Wednesday, October 31

Happy Halloween

Halloween added a bit of insanity to the school day, to say the least.

Some classes allowed costumes and/or had parties while others didn't. I'd totally be game to intricately dress-up but haven't in a while. One of these years, just you wait, lol. I ingested more sugar today than I would like to admit, but it's much less than I have in the past.

Um, go me? Not necessarily a conscious effort, but maybe my tastes are maturing or I don't want to start emotionally eating in front of the kids- scarring them for life. Or something. :P

After a long day, FMIL did come back and do some last minute pumpkin carving. This time, we didn't put the jack-o'-lanterns outside for the javelina to enjoy. She's been re-telling that story all year long, I was expecting it to happen even though those herds haven't been terribly active lately. We had costumed visitors this evening and the neighbors across the way shot off some fireworks out of boredom.

It seems that most trick-or-treating is done not so much by walking around neighborhoods, but going to community events instead. At least, around here is seems to be the case. I guess it's really hard with the holiday falling in the middle of the week. Oh boy, tomorrow should be interesting to hear about (whether we like it or not, lol).

Anyway, here are some pictures of our impromptu carving:

 Wasn't sure what I was going to carve until I stared at my pumpkin for a bit today. A spider! Why not?

Was tempted to just stop here and have a goofy face. :D
The sketching was quickly disregarded for simplicity and logic's sake.

 The aftermath. So gross. Decided against roasting the seeds this year.

This is FMIL's pumpkin via template. A jack-o'-lantern within a jack-o'-lantern saying "Boo!"
Trying to learn from our mistakes and keeping them on the inside of the front window.

This is my finished pumpkin- the second year in a row!
We used battery-powered candles again- what with the cats and all.

Happy Halloween, stay safe & have fun!

Tuesday, October 30

The East Coast vs. Sandy

Downgraded in status since making landfall, Sandy has done a great amount of damage to the East Coast. Our thoughts and prayers continue during their efforts to assess the damage and rescue the survivors.

Here are two articles about what we know so far: "Sandy's US toll climbs to 39; 8.5 million without power" and "10 things to know about Sandy's impact" both provide general summaries of the damage.

Subways flooded, historic buildings destroyed, and lives devastated. Many festivities nationwide are being canceled or postponed to focus on this, as they should. I know kids here who have worried themselves sick about relatives in the affected areas.

There's no fighting against Mother Nature.

We shall see what the recoveries bring.

Monday, October 29

Monday Questionnaire, Oct. 29

 This image of Hurricane Sandy is from NASA's Earth Observatory.
Our thoughts and prayers are with every who has and will be affected.
Please, stay safe.
 
1.) Mood:
Discouraged but struggling to keep going. So, vaguely motivated. Very vaguely.
 
2.) On the topic of Hurricane Sandy, are any natural disasters common where you live?
I grew up in South Florida and can understand the fear of an impending hurricane. They also have tornadoes with minor earthquakes and wildfires. Here in Arizona, I believe the biggest concern is the wildfires that wrecked us last year. There are also residual hurricanes and earthquakes.
 
3.) What is your favorite song at the moment?
Erm... usually I tell you at the drop of a hat. Let's go with "One More Night" by Maroon 5. 
 
4.) Current nail polish:
essie's "Jamaica Me Crazy". It was already chipping after two days over the weekend, but I'm not going to change it until tomorrow to have a fresh coat for Halloween.
 
5.) If you could only use one makeup product, what would it be?
Foundation to conceal my acne scars.
 
6.) Current outfit:
Gray yoga pants, gray long sleeve Perry the Platypus shirt, and my black sneakers. Comfort and warmth for a rough around the edges Monday.
 
7.) Are you good at keeping in touch with friends and family?
I'm getting better. Comparatively speaking, I'm pretty decent. Phone calls to my family, Christmas cards to friends, Skype dates with my closest friends, FB stalking, etc.
 
