Adornment

Everything needs to feel pretty. Like my super ugly, heat-radiating dining room light.

It got fancied up this weekend with it's own necklace thanks to a 1lb bag of glass beads:

The other table accoutrement were also new for the weekend (thanks for the runner & candles World Market).



When I waiting in traffic yesterday I saw this adorned truck:



And since I had my camera out, thought I'd show my own adornment.
I LOVE these cute little earrings:





Boy, that is some ratty looking hair! I booked an appt, but the only time that was convenient for me and open is in 1.5 weeks. oh well, what's another week or two?


later


-b-

Devil is in the details

Ahh, the details. They can add so much to an outfit and attitude with so little. Here is me in a semi-boring outfit last week:

But the details were interesting (if to no one else but me)

Boring, sedate tennis shoes for when my feet are tired:
Turned fun:

Pearl necklace that I fixed myself:

Blue shirt with flowers: (it's easier to see in the stock photo from NY&Co).

Um, yeah, scrunchie in hair. Not good, but I did think my morning laziness was humorous


Black nails (which I think looked better with the shadows from the blinds...ohh....creepy).

During the day, I also rocked the red lips. I should’ve reapplied before the photo, but I’m sure you can all pretend.

Seriously, I think I'm finally going to cut my hair! I haven't cut or trimmed it in a year. YEAR! That's some serious time. Usually I can last a while, but this was admittidly lazy of me. I once had a scheduled appt, but then there was a hurricane and well, I just never rescheduled. Everytime I thought about it, all of sudden my hair would look fabulous. Not anymore. It's tired and wants a trim.

I found a stylist, Gerri, (check her out here) that specializes in curly hair at a salon that three of my pals recommend. Three recommendations to a place is pretty good and I think this will be my first 'styling'. I usually hit up the Regis at the mall for my haircuts, but thought that an expert might be worth a little extra. I'm a little skeptical, but my friends that use the salon say that it isn't too spendy. I also saw reviews of this woman on Naturallycurly.com

Now i just have to cross my fingers when I call tomorrow morning that I can get an appt this week.

Last week was my first week of half-marathon “training”. I did alright. I overdid some days and underdid (? Is this even a word?) other days. This week will be a little off also, it’s the start of a new Co-ed soccer season at the Y and they were too late getting everything together. So instead of playing tonight, I'll play tomorrow. eh.

-b-

Avon

This year is the first time I’ve really been exposed to Avon. A coworker of mine sells it and a couple women here are regular customers. We compare products we’ve tried, what we like and what we don’t. I figured I’d include y’all.

At one point I was considering these

Yeah, they are denim leggings and some find that offensive from the get-go, but I like the idea of them under dresses in the winter (or super long sweaters that aren't quite dresses). I thought that denim legging would prevent wintertime jean-induced poochy-belly. Erin at Workwithwhatyou’ve got had tried them and said they were awful. I nixed that purchase as she has tried several pairs of denim leggings and seems wise in their ways.

Has anyone else tried their clothing? Here are some things I’m considering, but I’m not sure if I want to make the leap.

Slimwear black dress:

Not so much because it is slimwear, but that’s the neckline I like. But $39.99 for an Avon dress? Not sure of the quality and fit.

Booties:

These are adorable, but not real leather and 3 inches high (which could be too high for my daily wear). Not sure if their shoes are decent, crummy, good steals, etc….And technically I own 2-3 pairs of tall brown boots, why would I need booties?

Since I’m asking your thoughts, here are my thoughts about some of their products.

Mineral Lipstick: Feels great on my lips, never drying, but super light color. I think I have the Coral one.

Magix face perfector: Love the clear formula! It doesn’t perform magic, but does seem to eliminate some shine and make my skin look better.

Magix face perfector compact: HATED it. I swear it gave me super shiny skin. I returned this one. I thought it was the same formula as above, but for some reason my skin didn’t react the same way to this product. Ick.

True Color Eyeshadow Quad: I really like mine! The colors are nice and don’t seem to disappear after a couple hours. I think i have the sandy corals quad.

LiivBotanicals line: I have 4 of these products (serum, eye cream, day lotion, and scrub) and really like them. I’ve been using them for about a month and my skin has looked nice, even without makeup. The website says that the day lotion is fragrance free, but I think it has a unique plant-y smell. I could see some people not liking it, but I like it.


That's my little avon roundup. So far their products seem reasonabley priced and pretty decent quality. Do you have any favorites?

Training starts um, NOW! What are you doing, MOVE IT sister!

