Five Faves and a Flop

Still listening to nothing. Geek Squad said it'll be a hundred smackaroos to transfer everything from Lucille to Sulpicia (which is what I named my new computer) Poop. I am, however, currently obsessed with The 20/20 Experience, by my boy JT. Cannot. Stop. Listening.
Looking forward to vaca next week with Corey's fam!

   I promised y'all a post, and doggone it, I'm gonna give you one! So here are five favorites from the past few weeks, and one flop!

Photo from here.

Starbucks Cool Lime Refresher. These are probably not the best thing I could be drinking. They're the second most caffeinated drink at Starbucks according to my buddy Matt the Waiter. I refuse to look up anything else about them because I'm terrified they'll turn out to be awful for me. I am so obsessed with these that I found myself in the drive-thru last week ordering not a Venti, but a Trenta. That's absurd. But I sucked it down in about ten minutes flat then sat down and waited for the jitters to set in.

Photo from here.

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Eye Palette in Classic Nude. I will say this may not be the most inexpensive drugstore brand, but I don't buy it unless I have a coupon. This palette runs for about eleven bucks, but the quality really is top notch and the packaging is super cute. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a mirror, so on-the-go really isn't an option. A lot of people say that the shimmer strips palettes are dupes for Urban Decay Naked palettes. I've never owned the Naked palettes so I don't know, but I can tell you that I bought this palette last week and I haven't stopped using it since!

Photo from here.

Sleek Mystique Fast Fixx Style Prep. My sister Maggs goes to Toni and Guy and she's amazing. She's the only person I've let touch my hair since the beginning of the year, and she's rocked everything she's done. About two weeks ago, she cut it off (it had been about halfway down my back). It's just barely brushing my collarbone now. She layered it and did the best job of anyone who's ever cut my hair (my hair isn't really thick, but I have a ton of it. It took her six hours for a cut and color). She made it a lot lighter than it has been, too. So she bought me this leave in conditioner spray to keep the color looking great. It's fast, easy to use, a great detangler, and smells really good, too.



Photo from here.

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes. Some of you may be aware of my weird allergies. Most things I'm allergic to make me itch - penicillin, most contact solutions and lenses, shampoos, soaps, bananas and spinach (which make my mouth itch) - but I haven't had many issues with face soaps because all I've used is Cetaphil which is specifically for people with super sensitive skin. This is all well and good except that I'm the laziest person with sensitive skin ever. Too lazy to squirt soap out on a washcloth and wait for the water to warm up. I tried using some Neutrogena face wipes, and that was a horrible mistake. Hives. Everywhere. So when a beauty guru on YouTube mentioned these recently I jumped on it. They're a dream. Except not the scrubby ones. They hurt. 

Photo from here.

Spoiled by Wet n Wild in Did I Dye It Too Blonde? This fave could really be so much more broad. I'm really just obsessed with neon yellow right now. The neon trend as a whole is fun and all, but yellow has always been my favorite color; neon yellow just brings joy to my soul. As for the polish, I've been wearing it every few days. I may switch it out but I keep coming back to it. The name could be more clever - I've read better. But for like two bucks, you can't beat it. And I wouldn't wear it alone. Definitely use a white base coat, but once you do - whoo! Grab your shades, cause this might just shrivel your eyeballs right up!



Photo from here.

e.l.f. Baked Eye Shadow Palette in California. I know I already touched on my abysmal disappointment in this product here, but I just want you to know that it has deepened. I heard on a few beauty YouTube vids that reviewed this palette that they're better wet. I don't know if it was just me and I had a bad go of it, but water did nothing but worsen these shadows. Not only were they clumpy (weird for an eye shadow, right?), but they went on streaky and immediately creased up. Just a horrible, ugly, gloopy mess. Do. Not. Purchase.

Whatcha think? Have any experiences with or opinions on these products? Tell me in the comments!

Testing, Pun-Two-Three

Is that not the most heart breaking thing you've ever seen?

