Sunday, July 29, 2012

Writing Project

One of my iPhone backgrounds!

So, it has been decided that I am going to take on a new project, and while I feel nuts for doing it when I'm so busy already, it will be good for me. 

I'm going to write an entry everyday about something/anything. I will pick a word at random and just write. It won't be journalistic but more storied pieces. Fiction, if you will, but not really because it'll be based on my experiences no doubt. 

I'm excited for this because I don't always release my thoughts and feelings like I should and this will be a minor change to that habit. Plus, in order to be a better writer, you have to keep writing. I've already done a piece for today, you'll find it under the "Writings" tab at the top of the blog. 

I hope you enjoy!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Too many exclamation points!!!

Too many exclamation points!!!

Just felt like I needed to share this article because I too am guilty of it, but it is a terrible habit for others!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Major Friday Favorites



I have enough favorites today to actually make categories! Get excited!

Music:
Overexposed by Maroon 5 - this entire album is just incredible! I was listening to Maroon 5 before they got popular and I love that they can still kill it years later!

Once Upon Another Time - EP by Sara Bareilles - another album that I adore. I literally play the song "Stay" everytime I'm in my car and sing at the top of my lungs!

"Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis - Such a fun upbeat song...I wish this were around when I was still dancing and I could have done a solo to this! Plus I love the band's name - it's Italian for brothers!

"No Church In The Wild" by Jay-Z and Kanye West - I will forever live in disgust of Kanye West, I think he's a loser but I love Jay-Z and this song is pretty amazing.

Clothing:


Abercrombie & Fitch Jeggings - I hate the prices at A&F and I worked at the little sister store Hollister for two years but I do love their jeans. Plus they have amazing colored jeggings out right now on sale and I'm dying to go shopping!

JCrew - anything from here is something I want! haha Madwell too!

Beauty:




Laura Mercier Lingerie Palette - I've been loving this for a while, the eyeshadow are just perfect! However, what I have been really using it for lately is the blush! The Rose Desire color (pink) is gorgeous and so pigmented!

Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Foundation - I've been using this foundation for a few months now and it is very nice. It matches very well to my skin which is usually rare for these sorts of products. I wish it were a little more moisturizing but not anything that would make me stop using it.

Clinique Superfine Brow Pencil - I don't believe this is the name of my particular eyebrow pencil but I will have to look it up when I get the chance. Either way, filling in my eyebrows has been my go to move even when I don't do much else. It makes such a difference.

Well that's all for now but have a good weekend everyone!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

"United 93"

I have seen a ton of movies in my 22 years, but there has never truly been one that has stuck in my mind longer than a half hour, and not one that made me feel compelled to write. Tonight, just because, Shaun and I watched United 93. I'm glad I saw it for a number of reasons.



9/11 will always be a black mark on the history of our country, not one to be ever remembered fondly. It was a day that may have saved us though. I was too young to really understand what was happening, I was only 11. I could never have fathomed the social and political implications of a thing like this. There was no understanding for a kid in that situation. It looked bad, that was all we knew as kids because we were home watching it on television.

Now, the older we get the more it can be appreciated when we relive the moments. I think the thing that strikes me the most is how angry we became as a country. You don't think of a country as a solitary unit, but in this case that is exactly what we got. It didn't matter if you were from New York City or from California, you were shocked, shaken, and pissed.

It mobilized us as a country to realize that we were "one". That our state's borders didn't need to keep us separated. While many will look at 9/11 as the event that made us socially aware and able to come together; I see it in other ways too.

I think in some ways it has made the United States government turn for the better. Granted, we are not looking so great right now...but that is due to a number of other issues. However, we got stricter which believe it or not, is something I think we needed at that point. If we had continued on our, "we are the best and strongest country in the world parade", for much longer I think we'd be in a far worse place than we are currently. We were arrogant, we felt like we couldn't be touched, and when in fact we were proven wrong, it may have brought us a certain humility that we had been lacking.

In my own opinion we are hearing more about charity, and other country's major problems and how there are people out there finding a solution much more than we ever used to. It may never be enough, but we have become more sympathetic to others in and out of our country.

I feel this even just tonight, as I watched the Rachel Maddow Show, and they were commenting on the politicization  of the shooting in Colorado. They said not to politicize it event, it wouldn't be right. Ezra Klein spoke about how we as a country are mourning the event, and for a moment I thought, "The people in Colorado should be mourning, not everyone else." My thought process being, it happened to a relatively small community not everyone. But then I thought, of course we'd all be mourning. Not because we lost someone, but because once again there was a flaw in the system and we were showing strength, not weakness.

We as a country were showing this community that we understand and see that you are hurting and scared and we are here standing behind you. A part of me feels like 9/11 helped us become that country. Would it be better if it never happened? Of course. Then again, if it hadn't of happened where would we be today?

Monday, July 23, 2012

Just a glimpse...

Into my homework hell :)

strained eyeballs

I honestly couldn't think of a great title to this post, so bear with me. I just had an appointment with the eye doctor and I had to get my eyes dilated...no fun.