Last year was the first time that I ran a half-marathon and I loved the experience. The running was a little tough, but it was such a cheerful and positve day that I immediatly signed up for January 2010's run. Here is me last January with a post-run glow

Based on a recommendation from a super fit pal of mine that has run multiple full marathons, I use John Bingham's Marathoning for Mortals as my training guide.

For the 1/2 marathon, I have a 14 week training schedule that I've stretched out over 17 weeks. I have duplicate weeks to make up for things like traveling to see pals, Thanksgiving, and Christmas b/c I'm honest and know that my tush wants to eat/drink on those occasions and I probably won't complete all training.

This week is supposed to be my first week, so I set up the schedule this morning. Here is what it looks like for end of Sept/October:

Click to enlarge. I put checks or the little cross out circle afterwards to mark whether or not I accomplished my daily goal.

It's a little goofy this year and I've made some big changes to the schedule in the book to fit in soccer. Last year I was on one team and it was in a lower division. This fall I'm playing on two teams (one coed and one womens). In addition, I moved up a couple divisions and the games are a lot faster and tougher.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this will work out for me. If I start feeling too tired or worn after the first couple of weeks, I'll have to modify.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to add the Daily Mile widget to my blog (ala FIT THIS, girl)

Maybe I'll get that together this afternoon/evening!

later

-b-

Blarg, it's monday...let's talk music to cheer up

ugh. Usually, I'm not one of those people that 'get the mondays', but this afternoon has been chock full of work annoyances (seriously, I'm thisclose to offing an engineer in my office, thisclose people!).

But, I'm listening to movie soundtracks today and that's getting me through it all....here are some of my favorites:

Moulin Rouge: Seriously, I don't understand how anyone could not love this one. I loved Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman in this movie. It was such a young-love type of romance in this movie. The Elton John covers were fab as were the costumes and dancing. Listen to samples on Amazon.

Love Actually: Yep, loved it. It's got songs from Kelly Clarkson, Dido, and Joni Mitchell. I adored the "Take me as I am" song. And I love love loved the movie's version of All You Need is Love by Lynden David Hall. Listen to samples on Amazon .

Happy Endings: I really enjoyed this movie, and the music was such an integral part of the story-telling. I think that Maggie Gyllenhaal has a really pretty voice and I liked her cover of "Just The Way You Are". We actually danced to this song at our wedding - it was our official song. That's how much I loved it. You can listen to a sample on Amazon.com

(500) Days of Summer: I just got this soundtrack on Friday from the library. Again, another movie where the music helps tell the story (and isn't just background noise). How can I not laugh when I listen to "You Make My Dreams"? All I imagine is Tom dancing around. You can listen to sample on Amazon.

Garden State: I liked the movie, didn't LOVE it, but I did love the soundtrack. I loved the use of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy In New York". Sometimes, that is just how you feel.

Listen to a sample of this song on amazon.

Dazed and Confused: I'm from Central Florida and pretty sure I listened to this stuff in the womb. My mom is full-on a fan of southern/classic rockn'roll and I was born without a choice. I dig man, i dig. Don't lie...after a listen, you'll admit that you do too. {Plus, how cute was Matthew McConaughey in this?}

Slumdog Millionaire: Just plain fun to listen to, with great beats and rhythm. It makes me hopeful and happy!

Oh, there are so many more loved soundtracks (snatch, chicago, Dave Chappelle's block party, Forest Gump...) But alas, it's a long list and I've got to get back to not maiming coworkers.

Hope you cheered up with me!

-b-

Skates

Last night I was really fighting myself about working out. I didn't want to at all, but at the same time I've been making a concerted effort to get more active the last couple of weeks and I didn't want to let myself down. I pulled out my old-skool skates and figured that I could at least have some fun!

And what fun it was. I had a blast tooling around my neighborhood. I'm not very good and there is a lot of flailing around. In addition, the wheels are old and worn and my skates pull me in different directions than my feet are pointing.

But harrowing can be fun too!

And it was a good workout. Roller Skating Assocation International tells me that I probably burned a couple hundred calories in the time that I skated. And my bum muscles are sore, which means that they were utilized. sweet.

