KirstenL4W

Now that I’ve wasted far too much time putting that collage together, I think I’ll write a post on cosmetics. Makeup. The sort of thing that girls are supposed to live for, and not want to let anyone see them without.

I wore makeup to work the other day, which is a rarity for me. My sleep is far too valuable to me to give up in the name of mascara. But the other day I noticed a zit just under my nose, in that tender divet that goes from the nose to the upper lip. It was red and ugly, so I dug around my makeup drawer and found the concealer. Then, as these things go, I had to powder the area to set the concealer, which led to putting powder foundation on my entire face. Which was then too pale, since I evened out all the redness. So then I had to put on some eye makeup. Mascara and carefully selected shadows to make it look like I hadn’t put too much effort into my look. I ended up looking like a circus clown.

At least, it felt that way. What I really looked like was a way too pale redhead with minimal eye makeup on and no color to the lips, since I chose basic chapstick instead of lipstick. I felt like the lipstick would have been too much.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with makeup. I generally like the way it makes me look. I love buying the shit, for some odd reason. Throw in some free samples and I’m a bit of a sucker. I’m not particularly fond of wearing it, since I can’t rub my eyes. I’m not all that great at putting it on - anything beyond the basic shadow/mascara combo and I just can’t get it right. Well, it comes out nice on one eye, but I can’t replicate that on the other eye. And I hate the fact that I can’t just crash without washing it off, lest I wake with a faceful of zits and major raccoon eyes.

I started out like most other girls. When I started having a bit of pocket money and the independence to be at the mall unsupervised, my friends and I would carefully select what we wanted from the Wet N Wild display at the drugstore. At 99 cents, we got the most bang for our buck - not that it went far, since that stuff was utter crap. When we had a bit more earning power, we moved on to Bonne Belle, especially the coveted Lip Smackers roll-on lip gloss. And who could forget those ginormous compacts with 101 eye colors in them? Ah, memories. I think makeup was most fun when we were in middle school, not that we knew much what we were doing with it at that point.

As I went through high school, college, and my early working years, I’d mostly wear makeup, choosing a simple, neutral look for everyday and the same makeup applied with a heavier hand for evening. I learned pretty quickly what worked on me (variations of flesh and taupe tones) and shunned all else - unless it came in a free sample, of course. Anything with too much red made me look tired, and anything with too much blue/gray seemed to make the bags under my eyes worse. I didn’t experiment much.

Eventually, I stopped wearing makeup every day. I didn’t have the stamina to put it on every morning, and I didn’t feel pretty enough to want to wear it. I still have quite a bit of it, with my most recent makeup buying spree happening before my wedding. I still don’t have the skillz to apply it like a professional, at least not so both eyes look the same. Sometimes I think I’d like to wear makeup if Mister and I go out in the evening, but then I remember that there’s the whole routine of taking it off before bed, which stops me from wearing it (out of sheer laziness, or efficiency, if you will. I’m saving myself steps and time both before and after going out). I still love playing with the testers at the makeup counter, still covet a whole cosmetic tackle box full of product, and still get giddy at the thought of a free gift with purchase.

What’s a girl to do?

I was going to blog about it last week, but I never got around to it. It’s like that a lot these days. But we had an event here at the blog - my blog turned 3! March 14 was the big day, so on Saturday I figured we’d really get into the celebration and have a cake.

Pay no attention to all the fingerprints on the monitor.

We’ve also been taking full advantage of the Netflix account that I got Mister for Christmas, so we’ve been watching quite a few movies lately. Last week we watched Clerks, since I’d never seen it, and then Clerks 2. The first Clerks was ok, but I felt like it tried too hard to have lots of clever dialogue and as a result didn’t have enough substance, but Clerks 2 was freaking hysterical. Yes, I go for low-brow humor that leans way too close to the inappropriate side of things.

My Mom’s looking forward to her trip to Sweden in May. I want to go. I went, once, in 1996, but that’s a story for another day. Anyway, I’m sending my mom with a shopping list for me because she wanted me to spend way more money on stuff for her when I was there. Mom, here’s my list:

• Two more ceramic tile/trivets to hang in my kitchen to fill out the space that one lonely one occupies now. Content is irrelevant, so long as it’s in Swedish.
• The latest edition of Sköna Hem. It’s a home magazine, and you’ll find it at a place called a tidningskiosk or bokhandel.
• If you happen to make your way to a great Swedish IKEA, I am in need of more spreaders like these because mine got misplaced in the move. The ones at IKEA are a bit over $3 US, but if you see them elsewhere for a bit more that’s ok too.
• Anything with Linnea flower on it. You have enough of this stuff and I don’t.

