Recently I had the pleasure of doing a collaboration with Etsy shop owner Arielle from Kawaii Cute Creation.

One thing that I liked is that my package arrived fast, I think about 3 or 4 days? But that’s probably because we are both based in USA.

I’d also like to note that Arielle is the sweetest girl ever! She’s so cute, and I was really excited to work with her because I think everything in her shop is to die for!!

 I want to eat everything! *nom nom nom*

One thing important to look for in a seller is that they make sure your product is protected. Since all of her items are handmade with love, they should be protected with bubble wrap! So I was happy to see that she made a concious effort to do so.

This is something thats not necessary, but it shows that the seller cares for you and what they are selling.

Within the bubble wrap packaging was this super cute bag.

When my fiancé saw this bag he said,
“wow she really lives up to her shop name, it’s so kawaii!!” LOL~

Here’s what came inside the bag: Happy short note that made me smile (especially because it’s on Rilakkuma paper, you know I’m a die hard Rilakkuma fan), some of her business cards, and another little bag containing the necklace (wow).

Also, I’m not sure if you noticed, but the bags were sealed closed with kawaii sticker tape! Guh, cuteness overload! This is the kind of attention to detail that you want to look for from a seller!! Extra props to you, Arielle!

Now looking at the cupcake necklace that I received.. ahhh! 

The cupcake necklace comes in a bunch of different colors. I got the pink one, which comes with a necklace chain that matches the cupcake’s color.

The cupcake can be easily removed from the chain in case you wanted to add it on to another existing jewelry or accessory piece.

Hehe, I love these macro shots of this adorable necklace. It’s so cute and detailed! Look at the texture on the cupcake, frosting, and sprinkles!!

Doesn’t this make you feel like a little girl?
I get really happy every time I look at it.

Here I am sporting the necklace. I find myself buying so many pastel colored clothes lately.

I think this cupcake goes really well with all of my pastel outfits. But then again, it also looks good on black.. so maybe it can match with anything. I love it!

If you don’t already like what you see, how about one of these other lovely items?

1. Kawaii Rainbow Kitty Sparkle Case (iPhone 5)
2. Strawberry Cupcakes with Sprinkles Earrings
3. Felt Macaroon Tutorial (PDF Instructions)
4. Dessert French Vanilla Milkshake (Original Painting)
5. Cupcake Necklaces
6. Strawberry Cupcake Pin Topper
7. Felt Macaroon Tutorial Supplies
8. Stacked Pancake Ring

 Please check out Kawaii Cute Creation’s Etsy Shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/KawaiiCuteCreation 

Like Facebook fan page:
www.facebook.com/pages/KawaiiCuteCreation/397467586955577?ref=ts&fref=ts

Follow on Instagram:
@kawaiicutecreation 

 Use discount code “WELCOME10″ for an instant 10% off your purchase at Kawaii Cute Creation.

If you’re not lazy, you can also get 20% off if you follow the special offer instructions on Kawaii Cute Creation’s Etsy homepage.

Anyways, check out Arielle’s shop on Etsy, Kawaii Cute Creation!
I think it’s always a great thing to support the little shops.

Cheers!
xoxo Sarah 

]]> http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/cupcake-necklace-x-kawaii-cute-creation-review/feed/ 1 http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/day-5-road-to-hana-im-engaged/ http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/day-5-road-to-hana-im-engaged/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:18 +0000 xlicious http://xliciousgirl.com/?p=3331 [... read more]]]> So I think the title of this post gives away my big announcement…

I’M ENGAGED!!

… and it all happened while I was in Hawaii on The Road to Hana.

Let me share my day with you.

Oh yea, and if you don’t know what the “Road to Hana” is, it isn’t about Hana, it’s about the journey to get there. This road was rated the #1 tourist attraction for Maui on the Trip Advisor. After going on this journey, I must say, it is well worth it and you will see why! The entire trip took us nearly a full day… so get ready for a long blog post!

