New Blog!

So, I know I haven't posted in about a year but I have some awesome news! No, moms, I'm not preggers. I started a beauty blog! It's very pretty and lovely and even though I only have one post up so far, I'm quite proud of it and I know it's gunna turn out to be pretty epic. I included the link in this post for anyone that's interested and I know all the family will be.

I started this blog because I finally realized what my life's passion is and where I want to go in life as far as my career. And it only took me 24 friggin years to discover it. I've always loved makeup but the obsession really started when Sephora opened up in the Boise mall in 2007. I had read about (although, I don't remember where) Urban Decay's Eye Shadow Primer Potion and knew that had to be my first purchase. I was convinced at the time that I just couldn't wear eye shadow anymore due to my oily skin causing my makeup to crease and gunk up within 2 hours. I would wipe it all off and reapply but that was getting to be too much. It was silly really. Who's gunna apply makeup every two hours when they're working an eight hour shift? But I did until I decided to just give up on eye makeup for awhile.

So, I stuck to eyeliner (bottom only), mascara, and some concealer and powder. That's IT. When I found out about the primer I was amped. I thought to myself, "If this truly does what it says it does and keeps my makeup looking fresh all day long until I wash it off, then this will change everything." I really had no idea how much it would change. It literally opened up a whole new world for me. A world where I actually had a passion for something and would do anything I could involving that passion. A world where I felt like I was nearly an expert on something, where I wanted to share my knowledge with others, where I finally could retain mountains of information without even trying, where I actually felt creative and artistic, and a world where I had something to aim for and would strive to make it happen.

It started with that primer and continued with my first giant Sephora eye shadow palette, my Sigma brushes, and Youtube tutorials from the lovely TiffanyD. When we moved here I was pretty bummed out about the lack of beauty stores and the cosmetics department in our tiny BX. But I had just gotten my new palette from my wonderful husband and that was keeping me entertained for awhile. My life with makeup was simpler back then. And cheaper.

Meanwhile, I began aimlessly browsing everything beauty online. I mostly checked Sephora to learn about new brands and products. I then discovered video tutorials and my all-time favorite makeup guru, TiffanyD. She made doing eye shadow looks so easy and fun that I started trying out a few things and realized I had a natural skill for it as well. I could do all the looks but I also wanted more of a challenge.

I ordered my Sigma brushes that she raved about and that's when the real fun began. I had never owned high-quality makeup brushes before. Just a random drugstore brand powder brush here and there but nothing as spectacular as this. They made my eye shadow looks all the more stunning and defined. I fell in love. They made me want to experiment more and see what else I could do with my own personal canvas. Turns out, I could do a lot. Now, when it comes to drawing or painting, I suck. Big time. I was the kid who colored in purple faces with green hair in her Barbie coloring book. But when it comes to my face, I feel like a real artist. I was amazed at myself but wasn't so confident that it looked as good as I thought, yet.

Sometime before the Sigma purchase, the brand new sparkling BX opened up. The second biggest in the world (damn you Rammstein!) and it was extremely exciting. You see, Okinawa doesn't really have malls and we are completely limited when it comes to retail. Things you probably take for granted, we ache for. Like Walmart, different options for grocery stores and drugstores, and finding every day products that you know are gunna be at every store you go to. I can't find a certain Loreal shampoo here that I've been wanting to try cause the BX just doesn't stock it. So, although it was much much bigger, the BX still left a lot to be desired when it came to beauty and skincare.

That being said, there was two things I jumped up and down for when I first entered the new store. Not only did they have a larger cosmetics department, but they now stocked the high-end makeup brands NARS and Smashbox. I couldn't believe it. It was like a breath of fresh air for me. There were so many products I had been aching to purchase but couldn't when I realized (angrily) that Sephora didn't ship to APO addresses. It hadn't yet come to my slow brain that I could've ordered off of the brands' official website. Eventually, Too Faced Cosmetics also joined their high-end sisters in our BX. I was in makeup heaven. Dustin was in makeup hell.

Soon, I began to get many compliments on my makeup. Nearly every time I went out people would say how much they loved my eye shadow colors or my blush. I also heard, "I wish I could do that. I can't do that at all." very often. My response would be, "Yes you can. You just have to practice." because I wasn't always this good. I got a few suggestions that I teach people how to do the looks I wear but I kinda just laughed it off. I didn't take them seriously at all and I knew I could never do something like that due to my Social Anxiety Disorder.

It wasn't until I was sitting around the house, unemployed, praying to God to show me what to do with all my spare time, that I realized that that was exactly what I needed to do. I was going crazy looking for a job and I knew there was a reason I wasn't getting any calls. God didn't want me to just sit around the house during the week as much as I didn't. So I started my makeup classes. I've only taught 3 so far but I believe they are going pretty well. My friends seem to like it and I have some random people interested in future lessons where I actually charge strangers. Pretty scared about that one but I know I can get through it.

