Happy Things: Post 6

1. I finally read enough of Gone Girl for it to become interesting.

2. I showed up at the bus stop right as my bus appeared.

3. My dog is adorable.

4. Free pizza!

Happy Things: Post 5

1. Jared took me out to lunch
2. I walked home in the snow (which was fun!)
3. I took myself out to Christo's and it was delicious

I think I'm ready for tomorrow!

Happy Things: Post 4

1. Had a good second day at my new role

2. Ate frozen yogurt

3. Benefited from a longer night's sleep

Happy Things: Post 3

1. I woke up early and got out of work early
2. I met new people
3. I started my new job

Happy Things: Post 2

1. I went to a Meet-up for corgi owners in the Twin Cities.
2. I ate Arby's curly fries.
3. I slept in!!!

Personal Challenge 2014: Strive to Be Happier

Long time no post.

I'm not using this blog much anymore, so I've decided to re-purpose it. I just read a great article on how to become happier. I'm going try incorporating these things into my life - starting with the first suggestion:

Every night before you go to bed write three good things that happened to you that day.  Jotting those down is pretty much all it takes to get a boost in well-being over time

Every night from here until I slack off  I will post three good things that happened to me that day.

No time like the present.

1. I spent today with Jared talking and walking around in Albertville.
2. I got TBCY rocky road and a rodeo burger.
3. I laughed for hours watching The IT Crowd. 

I'll do this for a while and look into adding the next thing in two weeks!

Otherwise - life update a bit. I got a new position at HQ and hopefully will never have to do customer service again in my life. :)

Remember that time....

Remember that time where I would blog regularly...
and then I got a dog
and then I got a job
and then I got a condo
and then I had a nervous breakdown
and then I went back to work
and then I started craving sweets and dairy and gained like 5 lbs in bloat?

Yea, me neither. Let's just pretend it never happened.

Weight Loss Tracker

In the two past weeks....

• I started dieting and exercising and lost 6 lbs
• I stopped drinking all soda
• Our refrigerator broke
• Our power went out
• Our power came back on
• I got a membership to our local organic food grocery
• I returned $600 in stuff to Macy's

Top 5: 2012 Highlights

Started a New Job

I was hired into my first real job in mid-January of last year (2012).

It was a huge stepping stone into my new, urban life.

My job means a great deal for me. It combines helping people and daily impact through feedback. My coworkers are upbeat and friendly. I look forward to going into work.

Went to Irish Fest/CONvergance/State Fair/Aquatennial Fireworks/San Francisco

New job means money for trips and paid vacation time!

Jared and I flew out to San Francisco and visited my favorite Auntie Leigh this fall. We went to Irish Fest in Milwaukee in August. I went to CONvergence in early summer. We ate our way across the fairgrounds at the Minnesota State Fair. We walked downtown and saw a great fireworks show for the Aquatennial.

What's wonderful about all these things is that they went off great and I have no complaints. (Or at least my complaints are super minor - I can complain about anything.)

New Baby! (not mine)

My cousin had a baby! He's adorable. I saw him twice this fall/winter and he was too cute to be true. I'm claiming him as my honorary nephew. I'm looking forward to watching him grow up.

Bought a Condo

Jared and I bought a beautiful condo at a great price. We're still working on moving in. I will be posting pictures once our couch is delivered. (Oh yea, we bought a new couch too!)

It's a pretty huge deal for us. Amie and Matt (Jared's brother) gave us moving boxes. It was magical - like they appeared out of no where just at the right time.

Home for the Holidays

Last year I worked the weekend of Christmas and the weekend after Thanksgiving. We didn't get to go to Wisconsin for the holidays.

This year I had my weekends off switched due to a clerical error! Awesome.

We went to Thanksgiving over a two day stretch. It was terrible and great. Seeing family and friends (Jared's friends) was great. Traveling ~11 hours in two days was not great.

Christmas was the best. We had a four day weekend. We went to Jared's grandparents that Saturday. I met a slew of cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course his grandparents. I saw Brittany on Sunday. Monday we went to Jared's family's Christmas dinner. Tuesday we went to my family's Christmas party at Aunt Sue's house. We were so busy! I loved it.

We got the best Christmas gifts too! (Not that I'm materialistic.) They were so thoughtful! Amie and Matt gave us a woodcut ornament that said "Jared, Holley and Gizmo's first home" and a cool - hard to describe without hand motions - wall art piece. Jared's parents gave us a fire extinguisher and a garbage disposal! Perfect. We also received a really great painting (like house painting, not oil... painting?) set. We'll be cracking that out this summer.


