Wednesday, 27 August 2014

FLORIDA TRIP! 8/20-8/25

This is going to be a summary of my trip to Orland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the past week.

Too many things happened over the course of 5 days, so I will be selectively describing highlights from the pictures I took! - I apologize in advance because this will be a pretty lengthly post, because you know me, i exaggerate everything haha… Let's get started!

Day 1! When we arrived, we got spoiled into driving this awesome ride. It is a Ford Edge AWD SUV. Sadly I didn't get a chance to drive it because I am not 25, nor 21 to rent. But sitting in this big car for a week made me feel superior compared to driving my tiny fit! Nevertheless, it was a sweet ride, a little pricey rental, but well worth it.


On the first day, I had a mini shopping spree at an outlet mall in Florida. I bought a sports bra from Victoria's Secret, an Estee Lauder 'hydrationist' moisturizer (recommended to me by the sales associate) and the Mac prep & prime transparent finishing powder. I chose this over the loose powder because she told me they are basically the same, but loose powder tends to get messy and I couldn't agree more. The prices were ok, I hope that I won't find it cheaper at the Mac warehouse sale I will be going to next week in Markham.





On the night of the first day, my aunt wanted to eat seafood, she was told to try a famous type of crab/lobster (I forgot the name of it, but I couldn't care less since I'm not a seafood fan anyway!) I searched on Urban Spoon and Google reviews to find this modern, contemporary, and popular restaurant called "Bonefish Grill." The prices were decent, not too expensive but very delicious. I'd say, it's comparable to Jack Astor/Kelsey prices. They are famous for their chillean sea bass fish and "bang bang shrimp" which I thought was heavenly! For dessert, we tried a banana split flatbread, very unique. Overall, I really enjoyed the food and service there. For those of you who are visiting Florida in the near future, I would definitely recommend to give Bonefish Grill a try. They have multiple locations for convenience. Here are some pictures, we got a few dishes to share but these were the ones worth mentioning. Their steak was ok, nothing to brag about.




On the second day, we went to one of Disney's water parks, Typhoon Lagoon. I had a blast there, literally. Unfortunately my period came on the same day but a tampon always does the trick…. Anyway, we went on water slides, and wave pools. We even dragged grandma into some rides, which scared her to death but I believe it is an opportunity she must take before she gets any older! I didn't have my phone/camera with me but here I am before the fun began


On the third day, we went to Walt Disney World. It was kind of a disappointment to me and a huge turning point to my vacation because something personal happened. We didn't get to go on a lot of rides, in fact only rode on around 4-5 rides. I've been to the Walt Disneyland parks in California and Hong Kong and I have to say the rides I rode here were pretty similar if not identical, to the one in California. So, thank goodness I didn't miss out on too much. I also got a major sun tan on my shoulders, tan lines everywhere. Overall, I was happy I got to go to the land of magic even though it wasn't a magical day for me. Here is the beautiful castle!


I took this picture because it is one of the nicest swimming pools at a hotel I've ever seen. Sadly, we didn't have a chance to go in it because we were exhausted every day coming back from Disney and shopping. Our hotel was the Hyatt Regency Orlando right on International Drive. It was very convenient, and I really wish I'd a chance to visit the pool :(



After about 3 days in Orlando, we drove 5 hours (because of lack of directions) to Fort Lauderdale! This was a boutique hotel, called Sonesta Fort Lauderdale, right before the beach. I loved our stay, especially our view, as you can see in the second picture.



OOTD! One of my favourite rompers, so comfy and sleek. Hair tied up because the humidity in Florida is almost unbearable.


On our 5th day, we originally planned to go to "Key West," the most southern point in Florida but because of time, we decided not to go, and visit South Beach in Miami instead. I really wanted to go to Key West because on top of the 2 hour drive from our hotel in Fort Lauderdale to the southest point inland on Miami, you have to drive on a bridge for about 2 hours south of Miami! It is literally an island, with the purest of sand and water. Next time if I ever visit Florida, I am definitely making time to visit! Here is my panoramic take of South Beach. In my opinion, the view is stunningly calming and very pretty, however the water quality is very dirty as most reviews on Google had mentioned. However, I've longed to go to a beach for quite a long time and thus I was satisfied anyway.



