LUSH!

Finally, the beauty universe has landed a Lush in my mall, and I couldn't be more excited. If you don't know what Lush is, it is a bath and body store that sells all sorts of lotions, scrubs, shampoos, conditioners, make-up (a new thing) and so much more. What is great about them is they use natural products they use real fruits and vegetables, and all sorts of oils and good for you products. I definitely recommend checking out the website.

I stopped in yesterday because I couldn't walk by it without doing so, and I bought two things. It was my first time buying anything but I've been inside a Lush before. I bought the Eau Roma Water which is a rose and lavender toner, great for sensitive and/or dry skin! You can just spray it on or use it on a cotton pad and apply to skin. Also, it is great for setting your make-up! It smells heavenly and I already know I'm addicted. I am a sucker for anything rose!

 Then as I was checking out I saw a bunch of lip balms and if you know me, I have a problem with not having enough lip products. So I tried the Honey Trap lip balm and again fell in love. It is the most moisturizing thing I've ever used. My lips not only felt smooth but looked smoother after using. You have to try this, they have a ton of other lip balms and tints too! 

It is a clear balm and its ingredients sound incredible: sweet orange, peppermint oil, rich honey and white chocolate! There is a bunch more ingredients in there as well, like almond oil, shea butter, olive oil, and oatmeal infusion.

I am all for brands that keep it organic and natural, so this is amazing that I can just go to the store now. Their prices are rather reasonable too, which could get me a little bit of trouble. Haha

Have a great weekend you guys!

And here is a picture to make you laugh:

Charlie's attempt to hide from the vacuum cleaner...climbed on top of my printer and tried to fit in the shelf on my desk!

FOTD: Cream Shadows

Today I want to share with you the make-up I just did. It has been very slow going today, I just haven't been able to get my day going fast enough but I finally took ten minutes and put some make-up together.

Face

Foundation: Josie Maran's Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation in Light/Medium

Concealer: Sonia Kashuk's Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette (two most left colors)

Powder: MAC's Beauty Powder in Blush of Youth (limited edition I believe with their Rose Romance Collection)

Blush: Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Dollface

Eyes

Eyeshadow: Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow (third brown over on the eyelid and in crease over the plum color below, then second brown on the eyelid)

Make Up Forever's Aqua Cream in #17 (plum) (this went in the crease)

Almay Intense Smoky-i For Browns #401 (used lightest color as a blending color and highlight)

Mascara: Fresh's Supernova Mascara in Black

Eyeliner: Urban Decay's Oil Slick in inner rims and outer rims

Exciting News!

I have been working on my very own website! It will be a home for my name and all the things I like to do! It will be a great place for putting together my portfolio and be easily connected. It will almost be my digital resume of sorts.

I'm not really "known" enough to have a website but it may be of use to direct future employers! Plus it is a nice add on to the blog and it gives me a starting base to branch out from. It isn't ready yet, I'm still working on it and making it nice but I think it will be a nice surprise to see.

Which brings me to my other thought of the day... I think I want to change my blog name!

What do you guys think? I have one in mind but I'm not sure. I just don't think Some Blissful Chaos is really doing it for me anymore. I love the meaning behind it but it is time for me to move on.

So the one I am considering is : Theory of Thoughts

Yes? No?

Writing Class Experience

*written on Wednesday*

I am currently on the train home from New York City. I did something totally out of my comfort zone and took a writing class.

I found Skillshare's website a while ago and thought the concept of classes taught by people who actually work in these areas was awesome. So I signed up for the how to be a copywriter course taught by Grace Bello.

There were four of us signed up which was the max and we met at the 60 Wall Street atrium. Everyone was really nice, one girl had a published book and the guy that was there was a litigator!

We talked a lot about brands and what companies are looking for. Grace had a lot of great advice about interviewing and what will help get you hired.

I definitely recommend trying Skillsare out and taking a class near you. It is a great way to connect with others and learn some great stuff!

New Product I Love!

