Friday, November 22, 2013

[Shopping] Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes!

Ok, maybe the title is a bit of an exaggeration. However, this has been a shoe filled week.

I had a pair of plain, pointy toe black pumps. I had them up until this past Tuesday, when I threw them away. I had put on an outfit and was trying on 230498 different pairs of shoes and none looked right. What I really needed was a plain, closed toe pump. I put on the ones I own - and promptly cringed because they were embarrassingly worn and beat up. It then became my mission to replace them, because as a gal who wears them frequently for work, I shouldn't be without them in my shoe collection!

I started out at Macy's since my husband works there and the discount is always a plus. I didn't find anything that jumped out at me for a decent price, so as I was leaving the mall, I saw Payless and decided to pop in. Because I'm so hard on my black pumps, I thought a cheap pair might be able to tide me over.

Instead, I walked out with these:

WomensChristian Siriano for PaylessWomen's Icon Pointy Pump
Here   

aaaaaand I also left with these:

Womens FioniWomen's Kasbah Studded Platform Pump
Here

 Not quite black pumps, but definitely cute!!

I did find some pumps for a great price online at Macy's, so I ordered a pair (and maybe another pair? oops!). I will post when I get them!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day. Thanks for reading!



Monday, November 18, 2013

[Beauty] The Perfect Palette

I've not been blogging around here too much lately because my attention has kind of waned. Not to blogging necessarily, but I've found myself gravitating a bit away from fashion and towards makeup. I've lost a bit of motivation in terms of photographing outfits and all that jazz, and I haven't been putting nearly as much thought into outfits as I'd like.

What I have done is recently discovered the fantastic world of YouTube beauty videos. This has been great because like I have been insecure with putting myself together clothing-wise, I've always felt the same way about makeup. My mother never wore makeup, and I never really learned how to do it. The last few months have been a crash course in learning how to make my face pretty.

So, in an effort to revive this blog and really make it about what I'm currently passionate about, I'm going to be working in some more makeup/beauty related things. Especially because I've been picking up a lot of the seasonal packages available at Sephora and Ulta and trying out products I never would have thought to try otherwise.

This "Palette Tag" has been going around lately, so I thought I'd use it for my first beauty related post! If any of you would like to do this on your blog, I tag you!!

Perfect Palette Tag Questions:

1. Best Packaging 

This is a tough one! I don't know that I have a palette whose packaging I get overly excited about. I guess if I had to pick, I'd choose Urban Decay's Vice 2 palette. It's huge, which isn't great for traveling, but it has a gigantic mirror that opens to the perfect angle and the hard case protects the shadows. It's also really pretty!




2. Best Color Payoff

Anastasia Lavish palette. Hands down. This one just needs a teeny, tiny tap of product to deliver plenty of color!



3. Most Versatile

This was no contest - my Coastal Scents 120 palette. 120 shadows. You don't get more versatile than that.



4. Best for Traveling

I like any of the Too Faced palettes for travel - my faves are the Smoky and Romantic palettes. They have a good variety of shades, from light to dark, and it's easy to get a number of full eye looks out of each palette. Plus, they're small and relatively compact and well built to withstand a bit of travel!



5. Biggest Regret

This one is easy - the Kat Von D Ladybird palette. I don't know what it is about this one, but the shadows crease on me within 2 hours, no matter if I use a primer, a base, a primer with a base, or even nothing at all. There doesn't seem to be a single thing that keeps this stuff from creasing!!



6. Best Color Names

Meet Matt(e) from theBalm. Each shadow is named after a "Matt" as though they were people. I think it's adorable.



7. Least Used

This, in all reality, would also be the Ladybird palette because I don't reach for it knowing how badly it creases on me, but in the interest of making each answer unique, I'd have to say the Sonia Kashuk Jewel of an Eye palette. I think it's because there are no really light colors in here and rarely do I do an eye look without light colors. I find that I have a lot of these colors in other palettes or individual shadows, so I often forget to grab for this one!


 8. Most Used, Most Loved, Desert Island

This one is easy. The Urban Decay Naked palettes take this one away. I use them constantly and I can do a lot with them. I wouldn't say they're totally desert island because I couldn't live without color, but they are definitely my most used and most loved!!




Friday, November 1, 2013

[NaBloMoPo] Eat Drink and Be Merry

Today's prompt:
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow. What does your last dinner look like?

Yeesh. Could we start off a little more morose? Yikes!

Well, if I have to plan a last dinner, we're going big. I am taking every person I love in my life - my husband, our families, our friends - to the biggest, loudest, most celebratory dinner. On Mt. Washington, in Pittsburgh. I would take the people I love to a place that I love.



the view from Mt. Washington



We would be rowdy, and laugh, and drink wine and cocktails, and celebrate life. Because even without the world ending, life is something to celebrate. Family and friends are something to celebrate. Every single day.

[Life] A Month of Giving Thanks: A Blessing

Well gee. Isn't this an easy prompt to start the month of thanks?! A blessing? My husband.

My life wouldn't be what it is without him.

And like many husbands, he drives me crazy at times, but there is so much good brought to my life because he is in it.

He's my biggest supporter. My rock. He has more faith in me than anyone. He's there when I need him. He's loving and kind and such a huge part of the happiness of my life that there is no better blessing than this. Him