Just For Fun

1. Mood:

Pretty good. I have high hopes for the week.

2. Where’s your home town?

It’s called Union City, a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. Growing up there in the ’80s and early ’90s there was literally NOTHING to do except go to the drive-in (the closest decent mall was 15 minutes away), and eventually even that was leveled for a strip mall and a Wal Mart.

3. Are you a gadget girl?

I have a weakness for Apple stuff and photography doo-dads…

4. Do you have any children?

Only if Tabs counts. 🙂

5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

Minimal makeup right now: MAC Studio Fix Lash Mascara (lemme know if you want to see a review)/Clinique Superbalm Gloss in Grapefruit/Benefit Coralista

6. Have you ever made a mix TAPE for someone?

Ha, more than a few times! I’d always add a few songs recorded straight off the radio, too. The hardest part was getting songs without the DJ talking over them!

7. What’s your default hurry-up dinner dish?

Garlic fried rice with spicy chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s. For fiber (hey, gotta keep it real!), I’ll slice whatever fruit is in the ‘fridge and have it for dessert.

8. Glossy red lips: yay or nay?

Even though they’re super high maintenance, a big fat YAY!

9. Outfit:

Dark skinny stretch jeans from Old Navy, a striped teal tank top and a gray zip-up hoodie.

10. Weekly goals:

Cardio at least three times, approach everything I try to do from a place of relaxation and joy (sounds cheesy, but it really helps!), drink plenty of water, break in the black platform sandals I found at Marshall’s yesterday, and remind myself of my strengths whenever I feel like focusing on my faults.

Good morning, love bugs! Tabs and I just got back from our walk. I sipped some green tea while he and the calico down the street stared each other down for five minutes. To cats that’s exciting stuff!

I hope your Monday got off to a good start and that everyone around you treats you kindly today. It always helps set the tone for a good week. If you have a second between the tasks on your to-do list, let me know what’s new with you.

Just copy and paste the following list in the comments with your answers. 🙂

Le list

1. Mood:
2. Where’s your home town?
3. Are you a gadget girl?
4. Do you have any children?
5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:
6. Have you ever made a mix TAPE for someone?
7. What’s your default hurry-up dinner dish?
8. Glossy red lips: yay or nay?
9. Outfit:
10. Weekly goals:

I’ll keep my chin up if you do! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. March? Already? YIKES!

MY BEST:

Couple of good ones this week, which is great because they offset the doozies I have for the “Worst” list below… I’ve had a series of really good hair days, and the pimples on my chin are in full retreat, huzzah!

MY WORST:

I haven’t been taking care of my feet, and now the skin on the tops of my tootsies resembles worn leather. 🙁 Most of the last polish I used has chipped away, and even my cuticles look like shredded carrots. I plan to rectify the situation tonight. Also, I haven’t been having good luck with mascara lately — ya know, when you finish your eye makeup, blink and get mascara all over the place? That’s SO ANNOYING!

What were your best and worst beauty experiences of the week? Please share yours in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

California winter oak

Happy Sunday, ladies. 🙂 How did you sleep? Tabs just took me for my morning walk, and now I’m trying to decide what to wear later today when we meet some friends visiting from out of town. Part of me wants to wear my new green dress, but the lazy part of me says just go with jeans and layers.

The lazy part of me almost always wins, LOL!

What are your plans today? I hope they involve a little fun.

Refinery29 — 2010 Fashion and Shopping

This week Refinery29 jets to the top of a loooong list of destinations for discovering emerging trends from the runways to the streets, with up-to-the-minute insider reports on designers, cool global street styles, breaking fashion news, sample sales, boutique openings and local shopping reports from readers in different cities around the world. The goods? How about features like How To Wear The Completely Buttoned-Up Shirt, Hair Trend: Go Rainbow Bright With Colorful DIY Streaks and Lighten Up With 20+ Spring Jackets?

Sugarpill

Brighten up your day with a visit to Sugarpill Cosmetics. I’m dying to try their line of vibrant, richly pigmented, velvety pressed eyeshadows and sparkling loose powders. I like the whole vibe they’ve got going on (they even ship internationally), and it doesn’t hurt that they like cats. 😉

garance doré

Perhaps the fashion world’s most closely followed blogger, Garance Doré makes/breaks trends and can elevate up-and-coming designers to superstar status with a single post. Her blend of portrait photography, illustrations (my FAVORITES), collages, and stream-of-consciousness writing generates more than 50,000 visits/day.