On our way to Hana, we saw a big fire.. I tried to look up what the fire was, but couldn’t really find anything. So we are assuming that the fire was intentional.

As we set off on our journey to Hana, we ate Hot Cheetos, drank Jamba Juice, and listened to some good old Tupac.

Much of the road to Hana was very windy and you can’t drive very fast either because the road would randomly turn into a single lane (where you must share the lane with on-coming traffic), lots of tourists, and it was raining!!

First stop, enter the Bamboo Forest.

Might I add, it’s still raining and we are trying to hike through the bamboo forest. We were told by a local not to pass the stream when it’s raining.

When we got to the stream, we listened. But not because we wanted to, just because it was getting too messy and wet hiking in the rain, lol.

Thank goodness we found this random bamboo stick and used it as a walking stick or else I would have slipped on all of the muddy areas and slimy rocks!

Haha, don’t I look kinda crazy in the photo below? Imagine me in an entirely different outfit, kinda like Tarzan style.

During the time that we posed for this photo, I got 3 bug bites. Wow, those suckers are fast. Haha, get it? Suckers? Ok, sorry I know.. fail joke.

Look! I never knew bamboos could get so tall!!

Look at these pretty plants growing on the tree branches. This photo sorta reminds me of LOTR. Do you think I’m crazy? Anyways, the Road to Hana features really crazy greenery everywhere.

Besides lots of green, theres also lots of waterfalls that you pass by. I think we passed by so many that we kinda started ignoring them unless they were awesome.

Below is Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside Park. On a normal sunny day, some people actually choose to swim in the water, but since it was raining, no one dared even wandering around much. But of course I wanted a photo!

Do I look like im peeing?? My leg is actually resting on a rock.

We also pulled over for Coconut Glen’s Ice Cream.

I can still remember the taste of this ice cream. Oh how I wish I could have more. It was sooo heavenly.

And if you caught it in the previous photo, and was wondering what Erick and some other guy in the ice cream shop were looking at, they were looking at this spider!

Recognize it? It looks like the same spider that I saw in Kauai (I think)!

By now it was lunch time and we were starving, having only eaten chips and smoothie for breakfast. Luckily we arrived at Nahiku Marketplace.

At this small outdoor market place, there are lots of little gift shops, small restaurants, coffee shop, and coconuts galore.

I didn’t know coconuts looked like this? Haha, I’m used to the young coconuts that you get in the market.

For lunch we had Thai food. I will say that Thai food is a lot better in LA, but then again, most food in general is… Unless you’re looking for Hawaiian food, haha.

My Thai’s little cooking set up.

Pad Thai with tofu?? Looks bootleg. But still tastes good, just not like Pad Thai.

At the Wai’anapanapa State Park we went to the black sand beach.

Next to the beach was a cave that led to a tiny little beach.

On the other side of the State Park was a very beautiful scenic view of the coast and ocean. This is my favorite of all of Maui.

Look at these rock formations! Aren’t they awesome?

Something about standing here and looking at the violent ocean waves really gets to me. I’ve actually never seen waves as big and violent as it was here. I couldn’t help but get this feeling of awe and how I am so small compared to this massive body of water that could easily drown me.

There was also blow holes around the area. If you aren’t familiar with what it is, basically its a hole where water occasionally splashes out of.

More violent waves… so amazing.

Ahhh and here is where the proposal took place! This is actually a reenactment.

How he proposed: We we sort of just walking around and we stopped here. I could tell that there was something on his mind and that he seemed a little nervous. He tried to kill time by saying “let’s dance,” and I replied, “what? here? now?” Dancing didn’t last more than an awkward minute, before he suddenly stopped and got down on one knee. I wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but I knew as soon as he started to recite a speech, that he was proposing!

It was really hard for me to just stand there and listen (no I didn’t cry btw). I really wanted to interrupt him  with a punch and laugh a little during his speech, but I let him finish. And in the end he pulled out the box with the ring inside and asked, “Sarah, will you marry me?” ahhh~ of course I said “yes.”