8.) Are you excited about any holiday makeup collections this year?
I was really intrigued by OPI's 007 holiday collection. The MAC Glamour Daze Holiday Collection, namely the eyeshadows are very pretty too. Neither scream "holiday" to me, but I'm okay with cliche colors schemes.
 
9.) The world's most wonderful chef is at your home ready to fix any meal you desire-- what do you order?
Steak, cheesy and chocolate fondues with delicious things to dip. Anything else that I love, I'd only want my mom to make it.
 
10.) Weekly goals:
What a biggie. Organizing FMIL's growing card stock collection so I can access the spare room, working on that life's goal list, becoming at peace with my efforts at work, walk home from school one day, and finishing up the baby shower gift. Those are the biggest I should focus on this week.

Sunday, October 28

The Road

Much of today was spent focusing on having company over to make some more Christmas cards. Needless to say, the table is a complete mess of crafty goods that I need to put away and not so much trash. More snacks and seasonal music were enjoyed. It's pretty interesting what songs Pandora tries to pass off as Halloween-themed.

Sorry for being so cryptic or incoherent last night. The SO and I have stayed up late nights having lots of deep and serious conversations about our relationship, life in general, modern Western society, the life stages we're in right now, and where to go from here. Very heavy stuff indeed has been weighing on our minds and it's been a bittersweet relief to get it out in the open. Plus, it leads to physical and emotional exhaustion.

The gift of being able to do that with each other while reaching very similar conclusions after using our own ways to get there is something I will always appreciate.

It does stir of a lot of emotions, especially resentment and fear. Hence the bittersweet feeling. There's so much to discuss and debate about but we're still at a loss for answers. Answers are what we need the most right now after all this time stagnating or steadily getting worse. Again, I'm very grateful  because I have someone so special to me to share in this difficult journey of life.

"We're far from perfect." Is something that often ends a lot of these discussions. After hashing out different scenarios, delving through consequences, daydreaming about the ideal, we reach the frustrating conclusion that there's only so much we can do. There's only so much we can take on at a time. There's also no way we can completely fix the problems of the world, but we can try to start with ourselves.

It's like the song by Michael Jackson, "Man in the Mirror". Here's a music video to add some levity to this post. :)


Oh jeez, I just tried to use the word "brevity" instead. Good job, me. 

Anyways, to work on getting rid of this dissatisfaction and facing the challenges of my life, I'm making an extensive plan. Tackling it in the only manner that has ever worked for me in my life so far. I may go into it more in the future, but it honestly is super tough on me (to the point of hyperventilation while staving off panic attacks). Just giving a heads up about my potential erratic posts in the next few days while I try to sort out my mind and priorities.

Saturday, October 27

Self-Reflection

After a few long and meaningful discussions over the past two weeks, I know that I have a lot of serious things to think about. There are many priorities and goals that I need to define, set, and work towards right now. Been avoiding them for way too long.

Friday, October 26

Friday Is My Favorite

It was pay day Friday again! Hooray! Not going to see the results of my increased workload for at least another two weeks, but that's almost okay. :P

Today was a pretty rough day with the kids around the school. Not sure what was in the water or air, but we all made it through and it's the weekend.

Again, rushed around with some errands and some last-minute decorating for Halloween. We don't have any formal plans and probably won't. Maybe eating a lot of left over candy that we have yet to buy. We're in the outskirts of town enough that all of the local children seem to have grown up and away 5-10 years ago.

Been functioning at some higher state of delirium this week and the conversations I've started up with the SO prove it. Still is great that we hardly ever bat an eyelash at the oddest of conversations and "transitions" between subjects.

Just need to touch up on miscellaneous projects tomorrow around the house such as organizing FMIL's craft area, getting the table ready for another card-making session, mounds of laundry, gardening (big maybe), some crocheting, some scrapbooking, and probably more planning because I feel like I'm missing a couple of steps.

I get to sleep in tomorrow! YAY!

