I'm coming back.

It's been a while but I made a promise to myself that I will be back soon (maybe tomorrow?) to blog/write/express/show you my life. :)

I've been "baggin'" while MIA.

I haven't been on for quite a while and felt like I needed to write to let go of some stuff. I'm still looking for a job! This is such a sad process, I've been looking for the past two months and no luck. I've had maybe about 4 interviews out of the 100+ jobs that I applied for... :( Maybe in the mean time, I should make vlogs, tutorials, or just tape myself giving advice? (Although I'm not a big advice giver since I sometimes need advice myself)

Anyway, I was able to upgrade my phone therefore I got the Iphone 4. Want me to give youa review? --Well it's just kind of like any other phone. Before when I didn't have one, I was head over heels about getting one as soon as I could because everyone had one and they could do so many different things with it got me so excited! Finally, now that I got one, it's ehhhh, alright. Or maybe I just haven't "broken" into it yet. I downloaded a few apps and one or two game apps but it still hasn't satisfied me just yet. I did download a video editing app so I will test that out soon! (Maybe)

BEAUTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY...

Lets have a beauty talk. What have you been into lately? And what are your favorites?? I've been going crazy with lipsticks, blush/bronzers and skin care lately! Quite crazy at how much I've been spending. (Which is not good, not at all good) Anyway, I've also been buying bags from Myglam and I'm not as happy as I thought I would be. The first few bags were quite the amusement but the last two bags have been going downhill... But I will continue to stay with them until I feel that I can no longer afford spending $10 a month for samples that aren't doing me justice. I purchased a Conscious Box which are organic products ranging from food to skin care and etc... Which I think is really exciting and I've heard some great reviews about it! So I'm waiting for my first box to come which will be in April. I purchased monthly samples from Sindulge as well and guess what.... YOU GET A FREE 15 MINUTES CONSULTATION with a Beauty expert on samples you would like or questions you have and they will help you out with almost anything you need to know about the beauty world. Which is sweet! Today, I consulted with Christina and she is a doll; very sweet and helpful and she said that she will try to send me as many samples as she can. (most of my questions were about skincare because I have a lot of acne scars that I want to get rid of) Have any of you tried Beautyarmy yet? I also heard great results about them and want to try it out but they're out of bags so hopefully I will be able to get into it SOON! Lastly but not least, I am so in love with The Little Black Bag, that is most amazing thing that any beauty queen could wish for. If you're a fashionista out there, you will LOVE this website! For $50 a month, you get 3 (or maybe more?) items shipped to you. You choose one item and the stylists will choose 2-3 items for your bag. You can trade the items you don't like for other items by making an offer with another customer. I just purchased another bag and within that bag, the items that I got were well worth over $122 but I got it for $50 plus shipping so I practically saved about $67. I got a really cute satchel, a necklace and a lipgloss (that I was so satisfied with but it's okay, I can give it away) hehe

Well, that's it for now. Till next time beauties...

XOXO -Mai Yia

Hmong I am... Or Hmong I refuse to be.

So tonight I cam across a blogger and I was read her blogs and it hit me. "Omgoodness, she's HMONG and she's writing about everyday things." I have no clue why but I found it pretty amazing. She talked about how she had went through a phase of not wanting to be Hmong and what not. I don't blame her, I went through that phase as well. I'm not sure if it's what other ethnics call us or if it's the "Hmong Politics" that makes me not want to be Hmong.

We are different, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy different. We don't have a country but that doesn't mean we don't know anything. I say we're pretty darn smart to be able to survive all of these years expecially with everything that we've gone through. Like the elders would say, "Nyob luag ntuj yug luag txuj, nyob luag teb yug luag ci." TRANSLATED: You live in their world act like them, you live in their land you gain knowledge like them.

I admit, even though I was born and raised here in the U.S. I was still living in two totally different worlds. At home I spoke Hmong, ate Hmong food and watched Hmong films. As soon as I stepped out of the house, it was another world. Every where you go, you have to speak english, eat american food and watch american films. Life was hard especially when my parents didn't know any english but they progressed over the years and learned to somewhat like american food. I remember when we were younger, my dad would buy grape soda and lady finger cookies as a treat for us (Although it was mostly for himself). So much has changed since my parents and older siblings have immigrated to the States.

Btw, I miss my dad. Not a day has gone by with out me thinking of him and how life would be like with him still here. I love and miss you daddy. I trust that even though you won't be able to read this, you're up above looking down at us and smiling. <3 <3 <3

Missing in action...

I am home! Well I've been home for a good month now and so much has happened since I've been home. First, lets recap on my trip to Laos. Long story short, IT WAS FUN! Lets scratch out the parts where some people are still really traditional when it comes to marriage and they take things seriously and I got got married. I ran, literally ran for my life in the dark. Remember, I was in a country that I was not familiar with nor do I even know how to speak the language. How did I even survive? I HAVE NO IDEA! Anyway, I had fun meeting most of my relatives including my half brothers. Took lots of pictures (that I posted on my facebook), that I wanted to show my dad. I was super sad when leaving but also super excited to come back home. I missed my dad so much, you had no idea! More than my boyfriend, isn't that weird?! -No not really...

