Of Value Village Hauls and New Family Additions

So this was supposed to be a new P.M.S Cooks! but instead I thought I'd do something a little fluffier. We went to Value Village yesterday, and I think I made out pretty good. I figured while I was at it I could show off some really awesome things I got there a little while ago. Also, the Cynic and I became Aunt and Uncle for the second time yesterday, and I have a little pseudo-craft to go along with that.

Okay, so for the haul. Well, I dunno if you'd call three things a haul, but I will for the purpose of this post. First was this:


I'd like to try and get my hair kind of the way it was when it was cut. So I found this straightener (which even matches my hair dryer! :O ) and I will give it a go.

The second thing is something I've wanted for a while, but could never find in my size. Yay shoes!


These are not quite my dream shoe, but they are damn close. It's ridiculous, no one seems to carry red heels in sizes 9 1/2-10. It sucks. That's why I was so happy to find these.




This next thing is a sweet piece of geekdom if I may say so:

An original Episode IV VHS? Yes please! And in good shape, too. It was just too cool to pass up.

That leads to me the next thing. I actually bought it quite a while ago but put it in a safe pocket in my purse and didn't find it again until yesterday. Oops lol.

Simple and pretty. I've been reading Lord of the Rings lately, and it makes me think of the elven cloak pins from Lothlorien. Yeah, I know, I'm a big dork. But I like it.

Now, as I mentioned at the beginning, the Cynic and I became an Aunt and Uncle for the second time. So I'd like to congratulate the Cynic's brother and sister-in-law on the new arrival. As I did when my sister had her little guy last fall, I put together a little something for our new nephew (lol, it's 3/3 for boys so far). Here's a quick rundown, and it's more or less the same thing as I did last time.

This is what I started with. Clockwise from the top left: a basket, tub toys, ribbon, cute onsie, bib, cute charm with baby's name (I used a soother last time as I couldn't find a name charm), towel, and bear with a "congratulations" cupcake.

Everything got packed in nice and tight, as it will have a bit of a trip ahead of it. But it was arranged to make a nice little nest in the center.


Which was a perfect little spot for the bear to sit nice and comfortably. Also stably, and less likely to fall out.
And then the final touches:


Don't mind my foot in the picture lol. The ribbon is actually gold, but the flash from the camera with the blue basket turned it that funky purple in the picture. I like the little charm, I wish I could have found one for my other nephew (although he got a nice new soother that I think he got more use out of, to be honest). So there it is, a simple gift basket for baby. I know you can buy them pre-made, but I like putting together my own, to make it more personal and less matchy-matchy, mass-produced feeling.

Well I was going to put up some records I got a while ago, but I think that will have to be a separate post. Maybe I'll do a post of my vinyl collection. We'll see. Anyways, I WILL do that P.M.S Cooks! next, I promises. So look out for that very soon. Maybe tomorrow!

I'm doing science and I'm Still Alive...

Sorry for being MIA this past week or so. Between overhauling the apartment, the last round of baby needles, and trying to finish Dragon Age II, it's been busy here at CWTC headquarters. As it is, I'm behind about two P.M.S Cooks! posts, and at least one LOTD. I will see about getting those up as soon as I can.

So I did finally finish Dragon Age II tonight. Tonight I started right at endgame and finished up the first go through. And damn. There are two words I would use to sum up this game: intense and emotional. This one pulls at your emotions far more than Origins, the choices seem more dire and consequential. It was also a lot darker than Origins, which a lot of people are complaining about. I'm not. Sure, it could use more of the levity that Origins had, but I like that it's different that way. I love how engaging the characters are as well, though I will admit there were a couple of characters I didn't really like. Oddly enough, the ones I wasn't crazy about are two of the more popular ones: Isabela and Fenris. They just didn't jive for me (and truth be honest, Fenris' voice didn't get me as hot and bothered as apparently it should have *hides from fangirl mob). I will firmly put myself in Teams Anders and Varric, however. Anyways, I won't go too far into it as I plan on putting up a video review for the game very soon.

