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The Oakland Cat Town Café and Adoption Center: The Nation’s First Cat Café

January 29th, 2015 by Karen 46 Comments

So I finally made it out to the new Cat Town Cat Café in Oakland last weekend (2869 Broadway in downtown Oakland, CA), and for starters, it was everything I imagined and more! 🙂 Coffee, smiling faces, adoptable felines, cupcakes and macaroons. With a business like that, how can you go wrong??

I walked in without a reservation, which you can make by phone or online, so I had to wait a little while for the next available appointment. You can peruse the cafe and sip a tasty beverage while you wait, which is what I did, because they only let a few people into the cat part of the cafe at a time.

When we got there in the early afternoon, the cats were pretty sleepy, and I got the feeling that they probably party all night long. After the humans go home and that play area is nothing but cats, I bet it’s total cat carnage/mayhem.

Knowledgeable volunteers and staff members are available to answer your questions about teh kittehs in the cat area, too, and the cats are all adoptable, so you can actually bring one home if you find your feline match.

I know my employer pretty well…and I didn’t find any new potential employees on this visit, but I’ll be going back.

Highly recommended if you like coffee, cats and you’re ever out this way.

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Get a Lisa Perry Tote and Estée Lauder Goodness With This Gift-With-Purchase at Neiman Marcus Now

January 20th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Wouldn’t ya know it? The one time this decade that I actually wanted to wear my white vinyl go-go boots (otherwise known as my favorite shoes to wear to da club back in the day), of course I can’t find them.

OF COURSE.

They’d go so well with this tote by Lisa Perry…

This shiny vinyl vixen is part of the Estée Lauder + Lisa Perry gift-with-purchase deal going on now at EL counters inside Neiman Marcus stores and online.

The deal comes with some other goodies too, like a nice-sized eyeshadow and lipstick palette, a separate creamy nude lipstick, a small jar of Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Age-Correcting Creme, another small bottle of Advanced Night Repair, a tiny tube of Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara, and my favorite thing — a sample of Aerin Lilac Path Perfume.

I started crushin’ on Lilac Path with the first spritz.

Picture yourself sleeping in and getting up late on a crisp spring morning. You open your favorite window and take a deep breath, ah… That smell of spring flowers and clean, fresh air? — that’s Aerin Lilac Path Perfume.

Granted, this is imaginary time, because when I open my windows right now, I mostly smell semi-dead rosemary bushes.

The gift-with-purchase deal is available now with your $75 EL purchase, while supplies last, at Estée Lauder counters and online.

Just an FYI in case you had any EL products you needed to stock up on…

The New Beautyblender Red Carpet, Coming Exclusively to Sephora (and Why You Need a Beautyblender in Your Life, Like, Yesterday)

January 16th, 2015 by Karen 23 Comments

Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

If I ever get to walk another red carpet, I’m bringing two things with me: 1) the Red Carpet Beautyblender (but only if I can squeeze it into one of those annoyingly tiny purses that ladies carry to gala events and awards shows) and 2) candy.

Handfuls of candy.

I’ll just have to squish the Red Carpet Beautyblender in next to my Mini Snickers, because if I learned anything at the Emmys last year, it’s to bring a sh*t-ton of Mini Snickers, because dammit — it’s absolutely mortifying when your tummy rumbles right as someone’s about to announce the Best Actor.

I’m just sayin’.

Isn’t this new Beautyblender cute?!

I know! It’s red! Officially, it’s supposed to be red carpet red, but I keep thinking “red lipstick.”

It’s a new Sephora exclusive available starting next month for $19.95.

Yup, it’s exactly like the regular Beautyblender pictured here, a pink one I’ve had for a while.

Mine is a little long in the tooth, as you can see, and I think it’s time to give it a nice, long vacation…

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The Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer Quads in Smoky Steel, Cocoa Mauve and Classic Nude

January 8th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer

Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer in Smoky Steel 30 — Smoky Steel 30 (no, that is not the name of a superhero or a robot, although it certainly sounds like it could be)

Must play with all the pretties!

Guess what these Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer quads do?

You guessed it — they combine a primer with a powder eyeshadow for supposedly extra long wear. I tried some of the Cocoa Mauve quad colors on my right eye yesterday, just to see how they looked and blended, and they were good on both counts, but then I took them off. I’ll give them a proper try this weekend.

