Suzy Balian - Monster (Original Song) on YouTube

A few years ago, I had a horrible part-time job. I had a supervisor who was very rude and disrespectful to me. At that time in my life, I was writing songs left and right. I was so frustrated at this job and with my supervisor that I came home and started writing a song. That song became one of my favorite songs that I've written called "Monster." 

I will admit that I haven't written any songs lately and I feel so guilty. I have so many emotions bottled up that I know would make for amazing songs. I hope to get back into writing again. Hope you enjoy my YouTube video!

Watch Video on YouTube

Red Lips for 4th of July

I did a bold red lip look for the 4th of July. It's my favorite time of year! I love the warm weather, pool parties, barbecues, and of course...fireworks! My birthday also falls during this time so of course I love it! Check out a few of the products I used to create this look.

Product Details:

Lips: Sephora lip liner in "Pleasant Plum" and Mac "Ruby Woo" lipstick. I love this combination! It gave a very bright matte look to my lips.

Eyes: Urban Decay "Black Market" eyeliner on top, NYX "Silver Shimmer" eyeliner on the bottom and L'Oreal "Voluminous False Fiber Lashes" mascara

Bronzer: Arbonne

Nails: Sally Hansen Velvet Texture polish in "Lavish 670"

Yellow, Gold and Black Accessories for the Weekend

The sun finally came out this weekend! I decided to bronze it up a bit and wear some yellow, gold and black. I bought my yellow heels years ago but never wore them. It was one of those "Hey, those are cute! I'll buy them but probably never wear them" moments. Well, I finally wore them this weekend and they were super comfortable! Check out a few more pictures of my makeup and accessories worn for the day.

Dress: BCBGeneration

Necklace: Swarovski. This necklace is a rose gold heart and came with a small silver heart that you can insert inside the necklace. I gave the small silver one to my niece as her birthday present and also since it was her baptism and I was chosen to be one of her godmothers. This necklace is really special to me and I feel honored to have given the silver necklace to my niece as a way to make us stay connected.

Purse: Gucci

Watch: Michael Kors

Shoes: Bakers

Work Outfits: Black and Gray

1) Left:

• Black and white jacket: H&M. This is my favorite piece from the entire outfit. The jacket is really comfortable and stretchy.

2) Middle:

• Top: Cache. I used to work there a few years back so my closet is full of Cache items from back in the day. I'm sad to hear the stores have closed.

3) Right:

• Top: Zara. The top is a three quarter sleeve with ruffles at the shoulders. 

Maroon 5: Pit Tickets at the Forum

Last night, April 4th, 2015, I got to experience one of the most amazing nights ever. I saw Maroon 5 play at the Forum in Inglewood, California. I have been in the Maroon 5 fan club for over 10 years now - 10 years! Since then, I have seen them on pretty much every single one of their tours. I was able to get fan club presale tickets to the pit a few months ago, and since then, I have been counting down the days to last night's show. I made sure to get there super early and I am telling you, the long wait was worth every single minute. 

The first time I heard a few snippets from "Songs About Jane," I fell in love with their sound immediately. Their music was exactly the style of music that I would write back in the day. I am so glad I decided to join their fan club years ago and I know I will be a loyal fan for life.

I made sure to put my phone away for most of the night and just savor every single moment. Moments like this don't happen all the time and I had to take a deep breath and soak it all in. I live for nights like this...great seats to see a band I love and backstage passes (one day!!). I truly had the time of my life and I would not have traded that moment for anything!

Works Outfits: Beige and Green

I like to dress business casual at work during the week. Half the time I find shirts or cardigans in my closet that I never even remembered I had. I've decided to capture some pictures of a few of my outfits. I remember where I bought most of the items I'm wearing.

1) Left: 

• White blazer with light brown stripes: Forever 21. I had bought this years ago and always told myself, "I'll wear it one day!" Well, I decided to finally wear it this week.
• Brown boots: Fashion Q. Not the most comfortable boots, but they're perfect for the office since I don't have to walk too much. Although I should!
• Ring: Forever 21

2) Middle: 

• Beige Blazer: Fashion Q. Can you tell I love Fashion Q? I like to buy basic items from there since they're so affordable and lightweight.
• Shirt: Fashion Q
• Necklace: Charlotte Russe
• Ring: Forever 21
• Shoes: Bakers. I bought these a really long time ago. Unfortunately, Bakers is closed now so I can't buy shoes from there anymore. My wardrobe is full of Bakers shoes. Come back Bakers!

3) Right:

• Green cardigan: T.J. Maxx. Affordable and very comfortable!
• Shoes: I don't remember exactly where I bought them but I know for a fact they were either from Love D or Reflection.

