Golden Fall at Ingalls Creek

... or what we were up to this past weekend. Enjoy!







How was your weekend? Are you enjoying 'Golden Fall' where you live? Thanks for stopping by, lovelies! xxx

My weekend has mainly been spent...

(inspired by Loveaudrey)

- missing blogging!
- learning that our plans for moving back to Europe hadn't worked out for now, which also means we can settle down a bit more here in the US
- saying goodbye to my mother and sisters-in-law, who stayed with us for the past three weeks
- frantically cleaning up the house for a visit from our Zurich friends
- enjoying a Mocha followed by Cappuccino a couple of hours later to make up for the lost sleep
- exploring Seattle's Queen Anne bathed in sunshine while looking for Kerry Park, which we didn't finally go to
- discovering that making animal noises while playing dice definitely helps your luck
- being glad to have our bedroom back again
- making a huge batch of buckwheat pancakes with fruit for breakfast
- realizing my fitness level noticeably went up compared to 2 months ago when climbing Mount Tiger
- saying goodbye to our Zurich friends
- going out for a yummy Thai dinner with delicious fried rice
- going out again to meet a friend for another Mocha
- going to bed early

Project Bedroom

If you've been wondering what I've been up to for the past couple of days apart from settling in, here goes: I've been busy decorating our bedroom. My husband moved in to this apartment back in March, but since we'd lived in a studio before and didn't have the furniture, he left the bedroom bare, or rather used it as his storage room, bike, sports gear and heaps of cables included. So, as soon as I beat the jet lag, I've started turning it into a comfortable, peaceful room for us both to sleep in and dress, and for me, to play with my make-up :)


It's the first bedroom we've ever had, so we're quite excited about it! It's still work in progress, but here you have a couple of shots from different angles. You can also see my vanity there in the corner, but I'll devote a separate post to it once I'm done organizing.


It feels quite bare now and needs some finishing touches. What would you girls suggest I should do to make it feel more cozy and lived-in but still airy and simple? All your ideas will be much appreciated! xxx

New hair!

Hello sweethearts, just a quick post to show you My! New! Hair!

I haven't dyed my hair, it's forever changing the color in different lights.

Ok, it's not that revolutionary, but the hairdresser hacked off at least 10 cm for some layers and much more for the others, so it feels very different - certainly much lighter! I don't know if I like it yet, I'll have to wear it for a couple more days to see how it behaves. I'm thinking it might be a bit too short for my liking; but it'll grow back soon with my rate of hair growth. Speaking of hair, I decided that I don't really like trips to the hairdresser's; despite my love for all things beautiful and vain, these places make me feel out of place and uncomfortable. How about you?

On a different note, I'm leaving Warsaw tomorrow at 6.45 am and after a VERY long journey will finally arrive in Seattle. I'm in the midst of frantically packing my belongings and worrying about everything. I didn't envisage feeling so stressed out; in my mind, I imagined myself calm and anticipating the move, but it's none of that. I guess I've realized that I am in fact turning over a new leaf.

Have a wonderful Friday evening and next time I'll be posting for you from the other side of the pond! How does that sound? xxx

Last fortnight has mainly been spent...

Juste encore une minute by ineedchemicalx

- away on a winter trip to Polish Beskidy mountains with my family, overindulging in caffe latte and various yummy desserts at reasonably priced cafes, as opposed to what you get in Warsaw, taking long walks and inhaling fresh mountain air
- furiously using up my Project 5 Pan products, which seem to refuse to go
- getting used to uni again after the winter break
- discussing the subject of the MA thesis with my tutor
- teaching my dad English, he made his mind after months of hesitating and I'm really proud of him!
- being slightly more optimistic about the state of my skin, maybe my new 'mystery' product has finally started working? Fingers crossed it's not just a temporary improvement...
- catching a cold and trying to fight a runny nose with lavender essential oil; I think I'm on the mend now
- planning a shopping Saturday with my mom
- thinking of upcoming posts for the blog; drop me a line in the comments if you have any suggestions, I'm experiencing a lil' bit of a drought, so your help will be much appreciated!

Have a fantastic end of the week everyone xxx

Voyages canadiennes

Wondering what I was up to when I wasn't posting?