Here is another mini haul (as you can see, I am getting kind of obsessed with makeup). We went to Galleria Mall right beside our hotel, I went to Sephora and purchased these. It was a total of $65, but I had decided to return the smash box pallet and the brushes due to bad reviews on Sephora. I really wanted to like the Smashbox pallet because of how sleep and compact the packaging was. It will definitely be a great add on to my travel makeup bag, but as almost all the reviews on Sephora had mentioned, the fallout is terrible, and for $22 it is just not worth it. I also returned the brush set because people complained it was not soft enough. I am horrible in that I always buy brushes but never end up using them. I made the right choice in returning them. I kept the nail buffer and sephora's take of "beauty blender" just to try it out!


On the last day, we spent the entire day shopping at the Colonade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills. I love that mall. It had almost everything I am obsessed with! Although I couldn't purchase everything I wanted, I spent a lot of money purchasing the ones that I fell in love with. I forgot to take pictures but I will probably post them another day. I bought a burberry jacket from Bloomingdales outlet, a new pair of black Uggs and a Burberry tote for school. I am a big brand lover now, and as bad as it sounds, I am getting more and more addicted to high end fashion. Now I have to compromise and save up for my living expenses but that's the consequences of buying luxury for a budgeted student! - I did work the entire summer full-time so I think I did deserve to spend some of it impulsively, haha…

Our flight was supposed to depart to Toronto at 10:55 pm. But hey, it's Air Canada. It was delayed for 2 hours, we eventually departed at 12 am and arrived at 3 am. We got home at around 4 am, which exhausted everyone out. I am sad to leave Florida but happy to be greeted in Canada with not so humid weather, though it was definitely very hot these days.



xoxo, tiff

Monday, 18 August 2014

UV Gel Nails; review and post-pics

I have gotten my nails done at a nail salon for the first time in my life, and I just wanted to share my experience here :)

I went to a store called "Little Dairy Nail" at Pacific Mall. I walked in because there were no one in that store, so i didn't have to wait. All of the other Nail salons at Pacific Mall are usually jam packed in a tiny room with 5 girls getting their nails done. Anyway, I'm sure they must be better than this one since no one really goes there, but because I just wanted to do it quickly, I insisted on trying. The owner is mandarin, and since I am cantonese, it was hard to communicate with them what I wanted, though that wasn't really a big issue. The process took around 30-45 min i believe. She used a spinny tool that kind of makes your nails thinner so the gel could go on, and since the gel is really thick, the nails needed to be thin. I got extensions as well, so in order for the extensions to not be visible, they needed it to be even thinner. My fingers are very fragile, especially around the cuticles, whenever the tool touched it, it hurted a lot and even left scars which stung for about 2 days. The total costed $62 ($40 for 2 colour gel nails, $5 x 2 for the bows, $5 for the glitter. I think she forgot to charge me $10 for the extensions so I gave her $7 tips)

Here is the outcome:



(Not bragging, but I received SO SO SO many compliments the past month :))

It costs $10 to take them off, the process didn't take long. She used the same spiny tool, but it didn't hurt this time around. My nails are in such bad condition though, I don't think I will be doing gel nails again.


Sorry for the yellow tint from the light I have above. But you can still see where she had previously placed the extensions as they are still on the nails, though she used the tool to kind of thinin the layers. My nails feel dry and rough too.

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Salon ombre hair disaster!!!

Review: Aveda Hair Institute, my experience.

Before I start my rant, I would like to inform you that I waited 3 weeks for my appointment at Aveda Hair Institute. I chose this because I was googling hair salon reviews in toronto, this one was said to be "affordable" and "good." However, this was not the case from my experience…

I arrived at 10:30 am for my appointment, travelling from markham to toronto, totalling an hour's commute on public transit. When I arrived, the girl at the front counter told me to go downstairs by myself to get a robe. I came back up and met with my hair stylist/colorist/whatever you may call her. She was said to be an "advanced graduate," which according to Aveda Institute, costs $65+ for the ombre technique. I thought that was fair.

