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Stila, stila, stila’n my heart
I’m clever. HAHA!
Obviously I’ve been looking for a new foundation. After watching countless Youtube makeup tutorials I’ve decided not to settle for “just okay” makeup. I’m going to at least try and be fancy. 🙂 Matt and I took Monday off and ran errands, mostly buying Christmas presents. While we were out I made Matt drop me off at Ulta. My plan had been to get a few samples to try. However, once I got to Ulta, I quickly realized NO ONE was going to help me. I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before I started trying different foundations on my hand. Nothing really caught my attention until I came to the Stila display. One of the foundations I picked up, the Stay All Day Foundation, was nice and creamy. Aahh ha! I like the texture and feel but at $44.00 it was a little pricey. I looked around a little more and finally decided to just try the Stila. On the plus side, the Stila included a concealer. So that kind of made up for the price.
I went to the counter to pay and asked about the return policy. Sixty days with a receipt. Sold!
Later in the day I finally decided I really really needed to try this stuff out. I washed my face and grabbed my new Stila foundation. The foundation went on smooth and the concealer really smoothed out nicely and didn’t get cakey, not something I normally find. Much to my surprise, it really made my skin look radiant. Guys, seriously, I do not have good skin. It’s always had a rudey tone to it so when I put this on and it made my skin look nice and clear I was in Heaven! It added just the right amount of highlight too. This could also be because I’m pale right now so the color is pretty light but regardless it makes my skin look luminous.
The only downside to this, besides the price, is the little “wand” thingy in the top. I feel like the packaging could be better but as one reviewer pointed out, this makes it easier to get every last bit out of the bottle. So we’ll see.
I’m only a few days in but so far I like this much better than the gross Clinique I was using and I also find it better than the Bobbi Brown. It seems to last all day where the Bobbi Brown didn’t. I hope this continues to do well with my skin because so far so good.
~k
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I’m not sold
A couple weeks ago while getting my haircut I asked my stylist about makeup. She does hair and makeup on the side so I figured she would be a good person to talk to about foundation. I told her what I was looking for and she hands down recommended Bobbi Brown. I went to the Bobbi Brown website and found her Skin Foundation. With almost 600 reviews and a 4.7 star rating I knew I had to try this. The downside? The price. At $47.00 a bottle I knew Matt would flip. I also knew it would need to WOW me. Blow me away!
I ran to the mall over the weekend and went to the Bobbi Brown counter. I told the lady about my skin and what I was looking for. She sat me down to do a color match. Once happy with the color, she proceeded to redo the makeup on my cheeks, nose, and chin. When she was finished she handed me a mirror. I was definitely “blown away” and a little bit horrified. I’m not sure I contained my shock well. She had caked this makeup on my face. My first thought was OMG I still have to go to Lowes. I mentioned it was kind of shiny and she said I would need to finish it with powder. No shit lady. I asked for a sample and also signed up to see one of their professional makeup artists in a few weeks.
By the time I got home I couldn’t deal with the grossness on my face and washed it off. The next day I decided to give it another shot with me doing my own makeup. Night and day people, night and day. (I don’t know that anyone would buy anything from the lady that did my makeup.) The foundation has a bit of a matte finish, which is nice, it also goes on very smooth and is not streaky. All pluses. However, I’m still not sold. I don’t feel like my makeup still looks fresh even a few hours after it’s been applied. It has decent coverage and the color is nice and a little seems to go a long way. It almost doesn’t seem to get oily throughout the day but I don’t see what the hype is all about. And honestly I’m disappointed. I really hoped it would be a miracle in a bottle.
I’m planning to run to Ulta soon and see if they can help me find what I’m looking for. I want something with a medium coverage, maybe a whipped type formula. Something that will add glow (not oil) to my skin and look natural. My inspiration is Emily Thorne from Revenge. Her make up always looks amazingly beautiful and natural even though I’m sure she has a ton on.
I’m totally over the Clinique Even Better foundation at this point. It’s crap. I don’t know if they changed or I changed but I took the new bottle I had back. So now the hunt for awesome foundation continues.