So I really just had to write a post on this because I have never been so excited over a product in my life. No less, a hair product. If you know me, then I am the least fussy person in the world about hair. I never ever blow dry my hair or use heating tools on it, and I pretty much never put product in my hair. It is always natural. 

Well, I've tried some hair oils in the past but have always been careful because my hair just gets so oily from them. However, I've found my new must have hair product!

This stuff is AMAZING! I bought it at Stop and Shop for maybe $9.00? I'm in awe of this, my hair is so much softer and fluffier and just feels and looks ten times better than ever. I've only used this twice and I'm writing this post, so believe me it is a great product. 

I love Organix's (the brand) Argan Oil shampoo, it is a renewing shampoo and it never leaves my hair oily and it makes my hair so much more manageable. I think this is my go to brand for shampoo, conditioner, and the oil for sure!

August Birchbox!

  

 Look what came in the mail today!

This makes me happy to see. It is nice to just get a present every now and then, even if you paid for it. 

This month's theme is back to school! Which is pretty cute, but I would have pegged September for that theme...oh well. 

There were some nice things in this box though! Instead of the usual card with all the products it gave you a folded booklet with the items and a bunch of beauty tips!

First up is a shave cream in a jar! Something I certainly have never seen before. It is by the brand Whish and the scent is pomegranate. I'll be using this probably the next time I shower, I'm just too intrigued. 

Along with that, I think the extra for the box was this Schick Hydro Silk razor! Which is awesome, I've been using disposable razors for so long, and they work just fine. It's nice to have a razor with replaceable heads though...it is like a treat.

 

Then there was a card from Stila in the box with three samples on that back!

The first one on the left is their Stay All Day 10-in-1 beauty balm. I was looking at beauty balms (or bb creams) on Sephora's website a while back and I did see this. I just have too many foundations to finish before I'll spend the money for another. This was a great way to try it though. I put it on before I wrote this post! I would have used a little more than what was in the sample but I really love it so far. 

The two other samples are of their Stay All Day foundation and concealer which comes packaged together! The concealer in in the top! If you look at the picture below on the right you'll see what I mean.

 Then there was a sample of Viva La Juicy Le Fleur. I wasn't a fan of the regular Viva La Juicy but this I like. I'm a big rose girl and while it doesn't have rose in it, this is a bit reminiscent of it. The scent has sparkling mandarin, wild berries, honeysuckle (which is probably what I like about it) and jasmine (also a favorite of mine).

 Last but not least was this moisturizing cream called Yu-Be. This is really popular in Japan where it originated and the story behind it is great. The paper said this is a moisturizer that is safe for the whole body, lips and face! The special thing about this is it is glycerin based rather than petroleum based. I tried some on my lip and hands and I really liked it. I'm going to try and find it in stores.

It has lots of listed uses though; like burns and facial moisturizing and cuticles and much more!

This card was included in the box and it just says that this month's Birchbox is partnered with Pencils of Promise a group that builds schools in Central America. If you buy anything from the Birchbox Shop this month, then 15% of the proceeds go to Pencils of Promise. I though that was awesome and I wanted to include it.

Weekend Thoughts

*Wrote this a while ago, thought I'd still share it with you guys!*

This topic happened upon me while driving in my car listening to "Cupid's Chokehold" by the Gym Class Heros; yes it is random, but hang in there with me. It was the lyric in the song that said "she's even got her very own ringtone", and it made me laugh. It made me remember how in middle school and yeah, even high school; it was imperative that if you were in a relationship you had to have a ringtone for each other. Your boyfriend was a jerk if he didn't have one special for you.

Love is a term that grows with us as we age

Love is a term that grows with us as we age and its definition changes as well. I think we all figure that out and by a certain point we know what love is to us and how it changes us. What we don't normally think about is the ways in which we define it. Not in words but in actions. The difference between that when we are younger and now when we are adults is astonishing.