Now, if Princess Vespa decides that she can live without her industrial strength hairdryer and deal with a tiny travel one, she can fit all this stuff in her suitcase and more. Be sure to visit Aunt Bird for lessons on how to pack for an international vacation, mmkay?

I’m going to wrap this post up a bit early. I had more that I wanted to say but in looking up one of the links above, I found a boatload of Swedish gift shops online and I need to go investigate.

I know that there are some who get all excited at the prospect of hitting the stores at 4am on Black Friday for all the deals.  I’m not one of them.  I value my hard-earned money and want to get good deals, but I value my precious sleep even more.  So Friday, Mister and I only ran out for a few errands that were nowhere near the mall and came home to relax.  I will admit that there is something exciting about hitting the stores at the height of the holiday season, though, so today I ventured out.  I slept late, of course, and took my time getting ready, and didn’t leave the house until noon.  I had to compose my thoughts and make a bit of a list.

Traffic wasn’t too bad going to the mall, and I found a parking space fairly easily in my favorite parking section of the mall.  I had already heard that the crowds were a bit thinner than in years past, so that gave me hope.  When I got in the mall, more like a typical Saturday than a major shopping weekend.  I wandered the mall, bought a few things, ate lunch, and headed out to a few stores across the street from the mall, including the insane asylum known as Toys R Us.  But I was able to find all the things I was looking for, even the hard to shop for people, and I’m fairly sure that the recipients will be happy with their gifts.  I still have a few more things to get, but will be doing that shopping online since the stores and/or items cannot be found locally in a bricks and mortar store.

Oh, were you hoping I would be telling you all what I got everyone?  Not a chance - not this early.  Too many people I know IRL read this blog, so just like them, you are going to have to wait.  I’d love to gush, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Did any of you venture out to the stores this weekend?  Did you find it as crowded as in years past?

I know I should always listen to Mister when he tells me something, because he’s always right.  He doesn’t like a certain local grocery store that starts with an S because, well, I don’t know why.  He just never shops there.  It’s not that close to us anyway, so it’s not a huge deal.  But tonite I went grocery shopping for the Big Dinner, and for tonite’s dinner I thought I’d make macaroni and cheese.  I like to use a 4-cheese blend, and Kraft has just the product - it’s a blend of American, Wisconsin cheddar, Vermont white cheddar, and Monterey Jack, and that with a dash of Dijon mustard makes the absolute best mac and cheese ever.  I’ve been having a hard time finding it for quite some time, though, so I went to their website and it said I could find it at my local S store.  Liars.  They didn’t have it.

Know what else they didn’t have?  Bell’s Seasoning.  How in the heck can a major grocery store not have Bell’s Seasoning this close to Thanksgiving?  I asked a clerk, just in case they were hiding it somewhere, and I was told that they aren’t stocking it this year.  They did have tons of flavor injectors, though.  No thanks, I’ll go to another store for Bell’s.  Flavor injectors are like, so 5 years ago.

Then, as if my shopping experience wasn’t bad enough, I had to get in the wrong line.  I thought I had picked the shortest line.  In fact, I had.  But I think it was short because everyone else had left to go to other lines.  The customer in front of me was apparently still shopping with 1985 prices in mind.  He had a budget and went way, way over, so first the checker had to explain that he was over, then go over the price of some of his items, then wait while he picked through his already packed order and decide what to put back.  Meanwhile, I was joking with the guy in line behind me about the bottle of Jaeger he had that had a security cap on it and how it would be nice if that cap wasn’t there at that point in time.  By the time I left the store my turkey was nearly thawed, or so it seemed.

So the moral of the story is that when Mister has strong feelings against a certain establishment, I should really listen to him.  But I’m just too stubborn sometimes and insist on finding out for myself.

I went out shopping this afternoon, with the single goal of getting a gravy boat for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I stopped at the housewares stores and bought new bed pillows for Mister, pillow covers, turkey lifters, a gravy ladle, a chair cushion for Mister’s office chair, and a new shower curtain liner.  But no gravy boat.  In fact, I don’t even recall seeing any.  I guess I’ll have to go shopping again.

I also stopped at the craft store, because I want to make holiday cards this year.  I got some cardstock, but due to the woefully inadequate selection of holiday-themed craft items, didn’t get anything else.  I just want stamps and ink, basically, because I have a lot of cards to do and with stamps I can crank them out assembly line style.  But no, not a single Christmas stamp in the whole store, and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.  Those I think I’ll get online.

