Bauble Bar Necklace

I received my first piece of Bauble Bar jewelry for Christmas (Green Dew Drop Bib – $32) and I absolutely love it! I’d been wanting something from Bauble Bar for a long time. The jewelry is trendy, but affordable and the quality is quite nice. You get 10 points for each $10 spent which you can save up for free jewelry! Plus, the packaging is adorable and FREE SHIPPING. Who doesn’t love free shipping?

Here’s the necklace on (I love how substantial it is + the color is gorgeous):

PlayStation 1 Games I Wish I Hadn’t Sold

This is all that’s left of my PS1 Game Collection

Over Christmas break I have been hit my this huge wave of PlayStation 1 nostalgia. PlayStation 1 is my all time favorite game console. It definitely marked one of my best Christmases ever (along with the previous Sega Genesis Christmas). Plus, it had so many really great games. Unfortunately, I sold pretty much my whole game collection, because I love money too! All that’s left of my collection is one lonely copy of Darkstalkers still in the original HUGE box. The craziness of the box and memories of really really old PS1 games made me keep this one in particular. Games I wish I still had though and potentially want to repurchase:

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo: Seriously one of my all time favorite games. I love puzzle and fighting games and this was the perfect combo. It’s especially fun to play with friends. I have the downloaded HD version but it’s not the same 😦 There’s no quest mode in the re-release (I need to be on a quest unlocking random art and terrible Japanese pop songs!!). I sold this game because it never worked on my PS2 for some reason which was a huge bummer. Otherwise I would have kept it.

Resident Evil 1: The start of the amazingness and awfulness that defines the Resident Evil series. PS1 times were generally good for RE (RE1-3), but I did have Survivor and it was THE WORST). RE1 was so scary at the time and I loved the puzzles. Even in 2012 sometimes I want to wander around that big mansion shooting zombies and finding crests. Also, the live action opening sequence was pretty great.

Parappa the Rapper: I never really got into the whole DDR craze, but I really loved the original dance and rhythm games like Parappa, Um Jammer Lammy, and Bust a Groove. The paper animation style was so cute and unique too. I still remember some of the songs….which is totally not embarrassing at all, right?

Clock Tower 2: I bought a used copy of this game from Blockbuster Video for $5 way back when (apparently no one else liked it). It was worth every penny! It was frightening and frustrating. The first stage in the traditional Japanese home was especially great (omg, the samurai armor is coming to life!!!). I had to play it over and over and over so I could finally get the good ending where I wasn’t stabbed or chopped up.

Galerians: This game had some of the best cut scenes and a really engrossing story (one of those you don’t know who you are etc…. but you have bad ass telekinetic powers and need to escape/find someone). I knew it would have good cut scenes because the game was on many many discs. The fact that I don’t remember all the details of the story makes me want to play again even more!

There’s actually a lot more games I wish I hadn’t sold, but this is probably a good place to stop. Are you bored yet? 🙂 Moral of the story, don’t sell your games unless you are absolutely sure you won’t want to play them 10+ years later.

Christmas 2012!

The most perfect gifts!

Christmas 2012 was a good one (as usual). There was a lot of good food, fun moments with family, and thoughtful gifts of course! The picture above is all the wonderful gifts from my in-laws, they sum me up SO perfectly. Beauty products, a PS3 game (Persona fighting game!!), a gorgeous dream necklace, and stats related books; it was a most excellent Christmas 🙂 I already painted my nails, but I especially can’t wait to play my new game and learn more R tricks.

Black Friday Dress in Action!

I got to wear one of my Black Friday Modcloth.com purchases yesterday for a party! The dress? It’s the Looking Like a Million Dress in Violet!

I’m not quite sure I looked like a million, but I definitely like the dress. A deep purple is a great color for the holidays. My biggest problem with the dress was the flimsy ribbon ‘belt’ it came with (basically just a piece of ribbon). I can’t tie nice bows…at all… so I used my own belt which worked pretty well.

For $40 this dress is a nice addition to any closet.

