What You Missed

Prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen and people who actually read my blog, for a very picture heavy post.  These are the things I did during the time I took off from blogging, while housesitting for G, without internet.

walked around without pants on, which I can't do at my place since I have roommates

learned a new hairstyle

took silly pictures in G's new full-length ginormous mirror

more silly pictures

more silly pictures

got my new super adorable $1 bunny earrings from eBay

took more silly pictures; you can see in this one how I have to duct tape
the battery door on my camera shut, but it doesn't always work

enjoyed some spring weather complete with blue skies

ate some yummy Lean Cusine and made lots of tasty smoothies

admired G's awesome dino mug

Not pictured: watched about a billion and one romantic comedies, ate lots of ice cream, was able to connect to an unsecured internet network for only about 5 minutes a day before it kicked me off and wouldn't allow me on until the next day, walked 24 blocks when it wasn't quite as warm outside as it appeared to be, got food poisoning from some Lean Cuisine and was miserable, didn't get to read blogs, finished two books.

And guess what else? G came back from his first ever trip to Vegas with $25 more than he left with!  He did pretty well at blackjack.  Oh, and my wrist is all better now : )

New Look Same Me

While you were gone, or rather while I was gone (I didn't go anywhere, I just didn't have Internet), I got my bifocals in the mail.  I love them and all their purple leopard printed goodness.  I also got the first professional haircut I've had in three years.  It makes me feel sophisticated and grown up.  So here are pictures of those things.

Now I have to go catch the bus in the pouring rain to ride 2 hours to (hopefully my last) gum follw-up appointment.  I plan to eat teryiaki afterward and then buy some lottery tickets for G, because he gave me money to do that with and he's determined we're going to win the Mega Millions.

I'm Back and I'm Busy

First off  some exciting news: my roommate has amazingly offered to take some of my jewelry with her to try to sell it at Artist's Alley at Sakuracon.  My wrist has now healed completely so I can make jewelry again, and G was getting rid of an incredible old pocketwatch that no longer works, and I have plans to turn it into a cool steampunk necklace or 2.  Today I  am super busy.  I am doing my laundry right now (no more free laundry since G's new place doesn't come with washer and dryer).  I already went to Safeway and the bank to get a roll of quarters.  I have an appointment to get my hair cut at 2 today.  It's the first professional hair cut I've had in three years, so I'm actually kind of nervous, but also excited.  I always used to just chop it all off myself, but then I realized that short hair makes me look like a guy.  No bueno.  So I am growing it long and my hair is ridiculously thick, so I need to get it layered and my split ends trimmed off.  Hopefully not a drastic change.  Also today, I need to make a birthday card for my brother, whose birthday was yesterday.  He already completed boot camp for the Marines and a few days ago, he finished basic training.  Next up is recon training, which is what he wants to specialize in.  I'll need to mail that, along with a surprise package for one of my blogger friends.  I also need to repost the Craigslist ad that we need a roommate, since evry girl we talked to about it quickly fell off the face of the earth.  In my mind, it's just polite to tell people whose place you say you're REALLY interested in, if you found another place and are no longer interested.  And as if that wasn't enough, I also need to list some stuff for sale on eBay.  And probably eat some food at some point.  I haven't had time to edit my new pictures yet, so please accept this video as a peace offering.  I just discovered this girl and she's hilarious.

Try Not to Miss Me Too Much

I'm taking a blog break.  I'll be back next week.

Product Review: ELF Eyeshadow

Remember how ages and ages ago I got some makeup for cheap from E.L.F. and told you I would review it at some point?  Well, now is finally that time.

Here's the palette which cost me $10 and contains 85 total products consisting of
60 eyeshadows, 20 lip colors, 3 blushes, and 2 bronzers 

here's what the eyeshadow looks like as part of a complete look,
which I usually don't do because of my difficulties using eyeliner

this is what I normally do, eyeshadow and mascara, no eyeliner

I took this picture after dark (boo), so you can't see that much contrast between
the orange eyeshadow and how weirdly orange the lights in my room made my skin look

Overall I am very pleased with the E.L.F. eyeshadow in general and this palette in particular.  I would buy it again in the future, but I have so much that I won't need to for a long while.  It is highly pigmented and doesn't take much.  I usually do three "coats" for each eyelid (I'm not a beauty reviewer so I have no idea what the proper term is).  This palette contains lots of different shades of each color which makes doing your eyeshadow really easy.  I usually do one color for my entire eyelid, then either a darker shade or different color on the outer corners for depth.  You can't tell from my pictures, but when I did the orange eyeshadow, I did pink on the outer corners and it looked really cool.  It lasts all day (for me anyway) without finishing spray, which is great because it makes it easy to wear and you don't have to worry about it.  Also, spoiler alert: I'm pretty happy with most of the E.L.F. products I've purchased.  E.L.F. has eyeshadows for every budget, including a 100 eyeshadow palette for $10 and a 144 piece palette for $15, as well as smaller palettes including eyeshadow duos for $1 each and a 32 piece palette for $5.  So once again the verdict is that I would purchase eyeshadow from E.L.F. again and I would recommend it to others as well.  I purchased these products with my own money and was not compensated by E.L.F. in any way for writing this post.