In other gaming news, I was browsing the XBox Live Arcade and downloaded a game I've been meaning to check out: Costume Quest.



This game is brought to us by Double Fine, the team who also brought us the fantastically heavy metal mayhem of Brutal Legend. I began playing this, and did so for quite a while before switching over to DA:II. And what do I think? I think you should go try it! This game is adorable, with great humor and a neat story. The controls are a snap, and the combat is really fun (even though I loathe turn-based combat). It's a really great game, and the full version only runs for 600 MS points! It is the cutest, most unabashedly tongue-in-cheek, fun time of an Arcade RPG that you could ask for. I'm not far in, but I will already recommend it!

In other news, I got my hair cut! Yay! Well, maybe that isn't as exciting to you as it is to me. Maybe this makes me the most pathetic fangirl, but I really liked the default Lady Hawke's hair style. And given that her face is rendered in about the same shape as mine, I figured I could pull it off. Truth be told, I'd been looking for something to do with my hair for a while. So here was the result:



It's slightly modified from the original, but I like it.

Compared to one of the pictures I took in

I like it sooooo much better. Out of the way, washing and brushing is ridiculously easy, and looks good. Can't complain!

Oh, I almost forgot! Did you see my new widget up in the right corner? That's our (mine and the Cynic's) shared Gamertag on XBox Live. Clicking on it will take you to the XBox website where you can check out our games and compare them with yours and generally see what we've played (minus the demos, of course).

So that's the news. I will attempt to get a P.M.S Cooks! up tomorrow. And there will be a new video coming up soon! Till then, I leave you with GLaDOS, because who isn't excited for Portal 2?*





*Although it drops the same week as Mortal Kombat, and so I am torn. But if I had to choose only one, I would go with MK.

P.M.S Review and St. Patty's LOTD

Hey everyone, just a couple of quick things today. First, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you, whether Irish today or everyday!

He'll drink to that!

Our first order of business is a quick product review. Yay! I haven't really done one of these before, other than when I was showing off my new makeup. So here goes.

Now that we are planning an upcoming change of scenery (this Scholar is going back to school in the fall!), my budget for non-essential beauty stuff is basically back to nil. But, I have been looking for a cream or moisturizer or something for my face because it gets dry around my nose, cheeks, and forehead. Unfortunately, it's also oily, so I break out (hence why I don't use foundation 99.9% of the time. I also didn't want to spend $20 on a tiny pot of stuff that might not even work (my usual face-washing stuff doesn't). I happened to be in the local dollar store cruising for random stuff and came across this:

It's called Delon Daily Moisturizer (for face and body) With Shimmer. It's also says Oceanus, which I assume refers to the fragrance. Since it was only a buck, I figured what the hell and picked it up.

It smells really nice. It's unfortunately kind of hard to describe, but it's not overpowering, just a nice light scent. It goes on nicely and doesn't feel greasy or sticky, which is a big thing for me as I can't stand that. The sparkle/shimmer looks nice, noticeable, but not as bad as the fallout from when I do my makeup.

But does it moisturize? The answer to that is a resounding yes! My face was much softer after using it, even the sides of my nose that get really dry. I wouldn't recommend using it everyday, though, at least on your face. I was starting to break out a bit by about the fourth day or so. But to use even every other day would probably be fine.

Final verdict? I really like this stuff. For being dirt cheap it works really well, smells really nice, and leaves you with a nice scent and a pretty shimmer. Hands, face, whatever. I definitely recommend it. I found it at the local Dollarama, but I am sure there are other places it can be found. There were a few other things there that I want to try, but that will have to wait until I get there next.

Next up, St. Patrick's Day LOTD. Or: where I discover I don't have that many greens in my makeup collection, and only one that's nice and bright.

Inner to outer: Jane Eye Zing in Greens, e.l.f dark green from the Sparkle Eye Encylopedia, over top is e.l.f light gold and sparkly white. All of these are over a base of e.l.f cream eye shadow and matte white (which can be found in another of the encyclopedias).