Thursday, October 25

Teenage Advice

This is a YouTube tag, so in essence an email forward/ Myspace bulletin/ whatever it was called. It is about namely beauty advice you would give to your teenage self. I saw this on FleurDeForce's channel not too long ago.

Three makeup/ fashion DO's for your teenage self:
1. Experiment so you can learn. Hey, your mom is cool with it as long as you don't go out looking like a hooker. It's better to be careful with the products now and learn how to use the stuff now- even if it seems a little "early". The skills of knowing what things are and what they are used for would help you become polished so much sooner. That includes heels.

2. Look in the mirror. I know you feel like utter crap about yourself right now, but get to know what you look like. Face shape, skin tones, hair types, body shape, the works. It all will make your life simpler in about a decade and help you feel like a competent shopper and adult.

3. Do soak that set of acrylic nails for a super long time, wait for mom to come home, or get them removed professionally. Completely ruining and ripping off your natural nails because you were impatient and panicked is a stupid idea.

Three makeup/ fashion DON'Ts for your teenage self:
1. Don't keep running and hiding from mom. Listen to her, then compromise. You know she has timeless classic tastes while still looking modern. Just try that top she just bought and will wear if you don't, even if it is white or pink. Guys are going to think about your chest even if they can't see any of it.

2. Don't worry so much! Some great guys will like you- a lot, your skin will get better with time and some care, your going to get into some college, etc. Life will still go on and stressing yourself out is making your appearance issues a bajillion times worse.


3. Don't let your mom bleach your hair to add in highlights. It was neon orange, burned, and you looked like a skunk that evening. Just... don't.

A deep and meaningful piece of advice for your teenage self:
You are awesome. Always have been and always will be. The constant criticism stings but it's never going to go away. Be strong/ brave for yourself because you are an awesome person.


One tip for school:
Stick with an education degree. You've had that gut feeling for so long and didn't believe enough in yourself to listen to that.

One tip for friends:
Each of us should take a bunch of pictures of the everyday stuff we did together and the awesome times. We'll regret not doing it more down the road when we grow apart.

One tip for fun:
More road trips.

I'm starting to get all nostalgic with a mist of regretful now. Sigh.

Wednesday, October 24

Life

Doing my best to take back my judgement and cynicism back a couple of notches and focus either on improving myself or decreasing World Suck.

Little steps I've taken today include happily and quietly listening to others vent their frustrations, had some free pie, paid for drinks for a get-together I unknowingly crashed (sigh), made the baby shower card, tidied my work area a bit, and done some of those exercises you can do while sitting at a desk. Or rather, anywhere while in front of a screen for hours at a time.

Can't expect others to change if I'm not putting in the time to change myself for the better. Plus, wasting all of that negative energy on others just brings more onto me. Are they being affected? Not really. While I'm being driven up a invisible wall so high that we may need to make up a new type of measurement. :P

My first physical experience with Project Life has been great although I am a tad disappointed with a few minor flaws I was able to pick out within three minutes of opening the "long"-awaited package. Was really expecting near perfection with the hype and hype I had built up in my head. However, it's not for me and maybe that's why I silently flipped out a little.

Going to go off and ogle the new goodies a little more before crawling into bed. Thanks for constantly listening. : )

Tuesday, October 23

In My Hands

To summon up the mood today: Discouraged.

So, I'm emotionally and physically drained. Not whining, just stating a fact. ^_^ Just gonna glaze over and ignore the stress from work this time.

Like I said yesterday, my digi-scrap prints came in the mail! I was half-awake and finally checking my email to see when it may arrive. With ordering on the first day of the sale on Friday afternoon, I wasn't expecting to see the tracking code go live until Monday morning. However, I saw that it had a delivery confirmation and grabbed a flashlight to run out the front door to look for my package, lol.

I may have made the household panic a little with that freaked out rush.

Hey, I've been working on this for 13 months. Something that could have theoretically been done in about three weeks if everything had gone smoothly. That and if I had done nothing else during that time.

