So much to say when it’s

Flip Video Camcorder! Just ordered a Flip Mino HD right in time for SXSW & my trip to NYC! Now I’ll be a video-makin’ fool with my stylish tiny camcorder!

Creating Your Own Art Series! Nubby shares her advice for preparing to show a series of artwork in a gallery. Even if you aren’t the queen of your own gallery opening yet, there’s still inspiration for creating your own series of art!

Code is Art! Here’s what Beautiful HTML Looks Like. Be sure to download & print the PDF!

Setlists! Wanna know what your favorite bands’ setlists are going to be? Want the lyrics of a song or to see a video of it? Check out Setlist.fm.

Goddesses on Earth! A collection of photographs of women as their favorite goddess. Lovely!

“Pretty Porn”! A HuffPo writer commented on the plethora of blogs that are all about showing you the pretty. Here’s a nice one.

Just Do It! Decor8’s Creativity Series tells us to stop over thinking & start doing!

Laws Against Domestic Violence! Two states have amended their domestic violence laws to include not just people, but pets too. Often, abusers in the home will hurt & kill animals in an attempt to frighten & cause emotional damage to the human victim.

And now, a very important announcement:

Dodging Tomatoes! In an effort to clean up & optimize my online presence, I’ve started re-evaluating other blogs/websites I’ve started in the past. Some things I’ve taken down, other things will be allowed to expire, others have been revitalized & reimagined as something new.

One of the things I’ve put new effort into is an old blog of mine: AustinChic.net. This blog will be a personal blog, but with more of an artistic, visual bent & the posts will be more minimal & less wordy than the stuff on MegamiDesign.com. I plan to use this blog to encourage my visually creative side while making blogging easier & more realistic in terms of the time it takes to maintain a blog. This old-now-new blog will feature familiar pieces like my Fashion Inspiration File & Makeup Notebook but will also include new stuff like my photography, videos & sketches. Austin Chic will be a kind of online art journal for me & I think it will be instrumental in keeping me inspired to create.

When I started MegamiDesign.com, I had big goals for it but now I realize those goals have been outgrown & I’m on a completely new path thanks to a wonderfully early Quarterlife Crisis I experienced when I turned 23. However, don’t get me wrong - MegamiDesign.com is not going away nor will I stop posting entirely. However, most of my blogging will move to Austin Chic. Right now my thought is Megami Design will be reserved for any really big, solid posts I wanna do in the future when I’m so inclined.

Your ideas on this are welcome! I do want to maintain Megami Design but I’m unsure as to what it’s new trajectory will be. Thoughts?

Those wings in the top right corner are actually decorative bowls! WANT.

In the Fashion Inspiration File Flickr Set.

WANT THIS PLZ

Typography Fashion! I love clothes with great graphics & type so when I saw Awesome Typo T-shirt Designs from Abduzeedo, I knew I was in for a treat.

Tarot & Shepard’s Pie! My Tarot reader friend Arwen posts recipes related to her Tarot explorations, and her newest one is a recipe for Shepard’s Pie - which I love! I haven’t tried her recipe yet but if you’re looking for one, check out her version.

Comprehensive Sex-Ed! Bristol Palin admits abstinence-only education is “not realistic at all”.  She also wished her pregnancy would’ve come farther in her future. During this interview, Grandma Palin bursts in to give her 2 cents, rendering Bristol pretty much silent for the rest of the interview.

Hipster Fashion! Since I mentioned hipsters in my last Fuck Yeah! Here’s a blogger’s take on the 7 hipster fashions we love to hate.

Guessing those aren't perscription. Ironic, right? Right?

Political Mashups! Wanna know just who exactly donated money to California’s Prop 8 cause? EightMaps is a mashup of Google Maps & the Prop 8 donors - click on any point to see who donated, how much & when. It also says what business that person is afflilated with.

To-Do Lists! While I’m definitely no Virgo (I have Capricorn influence though) I like me some list-makin’. The site Printable Checklist lets you create your own to-do list by typing in your info for quick printing. The only thing is you have to be ready to print or take a screenshot because you cannot save your list.

Love! I want this tote bag, but I’m not sure what I would write in the blank! The rest of their store items are cute too.

I love you more than other tote bags.

My Own Handwriting! Ever think how cool it would be to have your own handwriting as a font on your computer! Now you can at YourFonts.com. Just download their template, fill out your letters and scan it in! Definitely tell me if you try it out.

Usability! Obligatory Smashing Magazine Link: 9 Common Usability Mistakes in Web Design & how to fix them!

Red Home Decor! Design*Sponge has brought me the red home decor accessories I’ve always wanted.

Penguin book cover remix! A cool thing in graphic design right now is to redo the covers of books or movie posters in the style of old Penguin classics book covers. My favorites come from M. S. Corley, who’s re-imagined the book covers to Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles. The great thing about his works despite their beauty is that he ACTUALLY SEEMS TO HAVE READ THE BOOK to come up with a unique image to draw (I’ve read all 3 of these series & Love ‘em!)

Have a fantastic weekend. I’m going to see Coraline in 3D tonight then heading home to San Antonio to see my family!