In a bit different light. There is a fine line of brown e.l.f eyeliner under the eyes only that goes from the outer corner and meets the green at the inner corner. Mascara is L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen in Blackest Black.

Here's the whole look:
Lips are regular chapstick with Rimmel Mix It Up Lipgloss 700. Blush is random I've had forever. Don't mind my hair and how bleh it looks, I'm planning to chop it all off next week.

Well, there it is. I've got at least one new P.M.S Cooks! to do (this time with real recipes!) coming up, as well as a Dragon Age II review, once I finish the game, although that may be a video. I'm not sure yet. But until then, I'll leave you with this:


For anyone going out and having fun tonight! See you next time!

Dragon Age II: First Thoughts (Length Warning, but there's pictures!)

So I've been playing me some Dragon Age II (after having to redo 3/4 of the Awakening playthrough I had all ready to go because I oopsed and accidentally deleted the wrong save game). I've put in about 11-12 hours, and I thought I would share my thoughts on the game thus far. I can only go on what I've seen and done up to this point, so this is not an analysis of the entire game. I will try to keep things spoiler-free.

The Good:

1) The characters. I am LOVING the characters so far. I take back every "meh" thought I had about Varric and Merrill, I'll tell you that. Here are the party members/characters so far and my thoughts: (note, I haven't recuited everyone, which is why Fenris is missing. And some I've talked to more than others, hence the uneven amount I talk about each)

Varric (voiced by Brian Bloom)
I don't know what it was, but I wasn't really interested one way or the other in Varric prior to the game's release. I don't know what it was, especially given how much I loved the dwarves and their culture in the first game. But I was wrong, Varric is great! He really is an enjoyable character, from his party banters, to your conversations with him, to what I've seen of the interaction of him and Cassandra. Plus, once you have a few points to spend, you can get some pretty nifty upgrades for that crossbow that are pretty sweet. I also really, really like how the dwarves don't have Scottish accents, like every other dwarf out there, and Varric has a great voice for his personality.

Bethany/Carver (voiced by Rebekah Staton/Nico Lennon)
Now here's my one and only spoiler. I don't really know anything about Carver. I've been running with Bethany in this playthrough, but next one I will be able to give you something on him. Bethany is an interesting character. She's a mage, and understands what your family went through to keep her (as well as your character's father) safe from the Templars and the Circle. In a way, she wants to be normal, but it's not overwhelming. As a mage, once you get some talent points into the various trees (I have her specced as a DPS mage), she will destroy enemies. The sisterly banter is really fun, and is a nice addition to the game.

Aveline (voiced by Joanna Roth)
Two words: lady tank! This is what Mhairi should have been. Aveline is a sword-and-shield tank you meet very early in the game. She's a sweet person, loyal and a believer in the good and right decisions. She can also smash in a hurlock's skull with her bare hands and lift a full-grown man like a child. Maybe you won't like her if you play a Renegade-type character, but even a "Paragade/Renegon*" type should be fine without venturing too far into rivalry (unless that's what you want, I suppose). I love Aveline, personally, even if she and my Hawke don't see eye to eye all the time.

Anders (voiced this time by Adam Howden)
Oh Anders, what did they do to you? *sniffles* Yes, Anders is in many respects still the awesome, snarkly mage that we all loved in Awakening (well, I didn't the first time through but I didn't really give him a chance, either. I blame Alistair withdrawal). But at the same time, he's not the same. He's more melancholy. And without saying what he tells you, I can tell you this, not ONE of my Wardens would have stood for it, and I'm sure my Queen Cousland would have used all her backing to make those responsible pay. My Aeducan Commander would definitely not have allowed such dishonor (what does a dwarf care for the Chantry anyway?). After a personal quest and conversation, in which I tentatively attempted a flirt line or two, I just wanted to hug him and send him back to my Amell warden so they could run off and be happy apostates together. But, we shall see how the game progresses.

