Weekend Fun: Irving Plaza

So this past weekend was super busy but so much fun! 

My weekend started on Friday. I got to take the day off from work because my boyfriend and I had tickets to see Say Anything at Irving Plaza. We slept in and enjoyed the day. We had a light lunch at The Argyle Grill & Tavern in Babylon Village. I got the Sesame Seared Tuna and my boyfriend got the Rustic Marinated Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Both were very delicious, so if you are ever in the area, I recommend going to The Argyle. Sorry I don't have a picture of our food. We were on a tight schedule to get to the train. After our meal, we headed for the train.

My boyfriend makes silly faces all the time. :3

We got to the city around 5 PM. We decided to eat again so we aren't hungry during the concert. We headed into K-town to our favorite restaurant, The Mandoo Bar. This would be our third time going to this restaurant. They have the most adorable and juicy dumplings. We usually get the Baby Mandoo, 16 tiny steamed pork dumplings.  

Look how little they are!

Also we ordered the Combo Mandoo, which was 4 of each type of dumpling they have; Pork, vegetarian, & seafood. I like the pork ones better.  Also they serve kimchi as an appetizer. I love going to Korean restaurants and using metal chopsticks. 

We were super hungry!

After we ate, we took the Subway to Irving Plaza. There were so many people waiting on line already. It wrapped around the block twice. We were so excited! We haven't seen Say Anything since The Paramount last year. Best part was one of my new favorite bands opened for them, Eisley! Anyway, there were four opening bands that night. I the Mighty, Northern Faces, HRVRD, and Eisley. 

I didn't really get into I the Mighty. They didn't exactly announce who they were or talk to the crowd as much. They also played their music while a video of clips and kaleidoscope effects played in front of them on a see-through sheet. The music was pretty good but I thought the video was distracting from the music and it was kind of funny when their Time Machine wanted to back-up during their performance so they had to fix that.  I listened to their songs online and I'm starting to get into them more.  They are more explosive rock with really amazing guitar riffs and powerful drums.

I The Mighty

Here is their Official Music Video for "Failures"

Also another great song, "These Streets Are Alive"

Northern Faces was second to play and I'm in loved with their music. Their music is a mix of blues and rock with deep bass rhythm and amazing vocals. Most of it was mellow and I really enjoyed it. I bought their EP too. 

Northern Faces

Here is their Official Music Video for "Under My Skin"

Check out their Facebook for more music.

Next HRVRD played, which is basically Harvard without the A's, as the lead singer explained. They were different. I'm not sure how to explain their music. It's very rhythmic, mellow and out there. The lead singer had this tiny keyboard synthesizer that sounded like recorder and a kazoo. You can hear it in the song below. His voice reminds me of the lead singer from Coheed & Cambria. It's definitely music I could see people listening too while they are "high". He ended up climbing up to the balcony in a weird mask. I do enjoy listening to their songs online but live was just a little too strange for me.

HRVRD

Here is their song, "Flaming Creatures"

Then Eisley went on. I love them! They are amazing. The band is made up of 4 siblings and 1 cousin or family friend. Their vocals and piano are amazing and I just love all the songs.  They just released their new album, Currents.  I love the art on the cover too. I'm debating on getting the fish as a tattoo. 

Eisley

Just take a listen to them:

Here is their song "Ambulance" from their last album.

Here is one of their new songs, "Blue Fish".

Say Anything came on after them. They were amazing. They are a mix of punk rock with fun, lyrical songs and memorable melodies. They've been playing since 2000. You just have to listen to them to understand.

Here is the Official Music Video of "Say Anything"

And here are my two instagram videos from the concert. Sorry for the poor quality.

Part of "Do Better" & Part of "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too"

Side note: Sherri from Eisley and Max from Say Anything are married and they recently had a baby named Lucy. Here's a blurry picture of them all together on stage as a family. Lucy was wearing these gigantic noise-resistant headgear that matched her pink outfit. She was adorable! Also a picture of the cute couple singing together on stage.

Point is...

I had a blast and so did my boyfriend. We didn't get home till 1:30AM. And as we laid in bed, we dreaded the next morning when we had to be up at 6 AM. But I'll have to tell you all about that in another post. 

Let me know who is your favorite band and a favorite song of theirs. Also, have you heard of or listen to any of the bands mentioned above? What do you think of them all?

I'm Feeling Wicked...Nail Polish Review [#2]

Hello viewers and fellow bloggers! It's been a crazy weekend, so sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I'm currently relaxing, eating white cheddar popcorn, and watching my boyfriend play Borderlands 2. I hope to get more post out this week. I have a few topics/reviews I've been wanting to write about and a post about this awesome weekend. Without further ado, here is my latest nail polish review. 

As you know, I've been writing reviews about these inexpensive nail polishes. I'm currently wearing Covergirl Outlast Glosstinis Appletini and Maybelline Color Show Twilight Rays. Also I got a chance to use my Mt. Moon by Rainbow Honey. Mt. Moon cost $10.00, which is on the high-end side, but Appletini and Twilight Rays only cost $2.99 each. Though Appletini is a smaller bottle (3.5 ml), it's still a great price.

Sorry for the blurry picture.

The color of Appletini really pops and only took 2 coats.  It's a very yellow-green color and slightly neon. Not many people like this color or don't think they can pull it off but it's a great base for any themed manicures or nail art.  The color actually grew on me as I wore it for the past week. Plus, it matched my phone case which I did by accident.

I use Twilight Rays for my ring finger. It's a nice black color with a fine gold glitter. It reminds me of New Year's Eve. It covers in about one coat, but I wanted the richness of the black, so I used two coats.  The glitter is very fine so you can only see it in certain lighting. When you look really close, you see the speckles sparkle. 