I may have left out some great things that also happened. This year has been fantastic for us. :D

Negative Nancy Says Winter Means Blahs, Dryness and Frigid Weather

I've talked about winter blues and how to stay warm. Now, it's time to talk about dryness. Dryness is a terror that deserves it's own post. It isn't a footnote in the long list of what is terrible in life about winter.

Instead of focusing on alligator skin and scarecrow hair, let's talk about suggested fixes.

Dry Skin

Aveeno! I love Aveeno. It's genius. It's cheap. It's widely available. All year round I use Aveeno Moisturizing Bars for Dry Skin. This bar is so gentle that it soothes my itchy, irritated skin. (Itchy and irritated are common words to describe me.)

In winter, I buy some kind of Aveeno lotion. It doesn't matter which; they've all been wonderful. This year I bought Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Nourishing Body Lotion, Energizing Pomegranate + Grapefruit. I'm a sucker for bath and body products that are grapefruit scented. (Sometimes, this ends badly, and I end up smelling like dish soap or worse bug spray.) This lotion smells great and once it absorbs is subtle. It does take awhile to sink in - especially on my hands and feet.

My coworker Sue introduced me to Nivea Creme. I buy it in the travel sized tins. The packaging is cute and small. It's easy to carry in the palm of my hand or throw in my purse. I find that I use it most often on the bus! I'm sitting there and BOOM my weirdo cuticles pull a run in my stockings like that is their main function. Solution: mourn the tights, silently swear, moisturize the cuticle.

Dry Eyes

Go to the drugstore. Buy five or sixty bottles of eye drops WITHOUT vasoconstrictors. Put them in your desk at work, every purse you own, in your bathroom, on your mantle. Hang them from your Christmas tree. Make earrings from them! 

Dry Hair

Sometimes lather, rinse, repeat isn't quite good enough. Here are the three things I use on my dry, coarse hair during winter - along with instructions on how to best utilize them.

Biolage by Matrix Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner
wash hair well, massage liberal amount of conditioner into scalp and through hair focusing on roots, sit in tub until unbearably pruney, rinse in a half-assed way

Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream
apply utterly ridiculous amount to dry, dirty (like 3rd day dirty) hair, play video games for four hours OR watch four blood-soaked episodes of Vampire Diaries, take a normal shower

CHI Keratin Mist 
realize your hair is disgustingly dry but you have no time to do anything listed above, hold your ends altogether making your straw hair into a sort of broom, spray that shit until you drown that broom like you're a magician's assistant

Dry Lips

Lately I've been loving Maybelline Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF 20 Sunscreen. I bought it in cherry. It really doesn't have a color to it (which I like). It tastes good (enough). It isn't sticky.

For those with cash to burn, I do like Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15. It tastes good, has a little color (and is sticky in a good way?)

It's better to realize what you don't want than what you do want in makeup (and all things), because then it's easy to say no. What I DON'T want in a chapstick-but-not-chapstick: Glitter, stickiness, strong odor, strong taste, odor or taste that isn't based on something edible (read: floral), no SPF.

Website Love: http://www.8ty8beauty.com/

This category should be called "Websites You Should Know About if You Want to Go Broke in No Time at All."

Last month I ordered five new nail polishes from 8ty8 Beauty Supply. I was led to this website after going to Sally Beauty Supply and looking through the China Glaze Bohemian collection. We got to talking about China Glaze holographic nail polish collection coming out this summer (I want ALL of them).  In 2009 China Glaze released holographic shades in the OMG collection. The woman helping me dig through a bin of polishes said that by the time she heard of the OMG collection she couldn't find it anywhere and had to order off of 8ty8 Beauty Supply. How she described the website it sounded like an archive (or elephant graveyard) of hard to find nail polishes.

I was a little off. It's more like a no-frills website that sells China Glaze, Color Club and other name brand polishes at lower prices.

I made order in early October.

I ordered China Glaze Twinkle Lights, China Glaze Tinsel Town, China Glaze Cast a Spell, Color Club Cloud Nine, and Color Club Angel Kiss.

China Glaze polishes sell at Ulta for $7.50. 8ty8 Beauty Supply sells the same polish, with the same release dates for $3.00.

The polishes are packed together well in boxes that hold three polishes each. If you order a number of polishes not divisible by three, then they pack that space with newspaper. They ship USPS  priority mail out of New York. I received my first order three days after it shipped.