Me and hubs went for a goodbye trip to the east of Canada. I'm saying 'goodbye' here because in fact we are no longer Vancouverites; as some of you know, I've had to go back to Warsaw to study, and hubs, after a day of frantic packing, has just moved to the Seattle area. We will miss Canada a lot and make sure to visit often - fortunately, Seattle is only some 3 hours drive away from Van City!

Anyway, about the trip... Our first stop was Toronto and Niagara Falls, and then we headed to Quebec City to see Le Vieux Quebec and Hotel de Glace (Ice Hotel) nearby. It was freezing cold the whole week, but it was worth it! See for yourselves.

Look at the steam! It looks like factory fumes to me...

Surprisingly, ice cream vending machines were not in great demand...

Not sure what I was thinking here...

Ice Hotel! Somehow an idea of sleeping on a bed of ice didn't seem very appealing?

But the bar was cool!

In Quebec, a high collar is definitely a must.

Not so happy about the temperature (-17 Celsius, to be precise).

I think the Christmas decorations in the Old Town were the most beautiful I've ever seen!

Where's Rocaille?

It was a great way to say farewell to Canada! xxx

My weekend has mainly been spent...

(stolen from the oh-so-fabulous Loveaudrey)

Photo source: http://weheartit.com

- crying my eyes out at the airport saying goodbye to hubs and Vancouver

- crying some more watching "Love Happens" on the plane

- perousing the MAC counter in a duty-free when having to wait 6 hours for my delayed connection in Toronto

- treating myself to mum-made food

- memorizing economy-related English glossary and different French glossaries for tests this week

- trying to be good to my skin in an attempt to clear it a bit

- fighting jet lag and, as a result, always falling asleep in my suburban bus

- testing Revlon Colorstay foundation

- trying to be optimistic despite all the winter slush

- feeling sorry for not posting as often as I'd like

Have a fantastic and sunshiney week, lovelies! xxx

Christmas in Vancouver

I know I vanished a little unexpectedly, but I thought I could squeeze in a couple of posts before going to Vancouver for Christmas, but well, I didn't - so those other posts will have to wait until I get back as the photos for them are still on this other camera which I didn't take with me.

This is (or was) my first Christmas away from home, just me and hubby this time, and it was both interesting and a bit sad to spend it differently than I usually do. My family is very close together and each year we gather at my aunt's apartment to celebrate, talk, stuff ourselves silly, all the good stuff. But this year, with my husband's work, he had to stay in Canada and I decided to join him, so it's both the first Christmas we spend together as a married couple and the first Christmas we spend away from our family.


Due to weather conditions last week in Europe, I had to have my airplane ticket changed completely and for a couple of terrible hours at the airport in Warsaw I thought that I wouldn't even depart at all! It was a close call, but after another 20 hours or so, I did finally arrive in Vancouver, finding my husband grinning in the arrivals hall and some deliciously smelling Lush stuff in the bathroom after we got home.

I spent a considerable time in the kitchen this year, making pierogi (obviously not nearly as good as my mother's, but hey ho, she had years to practice, and actual access to Polish ingredients!) and Christmas star cookies, for which I am quite renowned by now.


We spent Christmas meeting friends, reading, devouring great food, talking, going for walks, drinking coffee and vanilla bean tea, sleeping late and just being together. All of that in Vancouver. Not bad, huh?

Enough rambling for now, my dears. I have at least a couple post ideas resurfacing, and I hope to lay them down before New Year's. How have you spent your Christmas? What are your plans for New Year's Eve? Drop me a line below, I'd love to know! xxx

Pick-a-boo!

I just wanted to let you know I'm back; did you miss me? ;)

The most perfect month of all is nearly over and I'm back at uni, work and blogosphere. I have so much to report, but for now, I'm far too tired to say anything more, so I'll just leave you with my favorite shot from our honeymoon trip.

Introducing the new wed husband in Troodos mountains...

So, how was this month for you, gals? xxx

One week before the big day

It was a super busy week for me. I'm still working (until Monday), arranging things for the wedding and had to get at 5 am each day from Monday to Thursday. I wanted to post something about the wedding, but I'm too tired and tomorrow's my hen's night. It's a complete surprise, I know absolutely nothing, I'm only advised to eat a hot meal before and wear a white bra (sic!). I can't wait to see what the girls have come up with :)

Tomorrow I'm hoping to squeeze in a little post about the surprise gifts I made for my girlies, so watch out for that. For now, I'm leaving you with one of my favorite photos of me and my family which was undigged and used for a short film I created to be shown during the wedding reception.