And I’ll probably still wear ’em with a regular primer underneath anyway, because, you know, some habits are hard to break. 🙂

Overview

There are six different quads/color combinations — Cool Plum, Soft Taupe, Smoky Steel, Cocoa Mauve, Mink Brown and Classic Nude — available now at drugstores and online for $9.49 each.
Pigment ranges from sheer to medium, depending on the color
The Cocoa Mauve and Classic Nude quad shadows have a satiny finish that’s very forgiving of mah fine lines (thank you very much).

Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer in Cocoa Mauve 40 — Cocoa Mauve 40 (no, also not the name of a robot)

Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer in Classic Nude 60 — Classic Nude 60

Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow swatches from the left: Smoky Steel, Cocoa Mauve and Classic Nude — Swatches from the left of the shadows in the Smoky Steel, Cocoa Mauve and Classic Nude quads

The Secret to Shopping at HomeGoods…

January 1st, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

I believe I have discovered the secret to efficient shopping at HomeGoods, and this is it: BRING A FRIEND.

But you should NOT bring your husband under any circumstances, unless he is gifted at home decor, in which case, lucky you! 🙂 El Hub, bless his heart, just spends the entire time when we’re there staring at his phone, and then answers, “Yeah, I like that,” whenever I ask him about something…

Behold! — my latest HomeGoods loot. I went earlier this week with my friend Marisol. The shelves looked like they had been picked over by Christmas buzzards, but both of us still found a few hidden gems.

I got some fun steno stuff for my office — $3 notepads and a notebook, because you can never have too many of either — and three pieces of inspirational wall decor, which I’m very excited about putting up in my office.

So far my first day of 2015 has been spent sleeping and recovering on the couch, and singing Tabs-themed Prince songs all day long, like…

Dig if you will, this tabby,
His tum-tum is swinging so low,
His husky body covers me,
Can you, my tabby,
Can you picture this?

Bright Lights, Food City

December 26th, 2014 by Karen 28 Comments

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There’s a street in the neighborhood where my parents live that goes crazy all-out with the lights (Vegas style), and everybody cruises up and down the street looking at them.

This was my favorite house…

Of course I’d love the over-the-top one. 🙂

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I know you’re honnngray looking at these pics, ’cause I’m hungry too (if you like crab and shrimp, and Filipino food, which I do). This time of the year is when I unshackle myself from the hater that is the My Fitness Pal app, aka calorie counting, and embrace my stretchy pants with arms (and mouth) wide open, which, in other words, means a second and third helping of crab.

Let the holiday gorging begin!

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This Year’s Christmas Mani: The Dance Music Duet by Deborah Lippmann

December 25th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

It’s been a minute since the last time I wore a Deborah Lippmann polish, and I forgot how sturdy these guys are!

On this most merriest of days, I’m showcasing a deep reddish brown with a cool-toned multi-colored accent nail via Deborah Lippmann’s two-piece Dance Music Duet set ($19, but it’s on sale right now at Sephora for $12).

I first applied both the glitter and the creamy darker shade in this duo about a week ago, and they lasted five days before two tiny chips appeared on my right paw/claw…but I liked the whole ensemble so much that I resurrected it with an extra coat of each last night.

Meowy Christmas! 🙂

How’s about you? Are you wearing a Christmas mani today?

Single Ladies (left), and Glitter and Be Gay (right)

I’m Over the Moon About the Roomy Europa Shoulder Bag by Kipling

December 17th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

Like my husky tabby, my beloved Kipling Europa Shoulder Bag is large and in charge.

With multiple pockets and a roomy interior, it comes in very handy if you, like me, often find yourself compelled to carry around everything and the kitchen sink.

Sometimes that includes five nude lipsticks and glosses that are all more or less the same shade…

Right now the bag holds two wallets, a large makeup bag, an umbrella, a knit yarn hat, my phone, keys and a pouch of cat treats. And it still has room to spare!

I could probably free up even more space in it if I emptied some of the pockets, but it has so many that sometimes I forget what’s in where.

Like, I opened one of the pockets this afternoon and found a secret stash of vitamins and hair pins…

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