 

 

My Best and Worst Movies of 2012

There were a lot of great movies in 2012, but also some seriously terrible ones. Here’s a list of my picks (and ones to avoid):

A Few of My True Favorites:

• Moonrise Kingdom: I love Wes Anderson movies and this one is particularly sweet. It had a great story and lots of nice visual Wes Anderson flair. Also, I was in Girl Scouts for many years so I liked the whole Boy Scout premise.
• Jeff Who Lives At Home: Really funny and offbeat. I have a soft spot for Jason Segal even though he plays pretty much the same character in every TV show or movie he’s ever been in. The beginning scene about the Porsche is priceless.
• The Dark Knight Rises: I love Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies and this was a great way to end the trilogy. I’ll admit some of it was not so great: Bane’s sometimes garbled speech and the whole fixing your broken back in prison thing; however, Anne H. was amazing as Catwoman and the cinematography was amazing as usual. The pros definitely outweigh the cons on this one.
• Looper: Super solid sci-fi flick with a lot of interesting concepts. This is also seriously the only time I have liked Emily Blunt in a movie (she’s not British or snobby in this one). The China flashbacks with Bruce Willis were soooo good.
• Goon: It’s a hockey movie with Seann William Scott. It’s weird, violent, hilarious and takes place in Canada. I really liked it.

Movies I Wanted to Like, but Didn’t:

• The Grey: The Grey takes place in Alaska and features Liam Neeson vs. an evil wolf pack (so wolves don’t actually take on packs of humans… at least to my knowledge). There was so much wrong with the Alaska stuff I couldn’t focus on the rest of the movie.
• Tree of Life: This actually came out in 2011, but I saw it in 2012 (so it counts)… The movie is so beautifully made, but just feels so pretentious. The story isn’t really a story at all, but rather a collection of random scenes. Also, just when I was getting into it a little the ending shut me out again.

Movies to Avoid at All Costs (unless you’re like me who watches all movies no matter what):

• Battleship: How bad is Battleship you ask? Really bad, like super super SUPER bad. I would easily put it in the top 10 worst movies of all time next to Battlefield Earth and Glitter. The story is incredibly dumb, the acting is bad, and it features some of the most uncreative aliens designs in the business. Too much badness to list.
• Dark Shadows: This one is especially bad, because I like Tim Burton and most of his movies. However, this was pretty much a train wreck from start to finish. It’s painfully unfunny. Also, I’m getting tired of movies about vampires where everyone ends up being a supernatural creature…. can’t we just stick to the vampires?
• The Raven: I thought this could actually be OK (I like Edgar Allan Poe and murder mysteries), but I got so fed up I turned it off half-way through (and I watched Battleship..so yeah). The dialog was more 2000s than 1800s and Cusack was a really bad Poe. Like a stereotypical horror film, every mistake in the book is made.

I’m looking forward to adding more to my list once I watch more great and terrible 2012 movies 😀

Street Fighter x Sanrio Fight Stick has Arrived!

Whether you know it or not, I like a lot of things. Some of my favorite things are:

• Sanrio characters (especially Hello Kitty)
• The color pink
• Fighting games
• Street Fighter

So when Mad Catz came out with a Sanrio Street Fighter  fight stick (IN HOT PINK) I knew I had to get one. Seriously, this is all the things I love….in one really cool fight stick. Lucky for me I didn’t already own a fight stick so I had the perfect excuse to buy one. Also, they only made 500. I am now in an elite Sanrio Street Fighter themed club.

Anyways, it arrived today and the unboxing was simply magical! The box quality and artwork are awesome. The fight stick itself looks gorgeous as well. Take a look for yourself…

I’m hoping this will bring my Street Fighter 4 game to a whole new level (and my Sanrio collection)!!!

Karen Millen Dress (Ready to Party) !

Remember my post about the Karen Millen dress I bought awhile ago? Well I finally got to wear it for the first time at my company holiday party. You can see it above along with my wonderful husband. It ended up looking amazing and was perfect for a nautical themed party. It also got a lot of nice compliments 😉 The only problem now? I really want to buy more Karen Millen dresses!