Merrill (voiced by Eve Myles)
I didn't know who Merrill was when she was announced, although she was in Origins. Reason being, I hadn't played the Dalish Elf Origin (although the Cynic did). Luckily, my brother came over and played through as a Dalish Elf. Merrill in Origins was bland and kind of bossy. Merrill in DA II is adorable. She's like Sigrun, minus the harsh, casteless upbringing, and with an extra dose of naivete about how Kirkwall's society works. The new Welsh accent is really cool too, and differentiates the Dalish more from the City Elves and the Dwarves, which I really like. And she's a mage, so with her, Anders, Bethany, and my warrior Hawke, it's wonderful destruction every battle.

Isabela (voiced by Victoria Kruger)
Holy tits, Isabela's back! Now I've only just recruited her, so I haven't been able to ask her who in Thedas does breast implants, how she can stand upright with those, or where her pants have gone. I have, however, already been told where she's staying, in case I want to come keep her company. I wonder if she'll tell you she slept with your Warden (if you did), or about the possible threesome or foursome (I did the threesome with Alistair). So yeah, I can't tell you much about Isabela just yet, other than she's a dual-wield rogue.

Sebastian (voiced by Alec Newman)
Now I know what you're thinking; another noble-born archer with a dead family? Now, I haven't actually recruited Sebastian yet, but I have met him in game, and he isn't just a Nathaniel Howe clone (doesn't seem stoic enough). I shall have to see once I have him in my party, of course. His circumstances seem different enough to make him a different character just for that. More to follow once I know him better (but oh mah goodness, dat accent!).

There are also lots of great NPC's that you meet in the game. Cassandra is one such character. I'm looking forward to seeing some more cutscenes with her in them to see more of her and about her. It is also interesting to see more of the Qunari, including the Arishok. Also, Flemeth! She is as mysterious as ever, especially if you played the Witch Hunt DLC for Origins, but with a badass new look. And is once again magnificently voiced by Kate Mulgrew. I want more Flemeth! You also have a mabari, this time as a summon, which was a fantastic idea. I named him Gimli this time. As I said, I haven't really gotten all that far in the game, so I am probably missing lots of awesome characters I simply haven't met yet.

2)The Story. We are building up to something exciting. I doubt this game will be able to bring the overarching story to resolution, but I can see the set-up to continue it in further games (like the end of Mass Effect 2, which was holy shit to say the least). Mages, Chantry, Templars, Qunari, Flemeth, Wardens; there are so many angles (and more than this even) that are going to align with and against each other into something cataclysmic, whether for good or ill is still up for debate. And right now we see this through the eyes of a Fereldan refugee scraping their way up from nothing in Kirkwall. I can see it being a bit like Mass Effect 2, in showing a very specific story, but as a build-up to the events of a later game.

3) The redesigns for the races. I was very skeptical about these, but I like them a lot. It makes the races different, rather than a Star Trek-ish they all look like humans but adjusted for height and maybe prostheses, like ears. It makes them more individual as separate races. Humans and Dwarves seem to have had the least alteration, basically just updating their graphics into the new desgin. Flemeth, Elves and Qunari have had the largest changes, including the horns the Qunari were supposed to have in Origins. Although, not all Qunari have horns, as Sten is a notable exception.




Velanna (left) in Awakening, and Marethari (right) in Dragon Age II showing the new Elf look.

Sten (left) and a horned Qunari (right). You can definitely still tell they are Qunari when you talk to them. It's very cool to see more of them, and learn about their culture, such as the Tal'Vashoth and Qunari mages.

Flemeth in DA II and DA:O (inset)

4) The graphics. The graphics were vastly upgraded and the entire style of the universe was overhauled for DA II. And I like it. Maybe it won't impress everyone (in fact, I know it won't), but I like it. I'm sure a lot of people will complain it's too simple and lacking in detail, but I like the simplicity, without feeling like they're trying to cram as many pixels in just because they can. Now, I played the demo for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and it looked very, very pretty. But you know what, the Dragon Age universe isn't pretty. It's dark, it's dreary, it's not a nice place. But then again, I'm not terribly picky about graphics, so maybe I miss the point entirely when it comes to that.

