Nice work on complimenting yourself

The Pretty One. 

"You need to start worrying about what you're dealing with." 

"I'm a pretty cool girl."

"I'm going to be more like me, to find out what that really means." 

Another film with Zoe Kazan. This is like 13 going on 30, but without the sparkles/ magic but rather more on sad note and closer to reality. 

This scene made me tear up. 

Sometimes when being compared to others, it is hard to find your personality, your own identity. Sometimes after a break up it is hard to be alone, hard to let go. 

But really, we all came into this world alone, but with family to guide us. Similarly, if we're alone, we have friends to hang out with us. 

It is really important to keep those friendships and not be totally dependent on that significant other. Friendship never ends, but I'm sure everybody can attest to this when I say that when a romantic relationship ends, even though they may have been a best friend to you, somehow the "ship" sinks a little and never recovers. 

I, for one do not believe in letting go of the friendship created between lovers but usually it is the other significant party that cannot deal with it. And this is true especially when there is trust issues and all that temptation nonsense which I feel if people were grounded in their moral values, they should have no problem with. 

Back to my short scribble of a movie review, overall, it is an easy watch with values to be learnt. A girl should be strong and confident about herself. Who cares what people think? Sometimes it is important to worry about yourself. Be nice to others and do not lie. 
There is quite a good music score and slightly cheesy love story but nonetheless, a good Tuesday movie for me. 

Rating: 3/5

You don't get to decide what I do

"Wanna bet?" 

Over the weekend, filtering through the "People who liked this also liked..." section in IMDB for the past few films I've seen, I came across Ruby Sparks which was given quite a high rating. 

The way I usually decide to watch a movie is the rating and the film poster. 
I didn't mind this one, so decided to give it a shot.

Written by Zoe Kazan, also starring herself, the first time I've seen her is in the movie What If with Daniel Radcliffe. I think she is very pretty and acted really well in this movie. 

This movie has an interesting storyline, which at times may seems slightly over the top, but when you immerse yourself in the movie, you start noticing the underlying themes being portrayed. What I got out of this, is that in a relationship, it is all about give or take as both parties are free souls, to make their own choices and decisions. 

If not, all you want is a relationship with yourself. 

If you let them be free, they might just come back to you. This saying, may be differently phased by others, but the meaning is oh, so true. 

Rated: 6.5/10

We love who we love. Sucks

I have really come to enjoy a quiet Friday night, with dinner and a movie at home. 

Tonight, my choice was Before We Go which is directed and produced by Chris Evans. Also starring himself. 

To be honest, I am slightly biased because being for someone who worked in New York for three months, every time I see a photo of New York or anything resembling the magical city, I like. 

So the following is me attempting to describe cinematography. Can't even spell that word without using spell check! To me, I relate the recording of this movie to more of an independent film, with the raw camera, out of focused and close profile shots. It also portrays a lot of the city skyline. On a side note, the opening and the way it is shot reminds me of "once" the movie. I did not finish that movie, but was able to finish this :)

Storyline wise, it is about a boy and a girl bumping into each other, with different circumstances but somehow having a real connection and ends up helping each other without even knowing it. I don't know if I entirely agree with what happens in between, but I do like how it ended. 

What I found different is that the movie tries to instill a sense of commitment. 

What most people think and most easily fall for: 
"It's possible that you could meet somebody who's perfect for you even though you're committed to somebody else."

What the correct attitude is: 
"No, no, see, I think if you're committed to somebody, you don't allow yourself to find perfection in someone else."

I believe the latter is very true but with the new age society, nobody thinks that anymore. People find it easy to stray from their marriages or couples that have been in a long term relationship (3 years) and suddenly have "crushes" on another or feels like there is no longer the "spark". 

Like anything, the spark diffuses but it is the commitment and love that lasts. 

I believe it is like buying a house, you can look and look and tell yourself you want the house and you want to look after it, but until you sign the dotted line and commit yourself (in buying a house it would be financially but in the case of relationship it is emotionally), you can always flake out.  

I have been flaked out twice so I am still hoping, trying not to be a cynic, that my commitment is somewhere out there. 

Anyway, with every good romance movie, comes a good indie soundtrack, which is one of my movie-must-haves as I usually focus more on the music than anything else. 

So I'll leave you with the soundtrack link below:
http://www.lyricsoundtrack.com/movies/before-we-go-soundtrack-list

Movie: 6 / 10

Look for the blue bits

Lighthearted, humorous and quirky dialogs.

There is nothing not to like about it.

Man up is a movie about timing, again. Meeting somebody, taking chances, Hope. 

"You're an emotional jigsaw puzzle at the moment but you're gonna piece yourself back together.
Start with the corners and look for the blue bits."

and 

"F*** the past" 

Also, it is set in London so now I really want to go there and I want stronger thighs. Sigh. 

Because I want you to be happy

Kiddo, I'm happy.

Trust me, dad, You're not.

I think I have watched this film three times, and it still brings a tear to my eye.
Love is all about timing and this movie really portrays it.

You could be with the love of your life, but if the timing wasn't right, if both of you were in different phases of life, your love would never work.

But if the timing is right, over the years, you never know what may or may not happen.

Definitely, Maybe.

The i"F" word

"It's very easy to be cynical about love until you've had that instant connection. If you're lucky, it happens once in a lifetime."