Wedding Glam: Goddess Inspired Gold and Black Makeup

I went to a wedding last night and wore my goddess styled gold necklace from Cebu. I wore a red dress and wanted to keep my eyeshadow looking smokey yet neutral. Anytime I want to pull of a look like that, I always keep the inner crease color neutral with a bit of shimmer, which is why I decided to use gold in the inner crease and of course black to make the smokey look. I took a few sets of pictures to capture my look. I used flash on my camera in one set of pictures and turned off the flash in another set.

Here are my pictures with natural sunlight:

Here are my pictures with flash:

*I didn't use any filters or apps to edit the pictures.

Products used:

Bronzer: Arbonne Bronzer

Lips:  Mac Prep + Primer, Prestige Lipliner in "Sand," NYX Matte Lipstick in "Couture." I LOVE NYX matte lipsticks! Although some of their matte colors may be really nude, they come off really strong on the lips - thus preventing me from having to use a bunch of other lipsticks to get the color I want!

Eyebrows: Sephora Retractable Brow Pencil in "Midnight Brown." I went to Sephora a few weeks ago to buy Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyebrow Pencil but Sephora was out of the color I needed. They showed me their brand's eyebrow pencil and I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did! It's very easy to use and it stays on all night.

Eyelashes: Maybelline Falsies Big Eyes Mascara. This is the one with the purple tube and it has a separate mascara wand for upper lashes and also for lower lashes. I think mascara works best when you've used it for a while. I've had this for a few weeks and now I can really see the full dramatic effect when using it.

Eyes: 

• NYX Black eyeliner (I've been using this brand for YEARS), and I've seen the price go up every so often throughout the years. Where is that $.99 eyeliner I used to love so much?! Now we're at $2.50. Loyal fan - always and forever.
• Mac eyeshadow "Cosmic" gold color used in inner crease and "Beauty Marked" used for outer crease to make the smokey black look as well as to line my bottom lids. I also combined "Mirage Cosmetics" black eyeshadow to make the smokey look. I feel like I have to pour on the Cosmic gold eyeshadow to make it pop. I have yet to find a really good old eyeshadow that shines nice and bright on my lids.

Face: NYC "Naturally Beige" pressed face powder. I've also been using it for years and it's under $5! I also used an ivory face highlighter from "Chella" to highlight parts of my face. I received this through my monthly Ipsy subscription and I really like it!

Neklace: Cebu

There you have it! My goddess gold and black inspired wedding look. 

Face Products: Time to Glow!

Over the past few weeks, I've bought a few different sets of skincare and facial products. They all have something in common...orange packaging! To me, that represents a product that has Vitamin C and will leave you with healthy and glowing skin. The brands I bought were: Arbonne, Ole Henriksen, and the Body Shop.

                             

• This is the Arbonne RE9 anti-aging set. This has a day creme (not pictured because I already finished it), regenerating toner, intensive renewal serum, smoothing facial cleanser, and corrective eye creme. This set is very effective and it has made my skin look more mature. I feel like it has really improved the quality of my skin. To top it off, this is an anti-aging set, so you get to have great skin while preventing wrinkles!

• This is an Ole Henriksen set I bought for a really good deal from Sephora during the holidays. There was no way I was passing this up! This set includes the brightening cleansing cloths, african red tea foaming cleanser, pure truth youth activating oil, sheer transformation, brightening night treatment, truth serum collagen booster. I love the way all the products in this set smell and feel on my skin. Most of these products are more on the oilier side but that's what makes my skin feel really smooth and gives it that glow and shine after I've applied the product.

• This is the Vitamin C set from the Body Shop. The products all smell so good! The set includes the facial cleansing polish, energizing face spritz (I use this at work and spritz my face during the middle of the day and it immediately gives me an instant glow!), and the vitamin c skin boost. This set helps exfoliate my skin while giving it a nice glow.

There you have it. I'm addicted to products that make my skin glow! I know you're wondering, why do I have all of these different skincare sets? The truth is, I'm addicted to skincare and I just can't choose one set! I feel like I have to try them all because there are so many out there. I always use one set at a time for a few weeks to not irritate my skin.

What other recommendations do you have for skincare products?

Cabo for the Weekend

After a long and tiring week, I packed my bags and headed to Cabo for the weekend with some friends. It was nice to get on the plane for 2 and a half hours and get out of the county for a few days. I had never been to Cabo. We stayed at Hacienda Encantada and it was such a beautiful resort! I recommend it to everyone. The resort was very modern, and the views of the ocean and the sunset from the hotel were amazing. Check out some of my pictures!