Sephora Haul this past Sunday

I ran out of Boscia’s night moisturizer and acne treatment last week, which is a wonderful excuse to go to Megami heaven, Sephora, to pick up what I need & then some! Here’s what I got:

• BareMinerals Sample - Reading Sephora’s blog is soooo worth it. If you put in a special code online or asked for it in store (they don’t offer it to you) you can score a sample of BareMinerals foundation & very mini kabuki brush! I’m wearing it today which is exciting because I’ve never tried this brand despite the hype. I must say, so far so good. I may look into getting their starter kit just to check it out.
• KatVonD Painted Love Lipstick in Underage Red - For a long time I’ve been wanting a true red lipstick. Since I’m a fan of this crazy tattoo chick & her makeup is so beautiful, I decided to try the shade that she wears & it’s amazing!!

Underage Red is a brighter red than this.

• Sephora Brand Lip Pencil (a nude shade) - I wear a nude lipstick at work so I needed a matching lip liner to keep my lipstick lasting longer.
• Boscia Recharging Night Moisturizer & Travel Sized Sample - I came in for this moisturizer and it turned out that one of their Beauty Insider deluxe samples was of this product! I got the sample so I can take it to NYC.
• Boscia Acne Treatment - a god-send. They were out of the full version so I had to buy the travel one. Luckily the travel stick packs a lot of product so it’s no problem.
• NARS Lip Liner in Jungle Red - I needed a red lip liner to go with my new KatVonD lipstick. The Sephora employees recommended this liner above all.

NYC UPDATE - We booked our plane tickets & hotel last night - we’re officially going! We’ll leave the Tuesday before Easter (the 7th?) and come back Monday the 13th.

What beauty products have you picked up lately??

So this is a little belated but I had a lot of pictures to sort & upload. Here’s what I did & wore this weekend :)

Graphic Design Senior Show

My bf Alex is graduating in May with a BA in Graphic Design. This past Friday, all the graduating graphic designers showed their favorite works at a gallery opening. Everyone loved Alex’s work & the other designers were wonderful. Afterwards, I took Alex out to enjoy a hard-earned dinner out with our friends Rick & Sid.

Alex's Display

Alex & I at the design show

What I wore:

• green dress from RAVE
• black heart necklace from F21
• black pumps from Famous Footwear

Valentine’s Day

For V-day, Alex & I played it casual since we’d rather spend money in NYC. I bought him 2 books on graphic design & he bought me an awesome pair of black heels I’ve been wanting. Yay!

Pink & Gray V-Day Makeup

Here’s my makeup for the day. It’s a little hard to tell but I used pink on the lid and gray on the crease with black liquid eyeliner & mascara. Click on the image for a better view!

V-Day Outfit - Motion Blur!

What I wore:

• red sunglasses from Agaci Too
• black heart necklace from F21
• red tank from Old Navy
• gray acid wash skinny jeans from Target (these are amazing!! and they aren’t too long!)
• black pumps from Famous Footwear

Yay, almost caught up! Next post, my haul from Sephora!

Cute Cotton Spring Dresses

Since most of the year is hot as hell here in Austin, Texas, I plan on keeping cool in some light dresses. These are versatile because they can be dressed up or down and are great for layering too. With a cute dress, knockout shoes & some great accessories you’ve got a simple & stylish outfit.

Spring Shoe Picks from WhoWhatWear

Some shoes I’m looking to get:

• some cute ankle boots in gray (see below) - I have them ordered from Goodie Two Shoes since they were out of my size
• a strappy sandal heel like #5 above - wedge heels are my friend now, i’ve come around to them (depending on the style of course) - EDIT: got some heels similar to this from my bf for valentine’s day - how did he ever know!?!?
• a gladiator-style flat sandal like #4 or #6 for my summer vacation & daily running around - will probably get these from Target

Cute Boots!

Must Own This Outfit

Easy Breezy Cute

What will you be wearing to keep cool this summer? So far I’ve acquired some skirts and tanks - a good bet when it gets to be 100 degrees everyday in Texas.

You love it. You know it. It’s

Hipsters!

Hipsters! These rebels without a cause stand for nothing other than enjoying music you haven’t heard of yet & having an ironic fashion sense, right? According to the AdBusters, Hipsters mark the end of Western Civilization as we know it:

An amalgamation of its own history, the youth of the West are left with consuming cool rather than creating it. The cultural zeitgeists of the past have always been sparked by furious indignation and are reactionary movements. But the hipster’s self-involved and isolated maintenance does nothing to feed cultural evolution. Western civilization’s well has run dry. The only way to avoid hitting the colossus of societal failure that looms over the horizon is for the kids to abandon this vain existence and start over.

Valentine’s Day! But in this economy? Here’s a cute DIY V-day gift that you can put together for a romantic picnic courtesy of Design*Sponge.

DIY V-day kit for lovers!

Haute Macabre! The couture blog for goth fashion put together a Haute List of great finds for under $10. Love the shoes they feature, but they don’t have my size! Nooooo…..