Listening to Penny Lane by the Beatles, obviously (if you didn't already know that, go close your hand in a door)
Stressing over my stupid short story for Fiction Writing, and how I have absolutely 0.00 ideas for it. Help?!
    Alright someone out there obviously needs to take it upon themselves to yell at me when I don't write at least one post every week. Preferably on a Tuesday, but I will also take Thursdays if, say, I have a huge Statistics test on Tuesday that I'm freaking out and studying for and obviously can't manage a post because of. What? No of course I'm not making an excuse - what would give you that idea?
    In all seriousness, I had a slight panic attack right before that test. Heart racing, difficulty breathing, suddenly roasting hot, feelings of impending doom... It was horrible. And I studied hard for this one, which is not something I normally have to do, but the first test didn't end up so hot... *cough cough* So I did the study guides, and the worksheets, and went to the one study session that I could go to. I swear, I'm going to pass out from stress before Tuesday gets here (we get our tests back on Tuesday). If I make it out of this class with my sanity, it will be a miracle.
    On a positive note, get this. In my Tuesday/Thursday morning class at the dreadfully unbearable hour of 9:30 am (don't judge me - I'm not a morning person), we had a test last week. Let me preface this by telling you that I did next to no preparing for this test, only briefly skimmed the readings for the class, and hardly pay attention because I'm not awake yet (it's not that I'm not interested, I just have zero ability to focus on anything more than coffee and sometimes walking in a straight line in the mornings). Thing is, I'm really good at interpretation of quotes and what I'm reading in relation to the authors and their ideas. All the questions went all right, but I was kind of afraid I wasn't putting enough in my answers. And I may have started rambling about ancient Roman mythology and Irish legends in one because I didn't know what else to infer from the quote... I was afraid I'd not done well, so I let my friend Hayden look at it first and tell me if I wanted to see it.
    "Oh, you definitely don't want to see this," he said with a strained smile on his face. "We may as well just throw it away."
    Which meant I had to see it. I opened it and burst out laughing. 91.5. And the professor's note? Something to the effect of "you've obviously read the readings very carefully and thought hard about the writers' ideas. I'm impressed and can't wait to read more." Whoa, right? I guess I grasped more in my pre-coffee haze than I thought!!
    So here are some funny puns:

[From Hayden, in American Literature while we were discussing Walden by Thoreau]

• [in reference to a bike trail he likes] "It's my favorite place to thoreau down."

[From Eeyore on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]

• "It's not much of a tail, but I'm attached to it." I love Winnie the Pooh, I'll just tell you that right now. But especially Tigger. He's so awesome. I love when he's in the misty woods and Rabbit is trying to lose him, and you hear him going "Ha-looooo!!!" :)

   

A Coffee-Fueled Cleaning Frenzy

Listening to Hello Seattle (the remix) by Owl City

Drinking a mocha latte from Starbucks (which is actually pure happiness in a handy to-go cup)

    Brace yourselves. I cleaned my room.

    And my definition of clean has changed from "making a semi-clear path from the door to my bed that may or may not cause you to fall and break something" to "actually putting things away, clearing out all the trash, and making room to use my desk as an actual desk." Those of you who know me personally know what an extraordinary feat this is. Yes, I still have stacks of books all over my room - there are five on my dresser, two on my desk, one on my bedside table, and so many I don't feel like counting them all on my wire rack by the door, but personally I see nothing wrong with having more books than my bookshelf can hold. 

    In my future house, I intend to have numerous bookshelf-lined walls, completely full, and at least one shelf full of my own books. Or maybe just one room with bookshelves on every wall, and a big comfy chair for reading, an electric tea kettle, a desk by a window overlooking whatever fantastic view my future home surveys, with the most well-oiled spinny-chair in the history of home office furniture... 

    I digress. This post is not about my future home and rooms, it's about my current clean room, and the massive success I've had in organizing it. 

    So guess what I've got? Before and after photos, so you can share in my rejoicing! Indulge, dear reader:

First off...

 

 Then, I took on my desk and the rack beside it. I can't tell you how much crap I threw away. (Actually I can. There were three full-to-bursting kitchen-size trash bags.)

Next came the wire rack that's beside my door. 

Notice the alarm clock in the "after" photo. Now I have to get up and cross the room to turn the darn thing off!

Then came my bedside table...

I got rid of the old alarm clock which didn't match my room at all, and added a Reese's (which has since been eaten).

Last came my dresser, which I'm super proud of. 

Who knew I had so many different perfumes! I only really wear one of them.

I even put all my pretty pillows and the throw on my bed, just for this post. 

My bed will probably never look like this again.

 And all of this was fueled by my little friend, Mocha Latte (which is funny, because up until about two weeks ago, I hated coffee. Then my friend Emily made me a mocha at work, and I fell head over heels). I now know why no one seems to be able to function without coffee. I was also sort of irritated at the time, so the mix of coffee and frustration was the volatile kick in the butt I needed to totally dominate my room.

The love of my life.

Perhaps, with the help of coffee and irritation, I can pretend I'm a functional adult and actually get things done.