Haha, isn’t this funny? Erick looks so big next to me even though he is kneeling.

By this time, we had gathered a small audience who then clapped and congratulated us. Oh and look, we put the ring on the wrong hand! Oops.

So there goes my big announcement! But that’s not the end of our day.

Our final stop was Red Sand Beach. This was my favorite out of all of our destinations, and it’s located in Hana! It was a bit of a journey to find as you have to find the right path and hiking over to the spot could be very dangerous. But it was well worth it!

Red Sand Beach is amazing because it has a natural infinity pool.

The beach was super duper empty when we got there. But there was this group hanging around on the beach. One of the girls was playing around with two hula hoops simultaneously. Pretty cool~ reminds me of raves.

The walls that surrounded this little hidden away red sand beach were gorgeous as well. Also something about the red sand next to the bright blue water is breath taking!

We didn’t really do much at the beach, but Erick took lots of photos of me. I didn’t like how any of them turned out, but here’s one where my ring is just glowing! Lol, you can’t even see what it looks light because it’s so bright from the camera flash.

Now comes our journey back home… more waterfalls. Actually this one was one of my favorites! Most people don’t drive past Hana, but we did.

It’s so crazy how the weather is so different on each side of the island. Look at all that fog!

Haha.. We stopped to look at the horse. Not like we don’t have horses in California.

Omg, so this isn’t a good photo. But there are actually 3 rainbows here. One faint one to the left (more visible in person), the right bright bold one, and if you look right next to the bright bold one, theres a tiny one under it where the colors repeat!

What’s even crazier is that these 3 rainbows went all the way across the sky!!! I’ve never seen a rainbow from end to end before, and 3!? That’s just a blessing.

Okay okay. So we saw a ton of cows everywhere too, and they were right on the side of the road. We were being weirdos and we actually pulled over for every single cow on the side of the road and went “mooOo~”

The reaction from every cow was the same. They just looked up at us like we were crazy. Lol.

I feel like these windmills are somehow recognizable for Maui. You see them from the airplane when you fly to Maui.

Ahhh, on the drive back overlooking the ocean.. There was some strange lighting going on with the sky and water. I tried my best to capture it. Pretty isn’t it?

Also, have you ever seen the tops of clouds? I haven’t. That’s why I snapped this photo. I guess there’s a first time for everything!! Oh yea, and we were NOT at high elevation.

I feel like there should be a pegasus or something flying in the sky. Haha.

 Alright, thats all I have for now.

My next post will feature a super kawaii etsy shop! Don’t miss out. Next week I’ll be posting photos from a photo shoot that my, hehehe fiancé, set up for us after the proposal.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!
xoxo Sarah 

Little updates on what else I’ve been doing:

• Looking for a condo or town house to buy
• Freelancing
• Blogging
• Errands: oil change, car wash, smog check, Roth IRA, car registration, street sweeping ticket
• Decided to not get a real estate license (for now at least)
• Reading: The Hobbit
• Watching: Game of Thrones S3, Attack on Titan, Bob’s Burger
• Playing: Dark Avenger
• Debating if I should cosplay this year for Anime Expo 2013

Anyways, lets get over with today’s Hawaii post finishing up Day 4 in MAUI!

A short (useless) clip of us on the airplane. I totally didn’t know he was recording!! Audio is weird btw, because our camera is in it’s underwater casing.

After landing and arriving at our car rental location, I found a mama and her wee little chicks crossing the walk way. かわいい〜ね

Here’s our tiny car that we rented for the week! My bf wanted to get the Corvette convertible for an extra $20 a day, but I said “no!“.

The rental cars in Hawaii smell fishy.

♪ Making our way downtown~ driving fast ~ as cars pass ~ and we’re almost home now ♫

In Maui, to save money, we chose to not stay at a hotel. Instead we stayed at a vacation rental instead (sort of like an apartment that you can rent for an extended amount of days).

When you first walk into our new place, you end up in the bedroom. There is a beautiful beach mural that covers one side of the wall.