It's finally in my hands and tangible! Such an amazing feeling! Further rejuvenates my motivation to record more stories in a tangible manner using whatever tricks and methods I need to do so. The prints are stunning and I'd show a bit, but don't want to post personal family photos and that's pretty much the entire book.

Minor setback is that I don't have a cover or enough page protectors, but I will soon! All but 13 of the 54 pages are in their sleeves now. So awesome!

The only issue I had with the prints are user error. Between grabbing pictures off of FB and from different cameras and not using specialized photo-editing software to keep the pictures crisp when I zoomed in on faces, some photos are blurrier that ideal. On the other hand, it's what we got of those moments and you work with what you can. It's better than nothing!

I seriously just sat for a while with the box in front of me (too stunned), then with the stack of pages in front of me (too nervous), then put them into sleeves with trembling hands (too excited), and then sat holding onto them (in awe). LOL, so many emotions. I'm surprised I didn't start crying. I must still be in shock.

Will probably start sobbing from happiness once it's 100% done, cradling it in my hands.

I will not take so long to document one vacation ever again! Trying to promise this to myself. :P

Monday, October 22

Monday Questionnaire

All of the staff at school unanimously voted to go back to bed today. Too bad it wasn't a formal vote or anything. Here's a Monday Questionnaire!

Cleaning up minimal scraps after a big paper project is super satisfying. Plus, I love the colors.

1.) Mood:
Dead tired. I did not get enough sleep last night and was a train wreck from that point on.  

2.) What was the best part of your weekend?
Spending time with my sweetheart and kitty having a very personal conversation and thinking nothing of it at the time. Have missed spending quality time with just us. A close second was eating Gouda cheese on a cracker while cranking out a bunch of cards. That feeling of accomplishment with a hint of indulgence was grand. 

3.) If you HAD to choose one: drastic hair color change, or drastic haircut?!
Drastic hair color change. I've had fun with that in the past but have never done anything crazy with my hair. Not brave enough. 

4.) Current nail polish:
Nothing since yesterday but I plan to pick another pink color to show solidarity against Breast Cancer. 
 
5.) You're carving a pumpkin... what do you carve?
Something cutesy and Halloween-themed. Did a screeching black cat and ghost saying "Boo!" last year. That or a regular jack-o'-lantern face. I'd love to get creative some day.
 
6.) Current outfit:
Recently got home from work, so I threw on some baby blue cotton shorts and kept on my green tank top. Had jeans and a white button-up as a cover-up earlier.
 
7.) Are there any TV shows you are really loving at the moment?
LOL. We're going old school on Hulu because we don't have cable here. The SO and I were watching Garfield and Friends.

8.) Do you change your makeup routine with the seasons?  How is it different for fall?
I do it more in the fall and winter because of the events and lack of heat that makes me sweat it off. For Fall, it's more oriented to my special outfits instead of whatever color I feel like sporting with my neutral clothing.

9.) Are you dressing up for Halloween this year?
:(  I don't think so. We're on the outskirts of the city and don't have any Halloween plans this year. I do love dressing up in homemade costumes though. My mom made all of my costumes growing up and she helped me be whatever I wanted. It was awesome! I've been dying to own/ make a heavy, soft, and full cloak since the summer. Just because they're great.
 
10.) Weekly goals:
Oye. Do I really have to think about these? I've stopped for the past two weeks and taken on projects as they come. Good timing because a lot came my way in that time. I have tons of organizational projects from helping teachers at school, so I'll probably end up taking a few home with me. I have to prepare the group baby shower gift once the parts arrive this week. Got really into card-making this past weekend so I should take advantage of that wave of enthusiasm while it lasts. Probably anything I could have the energy to organize with my own personal clutter would be fantastic. Trying to reduce the stress in my life and I think that'll make a world of difference.
 
Oh! Just realized that the pages from my family's Florida book should have arrived today! Woohoo, I'm so excited to have them in my hands, I'm shaking. All that hard work... Going to open them now!

