Well It’s Been a While

Right then. Hi. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here. I’d like to say I have a good excuse, but really I don’t. 2016 was quite interesting year. It was amazing in some ways, and sucky in others. I’m thinking I’ll do a quick overview in this post, but if you want to skip it, by all means. The main point of this post is that I am back. I’m not committing to a specific schedule (well… I am in my head, but don’t want to say it publicly and then fail), but I hope to be posting more. It will be of similar content and maybe some new topics. I just want to reopen this blog and see what it has in store for me. If you see changes to the site by way of layout, etc., don’t be surprised. I’m working on refreshing this site.

So the overview of last year. Let’s just do a highlight reel version. At least that’s what I’m aiming for going into it.

The best of 2016:
– I got a new job! This happened at the end of last year (October to be exact) but it already seems like a much better fit for me.
– We went on vacation to Florida! My boyfriend and I went on an extremely fun trip to Florida. We were there for 10 days and went to Disney and Universal Studios. We visited our friends who live down there, went to Clearwater beach, saw MANATEES (OMG I LOVE MANATEES lol), ate Waffle House (yum!). It was an amazing vacation. We went over our 2 year anniversary, and I couldn’t have asked for a better getaway.
– We went on a short vacation to Sleepy Hollow, NY. We in October, when the town is totally ready for Halloween, and it was amazing. Highly recommend it.
– My entire family, minus my boyfriend, got together in the summertime and visited my family. My boyfriend would have come but he had just started a new job himself and couldn’t take any time off in his first weeks.
– Our kitty had his first birthday! You probably don’t know this because I don’t think I was blogging back then but in September 2015, we adopted a 13 week old kitten. He celebrated his one year birthday and his one year “gotcha day.” His name is Midas. There may be a post in the future about him.
– I started volunteering at the local animal shelter (actually the shelter where we got Midas). It’s been a lot of fun to get to know the cats, and it’s really sad when my favorites get adopted. But overall, it’s been a good thing for me.
– I ran my first 5K. And I ran (well.. jogged) the whole thing, too. No walking. This is an amazing accomplishment for me. I hate to run. Like legitimately. I used the app called “C25K” and it definitely helped. The first week you run for 60 seconds, walk for 90 seconds (I think that’s the interval), and then you move up to running 90 seconds in the second week. In that second week, I could barely do it. I thought there would be no way I could run for a longer period of time than that. But in September, I ran for 41:45 straight and finished the race! I’m unbelievably proud of myself. But I’m also annoyed because I wanted to do it under 40. Good thing I’ll be running some more this year. My goal is to do 3 5Ks with at least one under 40.

The not so great of 2016:
I feel like this can be boiled down to one main point: I’m finding life post-college to be difficult and, frankly, a bit lonely. After college, I moved to this new town. Of course, I have my boyfriend and the friends that I now have through him. But he volunteers as an EMT two to three nights a week, and I’ve found it really hard to make my own friends independent of him (not that his friends are bad, they’re great, but I feel like I need some girlfriends who I can spend time with when he is out “saving lives” as he puts it). The ones I had in college moved to their own new towns, so I felt like I was starting over. At first, it didn’t seem so bad – I just thought I had to give it time. But it’s been a year and a half since I’ve been done with school and I feel like it hasn’t gotten much better. Have any of you experienced this? I’m going to be making changes in 2017 that hopefully help with this. I want to take a class – a fun one that you have to be in-person for. I tried this last year with a cake decorating class but there was literally only one other person in the class and, while she was nice, there was no friendship to be found there. I’m thinking of trying something at the community college or taking a beginner’s adult dance class this summer. Plus my boyfriend and I want to take a ballroom dancing class together to meet more couple friends.

My goal for 2017 is to take better care of myself: do the things I love to do, try new things, spend quality time with the people I love, meet new people… I also have counted getting my apartment together as one of the ways to take care of myself. I haven’t bought curtains for every room and there is still a ton of organization that I would like to do with this place.

Let me know what your new year’s resolutions are… or “goals” as I like to put it.

NOTD: Julep Penny

Let’s talk nail polish: Julep Penny, a beautiful copper color that lives up to its namesake.

Simple Ultra-Light Gel Moisturizer Review

Hello again everyone. I hope your first week of the new year is going well and that you haven’t given up on any resolutions yet. Today let’s talk about moisturizer: the Simple gel moisturizer.

L’Oreal EverCreme Shampoo Review

Time to talk shampoo again – this time back to L’Oreal. I am a fan of this brand’s hair products in general, and since I had never tried this one, I decided to give it a go.