The process quickly begun, she asked me how I would like my hair done. I showed a picture (from instagram, a girl with really long straight hair and beautiful balayage ombre ashy blonde hair), she told me she could not lift my hair that high because my hair had been previously box dyed. I said fine, so I showed her another picture (from instagram again, with another girl with a distinct ombre look, but still very nicely blended). She said alright and got started. Though because my roots were so grown out with box dye, she recommended to bring down my natural hair colour by dying over some of the box dye. I agreed.

Here is a before shot of my disgusting grown out box dyed hair: hair is not that red (more brown/orange-y in colour), but that is how the picture turned out.


Roots were just a PAIN to look at. Anyway, she was really nice, not very talkative, brought me some water, then started off with the dark hair dye. She went further down than I had wanted, but I let her do her thing. Next, she applied the bleach to me ends, which again, was lower than I had wanted it. Now, see that was where I went wrong. I should've spoken up about what I wanted… By the way, toning was an additional $15. The whole process took over 3 hours. I was pretty satisfied up until I left. That was another mistake because they made me sign a form that said I had to inform them of anything I was dissatisfied with before I left the store…. When she finished drying my hair, she didn't even show me the back! I only saw the front and was content with how it came out. She helped me take a photo of my back and after I left the store, I realized it was a mess, a complete disaster! I initially wanted to go back and complain but I got lost in downtown after walking too far and it started raining so I went back to the subway. I felt horrible.

Here is the aftermath:


After seeing the photos, I was really really mad. She made my back look like a bad dip dye job which I could've done myself. Worst of all, since i have short layers on the side, she ombre'd that too to make it look very uneven from side to back. It's like a whole chunk of black hair that was supposed to be ombre! The total cost was $190 ($145 for full highlights from advanced graduate, $15 for toning, tax and unfortunately I also gave her $10 tips). Lesson: Do NOT go to hair schools for colour jobs, they are just as expensive and very badly done. 

Rate: 1.5/5 stars

Review: Petro's Hair Design, my experience

I got back to Bayview station, had 3 hours to spare to wait for my aunt to pick me up, so I walked into Bayview Village to try to find a salon and see what they could do. The only salon I could find was Petro's Hair Design. People there were 100x more friendly. The girl who helped me "fix" my badly done ombre kind of rushed it because she had another appointment in about 1.5 hours. She used a balayage technique on top of my ombre. The colour didn't turn out as vibrant as I thought though. She said it was also because the girl had previously dyed my hair black which I understand will be a tough process to lighten again. She charged me less, because it was faster than she though, which I also appreciate. However, I still need to re-lghten my hair after a few months because one day damaged my hair a lot. I'm happy with the front at least…

Here is a picture of how they tried to fix that harsh line:



As you can see, I still hate it because that line is still so visible, but it's definitely better than before I walked in. Hair is also FRIED. Total costed $175 ($110 for highlights, $35 for colour, tips and $8 tax). In total, I spent almost $400, way more than the average girl to get an awesome colour. FML. Can't wait for my next appointment. Sadly, every time I do my hair at Canadian salons, I hate the results. 

Rate: 3.5/5

Lastly, I wanted to show the true colour because it really isn't all that orange, as how the pictures are showing up. Here is the front, with natural lighting and a big fat frown for my bad bad bad decisions. 




Sunday, 10 August 2014

New home for the school year, weekend, new friends, etc

On Friday, I took half the day off to go to an interview for DEM society, for the events assistant. I was so glad I got a chance to interview for the position although Im not quite sure if they will choose me. The interview went fairly well, I knew the girl who interviewed me, because she is now the events coordinator for DEMS. With my previous experience and all, I really hope I can land the job, even though it's not paid, it's a great experience, especially for my resume.