~k
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The Iron Bowl
If you saw yesterday’s post then today’s should be no surprise. So what is the Iron Bowl you ask? It’s only THE biggest game of the year between Auburn and Alabama. It is a very long and deep seated rivalry. Obviously they are much better when Auburn is victorious! 😉
Last year Alabama rolled over what was possibly the WORST Auburn team in history. No seriously, we sucked! I think our record was 2-8.
After a rough season, our coach was fired and a new one hired. Gus Malzahn was the offensive coordinator when Auburn won the National Title a few years back. Gus was brought back to revive the team. At the start of the season I really didn’t have high hopes. I figured we might go 7-3 possibly 8-2. Not great but anything is better than last year.
We started the season okay with an unfortunate loss to LSU but kept moving. When the day came for the Texas A&M game I told Matt, “I just want to score points.” And then something happened. Auburn pulled out the win in the last minutes of the game. Holy cow! We WON! Then came the Georgia game. The AU/UGA game is also a rivalry game. I was on a work call that afternoon and barely paying attention. I didn’t figure Auburn would win. Then a miracle happened. A long pass down field…..to UGA…..they tipped the ball……right into the hands on and Auburn player! TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!!!!! Matt and I were jumping up and down screaming! It was just so unbelievable!
Auburn headed to the Iron Bowl ranked #4 at 10-1, Bama ranked #1 at 10-0. Damn! Again I told Matt, “I just want to score points.” The game was close going back and forth. For some reason I had a feeling Auburn was going to win even though the score was tied with a minute left. I didn’t feel like going to overtime but Bama had the ball. A play was run and the runner out of bounds. Bama fought to get one second put back on the clock and bought out the field goal unit. Mind you, Bama hadn’t made a field goal the whole day. At an impossible 56 yards, they send out a freshman kicker. And then it happened…………..He missed!!!! Oh wait, the Auburn guy in the end zone caught it……….and he runs, right up the field. TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit! We just won on an even more unbelievable play than against UGA!
After numerous screams, fb updates, and texts we got ready for dinner. I was still shaking for almost an hour after. The. game. of. the year! By far.
And that my friends it the glory of the Iron Bowl. (My heart rate may be slightly elevated just thinking about it. :))
That was my Saturday!
~k
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Happy Thanksgiving
In the spirit of the holidays I’m going to *try* to blog more. I won’t say work has settled down yet but I’m hoping it will.
Mom and dad moved into their new house about 2 weeks ago. When they found it, I told mom they were having Thanksgiving if they were in by then. They were, so we did. Mom invited Matt’s parents as well so we had a nice family Thanksgiving.
Thursday morning Matt helped me pack my car with all the things I would need to cook my dishes – mac & cheese, corn casserole, and homemade rolls. Mom picked up the rest of the items I would need for sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. I got to their house around 10:30 and we started cooking. Well actually we walked around the house and mom showed me what she’d been up to with decorating. Then
weI started cooking. We cooked, watched TV and talked, cooked a little more and by 3:00 almost everything was ready to be put in the oven. Matt and his parent’s arrived and the ladies finished up the last of the cooking. Dad had to work till 3:00 so he fried the turkey on Wednesday however, it worked out well because we weren’t trying to cook while he was trying to cook/fry/cut a turkey.Around 5:00 everything was hot and ready to go. We had a nice dinner. After we sat around and watched football for a while. Finally around 8:30 Matt and I and his parents headed back to our house. We threw in a movie and I proceeded to pass out. Talk about tired.
Friday his parents left and I convinced Matt to run to Garden Ridge to look for a new taller Christmas tree. Little did I know, they don’t do black Friday deals! BOOO! I knew it didn’t look crazy busy when we drove up. Anyway, we found something we needed for a gift but came away empty handed on the Christmas tree.
I think Saturday needs it’s own post. 😉 If you know me you know why! WAR EAGLE!
~k
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Crusty Bread (aka the easiest bread)
Several months ago, when I was on a big Pinterest kick, I ran across a crusty bread recipe. It seemed easy enough for a non-bread maker. Four ingredients, three of which I had on hand. Matt and I ran to Costco a few days later and I found my missing ingredient, yeast.