LOC (Love of Color) One & Done Shadow Sticks Review

Hey everyone, we are sticking in the same brand as Wednesday: Tati from GlamLifeGuru with Birchbox’s new LOC (Love of Color) line. Today we are talking about the One & Done Shadow Sticks. There are five shades in the collection and I have purchased all five:
1. On Point- champagne
2. Day Trip – Gold
3. Impress Me – taupe-y bronze
4. Nite Owl – deep purple
5. Smoke Screen – deep silver

What’s nice about these shadows is that come in pencil form and are really creamy, which makes them very easy to apply and blend. There is no pulling on the eyelid and the color applies evenly without any bunching or patching.

The colors are so beautiful and pigmented, particularly the gold and purple. I can see myself doing a gorgeous purple smokey eye with Nite Owl, and I do wear Day Trip fairly often. Do note that all of the shades are shimmery/metallic.

The only thing I can criticize about this product is the fact that when I wear as a single shadow look, blended up through my crease, it bunches and creases quite noticeably. It does last well on the lids – it lasted throughout Halloween (and I may have slept in my makeup that night…) – just not the crease. It is a disappointment but not a deal breaker.

I would give them a try if you love cream shadows and are looking for shades like these (you can buy them together, in sets with the vibrant matte lipsticks, or separately). They might not be great as a single-shade look, but overall I love the colors and finish so much that I will continue to incorporate them into my looks.

I bought this myself. I’m not getting paid for this post. All opinions are my own.

LOC (Love of Color) Vibrant Matte Lipstick Review (First Kiss, Glam Life, and Wildest Dreams)

Hi everyone! A few weeks ago, I spoke about products from FleurdeForce, and as it turns out, another of my favorite YouTubers released a product range. Tati from GlamLifeGuru collaborated with Birchbox to create LOC, Love of Color. I bought the entire collection and have no shame; I knew I was saving my points for something special!

Anyway, today I’m talking about the vibrant matte lipsticks. There are 3 shades: First Kiss (a nude), Wildest Dreams (red), and Glam Life (a deep berry).

CoverGirl Super Sizer Mascara Review

Woohoo! Another Mascara Monday. I’ve been testing a few mascaras out lately… no complaints here ;)! This is the CoverGirl Super Sizer (Star Wars edition!)

Fitbit Flex Six Months Review

Six months later and it’s time for a Fitbit check-in.

I have to say that after all this time, I still love it. It does keep me motivated to keep moving; I find it measures my steps accurately.

In terms of motivation in the winter, I find that the competitions in the app don’t really help me. After the first day in the Workweek Hustle, if I’m too far behind, I kind of give up and accept my last place fate. I think it’s because it is so cold and I can’t/don’t want to go out for a quick walk around the block to catch up.

Stila Huge Mascara Review

It’s Monday again! But this time, it’s Mascara Monday. That sounds fun, huh? Makes Monday better kind of not really. Today will be a crazy day of work. The associate director of the department is visiting and nobody is quite sure why or what to expect. Anyway, let’s not talk about work and instead talk about the Stila Huge mascara. This sample came to me a while ago in a Birchbox, can’t even remember when.

I’ll just say it up front. I love it. The voluminous lashes from this mascara is insane. Check it out (please pardon the blurriness, you still get the idea :P):

I don’t get a ton of clumping despite the volumizing aspect of the mascara. The most clumping happened when it was brand new and a much wetter formula, but after a week of using it, it dried out a bit and is perfect. On that note, I’ve been using it for a while now and no significant dry-out. That means it should last the three months that you should keep a mascara with no problem.

The want is a big, non-rubber brush, and it’s great. The hourglass shape grabs every lash and extends it up, while adding lots of volume.

Wear time is great. I don’t get any flaking throughout the day, but I will say that it is quite reactive to water. If I get watery eyes, I can count on it smudging. So if you have that trouble, this might not be the right mascara for you.

Overall, I love this mascara and will definitely be repurchasing it at some point.

Share your Mascara Monday favorites below.

I bought this myself. I’m not getting paid for this post. All opinions are my own.

FleurdeForce Eyeshadow in Cosmic Bronze Review

Hey all! This is new, deciding to post my third post on a Saturday! Anyway, last week I wrote about FleurdeForce’s lip gloss release that I really loved, and today we’re talking about the eyeshadow. I opted for the more brown-toned quad over the pink/purple tones. Keep reading to hear my thoughts.