Other than that I’ve been stockpiling ideas for holiday shopping, but I need to make a list of who to shop for and what I’m getting them, because otherwise I end up forgetting people and have an uneven gift distribution.  So, I’m off to surf the internet for presents…

I thought long and hard about monetizing my blog.  I didn’t want to clutter up my fine work with ads, and I wasn’t keen on the whole pay-per-post idea.  In the past, you’ve probably seen some posts with links to products on Amazon.com using an affiliate program.  That’s about the extent of my efforts to make money from the blog.  Then Amazon came out with a whole storefront thing that you can insert in your site.  I fiddled around with it and realized I could probably do that.  So I made a shop - months ago.  I made the new page and let it sit in draft for the longest time, thinking I’ll release it when I have the time to work on it more.  But then I figured, why not?  Why not release it now?  So I did.  I’m featuring some stuff I’ve mentioned on the blog, along with other stuff I love.  And I decided to stay exclusively with Amazon because it’s a site that everyone knows, and they carry nearly everything.  So go check it out.  I’ll be adding more stuff as time and inspiration permits, so check back once in awhile.

I’ve been on a beauty product kick lately, probably due to my upcoming wedding. Usually I can’t be bothered to get all dolled up, preferring a more natural look. Don’t go thinking that I go for that au naturel look and its resulting grunginess. No, I do look neat and clean. Just plain, kind of like Saffy on AbFab. Oh yes, that’s me.

Has anyone tried the Intuition razor? I was thinking that it might be worth a try, since I have issues with the shower. I mean, first it takes so much time to lather up, then my shower head sprays water out so far that it’s impossible to stand anywhere or put my leg where the water doesn’t spray. I figured I’d try this.

My first impression upon taking it out of the box was that it was cheap. Cheap as in not very good quality. The razor looks like a basic disposable, the handle is hollow so not much heft there, and it’s encased in basically a bar of soap. It took me a few swipes to get the hang of it, as finding the right angle was difficult. I did manage to get my legs shaved, but resorted to the regular razor for over my knee area and the armpits. I was just not comfortable with that angle thing in those areas. My final assessment is that it is a great concept, but the execution needs a bit more work. I will probably use it again out of sheer laziness.

Now, Bare Minerals makeup. This is something I’ve been interested in trying for a long time, and with my wedding coming up, I decided to go for it.  I mentioned it on LJ and one of my internet friends said she had a barely used kit that she was willing to sell me, as the stuff made her face itch. I jumped at the offer. A few weeks later I got a package in the mail and set about playing with the stuff. Seemed OK, didn’t give me mask like coverage, which was nice. I like a more natural look. I decided to wear the Mineral Veil to work for a week, and I started noticing something different. My glasses don’t slide down my nose, and I’m not wiping the shine off my face. And even better, it doesn’t even feel like I’m wearing makeup at all! Everyone, this stuff totally rocks. I just went out and bought the fair foundation (since light and fairly light were too dark) and the concealer to hide luggage under my eyes.  I want to look awake in my wedding pictures, not like I haven’t slept in a week. Bare Minerals earns a huge thumbs up, and it’s something I’m trying to incorporate into my day to day routine because I like it that much.

Boyfriend and I went bathing suit shopping today.  Boyfriend found one within minutes, at the sporting goods store, on sale.  I didn’t find anything there because they only have women’s suits for hard-bodied Olympic swimmer wannabes.  We went to the department store instead and I found one with lots of support in a few of the places I need it, it doesn’t have leg openings that go up to my ribs, the straps don’t fall down, and it cost twice as much as Boyfriend paid for his.  For those who are not women, bathing suit shopping can be traumatic.  I’ll need some time to recover.

No, you can’t have pictures.  I’d like to keep what little shred of self-esteem I have left.

On a brighter note, we bought new phones the other night.  Boyfriend’s phone was starting to cut out for no good reason, and while mine was still in decent shape, it was 2 ½ years old, and I really wanted a camera phone.  It could come in very handy when we see stuff while out and about that we want to photograph for posterity.  Like say, 4 guys with the bling going on thinking they’re all that because they have a limo waiting to take them out on the town.  Then the valet brings up their car so they can get some stuff out of it, and that car is a mini-van.

Anyway, time to eat dinner now.  New post coming out in just hours.

I have rediscovered joy in the mundane.  I heard it was coming, and even took a quick peek once or twice once it was here.  But today, I did it.  My first real grocery shop at the new chain: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.  It’s Tesco’s foray into the US market.  I shopped at Tesco when I was in London, and aside from the joy that is shopping in a foreign supermarket, I liked the small store geared for city shoppers who cannot schlep home their week’s shopping on the Tube.