Amazing how big basketballs were once...

The prettiest shopping bag ever

Just a quick post to share with you... yes, the prettiest shopping bag ever (if you're a bit of an artsy geek like me).

Anyone recalls this painting? It's "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, a XIX/XXth century Symbolist painter and a prominent member of the Vienna Art Nouveau movement (Vienna Secession). This particular art work is one of the most famous paintings from his critically acclaimed Golden Phase. As you may know from my Mucha inspirations, I definitely have a thing for Art Nouveau, so I had to get this shopping bag!

I heart it so much that I'm even thinking of converting this into a regular bag...

Then I also spotted this gorgeous flowy top at C&A for less than half price. You could wear it with a cami underneath, but for really hot summer nights, it's actually opaque enough to sport it on its own. These are definitely 'my' colors and it fits really nicely.

For those of you interested in my wedding updates, today I met with a florist to discuss the details of my bouquet as well as venue and car decorations. She turned out to be a really sweet, professional girl and I'm so happy to cross out such a big thing from my wedding preparation list! Tomorrow I'm having a dress fitting and a meeting with a fireworks man to see what 'special effects' he can offer for our big day.

Other than that, I'd like to thank all of you girlies for your super sweet and encouraging comments, especially on my last post, and say hello to my new readers! I really appreciate your support and enjoy meeting you through your blogs. THANK YOU! xxx

Working girl

In two weeks time I'm going back to Poland... and back to work. I'm an English teacher in a private language school in the centre of Warsaw. Basically, we only teach very small groups or even individuals, so the atmosphere at the school is quite relaxed and friendly; in terms of fashion, you can get away with practically anything you want, as long as you look polished and decent enough. Today I've been thinking of a work appropriate outfit which would be trendy, comfy and feature similar clothes to the ones I already have in my wardrobe. As a result, I came up with this set on Polyvore:

I'm a complete Polyvore beginner, so excuse me if this seems a bit naive :) My favorite color scheme for this summer is anything in the coraly/ peachy family, so I chose this V-neck top, ballet flats and bangles to match. I'd pair the top with straight leg, dark denim jeans (I look terrible in skinny jeans) and add a nice big handbag with flowery patterns. The bag adds a bit of a hippie feel to the whole, which is emphasized even further by the chunky wooden necklace. In terms of make-up, my latest lemming is MAC Costa Chic lippie.

On a different note, today was my and fiance's 6th anniversary of being together, so we went out to celebrate it by some lingerie shopping and eating out at our favorite Mexican place. I also talked the fiance into buying Yes! Yes! Yes! lip butter for me and I can't wait to try it; in terms of smell, it's already a summer favorite!

Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by! xxx

I'm back!

Hello my lovelies, I am genuinely sorry to abandon you for such a long time; it's been about 2 weeks since I did some proper make-up/ beauty/ fashion blogging. Yesterday I came back from Vancouver Island where I spent a couple of days with my parents camping and hiking, and I have to say I AM tired (probably more emotionally than physically). And yes, I'm sooo happy to be back and to have access both to the Internet AND to my bathroom, which means normal conditions for skincare and make-up obsessing... I actually burned my decollete again, and my skin is peeling off right now :( So, my parents are leaving tomorrow night, and from then on you can expect a regular blogging service to resume :) I still have about 3 hauls to share with you guys!

But for now, I just wanted to share with you some of the photos taken on the trip!

Waiting for the dinner in a pub in Port Renfrew

Hiking in the Cowichan River Provincial Park

A young deer on our campsite in Goldstream Provincial Park

Me and my dad next to a 600 year old Douglas-fir in the Goldstream Provincial Park

We saw amazing forests and wildlife on the trip (even a black bear!), but were not so impressed by Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia... I suppose that in terms of the cities, Europe is more spectacular after all. Also, the ferry ride from Tsawassen near Vancouver on the mainland to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island was one of the highlights of the trip, such beautiful views! Well, now I understand why they write "Beautiful British Columbia" or "The Best Place on Earth" on the licence plates here :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos and till next time!