With my all the ingredients, I began making my first batch of crusty bread. OMG, this stuff is seriously the EASIEST to make! Not to mention it’s delicious. I’ve made several batches so far and every time it turns out amazing!
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 tsp Yeast (I use active dry yeast)
1 3/4 tsp Salt (I like kosher)
3 c. Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 c. Warm Water
Cast Iron Pot
Mix 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour with 1 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of yeast in a glass bowl. Whisk together and add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. I like to use a fork for mixing since it will get gooey. Cover the mix and let it sit for 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.
It will get kind of bubbly and rise. Once it’s sat for at least 12 hours (I’ve let mine sit for up to 18 before and it was fine) preheat your oven to 450*. When your oven is preheated put your empty cast iron pot in the oven for 30 mins. I’ve never tried it with anything other than cast iron so you’ve been warned.
About 5 mins before the timer goes off I will take my dough and flour it. Just throw some flour on the counter and cover the dough. You can be generous with this.
Carefully remove the pot lid and put your dough inside. I just dump it in. No need for oil. I bake mine for 20 mins covered and 10 uncovered. The recipe from my pin says 3o and 20. That was too long for me and my oven. I also like my bread a little more moist and it was little too dry at 30 mins.
Once the bread has browned to your liking remove it from the pot and let it sit on a wire cooling rack. It’s best not to cut while it’s hot. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. You will end up with smushed bread.
***I don’t normally post recipes so I apologize for the roughness of this post.
~k
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A New Fave
You know I love mascara right? Well I do! I’ve always had pretty eyelashes and I want my mascara to make them look even better. For months now, Loreal’s Power Volume Collagen mascara has been my go to. You can find my review here. A few weeks ago mom and I were out shopping and we ran to Ulta. She wanted something to make her eyelashes grow and in the process we found Revlon’s Lash Potion mascara. I grabbed a tube of this and she bought the Revlon Grow formula. I normally buy mascara and then regret my decision and switch back to the Loreal but OMG! This stuff is amazing! It hardly clumps and it adds a ton of volume to my lashes. I think I’m most impressed with the fact that I don’t have to do multiple heavy coats to create volume. It only takes a few light coats to really plump them up. (When I say a few light coats I mean layering 1 good coat I guess. I don’t let it dry and add more if that helps.)
I’ve been using this mascara for a few weeks now and I am still impressed. Normally I either like mascara’s at the beginning or near the end of the tube once it’s dried out a bit. I tend to get mascara all over my eyes so if they are too “wet” it’s just a mess but tends to get better after a few weeks. I have problems with this even with the Loreal but not nearly as much with the Lash Potion. For $8.00 a tube this is a must try especially if you are a mascara lover like me!
~k
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So this happened!
For about 6 years now, since I got my foot tattooed, I’ve wanted one on my wrist. Two years ago when Matt and I went to New York I decided it would be a really cool idea to do it there. I knew it would be much more expensive but part of that was the experience. We got to NYC and I chickened out. You have bones and veins in your wrist and that has to hurt right? It probably didn’t help that I really had no idea what I wanted.
Fast forward a year and a half and I finally found what I wanted a few weeks ago. As soon as I found it I knew so I contacted VanNess and Fellows, a local studio for a guy I found on IG. Unfortunately he was booked for like 6 months out but he had a guest artist that weekend. I made an appt for Saturday and drug Matt with me. We ran to lunch downtown and I grabbed a glass of wine. Then we headed to the studio. I say studio because this was hands down THE NICEST place ever!
Ten minutes later I had a cute little heart and anchor tattoo on the inside of my wrist. It’s not quite complete yet but I’ll have to wait to finish it.
The tattoo itself was uncomfortable and a little painful once or twice but overall not bad enough that I wouldn’t do it again. The painful part came the next day. Man my wrist was sore and achey.
I think I will probably need a touch up but I was told this up front. The artist, Scottie, told me just to let the studio know and they would get it set up. It hasn’t fully healed yet so I don’t want to call. Scottie also works at a studio in Wilmington so it would have to be done at a later date when he’s in town. Till then I think it will be fine. Plus like I said, it’s not quite complete so I’m hoping that I might can get both done.