Love Yourself 2012

I have no idea if this is already a thing or not, but if it isn't it should be.  I need to focus on the positive things about myself instead of the negative ones.  And there are a ton of things I hate about my body, believe me.  G recently said that I have such a great body, I should be a bikini barista.  While I don't plan on becoming a bikini barista ever, I guess I do have a pretty great body.  So I have decided to love myself for how I look and not judge myself for not looking the way I think I should.  I'm not going to tag anyone in this post or anything, but if you do want to participate, you can either post about this on your own blog or just leave me a comment saying at least one thing you love about your body.  This is by means for girls only.  Guys can participate too.  I'll  go first: I love my long strong legs.  Your turn.

Friday Fashion: Dotty

Have you missed Friday Fashion?  It was horribly rainy and dark the other day, with no natural light to speak of, so of course I decided to take indoor outfit photos.  Surprisingly enough, they actually turned out pretty well, even though some of them are headless.

black shirt: Walmart (I've had it for years and years and also have a yellow one just like it but with white stars)
leather jacket: Buffalo Exchange
tights: I honestly have no idea where or when I got these
skirt: Buffalo Exchange
boots: Goodwill
camera necklace: an Etsy shop that I would link to, bu they sadly closed : (

This skirt has quickly become one of my favorite things to wear.  With tiers and artsy dots, it's impossible for me not to love it, and it certainly doesn't hurt that it's  a great length and delightfully twirly.

A Few Photos

Here are some of my favorite photos I've taken in the past.

All of these and more can be seen on my Flickr.

My Etsy Story

I actually started learning how to make jewelry when my mom did about 6 years ago. We were both self-taught, so I'm still learning. The internet and blogs have been an amazing resource to learn more and to stay inspired. I always just made jewelry as a hobby and would make my friends necklaces or bracelets for their birthdays. I've been unemployed for a while now and after about 7 months of searching for work, I realized that I need to have a way of making money while I'm searching, so I started an Etsy shop. Unfortunately right now I have an injured right wrist so I can't really do the little fiddly work that jewelry making requires until it heals. I started learning to embroider while I'm waiting for it to heal, so I'll actually have some framed embroidered pieces in my shop before too long, and I'm really excited about that.  Here's a preview of one.

Etsy Love: Fleur de Lis Edition

I've always loved fleur de lis(es?).  I don't speak French, so I have no idea what the plural is.  I like the way the look and they're fun to doodle too.  So today's Etsy Love is dedicated to lovely Etsy items with fleur de lis in them.  As usual, the picture is linked to the item on Etsy.



This shop has lots of fleur de lis paintings, but this one is my favorite.

This one's not exactly my style, but it's so pretty that I had to include it.

This leather credit card wallet looks so well made.

I'm kind of in love with these shoes.

Stay tuned for Etsy Love: Honeybee Edition at some point in the future. And more Etsy Love for individual shops too.

Mini Movie Reviews: Choose and Fat Head

G and I found a movie on Netflix called "Choose".  It was made in 2011.  The description made it sound a bit like the Saw movies, so we watched it.  It was pretty good.  A serial killer/serial injurer made people choose between two horrible things.  The main character was a very likeable blond girl who was trying to figure out the pattern and identify the killer.  It was kind of funny that she did a better job of it than her policeman father.  The movie wasn't as predictable as I was fearing it might be.  I actually really enjoyed it and so did G.  It is pretty gory, so it's definitely not for everyone.  The very end made us both go "Wait, what?" and sort of left an opening for a sequel, which I would watch.  I give it 4 stars out of 5, and I recommend it to people who enjoy thrillers/serial killer movies.

We also watched a documentary called "Fat Head" which was pretty good.  It was about a guy trying to prove you can lose weight while eating fast food every day, if you actually use your brain.  It sort of felt like it was made in the 90's although it was actually made in 2009.  It also overused Comic Sans font, which was pretty terrible, but it was interesting enough that I give it a 3 out of 5 stars anyway.

