*~kAy~*'s Kitchen: Easy Sheperd's Pie

Sheperd's Pie is an English dish that is usually made with lamb or mutton but I used beef. It is basically a casserole that consists of meat (and vegetables) covered with a layer of mashed potatoes.

If this sounds like something you might like to eat, read on further to see how I make it :P

1. Start by boiling peeled and cut potatoes(2 large/3medium sized)  in salt water until they get soft (approx. 20 minutes).

2. While you are waiting for the potatoes to boil, cook your ground beef. I used about 1lb of ground beef. You can start by sauteing onions in butter/oil and if you want to add carrots, this would be a good time to do it as well. I usually like to add carrots but I didn't have any at home (so just pretend there are carrots in mine :P). Add and saute the ground beef into the onions until the meat is no longer pink. You can add peas and corn as well. Season to your liking (with salt, pepper, worcesterchire sauce, etc). You can also add beef broth to keep the meat moist if you like.

3. The potatoes should be done by then. Mash the potato and season to taste. I like to also add a bit of butter and cheddar cheese. :P

4. Line a baking dish with the cooked ground beef and vegetables.

All ready for the potato to be topped on!

5. Spread the mashed potato evenly on top of the meat.

You can use a fork (or the same spoon I used to scoop the potato in my case... I didn't want to dirty a fork) and form peaks in the potato so that it can brown nicely.

6. Cook in oven at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes (until it is brown and bubbling).

This is how mine turned out :P

This serves about 3-4 people.

How did does it look? :)
Do you have your own way of making Sheperd's Pie? Please share!

Hello Kitty Christmas Gifts

Hi! :)
Hope everybody had a fun Christmas! :)
I got to spend my winter holidays eating good food, playing games, and spending quality time with the people I love.
I had to wrap tons of gifts this year but I also got to unwrap some too :)

I just wanted to share a few gifts I got for Christmas. I guess I will start by showing you some Hello Kitty stuff I got :)

(Hello Kitty Key Chain)

(With Nightlight)                   

I also got this Hello Kitty Humidifier (Click here for link) and its so cute! The mist comes out of her ears :P I love it :)  Its very quiet and I like how you can have different levels just by turning the flower knob :) This will make me sleep better at night.

That's it for now. I'll show you more in the next post! :)

What did you guys get for Christmas? :) Please share!

Merry Christmas Everybody! <3

Merry Christmas Glitters

Crafty K: DIY hacky sack (footbag)!

My sister had wanted a hacky sack and since I was making it, I just wanted to share :) Hacky sacks can be great stocking stuffers since Christmas is right around the corner ;)

I started out by printing out a template (rounded triangle) on card-stock paper (I printed different sizes just in case). This will be one of the four sections of your hacky sack.

I cut out my template and traced it four times onto some felt-fabric.

 

Cut it.

 

Then I sewed the four pieces like this :) I love this diagram (got it from here). More details on how to sew this can be found at that same link.

Hacky sacks can be filled up using many things but I used white sand and filled it up through the one side of the triangle I did not sew.

Blind stitch the last section of the hacky sack and voila! You're done! How do you think I did? :P
These were pretty fun to make and I was surprised at how short of a time it took to make each one. These are so addicting I might try making ones with more panels :p

b.liv by Cellnique Product Review and "Off with your heads" Sample Giveaway!

I was provided with some skincare products from Selina called "b.liv" (pronounced "believe") by cellnique to
write a review.

These are the products that I received (You can get all of these at the b.liv website):

And this table shows the recommended skincare routine to follow:

Steps	Type	AM	PM
1	Cleanser	Squeaky Clean	Squeaky Clean
2	Serum	Off with those heads	Off with those heads
3	Serum	Shrink and Tighten +	Shrink and Tighten +
4	Moisturizer	Quench Me / own moisturizer	Quench Me
5	Sun Block	Shield Me	-
6	Mask	-	Glow and Shine and followed by Leach Me (once a week)

The above is a picture of:
Step 1: Squeaky Clean cleansing gel (Click link for product details).
This is a sample size so the full-sized packaging does not look like this. The main functions are supposed to cleanse, exfoliate, and control oil.
This product did a good job of cleansing my face. It has tiny beads and so it also was pretty good at exfoliating as well. I usually have combination skin (Oily T-Zone and dry cheeks) and so it did keep my t-zone oil-free but it can leave your cheeks a bit dry if you don't wear moisturizer after.

