oh heck no, not at a new residential address this time :p i moved at least twice the past 2 years so i'm staying put... for now :D


what's going to move though is my blog - not really a big surprise as i suppose that tends to be the trend when a new year begins


i used to occasionally update this site which was supposedly an extension of the online store i previously managed. then it slowly became a venue for me to talk about anything and everything, then i eventually lost interest. mostly because i kept the title even though it's not related anymore to the online store.


it was indeed time for a change and so i welcome you to my new home :)
                   mycupofhotjava

doors are open and you are welcome to visit!


happy new year everyone!!!




  
i follow PhotoShopDisasters and i have seen Garnier featured in more than just one entry.  so i'm guessing no one in a beauty company reviews any of these before it gets out?




but lookie what i found, the lady in the photo above used to have a left shoulder!


photo source: here
so what the neck happened? :p


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[ x] prefers a good romance comedy movie over a horror or action flick?
[ x] does she love Meryl Streep's movies?
[ x] is she a fan of ABBA?
[ x] does she like to watch musical plays?

if at least two of above conditions are true, then i would recommend this dvd-pack for a mother's day gift :)


It's Complicated and Mamma Mia dvd pack was on sale price of around $25 for a limited time only at Target.


I also got her the shirt below cause this one holds true for my family ;p and it cracked me up the moment i saw it.

MOMS: They're Better Than Dads shirt from Walmart. Only $5 ;)


btw, my mom has zero idea about this site so this post won't spoil the surprise :D


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i openly welcome comments, props or make it your fave :)
  
 
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"Careers

Do you enjoy helping clients integrate the latest technologies to improve their businesses? Do you like helping people save money?"

 
using istock preview images instead of paying for them does save money but...? oh so many questions, so little time.

original site is here!



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H and I are very wary of dining at restaurants which claim to serve mexican food since he is very critical when it comes to its authenticity :p

and there were basically two reasons why we went to chipotle:
 (1) i saw it featured in Oprah                                    
 (2) received a buy one, get one coupon in the mail


what I saw on tv was confirmed, they do serve fresh ingredients.
i also like the open kitchen concept that displays their squeaky clean kitchen.



H wanted to get the burrito but I opted for the burrito bowl to steer clear of more carbo from tortilla mwehehe.
and since it was buy1, get1, he had no choice but to get the same :p


the only difference though is he chose pinto beans while i had the black vegetarian beans :)






i didn't get to finish mine :p


me: so did chipotle pass your authentic mexican food test?
H: yes and i wanna go back and try their burrito *huge grin*


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and here's my fair share of easter candies care of my sweetest husband :)


[ m&m's strawberried peanut butter - yum! never though that strawberry and peanut butter can be such a perfect match :) ]


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 [ striped dress from arden b, jacket from forever21, shoes from bakers, gold vintage necklace ]

and yes that's a bruise on my inner right thigh, just don't know how i got it ;p


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a cake of cupcakes for ellie!

 
 [ sept 2009 ]

 [ nov 2009 - bwahaha i taught her that ;p ]

 [ dec 2009 - she already have a penchant for huge rings ;p she was playing with my VS Love Rocks ring when she fell asleep on me :) ] 


[ feb 2010 ]


[ taken at her bday party - she's crazy about spongebob ]

 Happy Happy Birthday Ellie!
Your whole family adores you so much :)
You had one heck of a party with tons of gifts and
guess what? You get one of these every year!

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Due to the unfortunate inconvenience caused by one of their branches, Starbucks sent this to my mail.


It came with a well-written letter of apology and *drum roll*


a free-beverage coupon of any choice with no expiration date! so thanks starbucks, it's nice to be reminded that you do value customer satisfaction.


it was just funny though how i turned the envelope upside-down after seeing there was just one coupon inside. cause you did say "coupons" in the letter, you know? :p just sayin' :)



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 my fascination with huge rings has definitely evolved


and these multi-finger rings just fueled that even more

  

whut?! haha

  

there's something about multi-finger rings that makes you feel a little gangsta (lol)

  

  

  


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as announced last year, sonia rykiel was going to be the next guest designer for h&m. the collection was finally available last feb20(sat) at selected stores so there i was saturday morning right after having french toast for breakfast ;p and came home with these



  
striped cardigan
love the way it fits and can be worn with leggings, pants, skirts or shorts :)


one-shoulder dress with rosette applique
the material is really nice and thick enough that when i tried it on, i didn't have to worry about panty lines. it's always good to find a dress that gives you zero stress on what undergarment to use it with.

to show you how it fits, here is lola rykiel

leighton meester, kelly rutherford, nathalie rykiel and lola rykiel
photo credit: nitrolicious dot com



to check out the other items in the collection, click here: http://www.hm.com/us/#/sonia_rykiel/


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about more than a week ago, i thought of registering my starbucks card which has been with me for over a year

when i saw the rewards, i was excited about using it on my next visit and earn more points (i only got the welcome level rewards cause though i had the card for a long time, it was never registered. so my past purchases did not earn points)


but because of this little incident that happened just this past weekend, am not so sure about using my sbux card again nor visiting any of their branches.

as it was my turn to order, i told the cashier that i wanted to add money in my starbucks card by taking $10 off my chase card. after-which, we proceeded with our order that had a total of around $7. i told the guy to use my starbucks card and he did. so what am i whining about? they charged me for another $13. and for what? i have no idea and i only found out cause i checked my chase account.




thank goodness it was a pending transaction! so i called up the branch responsible for this booboo and the lady i talked to said "there is nothing we can do ma'm. there's no way we can move your money from here or cancel that transaction. you may call our starbucks office instead". so i did and got the response, "there's nothing we can do. we have no access to your account. pls call your bank instead". it really disappointed me that starbucks was no help at all after causing me this much hassle. they didn't even bother to at least TRY and check what they can do to assist. i know it's just $13 but hey that's a good amount of coffee money that i could enjoy. 

but anyway, huge thanks to the bank teller i talked to from chase. she was able to cancel the transaction and credited the $13 back to my account. whew! 

thank you chase! :)



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