As soon as I got home, I woke up my dad and gave him a big bear hug!! Daddy's not-so-little girl is home from a long trip... I was really happy to see him and i'm sure he was happy to see me too...

...UNFORTUNATELY after our hug, he held my hand and said the worst things a daughter would want to hear... Death... And a few days later daddy pasted.. I miss him dearly but like the elders would say, "You may shed as many tears as you want but that person will not return". (Translate it into Hmong, it sounds so much better) I've learned to accept his death but everyday I wake up to an empty house. You look around and see everyone else sitting around but dad is no where to be found. Missing in action? I wish!!

May you rest in peace Daddy; Vang Meng Vue.

Kuv txiv, koj yog tug zoo tshaj, tsis muaj leej twg yuav lo pauv tau koj. Kuv yuav nco nthsoo koj tus txhiaj tshig mus tag ib txhiab ib txhis. Thov kom koj mus dawb mus huv, hma tsis dawm tes, hluab tsis dawm taw. Koj mus vaj ua tsev tos kuv niam peb, ib hnub twg peb mam li rov los nrog koj nyob ua koj me tub me nyuam. Kuv hlub koj. <3 <3 <3 Forever you'll be remembered.

-Mai Yia

OH-MY-YEAH!! I QUIT?!

How many times do you say "I quit!" before you really give up? Let me think about this one because I say it quite often but I haven't really given up just yet. (At least that's what I like to think) It all started (Kinda sorta) a couple days ago when my mom had decided to nag me about packing for our trip. BTW, I leave for Laos in about 3 days... Anyway, I packed my carry-on and OH-MY-YEAH!! I over packed therefore i unpacked everything. Took out a few items here and there, repacked and there you go, again, over packed. I literally went through this process for about 3 hours and finally shouted I QUIT! I really didn't though because if I did, I would not hear the end of it from my mother. Just so you know, I left everything in the luggage and walked away.

Today, about a couple days later, I decided to go back and pack since my trip is only three days away... (And fyi, my mother already has 6 FULLY PACKED luggage including her carry-on done) I packed and packed and went down my checklist.. Here comes the complicated part.
Every girl who loves make-up do not travel empty handed. AND you never travel out of the country without your pads/tampons, at least I don't. Lets get to the point here, I was being smart so I put my make-up in my make-up bag and my tampons along with pad liners in my zip-lock bag. I brought it downstairs and my other laughs at me. I am more then confused to why she bursts out laughing, look at myself and the stuff I'm holding and realize I needed to switch them around. My mother doesn't even know english but she knows what is suppose to go where and why it's there. So After all of this, I QUIT! Whether I brought enough clothes, make-up, or goodies I'm calling it quits. I'm leaving it at that. =]

Was that boring? I talk a lot, and I might've even talked in 3rd person, who knows right? Like you're even paying attention. Just kidding.


Goodnight world!
-Mai Yia

The miracle of 'Matte'

Fall is just around the corner, beauties do you have matte nail polishes in your collection? -I have NONE!

Last week I was thinking and I really wanted matte polishes but I didn't want to buy another set of so many polishes for who knows how much $$$... I was on my beautylish account and read the article about Matte nails and how they're in season, btw, it SAVED my butt-ox loads of money. MATTE TOP COAT! -It's my new best friend. I'm so into beauty and everything but where have I been 'cause I certainly didn't know about this until about 2 weeks ago.

A lot of nail polish brands are making their own Matte Top Coat (London Butter, China Glaze, Essie, Hardcandy & etc...) I ordered 2 from China Glaze (which is not here yet) . Yes, 2! Just because I know I'll be using it pretty often this fall/winter. I have so many colors I want to try out. I didn't know that Essie and Hardcandy made one until AFTER I ordered from China Glaze so I made a trip to my local Walmart and purchased Hard Candy Matte Top Coat, came home and immediately tried it out.

I couldn't believe how fast it dried and how fast it turned from gloss/shiny/shimmer to MATTE! I was literally jumping up and down. For those of you that don't know, they are just like any other top coat (apply on top of polish) except this ones dries really quick. But remember you can't use a fast drying serum for it or else the matte goes away; Defeats the purchase of having matter nails.

Anyways, go try it out and let me know how you like it! Even if you try out a didn't brand, I still want to know. (I'll update after I receive my other ones from CG. I might even have a favorite)

XOXO,
Mai Yia

GIVEAWAYS...

Don't you just love giveaways? I DO!! Always enter even if you don't think you'll win... Maybe luck just might be on your side and you'll get something nice! I've always entered but never got anything, doesn't hurt to try, right?? Want to enter one now?

Here's a giveaway happening RIGHT NOW until the end of August therefore hurry up and enter now. Here's the link for more information.

http://www.dgsbeauty.com/2011/07/dgsbeautys-summer-giveaway.html

ENJOY and lmk if you entered or won! (BTW, I'm entering as well)

XOXO,

Mai Yia