Overall, this product does what it claims. It also really does leave your skin with a "squeaky-clean" feel.

Step 2: Off with those heads (Click on link for product details) 

This is their full-size product. I think the packaging is pretty nice. Comes with a clear sleeve to cover the sleek metallic box.

This serum comes in a bottle that has a pump to dispense the product. Awesome way to keep skincare products hygienic. It has sort of a pleasant herbal-scent to it. As you can see in the picture above, the product is a clear gel and I'm usually worried it might make my skin feel sticky. But I was pleasantly surprised to feel the product absorb into my skin very fast leaving no residue. It didn't even feel like I had anything on my skin at all.
The directions say that you can apply up to 2-3 pumps but I found 1 pump to be plenty enough to cover my t-zone/areas with black and whiteheads.

One of the product precautions is that more oil may be secreted during initial period and that's what happened with my skin. Not a big problem. I just use facial blotters.
It cautions that sensitive skin may feel mild stinging. Fortunately, I did not experience any stinging.

I have used it for about 2 weeks already and I actually like it. It is a pretty good product. But if you want to see for yourself, b.liv  is generously giving away "Off with your heads" samples to the first 50 people that email them (Scroll to the bottom of this post for details).


Step 3: Shrink & Tighten (Click for product details).

Again... nice sleek packaging...

I liked the way it was packaged. Looks like nothing can leak out.
The tip is a rubbery-plastic-like tube that you put over the glass bottle after removing the metal part. This serum has more of a liquid consistency compared to "Off with your heads". It smells a bit similar to "Off with your heads" but a little more stronger. It is supposed to reduce large pores, firm and brighten the skin.

Once I applied this onto my skin, it gave a slight heating sensation which I thought was pretty awesome. I felt like it was melting all the gunk out of my pores or something :P
I thought the serum would leave my face oily since it felt like it on my fingers but it actually absorbed into my skin really well.

Step 4: Quence Me/ Own moisturizer
As for this step, I just used my own moisturizer.

Step 5: Shield Me (Click link for product details).

I got to try a sample size :) I don't usually like to wear sunblock because they have that typical nasty scent but this one was pretty nice. It was light-weight and it smelled nice. I can wear it over moisturizer and not feel like its too heavy.

Step 6: Glow and Shine Mask (click link for product details).

This stuff is AMAZING!!! I got to try their sample size and I really  need to get myself a full size bottle! This mask has a pretty rich and thick texture.. it also has tiny beads in it. Feels great on the skin. When I washed this mask off, I immediately felt AND saw a difference! My skin felt softer and smoother. It also gave my cheeks a pink flush of color!

Step 6: Leach me (click link for product details)

Nice packaging...

Face masks! :) "Leach me" claims to moisturize and it did. I had tried a drying mask that same day and it made my skin so dry it started to flake... eew...
"leach me" mask was drenched in so much product. You can literally see excess serum dripping from it. It is good for those who like to pat excess serum onto the neck as well :)
What can I say... face masks are always relaxing :) I left it on for about 20-30 minutes and it got rid of all the flaky skin. I did not use moisturizer after wearing this mask because my skin felt moisturized enough.
I still felt like there was serum on my face though. Maybe there was a lot of serum for my skin to fully absorb and I just needed to rub the excess in a bit more. I put on some mineral foundation on top of it and I was good to go though.

HOW TO RECEIVE A FREE B.LIV "OFF WITH YOUR HEADS" SAMPLE:

-Send an email to: fbfreesample@blivskin.com 

With the Subject: "gurlythings"

Provide them with your mailing details and the first 50 people will receive a sample! :)

Special thanks to b.liv for hosting this sample giveaway!

