Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past NINE (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine. 🙂

1. What was the last really interesting conversation you had?

It was on Saturday with my friend Alis at Fox + Stone salon. While coloring my hair and cutting my bangs, she dropped some big news on me. She was finally moving to Vegas where her fiancé lives, which she’d been planning for and talking about for a long time, and she was literally doing it that weekend! Like, they had just packed up the U-Haul and were hitting the road the second she finished cutting my hair.

We’ve known each other for years now, and we talked about how when you’re younger, it’s easier to make bold moves because you’re used to things changing in your life. It seems like from one year to the next, or from one month to the next, you have to get used to your daily patterns changing, and your life changing, but as you move into your 30s and 40s and beyond, it becomes harder to make those kinds of big changes, for a variety of reasons.

But she was finally doing it! I mean, of course I’m gonna miss her because she’s my friend, but she also gets my hair, and it’s hard to find people you can trust who also get your hair.

2. What’s a sound that reminds you of home?

There’s a church a few blocks from here with church bells that sound twice a day — once at noon and once at six o’clock — and no matter where I am in the house, whether it’s in my office or downstairs in the living room, I can always hear those church bells.

So whenever I hear church bells, it reminds me of home.

3. Have you ever felt like an outsider?

Oh, sure. And it’s never fun. One long stretch was when I was a senior in college and living with roommates. We were all girls, and I’d previously gotten along with them, but people change, and we started doing our own things apart. I didn’t really hang out with them as much as I used to, but they kept getting closer to each other. I really got to feeling like the outsider, and I basically lived like that for a year.

I’ve also felt like an outsider at some beauty events, for sure. There always the super glamorous girls with their clicks of friends, but I just kind of do my own thing and try to make friends along the way.

4. Are you more of a back sleeper, a tummy sleeper or a side sleeper?

I usually fall asleep on my back and stay that way for most of the night until morning, when I’m half awake or half asleep, and I wiggle around and sleep on either my side or my stomach.

So, all three. 🙂

5. Walk me through how you usually style your hair.

If you’re one of those people who can just step out of the shower and comb or brush your hair, can I just say that I’m so jealous? — because my process is entirely too complicated.

It starts right after I wash and condition my hair. First, I towel dry it, then grab a flat brush and my really, really old first-gen T3 hairdryer. Then, I blow dry my bangs straight, because if I don’t do it right after I get out of the shower, they dry funny, poof up and look really ridiculous.

So, I do that, then run the brush through the rest of my hair and let it air dry, and I usually do this at night because I’m a night shower-er.

The next morning, I run the brush through my hair again to take out any knots. Then, I take a GHD curling iron, which are kind of expensive, but I think they’re really and truly the best, and I separate and part my hair into sections.

I part it right down the middle in the back, and then I do the left side first, section by section, curling the pieces, and then the right side. When it’s all done, I run my fingers through it and apply a little bit of styling cream or styling oil. Today I used the Shu Uemura oil from the mid-shaft to the ends to smooth down any frizzies.

Break in the storm

After a few days of pretty heavy rain, it looks like a brief break in the storm today, so I’m looking forward to getting some fresh air outside on a quick walk around the circle with Connor Claire.

Wherever you are, I hope you’re able to get outside for a little bit.

It’s Monday again and, as usual, I feel overwhelmed by my to-do list.

Big sigh…

But we can do this. I know we can. Have a great day today, my friend, and I’ll try to have one too. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. What was the last really interesting conversation you had?
2. What’s a sound that reminds you of home?
3. Have you ever felt like an outsider?
4. Are you more of a back sleeper, tummy sleeper or side sleeper?
5. Walk me through how you usually style your hair.

Rise and shine, morning glory! 🙂 It’s Caturday. I hope you slept well. Do you remember last month when we talked about doing an Instagram makeup challenge/not really a challenge/just for fun thing?

Well, get your brushes ready! I hope you’ll join me, because there are still three weeks left in January, so let’s do this. Why wait, right? I’ll be posting a new challenge look each week for the rest of the month, and I’ll share it here on the blog and Instagram using #mbbinstachallenge so you can find it. If you do your own version of the look on your own blog and social media, share a link to it in the comments here, or use #mbbinstachallenge on Instagram so I can find it.

Look 1 (Week of Jan. 9-15) – A look with a single bold, colorful element

The first week’s look is something with a bold, colorful element on super clean skin.

Look 2 (Week of Jan. 16-22) – Kitten flicks and glitter lips

The second week is a kitten flick with glitter lips.

Look 3 (Week of Jan. 23-29) – Smoky taupe

The third look is something smoky and taupe, a.k.a. my makeup crack, LOL!

Bonus look (Jan. 30-31) – Purple cheeks and killer highlights

And if you’re down for a bonus, the last look for the last two days of the month is something with purple/purple-ish blush and a killer highlight.

To participate

1. Any day during each week, do your own interpreation of that week’s look, and take a picture of it with your phone or other camera.
2. Post the pic on Instagram! — and be sure to include #mbbinstamakeupchallenge, and you can also tag me at @karenmbb. That way we can search and find each other!
3. And if you aren’t on Instagram, leave a comment on this post and a link to your makeup picture.

DISCLAIMER: this is not a judgy, serious, instense or stressful competition. This is strictly for fun and to get out of our makeup comfort zones a little, which is why I threw a couple of wackier looks into the mix. For me, it’s easy to always fall back on the same looks ALL THE TIME, so this is just an excuse to have fun and try new things.

Don’t be afraid to completely fail. No matter what (seriously), at least you’ll be able to say that you did something different and expressed yourself creatively. No big deal. Plus, it’s just makeup. It’s not a permanent commitment or anything. 🙂

I hope you join in! Also, leave me your Instagram handle here in the comments so I can follow you.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Or is that just something with me? I dunno… I think it might be one of those things that you just don’t realize until you actually get to that point, and then one day you’re sitting around thinking, “I wish I had somebody to go to Safeway with me to get some fried chicken,” but you can’t think of anybody to call.

I mean, you guys are my friends, obviously, but it’s not like I can call you up in the middle of the afternoon, because a lot of you live halfway across the country or halfway around the world. It would be kinda hard for you to go with me to Safeway to get some fried chicken.

The big thing for me is that I don’t interact with a lot of people outside the house. I work from home, so I’m mostly in the house. You know, I go to my exercise class, but it’s not like I have a social group thing to go to every week or a set meeting like a book club.

I guess I could get involved in something like that in my town…

I try to make friends, though, and I have met friends through the blog, like last week I met with one of the girls who reads here, Shakun (hi, Shakun!). I found out that we both live in Novato, so we met for coffee, and it was really super cool. We were actually talking about this very topic, why it’s so difficult to make new friends as an adult.

I mean, I know that it’s not equally hard for everybody, but I think that people do generally just get really busy, busier with their lives, and set in their ways too, as they get older. It’s not the same as it was when you were a teenager or in college when you could easily spend that extra hour or two to go to the mall with a friend to help her find an outfit for Friday night.

Nowadays, with those two hours, I think, my gosh! — I could be cleaning my house or doing any number of other things that need to get done.

I’m a very social person. I’m not antisocial at all, and I know that it’s better for me mentally to have a circle of friends. I’ve also read different studies about how with women, especially, it helps to have a circle of friends.

I was wondering if you’ve run into this issue, and if you have, what are some things you’ve done to expand your social circle as you’ve gotten older?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. tgif. 🙂