The only downside I have found, is that shipping is expensive! It's $11.00! And, you have no clue how much the shipping will be until it invoices.

I look through the polishes they offer, and look them up on Google. Generally, Scrangie has covered the older (pre-2010) polishes, and The Polishaholic covers current polishes (2010-present).

I just made an order yesterday! I'm so excited.

Product Review: L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes

Two things:

1. I don't buy drugstore brand makeup anymore.
2. I have no idea how false eyelashes work. And, frankly, they frighten me.

However, after reading Gabi Gregg's review on Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara with Fiber Extentions I made an exception to the former. 

I was in Target and couldn't find the Maybeline version of fiber lashes mascara. I ended up buying L'Oreal's Voluminous False Fiber Lashes. 

So far, I've experienced no clumping and find the wand easy to use. I can see a noticeable difference in the appearance of length. If you apply multiple layers, it heightens that illusion. 

I like the packaging. It's gold and geometric. It doesn't look "expensive" but it does look unusual. 

The negative reviews I've read have to do with clumping and having a hard time applying to the lower lashes. I don't put eyeshadow on my lower lashes, so I don't have much to add to that. I usually apply to the top and blink a lot. Voila! My lower lashes are darkened.

Anyone have any drugstore brands they're raving about?

Spending Excuses

Hello. My name is Holley. I am a shopper.

There are many reasons that I love shopping. It's exercise, it has a tangible end, it makes me feel accomplished, it's distracting. But one of the best aspects of shopping for me is that I'm good at it. I find gems that cost pennies.

That being said, looking at my bank account and revolving credit line makes me want to puke.

Here are the bogus excuses I use to justify unnecessary spending:

• I don't own a car, so if I was a normal person this money would get spent on that.
• I don't drink, and shopping is a better habit than drinking. Instead of spending money on booze, I spend money on cardigans. I can wear cardigans to work. 
• My living expenses are low.
• I owe it to myself to do something nice for me and have nice things.
• I don't plan on having kids, so I don't need to plan for that expense.
• I have a 401k plan and my job matches my Social Security benefits, so I don't need to save for retirement (right now). 
• It's not like I'm ever going to get to retire - at this rate no one will.
• Shopping is cheaper than therapy and at least I get something out of it.

These excuses are just excuses; I need to button down and stop frivolous spending. 

Someone hold me to that. JCP has some cute, bright sweaters - and I am weak.

How I'm Feeling Lately

Strictly Platonic

Last summer, I posted on Craigslist looking for friends. At the time I didn't find this sad. I didn't have a job and volunteered with kids under 16 all day. There weren't many chances to meet people my own age.

But now, I find it dreadfully sad that I'm going to post again. Now, I have a job, but haven't made any real connections. My work friends and I talk about doing things but don't follow through.  I haven't seen my friend from home who moved up here in over six months. Most of the time, I feel really alone.

When I was a kid, this was the norm for me. I'd go to school, hang out with school friends and come home to be by myself. Once college started, that wasn't an option. I lived with people. I also had an almost intrusive network of friends who I saw outside of school often.

I'd like to talk to someone who isn't Jared more often. I feel like when I go to work, I'm too chatty and unprofessional, because I'm attention starved.

So, here we go again.

Happy Halloween! (EARLY)

Product Review: Kose Seikisho Mask White

Fun story: Four out of five of the full days we were in San Francisco were foggy. Although I didn't mind the ambience and it was an experience one should have - my skin did not weather well. Personificationally, my pores had a town hall meeting. Everyone was in attendance. And, together they decided to close their doors and bar them against bacteria fighting agents using sebum as their deadbolt. I.E. I broke out. And, not in the Shawshank with a rock hammer way.

My reaction to my newly cratered mug was to try everything I could think of to pull the crap (sebum, dirt, oil) from my stupid face. I used 15 pore strips in two days. I made a mask out of baking soda. I made a mask out of eggs. I made a mask out of honey. Then, I went to the internet for help.

I love you, internet.

I found this video (those with migraines: watch on mute):

And, I found this website: http://shaun-owyeong.blogspot.com/2009/03/kose-seikisho-mask-white.html

I also checked out the reviews on Makeup Alley. 

What I was looking for was a Biore pore strip for my entire face that would (hopefully) rip all my skin off (Hannibal Lector style). I thought I had found what I needed when all negative reviews complained about the pain of taking the mask off. (Side note: my face has no feeling in it from years of torture.)

I bought the Kose Seikisho Mask White on Beauty.com and received my shipment three days later. 

After all that fluff, here is the review!