The Best Shampoo I've Ever Used

This post will be a little different than most of my posts.  I was in the Dollar Tree last month and decided to try one of their shampoos.  I had always been partial to the Herbal Essences shampoo for giving your hair body, but really just because of the scent, which was amazing.  But then they changed it, and now I'm not so much of a fan of it.  Anyway, this one smelled really good, so I bought it.  After all, it was just a dollar so it wouldn't be a big waste if it didn't work very well.  To my surprise, not only does it smell wonderful, but it makes my hair really soft and smooth and healthy feeling.  I don't even have to use conditioner anymore.  It's kind of miraculous.  I'm allowed a little hyperbole now and again, right?  Anyway, I would highly recommend this shampoo.  And at just a dollar, it's definitely worth a try.

More Flickr Inspiration

I recently discovered Loca Luna's Flickr photostream and it's full of really great pictures.  Here are some tiny pieces of some of the really cool pictures, but you should really go check out the entire thing.

Here are 4 photo snippets out of her 47 pages of photos.

Enjoy your weekend, friends, and don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Savings.

I Won!

Thank you so much to the lovely Kerry of The Tragic Whale for nominating me for this award.

I think that Liebster should mean love, but it doesn't.  It's actually German for "favorite".  It's an award for blogs that have under 200 readers.  So here are my 5 picks to win this award.

Chateau de Victoria: She likes pretty things.  She posts pretty pictures.  And she's pretty. Enough said.

Defenestrated Feet:  Ellen is a blogger who makes me laugh consistently.  Her blog will give you an ab workout from all laughter you'll be doing and you might actually learn something, like what "defenestrated" means.

Into Geek: Dan is awesome and relatable and British.  He likes geeky things like Doctor Who and The Muppets.  And did I mention that he's awesome?

Lauren vs. Reality: I can't believe that Lauren doesn't already have 1,000+ followers!  Her blog was one of the first ones I read.  Her life is a sitcom.  As we speak, she is waiting in a long line of nerds for a Legend of Zelda poster, because she was hired to by someone on Craigslist.

Maedchen Mit Herz:  This girl is the most adorable girl in the entire world.  She makes cute crafts and she's super sweet and also awesome.  I couldn't find how many blog followers she has, but I'm giving her the award anyway, because I can.

Stillness

The air is so still and not a person is in sight, not even an animal or insect.  No life at all.  Not a single sound.  It feels like something is brewing.  Maybe a thunderstorm.  Maybe a zombie apocalypse.  I don't know what exactly, but definitely something.  I get back to my apartment and the crocuses outside have bloomed.  In the one hour that I was gone.  It feels like time has been sped up while I was away.  I think that I've just been watching too much Doctor Who.  But I also think there's no such thing as too much Doctor Who.

crocuses at 1:00

crocuses at 2:00

DIY: Jewelry Display for Product Photos

The best part is that while this project only costs $1, it will make your product photos look about 10 times better and nearly profeesional quality, even with a terrible camera like mine.

Supplies:
picture frame from Dollar Tree with the piece on the back that makes it so you can stand it up on a table
some paper (I used printer paper) or fabric
something to cut cardboard with (I used an Exacto knife)
some glue (I used a glue stick)
some white paint (alternatively you could glue the paper even with the top and cut the same notches out of it as the cardboard, but it was easier with my wrist brace to use the white paint)

I didn't take pictures of the steps, but it should be easy enough to understand.

1. Remove the cardboard backing from the picture frame.  Put the rest aside. You don't need it for this project.

2. Cut notches in the top of the cardboard.  You can see in the following picture that I cut two close to the edges for longer necklaces and two further in for narrower necklaces.  Then I did two small ones in the very middle for earrings.

3. Glue on your fabric or paper.  Trim it so it doesn't overlap.  I didn't because that's too difficult with my wrist brace.

4. If you glue it like I did, you'll need to paint over the top portion of exposed cardboard.  Alternatively you could glue the paper even with the top and cut the same notches out of it as the cardboard, but as I mentioned earlier it was easier with my wrist brace to use the white paint.

5. Wait for your glue and paint to dry and then you can use it.  That's it. You're done. Pretty simple, right?

Here are some photos I took using it:

See, it can work as a backdrop for other non-jewelry items too!

the white background really makes the colors pop

You could take this so much further than I did, since I'm assuming your dominant hand isn't in a wrist brace.  For example, you could use some nice looking velvety material to cover it.  You could also cut it into a shape like an actual necklace/earring display shape.  Do whatever you want with it.  These are so simple and inexpensive to make that you could whip up a bunch of them in lots of different shapes and colors.

Etsy Love: AC Jewelry Store

I highly recommend that you visit this Etsy shop and at least look at the pretty things, if not buy something.  And wrist brace=captionless photos.