The b.liv skincare website is also having their latest NEWBIE PROMOTION (Buy 1, Free 1):

BUY	Amount (USD)	FREE
Off with those heads, 30ml or 45ml	49 or 63	Squeaky Clean (120ml, worth USD25)
Shrink and Tigthen +	49	Shrink and Tighten (20ml, worth USD49)
Kick Spots Out	32	Spots Got Shot (15ml, worth USD25)
Submerge Me	49	Drench Me (120ml, worth USD25)

So if you want to take advantage of their deals, you can head on over to their website:

www.blivskin.com

You can also check out their facebook fan page and see reviews from other bloggers (even male bloggers have reviews on these products :P):

www.facebook.com/blivskin

Tri-Color: Grey (CM-901) Lenses

I went to the fair not too long ago and this is me and the baby-lion toy my bf won for me :) A few of you had asked me for pictures of how the Tri-color lenses in Grey (CM-901) looked on me from my other post and I finally get to show them to you. I got these from Geo Eye Candy by the way. It is quite comfortable to wear actually.

Here's a close up without flash:

Here's one with flash:

I like the color :) I think it looks pretty subtle...What do you think?

Hope you all are ready to enjoy your weekend! :) Anybody doing anything fun?

Tagged for Seven Green Items

Asami (Nails by Asami) tagged me! :) Asami is so creative. She always has so many creative nail designs and tutorials to share on her blog. Thanks for the tag!

So I'm supposed to find seven green (color picked by Asami-tagger) items and explain why I chose them :) How fun!

1. Jade Bracelet. One of my hobbies is crafting :) I've recently been really into fancy/Chinese knots ;)

2. Green lunch box. I usually get grumpy when I'm hungry so this is pretty useful for me (and others around me). I have this exact lunch set in green :)

 (Picture credit: here)

3.Green Glitter! This was a gift from my friend :) Extra sparkles are always nice to have :)
4. I also like Tinkerbelle... Does she count? :P

5. Green Tea! I'm up to trying anything that is green-tea flavored (drinks, ice-cream, mochi, etc.). Tasty.

6. I like this "Cucumber Melon" Scent from Bath and Body Works. Most of the scents I wear always have some sort of fruity smell to them :)

7. I don't own very many green-colored items so this is the last item I'm going to include :P My very first pair of pliers :) Guess it counts because it has green handles :)

Okay, so I guess it is my turn to choose the color and seven other friends to tag! :)

The color I'm going to choose is ORANGE (especially since Halloween is coming up...) and the seven lovely bloggers I'm going to tag (in no particular order):

1. tiff at Big Hair Bigger Lashes

Love her outfits, hair, and makeup :) Such a nice person too :) Always gets back to you with every single question you ask her :)

2. Zoe at 13 December

She always has such nice artistic pictures. If you like Korean celebrities and are curious on what they have on their makeup tables, go see her latest post! Maybe you can spot something you use yourself? :P

3. Erika at A little bit of eki

Always so cute :) She has really nice detailed tutorials as well. Quite talented in crafting as well because she always makes such cute little pouches and hair accessories.

4. Layla at Eco Experiment

Very cool person. Inspires me to be more eco-friendly :) Reminds me to try to reuse and recycle things more :)

5. Nehs at Nehsai Loves N

I really love her Hello Kitty mask look! Sooo amazing!

6. Julie at Pop Champagne

I'm always up to date with celebrity gossip! I love reading her posts because they usually make me laugh :) Very creative too because she also makes cute hair accessories and jewelry too :)

7. Miss K. You

Good luck on midterms! :)

She's awesome because she buys products that don't test on animals! You can check out her blog about more information and videos on how animal testing is unnecessary and cruel.

