Follow-Up Review...

...to the dry shampoo. I like it. I guess i didnt shake it up very well on Monday. Or perhaps i should've sprayed it in the air or something to make sure it was coming out. I've never used it before, i didnt know what it was supposed to look like!! This morning it had more color/white/powdery look to it and i was like, well damn, monday was a waste. ha. But it works very well. im not going to make a habit out of using it, but i wanted to use it this week to make sure i liked it.

AND, I went to target yesterday. Lord help me, i bought another new mascara...Revlon DoubleTwist.

I had no idea what to expect, but i remember seeing the commercial for the 2 in 1 kind of brush. I used it this morning. It made my lashes happily thick, without clumping. It didnt add any length whatsoever, but the lashes are thick enough, im ok with that. And im perfectly happy not topping this mascara off with the lovely Lash Stiletto either. Which isnt the norm for me. But it's a good out of the norm. This new Revlon probably goes in my top 3 fave mascaras now. Keep in mind - i do not use mascaras that cost over $12. Been meaning to try a few from Ulta, but i dont go shopping the mall counters. This also rings true for eyeshadows and blushes. Why, i do not know. Because i will spend money on powder foundation and moisturizer. Probably because i wear them every day, and moisturizer is important.

If you have any mascaras you recommend - regardless of price range - let me know.

20% off at Ulta? Dont mind if i do...

I got the little mailer on Friday w/ my 20% off coupon. I planned on going Saturday. Coupon wasnt valid til Sunday. I went Sunday (more on that in a minute).

I had planned my trip to ulta with a mission to get some new mineral powder foundation. I'll try anything once just about - and so i had this massive collection of mineral powder foundations on my counter... So many, none that i lovvvvved, that i just started mixing them and making my own little concoction of powder... It was combo of maybelline, revlon, ulta, cover girl, and pur minerals (cause i dropped my compact, normally, this is not loose powder). was working ok. Then my bestie tried clinique powder - im not sure which one, but she has a hard time finding something that makes her not look orange. She liked it. It's bonus time. I thought - well hell, i wanted to try their mineral foundation too! So, i made a pit stop at Macy's prior to arriving at Ulta...My intitial thought, was holy crap that's a large container. But it's cool because you get to twist and grind your own loose powder and so it's not messy - at all. Huge friggin plus for me. So i grabbed it in Natural 2 and got my bonus bag and went on my merry way.

Powder review first : first full day wearing it was yesterday. I didnt touch it up all day. I got home, and it was still perfect. Buildable coverage, covers my red cheeks, I love it. No more mixing it up...sticking with this one. In the bonus bag (which was white with green apples on it) : mini bag, a small compact with pink blush and ivory & brown eyeshadow, Lash Doubling Mascara, Different Lipstick (in Spiced Apple), 7 day scrub, and Dramatically Different Moisturizer. The mascara - im not a fan of. Id tried it before with their last bonus bag it came in. I like volume in my lashes, and this gave me none. I could tell they were coated, but they looked thin. I used it again this morning, same results. I topped it off with Lash Stiletto (like i do just about everything - i like it better as a 2nd coat of mascara than i do as a first), and then it looked great. Surprisingly, i like the lipstick. it's a very soft red color, that when dabbed on, is almost sheer. I dont do red lipstick - but i will this one. Havent tried the scrub yet. I also tried to dramatically different moisturizer from their last bonus bag. Not my favorite moisturizer. Probably not even in top 5. I dont really like it all really. Id have to use it again to give an honest review, cause my memory sucks - but im pretty sure it actually made my skin kinda flaky. Daily - I use Estee Lauder Hydra Bright - it's my favorite by far.