Sunday, October 21

Assembly Lines

FMIL and I hunkered down today for some serious card-making. She wanted to work on her Christmas cards after experiencing my madness for the past few years. We had some friends who said that they may stop by so she put out quite the spread.

We have been nibbling on Cheddar and Gouda with crackers, chocolates, grapes, and Bugles chips with sour cream and sunflower seeds. Weird, but oddly addicting.

She managed to get all of her cards done! Woohoo! It's funny how efficient you can get at mass-producing a bunch of cards.

I made a bunch of cards to replenish my stash, a pack of little gifts, and started on another set of fancier cards. We were super productive!

Here are some pictures of the cards that I was working on today:



 


 

Saturday, October 20

Clean Up, Aisle 2

I swear we're going to work on more Christmas cards tomorrow. It's been delayed for a few weeks but I think it'll finally come together soon.

Floors were thoroughly cleaned, living and work areas have been tidied and prepped, and supplies have been collected.

In the midst of all of that, our poor baby had the saddest of accidents. Pet-parent (just plain ole parent) alert- kitty was going Number 2 and it was softer than ideal but getting stuck via grass strands.

He was having a bad day already with dealing with the wild runt and all of the changes going on around the house. But I was cleaning things in the room when I saw him hop up onto the bed and start butt-scooting. That's not so bad because usually it's just an itch, but this was the first time he left chunks and a big ole smear on the sheets.

Oh, yes.

I yelled for some help from the SO who was in the other room finishing up his lunch that we had just come back from getting. We had to corral a very panicked and embarrassed kitty cat who was running away from us while trying to wipe his butt clean. On the floors, on the stove, and on the fridge. Sigh. Thank god we hadn't done the floors yet at that time. I managed to get the chunks that were still hanging from him, make him realize I was trying to help, bleach wipe the other surfaces, and help him get his back-end fur clean.

At least the now clean sheets are going to feel lovely tonight.

Poor baby boy. He already is disgusted with himself when everything comes out normal, but to have this happen? He was very embarrassed and super sulky for several hours afterward. We've been very cuddly. I told the SO that this was just a practice run for dealing with kids. Needless to say, he'd rather take the cat. We both agree it's a million times easier.

In other news, next week should be so full of fun mail-wise. I'm expecting a really fun package that we'll set up for a baby shower gift and my prints for the Florida scrapbook that I ordered yesterday (thanks to the Fall Sale at Persnickety Prints) are already ready to be shipped! So excited. They're such a great company. Tons of people did not enter the coupon sale code with their order and they are double-checking and refunding the difference to those customers! How awesome is that?

Friday, October 19

Canyon

A couple of the kids today were insisting that we were going on a field trip to the Grand Canyon today. That's several hours away with two classrooms-worth of children. No, thank you.

We actually went to Sabino Canyon and it's about 20-30 minute drive away from school on the bus. I had not been there yet so was excited to see what they had to offer. Only authorized vehicles were allowed in and there were tons of people jogging and walking the trails.

Nature walk ending with a quick coloring activity surrounding camouflage, hiding our creations nearby for each other to find, and lunch. It ended up getting pretty warm today and there were only bits of shade on the trail.

We did have to learn what to do if we happened upon a mountain lion or snake an vice versa.

Here are some pictures I took of things that we observed.

 Stood in an empty wash.
 Noticed the different kinds of greenery.
 Saw mud and new were were close to some water.
 Saw many spider webs. This one was huge.
 Observed the different layers and shapes of the rocks.
 Hypothesized that these were old deer tracks.

Found little alcoves of water!
 Found schools of little fish in small pools of water.
 Spotted tiny red toad/ frog.

Tired and a tad dehydrated so I definitely need some rest now. TGIF!

Thursday, October 18

Celebrating

I wanted to start off by saying Happy Birthday to my best friend! I'm glad I got to see you tonight even if Skype was being evil, rude, and mean. Hope you have fun celebrating this weekend!