Bad day

Today I probably had one of the most terrible days in a couple of months. While having a dinner at a Greek restaurant, my wallet was stolen from my purse. It contained only 40 bucks, but I had my ID and cards in there, and the thieves have already taken nearly $1000 CAD from my account. Hope that my crappy Polish bank acknowledges the loss and refunds me. So tomorrow morning I am heading to the police to get a copy of my report and fax it to the bank in Poland.

Oh, and just to make it worse, I burned my shoulders and chest. They're hot pink right now.

Yeah, woe is me.

Midnight update

Hello my lovelies, I just wanted to update you very quickly on how I am doing :) 

So my parents arrived two days ago and since we have seen and walked a lot, so I didn't have too much time on my hands for any blogging. Today we went to the Grouse Mountain and attempted climbing Grouse Grind trail, which is only 2.9 km long but climbs up for 800m, which means it is extremely steep. My mum was really short of breath, but we managed to go all the way up! Here I am on the path.

Yes, the boots are the latest fashion, I suggest you go pick a pair yourselves!

Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a great dinner at a Mexican place and had a drop of Canadian whiskey to celebrate my mother's name day. As a result of the eventful day, I am dog tired right now and I am going to bed in a moment!

On a different note, my parents brought some awesome gifts for me and fiance, which I definitely want to share with you, and they also brought in their luggage some of the make-up stuff I ordered online and sent to my brother to NYC to save on shipping and customs. I played with some of it this morning and there're some really great bits and pieces! Watch out for my haul, I'll try to post it as soon as possible.

That's all for now, I guess :) I also wanted to thank all of my new followers for joining my blog and my older followers for their lovely comments and support, with special thanks going to Sarah from If the shoe fits... and Stephanie from Steph Stuph; you rock, girlies!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great one! xxx

My make-up breakthroughs

I'm into a bit of nostalgic mood today (maybe it's because yesterday I watched my brother's graduation day at Columbia Law School through live streaming; the internet really is amazing...) and I started thinking about my earliest experiences with make-up and what were my favorite looks and products... So I thought it might be interesting/ funny to share it with you, guys :)

I think my make-up experiments actually started in the secondary school. I was in a theatre troupe and often played main parts in our performances, so I really wanted my costumes and make-up to match the character. I remember playing a young girl who went mad because of her unrequited love for a handsome knight; I had a long, white gown and I thought my make-up should look otherworldly. This is why I purchased some absolutely crazy products back then, like a metallic, silver/beige lipgloss which I never used, I think not even for the play :)

At that time I also got some other extreme (at least for a 13 year old) products, like a super dark, brownish cherry lipstick from Lumene. Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking. I'd have problems to pull it off even now, and then... I remember it was very pigmented and I think it was actually a good lipstick, after all, I just went crazy with the shade :)

Then my preferences did a complete 180 thanks to some article posted in a teenage magazine. It was a praise to natural looking girls and natural make-up: using only clear mascara (hell, what's the point of using a clear mascara on your lashes, I don't know the secret till today, it does absolutely nothing), clear gloss and some transparent powder. Not that this is a harmful approach, just totally not me...

In high school I started experimenting more and more again. My main issue was acne and I did everything to cover it, but at times it would get worse and I would feel absolutely down and ugly and refuse to leave the house. I guess everyone who has had similar skin problems knows what I am talking about. So I tried countless concealers and color correctors, none of them really working to my advantage, I guess. I also remember ordering some make-up from Avon, because my class mate was a representative, and this is how I came into possession of a ridiculous, glitter-ball lipgloss, just because it smelled of artificial peaches. This is also when I discovered some good stuff, though, like make-up application techniques, brushes, loose face powder from Bourjois (love the smell!). My biggest breakthrough was using highlighting shades on the inner corner of my eye and up to the brow bone as well as blending colors together. One of my favorite color combos was true gold eyeshadow on the first half of the lid and shimmery pink on the other half. You see, I was way into shimmer :)

During uni, I started using more eyeshadow colors thanks to my cousin, who got me my first eyeshadow palette. It IS crap; the quality of the eyeshadows is just terrible now that I can compare it to some decent eyeshadows, but I still owe her :) I also ventured into the world of blusher, which I skipped earlier since I thought my skin was too pinky on itself, and I perfected my winged eyeliner. When I got my first, long-term job as an English teacher in a private language school, I started putting more and more effort into my make-up looks and settled on using liquid foundation to even my skin out, which I had never done before except for the nights out.