When we are teenagers your significant other had to do certain things to prove they " loved" you. It starts from such a young age too. When you’re in the earlier grades in school it is all about actually hanging out with each other at recess or sitting next to each other at lunch but then all of a sudden you hit middle school and it changes. Now it is well you have to hold hands every single second you’re together, or he must walk you to your locker and then to class and subsequently be late to every single one of his classes.

I think what has made it worse is social media. Now, a relationship isn’t official unless it is posted on Facebook for everyone in your list of friends to see. Like if it isn’t on Facebook, then it couldn’t possibly be true. That is truly irritating, that we must rely on a website to dictate how authentic a relationship is. Then of course, if you’re in a relationship you must write on each others walls all the time professing your love to each other. Another good one thanks to social media is the constant phone calls. You had to have one before school, one after school, and one at bedtime and that is just the bare minimum. Then of course you spend hours and hours on the phone talking about absolutely nothing, or not talking at all...come on now, admit it, you are guilty of it right?

Or my favorite is when in middle school or high school even, two people would start dating and three days later start saying “I love you”. Or the fact that we felt the need to say it every single time we said goodbye.

I suppose what I’m getting at is, when we are younger we have no idea about how to properly express love. We are under the impression that it must be said as many times as possible, as if your boyfriend/girlfriend was going to forget in the hour long class that separates you.

It is one of those moments I can say I’m grateful I’m an adult now. I’ve been in “love” and I’ve been in real love. I know the difference and when you find someone you truly have fallen in love with there is no need to constantly express it. If you know they love you back then it is unspoken. You can just look at each other and know, there is no reason to flaunt it to the world, since honestly, it is none of their business.

Love is probably one of the scariest things in the world to deal with, and yes as cliche as that sounds, I speak the truth. You go into a relationship not expecting anything and as time goes on it changes. You feel this weight in your chest and it makes you speechless, because you realize that your heart is opening up to this other person. Which then in fact makes you the most vulnerable you’ve ever felt, and you are hit with this intense fear of the idea that they may not love you back or as much as you love them.

Once you take that leap though, I can’t say it isn’t worth it. We are young for a reason, to let ourselves go through our stupid phase and get out what we think we know. Growing up is just us redefining what we think.

Big Surprises!

I just did something totally out of my comfort zone! You guys will see it soon here on the blog :)

I hope you like it!

Making your own education

It has now gotten to that point where I really need to figure out what comes next in terms of education. It's been a little bit of a struggle lately, for a number of reasons. I grew up always believing that the next logical step was graduate school. Granted, I didn't start really thinking about it until high school, but you get my drift. 

My parents never told me I had to go to grad school, my father didn't and my mom didn't go to college at all. It isn't a pressure sort of idea, just something I figured would be in the cards for me. Although, I had naive ideas about college in general so yeah, there's that. 

However, about a month ago plus, I applied to a program. American Studies, so it'd be more history than politics or writing but okay. Well, I've gotten no answer because they want to see my final transcript from ASU when I'm done. 

With no plan in place for after I'm done with this degree, it got me thinking. Do I really have to go to grad school? Could I maybe make up my own "masters"? I'd been looking into a number of classes and certificates that you could do for writing, journalism, etc. What if instead of being in a program that has nothing to do with what I really want and will only look good on paper, not translate in real life; I make my own curriculum, if you will. 

Take classes with professionals, get a few certificates online, yeah it will still cost some major money but it would be learning the things I want to learn. 

There is this website called Skillshare, and it is pretty much a way to look up classes in anything (coding to design to cooking to how to live rent free in nyc - yes it's a real class, very popular) and you find classes closest to you. Now when I put in my town the closest was Stamford, and it wasn't writing. So naturally, living in CT, my next thought is one of the writing capitals of the world - New York City. 

There is one writer, Grace Bello, who has a few different classes she teaches, and I literally want to take every single one. There is one later this month on copy writing, something I've been interested in, and I think I am going to sign up! 

I am going to try to take control of my education and do what I want to do. Get crazy and wander the city taking writing classes. It sounds like a dream to me!