Here’s our living room, fully stocked with everything we could possibly need including games, water sport equipment, chairs of all sorts for the beach, and more!

There was also a lovely balcony that over looked the beach!

One of the walls in the living room was a giant mirror, so here I am taking a photo of myself for fun, haha.

We also had a full kitchen that was connected to our living room.

And of course our bathroom. Nothing special really ~ just practical.

That night we went out for a fancy dinner. I didn’t really know where we were going since it was a surprise, but I was told to get ready and look nice regardless. So here I am camera whoring as usual.

Lol I tried out so many different angles with my camera.

I think this photo below is so funny~

For dinner, we ate at Cuatro… which I might add, is one of the most spectacular meals that I’ve had in Hawaii.

This steak was soooo good. I think it was corn or wheat fed beef. The texture and taste was entirely different from what normal beef tastes like. Yum!

After we finished our steak, we took a picture. Haha, yea, we are in love.

I can’t remember what these two dishes are below, but all I can say is, BOMB!

We also got suckered into ordering their dessert, which was basically two scoops of ice cream with tons of fruits. I think while we were in Hawaii, we had ice cream about 1-3 times a day. So bad..

Ok, so thats all I have for today’s post.. which I know is very short!! But I have an extremely long post for you this coming Thursday, along with a big announcement. Ekkk~ I’m excited!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo Sarah 

]]> http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/day-4-continued-welcome-to-maui/feed/ 9 http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/april-shopping-haul/ http://xliciousgirl.com/2013/05/april-shopping-haul/#comments Sat, 11 May 2013 17:00:14 +0000 xlicious http://xliciousgirl.com/?p=3271 [... read more]]]> Tomorrow is Mother’s Day!
 Have you bought anything special for you mom?
I haven’t.

But here’s some stuff that I bought for myself!
LOL.

I’m just going to take my mom out for dinner
& give her a card written with love. HA!

Hair Bump $1 from Ebay

I have really flat hair so I’ve always wanted to try one of these.
I bought two, so I’ll be giving the other one away sometime in the future.

Amore Pacific Enzyme Peel $60 from Sephora

I’ve been getting really into skin care lately,
so I decided to try out an enzyme peel.
This particular product has amazing reviews, so I’m excited to try it!

MDSUN Skin Exfoliation Pads $$ from sister-in-law

I received this as a gift from my sister-in-law who has been using this.
She said her skin is a lot better and she wanted me to try it out.
I did some searching online and I can’t find this product anywhere!
But I’ve been using it and so far it’s been great.

Jeffery Campbell Shoes $90-120 from Nasty Gal

I can’t remember how much I paid for these,
but they are so cute and I love them SO much!
I swear they look 1000% times hotter worn than they do in this photo.

Coach Pumps $90 from Marshalls

This pair of heels are just too perfect and classy.
I love the super matte nude color and how the heel part is shinny.
I also like the little detail on the back and the point is perfect.

Mint color bag (forgot the brand) $30 from Nasty Gal

I really loved this purse when I saw it online.
But when I got it, I didn’t realize how large it was!
It’s still cute, but I think it would be better if it was smaller..

Céline Trapeze Bag (used) $1900 from sister-in-law

This is another gift that I got from my sister-in-law.
She always gets me the nicest things.
I got to pick between this purse and a Prada purse, I picked this one.
Teewa says this is going to be the new fashion purse!

Crop top shirt $ from Love Couture 

My mom gave me this shirt to wear.
The colors are cute for the spring time.
Can’t wait to wear this out somewhere!!

Necklace $4 from Forever 21

Ever since I borrowed Jiawen’s cute necklace to go clubbing,
I’ve been wanting one thats similar.
I failed to find her necklace,
but I did pick up this one and I think its cute.

Rings & nuckle rings $30 from Rimo in Sawtelle

Rimo is a little boutique in Sawtelle that I like to shop at.
They have the cutest jewelry and clothes ever!!
I want EVERYTHING in that store!!!