Looklet! For fans of Polyvore, this website could prove to be very fun. Looklet gives you a model of your choice and you get to decide her outfit based on the stockpile of clothes and accessories on the site. Right now it seems to be in closed beta (you need an invite code), so there are limited model choices & clothing choices. Unlike Polyvore, you cannot add clothes because the clothes on the site are made to fit on the model wearing them. Hopefully in time their collections will grow.

Here's a look I made

Self Love! The Fundies’ War on Nature now includes getting our youth (particularly youth of color?) to stop masturbating by offering them these super-stylish shirts. Who wants to buy them and cross out the “Ex-” part? Or better yet, make your own shirt - don’t give them your money. Thanks Feministe. In other news, PETA freaks dress like KKK members to harrass AKC dog show attendees.

WTF? The new scarlet letter?

Hello Kitty + MAC = dolla dolla bills! So the beauty bloggers have dropped big money on the newest line from MAC cosmetics - Hello Kitty. While I love Hello Kitty and MAC as much as the next girl, I’m not dropping $600 for a few pieces of makeup. Yet. :) Here’s the ad:

Austin Fashion! I kicked myself for missing Fashion Freakout last Friday when I saw this post from Austin Eavesdropper. At least they took a lot of pictures. Next year, I’m going no matter what!

Makeup tricks! Sephora’s blog shares with us how to make our makeup go farther by doing double duty as another product. Try these easy makeup mashups to fake these products.

Happy Thoughts! On this happy Friday, I’d like to leave you with an affirmation, courtesy of Sea of Ghosts:

Have a great weekend.

My Current Go-To Makeup

Though I used to maintain a separate blog that was 100% about makeup, I felt it was too annoying to keep up with this blog and that one. My apologies to the readers! Therefore, I’ve stopped writing my makeup blog which means that all the posts that would’ve normally gone there are going to end up here - yay!

This week in makeup, here’s what I’m loving:

1. Almay Smart Shade Foundation

From Almay’s site: ” Finally a makeup that takes the guesswork out of finding your perfect shade - instantly adjusting to the color of your skin. Antioxidant blend of grape seed, ginseng, and Ginkgo bilbo nurtures your skin. For a beautiful, natural finish every time. Hypoallergenic. Dermatologist tested.”

I gotta say, out of all the liquid foundations I’ve been trying recently (Smashbox, Estee Lauder, Revlon) this foundation from Almay takes the cake.

It’s truly unique in that when you squeeze  the foundation out of the tube, it’s white! But then as you rub it onto your skin, it changes color before your eyes to match the color of your skin.

• SPF 15 - very good
• perfect skin tone match -looks like I’m wearing nothing.
• Good for oily skin: it goes on light and I notice that I am less oily through the day.
• The coverage is good but too light for those trying to cover spots or acne. Use with a concealer.
• for $11, this is awesome. Highly recommended.

2. Coastal Scents 88 Eyeshadow Palette & Eye Primer

So the makeup tutorial goddesses of YouTube constantly sing the praises of Coastal Scents palettes & often use them in their tutorials. The 88 Eyeshadow palette is especially popular because of the high-pigment colors and unbeatable price of $22. Of course I had to get one! I also ordered their eye primer because I’ve never used one before & I was tired of eyeshadow creases by the end of the day. Behold the awesomeness:

The Delivery from Coastal Scents

Closeup of the 88 Eyeshadow Palette

Eye-Poxy Shadow Primer & Eyeshadow Sample

While the eye primer works like a dream and keeps my eye makeup looking awesome alllll day, I found the consistency of the primer is unexpectedly grainy. I imaginined the primer would be smooth but there are these tiny grains that I end up having to rub off so they don’t stick to my face. Wonder what that’s all about? Nevertheless the primer is good and cheaper than any primer you’ll find at Sephora (though I’ll probably switch to the Too Faced brand after I finish this primer).

I’m extremely happy with these new products & they work just as advertised. While I knew the Coastal Scents palette would be amazing, the Almay foundation was a welcome surprise after a round of unsatisfactory testing for the perfect (affordable) foundation.

Do you use any of these products? What makeup finds are you particularly loving recently? Let me know!

So this is a little belated because these were taken over the weekend, but too bad!
These pics were taken with my brand new Nikon D60 dSLR!!! Isn’t it awesome? I picked it up at Best Buy along with a memory card, bag and a sweet (but expensive) warranty. Can’t wait to take it to SXSW and NYC!

Winged Heart Necklace - Hot Topic
Zero Shirt - Smashing Pumpkins Concert
Skinny Jeans - Old Navy
Shiny Red Round-toe Pumps - Famous Footwear

This past weekend, the bf & I hit SoCo for some pizza (for him) & shoe shopping (for me!)

Lunch! Pizza at Home Slice

A Sampling of Shoes from Goodie Two Shoes

Gray Heels

OMFG Look at this bag!!!!

I didn’t end up with the gray heels but I did definitely get that bag, a pair of black flats and some black boots (pics to come when I wear them). I also got a cool Queen of Hearts cigarette ID case & plastic red headband. Score!