April 17, 2010

Photoshopped Stephy

My picnik premiere account expired : ( ~ that means no more "touch up" tools.

I don't plan on spending $24 to renew it so I'm slowly teaching myself photoshop. I'm just lazy to use photoshop because I have to wait for it to load. I think I need a faster laptop.

Anyhow, I'm just waiting for Jimmy Fallon to start ~ so I played with some of my photos : )
Always remember to resize your photos. Large photos take a long time to load & slows down your computer when you're photoshopping away.

Before, when I used to go to tanning
After, I just played around with the vibrance

Before, taken on January 1, 2010 : )
I used surface blur to the extreme & thought it came out cool.
Unnatural, but cool none-the-less!
After, grain effect : )

I'm been thinking about starting a Roth IRA, it's never too early to save for the future.
Does anyone have an IRA? Do you have any advice for a newbie like myself?

I've also been wanting to get clip-in hair extensions!
So far, I've found two websites,

Dollie, price is around $99-130: http://www.dolliehairextensions.com
Extensions.com, price is around $170+ : http://www.hairextensions.com/
My ladies on twitter suggested I check out the hair in an actual store to get a feel for the quality.
Have anyone of you bought hair extensions online?

I've bought a set from Sally's before and I actually sewed on the clips.
The hair was real human hair, and sewing them myself saved me about $50.
I paid around $65 to make my own set of 18" ~ but the color didn't match me so I sold them.

=/

I don't plan on making my own any time soon lol. It's A LOT of work.

My show's about to start!
I gotta run, leave me your comments if you have any suggestions!!!

Thank you! XOXO!

Steph


p.s. Meet Marisa, my first friend in Bellevue, Washington : ) I love ya girl!

http://marisaaachan.blogspot.com/

Thanks for being there for me!!! Thanks for being my lunch buddy too!

10 comments:

  1. I got some human hair extentions online from http://www.proextensions.com 99 bucks and free shipping... they are really soft.. feel really nice.. only problem with them is the texture is soooo soft that you dont get much volume if you dont have layers in your hair already.

    xx

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  2. I don't know much about Roth IRA's, but if you find out anything I would like to know! All I know is that there isn't a deduction when you put in money, but it is tax free when you take it out after a certain age. That's awesome!

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  3. Wow, Steph! Your skin looks flawless on the pic of you that you used surface blur! It does look cool!

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  4. I love playing with photoshop, tons of fun! Yours are soooo cute :)

    here's a post from natty on extensions that may help
    http://nattyngeorge.blogspot.com/2009/12/dyed-my-hair-added-18-long-extensions.html

    you can also search "hair extensions" on her page :)

    Can't wait to see the results!!

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  5. btw - I don't know anything about IRA's, I have a 401k and love it...I'm sorry boo!!

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  6. Hi Steph! OMG! Your skin looks flawlessssss :)

    I've worn and even did hair extensions for several people and I too would recommend going into a physical store to check it out before you buy. A lot of times, the stores also carry decent human hair extensions and recently, a lot of them have been carrying the clip-in ones. My sister got a bob not too long ago and instantly regretted it and therefore was on a hunt to get extensions. She found it to be cheaper to buy the hair separately from the clips and then sew the clips in herself to the hair to save some dough......

    Hope this helps :)
    Good Luck chica!

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  7. hey babe - i have a 401k that i contribute to every paycheck. I believe it's a roth ira but i invest it in mutual funds and what not.

    please start investing for your retirement. :) It's also good to have handy in case of some big life emergency or even a huge down payment on your mansion. It's never too early to start! and start thinking about investing soon. :)

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  9. YAY! Finance!

    Sooooo, I know you asked about the Roth IRA, but I wanted to push the 401K first. If you currently have a job where your employer offers a 401K and matches contributions you should definitely do it. You will get to save for your future and get free money from your boss too! If you're not working or your employer doesn't offer a 401K, IRAs are a good way to go too. Personally, I would suggest that if you have both options available to you, then you should participate in both investments. Contributing to an IRA doesn't prevent you from contributing to a 401K and vice versa.

    Roth IRAs are different from Traditional IRAs because you contribute with AFTER-TAX dollars. The main advantage of a Traditional IRA, compared to a Roth IRA, is that contributions are often tax-deductible. Simply put, the money that you put into a Traditional IRA will lower your income dollar-per-dollar so that you pay less taxes at the end of the year. For example: if you make $10,000 a year and contribute $5,000 (the max) to a Traditional IRA, then you will only be taxed as if you made $5,000 of income for the year. On the other hand, you will have to pay the taxes when you plan to retire and withdraw the money.

    Although the Roth IRA doesn’t help lower your taxable income, the benefit with this type of IRA is that you will not have to pay taxes when you withdraw it at retirement. So the rule of thumb here is, if you expect to have much higher income when you’re reaching that retirement age than you do now, then go with the Roth IRA. You will not reap the benefits now, but you will definitely reap them later.

    You will be able to open up an IRA at your local bank, or with a brokerage firm. The difference is that investing your IRA in a brokerage firm gives you the ability to hold stocks or bonds. Keep in mind this will be riskier than investing in your bank, which pretty much just holds it for you. You are smart to think about saving for your future before it’s too late. I didn’t mean for the post to be so long-winded but I just find the topic so fascinating! I’m going to include a link below for a really good article about IRAs. Even though it’s from 2007 it makes some great points. It’s a good idea to do some research on your own too. Best of luck in your investments!

    Jenny

    http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/06/07/how-to-start-a-roth-ira-and-where-to-do-it/

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Thank you for your comments!