Cannot wait until the weekend, mostly because I want to sleep for many many hours in a row without freaking out in the middle of the night thinking that I slept through my alarm. Sigh.

Got a few basic cards done tonight. I think that's my next medium-potentially large project. My nice stash is very depleted because card sets do make for a nice and quick gift. Plus, I have a stamp set or two that have been barely used because I couldn't figure out how I wanted to use them.

Thinking about the past two weeks, I have accomplished or made serious progress on many solid projects. I'm very proud of myself for that. Not sure what's changed but have decided to keep riding this wave and trucking through in the meantime.

I get to order the prints tomorrow for my family's scrapbook! We're planning to make a bunch of Christmas cards this weekend too. I hope that pulls through. I should have something pretty fun to share tomorrow! Fun as in different that what I've been posting lately, lol.

Wednesday, October 17

And Out

The last thing I remembered doing was downloading and labeling reading materials for the kids and seeing which episode of Garfield & friends the SO was watching.

I suddenly woke up with  a start an hour later not sure how I got upside down.

Guess I've had a long few days.

Wish I wasn't as tired as I was/ am. There's just so much stuff to do! However, I am allowed to rest or my body will do it for me, lol. We're several steps closer to many big gift projects being done. Cannot wait! I'd be more excited but then may just drop to the ground.

The weather is nice and cool while tempers rise what with the Presidential Debates and holiday tension settling in. Oye, the drama and insanity.

Tuesday, October 16

For Me/ Us

Couldn't contain myself any longer. Went through all of my digital photos from 2009 until now (2012) and set aside any that I thought would be good for my own Project Life book.

It would be as a sequel to the original 12x12 inch scrapbook I had made for our first year of dating. I'm pretty sure all of the picked pictures would fit into a single book this time around.

I know I talked about wanting to use up more of my patterned paper, (there is already a book I pictured out as our second album!) but I cannot express how little I am interested in handcrafting another volume like the original. It was just way to pain-staking and long enough to take a few years to finish!

I also noticed that we've taken less and less of ourselves as the years go on because of the tight spot we've gotten into financially. I'm going to try to change that in a few ways. Mostly by embracing the every day moments more.

Haven't been able to focus on too much more even though there's been plenty of projects done for others. The holiday gifts and ideas continue.

Monday, October 15

Review So Far

Well, I finally have caught up with the Garden Tab!

It was only, say... five months that I was behind? Sheesh.

I have not blogged nearly as much as I have in the past about my pathetic garden. The vlogs helped cover more info in a shorter amount of hands-on time, but I have come so close to giving up so many times this year.

Well, I have more posts than I did last year, but the amount of information, pictures, and frequency are much less this time around.

At least I've learned a lot about what to keep track of and what has been worth the effort. When we do get into our own space, I really want to keep a garden up, even if it's on a small scale or never gets any bigger than it is now.

It started off with so much diversity this year and now has just under half that amount. I haven't really done the numbers. I'm tired and sick.

Turns out that I'm chaperoning a field trip to a local canyon this Friday. It involves larvae-hunting and a great nature walk that one of the teachers from last year ended up passing out on. To say that I'm worried about some of these flimsy kids is an understatement. I hope it's only super fun.

More gift-giving plans are being made each day and it makes my spirit happy but worries my wallet just a little more. I'm trying not to let that overshadow making this holiday season a happy one. Learning to adapt and find simpler ways to celebrate is definitely a priority this year. Good life skills. :) Oh yes, I am grabbing onto those silver linings. Lol.

I can't even think of what else I wanted to accomplish tonight, but at least I surprised myself with catching up with those garden summaries!

Sunday, October 14

In Order

Sleep was cruddy last night, so the cold isn't getting much better, but at least it hasn't gotten any worse. :)

Late last night, I could not settle down just yet and was determined to get many ideas out of my brain. Or at least get them started. What ended up happening was that I finally wrote up the story for my latest Flat Stanley adventure when he came with me to Florida back in May.