Google versus Apple

I've been an Apple fan girl for quite some time now, I have the iPhone and a Mac Book Pro. I even got my mom to buy herself an iPad, and she loves it by the way. My brother was convinced to switch to a Mac Book Pro when he entered college. Needless to say, I've been an advocate for Apple within my family*.

However, I was talking to the boyfriend today while in the car and honestly, I think Apple has its' work cut out for it. They need to come out with something amazing because the Android market is booming. Now if you haven't made the connection yet, (I too was late to the game, no worries) Android is a product of Google. So all those phones that are "Android smart phones"? Yeah Google is the mastermind behind it.

Galaxy Nexus

Google has however, come out with their own signature smart phone called the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung. I have to say it is p.r.e.t.t.y impressive. It has all the capabilities of an iPhone and more. If you are familiar with any of Google's products, as in Google +, maps, Drive, etc; then you will see a lot of that integrated into the phone. Come on now, it's Google, they are going to integrate as much of the company into the phone as they can. I can't fault them for that though considering they have some great stuff.

Shaun mentioned that at work one of his clients was showing him one of the devices (phone or tablet, I cannot remember :/) and he told me how all the apps were just there, you didn't need to enter one and exit out of another. That is the impressive thing about the Galaxy Nexus and I assume the Nexus tablet, that everything is integrated into the operating system - Jelly Bean (what an awesome name btw!).

At this point, it seems like Apple needs a big product to catch up with how the rest of the market is moving. Apple had just announced its' new operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, which does have some new features. Some of the features include: auto save (in documents and iCloud), built-in sharing to social networks, dictation (talk to type). There are two major features that I think are a selling point for the system - notifications and messages. With notifications, it is a literal feed on your desktop that shows your calendar, mail, reminders, and "third-party apps". You can get notified when things happen, you can tweet from it and post to Facebook. This is something Microsoft has had for years.

Screen Shot of Apple Website

Then messages is exactly what you're thinking, you can send a message (through iMessage) to any iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac with Mountain Lion. So this is like AIM for your Mac. Remember AIM? Ah the good old days... It also includes group messaging which is definitely cool and you can also use face time.

Other than the new OS, the changes Apple has been making are minimal. They upgraded the 15-inch Mac Book Pro to a retina display and got rid of the 17 - inch completely, which in my opinion isn't the worst thing, it seemed like a little much. So they better make the iPhone 5 out of this world, or Apple is going to be in quite some trouble.

Nexus 7 Tablet

The point is, that the rest of the market is changing in ways that we couldn't have fathomed a few years ago. I mean the Galaxy Nexus is an unlocked phone for $349! That means you can go with any network provider you want! At $349 in comparison to the iPhone, it seems like a no brainer. Even the Nexus tablet at 16 GB is only $250!

Better step it up Apple.

* my father has resisted most technology and has the bare minimum for his cell and his company gives him a laptop...so yeah no luck there ;)

Book Review: The Great Bridge

I started The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough, probably two months ago. It is over 500 pages and with my schedule it took me a while to finish. I'm very glad I did though, it is a great book and the story is incredible.

I had always heard about David McCullough but never got the chance to read any of his work. What made me happiest about this book was finding out how much research Mr. McCullough really did. There is nothing better than knowing that the author of a book like that really did the work.

I recommend this to anyone who is a history or political buff. Or even if you are just interested in what went on behind the scenes, this is a great read for you. There were some things that totally blew my mind, for example, the two ends of the bridges near land are held by caissons (HUGE bottomless, hollow, blocks. One for each end) and the method for sinking them underground was astonishing.

It may be a little difficult to follow because a lot of the terminology may be foreign to someone who doesn't know engineering or bridges, but with a little concentration, you can understand 98% of it without looking anything up.

The best part of the book for me was how it told the story of the bridge and how it was built, it told the story of the family behind building it, and it gave the political aspect and how it influenced not only the bridge but New York City.

Amazing book!

(picture from bn.com)