I'd like to say that I have finally found a place to call home for the school year. I live in markham and go to school at the University of Toronto Mississauga, which is like 45 min by car (assuming no traffic) and 3 hours by bus! Initially, I wanted to commute, since my program does not require me to take a lot of jam packed courses. However, since I could only fit them into a 3 day schedule, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, I didn't want to drive back and forth everyday. Thus, I started house-hunting at the beginning of July. Trust me, it is no easy task. First of all, I wanted to rent a condo unit, to share with 1-2 girls, but it was near impossible, because condo's in mississauga, especially around square one, are so so so so so expensive; they require a 1 year lease, and most are not furnished, which averages $1600+ for a 2 bedroom condo. To be honest, I also didn't want to find a random girl to call roommate from the web. The past few weekends, I've driven to sauga to take a look at a few places, some of which were too expensive, or weren't what I expected. However, this week, I saw an ad on kijiji that sparked my interest. Although it is indeed a basement (which i tried my best to avoid), it looked really clean and appealing. I went to take a look on Saturday and found out that I knew a girl who lived there! That is a major plus, not to mention we both live in markham so we can probably commute back home together on the weekdays. About the place, it is a small townhouse owned by a graduate from UTM, who rented out 2 rooms on the upper floor already. The basement was the only option available. I get the spacious bedroom (FURNISHED) and the living room all to myself! The living room comes with a comfy couch and TV, which will be very convenient. The only downside is that there is no bathroom in the basement. I would have to go to the main floor to use the washroom and to the second floor to shower. It is definitely not an ideal situation, but it's ok, I think. The rent is $600/month all inclusive, so unlike the condos, I wouldn't have to set up all the internet and hydro accounts, etc. The owner is also very nice, and quiet. I legit signed the lease on the spot, so that the girl that was supposed to come take a look after me had to go home, I feel bad for her, but also great! I cannot wait to move my personal belongings there in Sept!!!!

After the viewing, I went back to markham with my boyfriend because my coworkers planned a triple date at Mix 2 for karaoke. It turned out to be a quadruple date + 1 guy. It was fun, I love get-togethers, and just to hand out with people. I also met a new friend, Crystal. She is a coworker as well, though we never see each other because I work at the back and she works at the front, and she normally goes out for lunch. Funny though because before meeting her, I told my aunt that she is coming to the event with us, and my aunt made her sound like a person that cannot be bothered, but she turned out to be really nice and outgoing. The karaoke was fun in general, though since I can't sing chinese songs and majority of them only sing chinese songs, I did feel bored at times. Seemed like I was the only one who chose english songs to sing, haha but no big deal. Before we left, Crystal asked me to go clubbing next weekend, and I would love to but I really hope I can work the ride back home issue first.

Lastly, I will not have my car this week! I am going to feel so handicapped!!!! This is because my aunt from HK is coming over to take care of the last few documentations for my grandma. I hope that I can get a ride to work, and to volunteer on Tuesday…..

That's about it for now!
xoxo, tiff


Friday, 1 August 2014

New Blog, Summer plans, Updates, etc

Hello bloggers,

I haven't posted here for quite a long time! Didn't realize how popular my hair dye review has gotten (bare in mind, I'm a beginner blogger, so 500+ views is in fact a lot to me, so thank you). I am beginning to start my own fashion/style/makeup blog @ https://otdbytiffany.wordpress.com It is still under construction as my summer job has basically occupied my life so far :( Anyway, for more reviews like the l'oreal box dye, you can follow me on that blog :) This one will continue to be my personal blog, and I hope to be more active as well.

By the way, I will post an update for my current hair colour (I haven't dyed it since the L'oreal dye post). My roots are showing really badly and I am in desperate need of a hair transformation/make-over. However, a post-secondary student does not have $200 laying around even with a full-time summer job so I cannot go to those super expensive salons. Though I did find a cheaper alternative at Aveda Institute Toronto on King Street. My appointment has been booked for August 16th, so stay tuned for that if you want to see my new hair-colour-do. It will be posted on my new blog. So excited!!!

Lastly, I just wanted to mention I am also saving up to go to Florida with my cousins! At least that's better than nothing since all of my friends seemed to have left the country. We have made big plans there, and I cannot wait to share it here afterwards.

Talk to you soon, xoxo.
Tiffany