I chose which photos created the best tale and finally decided on just using a simple photo album I stocked up on last year. Each page just fits a 4x6 photo so I plan to add the caption directly on top of the photo. I already had the books, it's small enough for little hands, and it's the simplest method to getting this done. That's all ready to be assembled when I have a bit of extra money to put towards that.

Got an email that from my favorite printing company about their semi-annual sale, so I quickly uploaded the finished files from my family's Florida scrapbook in preparation. The sale is next weekend and I was thinking of printing the recently finished digi-album that I made about our kitty, but decided to save that for another time. This means I could have that album completely assembled and finished in my hands in two weeks! Incredibly excited.

Also did some research and prepared an order for a baby shower group gift, but I'll wait to reveal what that is for a little while longer. It's something that's near and dear to my own heart, so I really hope that it helps this dear lady with her bundle of joy.

I tidied up the under-bed storage to not allow for a certain curious kitten to tread into forbidden territory. Apparently, the universe feels that I need all the help I can get in lessons of patience. Practice makes near perfect. Or cat soup. I need to re-organize or at least tidy it more thoroughly soon but I figured getting a solid chunk done at a time is still good enough too.

Carried over some of that organizing mojo to setup more dividers for the few hair products I have along with things like aspirin and bandages in the drawer below my beauty supplies. Yeah, if we were not sharing a communal bathroom, I'd have all of that stuff in medicine cabinets and the like.

Working on the gathering notes for the Garden Tab now and have made the decision to scrap the monthly digi-layouts as a "priority" project. I have decided to try Project Life as soon as I have the luxury too and will include photos from 2011 and 2012.

Okay, I looked back at our album and realized that those tangibly recorded photos only go until the end of 2008. Sigh. Alright! 2009-2012 it is! Right now, I'm more excited and motivated that freaked out, lol. I can't wait to tackle this.

Saturday, October 13

Organizational Kick

Trying to not sleep the weekend away (even though I could probably actually use the rest to stave off this cold) and was very motivated to re-think some storage solutions thanks to those new polishes and another Throwback Pepsi.

When I started the heirloom recipe project a year ago, sometime along the way, I bought one of those photo keeper boxes for FMIL's recipe cards because I didn't think they'd fit in the page protectors or her original box. Well, I was wrong, everything worked out, and I had a lovely little box of good intentions starting to gather dust.

With these new polish colors, I wanted to be able to access any shade I felt like wearing from the collection. Here's what I ended up with after about an hour.

Dividers are reused cardboard from packages halfway covered white paper.
Rainbow ordered OPI with specialties in the back and base/top coats in the front.

Essies in the little boxes the new colors were in yesterday.
The poor white one is outside because I don't want to store anything sideways.

My beauty drawer re-organzied yet again but with more cardboard dividers.Everything was in a great spot before, but kept sliding around if I picked up something to use. Plus, I wanted to use as little cups as possible since they tapered and wasted space.
 
Top left to right: Perfume for special occasions, hand cream, nail buffer, cotton swabs, makeup sponge, lip balm, the Essies with manicure supplies, sharpeners, and my Urban Decay eye shadow palettes. 

Bottom left to right: Lipsticks, lip liners, eye liners, eyebrow pencils, pressed powder, blushes, eye shadow quads, brushes, mascara, lip gloss (often goes in my purse), eyelash curlers, facial moisturizer, liquid foundation, and deodorant.

I am loving it so far! We'll see how well it works once I actually start to use it, lol. Trying to think of a good accessible but hidden away spot to keep the new box of polishes. My nails are already a bright fuchsia color with a small white daisy on each ring finger. I'm going to keep my nails pink for most of this month in solidarity with fighting against Breast Cancer. That's definitely my main donation focus this month too.

Friday, October 12

Friday Fun

We may not have made it to the monthly happy hour this month, but we did manage to have a little fun earlier today during an impromptu farewell party for a co-worker. Sad to see them go, but it was nice to relax and hang out for a short while. I had a throwback Pepsi that gave me my second wind after school.