The Kose Seikisho Mask White is jet black and can be applied easily with clean hands. The texture is much like glue or tar. It actually takes some effort and soap to wash the mask from your fingertips after application.

The drying time is about 20 to 30 minutes. This would vary by how thick of a layer you apply to your face. I like a thicker, opaque application. 

Removal is easy. You start at the edges and pull off toward the middle (much like a Biore strip).

You can examine the pulled off mask to find small hairs, a few sebum clogs and dead skin. 

The Kose Mask is not like a Biore strip at all in that it will not pull plugs from your pores. However, it is an excellent exfoliant. 

My skin looks clearer and brighter after three uses over a period of two weeks. 

The fresh skin exposed after removing the mask makes makeup application smoother with less flake. Combined with my clindamycin lotion (I use this in place of moisturizer), it has left my skin clearer with a more even skin tone (lightened dark spots). 

I give it a strong B+ for use for acne and a solid A for skin brightening and exfoliating. 

I Need to Raise My Credit Limit: Target + Neiman Marcus is Debuting in December

Target is out for blood with this new collaboration with Neiman Marcus. After seeing the lookbook on A Bullseye View, my credit card has never been more frightened. This is where I need to step up and say that even though I work for Target (SURPRISE), my opinion does not in any way represent the company. 

Okay, now that the disclaimer is out of the way - here's my wish list.

Band of Outsiders made Best Friends hats. A) They remind me of Katie Binning. B) They're Platteville colors. C) They're juvenile. D) I want them.

This dress from Lela Rose is a hundred bucks. I'm going to try it on. If I have an emotional reaction, I'll buy it straight out. If not, ce la vie.

Off-topic: I HATE when nice dresses don't have sleeves. Dress, --- I talk to clothes --- Dress, I cannot wear you to work. This decreases your value in utils to me by over 60%. I have to wear layers and pair you with sweaters. I think it looks ugly when people wear t-shirts under you. Do you want to look ugly? When you have no sleeves and force people to match things to you - you risk looking terrible. Think about that next time you don't want to buy extra fabric or hem arm holes.

I effin' love this bag by Oscar de la Renta.

The color (winter white) is fantastic and unexpected. The print is embroidered. It looks like it could house all my work stuff.

It's fun without being distracting. It's professional without being dawdy.

TAKE MY MONEY. 

I love capes. I'm all about capes. I want to own all the capes.

They make me feel like I'm in a live action cartoon show - like I'm about to round-house kick a dragon and eat a turkey leg with my bare hands.

I feel like a brassier, adult version of the chick from Tangled.

Anyways, this cape from Prabal Gurung is $79.99 and it makes me want to stand in line at Target in 20 degree weather

This tree ornament from Rodarte looks like it'd be in a B-Movie spin off of Men in Black.

"The galaxy is on Orion's tree...."

But seriously, this looks awesome. If it looks like the cosmos in person, I'm game.

Your move, Manufacturing.










That's a wrap! PEACE.

(I'm having a weird night.)

Inside Jokes

As many of you might know, I am an only child. Which, for me, meant I was home alone quite often. Since I grew up solo, I found ways to entertain myself. In my adult life, this has been a tough habit to kick.

Now that I'm grown and live with Jared, I still talk and joke with myself. I make up inside jokes that I only get.

Maybe everyone does this. After all, one's idea of normal is based on oneself. Normal is in the eye of the beholder? Or is that average? I'm off topic.

Here are a few examples of things I do (now mostly in my head) that entertain me throughout the day. Before assimilating to social norms... I did many of these out loud.

Every morning when I go into my sock drawer or pick up my shoes, I chant/sing to myself, "Shoes and socks! Socks and shoes!"

When people make direct statements, I like to say, "Well, isn't that ironic." I do this, because I hate when people talk about things being ironic... so I'm saying, "Well, isn't that ironic," ironically. Unfortunately, no one is in on the joke, and I end up sounding really stupid.

Coworker-friend: Yea, Jason loves baseball!
Me: Well, isn't that ironic.

When I don't know the words to songs, I usually know the melody. Instead of just humming, I sing words that fit the melody that I can hear in my head as mumbles. I did this recently to Lady Gaga's Telephone... I had no idea what song I was singing. My coworker got a good laugh.

When I read emails, I give the person a funny voice and add emphasis on words that were not meant to be emphasized.

What's something you do that keeps you laughing?

Would anyone be interested in a post about my skin care regimen? I feel like it wouldn't apply well to other people... unless everyone is oily, acne-prone and has dermographia.