I also used to work for a supermarket, off and on, from the time I was in high school until I left to move to Las Vegas.  Added up, it was something like 8 years, but if you start with my original hire date of 1/1992 until I left in 5/2003, you’ll see that I just could not stay away from the place.  I even enjoyed shopping there.  When I moved to Vegas, I saw that the grocery scene was very different.  People aren’t loyal to a particular store.  How can they be?  No one store will carry everything that you want, like stores back home will.  Here, getting all that you want, all the brands, varieties, and flavors, requires trips to the 4 or so major chains.  Then there’s WarMart and her secretly smart and pretty cousin Kay, only one of which I have found actually has a food section.  We also have 3 chains of soccer mom natural grocery stores - Whole Paycheck, Wild Hay, and Trader Joe’s, where Boyfriend and I have taken to shopping lately.  But there wasn’t as much variety as I like, and I was getting really sad.

Enter Big Bad Mama Detroit.   BBMD lives right next door to a F&E, and loves shopping there.  Boyfriend and I were on our way to her house for dinner the other night, and we said we’d bring dessert.  Since she pointed out the F&E in the directions, I figured we’d stop there to pick something up.  The store is super organized, which appealed to my sense of order.  It’s small, with lower shelves, so you don’t get lost and don’t get whiplash looking for what you need.  And OMG the produce!  Being in the middle of the desert where it’s darn near impossible to grow anything, Boyfriend and I have both commented that we’ve thrown away better looking stuff than can be found in the average supermarket here.  But F&E has super fresh, great looking produce!  The best part is that it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  I picked up some rosemary, potatoes, strawberries, and salad fixins.

But wait, there’s more!  I nearly short circuited myself in the meat aisle.  I’m not a huge meat eater, but I like a variety.  Not only did they have big ol’ slabs of meat, they also had some ready to cook options like kebabs, seasoned meats, stuffed meats, and other delicious meal options.  I wanted it all.  I couldn’t decide, but finally settled on some chicken drumsticks for dinner tomorrow, and a big pork roast that I’ll stick in the crock pot on Wednesday with some BBQ sauce.  Both will give us plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.  They were marked down because they were both going out of code in like, 2 days, but they looked just as good as the stuff with more recent dates on it.

The store carries a lot of its own brand for the rest of the groceries, but they did have a selection of name brands too.  Boyfriend and I are trying to focus on fresh foods, so we don’t buy pantry items as often as we used to, but they did have tahini, which I know can be hard to find at conventional megamarts.

Boyfriend and I have been spending less at Trader Joe’s than we ever did at a regular store, and even though I didn’t buy as much as we usually do, I found the monetary outflow to be on par with TJ’s.  I stopped in on my way home from work, and other than the quick dessert run the other night Boyfriend really hasn’t had time to explore, so I think we’ll try to stop by next time we do a grocery shop so he can really check the place out.  Even if it’s not a regular thing, it will allow a stop by the free sample bar to try the delicious foods they offer.   I know I’ll be returning.

Have any of you been to Trader Joe’s? I’ve been in a few times, when I was shopping for 1, and usually would pick up a little something here and there, usually frozen foods. TJ’s is usually lumped in the same category as Wild Oats and Whole Foods, since they tend not to carry the same varieties of processed foods that conventional supermarkets do (no sugar puffs cereal, no foods in neon colors, etc). The other stores, however, cost a lot. They don’t call it “Whole Paycheck” for nothing. But if you shop at the other stores, they start to look like conventional stores dressed up in natural clothing. Not that Trader Joe’s is 100% all natural and all organic - I’m sure if you start looking hard enough you’ll find a preservative or something on one of their labels.

The thing that surprises most people once they start shopping there is that TJ’s is less expensive than a traditional supermarket. Yep, that’s right. Boyfriend was shocked at how little we spent, and we even got a giant piece of salmon for dinner. Now forget about your local Wally World megalomania mart - they may have better prices on regular stuff than the regular stores do, but come on now. Shopping there is a chore. Shopping at TJ’s is fun. The food looks great, yummy, delicious, even when it’s sitting in the frozen food cases. I’m inspired to cook when I’m there, and trust me, that ain’t an easy thing for me to feel.

Boyfriend did have a few criticisms. One, they’re not open 24 hours. In Vegas, all supermarkets are open 24 hours (except for the wild and whole ones). So closing at 9pm like they do puts a serious crimp in the last minute plans to go get some frozen taquitos. Boyfriend also said the the selection was a bit slim. Now, the stores are small - really small, like the tiny supermarket my extended family shops at when they’re spending time at the summer home at Lake Ossipee, NH. But when you go there and really look at the selection, you’ll see that they really don’t lack anything. Everything you need to make a decent meal - not even a health freak meal, I’m talking about a regular decent meal - is there. Besides, who really needs the toaster pastries with purple frosting?