So, now the blog. I want to do everything I can to get experience and my name out there as a self-taught makeup "guru". I researched for a few days about the best ways to generate traffic to my blog. I posted on OkinawaHai, Okinawa yard sales and my facebook. I also joined a few blog search engines. Yesterday, I spent literally all day working on my layout and first post. I didn't think it would be up till tomorrow but I didn't want to stop so it's up now. I am very proud of it so far and I want you guys to know how dedicated I am to it. This is what I want to do with my life so I am putting my heart and soul into this blog. I will also be updating Santillan Adventures as much as I can cause I do miss it.

Be sure to check out all aspects of the new blog and check back often. I'm excited for what I have planned and I think you guys will be very proud of me. :) Love you all!

LoL Dustin...we're so meant to be

The Broke and the Beautiful of Okinawa

Rocktoberfest

Today I'm writing about Rocktoberfest. Which was almost a month ago on October 10th and 11th. Oh well. I had the pictures uploaded for quite awhile now but when I tried to upload the videos it wasn't working out. So then I would get frustrated and walk away. I think the video files are maybe too big. I'm gunna try and upload them in a separate post so we'll see. I really want you guys to see them but I may have to shorten them a bit and well....I like to procrastinate those sorta things.

Anyways, Rocktoberfest was basically an excuse to see the beach one last time before it got "cold" (I mean in the 70s), and to see a bunch of Japanese and Okinawan rock bands. It was at Torii Beach (where the jazz festival was) and it was a two day event. Originally, we were only gunna go on the first day but we had so much fun we decided to go the second day as well.

It gets dark really early here. Even in the summer the sun's down between 6 and 7pm. By the way, that's Adams in the picture with me. We brought him along (my suggestion actually) because he's a nice boy and we like him.

Even though he did this.

Lots of people were there sitting on the grass. We were the smart ones that brought towels though. Then I was the stupid one who wore a dress. Every time I had to use the bathroom or wanted to get food, it took me awhile to get off the ground in a way that wouldn't expose anything naughty.

The first night was more heavy metal type rock. Not my stuff but still fun to watch because they were mostly locals. This is a Okinawan band even though the lead singer had a Mexican wrestler's mask on.

We've actually seen this band before at a club! They're called FOD (don't ask me what it stands for. I still don't know) and the lead singer is American and I believe the rest were all Okinawan. They do all covers but really amazingly good. They got the biggest crowd. I think a lot of people were there just for them.

Uh...I don't remember. I think Dustin was taking pictures at this point.

Day 2! Official Rocktoberfest mugs with beer! Not for me, of course but the guys seemed to enjoy them.

There were a lot of pretty good food stands. And even though it was Rocktoberfest, there was only one stand with German brats. And the beer was Miller light. They were also selling a few Halloween costumes here.

It rained earlier that day but by the time we got there the sky decided to chill out. It was still pretty cloudy and windy like always.

Day 2 had more oldies rock and just more fun happy stuff. We loved this band and I have a video of them that I hope to get on here. They did all covers and were super cute and happy.

Dustin wanted to take pictures. I was having none of it.

But Adams is always up for a picture. As long as you keep him happy with beer.

Eventually I gave in. But there was no way I was gunna smile pretty.

So we were enjoying the music, eating and joking around blah blah blah, when this amazing lady got on the stage. Lord Almighty. If she was the only act that night it still would've been well worth the trip. She's Aria Asia and she's a rock violinist. She's been playing since she was only 2 years old and is hot shit in Japan. Especially Okinawa. She's adorable and completely amazing. She played beautiful original pieces and then also some covers. She got all the drunk Marines amped with her rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Green Day's Basket Case. Her videos were the main ones I wanted you guys to see. Keep your fingers crossed.

Look how fast she's going! She likes to dance and sway while she's playing as well. The rest of her band were really talented too. If you're really interested, look her up on youtube. She's there.

We decided to buy her CD and DVD because we seriously could not get enough of her. She was nice enough to sign autographs and take pictures with everyone that wanted to. Look at her tiny top hat! She was so sweet and there was a line at her merchandise booth through the next two bands.

Adams pretty much wanted to marry her. He had been saying, just that day, that he had always wanted to learn how to play the violin. He has a long way to go if he ever wanted to be as good as her.

After Aria Asia, we were pretty much content with the night. But then All Japan Goith came on stage and Dustin really got excited. I don't know if you know this, but Dustin loves ska.

He bought their CD as well. They sang all in Japanese but were really fun to watch. There was one girl in the band who was super full of energy. She was like a little Jack Russell puppy. They pretty much ended the night for us. We had new local music and we were exhausted so we went home.

Sorry this took forever to post and I will try to upload those videos!

I got my nails did

See?? In the states this would be impressive. And it still impresses me. But here on the island of dreams, EVERYONE has tiny works of art on their nails. No lie. Either on their fingernails or toenails, or both, every lady has got their nails done.