She also gave me this award:

Thank you so much :)

NOTD: Yin & Yang ; Panda

Its been a while since I did a nail art post :P I still need to get me some acrylic paints and thin brushes that Asami recommended to me but I'll just share this design for now :P Sorry its kind of sloppy but I tried! :P

Here... I'll even share the right side of my nails :P I'm not very good at using my left hand to do nail art but I'm quite proud because the nail art on my right hand turned out pretty decent to me :P It took way too long though! :P

Haha! and I don't know why but I tried to paint little pandas onto my thumb :P They look so funny but I'll probably just keep them on my nails because it reminds me of the sneezing-panda video on youtube :P

I Can't Sleep...

So I decided to draw :P

Join to win LNA Zipper Leggings from ChicInTheTropics & ChicDowntown!

ChicInTheTropics just turned 23 today!  Happy Birthday!!!!
and to celebrate, she's having a giveaway! ChicInTheTropics paired up with ChicDowntown and they are giving away LNA Zipper Leggings! I hear its quite popular amongst the celebrities ;)

I love leggings! I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite leggings :)

These pictures where taken a while ago.. It gets pretty hot here and so the only time I get to wear a lot of leggings is during winter :P I usually like to wear a lot of shorts and skirts but they get too cold to wear in the winter sometimes so I pair them with leggings.

Sorry this picture's a bit blurry... but these are my ultimate favorite pair of leggings :P People have asked me if they could touch my leggings just because they look pretty unusual but the most frequent question I get asked is whether my legs were actually TATTOOED... Crazy! I wouldn't be able to stand that much pain! haha :P

So, if I had the LNA Zipper leggings, I would probably wear it with dresses, long tunics, mini skirts/shorts! :)

If you live in the U.S, don't forget to follow ChicInTheTropics and join her giveaway!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO...GIVEAWAY ENDS: OCTOBER 5, 2009 (10PM EST)!!!

Mario Badescu

I was browsing through the Mario Badescu website and and took their skin care consultation questionnaire (Take their questionnaire and after you are done, check your email because they will ask you if you want to try their samples for free. You do not need to buy anything. All you have to do is click on the link sent to your email to confirm that you want those samples).

The skin care quiz resulted in specific products recommended for my skin type.

I received their samples a few days ago and I just wanted to share what I got:

 Enzyme Cleansing Gel (more info here):

 

I really liked the Enzyme Cleansing Gel and so I bought the full size one. It is a non foaming cleanser and it doesn't leave your skin feeling all dry and flaky but it still gives that really clean feel. For some reason, I feel like the gel looks kinda sparkly :P

Glycolic Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion (more info here):

 

The product application guide recommends me to moisten a piece of cotton with a toner and rub in the directions shown above all over the face until the cotton comes up clean.

I felt like this kind of stings but its pretty tolerable... it makes me feel like its working :P haha!

Hydro-Moisturizer With Vitamin C (more info here):

 

 

This moisturizer was pretty good. Didn't feel oily. I think I can finish this whole sample in two uses :P

Hyaluronic Eye Cream (more info here):

 

I like this eye cream. Quite creamy... I think this will last many uses before its finished. I need so little of this and my eyes feel pretty moisturized.

The diagrams came from the product application guide :P

I also got some masks/srub samples:

Strawberry Face Scrub (more info here):

I loved this scrub the first time I tried it!!! It smells soooooo good! I thought it was nice how you can use the strawberry seeds to scrub your skin :P It didn't really feel like I was scrubbing anything at all but once I washed my face, I really did feel a difference. It left my face really smooth... like all the dead skin was buffed off or something... pretty nice stuff :)

Special Mask for Oily Skin (more info here):

I've got combination skin and sometimes my T-zone can get quite oily. You can really feel your pores tightening when you use this mask.

Healing & Soothing Mask (more info here):

This one felt pretty nice... it helped relieve the redness in my skin.

So far I'm liking these products. I really like how Mario Badescu has good sampling service as well because it is always nice to try things before committing to buying full size products.
Have you tried any of Mario Badescu products before? How did you like them?