number twelve: try wearing red lipstick out

 number twelve on my list of 25 things to do before i turn 26 is to try wearing red lipstick out. so, i went on the search to find some red lipstick. a friend sells mary kay & after much bugging, i finally had a house party. i got about $30 credit to spend on any product i wanted, so i was a happy gal. i picked out two shades of lipstick, one of them being "red". once it came in the mail, i was excited & also nervous to try it out. i took it with me on one of my mini trips to stay with miguel for a few days, determined to give it a go. so, one night as we were gussying up for the night, i decided to experiment! here is before:

 & after:

don't mind these crooked shots in miguel's bathroom. i'm still trying to get the hang of taking photos of myself, in the mirror, with my new nikon.
i rather liked how it turned out, but was still a bit nervous to wear it out. so when we were in the car, barely making it down his block, i said, "i can't do it!" & wiped it off...haha. since then, i have worn my red lipstick out, as well as some other shades of red & rather love the spunkiness i feel when i wear it : )

lina's 25th

i know this post is quite overdue, as my birthday was over a month & a half ago. but here they are! photos from the party i through myself. i designed four photobooth backgrounds, gathered three fuji instax cameras together, & filled three vintage suitcases together with props. to eat was a spread of cheese & fruit. i thought it turned out lovely : ) to see instagram photos, look up #linas25th 

miguel was my chef in the kitchen for the evening & made these caprese bites perfectly.

 photobooth #1 was just a dark sheet & colored paper cranes

 photobooth #2 was a little more involved to make. i tore strips from five different colored bed sheets i got from a thrift store & tied them to rope. it takes longer to tie them all than you'd think.

 photobooth #3 was just a vintage quilt i already had.

 photbooth #4 was probably the neatest looking. i got three vintage doors from a recycling center at the dumps for $1 each. they looked great, complete with a metal keyhole! then they were partly covered with pages from an edgar allan poe book. it gave a great effect.

 then i strung up the instant photos for people to take when they leave the party : )

it seemed like everyone had a good time, but i was so tired afterwards. i am more of a "sit-back-&-watch" kind of gal instead of a "life-of-the-party" gal ;)

25 things to do before i turn 26

1. blog more
2. make a zine
3. cook a new dish (almost) once a week
4. lose 20 pounds (8.6 so far)
5. develop etsy shop
6. make a miguel & lina journal
7. make a terrarium
8. bake bread
9. develop 120 film from diana
10. see cameron's accident site
11. go to the austin, tx blogger family meet-up
12. try wearing red lipstick out
13. donate ?% of a paycheck to an organization/charity
14. start a regular exercise routine
15. learn to play tennis
16. enter snickerdoodle cookies into the county fair
17. enter andes mint cookies into the county fair
18. be an extra in a film, tv show, etc.
19. work on relearning spanish
20. bike in a bike-a-thon
21. bike a total of 100 miles (52.7 miles so far)
22. sell my zine at a zine fair or to a distro
23. travel someplace i've never been before (atlanta!)
24. take photo booth photos with miguel
25. help someone anonymously

i am 25 now

 these are photos of my lovely birthday breakfast taken with my birthday present - a nikon d33200. i love my new camera! i had a nice birthday. miguel & i spent the day in the city, just shopping away. i wasn't feeling to good that day, but we made the most of it : ) we then met up with my parents & uncle for dinner at the old spaghetti factory. it was quite delicious! after dinner miguel & i curled up in my bed & watched the young victoria. i love that movie.

so, this post is quite late as i have been 25 for over two weeks now. i have been so busy since then! i had a amazing party (of which i will post a few photos from soon! the theme was photobooths!), i flew to visit my sister for a week with my parents for thanksgiving, & when i came back, went straight to working on my thesis as i have an end of the year meeting with my advisor next week. eek!
i know that many of you are stressing about now with looming projects & finals soon, so good luck!

(anyone know how to widen this column? it's cutting off the right side of my photos :/)

my best year yet

so my 25th birthday is this wednesday & i'm pretty stoked. i'm having a birthday filled week : ) i mean i already picked up my free birthday gift at sephora. this postcard is from anthropologie & i still have to go to the body shop & two restaurants for free food. love my birthday haha. miguel & i have plans to go on a mini trip & to the city. i'm also pretty excited because i'm going to be having a party! it will include photobooths & delicious hors d'oeuvres : )

i just came back from a three day visit at miguel's. it was a well deserved visit as the last time i took the train to see him was three weeks ago. he is growing vegetables & fruit in his backyard garden (left over from the previous house tenants). i told him to go pick some tomatoes for the omelets i was making for breakfast & he came back with not only tomatoes, but carrots & squash too!

 fresh tomato & onion with swiss cheese omletes for yesterday's breakfast!

 speaking of cooking, i've been busy in the kitchen lately. for a fundraiser at church, i baked 176 cookies (four different kinds!) in one afternoon. it was incredible haha. i've also been cooking family dinners almost every night lately.

 linguine with vodka sauce, veggie meatballs & broccoli with garlic.

 brussell sprouts sauteed with garlic.

refried black beans with garlic & spanish rice.

 i'm making a 25 before 26 list & one thing is going to be to make one new dish every week : )

miguel came to visit me a week ago & we went to one of my favorite places in the city i live in - an island, stuck in the 1940s. i love the big houses & beautiful trees. we had a picnic in the gazebo & just had a nice, relaxing afternoon. i loved it.

 i got my first paycheck from my new job, & it was a pretty big one...i was really happy haha. so, during this last visit to miguel's, i payed for everything (since i actually have a regular source of income now!). it felt really good. hehe. i took him out for breakfast one morning & then lunch before he had to go to work & i had to catch the train home. i also took him to the theaters to see cloud atlas. i was actually full-on crying at the end. it was an emotional movie! have you seen it?? i'm amazed at how well the actors & the make-up artists did.

anyways, i took miguel out to one of our favorite breakfast places. it has THE most delicious french toast. i don't usually like to eat sweet things in the morning, but these are amazing.

 we were both pretty full after that breakfast.

we went to my doctor's appointment & the movie afterwards (with a little shopping!). it was raining by the time the movie was over so we headed home, curled up with some tea & edamame & watched stepbrothers. i always have amazing days when i'm with him : )