I need to get some new wheels, but don't have the foggiest clue where to start on that one. I did a quick search online and found a bunch. But, i think i'm going to venture into the skateboard/surfing shop by my house this weekend. I expect the store to be kooky - it's been around since the 60s and the same people own a popcorn & candy store next door. I went in to buy some popcorn once and the dude was all kinds of spaced out and goofy. I'm not sure what to expect from the actual main store.

maybe I can get a different color? My wheels are red, but doesn't purple sound fun?

here are some photos of my cat interupting the session...it was SUPER hard to find a good spot, set the timer, skate into position, and not hurt myself or a cat in the process. Under the circumstances, I guess the photos came out okay..

There are whiskers in this one.

Cat butt in this one.

She practically dared me to roll over her on my way to this one.

-b-

Purse dumpage

Since I figured that some have shared the contents of their purses, I would follow suit. Plus, once I saw the contents of mine today I was laughing and thought you might too.



I believe you can click to enlarge, but let me know if not. There are a couple avon products because I got them this morning. My coworker sells it and I love the delivery days. It’s like Christmas (except I have to cut a check – and actually that’s the only reason I even had my checkbook in there today).

There is a lot of lipstick in my purse; I always like to have something on my lips even if it’s a nude gloss.

There are also a lot of sharpies in there. I find them extra useful and always throw one in my bag.

There are coupons that I got from Glamour magazine. I thought I might use them at the mall, but I didn’t want anything from those stores. Eh.

The jaguar pouch holds my electronic stuff: camera cord, mp3 player, and jump drive.

When I carry a small purse, that is the first thing to get kicked out!

I'm a big fan of pouches right now. I have another pouch that I use for my ladytime products, but yippee thats not today :)

That's what I'm lugging around today.

-b-

Results & Conclusion

Extra Birthday Money was spent yesterday. I went to the Galleria mall with intentions of actually looking in stores I don’t normally go into. It’s tough to buy from the normal mall stores (Gap, Lerner, etc) when I know that I can get the same items at Marshalls or a thrift store for a lot less.

So here’s the roundup:

I bought a fancy red lipstick. After wearing red last week and kinda liking it, I thought that it’d be nice to shop around for one that looks just right. I think I found it. At Saks. At D&G. eek. It was pricey, but I skipped the blush purchase so that money was applied to this. And I like the color. The name is 'devil'.

Since it was a Tuesday and they were clearly bored at the counter, they made up my whole face. Afterwards, I snuck off to the bathroom and took a photo while hiding in the corner.

There is some glare off the glasses, but I didn’t really want to be caught taking photographs of myself in the bathroom.

I cruised around Saks, but didn’t purchase anything. I just wanted to see what they had in store. Actually, I cruised around a lot of stores that I don’t normally, but besides the lipstick, I ended up buying stuff at a regular mall store. Go figure.

I bought two shirts from NYC & Co. I really liked the two items I bought and think that they’ll fit into my existing wardrobe easily. And they were on super sale, so I didn’t have any money guilt.
Shirt #1

Shirt #2


And I got my eyebrows threaded. I think they are too thin this time. I offer the following evidence:

Exhibit A: Photo from June posting of threading

Exhibit B: Photo from this morning.


I will try to fill them a little tomorrow and see how that looks.



Thats everything!



Later

b

Mall

I'm still hanging onto birthday money and have decided to hit the mall after work. Items on my shopping list include:





Threading. The wonky eyebrow is reappearing!





Coralista blush:
Possibly something from Express...I have a coupon for $25 off a $50 purchase. I haven't stopped by an express in a long time though and I'm not sure if I want anything $25 worth. We'll see.

I would like some no-see-um underroos..I swear the pair I have on today are completely showing a panty line. A little TMI, but undergarments are important, you can't feel confident if everyone can see your panties.

Maybe I'll report tomorrow with purchases :)
-b-

Nailpolish sticks

At walgreens last week I found some of these in the clearance bins.

http://nicolebyopi.com/

I bought two of them to checkout, it seems like a cool idea. I left one at my office so that if I wanted to look nice & polished, I could do it all in the lunch hour.

So I did.

Today.

It turned out okay. The color looks nice but I had to apply 3 coats on some nails to to make just it looked even. I think the applicator tip is a little off, the brush didn't really keep together - making the polish come out streaky.

Here's the tip:

Here's a pic of the finished nails:

The color I used was "Are we there yet?" I wouldn't pay full price, but it does seem handy.

*Updated a day later to add that there are already a couple small chips. bummer. would not buy except for touchups*

-b-

arggh

So I wrote up a whole post for today and at the end, realized that i don't have my camera cord with me.

...bummer....