5) Gameplay and combat. These two things also went through a massive overhaul. The dialogue wheel from Mass Effect makes it's DA debut. And you know what, I like it, after being sure I would hate it. The icons that show the intent (sarcastic, diplomatic, flirt, etc.) is an awesome addition, and makes it much easier to plan the conversation. the UI is easy to navigate and the combat talents have been organized into easy to handle talent trees with upgradable skills. Combat is wicked now. It's faster and more effective. When you hit a button for a spell, it happens now. It's much more responsive and you feel more in control. Your character also moves faster in combat, making the overall experience very satisfying.

6) Voice acting. Was there a doubt here? Several changes were made, such as the voice of Anders and Merrill, and switching the Dalish Elves to have Welsh and Irish accents. But overall, the voice acting is every bit as good as you expect from Bioware. A lot of people were iffy on the voices for Hawke. I haven't played male Hawke at all, but I like Lady Hawke's voice. I'm glad it's a little more feminine sounding, otherwise she would have sounded (and thusly been compared to) Commander Shepard. I love Shepard and I think her voice is perfect for her, I'm just glad they went for something a little different here, and I think it works. There was some complaints because they sounded too posh to be from Lothering, but Hawke's mother was nobility, so it does make sense.

7) Preset Hawke. I love character creators. I will spend an hour in just the character creator, especially in a first playthrough, looking at all the options. I've never really cared about the presets since I love customizing my own. But damn, I'm going to have to try out default Lady Hawke. She is probably one of the prettiest defaults ever! Not only that, even the default name is awesome. I've never used a default name in an RPG (if I could change it) until now. But I just couldn't think of anything I liked better than Marian. So I went with it. I did change up how she looked, though.

default Marian Hawke

My Marian Hawke

The Not So Good

1) Tiny Writing Syndrome. I know, I know, it's the fault of my old-ass, obsolete TV. Doesn't mean I can't complain about it. The text is tiny, especially for loading screens. I can read it, but I generally have to sit closer to do so. I don't really even pay attention to the loot I'm picking up because it's too hard to read whatever the damn thing is. Unfortunately, until I acquire a new TV, I'm stuck with it.

2) Anders' voice. Now, I have no problem with the voice actor who plays him in DA II. And I now know why they changed it and why he isn't voiced by Greg Ellis but I wished they'd done it the other way so that he was. I think it could have worked the other way too. Oh well. It's a bit of a fangirlish complaint, but it wouldn't have been my preference. His current VA does do a really good job though, and really illustrates how he's changed based on how the world has treated him.

Final Verdict- So Far

Well, obviously I'm enjoying it, or I wouldn't have written a novella on my first thoughts. It's a darker game, that's for sure. Damn dark. There are still moments of levity and snarkiness, but I agree with others that there doesn't seem to be as much. Or at least, it is more overshadowed by the grittier part. But we shall see as I play more. I read an interesting review that compared it to the old RPG Planescape Torment, which I think is an apt comparison. It's bleak, concentrated mainly in one area (in and around the city-state of Kirkwall) rather than a whole country, and while an excellent game, it won't be for everybody. I think the best way to describe DA II, at least so far, is Planescape Torment crossed with Mass Effect 2 in the Dragon Age universe. Not to say it doesn't feel like a Dragon Age game, because it very much does. Though I'm still in the First Act, I will say that I am really enjoying the game and am looking forward to getting more time into it.

Well thanks to everyone who slogged through yet another ridiculously long post with me. As a reward, The God Drums, in their entirety. The video's trippy though, even for Lud. :D




See you guys next time!




*Paragade- combination Paragon ("good") and Renegade ("evil") more to the Paragon side.
Renegon- same idea, but opposite to Paragade.

Hey Folks!

Sorry I haven't put up a first impressions of Dragon Age II yet. I've been trying to play through a bit more, and the Cynic wanted to get up his Devils in the Desert #3 review. So hopefully I will have something for you tomorrow.