It's just the way things are here. And I'm not scared of embracing culture. No sir!

Another reason I love Japan

An unexpected Sunday adventure

I meant to post this yesterday, I really did. But after working out for almost 2 hours straight, I fell asleep. I did NOT have the energy or focus to post another blog. I basically spent the rest of the night watching Tough Love and Daisy of Love on vh1 while Dustin made guacamole. Then I ate the guacamole and life was good once again.

So. Sunday. We drove to the airport to make sure we knew where it was because we tend to get lost 80% of the time around here. The drive was nice since the clouds decided to go away after being around for the last 3 days. We got to the airport fairly quickly and were happy to find that it was a pretty small one. Even though it's the only one on the island.

Then we were gunna go eat here:

But then we realized that we weren't really very hungry. We had eaten about 2 hours before that so it makes sense. Also, the menu was a little pricey for us. But we'll probably come back here cause it's a friggin tree house restaurant!! So, we got back in our car and Dustin suggested we go to Kokusai Street. I was all for it. Kokusai street is super tourist-y and fun. Anyone who visits has to go there. It's all cool stores and amazing restaurants and you will get a lot of exercise walking up and down it.

Here's a part of the street. It was actually closed off to cars that day for some reason. I think there may have been some festival going on that we didn't know about. There's always some sort of celebration going on on Okinawa.

We went into this one shop that sold all the purple sweet potato tasties and was also the factory. I love love love food factories. Even if I didn't like what they were making.

They're like little purple sweet potato pie dealys. I just don't like the crust. I have issues with bread type things.

Lots of free samples in places like this. Here I am tasting something purple. It was yummy. It also made me realize that I was starting to get hungry. So I grabbed some more samples and we headed out to find some food for us to eat.

But first we found this store.

It had tons of old school statues and toys. Mostly Betty Boop and Astro Boy for some reason.

Typical looking Okinawan gift store. They haven't gotten boring yet though!

Astro Boy in his manties.

Luckily, above the store was a restaurant. Hooray! And they had an English menu. Double hooray! They also had this kitty thingy. I liked it.

It was a little bitty restaurant but it was nice. That's the bar with some seaweed floating around in a tank. That's for eating. I see it everywhere too. It looks like strands of little green caviar but it's a weird type of seaweed. It's actually really good and tastes pretty salty. I like the popping effect. Dustin even tried it and didn't hate it too much! I was proud of him.

I happen to like lamps.

This is my meal. To the left I have seaweed with dipping sauce, and fried rice. In the middle there's some type of sashimi (I don't ask questions...I just eat), soy sauce and ginger. And to the right is a little cup of another kinda seaweed that looked like worms, peanut flavoured tofu (it's behind the bowl and it was icky), and my favourite dish here-Okinawan soba with pork ribs and a slice of fish cake. It was very very yummy. Dustin ordered some fried cheddar cheese in rice paper but that was it. He's weird. He ended up helping me eat my fried rice and caviar seaweed.

Here's my wormy seaweed. It was so slimy and gross looking that I had to get Dustin to take a picture.

Then I just slurped it down like noodles. It was very slimy but it tasted like vinegar so I dug it. I didn't finish it though. The sliminess got to me a tad.

Oh. My. Goodness. This dress is actually a wedding dress. It was in a store across from the restaurant and I almost started to cry. Wedding dresses here are not traditionally white so they have crazy fun with it and come up with masterpieces like this. I want this dress soooo bad! I would just wear it to the movies or something. *sigh* It's so lovely. I'm bringing the little catalog I found there to NY, if anyone would like to see some more crazy dresses.

I love this dress too even though it's white.

And Dustin likes Goya benches. Notice his pants? This is the day he wore sweat pants out in public. It was pretty awful.

Back downstairs.

Finally a sample Dustin likes. Taco rice! I love how cute and little it is!

Dustin concentrating on shoving it all into his mouth at once.

Pretty desserts that I wasn't allowed to get. But I knew I had to get my sugar somehow that day....

Hello pink bicycle car! People were riding in these all over the damn place. It was cute. And what's that in the distance??

That's right! McDonald's for Dustin. Ooooh, and a green tea and Oreo McFlurry for Tara!

Hello beautiful. It was very yum even though they only filled the cup half way. It was probably for the best. Besides, I worked extra hard at the gym that night.

McDonald's here are soooo clean and classy looking. I love these lamps too. I want them in my bedroom.

Dustin like sandwich!! Num num num.

And look! You can get sweet corn as a side instead of fries!

These small childrens put on a show for us! You can watch the video down below and I suggest that you do because they were very very good. The one to the left is giving that weird look towards Dustin because he was trying to show his appreciation by clapping for them. And staring at them. While I took their picture.

There were also some traditional Eisa dancers! You can watch them here:

Here's the lion dance with the children in the smaller costume:

And here's just some more antics that went on. Last video is of one of many buses that drove past playing happy music. I love living here. :)