Just For Fun

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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. Have you ever seen someone in real life who looks like they could be your twin/doppelgänger?
   I wish! And if I did, I would definitely take a twinsies selfie of us with my phone.

   Someday, it’ll happen…and it will be awesome. Hopefully she’ll be a cat lady, too.

   Sometimes I will hear that I look like somebody’s sister or aunt or mom, or like Reese Witherspoon, which I take as a total compliment because I think she’s adorable.

2. What do you think of the new Apple Watch, and would you wear it?
   Gurl, I walked by the Apple Store yesterday (on my way to the Chanel counter), and I didn’t even want to go inside and take a look. I just… I have my good ‘ol watch with, like, the dial and the two little hands, and that’s all I need.

   I just feel like I already carry my phone with me all over the place, and I don’t really need a smart watch to tell me what’s already on my phone.

3. Sometimes when I open my mouth…
   …crazy cat lady stuff comes out.

   VERY crazy cat lady stuff — so crazy that even I’m surprised I say it, like, “It’s kitten season!” which I say every single time we drive by the Marin County Humane Society.

   El Hub is so sick of hearing it. He’ll say, “Sweetie! Every season is kitten season!”

   And I’ll just nod. “I know.” 🙂

4. Do you see yourself as more of a bohemian, or a glamour gal?
   This one’s tough because I like the relaxed ease of the bohemian look, but I don’t really feel like it’s 100% me…because I’m not all that relaxed. I definitely see myself as more of a glamour gal. I feel more comfortable when I’m a little more dressed up and put together. I think that’s more my style.

5. What do you typically wear to work?
   Well, here at Tabs the Cat Industries LLC, the dress code is very strict (not really). Although it’s tempting to wear workout clothes all the time, mostly I dress as though I’m going to a regular office. It just helps get me in the mindset of what I’m gonna do for the day, so I guess you could call it business casual. Right now I’m wearing a cute pair of chambray scalloped shorts and a kind of secretary-ish sleeveless blouse because it’s supposed to be hot here today.

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. Have you ever seen someone in real life who looks like they could be your twin/doppelgänger?
2. What do you think of the new Apple Watch, and would you wear it?
3. Sometimes when I open my mouth…
4. Do you see yourself as more of a bohemian, or a glamour gal?
5. What do you typically wear to work?

Hi, friend. This is random, but do you want some cilantro? My little deck garden is slowly but surely coming along, and my cilantro plant is by far dominating all of the other herbs.

So cilantro is in the house.

I hope you’re doing well today. I’m feeling much better — like, emotionally. I know that sounds goofy, but it’s true (thank you again for your kindness and support).

I’ve been making a lot of headway on Operation Get Your Sh*t Together. I did a bunch of things that I’ve been wanting to do but just haven’t done, like I removed a tall, narrow bookshelf that wasn’t much help, moved my desk to a different side of the room, and I ordered this HUGE behemoth of a shelving system.

This is probably gonna sound crazy…but it’s pink.

Hot pink.

And it’s made out of stainless steel.

So, I don’t know if it exactly reads “office chic,” but I found it on Amazon, and it’s not crazy expensive. Hopefully it alleviates some of my storage issues.

Anyway, enough about that! Have a great day today, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hello, sweet friend. Happy Thursday to ya. I hope things are going well on your end of the keyboard.

I know that I’ve been kind of MIA this week, but it’s just… I’m going through some things.

I wish I could say that I’ve been playing hooky and having exciting adventures, but truth be told, it hasn’t been like that. It’s just that I’m turning 40 in June, and I’m going through… I don’t think it’s a crisis, but it’s definitely something.

I woke up yesterday morning and realized — holy crap! — my 30s are over. Like, totally and officially over.

It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my thirtieth. (We went to a drag queen karaoke bar! You know how I roll. 🙂 *snaps*). Now it’s 10 years later, just like that. I’m emotionally very tender right now…

It’s a bunch of different things, like not having children, and babe, seriously…I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s like, I can’t even look at babies right now without getting teary.

For the longest time, I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be a mom, and I didn’t really think about it much. I just kept myself busy working on different projects like people do, but now I really, really, REALLY want to have a child.

But I waited so long…

I feel like such a fool. I let my prime childbearing years pass me by, and now whenever El Hub and I even start to talk about it, I get super emotional. 🙁 It’s deep, intense and real.

Aaaand, that’s just part of it. I’m also tired of living in disarray. My office is a cluttered mess, and my house needs attention.

If you saw my office — and I don’t want to share a picture of it because there’s nothing cute about it — you’d be amazed that I actually manage to get anything done.
[Continue reading…]

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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’s your take on ruffles?
   I like them in moderation… I’ll take one or two dainty, well-placed ruffles, perhaps around the hem of my shirt or the edges, but I can’t handle it when they’re all gigantic, or when there’s 25 ruffles everywhere.

   And I don’t like ruffles on my sleeves. It’s too Captain Jack Sparrow for me.

2. Would you rather wear a necklace or earrings?
   Ouch, that’s a tough one… I guess if I had to choose, I’d pick necklace. I love wearing earrings too — studs, hoops, dangly earrings — but I’m in a necklace phase right now, especially statement necklaces. I love the statement necklaces from Kate Spade, and Kristin Perry makes some really cute ones (or these lady bugs!).

   I also recently started getting into this store called LOFT, and they’ve got some cute necklaces, too.

3. How did you feel about your hair growing up?
   Uh…I don’t think I really liked it. My hair and I had a love-hate relationship until I was about 22 or 23.

   When I was a kid, I had some really bad haircuts. This one time, my grandma, after she decided to go to the beauty school at the community college, learned how to perm, and she somehow talked my mom into giving me a terrible poodle perm.

   It looked like…I dunno. The curls were so tight, and my hair was so short. I had a bowl cut to start, and then she put the poodle perm in it, and it was just a mess. I think I was four or five.

   Then when I was in third grade, my mom made me get a boy’s short haircut, yay!

   I ended up looking like all of my Filipino uncles…

4. Have you ever drawn a fake mole on your face?
   I have. I drew a fake mole on my face when I dressed up as Madonna for Halloween years ago. I also went through a phase in high school where I drew one just above my lip, because back then Cindy Crawford was really popular.
5. If you had your own store in a perfect location, what would you sell?
   Posh cat toys for the discriminating cat lady. Think Kate Spade meets Petco.

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. What’s your take on ruffles?
2. Would you rather wear a necklace or earrings?
3. How did you feel about your hair growing up?
4. Have you ever drawn a fake mole on your face?
5. If you had your own store in a perfect location, what would you sell?

Hello, sweet friend. Good morning! 🙂 It’s Monday… Wake up!

I’m having a hard time gettin’ going today. I didn’t sleep well last night. I stayed up late watching Game of Thrones and this show called Girls on HBO (HBONow has a free 30-day trial where you can watch everything HBO online, which is what we’re doing). I just started watching it last week, and now I can’t freaking stop.

I hope you had a nice weekend. I got a lot of gardening stuff done on my deck. It’s coming along nicely. I planted a whole bunch of tomato plants and basil plants and flowers and sweet peppers, but now there’s just, like, dirt all over the place. It’s almost done, though, so that’s exciting.

Anywho…have a nice day today and a great week. Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen