Just For Fun

Thinking good thoughts for all of you who are waiting on Irma this weekend (or Jose or Katia), or dealing with the aftermath of Harvey. There are also wildfires raging out west, and a bad earthquake hit Mexico.

Basically, it’s been a rough couple of weeks in this hemisphere. I hope it’s OK if we talk about fluffy things for a bit and maybe take our minds off the heavy things.

I’ll go first: French toast. I’m craving it, but I don’t have any brioche in the house, which is a (minor) travesty, but…

Wait — WHAT? You haven’t had brioche French toast?! Girl. Let me blow your mind. Next time you make French toast, instead of using regular ol’ wheat or white bread, make it with a buttery brioche.

I got a sliced loaf of brioche at TJ’s last week and used the whole thing for what turned out to be THE BEST French toast I’ve ever had. Light, fluffy and just the perfect amount of sweetness (like King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread). I’ll never be able to look at non-brioche French toast the same way again.

In other news…

Today is a cleaning day. 🙁 Bluh. But it has to get done, right? It’s so totally and completely uninspiring and boring, and I feel like the broken-est of broken records talking about cleaning yet again, but it never goes away. Huzzah, cleaning!

I want to clean the bathroom extra well because the Coywolf has expressed an interest in potty training. She watches me, and I can see the little gears at work trying to figure out what’s going on, so we’re gonna get that started. If you have any potty training tips, please drop your knowledge in the comments, because I need all the help I can get!

Purr usual, I jotted down some of the interesting articles and blog posts I came across this week that I thought you’d also appreciate.

Got your coffee? OK, let’s go. 🙂

• NOOOOO! This is really disappointing because I loved this magazine. Nylon is shutting down their print publication. 🙁 Dang! I’m so bummed about this! It’s so irreverent and outrageously creative. I LOVED the beauty section.
• Oh, the brights in these gorgeously pigmented liquid lipsticks from Dior look extra great!
• No, I’m not making this sh*t up: someone out there thought that the women of the world needed to contour their vaginas, so they invented a vagina highlighter…
• Do you ever shop at ASOS? When I was pregs with the Coywolf I bought a few maternity dresses from them. One of them fell apart after washing it once…but I wore the other two all the time toward the end of her time in my tum. Looks like they’re launching a new ASOS makeup line. I think the packaging looks very chic and cute.
• I’m happy to see my ride-or-die Surratt curler on this list of best eyelash curlers for different eye shapes.
• Essie has ’90s vibes in their fall collection.
• Who else loves wearing berry shades in the fall? Here are 14 berry lip colors under $12!
• Um…do you have $750 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, do you wanna buy the wig Vivien Leigh wore in A Streetcar Named Desire? I’m sure there’s someone out there who can say “yes” to these two things.
• 3 cruelty-free beauty products everyone needs
• What role does climate change play in the hurricanes sweeping the Atlantic?
• Advice for women going through difficult times from a woman who lost her father, husband and had a miscarriage over a period of six weeks.
• Cut these seven words from your vocabulary to sound more confident at work.
• Black Mirror is on this list (YES!) of British TV shows you should be watching.

I hope you and your families are safe and sound this weekend. Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I found out that our local library has half-hour story time for toddlers a couple times a week. I’ve taken Connor Claire twice, and she really enjoys it.

I was watching her today and — surprise! — I got totally emo. 🙁 She was exactly like she was at Kindermusik — ran out in the middle of the room all by herself, smiling, clapping, dancing and waving to everyone like they were her adoring fans. “I don’t need to hold onto my mom, thank you very much.”

I gotta say, I don’t know where she gets it, because I was scared of my own shadow when I was her age. At some point I keep expecting stranger danger to kick in, but for now she’s outgoing to the Nth degree.

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I love that wherever we are in the world, be it a hilly hamlet in the ‘burbs (hello, Novato!) or a bustling metropolis like London, we can, at any given time, find things that are weird and wonderful.

For example, I walked into Safeway a couple weeks ago to get some kimchi.

Long story, but there aren’t any Asian grocery stores in Novato, and the closest one is about 10 miles away, and I didn’t want to hop on the freeway.

Anyway, I went to Safeway to get some overpriced kimchi, and where I walked in was on the side with the floral department.

Boom! I walked into a deluge of these crazy blue orchids…

It was kind of surreal! Like I was in a sci-fi movie.

I remember reading someplace that blue is the rarest (or one of the rarest?) color in nature, and it did feel weird to see so many blue flowers concentrated in one place.

They look like technicolor flowers, don’t they? Actually, I don’t know how I feel about them… On one hand, I can’t stop staring, but on the other hand, there’s something a little off about them.

I dunno. What do you think?

That reminds me…on another trip, this one to Woodlands Pet Food & Treats, because they carry Ziwi Peak, which is Tabs’ favorite food (it’s from New Zealand, and he’s kind of bougie like that), but it’s very expensive, so I get it for him every once in a while as a special treat, as I surveyed the shelves, I spotted something I’d never seen before called Chicken Soup for the Soul Cat Food.

I wonder if it’s as inspiring as the book, LOL! I think I may have a copy around here somewhere that I got from my mom…

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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 10 (!) 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.

Hi, babe. Super quick Monday Poll today because it’s Labor Day, and I don’t wanna be keeping you from getting your relaxing on!

1. Iced tea or iced coffee?

Iced tea, please, with lemon. No sugar.

2. Have you ever had a black cat?

I have! Mostly. His name was Socks, and he was black with white paws, a white chin, nose and a white chest.

I named him after the kitty in one of my favorite childhood novels by Beverly Cleary.

He was a sweet cat and very, very affectionate. I was a little kid at the time, and Socks was tiny. Whenever I’d go into the back yard, he would always weave between my legs.

3. What was the last piece of thought-provoking literature you read?

LOL! Don’t laugh, but it was the Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer. (Of course it was.) But seriously, the writing in those things is so clever!

Like, “No need to blink, pinch yourself, or shake your head vigorously like a cartoon character. That price you see, $5.99 for 13 roses, is a real price, available right now at a real Trader Joe’s store.” 🙂

4. Winged liner or false lashes?

Winged liner, fo’ sho’.

5. With whom would you like to go on a road trip?

El Hub. He could drive, and I would backseat drive, haha! No, really, he’s fun on road trips. Years ago we drove from Miami down to the Florida Keys and talked, listened to the radio and sang the entire time. It was a blast!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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

1. Iced tea or iced coffee?
2. Have you ever had a black cat?
3. What was the last piece of thought-provoking literature you read?
4. Winged liner or false lashes?
5. With whom would you like to go on a road trip?

P.P.S. Have a great day, babe.

Hi, beautiful! I can’t stop smiling because it’s a three-day weekend. ? Monday is Labor Day here in the U.S., and I’m so excited about having an extra day to chill (even though we’re in the midst of a heatwave). I hope you have a nice, long weekend, too.

I have this theory that if every weekend was a three-day weekend, people would be sooo much happier. I know I’d be. I’d be dancing in the streets! Actually, dancing everywhere, who am I kidding?

It was 80 degrees at 9 a.m. today, and it’s supposed to hit 106 this afternoon. That’s crazy hot, man. I don’t know what we’re gonna do, but we’ll have to get out of the house soon. Today is one of those days when not having air conditioning is inconvenient.

I know this is nothing compared to Hurricane Harvey, but still… Pretty hot.

Maybe we’ll go to the mall later. Or go to Cheesecake Factory and have a three-hour lunch, which I was actually thinking about doing.

I wish I could do some lazy surfing at an easy beach somewhere. That would be fun. I do have a wet suit and booties… No surfboard, though. I’d have to rent or borrow one because I sold mine a while back. I know, sad face. 🙁 But let’s get real. Even with temps in the triple digits, there’s still no way I’m getting in the water here. It’s too cold for me.

Now, the water at the pool? Maybe…

What are you up to this weekend? I’ve got some new links for you to wet your weekend reading whistle.

• CYO, a new affordable, “edgy” makeup line is coming soon to Walgreens. Looks like fun!
• Meet the world’s most powerful pets.
• Is this fancy new skin care from La Prairie your next splurge?
• The best way to introduce yourself in five potentially awkward situations. P.S. But what does one do if they find every situation is awkward when introducing themselves? (Asking for a friend.)
• This is a real job title, apparently: human catalog. Meet the 23-year-old who works as Ikea’s human catalog.
• Cute colors! All of the polishes in the Dr. Dana clean beauty nail line are also 9-free.
• Why, yes, wine wipes for your teeth are totally a thing.
• Gross… Here’s why you should keep the overhead vent running on your next flight.
• The best deals at Ulta’s “21 Days of Beauty” Sale
• The 411 on Glossier’s new loose matte powder
• Must-have MAC nude lippies

This hair color reacts to heat, SO COOL!

I’ve been listening to this on repeat…

Have a spectacular Saturday, my friend! Say hi if you get a chance.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

As you know, I have been not-so-secretly involved in a serious relationship with someone named TJ for a long time, and um… Well, we got into a big to-do recently when TJ came home one day with a new Fearless Flyer…which looked totally different than the old Fearless Flyer I love.

I don’t know what transpired since then, but the regular Fearless Flyer is back [INSERT HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF HERE].

Oh, how I’ve missed your rambling leads, witty wordplay, cartoons and fun facts… Yay! 🙂

Here’s some stuff our family is currently crazy about from Trader Joe’s. I plan to get all of these again, maybe even today, because I need another…

Bag of these freeze-dried mangoes

They’re by the nuts and trail mix at our store (and the beef jerky, which El Hub always looks at longingly)

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As someone who came of age in the decade, I have plenty of firsthand experience in many things ’90s. For one thing, if you sought stress relief through pictures of cute kittens or babies, you couldn’t just hop on “the ‘gram” to get your fix. You had to, like, find a real life cat with some kittens, or call someone you knew with a cute baby, because seeing them in person was your ONLY option.

Now, though, you can see kittens whenever and wherever you want! IT’S CRAZY.

No text messaging also made rapid-fire text flirting and witty banter difficult. If you wanted to send a coy note to someone you had a crush on, you couldn’t just whip out your phone and send a text. You had to write it on a piece of paper, then covertly stick the paper in their locker and run away as fast as possible.

This is something I have mixed feelings about, because, on the one hand, if texting had been a thing back then, I feel that my flirty text messaging game would have been on point. Yeah, I would’ve killed it. But I also wouldn’t have my current collection of old letters, and there’s something charming about personal notes that you can physically hold in your hand.

What are some other things that were tougher in the ’90s? Well…stalking your ex was a lot harder than it is now, although it was still completely doable, HAHA! Yeah, my friends and I know this for a fact. In one incident, I spent 20 minutes hiding behind some crooked palm trees at the pool (long story).

Let’s just say that there were more hoops to jump through, whereas nowadays all you gotta do is press a few buttons to bring up Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Kids today! You don’t even know what we had to go through… 🙂

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