palette
Shu Uemura palette blush
MAC Otherworldly blush



eyes:
Can Make eye shadow base
MAC Naked Lunch
Shu Uemura shadows from the travel palette (tan for highlight/pink for lid/taupe for the crease)
MAC Lord it Up liner
Fairy Drops Mascara film type (from Japan)

brows: Revlon brow pencil in dark brown

lips: Smiths Rosebud Salve



In other words, tomorrow is the big day for me....IMATS and then Monday my husband finally arrives in LA!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Arrggghhh NOTD

I have discovered that being back in the land where OPI and Essie nail polishes are actually affordable, can and will most likely be dangerous on my pocketbook. In addition to this, my mother is a huge nail polish junkie and will most likely only encourage me.

On my most recent trip to San Diego to deal with my sea shipment of items that we sent from Japan, my mother brought me to her favorite beauty supply store just down the street from her house. They had the Pirates of the Carribean OPI collection there and needless to say we picked up a few bottles. This is the color "Planks A Lot" with the shade "I Juggle Men" over the top to add a bit of sparkle.





I really like how this turned out, though my one complaint is that my nails are already starting to chip! Not sure if its the polish, most likely its me lol.

In other news, I am going to be attending IMATS in Pasadena on Sunday so if anyone here is going lets meet up! And for those who can't go, fear not I will have a full recap for you. Anyone have something they recommend I check out?

Happy Thursday!

Fashion: Anthropologie Blog event

One of my favorite fashion blogs that I read is a blog called In Pursuit of Pretty Things. Its written by Carol and Kathryn who are southern California locals. I first started reading their blog a year ago while in Japan and it introduced me to all of the beautiful things that the store Anthropologie has to offer. This being said it wasn't till just after I moved back here that I was able to enter an actual store and taken in the shopping experience as a whole.
Two weeks ago I was able to attend a blog event that they held at the Anthropologie store in Fashion Valley (San Diego), despite not having been able to chat with them for very long I really had a wonderful time. I met a really nice sales associate there named Carly and found a few items on sale that I took home in addition to the dress I am now coveting and hoping goes on sale before my cousins wedding in July. I was also able to share this experience with my mother and inspire her to check out stores like Anthropologie more often, I think she even tried on more items than I did at the event!
Unfortunately I don't have my camera with me in the US yet (Mr.S has it in Japan still), so I didn't take any pictures from the event. But I can show you the items I did pick up and the dress that I hope to snatch up once it goes on sale (or maybe even if it doesn't).

(all images via the anthropologie website)

The Isabel Dress


Brickwork Tee


Horkelia Shift dress



This last dress I really want to buy to wear to my cousin's wedding in late July. I think with the right accessories and shoes it is good for a wedding, but you can also dress it down and I can get lots of use out of it.

What fashion has your eye been on for summer?

New Winner!

Alright so as my other winner didn't claim her prize, it was time to choose a new one.

The new winner is:

****Burcin!****

I will try to contact you, but if for some reason I cannot please mail me as well.

Thanks again to all of my wonderful readers for all your wise advice.

Last call...

So after taking some advice and other things in to consideration, here is what I have come up with for the giveaway dilemma. As I posted earlier, the winner is Huong (londons beauty), if you are reading this please email me at thesungirlsays at gmail dot com within the next 24 hours to claim your prize. If I have not hear from you by 9pm Monday June 13th (California time) I will select a new winner for the prize.

I am sorry to have to do this, but I hope that you read this and email me.

Thanks,
Brianna

Try try again?

Hello from beautiful sunny California! I am now in the US and I have to say I am experiencing crazy reverse culture shock. Its weird when you feel more at home in a Japanese restaurant or supermarket than you do in the normal ones. I suppose in time it will grow on me again to some extent.

I hit up some duty free shopping on my way here and picked up my first Shu Uemura items. I have to say I am in love! I will review them in an upcoming blog post.

So now to the point of my blog post, the person who was drawn as winner of the giveaway has not contacted me. What should I do? I would really like to send the items to her, but I have no way of contacting her. Should I draw another winner? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Blogaversary winner!

Hi ladies! Sorry its taken me so long to follow up on this. I spent most of this past week trying to meet as many people as I can before my flight Friday evening. I can't believe that after almost 6 years of living in Japan I will soon be back in the USA.

Without further ado, the winner of my blogaversary giveaway is:


****Huong (londons beauty) ****

Please contact me ASAP and I will try to send out the prize before I leave Japan.

Thank you to all the ladies who participated, I look forward to reading all of the new blogs I have been introduced to.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Thursday!