And big news in the CWTC world: I, the Picky Mama Scholar, am going to be even more scholarly! Well, what I mean to say is, come the fall I will be starting my Masters Program! Hooray! It's very exciting, although it will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end. It will be a big change, but it will be a good one for us in the long run.

I really have to go to bed now, but that is the plan. Hopefully something new for you all tomorrow (errr... later today).

It's Here!!

Today* was the big day. I got myself ready:

L'Oreal Hi-Intensity pink over a black base with e.l.f gold over top with a white base. Intentionally unblended, but the effect didn't really work like I wanted it to.

And headed out. And off to EB Games, where this was waiting for me:

Squee!

Hurray for release dates and pre-orders! That, my friends, is the Signature Edition. With oodles of delicious, free bonus content; like an Exiled Prince with a hot accent, a wardog (who I will have to think of a new name for, because I can't name a second dog Hannibal, despite how awesome that sounds), and a pile of other goodies. There's even has a tie-in if you bought Dead Space 2, much the same as the DA:O-ME:2 Blood Dragon Armor. I'm super excited about this game and I will have my first impressions up very soon, don't worry. :D

While we were out and about we also picked up a) a bigger hard drive for our 360-which we needed quite badly, especially with DA II, Mass Effect 2, and Warriors of Rock. And b) a renewed Gold Membership, which means I can do my Demo Reviews more efficiently as I won't have to wait the extra week for the games to switch to Silver. So excitement all around! Now if I could just shake this tummy bug, we'd be grand.

So yes, I will have something up with my first thoughts on the game as soon as I can!

*And today it shows the right date. Ack. Well, by today I mean Tuesday, March 8th.

P.M.S Cooks! Stew and Biscuits & Latest Looks

Hey all, another entry look into my cooking and makeup hobbies. Let's start with the food!

Today's post is yet another stew lol. Here's the rundown:
Prep time: ~9 hours (8 of which were prepping the soup bones)
Ingredients: beef stock & meat (from soup bones), 3 chopped green onions, 4 grated parsnips, several small potatoes cubed (probably 3-4 large ones), fresh rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, sage.

Instructions: cook beef bones for about half an hour with rosemary, some crumbled sage, and Worcestershire sauce. Boil/simmer/cook in water for about 8 hours for broth. Remove meat and bones, let cool, then put meat back in. Add potatoes, parsnip, onion and more rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, and sage. Then you're good to go! It's actually better the next day, as the parsnip flavor mellows a bit and is less harsh.

Yum!

Oh, I almost forgot what I whipped up to accompany the stew!

Cheese Biscuits!

These were just a basic biscuit recipe you can find anywhere, with added shredded cheese. Very yummy when nice and hot with butter/margarine.

On to the makeup looks. Well, I've done a few. Not all of them were great, but these are my two favorites from the past week or so.

First was a dupe of a pink/gray smoky eye. I wanted to do a bit of a toned-down version, as it was pretty intense and I'm still not sure how crazy of makeup I can pull off well. So here's how it looked. As a dupe, it was awful, but as a look, it looked really nice.

The gray is e.l.f and the pink is L'Oreal Hi-Intensity Pigment Eye Shadow in Brazen (it's a duo with a brown. The grays were sparkly and the pink is matte.

This was the second look, from the other day.



The eyes are with a Bonnebell 4-set called Backstage Beauty Browns. For powder, they're really creamy and go on really nice. I used the silvery brown, the purply brown, and a coppery brown for this. I used L'Oreal Glam Shine Juice in Mambo Juice for my lips, and my usual mascara- L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen in Black. No foundation or anything, I'm usually too lazy or rushed, and my face doesn't like too much stuff on it. Blush is random stuff I've had forever.

Well that's about it. This week is a very exciting one, I'll have my first thoughts on Dragon Age II up for sure sometime. As to what else, I'm not sure yet. Perhaps a day-of-release makeup look. For now, I'll leave you with an amazing early song from my very favorite band!