And then i made it to Ulta. No more need for powder tho! But i wasnt about to waste my 20% off coupon. I grabbed my makeup removing wipes (they're way more convenient for me), and then wondered off to hair products. On thenest.com one day, there was a discussion about how often you wash your hair/washing hair after you workout. My response was - that i usually just wash the roots of my hair if i find them oily/dirty... I pull my hair into a ponytail with my usual part in my hair. The front layers usually fall out of the pony tail too and ends up getting washed. I stick my head under the bathroom sink or the tub and look down so the part in my hair gets wet, dab on a tiny bit of shampoo, and then rinse it. I spray on some volumizing spray, blow dry, and off i go. Its so much quicker, because i have really long hair. Well, Veronika asked me if id ever tried dry shampoo. I hadnt. Not that i hadnt tried to try it, because i had tried to find some, with no luck in recent years, and then well, i just forgot. So im browsing the shelves at Ulta and i miraculously saw a can marked Volumizing Dry Shampoo.Ya I grabbed it. I used it briefly yesterday just to see how it worked, and it looks promising. It did absorb some oil, and my hair wasnt flat - so i suppose it does what it says. Im not sure how long it lasts tho, or if i just didnt spray it as far back as i thought i did, because the hair near the back of my head was oily by the end of the day. But I cant wait to try it again. Also using Veronika's advice, I picked up a bottle of Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Serum. Used it this morning. Hello love. When people say oh she has such shiny hair or i see shiny hair in beauty columns, im like, what are they talking about!? I never notice/call hair shiny. But y'all - I've got shiny hair today. Shiny soft SMOOTH hair. It's beautiful. I did the same as Veronika and did not apply to my roots for the same reason she didnt - i like volume in my roots. It could just be the lack of humidity in the air today, but i dont care - hello great hair day today.

Let me know if you've used any of this stuff too - i dont think you'll ever get a post with so many links in it ever again.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

I should really say Pumpkin Patch - first ever. Cause i've never been before. I've been beggin someone to go with me for years cause going by myself wouldnt be much fun. So my sister and i managed to work our schedules out to go this year and i was super excited! I think her kids went to a much smaller one last year? But this year, we went to the Old Time Christmas Tree Farm in Spring, TX. Made me feel like i was back in my hometown, out in the country. They had hay ride and a train ride and hay made up to look like a spider and a turkey! they had pumpkins of all shapes and sizes and snow cones and games. Lots of fun for kids! I especially liked waiting in the line for the train ride, and as Micah was being a bad lil boy destroying the hay we were sitting on, so were all the other kids. ha! Anywho - here's a couple pics. All throughout the train ride, Micah kept going "toot toot!"

Oh what a beautiful day...

Today was crazy. I dont know why, well actually i could give you a few reasons, but i was in a fairly pissy mood. Everything set me off. Everything meaning every idiotic person i came in contact today that cant pay any attention to detail or any instruction or rules that have been in place since i started working here?

After Justin calls me, I pick up the phone and keep talking to my cubicle neighbor, and then finish talking to my cubicle neighbor, and i start to say a couple words and someone else walks up to my cubicle and i say honey i have to go...

I text Justin like an hour later: Crazy ass day.

He texts back: You have a crazy ass today?

At least he makes me laugh.

Blogging About Lunch, While Eating Lunch, Yes I Am

Ok so i bring my lunch to work every day - it's usually a Lean Cuisine, a Healthy Choice, or Marie Calendars frozen lunch...usually one of about 10 flavors i like...

And someone recently said they hated lean cuisines, and im thinking, well you just havent tried the flavors I like yet... So ill tell you the flavors i like, mmk?

(side note - i wish all the stores carried all the flavors, but i realize that's a lot of flavors, and so when i go to certain stores i have to stock up on certain flavors, to avoid multiple trips...and while on the lean cuisine website i see flavors ive never even seen and i want to try them!)

I'll start with my favorite. Three Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni. This thing is delicious. It's one of those i have to stock up on. The sauce, the veggies, pasta, and cheese. Perfect combo of yumminess. As yummy as you can get with a frozen dinner i suppose.