Tomorrow will be a two for one :)
-b-

Necklaces and red lips

I had a party a couple of weeks ago, and overheard a girlfriend talking about my bathroom (that tiny little thing) and the heaps of necklaces I had in there. I, of course interrupted, and said "What are you talking about, I don't think it's a lot. Plus that isn't my entire collection. There are more. Much much more...."

Turns out that she took a photo of that set of my necklaces and included it in her party pics album.

It's at a weird angle, but really, it doesn't seem excessive to me at all. There are 12 hooks on each holder and I bet each hook has between 2-4 necklaces. I mean, I wear a necklace everyday, I need variety. right?

Plus, I end up making most of them ... so it counts as both entertainment and fashion (like that rationalization?) Here's a peek at my supplies.






I was organizing my stuff last weekend and think it might be wise to lay off the bead buying for a couple weeks (at least). Otherwise I'll have to buy more containers. I'm already up to 8 and they are pretty chock full of fun stuff!

____________
Unrelated: I busted out some red lipstick this week. I never wear red, and will admit that this particular color was from the NYC makeup collection ($0.99). It was pretty fun to wear it and I may actually purchase a decent red lipstick. This one didn't stay on long and was really drying on my lips. I thought the color was pretty though. Here's a ubiquitous lipstick photo:









Hope you have a great weekend. We're gearing up for rain, Rain, RAIN! in the Houston area. It could be deluge...good thing I still have a library book and some Netflix at home.

-b-

Recommendation

Do you read Saucy's Sprinkles yet?

This is a woman that makes killer cupcakes (ok, I haven't tasted them, but they look amazing), takes time to do LOADS of special and really fun stuff with her daughter, is super crafty, knows how to have fun with a camera, and has a great sense of humor.

A post earlier this week was fantastic and I wanted to share...

http://www.saucysprinkles.com/2009/09/when-my-life-begins.html

-b-

Labor Day movies

The last week and a half has been chock full of movies. I’ve seen Extract, Inglorious Basterds, and 500 Days of Summer. 500 has been my favorite and I’ll admit disappointment about Extract.

I have an affection for Mike Judge that dates back to Beavis & Butthead (don’t lie, you watched it too). When I moved to Texas in 2002, King of the Hill finally made magnificent sense to me. That show captures so much that makes Texas unique and fascinating. I mean no irony in that statement, Texas just doesn’t fit the mold. That is probably Texas’ best characteristic, it is difficult to describe because there is so much variety and people just feel passionate about so many different ideas. Including propane and boogle.

Image from http://www.stewiesplayground.com/2009/03/28/fox-animation-schedule-for-march-29-2009/

And of course, Office Space, sheesh. Probably the best work-atmosphere movie ever. Mike Judge just got it with that movie.

Image from http://blog.pricegrabber.com/shopgreen/files/2007/09/office-space.jpg

Which is why I was bummed about Extract. Maybe my expectations were a little too high or focused on the wrong topic. I thought it would be another workplace comedy, and there was some of that - but for me, the movie turned out to be a really depressing view of marriage. I’m tired of the reinforced view that marriage equals a dead sex-life. There were funny parts and it’s always nice to see Jason Bateman, but this movie didn’t do it for me.

500 Days of Summer wasn’t the happiest movie ever, but it told the truth about love in a heartfelt way. With snappy dressers to boot. Seriously, I don’t know who did Zoeey D.’s wardrobe, but she was absolutely adorable in every scene.



I went to 500 Days dressed a little hippy dippy, but left wanting to wear a girly dress and bangs.

I'll admit to being very comfortable in this outfit though. yeah for tights.

-b-

Vroom Vroom

We have two bathrooms in the house and, yep, we each stick to using ‘our’ bathroom. The best part of people coming to our house is when I get to show off motohubby’s bathroom. I got really bored one month while he was traveling for work and decided to make his bathroom more HIM.

So I bought a cheeky Alexander Henry fabric online and made a more personal shower curtain.It really is the cutest thing in the world.


I used some extra fabric to cover the light switch.


Then I shopped our house for other moto things. It’s pretty easy at our place. These are racing photographs my husband took when he was in highschool.


I can’t even explain why he had this, but my husband had a display dirtbike. That went into the bathroom too!
OH, and the Cycle World magazine isn't staged. That was actually there when I took the photos.

My bathroom is as boring as boring can be, but one day I think I’ll make mine just as fun. The problem with my bathroom is that it’s tiny. I mean really really tiny. I think it might be less than 10 square feet. The shower is one of those little corner showers, and you can literally use the restroom and wash your hands in the sink at the same time. It’s small.

-b-