This movie will make those who are single feel even more singular. 
But what is great about it, is the script and the sarcasm. Love it! Also, I'm a sucker for a good alternative soundtrack. 

For those who have not experienced it, the instant connection is out there. The problem is making that connection last. 

If you feel like you have lost your "instant connection", count yourself lucky because you've felt it! and when you find another, you are probably really blessed. 
Relationship is 60% timing, 30% commitment and compromise, 5% attraction, 5% love. 
That is my love potion which I am still trying to get the concoction right. I included all the ingredients, but the equation did not make a 100%. 

"You don't realise how quickly everything can fall apart until it does, it makes you never want to give up anything good ever again."

"I should get back to adulthood"

If you're ever feeling down about aging, I suggest watching this lighthearted, rather philosophical film that was featured in the film festivals - Liberal Arts.

It has How I Met Your Mother star - Josh Radnor who also wrote and directed the movie.

I'm sure you can read the synopsis of the movie on IMDB so I won't say much here. In my opinion, this movie has subtle humour, good soundtrack, and very meaningful dialogs.

Listen closely and you will feel your heart warming.

"I think getting old can be really nice".

BOO - Halloween Art Deco

31st October - spooky. 

Growing up in Malaysia, Halloween was not a big thing at all. It was more like - what's halloween?

So even when I moved here, dressing up was not really my thing. Why waste money on a costume when I'm only going to wear it once and I can spend it elsewhere, like on food :p 

However I did throw the greatest party during my second year of uni with one of my best housemates, which was a Halloween party and Damnnnn.... it was good. We probably went so hard out, that I used up my Halloween quota for the rest of my life. There were dracula cookies, dirt cake, Photo walls, Red accent lights - all in one tiny apartment. Those were the good ol' days.

So few years later and still no dressing up. 

Instead, now I dress up my fingernails. I haven't bothered painting my nails because it has been getting ridges lately so I've wanted to air them. However, I've read somewhere that ridges are usually caused by some deficiencies and not so much nail polish, so to hell with it. Back on nail polish! 

I sometimes use an Essie base coat that helps with the ridges (fill the gap treatment), but today I couldn't be bothered as you have to let that dry and it just means thicker layers. So just normal OPI Natural Nail Base Coat.   

The colours I had were 

- OPI Alpine Snow (white)

- Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack? (black)

- Chinaglaze Starboard (green)

- Chinaglaze Passion (metallic gold)

- Chinaglaze Devotion (metallic silver)

- Jordana Pop Art design (black nail art striper) - if not a skinny art brush will work too and may even work better as the thinner your brush the more precision you get.  

Other tools I used was a dotting tool (if you don't have one, just use a bobby pin (that has the round bumpy end). 

If ever you're in America, you can buy nail polish and tools for less than $5 from Ebay. SO CHEAP! But in NZ, they are super expensive :( So I thankfully stocked up and never regretted it. Even though I don't even use it that often, it is there when you need it. However, given the poor exchange rate going on at the moment, it might not be that much of a difference buying online. 

For the nail art, I got the ideas off various sites when I typed halloween nail art. 

But my favourite easy DIY nail art link is: 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicaprobus/lazy-girl-nail-art-ideas-that-are-actually-easy

This is where I got the "how to" for the black and white nails (main colours)

Mix it all up and you get nice interesting dressed up nails for Halloween, with minimal free hand drawing since I'm not good at it. 

Frankenstein -
This was hand drawn using the black nail striper, very carefully. Eyes were done using the dotting tool, black then white. 

Ghost face - using the dotting tool
Shadow tree - hand drawn using the nail striper and eerie clouds was done using the dotting tool. 

Look, I'm not a pro and definitely not a nail art blogger. 
So if you have a stash of nail polish with approximately 2 hrs of time (including drying and cleaning errors), just give it a shot! Start with only one unique nail so that there is less "Artsy" bits. 

Who cares if you don't have perfect nails, or smooth cuticles, just start drawing and enjoy your work of art :) 

Also, for some reason, these nail polish usually only last 3 or 4 days before they start chipping away. I think it is the way I use my hands (lots of cooking and washing) but that also means, I can get rid of them and start thinking what my next fun nails should be :D 

Try it out guys and let me know how it went :D  

Have a BOO-tiful night everyone! 

It has been a while

The last time I blogged was probably 15 years ago when there were no smartphones, computers were  chunky and before anyone knew blogging could be a full time paying job. There goes another one of my life choices - missing out on being a cool blogger! 

However, life goes on and before you know it, technology has advanced immensely and my life, somehow feels weirdly stagnant. What I thought I would have achieved by the time I was twenty-six, I did not. 

But weary not! Because there is always a silver lining in everything. 

It is hard leaving home at twenty to another country only to make good friends who eventually leaves the country too. Leaving you to be a stranger again but this time in a familiar country. 

So, I'm always in search for ways to pass time, be it alone or with friends. 
In search for creativity in every activity while learning how to deal with being a singular entity in this very busy but lonely world.  

To begin...blogging would definitely be my new learning experience and hopefully pick up some HTML skills??? 

This blog will probably be filled with my thoughts, and what I have found useful in passing time. Usually it will be cooking, or some DIY work I have attempted. Hopefully the posts will find it's way to those who are feeling bored or lonely. No point wasting time feeling that way because there is Much to do. 

The sun is waiting to rise, and it waits for no one. So time to seize the days as it comes.