Modelinia

Modelinia sees the world through supermodel eyes, which is to say it’s a unique point of view. While they don’t all look like the everyday woman, these girls give some really good information on fashion, beauty and lifestyle to, as they put it, “help our audience gain the style confidence to look and feel their best.”

[Continue reading…]

What it do, ladies? Right now Tabs, El Hub and I are watching the news and waiting to find out if a tsunami will hit Hawaii (ETA soon).

Yes, that felt about as strange to type as it probably was to read.

Doing my best not to worry, but I am a little nervous… I’m browsing the web to keep my mind occupied. Care to keep me company?

UPDATE 2:32PM PST: It looks like Hawaii has been lucky so far. The first waves generated by the earthquake have passed through the Hawaiian Islands with no signs of damage. Still watching…

Random bright spots

• Topshop’s new makeup line is coming to the States! — BellaSugar
• Bobbi Brown does Color Strips for spring 2010 — Temptalia
• Get a preview of Jessica Simpson’s new beauty show — Allure Daily Beauty Reporter Blog
• 4 simple principles of getting to completion — Zen Habits
• Sparse lashes and brows? Code.Ai wants to help — We heart This
• Is this Tabs’ long lost French kitty sister? — The Catorialist
• 19 starting points for being a unique blogger — Pro Blogger
• WOW! This couple must really love MAC (as in Apple) — Telegraph.co.uk
• 101 posts for an all-around balanced life — Balance in Me
• Take a virtual trip through Benefit’s headquarters in San Francisco — The Secret Life of a Benefit Gal

New in beauty

• Gucci’s Flora Eau de Parfum ($60) hits all the right fragrance notes
• Philosophy’s Wild Blackberry Blossom Body Lotion ($24) and Shower Gel ($16) sound yummy
• Sisley makes their bestselling makeup product available in a compact foundation, Phyto-Teint Eclat ($120)
• Love the packaging for Memoire Liquide’s Reserve scents ($95 each)
• I’ll say I Do to the six polishes in Essie’s Wedding Collection ($4 each)
• OOH! I can’t wait to try Almay’s Smart Shade Anti-Aging Makeup ($10)
• Have you played with the 100% Pure Makeup line ($5-55) from Bath & Body Works?
• Laura Mercier’s Zen collection ($19-60) features gardern-inspired colors for eyes, lips and cheeks
• Victoria’s Secret Beauty introduces the Beachy Sexy line, a limited-edition collection of self-tanning, bronzing and after-sun products ($12 each)
• Peter Thomas Roth’s Continuous Sunscreen Mist is on sale at Sephora for $12 (originally $28); might be a good idea to stock up before summer
• Macy’s carries some interesting beauty lines I’ve never tried before: Terre d’Oc ($20-60), Farmaesthetics ($20-58), Nvey Eco ($24-58) and Rx for Brown Skin ($18-50)

Super cool! A day in the life of New York City (in miniature)

I’m every woman… CHAKA KAHN!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Um, I would love to say I don’t have any or that I’m beyond such petty things, but that wouldn’t be true. My biggest issues are hyperpigmentation (dark spots on my face), acne, wrinkles (wrinkles AND acne!? WTF!?), dark circles and my weight.

My reasons for asking this today are 1) because my dark circles scared Tabs this morning and 2) because I’m bound and determined to help us find solutions to our most common concerns.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Thanks, girls, for the emails and tweets this morning about the Chilean earthquake and the tsunami warning in Hawaii. Those poor people in Chile. I can’t imagine how bad that must have been.

We spoke with our family on Oahu already (they woke up to air raid sirens!), and they’re all on high tsunami alert. El Hub’s parents live at the foot of a mountain range, though, so they should be out of reach if big waves hit the islands. They’re still stocking up on fresh water and taking other precautions in the unlikely event of power outages or sewage problems. We’ll know more in the next 20 minutes or so (waves are expected to reach Hawaii around 11:15AM PST) couple hours (waves now expected around 1PM PST).