Knot ring $15 from Diament Jewelry on Etsy

I ordered this ring a while back but never got to show you all.
I think its pretty cute, my only complaint is that
it isn’t as gold as when I first got it.

GoPro Hero 3 Silver Edition $130 from REI

I bought this camera for the purpose of
filming underwater during my dives in Hawaii.
It’s a great little camera and I found a crazy deal for it.

ColorTration Tattoo Cover-Up Sample Kit $25 from ColorTration

My boyfriend isn’t too fond of my tattoos,
so I got this tattoo cover-up kit to test out and find a color match.
I’ll do a review on this later on when I get the chance.

Neutrogena Alcohol-Free Toner $7 from Rite Aid

As I’ve been saying, I’m taking better care of my skin!
So with that said, I decided to try another toner again.
Not sure this toner does anything to my face (its mostly water),
but it does feel refreshing!!

Okay thats all I have for my April Shopping Haul.
See you all again soon with another Hawaii post!!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo Sarah 

My experience at Sherri Makeup was excellent.

I originally became interested in the idea of permanent makeup when my friend Jiawen told me that she wanted to get her eyebrows done (btw, Sherri does eyebrows for $300). That’s when I started doing some research and came across Sherri on Yelp.

The reason why I was drawn to Sherri (besides her almost perfect 5 star reviews), was that she highlights on natural beauty. I wanted eyeliner that was subtle, but enough to make a difference, and thats what I got!

I contacted Sherri through email to set an appointment for my consultation and eyeliner tattooing session. They get pretty busy, so you have to make an appointment.

The place was really easy to find and is located on the second floor of the building (above Mr. Pizza and Gangnam Style). There is a private parking lot where you (might) have to pay $1 after validation (if the guy is there).

The location is fairly small, and not exactly what I had envisioned. But I really liked how white the place looked, with the white curtains and light shinning in from the South side.

When you arrive for the first time, you are greeted by the ever so sweet front desk woman. I love her so much as she really really took care to our needs. Don’t be afraid to ask her if you need any tissues or even some water to drink!

The wait after you arrive has been typically about 15 minutes. Before you go in to meet Sherri, you have to fill out a waiver.

Around the room, there were different things written on the walls. I think this one below is about eyebrows? Is there anyone who can read Korean and translate? Haha, it’s probably not that important anyways…

There were also a bunch of frames around the area with different style eyebrows drawn out. It’s kind of fun to see the different types.

Here’s Jiawen, her boyfriend, and my best friend Teewa. Jiawen ended up getting eyebrows done, and Teewa got eyeliner like me!

Besides permanent makeup for eyeliner and eyebrows, Sherri also does lips, lash extensions, and skin care! There were 3 separate rooms that led to each. The room I went to is the one on the far right.

When it was my turn, I found that the consultation was totally not what I was expecting.

First you go into the room to meet Sherri. Then she has you sit down on the chair infront of this huge mirror. You sort of look at yourself and tell her what type of eyeliner you want and she takes into “consideration” what you are looking for.

Alright, so when I say “consideration,” I mean that she does hear some of your thoughts, but she will ignore most of them (which ISN’T a bad thing). Why isn’t this bad?

1. You will have 2 sessions. During your first session, she keeps the eyeliner very simple and natural, only drawing along your lash line. She will ignore your requests to make it “thick”, but she did listen to request such as “making it thicker to thinner from outside going in”.
2. It isn’t until your second session that you get to change your eyeliner to whatever style you want (thicker, longer, etc.). I think this is good because it IS semi-permanent and you don’t want to commit yourself to something too drastic so early on before seeing how you like it first.

What bothered me the most was that Sherri’s English speaking isn’t that great, so I wasn’t sure if she knew what I was saying. I sort of assumed that she could understand more than she could speak (since that’s usually the case).

I think it’s sort of funny because there are so many of these magazine cut outs and drawings on an easel next to you and the mirror, but none of it is ever used.