A new favorite: Grilled Chicken Caesar. This is what im eating today. Originally, i spotted this flavor in the Target brand, market pantry or whatever, and thought hmmm, ill try it! and i did, and it was delicious. Except ive been doing grocery shopping at Kroger, and havent been to Target much lately. Then i spotted the same thing in Lean Cuisine and my worries were solved... I actually think the Target one mightve tasted a tad better tho?

Cheese Ravioli. Much better than the cheese ravioli by SmartOnes.

Sweet & Sour Chicken. I cant eat real chinese food. This is as close as it gets for me. Then again, I love pineapple too.

Cheese Lasagna & Chicken. Kind of a strange combo, but not bad.

On the back of the Lean Cuisine box:
Wellness Tip: Enjoying your meals from a plate and eating more slowly can lead to a more satisfying meal.

Really? That just reminds me how little bit of food im actually eating cause it doesnt even take up half the plate. Juss sayin...

And now im dreaming about the halloween cupcakes and cookies I got from Justins mom last night and i cant wait to eat when i get home. I had a cupcake for breakfast.

Two Thumbs Up...

...for the Brazoria County Sheriff's Department. Seriously.

Guess what - Justin left the garage door open. Again. I know i closed it when i got home, I always do. I'm paranoid remember? Well we made the biggest disaster ive ever seen in my kitchen last night (more on that in a minute), and Justin took out the trash - and left the garage door open. I must not have actually heard the door cause the tv was on, or I'd have checked before bed. So at about 2:35 this morning, im in the middle of some dream where im at camp somewhere, and justin is rolling out of bed very quickly and grabbing his gun. im like what's going on!?! I sleep like a rock - i didnt hear anything. Then he's yelling WHO IS IT!! at the door. And i realize ok someone must've knocked. (This happened once before, it was our neighbors possibly going to the ER.) But then i hear him open the door calmly and i still dont know who's there. Then I hear the garage shut. And im like - great. Great great great. And so Justin comes back in and I ask what was that about? And he said he was nice. I'm like who was nice?! He said the sheriff! I said the sheriff?! Apparently there's been some car break ins (UGH!) - and the sheriff was checking all the houses with the garage open (awesome!). Luckily, nothing was missing...

And i give one thumbs up for that - and another one for a previous encounter we've had with them. We walked out of marble slab one day to find some hispanic dude sitting in our truck. We had my 14 yr old sister with us so i didnt want her to get hurt or anything either...The guy sees us, gets out of our truck and hops in a car and takes off. Justin had thrown his keys at the car cause that's all he had, so i know it scratched the car...But we call the sheriff's department and report it, so they can come down there and patrol a bit. And they did! Very quickly too. They called us to follow up three times and got descriptions of what the guy was wearing and what kind of car he was in - and they caught him! They actually had 3 people stopped and when we described what he was wearing, they had him! and he had a warrant out for his arrest anyway. Creep.

so I love the sheriff's department.

On the kitchen note - we made this chicken/broccoli/cheese casserole thing last night and my kitchen was a mess. I decided to try rice in it too, and I can't even cook rice y'all. I think i just needed a bigger pot. And i probably should've only cooked half the bag. Whatever. I saved a few spoonfuls and just put my chicken and broccoli and cheese on top of it. Tasted fine. Luckily I tried to clean up as we messed up and that worked pretty good. Obviously i wasnt meant to be a chef...

Price Means Nadda

I just want you all to know that my $14 heels from Ross are more comfy than my pink Jessica Simpsons. Seriously. And my $14 ones are some of the highest I own. I wore my pink Jessica Simpson heels to a lunch thingy celebrating one of my suppliers - and standing up after 30 minutes was killing my feet. So lesson learned - walk around in my shoes ALOT before buying them, cause just 'cause im getting them at Macy's instead of Ross, it means nothing as far as comfort goes.

sometimes i dont know why i even buy cute heels - because i look like this at work:

and if im wearing a hard hat and safety glasses- i better not have on open toed shoes. ya know?