My manicure really reminded me of Wicked, the broadway musical about the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good from the Wizard of Oz.  It's one of my favorite musicals. So far, I've seen it twice and I'd go again if I could afford it.

I felt like I was Elphaba with my manicure, but I wanted a bit more sparkle. I decided to coat Appletini with Mt. Moon. I think it looks awesome with it. You see all these blues, purples, and pinks and chunks of silver glitter. It's very out of this world. (tee hee) This reminded me of how much Glinda touched Elphaba's heart and how their friendship and love for each other grew. (If you haven't seen Wicked, I highly recommend it.)

I topped it off with my Essie Good to Go.  I did not do a matte coat. I really wanted to keep the pop of color and sparkle of the glitter. My manicure has defied gravity (sorry for my bad puns) and has held up for the past week. Minor chips on the tips of my nails, but still very solid. 

Point is...

I'm very happy with the quality of this nail polish and I recommend it for it's price and color if you are looking for a fun summer color or a great party/holiday color. I hope you enjoyed my review and more to come! 

I forgot to ask! What do you think of the color and have you tried any of these nail polishes? Anyone else feeling the Wicked-ness? And any other colors you think are great?

Target Haul - Review [#2]

I'm back to give a review on the items from my Target haul. You may have read my previous post about Simply Balanced Popcorn Chips Sun-dried Tomato, and how I was sorely disappointed in them.

I have found out that Simply Balanced is part of Target's Archer Farms brand and is developing organic snacks and healthy drinks that will be released over the next 6 months. This is part of their launch to get more organic foods on their shelves.

I also bought Simply Balanced Sea Salt & Pepper Baked Potato Crisps. I bought this 8oz. bag for $2.99. (For a 5oz. back of the Popcorn Chips was $2.99) 

And I'm in love with these. The brand has kept with the same colors except for the circle in the middle. They took the color from the bowl as the accent color. These are also low sodium and fat compared to other brands.

Here is a picture on the front

Here is what the crisps look like. Don't they look delicous!

They look just like the picture on the bag. It's peppery & salty and very crispy, so I feel they have the name down pat. Great to munch on as a snack at work, but you just have to keep an eye out on how many you start eating. Some chips can be really salty or peppery. I've had my moments where I'm inhaling them too quickly and start to choke up a bit as the pepper gets stuck in my throat.

Point is...

I'm enjoying my new snack and I look forward to see what other types of food they come out with. I give it a 8 out of 10.

Target Haul - Review [#1]

So as I stated before, I'm going to start a review some items I buy from Target. 

Here is a few items from my latest haul.

So far, I've only eaten the Simply Balances Popcorn Chips, Sun-dried Tomato and honestly, I was disappointed.

The bag and the design looks great. It's colorful and  it makes you feel like you are about to eat something a little healthier and is light and crispy. Nutritional wise, low in fat and sodium compared to other snacks. It also is resealable to keep it fresh. And that's where it went downhill. I poured them out onto my plate and I was welcomed with a sad sight. they were very, very flat and the seasoning on them was unbalanced.

If you look at the image on the bag, these chips look flavorful and full of texture. 

Here is a side by side comparison of the chips found in this bag.

One clearly a little crunchier with more texture and seasoning on it. And the other very concave, flat, and lacking in any seasoning. They do have a crunch to it and taste like popcorn and tomato basil, but it wasn't the most delicious snack I've eaten. I mostly just ate them to just munch on something. 

Point is...

I give them 4 out of 10. Great crunch and flavor when you bite into a great chip, great packaging, but uneven seasoning and chips make this a snack that you are only eating because you are trying to be healthy or boredom eating.

Nail Polish Review [#1]

A few of my friends and a few of the blogs I follow do reviews on nail polish and I wanted to give my opinion. I'm going to try and focus on mostly nail polish that are inexpensive but hopefully has great qualities and great colors in some different but fun combinations. 

I'm going to be reviewing these nail polishes in the next few posts. So check back often!

I had mentioned in my thrift store adventure with my boyfriend, I Only Got $20 In My Pocket, that I bought two Essie nail polishes for $5.50 each. I'll be reviewing Smooth Sailing from that post and Revlon's Celestial FX. I got it for $4.99. These aren't the cheapest nail polish but for someone on a budget, this is not as much as some other well known brands.

Smooth Sailing is from Essie's 2011 Summer Collection, Braziliant. This polish has a rich indigo color with tiny bits of silver sparkle throughout. It only took two coats for me. I really like the sheen and the color is really pretty.

Depending on the lighting, there are these purple hues in it. It's a very fun color. I figured since it had this silver sparkle to it, I'd top it with Celestial FX.

It has large holographic diamond, star, and moon shapes along with tiny glitter pieces. It also is fast drying, so you have to work fast or keep the bottle capped.  

It was really difficult getting the larger pieces of glitter to stick to my nails and stay. If you want to coat your nails in fine glitter, you could do it in one coat with this but It took a lot of dabbing and placing to get a star or a moon. 

It was nice that it dried fast, but I started noticing that the bigger pieces of glitter would stick out a bit or you'd feel the pointy parts of them not sticking all the way down. 

I figured I'd put a coat of matte on it and that would seal those bits in.

Sadly, it did not. I could still feel them poking me and sticking up. I'm the type of person to pick at things like that when I'm thinking or bored.  And it just is a pet peeve of mine, so I removed the nail polish after a day.

Sorry I can't say how long it could have lasted or how well it held up to daily use and any chipping. 

Point is...

I'm going to give Celestial FX another try. I think it'd look great on a darker color. I'll keep you posted. Happy Polish Hunting!


UPDATE

Tried Celestial FX again. I'm much happier with the results. Just a lot more patience and took my time getting it right.