Did I mention it was Pay Day Friday? Oh yes, I was very overjoyed. Big relief!

I also got a letter from my mom the other day as well as a care package today. Just reaffirms my belief in a deep inexplicable connection between a mother and her child. So many things just sunk into place today and not only took a weight off my shoulders, but refilled my heart and spirit too.

Had forgotten that I asked my mom to keep an eye out for one thing, so that was in the package, but she also included some nice new clothes that I can wear to work. However, the biggest pleasant surprise were in two little boxes that I couldn't figure out what was inside: tons of new nail polishes! Tons of fun new colors that are great for Fall and a solid start to Winter too.


They are so pretty and it just means so much that my mom was able to make the time to pick and choose colors that she thought were good for me/ that I would really like. It's not that I'm obsessed with nail polish, I just love collecting colors and this is just one thing that we've been able to bond over. Plus, I know she always gets great deals on these. :P

I can't remember what I was going to write about today, but after coming home from work and running errands, the package was opened and it all went out the window. The color interpretations are my own. Here are the pictures!

 OPI's "Austin-tatious Turquoise" (Very blue-green with matching glimmer) - "Flashbulb Fuchsia" (magenta with blue base with very subtle matching shimmer) - "Teal All the Cows Come Home" (heavier on the blue with very subtle silver shimmer) -  "Purple With Purpose" (metallic purple)
I viewed these as bright metallics that would add a great pop of color to more neutral outfits of Autumn.

OPI's "On the Same Paige" (solid deep pumpkin orange) -"The 'It' Color" (goldenrod) - "Dating a Royal" (royal blue)
All great solids for Fall!

 
OPI's "I Have A Herring Problem" (this one's confusing, to me it looks like a blue-based gray with fine silver and holographic shimmer but it's described as a bluish sea green) - "My Private Jet" (looks like a dark chocolate brown, but is really a brown-based black with fine brown and silver shimmer) - "Glitzerland" (translucent gold with fine gold glitter) - "Crown Me Already!" (clear base with tons of fine silver glitter, silver glitter, and chunky silver glitter)
It may be a pain to take off, but these will look super good on special occasions!

 Essie's "As Gold As It Gets" (clear base with fine and normal size gold glitter) - "Golden Nugget" (fine dark gold glitter) - "Going Incognito" (dark emerald green)
Again more glitter and a nice modern Autumn solid from my second favorite brand.

I have a few pieces of paper that I painted samples on, but the collection has changed with getting new polishes and giving some colors to friends. I made paint swatch-like cards by "reds", "glitters", "neutrals", and etc. but what I'm really coveting are acrylic nail wheels. Especially since I could use remover to take of the color should something happen to the actual bottle. Maybe some day.

Thursday, October 11

My Plans vs. Your Plans

Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out at all, but I guess the road to hell is paved with good intentions. :P

However, regardless of how this mild cold makes me feel so tired, I wanted to share some great news today! My hours at work have been doubled. Saying it like that makes it sound like a whole lot, but mind you, I've only been paid for maybe a fifth of the time I spend there working on something for someone.

My friends are too kind and their nice words (they literally sang my praises at one point, it was hilarious) mean so much to me. It renews my determination to work my butt off.

The increased time means increased pressure in my mind about doing a good job and right by the kids, but I'm determined to do all that I can and learn as much as possible. It's like... a paid internship, lol. Yeah, I think that's a good way of looking at it.

In other news, today's date was cute (10-11-12) and I was constantly hearing very different opinions and views of the VP debates, the Titans vs Steelers game, and the Yankees game. I just sigh and went to lay down- will catch up on all of the news once my mind is out of this under the weather fog.

Speaking of weather, it's been consistently fairly cool and I love it. Some sprinkling today. I think this weekend, the SO and I will treat ourselves to a dinner out, mostly so there are no dishes to do, there are tons of yummy food, and I can dress up a little as a confidence booster. It's the little things. ^_^
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