My Cleansing Diet

I am taking a break from salty and fatty foods today. For someone used to great restaurant food, a juice cleanse is not doable for me. I get so cold in the winter. I made a pot of vegetable soup, which consists of celery, mushrooms, green beans and Bragg's Amino Acid to taste (it's like soy sauce but healthier). I also added a small amount of rice. After a bowl of this soup, I'm no longer cold. You can add whatever non-starchy vegetable you want.

I Need a Higher Metabolism!

I love to eat but as I grow older, my metabolism is slowing. There is a girl whose blog I follow, and she is a size two but seems like she eats all the time. But she looks like she is in her twenties whereas I am almost twice her age. I remember when I was in my twenties, I was skinnier too. So, I am on a mission to speed up my metabolism.

Here are some ideas:
1. Drink more tea

I ordered a whole bunch of samplers from Ten Ren tea.

2. Do more exercise

I got a lot of dvds to review. I also try to walk whenever I can.

3. Save my calories for food that I really want to eat.
Last night, we had some salad, stuffed artichoke and pizza. The pizza taste stale to me and I did not eat it because it was not worth the calories!

Christian Dior 5 Couleurs Designer Eye Shadow Quad in Green Design

I absolutely love this quad. It takes the guesswork out of eyeshadow. You just put the light cream shade all over your eyelids as a base, add the middle green color as a lid color and the dark green color to your crease to contour, then apply the glittery shade to your browbone with a finger. The dark liner is a bit dry but it creates a nice line with the brush provided. Makes sexy eyes!

Christian Dior Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Sculpting Powder Makeup

I love, love this new powder! The powder feels very smooth and provides a good finish to the skin. I love the convenience of having a sculpting powder and highlighter in the same compact. I use the highlighter on the bridge of my nose to narrow it. The contour powder is good for under the cheekbones and the jaw, and is not too dark that it looks unnatural.

This compact is not cheap at $50, but I got a gift card from Neiman Marcus for buying Uggs and a Burberry sweater. And plus, with my $150+ Dior cosmetics purchase at Neiman Marcus, I got gift bag from both Neiman Marcus and Christian Dior.

Deep Thought: The M&M's Jacket

Have you seen someone in one of those M&Ms jackets? They make you look like a giant M&M. The worst is the yellow colored jacket, because it's so bright-- emphasizes the roundness. Do people actually want to walk around looking like M&Ms? This is the second time in two days I've seen those jackets.

Eating in Chinatown

Joe's Ginger
25 Pell Street
New York, NY

Joe's Ginger is good if you are craving soup dumplings and you do not want to deal with the crowds at Joe's Shanghai. I wanted to compare the difference in soup dumplings between Joe's Ginger and Joe's Shanghai. I ate first at Joe's Ginger, and the soup dumplings were divine. Tender skin, juicy, almost buttery filling of crabmeat and pork. Also tried the Crispy Beef, fried strips of beef with a spicy sweet tangy sauce that was pretty good. Also sampled the spicy beef noodle soup, which was not too good.  In fact, it was terrible.  They should not add jalapeno peppers to anything.  The other time jalapeno peppers ruined a dish, it was at Sushi Samba, when they added jalapenos to a lobster roll.  Ugh.  Why mess with perfection?  Jalapeno peppers should not be in any Asian food, and that's my humble opinion.

I witnessed a funny scenario while I was there. A white guy was eating lunch by himself, and they put him at the big round table in the back with two girls. When another table became available, the two girls jumped up as if to get away from him and to their own table. The guy ate peacefully by himself for a minute, until a couple, another white guy and Asian girl walked in and sat at the round table. The lone guy looked sad eating his big bowl of noodles all by himself in the corner, sitting with two strangers at the round table. So, this is what you need to deal with if you want to eat in Chinatown.Ok, back to the Joe's Shanghai comparison. I ordered a take out of the soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai, and they tasted pretty much the same, except nothing tastes as good as in a restaurant. So, here's my verdict. The soup dumplings at Joe's Ginger are the same at Joe's Shanghai, except Joe's Ginger is less crowded. Another observation: sometimes, the waiters put the checks on the table before they are requested. This is kind of rude. They also do not take credit cards, so it always feels I spend more money in Chinatown. But then again, this is what you need to deal with if you want to eat in Chinatown.

Soup dumplings at Joe's Ginger



Crispy beef



The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup



My Purchase at Beauty.com

My pal, Cici, who is a fabulous hairstylist and artist, told me about Oscar Blandi's color wand to cover my few strands of gray hair.  OMG, I am so upset about the gray hairs!  Cici told me not to use box hair dye found in drugstores because they have harsh chemicals, and she will color my hair when she sees me again.  I found that Beauty.com has them in stock in all colors, and there is a promotion going on.

Make a $100 purchase and receive a free Erin Fetherston train case filled with samples:

• $10 Beauty.com Gift Card
• Smashbox® Photo Finish® Hydrating Foundation Primer
• Boscia® Oil-Free Nightly Hydration
• Stila® FULL SIZE Eye Shadow Compact, Cloud
• Supersmile® Whitening Introductory Kit
• Murad® Acne Clarifying Mask
• bareMinerals® Pretty Amazing® Lipcolor, Bravado

• ALTERNA® BAMBOO Style Boho Waves Tousled Texture Mist Jane Iredale® Tantasia™ Self Tanner Traditions by Nick Chavez® Yucca Root Shampooing Cream Bvlgari® Refreshing Towel Too Faced® Tinted Beauty Balm H2O Plus™ Face Oasis™ Hydrating Treatment Crabtree & Evelyn® Avocado Body Lotion

  I put my order in and received it in two days!  Here are the photos.  I love the train case-- perfect for my jewelry and love letters.  My favorite is the bareMinerals® Pretty Amazing® Lipcolor in Bravado.  It makes the lips full and pretty.