~k
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Check In
It’s been a few weeks now and my project at work is still running into road block after road block. This is partially our fault for not setting the necessary (or correct) parameters. However, this thing was just built like crap and now we are having issues trying to make a not fully complete or functional product work. Not to mention very little support. I should add I’m talking about software.
For the past 2 months or so I’ve spent many, many hours sitting in rooms hashing out details and testing. Oh my god the testing! I am currently sitting at my desk doing more tests. Tests I’ve done hundreds of times (it feels like hundreds anyway!) Every time we get one thing working something else seems to break. It’s like that scene in Poltergeist when JoBeth Williams is running down the hallway. She can see the door but she can’t get there. That’s what I feel like right now too!
I’m hoping we will actually get this process launched next week and life can move on. (I’m also hoping I can move on to a new position! I’ve put in a lot of time and work on this and I hope it yields some reward!)
Next week I hope to return to blogging on a regular basis so watch out!
~k
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Hiatus
I promise I haven’t forgotten about the blog. I have a half written post regarding the wedding I photographed a few weeks ago. Work is crazy busy and I haven’t had time to finish that post or even think about blogging anything else. With that said, the next 2 weeks are going to be crazy with the release of our new system migration. I am currently working on that project on top of trying to keep up with my regular work duties. This is a side project I volunteered for/got thrown into. I am really hoping that this will lead to new and different opportunities so I am trying to do a really good job. (Which seems to be the case since our COO told me I was doing a good job and thanked me for my help last week! 😀 )
I promise as soon as this migration is complete and running I will pick up blogging again. (I blog at work for those wondering why work affects this. 😉 I’m not sure why but I seem to blog better at work. )
~k
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Happy Birthday Matte!
Last Sunday was Matt’s 35th birthday! Ahhhh! He’s getting old! 😉
Since he checks the bank account daily I told him on Wednesday of that week that he could no longer look at the bank account. It’d be nice to be able to buy his gifts without him knowing what I got. He’s been playing golf a lot lately with one of Patrick’s friends and has started collecting golf course poker chips. While I was at Michael’s a few weeks ago I found a coin display box so I picked that up. I figured that would be better than poker chips laying all over the counter. Then I had to decide on a big gift for him. I feel like lately we’ve spent a lot of money on me and I wanted to do something nice for him.
For his big gift I debated over a few things. In the end, Golfsmith didn’t have the thing I thought I’d buy, a range finder. With that taken care of, I headed back to the golf clubs. He’d been eyeing one and I knew where it was. Ya’ll this is key. I kind of knew what it looked like. I didn’t actually know what it was. I knew he had the big one, and I knew he had a hybrid. I ended up asking a sales guy for help. I explained what I was doing and what I thought I needed. As it turned out, the one I picked up randomly was the one the guy thought he probably needed. (You see how bad this is right?)
What was more exciting was the fact that this club was on sale. 🙂 So I get to the checkout counter and the club doesn’t ring up as the sale price. I tell the cashier the sign says X amount. He asks someone else who agrees it should be on sale. Then someone notices that this club is a Tour model. I like at him and I’m like “I have no idea what that means.” Just as this is happening the guy who helped me walks up front and verifies the price should be the sale price X. Woo hoo! I pay and ask for a box.
Now that day I was in Matt’s car so yeah. Golf club + box + small ass car don’t mix. I end up having to stick it in the backseat. I get home, send Matt downstairs and stash the club under the guest bed.
Sunday morning I wake up early to wrap his gifts and a little while later he gets to open his presents. He opened his golf club and lo and behold, I got the right damn one! What!!!! HAHA! So I’m super excited that I’ve managed to actually buy him the right golf club. But what’s even better is I beat Golfsmith! Matt said he never bought the Tour models because they were never on sale, or not as much. Hehe! So I scored the best model for the sale price of the regular one. This meant it was like $100.00 off. 😀
After presents we got up and got ready and headed to brunch. Then we came home and I made homemade carrot cake. And that, in a nut shell (or really long post) was Matt’s birthday!
Love ya hon!
~k