So this past week has been a whirlwind of things to do, that is mostly because I actually worked full time last week. I was filling in for the nurse at the summer camp so that meant giving up my half days! I was happy to help out and the extra money will be nice, but my classes took a hit. I did not do well on my exams at all this past Friday. There was simply not enough time to do two classes worth of work and studying and work full time, and try to take some time off for myself. I give an insane amount of credit to any of my classmates who work full time and do school. I'm sure some of them even have kids on top of it!

The crunch in time always takes a toll on me, because I get stressed out and then somehow I end up not feeling well. I hope this week to get back on track and really take the time to learn the material...my degree sort of depends on it!

Speaking of degrees...I'm still up in the air about graduate school, but the full-time job search is not very successful at all. I'm at a standstill right now and those student loans are staring me right in the eye at this point.


Well this was just a small update and hopefully I'll be able to post soon! Back to work for me!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday Funday

Don't let the title fool you, today has put me in boredom hell. All I could muster up is homework to do. I hate having a day with nothing to do! However, I was procrastinating for a while and was poking around online and I found these:


First up is this post on Cool Material about a new app called Brewster. It is your contact list but 10 X cooler.  It is currently thunder storming all sorts of crazy right now so my phone is being so slow but when I get it set up, I'll give you an update!



I am almost certain I posted about this picture before, but I have to do it again. I cannot express my love for Pantone and just color in general. I thought of how cool it'd be to take all the Pantone chip colors and make a poster of them. It'd be one huge poster though!

We're you dying of boredom today? What do you do to avoid it?


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Literary Genius!

This website makes the literary nerd in me jump for joy. If only I had a book to publish! I'd love to make a picture book of Charlie but I need to 1. get a better camera and 2. I want to go get actual prints and do a photo album. Yeah, I'm that old school :)

It seems like self-publishing is a huge trend though. I read a little about it in Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project, she dabbled with that and loved it! My favorite bookstore in NYC, McNally Jackson, even has their own printing machine!

If you're in the Soho area go check it out btw, that bookstore is one place I could spend all day in for sure!

Beer Awesomeness

Picture from Coolmaterial.com
I am going to order this book, take a trip to the Brooklyn Brewery and bask in the glory that is this awesome find. 


How's your Saturday going?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

July Birchbox!

Holy cow! Can I just say this might be the best Birchbox I have gotten yet?!? It is incredible! Birchbox teamed up with Glamour magazine to do a box all about the senses: smell it, touch it, taste it, hear it, and see it.



The colors on the box are awesome, first off. I always have loved the blues, greens, and purples.

First item is one of the lifestyle products: a LARABAR. In particular it is a Uber Roasted Nut Roll. I don't usually go for bars like this but I'm willing to try anything once. Variety pack of 16 is $27.95.






This is the sheer glo shimmer lotion by Manna Kandar. This is more of a highlighter than a lotion. You can mix it with your foundation, which is probably what I will do. Full size is $29.









Next up is the other lifestyle product! Ear buds! I'm totally excited because I was trying to find a pair in my room and they are long gone, but now I have these. They are cute in the neon color, sort of reminds me of watermelon! They were considered a Birchbox exclusive and were specifically designed for the box.
In the green wrapped part of the box I found a new nail polish by Color Club called Blue-Ming. It doesn't look like it in the bottle but it is supposed to be a green-turquoise. I tried it on my nail it the color is what it says. The only thing I was a little upset with was that it is majorly streaky. Once it dries it disappears a little but you need to be careful how you apply it. Full size is $8.



















This is something I am super hyped to try because the summer and my crazy shower schedule is not being nice to my hair. This is a High Gloss Masque by Gloss Moderne. You massage it into your hair for five minutes after giving it a rinse, and then after the five minutes you rinse it out. The sample is actually huge so I will get a lot of use out of this :) Full size is $39.

This is super cool too, it is a Balancing Kit from Suki skincare! It says it is supposed to calm and purify troubled skin. What they included is: [Left] Pure facial moisture-balancing (organic blue chamomile and echinacea) which is like a skin oil. [Top left] the concentrated balancing toner (white willow salicins and vitamin c polypeptides). [Bottom left] the exfoliate foaming cleanser (lemongrass extract and natural sugar). [Top right] Balancing day lotion (white willow salicins and natural retinol). [Bottom right] Transformative cleansing clay (white willow salicins and antibacterial zinc).

Whew! The whole kit you can buy for $40 but this is a great starter set to try it out. These packets have a few days worth of tries, most people think you are supposed to use it all up in one try but it is too much product and won't work for you skin if you do!


















Last but not least is a fragrance sample by Harvey Prince. It is the Eau Flirt (or Flirt water haha). It is a scent with fresh citrus and jasmine notes over a base of lavender and pumpkin. At first pumpkin threw me, the only thing I like pumpkins for are their seeds. I was sort of right, it smells too citrusy and something else (probably the pumpkin), plus I'm not crazy about the packaging. It looks like something a 10 year old would pick up. But nice effort with the floral parts of the scent! Full size $55-$98.

So there you have it the July Birchbox! It was a great box!




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