And then, finally, around December last year, I discovered the online make-up community. My very first and favorite make-up guru was Amy from Ask Me Make-up; unfortunately, she doesn't do videos any more... Then I started watching other people on YT and then I discovered beauty blogs and then I decided to start my own :) I have learnt A LOT since then, for which I am really grateful :) You people are fantastic!!!

What is your make-up story? I'd love to know what were your make-up breakthroughs! Please drop me a line in the comments. Also, I wanted to let you know that for the next two weeks I won't be able to post so often, however expect some haulage very soon! Take care, my beauties. xxx

Third place winner in Illamasqua contest!

Well, it's certainly my lucky week... I'm a third place winner in Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua contest! Check out the second and first place at Mizz Worthy's blog.

I've already chosen my prize and I will certainly show you once it arrives, which may take some time... I'm so happy that my work has been acknowledged, especially that it was my first make-up contest ever! It really boosted my confidence and I will be entering other competitions as well. I've already planned my look for Laura's Barbie contest (as promised!) and I have some ideas for other contests too, so look out for that!

Thanks again to Mizz Worthy and Krystle for running the contest and all their kind words :)

I'm a Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua contest finalist!

The top 6 has just been announced and I'm so happy to be one of the finalists! Jennifer and Krystle chose my Venetian masks inspired look, which you can see and read about here.

Check out other finalists' looks, they're truly amazing. I'm really honoured to be listed among such wonderful and talented ladies!

I knew it's gonna be my lucky day when I found this penny on the street and picked it up to put it in my pocket :)

Beautiful make-up packaging and name day update

Good afternoon, my lovelies!

Recently, I have developped a little obsession for all things looking girly, glamourous and unique (or just simply cute). It probably has something to do with the fact that I haven't gone shopping in ages and I crave something new and beautiful to look at. Mind you, I really can't say I am anywhere near to a magpie; I'm pretty sensitive to kitsch and glitter, and girls wearing too many shimmery accessories everyday are one of my pet peeves. On the other hand, I feel kinda plain and too conservative sometimes for a 20-something year old... I need some sparkle, I guess :)

I wanted to share with you some of the pictures of beautiful make-up packaging that I find inspiring. I would generally divide these into two groups: in the first set, we have 'glamourous', in the second, 'vintage'. Sooo cute!

I don't think these are too practical and yes, probably more than 50% of what you're paying for is the packaging, not the product itself. On the practical (and affordable) side, I would say I really like the packaging of GOSH products; if you have ever got your mits on the famous 'Darling' lipstick, you know what I am talking about. Also, I always loved Bourjois designs; less classic and elegant than GOSH, more modern and funky.

What is your favorite make-up packaging ever? Do you prefer vintage or glamourous?

On a different note, today's my name day (Monika) and I expect some treats coming :) My fiance promised to come back earlier from work today and we're heading to Zara, one of my favorite stores. Also, I would like to give a big shout out to Steph from Steph Stuph for being so lovely to me and including me in her 'Share the Love' post: you really made my day, honey! Also, thanks to all my followers and other people for your sweet comments, I really do appreciate them and they always make me smile inside and outside. 

Have an amazing afternoon/evening/morning (depending on your time zone) everyone!

FOTD: Lipstick on my cheeks and Update

Hello hello beauties! I was so wrapped up yesterday in work and housework that I didn't manage to post anything for you... And somehow today I feel like so many things I want to blog about have accumulated and want to come out NOW! But I'd better restrain myself from rambling and distribute all that for a couple of days.

So, here's another (not very original) FOTD for you. Recently I am all about summery make-up with brighter eyeshadow colors, golden hues and lots of shimmery bronzer. Today I acted like a real professional (see Pixiwoo) and I used some lipstick on my cheeks (Avon & NYX) and some cream eyeshadow (Revlon) on my lips.

I have a bit of a problem with light lipstick shades, because they all accentuate any flakiness on my lips. And my lips are flaky almost all the time, despite being exfoliated and moisturized. How weird is that?

On to the update: there's one more Illamasqua contest look coming up this week, a GOSH haul which I'm SO excited about, another Ins & Outs as well as some product reviews. Since I didn't get any comment on my last 'informative' review, I assume you like the old format better. Also, let me know if you'd be interested in reading about my clothes/ jewellery or just anything else you might want to see (or see more) on my blog.

Cheers! xxx