Overall my consultation didn’t feel like a real consultation as it only lasted less than 2-3 minutes (I think because she basically does the same super natural bare minimum eyeliner style on everyone for the first session, no matter what requests you give her). I didn’t bother trying too hard either because of the language barrier.

Here’s her set up. To the left of the consultation area is where she does the tattooing. I literally walked right over and just laid down and she got right to work.

Let’s talk about what she does during the session:

• Clean your eyelid area of any makeup, dirt, etc. (I went in with naked eyes and no contacts)
• She applies numbing cream
• While your eyes are close she begins tattooing
• Sherri likes to count 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2,3 over and over again as she works on your eyes
• It feels like she does three dash marks across both eyes and then goes back and fills them in
• The whole process of doing both eyelids for the upper eyeliner takes less than 5 minutes
• After she finishes both eyes, she rubs away the black ink thats all over your face and cleans up the area
• She also cleaned my eyebrows and taught me how to take care of them properly (lol)
• Finally when its over, you go over to the mirror together to see the results

Permanent Eyeliner Tattoo vs. Semi-Permanent Eyeliner Tattoo

Permanent – It is what it sounds like, permanent. The problem with this however is that black permanent eyeliner eventually turns a greenish color, and no one wants that! When you are getting permanent makeup, make sure that you are going to a professional who specializes in permanent makeup. I wouldn’t recommend going to a tattoo shop or a hair salon…

Semi-Permanent – These last anywhere from 1-9 years. Eyebrow tattoos tend to last about a year, while eyeliner tattoos last on average 2-3 years before needing a touch up. What’s great about this is that you don’t have to commit yourself forever, and the color will always look great!

Alright.. That’s enough talk, lets get to the fun stuff!! The Photos!!

Below are my eyes without anything at all… pure nakedness.

Now you can see my eye right after session one. I am literally standing in the room still and Sherri took these photos for me. Ahh, look how irritated my eyes look! You know what though, different people’s eyes handle it differently. My friend Teewa came out with no problem!

I didn’t have too much swelling the rest of the day after my eyeliner tattooing, but the next morning I woke up with pretty swollen eyes. My eyes looked as if I had been crying a lot the night before. I still had some swelling two days after as well, but not as much and barely noticeable by others. My eyes were fully healed in about 5-6 days after the tattooing.

Second Session:

I wasn’t able to go to my second session until about 3 weeks later (after I got back from Hawaii). I liked my eyeliner tattoo, but it wasn’t visible enough and I wanted it thicker and longer. Sherri doesn’t like making eyeliner too thick, so she wouldn’t let me make it as thick as I pointed out to her.

She was however nice enough to get a brush and some black eyeliner and draw in on one of my eyes how thick she would make it. This really helped me agree with her visually.

After the session was over, we went over the same after care instructions. We were also told that after our eyes have been fully healed, we would have a week to call her if there were any touch ups that we noticed that we needed, and another appointment could be made free of charge!

Here is what my eyes currently look like. I love it!! I can literally go out without any eyeliner and I still feel beautiful.

What’s great is that I don’t really need to apply eyeliner anymore for a casual everyday look! All I have to do is extend my eyeliner tattoo by drawing in a wing or thickening the end a little bit. It’s way too easy now.

Then I just curl my eyelashes and add mascara and ta-da! I’m done!!!

Thanks so much to Sherri for doing a great job on my permanent eyeliner!

Again, here is the complete before (naked eyes) and after (fully healed after 2nd session).

What do you think?

Sherri Permanent Makeup Rating: ★★★★★

• Although she was hard to understand, Sherri knows what she is doing
• Great service and very friendly staff
• Caring and makes sure that you get the best results
• Quality of the eyeliner procedure is worth it for me if it can last 3 years (not sure if eyebrows are worth it if it lasts on average 1 year)
• Dramatic before and after results that really boost my confidence
• I save so much time in the morning not having to draw in eyeliner!!
• Makeup is semi-permanent and not permanent, so no green eyeliner
• Professional environment
• Takes cash, card, and check payment